"I can't breathe."
Wanda was angry. Rightfully so I would say, but I think she's taking things a bit too far. We just got back from a mission, we were fighting hyrda agents again and Wanda was fighting off one of the more stronger agents, and she looked like she needed some help, so I did just that. I knocked the guy out first hit, and the look Wanda gave me, I was sure she wanted to tear me in half.
Ever since Wanda joined the avengers, left that terrible hyrda program, and lost her brother, she felt out of control of just basically everything in her life. She already felt out of place from every single other avenger, and even thinks they let her join out of pity. Of course, she's never admitted this out loud before, but as a former spy, im pretty great at reading peoples minds without any powers. Since knowing this, I know I probably should have trusted her to be able to fight on her own, but I just had this feeling inside me, this strong urge to just protect her. Maybe that was just my habit of also wanting to be in control of everything and everyone, but at least Wanda was alright. At least physically.
I slam the front door of the compound open, quickly walking into the building with the intention to go to my room, when Wanda storms in right behind me and slams the door shut behind her, using her powers to stop me from walking. I furrow my eyebrows and I turn my head behind me and at Wanda, immediately noticing the look of pure rage on her face, and I can't help but feel like she's making a big deal out of the whole situation.
"I had that under control, Natasha!" The witch yells as she starts walking towards me angrily, and I stiffen slightly. The red particles that was just wrapping around me moments ago disappeared and I relax my shoulders. Wanda stops right in front of me, and I can almost feel the heat radiating off her of as she breathes heavily. I clench my jaw, staring into her eyes.
"Oh did you now? Cuz by the looks of it, you looked like you were losing." I raise my voice at her sternly. My irritated expression drops and I immediately regret what I said, knowing that it was a bit too harsh, especially for someone as sensitive as the young brunette in front of me. I can see Wanda's expression soften slightly, but she quickly covers it up as she as well clenches her jaw and breathes out through her nose.
"I was doing perfectly fine! You didn't need to just barge in and make everything about you like you always do!" Wanda yells at me, her sokovian accent becoming more prominent the more angrier she got. My head jerks back in slight offence, anger flowing through my body. I remain calm, not wanting to act out and make matters worse when she's already this angry. I keep reminding myself that she's only acting out like this because of trauma, I can understand because im the same way at times. But it's getting harder to control myself when she's speaking like this to me. She grits her teeth at me, and I look down at her hands when I see red particles coming out of them.
"Just because you've been here longer, and im a newbie, doesn't mean you can just walk over me like im a rug mat!" The brunette exclaims, and I take a deep breath and huff out. I frown at her words, my expression softening again. I feel somewhat guilty for making her feel like she doesn't matter, it was never my intention. I wish the witch would realize I didn't do it to try and flex on her, but because im protective of the people I care about. Damnit all if that makes me sound corny.
"I wasn't walking over you! I was trying to help you, Wanda!" I defend loudly, motioning my hand out in front of me to emphasize my words more clearly. I take notice in the way my words have seem to make her more angry and I fight back the urge to wince.
"I don't need your help!" She yells louder this time, jerking her hand out in front of me, and by the looks of it, it looks like she's going to go and hit me. For some reason that brings back memories of Dreykov and the red room, and how he used to hit me when he was angry, so I flinch. hard. My breath hitches and I squeeze my eyes shut, facing away from Wanda.
Wanda immediately sees this, and her face drops in worry. Never in my life have I flinched like that before, even when someone's actually goes to hit me. I always either block the attack, or move out of the way. Wanda stares at me for a few seconds, completely speechless. I slowly turn my head towards her, realizing what i've just done. My hands involuntarily starts to tremble slightly, my breathing picking up. Wanda's expression switches to one of sadness, frowning deeply and I can tell all of the anger she previously had is gone. She takes a step closer to me, and I take a step back away from her. I don't know why im acting like this, I know she'd never hurt me. But I can't help but feel the aura of Dreykov lingering around. I know Wanda is nothing like him, so why am I so scared of her right now?
"Natasha.." Wanda whispers, she looks scared and honestly I can't blame her. I stiffen, looking at her like im about to burst into tears. The brunette doesn't know what to do, knowing that if she tries to approach me, il just back up again. A million thoughts are racing in my head right now, most of them being the awful memories of the red room. A tear rolls down my cheek but I don't even realize, too caught up trying not to have a full blown panic attack in front of the younger woman in front of me.
"Hey.. listen. You're okay, you're safe im not gonna hurt you, I would never hurt you." The sokovian says in a gentle and caring tone, bringing a hand out in front of us carefully, trying to reach out for me slowly. My whole body starts shaking, and my eyes drift down to the floor. The walls feel like they're closing in on me, and I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe? Why does every small noise in the room sound and feel like nails on a chalkboard right against my ear? I can hear Wanda's voice, but it sounds like she's underwater. I look up and see the floor is closer to me, meaning im on the ground. When did that happen? I feel fuzzy, almost like im floating but I still can't breathe. I feel wetness on my cheeks, and I can only assume its tears. Unless I somehow started bleeding. Did Dreykov hit me again? Why is Dreykov still here I thought he was dead? I can't breathe.
"Nat please! Breathe.. in and out. Look at me please, follow my breathing." I hear Wanda say, and it takes me a few seconds to process her words. I look up at her, but she's kind of blurry. I can see her chest rising dramatically and I try my best to follow it. I hold my shirt right by my chest with a death grip, choking out breathes. I can slowly start hearing things more clearly, and when I do, I can hear Wanda's heavy breaths, my uneven ones, and my pathetic sobs coming out of me. I try my best to ignore it, breathing in and out dramatically, occasionally gagging because of how much im sobbing. Wanda has a tight hold on one of my shoulders, the other hand holding mine at her chest.
Once I get my breathing even, I can finally see things clearly. When I do I see the tear tracks down Wanda's cheeks and I frown in guilt knowing im the cause for such distress. I exhale shakily and wipe off the tears off my soaked cheeks. I look up at the witch like a sad puppy.
"Im so-" "No." I go to apologize but Wanda cuts me off. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, and instantly Wanda wraps me in a tight hug. This takes me by surprise, but deep down I understand. I hesitantly hug her back, closing my eyes as I rest my forehead on her shoulder. My body feels weak and sore from all that freaking out I just did. I feel a rush of embarrassment at the fact Wanda just saw me in such a state of vulnerability and distress.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have acted like that, I was irrational. I was just scared and upset, but that's not an excuse for how I treated you." Wanda apologizes in a soft tone, like she was talking to a small child. Normally I would hate it, and it would annoy me, but right now all I need is comfort and reassurance so it makes me feel warm. I sniffle and nod, not really wanting to speak, and it seems like Wanda caught onto that, which im grateful for.
She leans away from the hug and grabs each of my cheeks with her hands, staring into my eyes. I look right back into hers and I put my lips in my mouth. She wipes the tears that left my eyes again, not too sure as to what im crying about again, but it doesn't matter. The corners of my lips curve in a small smile, blinking slowly at her. She mirrors my smile, and I wipe her tears with my sleeves, which makes the witch let out a giggle. My smile widens when she giggles, butterflies erupting in my stomach. I can't deny that wasn't the first time i've gotten butterflies because of the younger brunette. I shake off the feeling, letting myself enjoy the moment.
"Here, lets get you up off the ground." Wanda says, standing up suddenly and making my smile fade. I look up at her as she puts a hand out in front of me, offering a helping hand up. I take her hand, jumping to my feet and I look into her eyes for a few seconds before her gaze snaps towards the kitchen in front of her. I look back to it too with a questioning gaze.
The witch drags me to the kitchen, a firm but gentle grip on my hand as she does so. I watch as she opens the cupboard and grabs two cups, and gets some things she needs to make a hot chocolate. I hum in curiosity, and she turns her head towards me with a kind smile that makes my knees weak.
"Want one?" She asks me, and I nod with a smile. I watch as her eyes gleam with excitement and she turns back to the things in front of her. " How about you go sit on the couch while I make it?" Wanda suggests, going over to the kettle and turns the tap on, waiting for warm water so she can fill the kettle up. I nod even though she can't see me, and I walk over to the couch. I sit down on the left side, bringing my knees to my chest and I rest my chin in between them. I close my eyes as exhaustion threatens to take over me.
After about 10 minutes, Wanda comes into the living room with a cup full of hot chocolate in each hand. She hands me the red cup and I take it gratefully, smiling up at her as she walks over to the couch. She sits right next to me and places her cup on the coffee table and I take a sip of mine, humming in satisfactory. I close my eyes as the warmth flows through my body, and I rest my head against Wanda's shoulder. I can feel the witch stiffen for a second in surprise before she relaxes, running her hand through my red hair. My body relaxes fully and I can feel Wanda take the cup out of my hand and place it on the table, but I couldn't care less.
The brunette wraps her arm around my body, holding me close against her body. She starts humming a random melody and almost instantly, I fall asleep to the warmth of her body and her beautiful voice. All my worries washing away in the blink of an eye for the time being.