#mouring

“The white one?” When she only offered him a dumb look in response, Banner just shrugged lamely. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I saw Wanda with it yesterday.” Throwing his arms up, gesturing at the bombsite in front of him, he continued, but Caroline showed no interest as she was already on her way out of the door. “You can’t leave me to work in this mess, Care! Caroline? Oh for God’s sake!”.

-

“FRIDAY is Wanda home?”

“I’m afraid not,” the AI responded politely “she went out early this morning, Miss Stark.” Pushing the Maximoff girl’s door open slightly, Caroline hesitated. She'd only had a handful of interactions with Wanda and didn't want to invade her personal space before they really became friends. But she needed that computer. Biting loosely on her bottom lip, she slipped inside the room and instantly spotted her laptop open on the bed. Sliding down in front of it, she hastily entered her password. What appeared on the screen in front of her left her feeling even more concerned; less for the whereabouts of her work, but for the wellbeing of her teammate.

‘FLIGHTS TO SOKOVIA MEMORIAL’.

Caroline had heard all about Sokovia from her Father. Hell, she’d received a goodbye phone call from him right before he and Thor blew the city to smithereens. The whole world knew about Pietro Maximoffs sacrifice. Barton had made sure of it.

Closing her laptop, she slid off the bed and left to search for Natasha. With Friday pointing her in the right direction, it didn't take her long to find the other female Avenger.

“Wanda isn’t here." Black Widow was already pulling her jacket on before she could continue with her sentence. “It’s nine years to the day, and it’s the first time without Vision.” With a quiet voice and cautious words, she explained her findings to the superspy.

“Laura phoned—Clint’s wife, Laura. She’s there. Drove herself there this morning.” Caroline didn’t feel it her place to comment. She hadn’t been there; on that flying city. She hadn’t witnessed the horrors that they had or felt the pain of Pietro’s death. So she merely followed after Natasha and climbed in the passenger seat next to her.

-

Arriving at the Barton household, the two friends held a firm grip on each other’s hands. As they walked down the path, a woman appeared in the doorway with a sad smile on her face.

“Clint took Cooper and Lila out. She’s upstairs with Nathaniel. They’ve been playing for hours.” Natasha headed straight up the stairs, but Laura continued. “You look a lot like your Father, you know. He was a good man. I would’ve said something at the funeral, but…” trailing off, Caroline could tell that Mrs Barton was truly genuine in her words. With a gentle touch to her shoulder and a shaky smile, Caroline nodded slightly.

“Thankyou. That means a lot.” Suddenly finding herself at a bit of a loss for words, she excused herself, running after Natasha up the stairs.

-

“Auntie Wanda, why are you sad today? Momma said you miss your brother. Where is he?” The soft boyish voice led the girls down the hall, where they made their presence known. Taking a seat either side of the grieving girl, Caroline tried her best to explain to Nathaniel what had happened to Pietro.

“A few years ago, before you were even born, your Daddy and his friends went to save the world. He got into some trouble rescuing a little boy, but Auntie Wanda’s brother was there to save him! But he got hurt real bad. So he’s not here anymore.” Voice feather soft as she was unsure how Wanda would respond to her telling of Pietro’s death. But feeling the Witch's hand wrap around her own, she felt more confident to continue.

“He died? Saving Daddy?” The Barton boys voice was curious as he spoke, trying to understand what Caroline had said.

“Yeah, he died. But can you guess what his name was?”

“Pietro! I remember! That’s one of my names!” A gasp fell from Wanda’s lips at his response, and she couldn’t hold her tears back. As if reading the situation perfectly, Nathaniel merely climbed into the Witch's lap and stayed there, leaning against her softly. The four of them remained huddled together silently, until Wanda gave a signal that she was okay to stand.

“Auntie Wanda, I’ll be like your brother now. I’m super fast! See?” The three Avengers giggled as he dashed out of the room, out of sight.

With a soft sigh, the brunettes grip tightened on her two super friends, her voice barely audible as she asked, "can we go home?"

-