It was safe to say that Wanda and Claire avoided seeing each other for the rest of the day if they could help it, a fact with which Jemma understood but disapproved of, so she devised a scheme to get them talking. As the day turned into late evening, Jemma gathered Wanda from her room (after she washed her face) and led her into the dining room to join the rest of the team for dinner. Everyone was already there, laughing and joking around like normal, but when Wanda walked into the room, her eyes naturally found their way to Claire's and the awkwardness settled into the room once more.

The chatter died down and the team shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Wanda struck up a quiet conversation with Jemma, keeping herself from looking in Claire's direction; which was easier said than done, considering that by the time that Jemma grabbed Wanda from her room, the only open spots at the table were in between Claire and Steve. Not wanting to subject Wanda to anymore awkwardness, she volunteered to take the seat next to Claire, leaving Wanda to sit next to the Star Spangled Man with a Plan himself.

"Jemma, could you pass me the potatoes, please?" Wanda asked keeping her Sokovian accented voice soft and low. Jemma gave her a sly smirk and looked over at Claire, nudging her with her elbow.

"Claire, could you pass the potatoes to Wanda?" Claire stiffened in her seat before she whimpered out an okay. With shaking hands, she grabbed the ceramic bowl the potatoes were in, and handed it to Wanda. Her breath hitched as the brunette's fingertips grazed her own as she took the bowl. She hoped—she prayed—that Wanda didn't hear her, though it didn't matter because Wanda inhaled sharply at the touch.

"Thank you," Wanda mumbled when Claire's hands let go of the bowl. Claire nodded her head in acknowledgement and went back to eating her food in silence. The rest of the dinner proceeded in a similar fashion and before long, one by one people left the table to escape the growing suffocation of the tension between the two young women.

After dinner came to an uncomfortable end, Claire walked back to her room, shutting and locking the door behind her. Walking over to her small desk, she took the old laptop that sat on top and carried it over to her bed. She sat on the bed, leaning her back against the wall and opening Skype. Steve had told her weeks ago that Bucky was out of cryo and living in Wakanda, but she's never had the nerve to talk to him...until now. She was still angry at him for not telling her that he planned to freeze himself again, though she admitted she needed someone to talk to, someone to give advice; and for someone who didn't have many wise figures in his life, Bucky gave good advice, though he tended to not listen to it.

She waited patiently for Bucky to accept her call, already second guessing the whole thing. It's probably like 3:00am or something over there. What was I thinking, he doesn't want to talk to me. Just as she was about to hang up, the screen blinked, and Bucky's bearded face appeared on the screen and he smiled.

"Hey, Claire Bear," he greeted her, sending her a bright smile. Claire returned it as best she could and chuckled at his little man bun.

"Hey, Bicky. How's Wakanda?" Bucky rolled his eyes at his lame nickname, chuckling at her. She hadn't changed.

"Wakanda's okay. Wish you were here though. It feels weird without you." He took a brief pause before he let out a loud sigh and began again. "I'm really glad you called, Claire. I really missed you."

"Yeah, well, you would've heard from me sooner had you not frozen yourself, you asshat," Claire said, her voice light and playful though she meant every word. She rubbed her nose and ran a quick finger by her eye, wiping the new tear that started to form. Bucky's smile disappeared and he looked...sad.

"You know why I did it. I really wish you could've been there with me before I went under, and it's my fault everything happened to you."

"No, Buck, it's not—"

"No, Claire. It is. I should've dragged you with us to the Quinjet. No, better yet, I shouldn't have gotten you mixed up in all this at all. Had I not dragged you in, you never would've been there." He ran his one arm across his beard and it was then that Claire noticed that Bucky's signature metal arm was gone.

"What happened to your arm?" she asked changing the subject. Bucky let out a dry chuckle as he rolled his eyes, looking over at the stub that was his shoulder.

"Fucking Tony Stark happened to my arm. Shot some blast and next thing I know, my body feels a little lighter, and I look and it's...gone."

"Does it hurt?"

"Nah," Bucky waved her off and smiled. "It does get a little inconvenient when I need to do normal two-armed stuff though, but what're you gonna do?" Claire giggled. "So, what brings this call? Not that I'm not happy to hear from you, but why now?" Claire sighed. She knew she had to get to the root of why she called, but she wasn't in any hurt. She cursed Bucky's bluntness in the back of her head.

"I need your advice." That was all she said.

Bucky gave a slow nod of his head and said, "Okay...?"

"You remember Wanda, right?" she asked. Bucky nodded his head.

"The Scarlet Witch right?"

"Nobody actually calls her that, but yeah, that's her."

"What about her?" Bucky shrugged his shoulders (though it was hard to tell with his left one).

"I...like her," Claire breathed out. Bucky looked unphased.

"I like her too. She looks like a sweet girl." Claire slammed the palm of her hand against her forehead and sighed.

"That's not what I mean, Buck."

"Well, then what do you—oooh. That like. Huh."

"'Huh'? That's all you have to say to this?" Claire raised her voice, though she wasn't angry, just surprised at Bucky's underreaction. She had expected him to laugh at her or maybe even get angry at her for who she was.

"What do you want me to say, Claire? I always kind of had a feeling you swung that way, so...—"

"What the hell do you mean you thought I swung that way? You knew I was gay?"

"Hell yeah, I knew. Other than the fact that you didn't fall for my rugged good looks, you didn't really try to hide it," Bucky said laughing and Claire rolled her eyes. "Remember when we went to that diner? Remember the waitress? Blonde hair and green eyes? You were flirting with her the whole time." Bucky continued to laugh as Claire sat hitting her head against her wall.

"And you're...okay with this? With me?" Bucky stopped laughing and looked straight into the camera, looking right into her eyes.

"Of course I'm okay with it. You're my best friend, Claire, in fact, you're like a little sister to me. You know I only want what's best for you, and no matter what I'll support you because...I love you Claire."

Claire teared up at his words and a small stray tear rolled down her cheek.

"What advice do you need?"

"I kissed Wanda, and I'm not sure if she liked it or not because when I first kissed her it was more of a mutual thing and we broke away after a few seconds, but then I kissed her again, and at first she seemed surprised and didn't really respond at first, but then she started kissing me back, except when we broke away again, she flipped out and left saying she didn't mean to do that. I just...I don't know if I crossed a line or something." Claire hung her head in defeat as the events of earlier in the day replayed in her mind.

She liked that she kissed Wanda, and she liked that Wanda kissed her back. She liked the feeling of her lips against hers and how she wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. She liked the feeling of electricity that flowed between them as they kissed. She liked the scent of Wanda's hair wafting into her nose as she brought her head closer to her. She liked the look of Wanda's smile when she was genuinely happy and she liked the bright green forests that lived in her eyes. She liked how soft Wanda's skin was and she liked caressing her cheek and feeling her relax under her touch. She liked the sweet melodic sound of her laugh and how it made her feel infinitely better whenever she heard it because hearing Wanda happy made her happy. She liked the sweet sound of her Sokovian accent saying her name, rolling the "r" ever so slightly. She liked everything about Wanda, from her greatest accomplishments to her greatest flaws. She liked Wanda.

Throughout her brief childhood, Claire had her fair share of small crushes, but none of them could even compare to how she felt about Wanda. She never felt this way about anyone, and that scared her. She also worried because she wasn't quite certain when these feelings developed. Did she always feel this way, even when she was trapped in Sokovia with her as a cellmate? Did these feelings come after their time in the Raft when Wanda opened a mental connection between them and they took comfort in each other to keep from going completely insane? Did they come from the many months on the run, knowing that she was her only friend?

"I'm sure you didn't cross a line. She might've gotten scared, but that doesn't mean that she didn't like it. I don't know much about her life, but from what I've gathered it isn't a good story. Just give her some space and time to come to terms with her thoughts and feelings and when she's ready, she'll come to you. You two should definitely talk at some point, but don't rush her. Just give her space."

Bucky gave her one more smile and Claire thankedhim for his advice before they signed off. Claire could do that; give herspace. It would be hard because every bone in her body screamed at her to go toher, but if she needed space, Claire would give it her, as her friend.