Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 20

||"There will come a time when life won't wait for you, and you'll be left with nothing but your sorrows and tears."||

The trees withered around her, disintegrating into the air, and the world began to change. The sky turned to metal, and the ground turned black, making Wanda's stomach drop. The moon was replaced with a luminous light above her, and the view in front of her transformed into a glass wall. She could see her reflection coming off from the glass, and she brought her hand up to feel the smooth texture.

The glass was thicker than it looked, but she was still able to see the other side clearly.

When she turned, she noticed a bed in the corner, and a food tray sitting empty on the floor. She heard noise coming from behind a door across from her, and Wanda stepped back, patiently waiting for whoever was going to emerge from the other side.

The door knob turned, and Wanda held in her breath. But when she saw who walked out, she felt her heart shatter.

Pietro walked out of the bathroom, shaking his wet hair through his fingers. The t-shirt that hugged his torso was splotched with water, and his freshly washed body quickly filled the room with the scent of vanilla. Wanda's knees began to shake, and she pushed herself against the glass to keep herself from falling.

"Pietro!" Wanda called out, but her voice was silent, and he walked around the room as if she wasn't even there. She watched her brother, her eyes searching his face, trying desperately to figure out if she was dreaming or if she was actually there. He turned to face her, but his eyes stayed empty, and she knew he couldn't see her.

He stepped forward, almost touching her, but he didn't even glance down to meet her eyes. He just stared over her head at the spotless glass. Wanda reached up to touch his face, but her fingers ran through him like nothing. She was a ghost. Pietro sighed, then walked back over to his bed to rest. All Wanda could do was watch in disbelief.

Her heart felt heavy, and as Wanda slipped back into reality, she found herself desperately trying to catch her breath. Her sight blurred for a few seconds before coming back into focus, and she realized she was outside. The moon was high above her, and the stars gleamed brightly above like little diamonds.

The Barton farmhouse stood quietly behind her, and she didn't know how she even got outside.

With sleep far from her mind, Wanda began walking through the woods. She was barefoot, but the grass was thick enough to give her feet enough cushion to walk on. The night was cool and calm, and as Wanda weaved through the trees, she thought of herself as a little girl, roaming the dark woods of Sokovia.

The memory was still so clear in her mind, that she could almost close her eyes and imagine her world before it was taken away. Everything before could have been labeled as a normal way of living. They didn't have much growing up, but they had each other, and that was always enough. Pietro always managed to put up with all of the crazy fantasy creatures Wanda would make up; the giant monsters that lived up in the trees, or the small trolls that hid away in the shadows, he always played along.

Wanda wondered what would have happened if he had survived. What then? Where would they have gone? She was sure that the Avengers would have taken them in, but part of herself wondered if they would have been left completely alone.

A chill pushed Wanda back, and she held herself tightly and started walking back to the farmhouse. Tomorrow, her and Laura were going into town to do grocery shopping, and it wouldn't be too great if she was half asleep the entire time.

So she headed back inside and crawled back into bed, resting her head on Steve's arm, and falling into a quiet sleep. 

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