Better Days

WANDA POV:

Nat and I shared a bedroom while Tony, Vision, Clint and Steve all got their own bedrooms. Rhodey, Thor and Sam all slept in the living room. Of course the first night there, I got almost no sleep due to the terrible nightmares that plagued my sleep. I spent the majority of that night sobbing into Nat's arms, desperately trying to erase the images of the furious faces of the Avengers out of my head. Natasha assured me that everything was fine and that they were no longer mad because it had been taken care of. That thought eased my mind a bit but I still didn't really sleep.

We stayed at the safe house for three days and I was bored out of my mind. Nat didn't let me go outside at all and the only rooms in the house were bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, so not much fun. 

My legs were also tired from standing all day. Every time I sat down, I felt a stinging sensation in my backside, a constant reminder of the punishment that occurred recently. The rest of the team weren't nearly as bored because they were still on a mission with all of the men. They had to make sure that every man was either killed or captured, so they had a lot of work to do. 

I, on the other hand, had nothing to do other than watch the birds out my window. I was also constantly being monitored by someone on the team which sucked. Nat told me I required a babysitter while we were here since she couldn't trust me to stay put. I didn't argue because I didn't want to land myself back over her lap.

The members of the team would take shifts, one would stay with me while the others went and fought. Then after a few hours, another one would miraculously appear and they would switch off. At some point, they had acquired a car so that they were able to switch off. It sucked, having a babysitter. I was 16. Whatever.

The mission was finally complete and we were heading home. The ride home was not super comfortable due to the slight pain that still hung around in my backside but at least we were going home and my grounding would end. 

We dropped off Clint at the farm on our way home. Nat and I actually got to get off of the jet for a few minutes to say 'hi' to the family. Lila of course came running right up to me, leaping into my arms and giving me a huge hug, the second I got off of the jet. Cooper gave me a small hug and then Laura enveloped me into a big hug. I melted into her warm embrace as I stood there, missing spending time with this family.

"Are you staying?" Lila asked as she bounced around.

"No, sorry Lila," I said as I held baby Nate in my arms. "We'll have to come visit soon though!" I told her excitedly. 

"Oh, okay," she said, seeming upset. "You should come tomorrow! We'll have so much fun!" Lila shouted as she went back to her excited jumping. I looked to Laura, who was talking quietly to Nat, for help.

"They'll come see us soon honey, I promise," she told her. 

"Okay! Well bye-bye Wanda! I love you and I'll miss you!" Lila said as she hugged me once again. 

"Bye Lila! Bye everyone!" Nat and I gave our final hugs as we climbed back onto the jet. Even though we had only seen them for five minutes, I immediately felt at home again and desperately wanted to stay.

The rest of the flight home was uneventful, although Sam and Thor did come to stay at the compound for a little bit instead of leaving. I liked Sam, he was funny and nice. Thor was kind of loud but he wasn't mean, just loud.

I got off of the jet and headed inside to find Pepper sitting in the living room. She got up off of the couch and pulled me into a hug. I had gotten a lot of hugs in the last 24 hours. 

"Don't you ever do that again!" Pepper scolded gently as she rubbed the back of my head. "You scared me to death when your mother texted me, telling me that you had snuck out to the mission." She grabbed me by the shoulders and moved me back away from her chest, fixing me with a stern glance.

"Nat already took care of it," I mumbled, not wanting to bring back up what had happened a few days ago.

"Oh I know," she smiled at me. I groaned as I blushed. Why did Nat have to tell everyone what had happened? Everyone would think I was a baby now.

I followed Nat back to our room, flopping onto the bed with a large huff. I was glad to be home. "Finally! We're home! No more boring house!"

Nat laughed at me as she threw some clothes in the laundry. "You act like we were kept locked away in a single cell."

"That's what it felt like! You at least got some action outside of the house, I just had to sit there. I made really good friends with a bird though."

"Whatever," she laughed as she nudged me. "That's what you get for sneaking out."

"I know," I huffed, sitting up with a wince.

"It does not still hurt," Tasha smirked as she looked at me.

"Yes it does! It hurts, you know you didn't have to be that hard on me," I told her dramatically.

"I went easy on you," she told me simply. My eyes widened when I realized that what happened was considered a "light" punishment. 

"Can we train?" I asked, changing the subject. I hadn't gotten to train at all while we were at the safe house. I know that Nat had said that I wasn't ready to be an Avenger yet so that meant that I needed more training. 

She sighed but answered with, "I was going to rest and watch a movie but I guess." She smiled at the end, showing me that she was joking. As relaxing as it sounded to take a nap while we watched a movie, I knew I needed to train if I wanted to be ready for the next mission. 

We both got dressed into leggings and tank tops and headed down to the gym. Steve was already in there, beating up a punching bag. "Hey," he said as we entered. "I was thinking, it's up to you Nat but I think Wanda may be ready to start training with the other Avengers."

I looked at Nat excitedly. "Can I?"

She looked between the two of us before she sighed. "I guess," I cheered. "But you have to listen to us very carefully. If we tell you to do something, you need to do it, no questions asked. Got it?"

"Yup!" I was excited I was finally considered good enough to train with the Avengers. This was a huge step up from moving bean bags around the room. I would basically agree to anything if I meant I got to actually challenge myself in training. If I had known that all I would get to do when we got back to the compound was move bean bags, I wouldn't have agreed to leaving the farm several weeks ago.

"Perfect, we are actually about to start a training session so warm up and we'll start in a few minutes," Steve told us as he moved to the supply closet, pulling out different targets. 

Nat had me do a few laps around the gym while the other members slowly trickled into the gym. I was very energetic from excitement. 

Tasha pointed to where everyone was lining up so I walked over and stood next to Sam, watching as she walked up to stand next to Steve. Steve started giving us instructions. He had given everyone something to do except for me. 

Everyone headed off to do their respective training and I was left standing there, my excitement slowly draining. "You, come with me," he said as he pointed to me. Nat walked further into the gym to go watch Sam and Rhodey spar and I was surprised when she didn't follow Steve and me out the door.

I was hit with a blast of cold air as we left the building. It was still fairly cold outside and I was only wearing a pair of thin leggings and a tank top. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to create some heat, as I followed Steve further away from the compound.

We continued walking until we got to a nice clearing in the woods. I continued looking behind us, expecting to see Nat jogging to catch up with us but she never showed up. It was just Steve and me. "Today you'll be working on power control," he spoke up as he came to a stop. 

"Okay," I said warily, looking around, trying to figure out what I was going to be doing. "How?" I asked and he laughed. 

"I'm going to have you lifting me. Don't go too high if you don't think you can do it but I believe in you."

"I can't," I said, pulling my hands into my chest. "I've only worked with bean bags for the last several weeks. No offense but I think you're going to be a bit heavier than a bean bag." He laughed as he looked at me. 

"You'll be fine, we'll start with just a few feet and then work our ways up." I didn't want to tell him no so I spread my legs slightly to stabilize myself as I let my powers flow out of my hands.

I was very nervous and I could see my shaky hands but I pushed past it as I slowly allowed the red tendrils to wrap around Steve's waist. Nat had told me never to use my powers on the team but I was sure this was different since he asked me to do it. 

I very carefully and very slowly lifted Steve about two feet off of the ground before setting him back down. "That was really good Wanda!" he said. "Now let's try again, you can go a little higher this time."

I took a deep breath as I repeated the process, this time lifting him about four feet off the ground. "Awesome job! Let's try six feet this time," he told me. Six feet was much higher, if I dropped him, he could get hurt.

I slowly lifted him up. I was able to get him about five feet off of the ground before I started to lower him back down. "C'mon Wanda, push a little harder," he said while he was still in the air. 

I stopped lowering him and used my powers to push him up to about six feet. I then quickly but gently lowered him back down. I was getting exhausted, I hadn't used my powers too much lately so this was a lot. Steve wasn't exactly light so it took a little bit more effort to lift him.

"Good, now let's push for ten." I really didn't want to do it but I also didn't want to say no. I was finally training with the Avengers, I didn't want him to think I wasn't capable.

I started lifting him, making the distance between him and the ground grow further and further apart. I made it to ten feet and felt my legs start shaking. Before I could start bringing him down, he spoke again, "You're doing great, keep going to fifteen." He sounded so confident in my ability to lift him safely. 

I pushed harder but felt my legs and arms growing weak. I didn't say anything, just trying to get him to fifteen feet so that I could bring him down quickly. I only made it to about thirteen before I lost it. 

My legs gave out and my powers floated back into my arms, sending Steve falling to the ground. I quickly shot out a misted cloud to catch him, inches from the ground. I gently set him down and looked at the floor, trying to stop my shaking hands. I had almost dropped Steve more than ten feet.

"Great job!" he said and my head snapped up to look at him. 

"What? I almost killed you." 

He laughed. "That drop wouldn't have killed me, maybe pulled a muscle or possibly broken a bone but more than likely, I would've been fine. You really did great today Wanda!" he told me as he held out a hand to help me up.

"So you aren't mad?" 

"No, not at all! You did really great and you even caught me before I hit the ground. I'm totally fine, not hurt at all. Let's head back inside and work on some sparring." I was shocked that he wasn't mad. I smiled as we started walking back, happy with the improvements that I made today.

Nat looked at me as I walked in the gym. I ran over to her and started telling her everything that I did. "I lifted Steve almost 15 feet! 15 feet Nat!"

"That's awesome baby! Good job!" She gave me a quick hug and then we pulled away to continue training. 

Steve set Nat and I up to do some hand-to-hand combat which was fun. It was exhausting and Nat got me on the ground each time but I still had fun. 

By the time we were done, everyone was coated in sweat, absolutely exhausted. Everyone was sitting around the gym, sipping on water or wiping their face off with a towel. The team dispersed as we all went to our rooms to shower. We had trained hard, much harder than I've ever trained before.

I finished showering and collapsed on the bed, waiting for Nat to finish her shower. 

I sat there for another five minutes or so before Nat walked into the bedroom, still scrunching her red hair dry. "Hey," she said as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi, thank you for letting me train today, I had fun," I told her as I moved so that my head was laying on her thigh.

She ran her fingers through my hair as she said, "Of course, I had fun kicking your butt today."

"Hey!" I said as I sat up and nudged her, "I did pretty good!"

"Yes you did," she laughed. 

"Can I train with them again? Please?" I begged, really wanting to get better with my training.

"We'll see," she said mischievously and I flopped back down onto the bed, laying my head against her thigh once more. "I mean you look pretty exhausted from just this one."

"I'm not exhausted, just a little tired, there's a difference!" I pointed out when she raised an eyebrow at me. 

"Okay, sure, sure." I chose to ignore her while I laughed gently. I really was exhausted but there was no way I was admitting to that. "How about we go eat some lunch and then we can take a nap?"

"I'm all for the lunch part but taking a nap...eh," I said as I crawled out of bed. I didn't want Nat to think that I needed a nap after training, then she might not let me train again. She didn't say anything as we got off of the bed and went to the kitchen.

She made some smoothies for lunch and we sat and sipped on them while we listened to Pepper, Tony, and Rhodey talking. Tony and Rhodey were talking about the mission and Pepper was asking questions. I listened along gladly as no one had told me what had actually happened on the mission.

I got bored quickly since they were just talking about the logistics of it, no gory details. I noticed that I was starting to get a headache but I brushed it off as I continued to drink my smoothie. 

After Nat and I had both finished and washed our cups, she led me back to our room. "Ready for a nap?" she asked as she laid on the bed. 

"I'm not really tired," I mumbled, not wanting her to think I was a baby. Only babies took naps.

"Suit yourself, I'm exhausted," she said as she crossed her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. I didn't know what to do. She was apparently trying to sleep, I didn't know if I should stay or if I was allowed to leave the room. I kind of stood there awkwardly for a few seconds until she opened her eyes.

"You going to rest or would you rather finally take that test for school?"

"Nap sounds fine," I rushed to say, not wanting to take a step closer to attending school. She sighed but rolled onto her side to face me as I climbed into bed.

"Get some rest sweet girl," she said as she ran her fingers through my hair. 

I fell asleep relatively quickly, glad that she was resting too because then, hopefully she wouldn't see me as a baby.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

The entire team decided to have a game night to celebrate completing the mission and arriving home. I joined in and teamed up with Nat in several of the games we played. We all ate dinner and then headed to the living room to play games while a movie played in the background.

"And just like that," Nat said, setting down her cards, "I win." There were collective groans from around the room. 

"Again? You're cheating," Tony said as he looked under the table and around where Nat was sitting.

"Nope, you're just jealous I keep winning," she quirked an eyebrow as she smirked. 

"New game!" Sam said as he pulled out Monopoly. We quickly put all of the cards away and started setting up for Monopoly. I had never played it before but Nat told me it would be fun.

I teamed up with her and tried to focus past the headache that was back. We ended up winning that game as well and at this point, everyone was tired of being beat by Nat. 

"I don't know about you guys but I'm done," Tony groaned as he sat back against the couch. 

"Me too," Nat said, "I think it's time Wanda and I headed off to bed." I didn't argue as everyone said goodnight due to the headache that was pressing behind my eyes. 

I climbed into bed and quickly fell asleep. 

I managed to actually stay asleep the entire night, not having a single nightmare. When I woke up however, I did not feel good. I had a pounding headache, I was freezing, any time I tried to swallow, it felt like there were razor blades lining my esophagus, and my stomach hurt. 

I rolled over and saw that Nat was still sleeping which was surprising since it was already 8:00. She was almost always up before that, either going on a run or taking a shower. 

I didn't wake her up as I stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. I splashed some water on my face to try to make myself feel a tiny bit more awake but it didn't do much. I opened my throat to see what was in it but there was nothing there, it looked a little red but that's it. I felt nauseous and like I was about to throw up but I hadn't eaten anything since last night. 

I filled a cup with water and gulped down the cool liquid, trying to ease the pain in my throat. It just made it hurt worse though so I stopped that as I stumbled back to the bed, trying to warm up. 

I wrapped the comforter around myself to the best of my abilities and tried to close my eyes against the sun peeking through the curtains. I felt a pressure in my chest and started coughing, only making the pain in my throat even worse. I don't know what happened, I felt fine yesterday. Sure I had a little headache but those usually went away. 

Nat started to stir due to my coughing fit and she rolled over as her eyes opened. I immediately saw her frown as her eyes clouded over with worry. "Are you okay baby?" she asked me as she placed a cool hand on my forehead and cheeks. 

I nodded as I tried to pretend that I felt fine. I unwrapped the comforter from around my body as I sat up, ignoring the wave of dizziness that came over me. "I'm fine, just a little tired is all," I told her, trying to sound cheery. 

"You feel warm, let me go grab the thermometer. Stay here."

"I'm fine, I'm only warm since I just woke up and I was under the blankets, I'm fine." She looked at me with a look that told me she didn't believe me but I stood up and headed down the hall to the living room. 

The dizziness was mostly gone now but my nausea increased when I smelt the bacon being cooked in the kitchen. 

"Good morning," Steve said as he saw me enter the kitchen. "Are you okay?" he asked as soon as he saw my face.

"Yup, I'm good!" I said as I forced a smile. I must've been showing my weakness on the outside more than I thought. 

"Okay," he said slowly as he turned back to the breakfast he was making. Nat then entered the kitchen, having changed from her pajamas. 

"Good morning," she said as she sat next to me, still looking at me worriedly. The nausea was getting worse the longer I sat there. I could no longer take it and thought I was going to puke so I got up and rushed back to our room while trying not to look suspicious. 

The nausea didn't get any better so I ended up throwing up in our bathroom, resting my head on the cold porcelain of the toilet. I felt absolutely terrible and I was still trying to figure out ways to hide this from Nat. 

I felt tears in my eyes after I threw up but I tried to blink them away, knowing it would probably only make me feel worse. My stomach seemed to settle down a little bit once I finished so I got up, flushed, rinsed my mouth out, and then headed back to the kitchen. 

Both Steve and Tasha looked up at me as I walked in but didn't say anything as I sat down. 

"So, are we doing training today?" I asked, trying to keep their focus off of me.

"Um, I don't know if we're training today," Steve told me. "The entire team is kind of tired from the mission and the extra training from yesterday."

"Oh, okay," I said, slightly relieved that I wouldn't have to train feeling like this. Nat continued to watch me suspiciously as a plate of food was placed in front of me. The nausea was back so I swallowed some bile as I attempted to stomach the smell of the breakfast. 

Nat and Steve ate their breakfast while I just kind of sat there and stared at it. "You going to eat?" Nat asked me softly after a few minutes of me not touching the plate.

"Um, yeah, sorry, I'm just not super hungry," I rushed to explain as I picked up my fork and stabbed a piece of egg. I quickly put it in my mouth and swallowed it. This seemed to please Natasha as she turned away and continued her conversation with Steve. 

By the time breakfast was over, I had only managed to eat about two bites of eggs and about half a slice of bacon. I managed to get the rest of it into the trash can when Nat wasn't looking. My body felt even worse now and all I wanted to do was go lay back down in bed. In order to do that though, I would have to admit to Nat that I was sick and I didn't want to do that.

"I'm going to head to the store," Nat announced after breakfast dishes were clean. "Let's go get dressed and then we can go," she told me as we walked down the hallway.

"Um Nat?" She looked at me so I continued, "Can I um, possibly stay home?" Her eyes softened as she looked at me.

"Of course! You don't have to go with me, I just figured you'd want to get out of the house. How about you work on your test for school? I need you to at least start it sometime soon." I bit back a groan. 

"Sure," I tried to force a smile but it felt like a grimace so I quickly settled back into a neutral expression. I really just wanted to take a nap but I knew that if I agreed to take the test, it would make Nat happy.

Nat led me into an office where there was a large packet of paper. She set it on the desk and let me sit on the chair while she flipped through some of the pages. "Okay, all I need you to do is try your best. This is just a placement test to see what grade you need to be in and what you have already been taught. If you need help, you can ask, just don't ask for the answers. There are a lot of subjects in here with all different types of questions to see if there is a better way to teach you information. Just try your best and if you don't know a question, just skip it or try your best! You're gonna do great, I love you!" she told me as she kissed me on the head.

"I love you too," I told her quietly as I tried to remember everything she just told me. 

"I'll be back soon, if you need anything, just ask FRIDAY and she'll get someone. Bye."

I told her bye and watched as she left the room. I attempted to start the test but I could barely focus due to my pounding headache. My stomach was also twisting painfully. 

I decided to go try to find some medication and then attempt the test again. I wandered through the kitchen, searching through the cabinets but found absolutely nothing. I then headed to the bathrooms and went through the cabinets in there. In my bathroom, all that was under the sink were some band-aids and some sanitation supplies for basic first-aid needs. 

I then headed to Nat's room and started going through her bathroom. I found a lot more medication in there and decided to take three Tylenol. I wasn't exactly sure what it was or how many I was supposed to take but on the bottle, it said that it would help relieve my headache so I downed a few and headed back to the office. 

I made it through the first two pages of the test before I had to throw up. I ran to the bathroom and emptied my stomach before starting to head back to the office. I felt like crap. My throat was on fire, my head felt like it was about to explode, my chest was burning for some reason, my stomach was clenching, and my entire body was shaking and aching. I just wanted Nat to come home, hug me, and let me take a nap but I kept trying to push through. 

I could barely pay attention to the test. I got frustrated with the test and I stood up, shoving my chair back. I was overcome by a wave of dizziness and I quickly sat on the floor. I couldn't help it, I started crying. I didn't feel good and I wanted Tasha but she wasn't here. It wasn't like when I didn't want to be without her, I just wanted my mom to hug me and tell me I would be okay. 

I wiped away some of my still falling tears and stood up, using the desk to brace myself. I stumbled out of the door and started walking down the hallway, not exactly sure what I was doing or where I was going. 

I turned a corner and ran smack-dab into Tony. I stumbled backwards and used the wall to stabilize myself. "Sorry," I mumbled as I tried to walk past him.

"Woah, hold on little witch," he said as he grasped my wrist. "What's wrong?" I still had tears running down my cheeks and I felt even worse than before.

"Nothing, I'm fine," I sniffled. 

"You don't look fine, where's Nat?"

"Store." I felt his cool hand on my forehead for a split second before he hissed and pulled back. 

"You're burning up kid, does Nat know you're sick?" 

"I'm not sick," I mumbled while I used the hand that Tony was not holding to wipe some more of my tears away.

"Well you're running a fever so I think you are sick, whether you want to be or not."

"I'm not sick Tony," I whined. I was overcome by another wave of dizziness so I stuck my hand out against the wall to hold myself up. 

"Uh-huh, whatever you say," he said quietly as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I tried to move away but he stopped me by saying, "I'm just trying to make sure you don't fall on your face."

I stopped struggling but I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't even sick!

"So, how long have you been feeling like this," Tony asked me as he started trying to lead me out of the hallway.

"Feel like what? I feel fine, I was just a little dizzy cause I stood up fast," I tried to explain. He looked at me with disbelief as he continued to lead me down the hallway. 

I was feeling even worse the further we went and I was about twenty feet away from the couch when I felt a wave of weakness come over me. The last thing I was aware of was Tony shouting my name as I fell towards the floor into darkness.

o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o

I woke up on the couch with a worried Tony leaning over me. 

"What happened?" I asked as I tried to sit up.

"You passed out kid," he told me, gently pushing me back down on the couch. "One second you were arguing with me over being sick as I was helping you down the hallway, the next thing I know, your legs collapsed and you were falling. Luckily I was right there so I was able to catch you and bring you to the couch but if I wasn't there, you would've hit your head pretty hard."

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"Don't apologize kiddo, you're sick, things like this happen. Pepper's on her way."

"How long was I out for?" I asked.

"Only about a minute, I got you to the couch and then asked FRIDAY to get Pepper. Then you woke up."

"So you haven't called Nat yet?"

"Nope, I'll do that once Pepper gets here-"

"No!" I yelled. "Don't tell Nat, I'm fine," I told him, using my arms to push myself into a sitting position, even against Tony's light pushing.

"You passed out, I'm telling Nat."

"No, I didn't pass out, I just fell," I lied, realizing only after it was out of my mouth how ridiculous it sounded.

"Uh-huh, then did you pretend to be asleep?" Well, I had already started with the lie, might as well keep going with it.

"No, I got dizzy in the hallway and then my legs buckled since I was still dizzy. I felt you pick me up and then I just kept my eyes closed until the dizziness went away."

"Okay, I'm going to pretend you didn't just blatantly lie to my face and we can let that slide." I sighed, knowing that I was not getting out of the fact that I passed out. 

"Tony, I'm sorry I lied, please don't tell Nat!" I felt the tears starting back up again at the thought of Nat knowing that I was being weak. I had done so good with avoiding nightmares last night, what if they came back because Nat thought I was being weak? "Please Tony!" I begged, tears starting to fall. 

He seemed lost as he gently rubbed my head but then seemed relieved as Pepper chose that moment to walk into the living room. "What's going on?" she asked as she rushed over to me. 

"Nothing," I said, trying to stop the tears.

"Tony?" she asked as she turned to him.

"She passed out and is trying to stop me from telling Nat."

"Oh honey, are you okay?" she asked me. She rubbed my cheek and I knew by the change in her expression that she had felt the fever. "Oh my gosh! You're burning up! Did you take her temp Tony?" Pepper continued to run her hand over my face, checking my forehead, cheeks, and even neck for warmth. 

"Not yet," he said as he continued to watch me worriedly. 

"I'm fine guys," I told them, even though I felt super sick. 

"Go get a thermometer," Pepper told Tony. "I'm sure Nat will be back soon, no need in calling her and making her come home early. Does anyone know where she's at?"

"Store," both Tony and I said at the same time as he went to leave the room to grab the thermometer. 

Pepper continued to stroke my cheek and hair gently, trying to keep me calm. "Don't tell Nat," I cried. "Please Pepper, I don't want her to know!"

"Shh, it's okay baby, you're okay."

"No Pepper! You can't tell Nat! Please!"

"Why honey?"

"Because I don't want her to think I'm weak!"

"She won't honey, you're so strong. I promise she won't think you're weak, she'll want to help you get better."

"I didn't finish the test!" I cried, realizing that she would probably be mad at me for only barely starting it. She told me it needed to be done soon.

"What test honey?"

"The school placement test," I told her, trying to take deep breaths. All that succeeded in doing was causing a cough to rip through my chest. I winced as I coughed into my elbow, tears still falling.

"Oh honey," Pepper told me as she sat next to me and pulled me to lean into her side. "Deep breaths," she rubbed my back as she encouraged me to breathe. "I'm sure Nat won't mind that you didn't finish the test, you're sick, you get a free pass." 

I relaxed into Pepper's side as I tried to warm up, I was still freezing. Tony re-entered the living room with a thermometer. "Open your mouth honey," Pepper told me and I did as I was told, finally giving in to how sick I felt. 

She told me to close my mouth as I waited for the thermometer to beep. It beeped and I felt it being removed from my mouth. 

"Shit," I heard Tony whisper. I opened my eyes to look at him.

"What?" I asked. 

"Nothing kiddo, you're just running a little warm," he told me softly. 

"How warm?" I knew that a regular body should be around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit but I didn't know how bad it was.

"Don't worry about it," he told me and I knew it was probably pretty bad. 

I didn't have enough energy to fight so I continued to cry lightly as I leaned against Pepper. 

Tony called Nat and I started to shake a little more, scared that she would think I was being weak. I highly doubt she ever got sick, I needed to be the same way, I couldn't get sick and act like a baby. 

I couldn't make out what Pepper said to Tony due to my head being pressed against her shoulder, but whatever it was, it made Tony leave the room. 

"You're okay, Nat will be here soon," Pepper told me. I really wanted Nat to come and hold me but I didn't want her to be mad at me. 

I kept my eyes closed as I rested my head on Pepper, desperately wanting Nat to come home, but not be mad. 

A few minutes had gone by and I heard rushed footsteps coming from the hallway. I opened my eyes and moved my head a little to see Nat coming into the room. 

She crouched down in front of the couch and looked at me with a worried expression. "How're you doing?" she asked me as she brushed a piece of hair out of my face. 

"I don't feel good Tasha," I whined, sitting up from Pep's side. 

"Aww honey, I know," she said as she sat on my other side and started rubbing my back. I leaned into her side instead as I grabbed onto her shirt. I know I was acting like a baby but I was so relieved that she wasn't mad at me and I felt absolutely miserable. 

"How about we get you in bed and then maybe you can try to eat something light, I can get you some meds too."

"I already took some," I told her as I stayed buried into her side.

"You took medication?" she asked me.

"Yeah, I took a few extra-strength Tylenol."

"How many?"

"Three," I responded. 

"Shit Wanda!" she said as she moved me away from her side. 

"What?" I asked, the tears coming back to my eyes at the sudden movement and her sharp tone.

"Three is a lot, can you show me what bottle you took them from?" Her tone was softer but it was still somewhat firm. Because of my unstable state, I broke down into tears at this. "Wanda?" she asked me and I saw her expression change to confused. 

"I'm sorry! I just wanted to feel better and I didn't mean to take too many! I'm so sorry! Don't be mad, I'm sorry!"

"Woah, hold on honey! I'm not mad at you, I just need to make sure that you don't make yourself even more sick by taking too many pills. Do you remember what exactly you took?"

I shook my head, trying to calm down.

"Do you think you can show me?" I nodded as I slowly got off of the couch. Both her and Pepper followed me down the hallway and into her bathroom. I dug around through the cabinets until I found the bottle of pills that I took from. 

I handed it to Nat and watched as she flipped it over to read the information on the back. "How many did you take?" she asked me, probably trying to confirm what she had asked earlier.

"Three," I said quietly, almost like it would be okay if she didn't hear me.

"Okay," she said slowly as she stood there for a second. "Technically you are only supposed to take 1 pill every 6 hours but it says that the max daily limit is 8 pills in a day. I know that you are feeling like crap Wanda but if you want to take meds, I need you to find an adult okay? I'm not mad at you and you aren't in trouble, I just don't want you to take medication if you are not being supervised okay? It is really easy to take the wrong amount. You can always ask Pepper if I'm not here," Pepper nodded at this.

"Okay, I'm sorry," I mumbled, gripping onto her sleeve, wanting nothing more than to go rest again. I felt like a toddler, holding onto Nat with one hand while wiping my tears with the other, but I really didn't care. 

Nat pulled me into a hug and I just held onto her, relishing in the comforting touch. "Let's get you to bed," she told me as she let me go. Pepper followed us down the hallway but didn't come into my bedroom. 

Nat helped me get all tucked into bed and then she headed towards the door. "Please don't leave!" I called out.

"I'm not, I'm just turning off the light," she told me as she flicked off the switch and came back to the bed. I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment from asking her to stay when she didn't plan on leaving but luckily, my cheeks were already flushed from the fever so it wasn't noticeable. 

I was still cold as Nat only let me use a light blanket instead of a full comforter, probably to lower my temp, so I scooted close to Nat to try to warm up. She wrapped her arms around me and although it didn't do much to warm me up, it did help me to fall asleep.