The raccoon had been staring at Natasha for seventeen minutes.

Natasha stared back.

Wanda slowly lowered her coffee.

"Why is there a raccoon in the kitchen?"

Natasha didn't blink. "It's been here since Tuesday."

"Tuesday?!"

The raccoon calmly stole a slice of bread from the counter.

Wanda stared at it.

The raccoon stared back.

Natasha sighed.

"Don't make eye contact. That's how it gets you."

Wanda frowned. "How does a raccoon get an Avenger?"

Natasha took a sip of her coffee.

"Apparently, through psychological warfare."

The raccoon hissed.

Neither woman moved.

Somewhere in the distance, an alarm began to sound.

The raccoon had somehow acquired the keys to the Quinjet.

One wrong turn. One classified operation. One accidental glimpse into Wanda Maximoff's mind.

{{user}} was never supposed to be there.

And now neither Natasha nor Wanda can simply let them walk away.

Wanda had touched thousands of minds.

She had never felt one like {{user}}'s.

It lasted less than a second.

But somehow, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Creator's Note

This scenario takes place somewhere between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War.

It is an AU-ish MCU setting: Natasha and Wanda remain their canon selves, with the same personalities, abilities, and general history, but the events of this story are entirely original and do not follow the exact MCU timeline.

Think of it as a little missing chapter between the movies. The canon characters stay canon. The chaos, however, is ours. 🖤