Nightmares and Thunderstorms
The wind was howling around her, tearing at her face and hands. The bullets sliced through like paper. She couldn't feel them. Not yet.
“Help me.”
She felt the blood before the pain. She sucked in a breath and felt her chest catch fire. Felt herself drowning.
“Wanda.”
She moved so fast. She could save them. She could do this.
“Didn't see that coming.”
She screamed.
The bullets sliced through and she sucked in a breath. She felt herself drown. She felt her chest catch fire.
“I can't leave,” he said.
“You have to.”
“I've tried.”
The bullets ripped through her chest in slow motion. She watched the skin burst apart, saw the holes begin to ooze. She was drowning in her own blood.
“You have to help me.”
“I don't know how.”
“Then I might be screwed,” he said dryly.
She screamed and felt the world explode around her.
“You can't stay here!”
“I can't leave without you!”
“I have nowhere else to go.”
She moved fast. The bullets sliced through like paper. She couldn't feel them. Not yet. She could save them. She could do this. She sucked in a breath and felt herself drowning. Her chest was on fire. Her legs were giving out. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel. She couldn't-
“Wanda!”
She came to gasping and screaming.
“Wanda! It's okay, you're safe. Just breathe. Wanda? You have to just breathe.”
She buried her face in his chest.
“You're safe,” Steve said, gently stroking her back. “I've got you. You're safe.”
She didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't her she was afraid for.
Breakfast was awkward.
To be fair, breakfast was usually some kind of strange. Sam was cooking, which was good, because Sam could cook. Rhodey and Steve could feed themselves, and Romanoff could probably approach a kitchen with her usual impossible skill but refused. Everyone else was hopeless. Vision didn't eat, and Wanda had never seen Stark cook and had been told in no uncertain terms that she never would. For her part, Wanda had a tendancy to forget about the open flames and wander off, distracted by her own thoughts.
Pietro had always done the cooking, when they needed it, or followed her around the kitchen putting out the fires she'd accidentally set.
“What shape?” Sam called as she walked into the kitchen. Romanoff was sitting at the table icing a nastly-looking lump on her head.
“What?” she rasped, throat raw from screaming last night.
“Pancakes,” Sam said. “What shape?”
She shrugged. Sam studied her. “I'll make you a mouse. It's classic.”
“Where is everyone?” she said hoarsely, sitting next to Romanoff, whose pancake appeared to have been a man she'd since decapitated.
“Steve just got back from a run,” Sam said cheerfully, “which means Rhodey is either gonna be here soon or he died of exhaustion-”
“Wasn't Steve doing a marathon today?” Romanoff said, putting down the ice and biting off one of the pancake's arms.
“Yup. I think Rhodey was joining for the last ten miles.” Sam flipped the pancake out of the pan with a flick of his wrist and caught it again, batter-side down.
“What happened?” Wanda said, nodding towards Romanoff's bruise.
“You,” she said tersely. “Last night.”
Wanda looked down guiltily. She could feel the chastising look Sam was shooting Natasha, waves of vague irritation and worry.
“Eat up,” he said chipperly, dropping the pancake onto her plate. She reached for the syrup and doused her breakfast.
“Clint's coming over today to look at the missing persons case,” Romanov said finally. Sam nodded.
“Tony said he'd come over for dinner, too.”
“Full house,” Romanoff said, sipping her coffee.
Rhodey and Steve entered the kitchen within moments of each other. Both were damp, Rhodey with sweat, Steve from a shower.
“I am never going for a run with you again,” Rhodey said, collapsing into a chair on the other side of Romanoff. Steve just smirked, wrapping his arms around Sam from behind.
“You didn't do the “on your left” thing, did you?” Sam asked, grinning up at his boyfriend. “Cause that's our thing.”
Steve rolled his eyes. “I made sure to pass him on the right.”
“Get a room,” Romanoff called, throwing a berry at Steve's ass, but her eyes were soft. Wanda could feel sadness rolling off her.
“Can I have a star pancake?” Steve said, heading over to the table. He smiled at Wanda and she felt guilt twist her stomach. “How are you feeling?”
Sick. At that exact moment, she felt her chest catch fire.
“Wanda!”
“Oh, christ-”
“Stand back, give her room-”
“I'm sorry.”
She was standing on the edge of a cliff.
“Pietro?”
She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended.
“I'm so sorry.”
She was standing on the edge of a cliff, one arm extended, and her brother was falling.
She snapped back into the kitchen just as the bullets ripped through her chest once more. She fell to her knees, gasping, clutching her chest. She opened her mouth to scream-
A cool, red hand clamped down around her mouth and over her eyes.
“Miss Maximoff,” a soft voice said calmly in her ear. “I am terribly sorry, but I needed to prevent you from doing any damage. I promise you, you are perfectly safe. I am going to let you go now. Please simply try to breathe.”
He let her go, and she fell to the ground. She stared at the wood for a few frantic seconds, pulling the oxygen into her lungs. Finally she looked up.
“Are you alright?” Vision said kindly.
She nodded, panting slightly. “Thank you.”
“I was merely trying to assist you,” the android said, almost stuttering. “I hope I did not add to your distress at all.”
She took another deep breath and managed a smile. “I'm alright,” she said. She looked around. “Is everyone else?”
Steve was kneeling on the other side of her. “We're fine,” he said. “You didn't hurt us.”
They came on a wave of comfort, but the words still curdled Wanda's stomach. “Please, excuse me,” she said, pushing herself off the ground. “I need to- take a walk.”
She could feel their worried glances following her, the anxiety and distrust. She pushed past it, moving up through the base without thinking, passing SHIELD agents who ducked out of her way and watched her go with fear in her eyes.
What am I still doing here? she wondered as pushed open the door to the roof. Why am I pretending to be something I'm not?
She sat back and let her powers take her.
“I'm calling Barton.”
“What good is he going to do?”
“She trusts him. Respects him.”
“She respects you, Steve, if she hasn't told you what's up yet-”
“Nat. She needs him.”
“Yeah. Okay. Call him. But if I were you, I'd get a goddamned therapist and I'd get one on speeddial.”
“Nat.”
“You're Mister Idealism here. I'm just the one following you around to make sure it doesn't get you killed.”
“She wouldn't hurt anyone.”
“No. Not on purpose.”
“I wouldn't have expected to see you up here.”
Wanda looked up, startled back into her own head. Vision was floating down towards her, cape rippling.
“Do you ever wear jeans?” she asked. He landed softly and sat down next to her.
“Do you think I should?” he said. She shrugged.
“I'd like to see it.”
He nodded slightly. “I would like to see you smile more often.”
She looked away, startled slightly.
“I don't wish to be forward. I just- I don't like seeing you unhappy.”
She chuckled softly. “I don't like it either.”
“I understand you are grieving,” he said, “and I am not trying to rush that, or belittle it. I just want you to know- we don't want you to be unhappy.”
“We?”
“They're good people downstairs.”
She nodded. “I think they are.” She sighed. “They can't change anything, though.”
“No,” Vision said quietly. “No. They can't.”
They sat in silence for a few moments, watching the lawn. A car rumbled down the gravel road.
“Why are you here?” she asked finally.
Vision was still watching the ground. “I like the height,” he said. “I like the ability to see a wider picture. It's a good place to think.” He looked over at her. “You?”
Wanda looked away. “When we were children Pietro and I used play hide-and-seek. He'd always go up to the roof to hide. I didn't like heights. He didn't think I'd follow him.”
“Did you?” Vision said.
“Of course.” She looked over at him and smiled. “I couldn't let him win.”
There was a loud clap of thunder and Wanda started. Vision rose fluidly and held out his arms to her. “Here. Let me help you down.”
She allowed him to scoop her up close to his chest, trying not let her face color at his nearness. He lifted smoothly off the roof and floated them down to the front door. Steve was standing just inside.
“Hey,” he said, opening the door. “I didn't know it was going to rain today.”
Vision tilted his head to the side. “It isn't,” he said faintly.
Steve looked confused for a second, then his whole face lit up. “Thor!”