CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
ONE STEP AT A TIME

TRAINING WAS HARD. BETH HAD never kicked and flipped so much in her entire life, and she was exhausted―︎though she had to admit that Natasha was an amazing trainer and over all a kind person. Luckily for Beth, Natasha had claimed that this was only the easy part, and that she wanted to get Beth into the swing of things before actually slamming her onto the mat to the point of knocking the breath from her lungs.

One thing Beth had learned about Natasha Romanoff, was that she wasn't known to show a lot of her emotions. She stayed professional, and smiled very little. But as Beth stood there, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Natasha train with her girlfriend, she found herself smiling. The couple continued joking with one another, Willow mostly initiating the joking and pulling Natasha along with her down the happy little rabbit hole.

Another thing Beth found was that she felt almost jealous of the two women's relationship. She wanted someone to laugh with and to hold her when she woke up in the middle of the night with nightmares. She wanted to be loved. She hasn't known what it was like to be loved by someone other than her parents. All she has known is fear, and she didn't want to feel like that anymore. She was so tired of being so afraid. And now, she was safe. She was out of HYDRA's grasp, and this was her only chance to ever get something remotely close to that.

She turned around just as a tear slipped down her cheek, quick to wipe it away before anyone could notice it as she walked away. Beth made her way outside, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she allowed the peacefulness of nature take over her. She sat on the bench that was placed outside and away from anyone, closing her eyes as all of the horrors that had ever happened in her life flashed through her mind.

"Beth?" Wanda's voice snapped her from her thoughts. "Is everything alright?" She met Wanda's eyes, before looking down to her hands only to find the pink surrounding her hands. She clenched her hands into fists, her jaw clenching before she relaxed. Wanda sat down next to the girl and looked at her with a small frown. "You can talk to me, Beth."

"I know." Beth whispered, nodding her head. She found tears filling her eyes all over again, and she wasn't even sure why it was that she was crying. All she knew was that a black hole of loneliness was heavy on her chest, and it was crushing her. She let out a teary chuckle, wiping away her tears. "I don't even know why I'm crying."

"Beth. . ." Wanda placed a hand on Beth's shoulder and the brunette just shook her head, looking out in front of her.

"I'm happy here. I'm safe here. I have people surrounding me that actually care about my well-being. But why do I feel so alone all at the same time? It's so suffocating and I just. . . I can't breathe." Beth ran a hand through her hair before continuing. "You know, I was sitting there, watching Natasha and Willow, and they're so―︎"

"In love? Perfect for each other?" Wanda questioned.

"Yes! Exactly!" Beth nodded. "I want that. I want to love someone the way that they love each other. I want to be able to look at someone they way Natasha looks at Willow. Why do I always want something I can't have?"

"What makes you think that you can't have that?" Wanda frowned, causing Beth to turn her head to look at her.

"I don't know what it's like to be loved like that, Wanda. How am I supposed to love someone like that when I don't know how?" Beth shook her head.

"You take it one step at a time." Wanda answered her, making Beth look at her once more. "I have never been the biggest fan of love at first sight. I'm more of the fall in love over time type myself. My point is, you will never know how to love unless you learn to try. Just. . . one day at a time. One tiny step forwards, even if it's only a simple 'hey'."

"Wanda, can I ask you something?" Beth hummed, processing the words Wanda just spoke to her. Wanda nodded her head in response. "Have you ever loved anyone?"

"Other than my family? No. After Pietro died, I spent awhile mourning, I didn't have time to focus on things like love. In fact, you are the reason why I moved from my stage of mourning. I became so focused on finding you, that the loss of Pietro wasn't as heavy as it was the months after he died."

"Can I ask about him? How he died?" Beth carefully questioned.

Wanda sat there for a moment, the memory of her brother dying so clear. She nodded. "He died a hero. He died saving Clint and a little boy's life. He went out the way I think he would have wanted, and that little detail seems to add a sense of knowing comfort. But he was my twin, he's a part of me that I will never get back. Someone I will always love and miss."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Beth whispered, placing a hand over Wanda's and giving it a small squeeze.

"What about you?"

"My mother." Beth answered. "My father died when I was young, fighting in the army so I was too young to truly understand the meaning of loss. But I understood it when my mother was taken from me. Murdered by HYDRA when I was only thirteen. HYDRA took so much from me. I have been running for so long, and sitting here beside of you in this free roaming facility. . . it all just feels so foreign to me. Something I've never done before."

"HYDRA will never touch you again, Beth. I promise you that." Wanda met Beth's eyes, sternly saying the words and pronouncing each syllable because she meant it. She would be damned if she allowed HYDRA to attempt taking Beth from her. She wouldn't let that happen, not when she had just gotten the girl out of that hell hole.

"Neither of us have experienced this so called love that everyone around us seems to have." Beth started, biting nervously on the inside of her cheek as she said her next words. Her eyes met Wanda's, searching for something, what it was she didn't know. But she continued. "What do you say that we take that tiny little step together. . .?"

Wanda looked at Beth and found a smile forming on her face before she nodded her head. "I'd like that."