Skye watched Harry follow Natasha out of the room with some amusement. While he seemed to be clueless, she knew exactly what Nat thought of him. The only question would be if she'd admit it or stay in denial out of stubborn pride. Well, it wasn't the only question.
Skye wasn't sure if Nat was even interested in women, she wasn't sure if that was true for Wanda, either. The last thing she wanted was to open up their bedroom only to be relegated to a sideshow. Okay… that wasn't entirely true. The sudden image that had materialized in her mind of her being tied up by Natasha, who gloated and taunted her as she rode Harry, was far too titillating. But that was beside the point. Having a bit of sexual play where she was forced to watch sounded fun. Being left out in the cold in her own relationship would not be.
Not that she thought Harry would purposefully exclude her. It wasn't a question of his honor, but of Wanda and Natasha's interest. This was her chance to fuck two of the most attractive women she'd ever laid eyes on, and while she wasn't above using their obvious attraction to Harry to facilitate that, they had to have some real interest in her for this to work out.
And to be honest, she hadn't had a particular interest in Wanda until this very morning. Yes, she was stunning, but Wanda hadn't seemed to be her type. But things had changed when the pieces of Wanda's interference came together, because when she thought back to that morning, she could hear Wanda's voice in her head, sexy, silky, encouraging, demanding. This girl had a filthy, debauched mind behind her reserved exterior, and a sex drive that was howling at its chains, begging to be let out. Skye, for her part, wanted to see what it would be like in the sights of Wanda's fully armed and operational libido.
So, while Harry went to check in on Natasha, Skye had the opportunity to feel out Wanda. It'd be far easier to get a read on the younger woman, already she was wearing her heart on her sleeve. It'd be easy to tell if she had any genuine attraction for Skye by how she reacted to some not-so innocent flirting. "Well, I think they'll be a while." Skye opened "How about we go somewhere a little more… intimate." She quirked her eyebrows suggestively, and just as she had when Skye had checked her out, Wanda turned red.
"Intimate?" She squeaked "Uh, I mean sure? Why not. Where too?" Her stammering was both adorable and encouraging.
"I was thinking my room." Skye told her.
"Oh." Wanda uttered, and then blinked in confusion as Skye rose and offered her hand. After a moment of silence, Wanda took the hand, and Skye made of show of tugging her up with a little too much force. Wanda spun right into Skye, and they collided a little harder than she had intended. The impact forced the breath from both of them, but the upshot was that their faces were mere inches apart, and Skye got a front row seat to the myriad of expressions that flickered across Wanda's face in that moment. They had both wrapped their arms around the other for stability, but neither made a move to step apart.
A few beats passed, and Skye leaned in, prompted Wanda to part her lips in anticipation. She was expecting a kiss and was ready for it. She was more interested than Skye had hoped, but she didn't have any plans of taking direct action today, and not at all until she'd gotten Harry's go-ahead. So instead, she breathed into Wanda's ear "Shall we?"
She could feel Wanda shiver, and as tempting as it was to press her luck, Skye knew it was best to take her time with this. She pulled back and sashayed away, leaving Wanda to stare dumbly after her for a few seconds before she gathered herself and hurried after Skye.
And yes, she was aware of Wanda's eyes on her ass. Harry wasn't much of an ass-man, but Skye was proud of it, damnit! She didn't wear these tight jeans for nothing. So she was pleased when, as she turned to open the door, she caught Wanda purposefully averting her eyes to the ground, her face still burning red. "Like what you see?" She asked as Wanda followed her into her room. This provoked another round of stammering, until Skye offered her an out "The room."
Wanda blinked. "Yes. It's a very nice… room."
"Harry's a great teacher." Skye mentioned "He really helped me control my powers, I'm sure he'll be able to help you, too."
"How did he teach you?"
Wanda's innocent question had a not-so innocent answer. Certainly, Harry had helped her with his instruction, patience, and support, but there would always be a certain technique that stood out in her mind. "Well, I particularly enjoyed when he edged me, to help learn control."
"E-edged?" Did Wanda not know what edging was? Perhaps Skye had a few things to teach her as well.
"Well, I lost control of my powers whenever I came, so keeping right at the edge of cumming was a great way of both getting them to manifest and learn to control them. It worked, too."
"That sounds frustrating." Wanda murmured "Why would you enjoy that?"
Skye cocked her head and motioned for Wanda to take a seat on her bed. "Its not for everyone, but I love that feeling of being under someone else's power, completely wrapped up in them, nothing else to worry or think about. And Harry's damn good at it." She paused, trying to phrase this next part correctly, for maximum impact "I've had a lot of sex, Wanda. A lot of great sex, but Harry is the best I've ever had, and it's not close. I mean, you saw me and Harry. Being with him… flips a switch inside of me. You saw what I was like." She crouched down in front of Wanda, who had seated herself on the bed. "He was right here, on this bed. And I was kneeling in front of him." Wanda nodded, transfixed as Skye reenacted the morning's scene. "What did he think of me?" Skye asked "Did he like what he saw?" The question of 'Did you like what you saw?' went unasked.
"Yes." Wanda whined, eyes staring down at her cleavage as she clearly was remembering the view from that morning "He thought you were… hot. He loved it… you."
"And my mouth, did it feel good?"
Wanda shuddered, gasping softly. It was enough of an answer for Skye, who crawled up so that she could whisper into Wanda's ear…
And that was when her phone buzzed. Right, they all had jobs to do, and as much as Skye would love to tease Wanda for hours on end, she was scheduled to meet with Tony, Pepper, and Hill about Hydra's research files. "Duty calls." Skye shrugged.
She supposed leaving it there was perfectly fine. She'd certainly left an impression on Wanda, if the way her eyes followed Skye as she left the room were any indication.
Hopefully Harry's talk with Natasha was going just as well.
-----
Natasha successfully dodged Harry for much of the day. It was easy, if she were being honest, Harry wasn't exactly subtle in his attempts to talk to her and there was plenty of ready distractions available, there was always work to do.
She was only foiled late in the afternoon, when Skye (the traitor!) successfully diverted Steve with a conversation about what they'd learned about Hydra's Winter Solider program, leaving her alone with Harry. The conference room was engulfed with an awkward silence the moment the door closed behind them, and Nat struggled with what to say. What could she say?
"Well, do you want to talk about this, or would you rather pretend none of this happened and you didn't hear anything?" He asked her bluntly.
She was grateful for his straightforwardness, but she hated it, too. If he'd been more subtle, she could have deflected, delayed, deferred, she could have avoided committing to anything and kept her options comfortably open. It was much harder to just have an honest conversation.
But perhaps it was long overdue.
She'd been running from this for far too long, like she'd run from so many other things, and running had gotten her nothing. Maybe it was time that she stopped.
"We should talk." She finally said, the words heavy in her mouth.
Harry smiled, and the genuine gratitude in his expression melted her heart, just a tad. Skye was lucky.
And just maybe, she could be too. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, the prospect of sharing him, or being in a relationship with more than one person. She didn't know how she felt about Skye, let alone Wanda.
But she knew she loved him.
"Great, that's good." Harry rambled "I just want you to know that-"
"Wait." Natasha interrupted. Harry stopped talking, mid-sentence. "Before you say anything… I need to be honest."
Harry nodded silently, his eyes intent on her.
"Because I haven't been. Honest with you, that is. I haven't for a while now. The truth is…" She paused, gathering her strength. Storming a Hydra base, running ops, going undercover, lying- that was easy. Why was being honest so hard?
The answer came to her immediately. Being honest meant leaving yourself vulnerable. Trusting someone meant leaving yourself open to their betrayal. If she let Harry know how she really felt, he could hurt her more badly than she would care to admit. But looking at him now… his eyes held no judgement. He was just waiting, letting her gather her thoughts, open for whatever she had to tell him. If she changed her mind right that moment, he wouldn't question it. He'd let her curl back in on herself and respect her decision. He trusted her.
And that, more than anything, was what gave her the strength to push on. "The truth is, I love you." The words escaped in almost a gasp. Harry looked stunned, mouthing a silent 'what?'.
But Natasha was on a roll now, and nothing could stop the words from spilling from her mouth one after another, quicker and quicker. "I lied to you after the battle of New York. You told me you wanted a family, and that's the one thing I'll never be able to give you. I'm infertile. The red room sterilized me, I'd never be able to give you children. So I lied, so that you could find someone who could give you everything you deserved."
Harry was quiet, and his silence stretched on. Natasha could only wait for his judgement as he processed what must have been a huge bombshell. Finally, he spoke "So you broke things off with me… for my own good?"
"You could put it that way, yes."
His eyes narrowed "And you didn't think I should have a say in what would make me happiest?"
Natasha had justified not talking with him about this to herself as saving him from his own nobility. He might stay with her out of a misguided sort of honor rather than choosing the option that truly would make him happier. But in the cold light of day, she saw that for what it was, and excuse. The truth was, she didn't talk to him about it because she couldn't bear the thought of him rejecting her. If Harry had turned her away after revealing something so deeply personal, it would prove that she was every bit as broken and ruined as the Red Room had told her she was.
"You're right, you should have." She admitted. "I was afraid, that you might reject me, and what that would mean about me."
Harry put a hand to his forehead, his expression pained. "I wouldn't have."
"You… wouldn't?" Even hearing him say it, she could hardly believe it.
"We could have adopted, if it ever got to that point." Harry seemed beyond distraught, and she had no idea what to do or say to fix this "I was an orphan. Adopting sounds… wonderful to me. Giving some kid a home, a life, the family they deserve." He shook his head "You shouldn't have made that decision for me, Nat. That's the sort of stupidly noble thing that I would…" He paused and then muttered "Fuck."
"What is it?" Natasha asked, growing alarmed.
"No, it's nothing to do with you. I just realized that I'm a prat, is all." Harry muttered "And a hypocrite. Don't worry about it."
Natasha wasn't following, but knew how to get him to elaborate, she just had tilt her head and give him a piercing look and... Harry folded immediately "You're not the only one who's broken up with someone for their own good. Merlin, I'm surprised Ginny didn't just hex me on the spot."
Oh, now that was ironic. "So you can dish it out, Mr. Potter, but you can't take it?" She teased.
"I got enough trouble from Ron and Hermione about breaking up with her. You don't need to join in too." Harry grumbled.
"Sounds like you deserved it." Natasha smirked, and then continued more soberly "And so do I. I truly am sorry. I should have been more honest before, but I will be now."
Harry softened and he placed a hand on her arm "You're forgiven." His smile filled her with warmth. She wanted to hold onto that, drink in every bit of him that he'd give her. But things were far more complicated than that. Harry's smiled faded into something far more uncertain "So, where does that leave us? I'm sure you heard… what Wanda and Skye said."
Natasha let out a breath. "Is that something that you'd want?" Do you still want to be with me?
"Yes." The uncertainty was gone, and for a brief moment Natasha was transfixed by the conviction in his voice, and in his eyes. He wanted to be with her, still, after everything.
Was she reckless enough to take what was being offered? Was she foolish enough to turn it down?
"I want it to." She admitted "But, its complicated." That was the truth because the question wasn't just if she wanted to be with Harry. There was also Skye to consider. And Wanda. "I don't know what Skye expects out of this. I don't know what to think about Wanda, either."
Harry nodded, not appearing to be surprised "So, you're attracted to women?" He asked. It was a perfectly valid question. There was a time where Natasha would have said 'no', but after running missions with female marks, she'd come to realize that it was easy for her to become attracted to women once she opened herself up to the idea.
"Its not something I advertise." She shrugged "But I am."
Harry huffed out a laugh "Huh. This could actually work." He shook his head "I can't believe it."
Natasha snickered and flicked his shoulder "Don't get an ego now, we'll have to find a way to put you in your place."
Harry raised his hands in surrender "No ego here. Just can't believe my luck. It feels like it alternates between being insanely terrible and insanely good."
Her smile softened "Well, lets work on getting that good luck to stick, shall we?"
-----
Elisa knew that her position was tenuous. While Shield had been fatally wounded, Hydra had as well. Hydra's leadership had been detained or killed, leaving what was left of the organization headless… at least for the moment.
Frankly, the death or capture of most everyone with power and influence in Hydra was a boon for her. There really was only one… person who could challenge her.
This was why she had come to Camp Lehigh. The once unremarkable training camp had gotten its notoriety by hosting Steve Rogers, and had evolved into a Shield base after the war. It had officially been abandoned for years, but the facility still had one resident.
She hadn't known Armin Zola's location, just that he existed. He'd been hard at work after the Avengers defeated Hydra, and many of the Hydra cells she had compelled to her side had revealed that Zola had been in contact.
It was time to nip this problem in the bud. Tonight, either Zola would come under her control, or she would give him a long overdue death and burial.
Personally, she hoped it would be the former. She knew this staff had incredible potential, and that she was merely scratching the surface in her use of it. She would have gotten more insight into its nature if she'd been able to stay at the Sokovia facility, but she'd been forced to retreat, and it had been stripped clean when she had returned.
It was a bitter pill to swallow, because while she could do great things with the staff, it wasn't enough, not nearly enough. Potter could resist the mind control affect, and Wanda Maximoff could dispel it from anyone with a flick of her wrist. While Hydra and Shield had been mortally wounded, the Avengers had emerged from the battle stronger than ever.
Her only hope was the staff. It was powerful, monstrously powerful. She could feel it in her bones. She just needed to figure out its secrets, and for that, she needed insight. She needed Zola.