9 Meeting the family - Part 1

When Shuri finally finishes the last check up tests that had to be done, she officially declares me "free to go". It's a very interesting thing to feel scared and excited at the same time. I hop of the bed and look at the door, taking a deep breath. Wanda is standing next to me and she holds out her hand, I take it without doubt. "We will do this together Lidiya, you will be okay." She opens the door and we walk through it. I know that it's an insignificant thing, walking into an unknown building that holds no threat, but it means a lot to me. I just stand in the hallway for a minute, looking around and taking it in. The walls are blue and they have paintings on them. My room was 'room number 21'. Other doors with numbers on them hold access to more hospital rooms. "So, what do you think about me giving you a small tour on our way to your room?" Wanda asks and I nod. "Yes please." She laughs and bumps my shoulder with her own. "There is no need to start getting all formal now milyy. I'm still the same woman who has been with you for the last couple of weeks. Now I won't show you everything yet, the compound is absolutely gigantic and it would be too much to take in. There are also a lot of rooms that are not even important, so for now I will keep it to the main areas. But don't hesitate to ask me to give you the big tour when you are feeling better." I smile at her, if only I had the courage to pull her into a hug, I would love that. Wanda takes a step towards me and without doubt she pulls me against her chest, giving me a soft kiss on my head and rubbing my back. "You can always give me a hug malysh (baby). Don't be afraid of just coming up to me and asking me for one, or just take a hold of me. I will always make time for you, and it will always be with pleasure." She pulls back and gives me one of those breathtaking smiles. "So, do you let all of your teammates just come up to you and hug you?" I laugh. Her face gets very serious when she says "No, they know not to touch me without permission. Unless they fancy getting smashed into a wall by my powers." I have no problem visualizing this and there is no doubt in my mind that she is telling the truth. "The same with Natasha, everybody knows to keep their distance. Believe it or not, but she has actually been really open towards you." I don't find that hard to believe, and even though I think Natasha is amazing and I really started considering her a friend, it's not her I care about. It's Wanda. Wanda allowing me to hug her feels like the best thing ever. "Now, where do you want to go first malysh (baby)? We have the kitchen and dining area, we have the relax room aka the living area, the room where we hold our meetings, the laboratory, the garage and the training area. There are a lot more places to go to of course, but I think that this will be a good start." I scratch my head and think for a moment. "What is your favorite place to go?" She smiles. "Good question. I think it's the kitchen actually, I really love cooking. I think there might even be some teammates there at the moment preparing dinner for tonight." I feel confused, I am pretty sure that it's only around 11am. "Why are they preparing dinner already?" "Some meals require you to start really early, so everything has enough time to cook. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."

We enter the kitchen and even though I was expecting it to be a big room, I am still stunned by the size. My mouth drops a little and Wanda giggles before closing it with her finger. "We don't want an insect to fly in there, now do we?" I blush and shake my head. Four people and one little child are working in the kitchen. "Ah, Wanda, I didn't know it was your task to help today?" A muscular woman with wavy blond hair and blue eyes speaks to Wanda. She is wearing a torn up shirt, has a leather jacket on top of it and some jeans. "Hi Carol, no it's not my turn to cook. I'm just giving Lidiya a short tour of the compound." Five pair of eyes turn towards me and I can't help but try to hide behind Wanda. Another woman with blond hair puts down her towel and walks towards me. Even though her hair is blond as well and her eyes are blue too, she looks nothing like Carol does. She is taller and skinnier, but lacks the muscles. She is wearing a pretty looking but comfortable dress and tall heels adorn her feet. She stops before me, giving me the space that I much need. Immediately the little girl runs after her and clings to the woman's legs, a shy grin on her face. "Hi there darling. I'm Pepper, and this little rug rat here is Morgan. She's my daughter and the love of my live. Beside Tony of course, he is my husband." Pepper gives me a warm and motherly smile, and after I smile back I slowly go through my legs so I'm at eye height with Morgan. "Hi there Morgan, my name is Lidiya." For a moment Morgan just looks at me but then she must have decided that she approves. She jumps at me and I barely have enough time to hold out my hands and catch the girl, falling on my ass because of the heroic rescue. Morgan laughs out loud and gives me a big grin. "I'm Morgan! Iron Man is my daddy. That makes me the coolest!" I sit up and place the girl on my lap. "Absolutely! I have never seen anyone as cool as you." Hearing that makes her happy. "For real?!" I nod. "Hell yeah. I mean look at you. I don't think I can ever reach your level of coolness." Pepper bends down and picks Morgan up. "I think we should let Lidiya get back up, what do you think? Besides, we need to go check on that sauce!" Pepper walks back to the counter with Morgan in her arms, the girl waving at me. The woman named Carol holds out her hand, and after doubting for a second I grab it and let her pull me up. She gives me a pat on my back. "Nice safe girl. I wish I could say that I have never seen Morgan so happy, but well… She is happy pretty much all of the time." A grin appears on her face. "My name is Carol by the way, but people tend to name me Captain Marvel. If you ever need someone to get up to no good with, just knock on my door and I'll be by your side before you can say 'Avengers Assemble.'" She winks at me before joining Pepper and Morgan, giving the little girl a big high five while passing. There are two guys left, a slender guy with brown hair and brown eyes and a guy with the same hair and eye color but who is a bit chunkier. The slender guy stays back and just raises his hand. "Hi there, my name's Scott. Scott Lang aka Ant Man. I'm like the most important guy around here, the glue that keeps everything together." As a response Carol shoots a blast of some kind right over his head which makes him duck. "Like hell. The only thing you do here in the kitchen is sit on one of these chairs and taste what we make, only to criticize us afterwards." He grins and raises his shoulders. "I mean, someone has to taste the food to make sure it's edible." A scream escapes his lips when Carol shoots another blast in his direction, and after that he turns around and runs out of the kitchen, mumbling something about "Intergalactic super protector, my ass." It's one of the funniest things I have seen in years, and even though the blasts did startle me, I can't help but laugh. I can see Wanda looking at my direction with a warm smile on her face and in her eyes. I link my mind with her, letting her feel what I feel. Comfort and joy. The other guy walks forward and holds out his hand. "I'm Happy, head of security. Nice to meet you." I grab his hand and shake it. "Happy, you're not head of security anymore. You're just here because you are part of this family and everybody loves your warm hugs and your famous pasta sauce." Pepper says while she stirs in the sauce she was probably talking about. "Uncle Happy!" Morgan says, jumping out of her mother's arms to run over to him. He picks the little girl up and gets a soft kiss on his cheek as response. "I better go look that Pepper doesn't burn the food, it was lovely to meet you Lidiya. I hope to see you around."He joins Pepper and Carol at the counter and adds some spices to the sauce.

Wanda and I are on our way to the next destination she wants to show. "What are you thinking milyy?" she asks. The fact that she doesn't just enter my mind to get the answer warms my heart. "These were nice people." I smile. "They all get along so well, I just hope they like me." Wanda stops me in my tracks and turns me around so I look into her eyes. "Lidiya I-don't-care-what-your-last-name-is, now you listen to me. They won't just like you, they will love you. You are the sweetest and most caring girl I have ever met, and you are so strong. So much stronger than you realize. If there is anyone at this compound who dares to not like you they will have to deal with me." She pulls me into her arms and I can smell her shampoo, it smells like lemongrass and somehow there is also a smell on her that reminds me of sleep. "Thanks." I say, while hugging her back. After a couple of seconds she pulls back and we continue our way to… To where? "Where are we going next?" I ask, and she smiles. "I thought it might be a good idea to go to the training area next, we will probably find Natasha there so that will be nice." I nod and for a while we walk in silence. "Wanda?" "Hmmm?" "What did Carol mean by it not being your task to help?" "Well, we all take turns working in the kitchen. A group is responsible for getting all the groceries here, another group does the cooking and the last group takes care of the clean up. It's the fairest way, everybody doing his or her part in taking care of the team." I smile and nod. "I like that." We continue our walk in a comfortable silence.

We arrive at the doors leading to the training area. Wanda stops me before I enter. "Now Lidiya, don't be startled by the size of this so called room. Training is an important part in all of our day to day lives. We have to make sure we are in top shape so we can help when help is needed. We are no use to them when we're out of shape, and there are a lot of us so we need the space." "I understand." She pushes against the double doors and we enter. Even though she has warned me, I'm still absolutely flabbergasted when I see the room we are standing in. They are right, training area is a better term than training room. I can see two pairs of people sparring with each other. One of them is working in the boxing ring and the other pair is working on the mats. I can see that there are tons of machines, there are climbing walls, ropes, and when I look up I can see there is even an entire parcour build into the ceiling. "I told you." Wanda her voice laughs in my head. "This place is… amazing!" It really is, it looks like you can spend hours here and there would still be new things to find out about. We take a couple of steps into the room, and Wanda holds up her hand to the pair on the mats. She turns her attention back to me and points towards the boxing ring. "Obviously that is the boxing ring, and let me give you a friendly warning: don't challenge Natasha there. Happy did that once and it did not go well for him. Actually you should never challenge Nat no matter what area it is." I laugh, I haven't seen Natasha fight yet but she just has this vibe that says 'don't mess with me'. "She's not here?" Wanda shrugs. "Apparently not. We will find her later I guess. Now let me introduce you to these guys over there." I can see that the mat-fighters are finishing up and are walking in our direction. "We have a power area, an area dedicated to stamina, fighting mats, dummies… Over there through these doors is a room dedicated to practicing with special powers, like you and me have. Everything has been made safe there so nothing can happen. And if you go through the doors to the outside there is a running area, Steve and Nat love to challenge each other. Steve still won't accept the fact that Nat still beats him like it's nothing." I laugh when she says this. "I'd love to see that someday." She squeezes my hand. "And you will milyy." The two women that have been fighting each other on the mats reach us. "That's Hope and that's Cassie. This is Lidiya." Wanda introduces us and while Cassie gives me a wave, Hope greets me with a warm smile. "Hope is Scott's girlfriend and Cassie is his daughter." "Wait… You're that moron's girlfriend?" I say the words before I realize it and immediately I cover my mouth with my hands. What did I say, they will hate me. "Shhhhhttt malyy, breathe in and out." There is no way I could have anticipated the reaction that Hope is giving me. She starts laughing out loud and Cassie chuckles along. "I think that is the right way to describe Scott, yes. A big moron. What did he do this time?" I'm too confused to reply so Wanda does so in my place. "He challenged Carol and Pepper about whether their food would be edible, while doing nothing to help them." Hope makes a tsss sound. "That sounds like him alright. Probably hiding somewhere ant sized by now, he is quite a coward. But when you need him he will always pull through, and he really has a heart of gold. When you get to know him a bit better I'm sure you will see that." It's quite clear that Hope loves Scott a lot. "Yeah. My dad… He's a special case. But he will go through fire for his family. He has done it before and he would do it again without doubt." I smile at the two kind women. "So, teaching Cassie the 101 of self-defense?" Wanda asks, and Hope nods. "Yes, I think it's time she starts learning how to protect herself. Ant Man and The Wasp won't be around all the time to take care of danger. That's my alter ego by the way, The Wasp." The last part of the sentence is directed to me. "Right you are Hope." Wanda replies. We are interrupted when I can hear a loud male voice call out. "How is this possible?! I was standing still, I should have been invisible!" A bright laugh comes out of the woman standing over him, pinning the guy to the ground. Hope and Cassie wave and leave the training area while we walk towards the boxing ring. Now that we are closer I can see that the man on the ground is tall and muscular, with a grey skin and red tattoos covering every part of him. The girl on top of him is small, she has black hair and dark eyes. The thing that I immediately notice with her is that she is wearing a t-shirt with a logo and the words S.H.I.E.L.D. on it. She is the first one who I see wearing that. I make a mental note to ask Wanda about it later on. "Oh yeah, 3 points for Daisy, 1 for Drax. I'm killing you alien boy!" She turns towards us when she hears us coming. "Oh, hi Wanda! And who is that hot stuff that came along?" I blush and grab Wanda's hand. "This is Lidiya." It's as if I can feel annoyance radiating off Wanda, but I don't want to pry. Daisy winks at me before she takes a step back, letting the man stand up. "That's Drax by the way. He likes to call himself 'Drax the Destroyer', as far as I am concerned I am destroying him." She laughs with her own joke and I can't help but chuckle along. "Daisy, you and Lidiya's powers are in the same area. Maybe when she is feeling better you can join us in training sometime?" Daisy raises one of her eyebrows, and she looks me up and down. "Really? What's your power?" Uncomfortable I say: "I'm a fire starter. Well, and after it's started I can control it." She whistles through her teeth. "Nice! My nickname is Quake, this is because I control the earth. So it really is in the same kind of area. Good! When you're ready for it just come and get me, I'd love training with you." She sends me another wink and then she turns her attention back to Drax, who seems as if he is still catching his breath. "Let's go, next round!"

Wanda takes me outside next. "Where are we going?" I ask. "The stables. I just thought about it, and well maybe you'll like that." Is she really trying to win me back after Daisy her playful flirting? I get a warm feeling inside of me when I think of Wanda maybe being jealous about sharing me. "I love horses. I never had the change to ride one but I have always loved how majestic they look. So tall and proud." It's true, horses have always been my favorite animals. We walk for a while in a comfortable silence. The path we take is filled with flowers and I suspect she took this route on purpose. "We also have a library in the compound. I expect Stephen and Wong to be there, but when they are reading it's no use talking to them. The only response you will get is an 'uhu', without them exactly hearing what you were saying." I laugh, when I was younger I had this book that I absolutely loved. We didn't have the money to buy more books so I must have read it a hundred times. Every time I got completely lost in this world that wasn't real. The idea of having a library here with unlimited access and tons of books seems like a dream come true. When the stables appear into sight I can't help but feel excited.

At first we pass the paddocks, and I stop when I see a stunning creature trotting towards the fence. It's a white horse, as bright as the snow, with two gigantic wings on its back. I hold out my hand for him and when his nose touches it I can't help but smile like a little child. "So, Pegasus likes you huh?" A tall woman approaches us, blond hair covering her face and blue eyes look at me with an expression that's both stern and warm at the same time. "I guess that means that I like you too. My name is Valkyrie, I suppose you are Lidiya?" I nod at her, she is quite overwhelming and I don't know what to say. Wanda must have picked up on my thoughts, because the next thing she says is: "Lidiya still has trouble with being social, anxiety is haunting her which gives her a hard time." Valkyrie nods understandingly. "That's all right, don't worry about it. I know you have a pure heart, otherwise Pegasus wouldn't have been here. I'll see you at dinner tonight!" She holds up her hand and continues walking on the path towards the compound. Wanda gives me a soft punch, getting my attention. "She's something all right." I laugh with her comment and we continue our walk towards the stables. At the last paddock before we reach the stables I can see a young man leaning against the fence, looking into nothingness. "That's Loki." Wanda tells me. "He's Thor's brother. Used to be a bad guy but he has made amends. Still, always watch your back when you're around him." I can see a soft smile appearing on Loki's face, even though we weren't near him yet, he clearly has heard us. When we're finally close enough he turns around in a smooth movement, grabs my hand, goes through his knees and places a kiss on it. "My lady." He says, while getting up. "It's an absolute pleasure to meet you." Long black locks adorn his face and deep green eyes look into mine. Wanda coughs and I can see her rolling her eyes. "Knock it off Loki, she's not a damsel for you to subdue. Her name is…" "Lidiya." He finishes her sentence and gives me a big smile. "What are you doing here anyway?" He points into the nothingness. "Sleipnir is stretching his legs so I went to pay him a visit." I don't know who Sleipnir is but it's clear that Loki cares about him. "We'll leave you to it then, see you soon Loki." He just gives us a giant smile while turning back to the paddock. While Wanda is showing me the stables and introduces me to some of the horses, we suddenly come across Mantis. She is in one of the stables, her hands placed on a mares flank. "Hi Wanda, Hi Lidiya." She says and we greet her back. "What are you doing Mantis?" "Oh, Daisy her horse isn't feeling so well so she asked me to check up on her. One of the good things of my powers I guess." I smile at her, Mantis really is a sweet girl. "That's very sweet of you, don't let us keep you from your work. We'll see you later today." After a couple of minutes we leave the stables and we start walking again. "Next stop: the garage."