Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 4

||"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."||

When they arrived at the Stark tower, Wanda was ready to fall right to sleep. Her and Steve had spent the entire day exploring New York City and now all she wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep until morning.

"Did you have fun?" Steve asked. Wanda looked at herself in the reflection in the elevator and smiled. She was still wearing Steve's headband and she proceeded to take it off, but Steve reached over and grabbed her hand. "No, keep it. It looks better on you."

Shyly, she answered his question. "Yes. I did have fun. Thank you."

"We can go anytime you want. You just tell me and I'll take you." 

"I would really like that," she said, smiling.

The elevator door opened up and Wanda immediately noticed Natasha and Vision standing near the window. They stopped talking when they heard the doors open, and when Vision turned to look at Wanda, her heart felt like it fell into her stomach. "Looks like we have company," Steve said, and he walked out of the elevator and towards Vision and Natasha.

Wanda stepped out and followed him, her eyes scanning Tony's apartment.

"Good to see you again," Steve said when he reached Vision, and they both shook hands. Wanda stood beside Natasha and watched as Vision and Steve exchanged hello's. "What brings you here?" Steve asked.

"I came to see Wanda," Vision responded, and Wanda's eyes darted up to his and her breath fell short.

"Me?" she asked him, and he simply nodded his head.

"Come," he said, and he opened his palm out to her and she grabbed it hesitantly, then Vision walked her over to the balcony and held Wanda close to his body. "Hold on," he said, then he flew into the night sky and over the beautiful skyline of New York. Wanda kept her eyes closed as they flew, and she began to shake in Vision's arms. "Relax, Wanda." After a few moments, she found a way to calm herself down and built up the guts to peek through her lashes to see Vision's face in front of her. His arms were wrapped around her tightly, but not tight enough to cause any pain. She could hear his cape flapping through the air, but Vision himself seemed calm as ever.

When Wanda felt him slowing down, she looked over her shoulder and noticed they were floating down to a lake. Vision's feet touched the ground first, then he placed Wanda beside him and looked over the water.

"You are hurting in your soul," he said, his voice soothing to Wanda's ears. "I can feel your pain." He turned back to face Wanda, but she had looked away, feeling tears burning in her eyes. She didn't want to talk about Pietro, not in front of Vision at least. "Don't be shy, Wanda," he reached down to grab her hand but she flinched, and jerked her hand away in response.

"Sorry," she said, and then she walked over to the bench that sat under a large tree beside the water. Vision followed her and sat down next to her, watching her eyes. "I had a really good time today, but in the back of my mind all I could think about was Pietro. He is all I ever think about, and I do not know how to make it stop." Wanda breathed in a quick breath and wiped her eyes. "I miss him. I miss him a lot and I wish he was still here." Wanda brought her hands up to her face and began to cry. It was one thing to cry in front of Steve, but another to cry in front of Vision. She felt more embarrassed and as she cried, she turned her body away from Vision so that he couldn't see her face.

"Tell me about your time with Strucker. What was that like?" Wanda turned and looked at Vision, confused by his question.

"What?" she asked, her voice breaking.

"After the experiment, how did you feel?"

"Stronger," she answered. "I felt stronger, and I really liked that feeling. Strucker said he worked extra hard on me, because my...ability was complex." Wanda looked out over the water and saw the reflection of the moon. Wherever they were, she couldn't see the lights of the city. Only the trees and the water surrounded them. It was quiet and Wanda felt oddly serene. "Strucker made Pietro and I strong, and I will always be grateful for that. But strong doesn't make you immortal."

"No, it makes you brave." Vision held Wanda's hand and his face filled with worry when he felt something. "You have pain...there. I can feel it," Vision pointed at Wanda's chest and she crossed her arms. Her chest pain had returned, but she had barely noticed it.

"It has been like that for days."

"Let me," he said, and Wanda looked at him in the eyes and he moved closer to her. His hand came up to her chest and she gasped loudly, feeling her heart vibrating. Vision closed his eyes and the vibration in Wanda's chest grew faster. "There, how does that feel?" Wanda let out a breath and pushed down her chest. Surprisingly, the pain had ceased, and she was able to breathe without her chest feeling tight. "Better?"

"Yes," she muttered, and Vision sat back and smiled at her. It amazed Wanda at what Vision was capable of, but it also scared her in ways she didn't understand.

___

"Why does he need to talk to her?" Steve asked as he watched Vision fly off with Wanda. He kept looking out the window until they disappeared into the night, and then he turned his attention to Natasha.

"He just wants to know how she's doing," Natasha sat down at the bar and poured herself a drink. She lifted the bottle of Brandy at Steve but he shook his head. "How was she today?" she asked him, and he walked over to her and sat down on the stool beside her and grabbed a bottle of water from over the bar.

"She seemed happy, like her world was finally filling up with light. Makes me wonder how she managed to survive these last three months without having a nervous breakdown." Natasha gulped down her drink and filled it with some more liquor. "I'm going to guess that your day wasn't as good?"

"I've had better," she responded, and then swallowed her drink like water. "She survived because she's fighting a mental war with herself. She could easily let herself go, but she's fighting back her loss because she loved her brother and it's what he wants her to do."

"Wants?" Steve asked, confused.

"Huh?"

"You said wants, that's present-tense."

"Oh, did I? You know what I meant," Natasha pushed her glass away and stood up, pretending to yawn. "I'm heading to bed, but tell Vision that I'll be contacting him tomorrow." She turned and walked toward the elevator and Steve kept his eyes on her until the elevator doors shut behind her. He got up from the bar and walked over to the computers where Tony worked at. He opened the search bar and typed in 'Pietro Maximoff.' His file opened up and Steve skimmed it, looking for where his body was sent. He stepped back when he saw that Pietro's body was sent to Dr. Cho in Korea.

"Why would you need his body?" Steve asked out loud, and he sat down in front of the computer and read over Pietro's file over and over again until he gave up. The file didn't say why Dr. Cho had Pietro's body, but Steve wanted to find out.