the monster within

Wanda awoke to the sound of her brother's hissed sokovian curses as he tried to untangle himself from his sister's grip. He realized soon enough that it was an impossible task to get out of bed with her clutching to his front.

"Steve is going to make me run extra rounds for being late.", he whispered to himself under his breath but Wanda caught it anyways, unable to suppress the grin that spread on her face at the bare thought of Captain America making her brother, a speedster, run around for being late.

The grin vanished almost as quickly as it came when she remembered her plan for today: tell Natasha the truth.

Although she had waited for so long to reveal herself to someone, the bare thought of actually doing it made her nauseous.

"Do you really have to go?", Wanda mumbled into her brother's chest, unconsciously tightening her grip around his torso as he let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Yes, I do, sestra. Steve will beat my ass if I miss training.", the older Maximoff said, although he doubted that his mentor would actually go through with said beating.

Wanda seemed to think the same thing because she snorted with a frown on her face. "Yeah, sure.", she mumbled ironically as her brother rubbed his eyes.

"Come on, Wands, just let me go please?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because some people actually enjoy their training sessions?", Pietro said with a smug grin on his face, as his sister playfully hit his chest.

"You do realize that sport isn't for everyone, right? Not everyone can be as fit as you are.", the brunette argued as she finally loosened her grip and let her brother go.

"You certainly aren't.", Pietro commented as he got out of bed only to be hit square in the face by a flying pillow, his smug grin vanishing in the process.

"Hey!", he exclaimed, picking up the pillow from the floor to aim it back at his sister, who quickly hid underneath her blanket for safety.

"Zbabelec (coward).", Pietro laughed as he threw the pillow back on the bed anyways.
As Wanda felt the pillow hit her from her place underneath the blanket, she finally crawled out of her safety cave with a pout on her face.

"Can't you skip training today?", she requested, doing her best to look as irresistible as possible. Pietro only rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't work on me, sestra.", he said, already heading for the door while his sister rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Whatever.", she mumbled, feeling nauseous again at the bare prospect of being left alone with her thoughts.

Pietro immediately caught the wave of anxiety, that certainly wasn't his own, in the back of his head and turned back towards his sister.

Crouching down so they were on the same level, he tucked a stray curl of chestnut hair behind her ear.

"I will be back in time for the talk with Nat, I promise. You won't go through that alone.", he promised, immediately feeling the soothing effect it had on his sister's nerves.

"Thank you.", she whispered, interlocking their fingers.

With another reassuring squeeze of her hand and a small kiss to her forehead, Pietro took off for his morning run with Steve.

As soon as the door was closed, Wanda missed her brother by her side.

She had always been the more clingy twin, having been depraved of physical affection after their parents had died.

Of course her and Pietro had had each other but a hug from her brother was never the same as a cuddle session with her mother.

Before her thoughts had the chance to wander towards even heavier topics (such as telling a certain redhead that she had been taking care of a witch for the past few months), the brunette got out of bed and put on black yoga pants and one of her brother's hoodies.

On her way to the roof, she stopped by the gym to retrieve her yoga mat and went to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen.

When heading towards the roof she once again opted to take the stairs instead of the much easier and faster elevator. Luckily, the Avenger's living floors were the ones directly underneath the roof so she only had to climb a couple of stairs.

Once she reached her destination, she rolled out her yoga mat and started stretching herself, focusing on the tasks she had set for herself, effectively stopping any unwanted thoughts from intruding her mind.

Wanda had decided early on that the roof was her favorite place in the whole tower. It was very rarely occupied by anyone else and it was up high enough for her to block out the thoughts of the people down in the busy streets of New York.
Usually she would come up here if she needed to clear her head.

When she heard the exit-door open and fall closed a second later, she was ripped out of her daydreaming process. Standing up from her position on the mat, she noticed Natasha making her way over to her.

"Morning, malyshka.", the redhead greeted her, smiling.

"Mornin'.", Wanda mumbled back, while trying to keep the rising panic at bay.

"I just came to check up on you after what happened last night.", the russian spy told her truthfully, offering the younger woman a cup of tea, which she accepted with a small "Thank you.".

"How are you feeling?", Natasha asked, sipping her own cup, which was filled with coffee.

"Good.", Wanda answered quickly, sipping her hot drink as well in a desperate attempt to cover up her nervousness.

By the raised eyebrow Nat was pointing at her, she guessed that she was doing a lousy job.

"Are you sure, malyshka?", the spy pried, obviously trying to coax Wanda into telling her what was on her mind.

"Yup.", the brunette answered shortly, not daring to say more, too scared that she would accidentally reveal too much. Especially if her brother wasn't here to protect her from the spy's reaction.

Rationally Wanda knew that she was more than capable of defending herself and that Nat would never hurt her. But the more irrational part of her mind practically screamed at her that she would only be safe with Pietro by her side. That he was the only one who could protect her.

"Alright.", Natasha sighed, dropping the topic for now. "You know where to find me if you change your mind, malyshka.", she added with a soft smile, which was reserved for very few people.

The brunette nodded slowly, watching the older woman walk away.

As soon as she was gone, Wanda let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. Telling Nat the truth would be even harder than she already anticipated.

"Maybe I don't have to tell her...", she thought to herself, putting the cup of tea on the next best available flat surface, getting back into the yoga position she had been in before Nat had joined her on the roof.

>>"Coward."<<, she heard the voice in her head say, huffing out a breath in annoyance.

"Excuse me?", she asked, trying not to let the voice irritate her concentration but of course it was already too late for that.

>>"What happened to 'I trust her'?"<<, the voice asked mockingly and if she wasn't trapped in Wanda's head, she would surely be grinning devilishly right now. The brunette could practically feel it.

"Look, it's not easy okay? I'm not scared that she'll hurt me, because I do trust that she won't do that.", the young witch stated confidently.

>>"Then what's the problem?"<<, the voice asked, sounding more annoyed than anything else.

"I just...", Wanda started but then she stopped herself. "That's non of your business, okay?", she tried to argue, feeling too vulnerable for her own liking.

>>"You do realize that I'm a part of you? If I really wanted to know, I could just take a look around in that pretty little head of yours."<<, the voice threatened, knowing how much Wanda would hate that from past experiences.

The aforementioned let out an exhausted sigh, getting out of her yoga position once again. She wouldn't be able to relax after all.

"I just don't want her to see me differently...", she admitted, running a hand through her hair before reaching out to take a sip from her, now cold, tea.

>>"Why? Because you hear voices?"<<, her roommate chuckled, although it held no humor in it. Wanda only rolled her eyes. "I wasn't planning on telling her about you anyway.", she mumbled with the edge of the cup pressed against her bottom lip.

The voice was quiet after that. If Wanda wouldn't have known better, she would have thought that she hurt her feelings.

"Thank you.", she mumbled, since she hadn't been in the mood for a talk with her inner demons today. To be honest, she never was but today all her energy and focus was reserved for her talk with Natasha. She had no energy to think about what the voice inside her head could be plotting.

Deciding that she had had enough of being on edge, she gathered up her things and made her way back inside where she put the yoga mat in the gym where it belonged.

"Jarvis, when do you think Pietro will be back?", she asked out loud, on her way towards her room.

"I am not quite sure, Miss Maximoff. Would you like me to inform you when Mr. Maximoff is within reach of Avengers Tower sensors?", the A.I. answered, making Wanda jump slightly. Despide having lived in his presence for a few months now, she still hadn't gotten quite used to him yet.

"Uhm, yes please.", she requested as she entered her room, closing the door with a sigh. Today was not going well so far, her anxiety and stress level higher than usually.

And she could feel it getting worse.

Wringing her hands together, she began pacing in front of her bed. "It's going to be alright. Pietro will be back soon and then you just tell her the truth.", the brunette rambled in an awfully poor attempt at calming her racing heart.

"It's not that fucking hard, damn it!", she exclaimed, angry at herself for being so scared and nervous about the whole thing. Why was her anxiety level rising drastically like that all of the sudden?

Before she knew it, the young witch was in the middle of a panic attack. Dropping down next to her bed, she pressed herself against the hard surface of the wall behind her.

Her breath was coming out in short and fast huffs and drops of sweat started to roll down the side of her face, dripping onto her arms as she pulled her knees towards her chest.

She could make out Jarvis' voice but he sounded too far away to understand as she felt her consciousness being pushed into the darkness, losing all control.

-

"Something is on your mind.", came the familiar voice of her best friend from the kitchen's doorway.

Turning around, Natasha smiled slightly. "You know me, Clint, there's always something on my mind.", she tries to brush it off, but he doesn't buy it. He knows her too well.

"You know what I mean.", he insists, hopping up on the counter, watching her mix together the ingredients to make pancake batter in one of their bigger bowls.

"Something happened last night and... when I went to check up on Wanda today, she was acting differently.", the redhead admitted, knowing that lying would be useless.

"Differently? How?", the archer asked, frowning in confusion. "When I went to talk to her about last night she was incredibly tense and couldn't even look me in the eyes.", Natasha explained, unable to keep the frustration out of her voice.

"I feel like I did something wrong.", she admitted, using the back of her hand to rub her eyes. After catching her little girl floating in her sleep, she had been too worried to do anything else then...well worry.

Realization hit her like a train.

"My little girl?", she thought to herself, slightly in shock.

When the hell had she started to think of Wanda as her little girl?

Before her mind could dwell on it, Clint started talking again.

"I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong, Nat. You've been wonderful with the twins.", he did his best to reassure his best friend, laying one of his hands on her shoulder.
"You're the only one they let in, the only one they truly trust. She'll tell you what's on her mind when she's ready."

Natasha smiled gratefully, turning her head to let him know how thankful she was for everything he had just said. He returned the smile as she momentarily covered his hand on her shoulder with her own.

"You know...If I didn't know any better, I would think that you have... a heart.", he joked, adding a dramatic pause for good measure, while he let his hand fall from her shoulder.

Gladly accepting the archer's way of distracting her from her worries, the redhead decided to play along, shooting him a confused look.

"A heart? What the hell's that supposed to be?", she asked, unable to contain a smirk.

The agents stared at each other in amusement before Clint finally gave up, raising his hands in defeat while a chuckle escaped his lips.

"Okay okay, you win, Romanoff.", he laughed, jumping onto the counter when Nat put a pan on the stove.

"You should know by now, that you can't defeat me, Barton.", the redhead said only half jokingly, raising one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Did it ever occur to you that I let you win on purpose?", the archer asked, managing to make Natasha laugh. "Of course you do.", she chuckled, sounding much like a mother soothing her child to end an argument before it even began.

"Excuse me, Miss Romanoff, but my sensors have become aware of Miss Maximoff hyperventilating in her room.", Jarvis broke the light-hearted atmosphere between the two agents.

Immediately shutting off the stove, Natasha made her way towards Wanda's room without second thought, her legs carrying her in the right direction on autopilot.

Her mind was already drowning in worry, making it hard for her to keep her usual cool.

When she arrived in front of the younger girl's bedroom door, barely registering that Clint had followed her, she grabbed the handle, not realizing that it was glowing red.

"Natasha wait-", the archer behind her tried to warn but it was too late.

With a sharp yelp of pain, the redhead yanked her hand away from the doorknob, her skin now burnt and stinging immensely.

"Fuck!", she cursed through gritted teeth, but when Clint tried to take a look at the injury she yanked her hand away again, this time from him.

"I'm okay.", she claimed, more worried about Wanda then herself right now.

"Jarvis, open the door.", she instructed not a second later, listening closely for a clicking sound, signaling that the door was unlocked, which she registered not shortly after.

Without second thought the spy kicked the door open and entered the bedroom. Wanda's red tendrils where everywhere, making various items float in the air, turning the sink on and off again, heating up the doorknob and making the lamp, which was hanging from the ceiling shake vigorously.

"What the hell?", Clint muttered behind her as he watched the doors of Wanda's bedside table open and close in short intervals.

Scanning the room in record time, Natasha spotted Wanda behind her bed, her body pressed securely against the wall and her arms wrapped around her legs, which were pressed to her front. Her face was hidden behind her arms, her forehead resting on her knees, but she could see the little girl shaking and hear her whimpering.

The sight shattered her heart.

Timidly she made her way over to the young brunette, dodging a few books on her way. "Wanda...", she tried to address the girl only to be pushed back by red mist right into the closet's closed doors.

She felt pain shoot through her back the moment it came in contact with one of the wooden handles. The spy quickly raised her hand, signaling Clint to stay outside. Though he wasn't very comfortable with the idea of Natasha being alone with Wanda in this state, he trusted her enough to stay put.

"Wanda... It's okay... It's me.", she tried again, slowly getting up from the floor. She received no reaction from the girl.

"Wanda, baby, come back to me please.", the redhead pleaded, hoping to coax Wanda out of the trance she was in. "I know you can do it. Follow my voice, okay?", she requested, remembering what Pietro had taught her about his sister's panic attacks.

"She's going to need an anchor to find her way back into reality.", he had claimed after Natasha had told him about what happened at the shopping mall, a few days after they had took them in. "It always helps when I keep talking to her so she can follow my voice back to me."

"Follow my voice, malyshka, you're so strong.", the redhead tried to encourage the younger girl when suddenly she raised her head, her eyes glowing a deep and dangerous scarlet red and some kind of crown with two spikes adorning her head.

"Leave me alone!", she shouted in a voice that definitely wasn't her own, angrily pressing Nat back into the closet.

The redhead groaned in pain. "Shit.", she muttered, trying to stand up but her head was spinning from getting knocked into the wooden closet twice.

When she was up on her feet again, not ready to give up, she tried breaking through to the girl once more.

"Malyshka, it's me... Natasha. I only want to help you, baby.", she promised softly, her voice breaking slightly because of the lump which was forming in her throat.

"Get out!", the brunette shouted once again, her voice still not her own.

"No. I'm not leaving you, malyshka.", Nat said determinedly. "You're not alone. I'm here. Come back to me, I know you can do it.", she kept talking as softly as possible, using her training to keep the fear out of her voice.

She approached the younger girl once more when she noticed the crown fading slowly. "It's okay, malyshka. I'm right here.", she kept talking as Wanda's angry red eyes where replaced with her soft green ones.

Natasha was engulfed in red mist again but this time it pulled her towards the younger girl, crawling underneath her clothes to feel her skin, making it tingle slightly.

With one final step she dropped down next to Wanda, immediately pulling her into her arms.

"It's okay, I've got you. I've got you.", she whispered into her brunette curls, as she cried into the older woman's chest, desperately clinging to her with both her hands and her powers as if her life depended on it.

After that the room was silent. Nothing was floating anymore, the sink had turned off permanently and the lamp was not shaking anymore.

The only thing breaking the silence where Wanda's heart-wrenching cries.