Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 37

||"I can show you what you truly fear."||

The sheets beneath her were cool, causing her skin to crawl with goosebumps. The nurses around her worked quickly, and she struggled to slow her heartbeat down. When they brought her up from her room, she didn't know what they were going to do. All Tony said was that they needed to take some tests immediately. 

The nurses stood beside Wanda, attaching an IV to the back of Wanda's hand. She was no stranger to needles, but for some reason, things felt different. Something was wrong, otherwise Bruce wouldn't be taking tests on her this late. The twins had one week left before Wanda's synapse disappeared, there was no need to take such late precautions. 

Not unless something went wrong. 

Tony walked into the room, his sleeves rolled up as he examined the tablet in his hands. 

"I really need to get Bruce an upgrade," he said to himself, then placed the tablet down on the table behind him and stepped up to Wanda. "On the bright side, you're out of that small room."

"I would rather be down there," she stated, and Tony sat down beside her and looked at the monitor that showed her heart rate. "Tell me," she told him, and he acknowledged her for a moment before saying anything. 

"His synapse returned, so we're taking some precautions. Thor and Vision are watching over the Sentinels, and if anything happens, we'll suit up and handle it like we always do." 

"I don't understand," she muttered, flinching as the other nurse inserted another IV in her forearm. "He is supposed to be safe," she whispered, feeling her throat close up as tears threatened to merge. She was the only one who was supposed to have a synapse, Pietro was supposed to be in the clear. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have seen him that day. I did this," she felt her eyes turn red, and the nurses scattered out of the room as Wanda sat up. 

"Okay, okay, look, his synapse returned weeks ago. It wasn't you, it just happened on it's own. This isn't your fault, Wanda." Her chest heaved furiously, and she pulled roughly at the sheets, closing her eyes in hopes of relaxing herself. "Where is Steve?" she asked, breathless. "I need Steve."

Tony shifted at the foot of her bed, but then walked out of the room and returned two minutes later, Steve close behind him. She threw the blanket off of her, pulling out the needles in her arm and hand,  and jumped down from the bed, wrapping her arms around Steve as if he were the only person in her world who could possibly reassure her that things would be okay. 

Steve seemed to be surprised by her gesture, but it didn't take long before he hugged her back, with the same intensity and yearn. 

She felt her hex travel from her fingers, cascading around the both of them. The red streams latticed around them, creating a forcefield around their bodies. She didn't realize she was even doing, not until Tony coughed awkwardly. 

Her arms released around his waist, and the red streams of her hex dispersed into the air. 

"If his synapse is strong enough, they'll find him, and if they are as dangerous as you say they are, then I need to know that you'll get him out of here as soon as possible. Pietro died once, and I will not let it happen again." Wanda moved away from Steve, climbing back up onto the bed. "You said that it returned weeks ago, which means that it should be strong enough to track."

"It depends whether or not they're even paying attention to it. It's been months, and there are thousands of other mutants."

"Yes, but we were the first enhanced." 

The room fell over with silence, and Wanda looked up to Tony and found him playing with his bracelets once more. He seemed to do that in times of discomfort.