The witches vision

Chapter 3: Nightmares

~dream~

When she could no longer feel Pietro's mind or presence she let out a cry of anguish and fell to her knees, all of her energy escaping from her body. Almost as if they were running away from her. She continued to scream and could see nothing but red. Her brother had died. Her body and mind couldn't absorb it and yet that was all she could think. Pietro was dead. She felt herself become drawn towards a crash, almost like something falling. Ultron. She heaved herself off the ground and searched for her brother's murderer. She surged all of her power and energy into her palm as she drew near Ultron's body and knelt beside him, showing him her grief and what he did to her.

"Wanda," he said quietly. "If you stay here, you'll die." She glared at him, wondering how he could say this to her and yet allow her brother to die.

"I just did," she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice brave and steady. "Do you know how it felt,"and then she pushed all of her energy out to him, yanking away his heart.

'No,' she thought, 'he has no heart.' She pulled and yanked and suddenly it was in her palm, bleeding out liquid.

"It felt like that," She said, looking towards him with hatred and fire in her eyes as he died in front of her. She knelt down beside him and started to cry. She had avenged Pietro, but somehow it wasn't enough. She wanted him here, next to her, rejoicing in the victory of finally killing Ultron. She wanted him to wrap his arm around her, like he always did, kiss her forehead and tell her that they had won, they were Avengers now. But no, it was just her. He will never get to become an Avenger, he will never save the world a million times with the other Avengers. She could feel her mind swarm with sorrow and continued to cry, and realized that the sorrow she felt was not hers alone. She could feel it in Barton's mind. She saw into his head, she saw that Pietro had saved Barton and a young boy. He sacrificed himself. 'Guess he really was an Avenger,' she thought. She tried to push everything from her mind and body and allowed herself to carry on grieving. She felt a bang happen from all around her, and before she knew it she was suspended into the air, floating. No. Falling. She gasped, realizing she had left her post. She was meant to protect it. And now the city was falling. She could feel two other minds around her. Stark and Thor. They were risking their lives to destroy the city, to save billions. And she was here in the train doing nothing but falling. Wanda felt her body go numb and tried to imagine Pietro. She would see him soon. She imagined his arms finding their way around her. Wait. There were arms around her. The arms pulled her towards the body of whom they belonged to. 'The Vision' she thought as she looked into his eyes. He had come for her. He looked at her for a second before looking up and carrying her away from Sokovia. She gripped onto him tightly, closing her eyes and allowing herself to feel the cool air brush against her face, and for a moment nothing else entered her mind apart from the feel of freedom and the comforting arms holding her close.

~real~

Wanda woke up that morning, her fists clenched tightly and the taste of blood in her mouth. She glanced down at her hands and saw the slightly bloody grooves cut into her palms by her fingernails. She got out of bed and changed into a red shirt and black exercise pants, and headed for the bathroom, where she probed the ragged hole she had bitten in her cheek during the night. Wincing slightly, she left the room and grabbed a piece of toast to eat before heading out to the field outside. When she arrived, Steve, Natasha, and Sam were already standing around, and Vision flew out a few moments after her.

"We're going to be partnering today," Natasha began. "I'll be walking around and watching your progress. First, we're going to be working on unarmed combat. Vision, you're with Wanda. Sam, you're with Steve," she said, and her mouth quirked ever so slightly as she glanced at Wanda and Vision. "You may begin."

Wanda squared off with Vision, in a ready stance. He reluctantly matched her position. She hit him hesitantly in the arm and he hit her back. It was tentative, as each one was reluctant to hit the other. Wanda swung quickly at his shoulder and he leaned back to avoid the blow. He smiled slightly and swung at her head, which she ducked with ease. She swung forward, aiming for his head, and he leaned back at an impossible angle before twisting to hit her in the side, which she twisted to avoid. They practiced swings for a while, neither one hitting the other, both moving too quickly to be hit. Finally a word from Natasha stopped them. Wanda was panting and even Vision looked slightly wearied, though that was probably impossible.

"Now, let's practice with our powers. First, try and save the dummies as though they were civilians, using your individual skills,"Natasha ordered.

Sam, Vision, and Wanda squared off with a dummy, and readied their individual skills. Wanda tapped into the swift flow of magic and grabbed the mummy as gently as she could, and lifted it from where it was propped. She pulled it over to her, concentrating hard to make sure that it wasn't bounced around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw both Sam and Vision flying in to rescue their dummies.
Steve nodded. "Excellent rescue. Now immobilize them as if they were enemies."

Wanda held her dummy tightly with her powers, keeping it still, though it still rotated slightly. Vision had his dummy held in a tight hug, and Falcon was holding his by the ankle in the air.

"Good. Now. Imagine they are an object that you have to destroy because it is blocking the escape," he said.

Wanda pulled and pushed at the same time, ripping the dummy into pieces. Vision's dummy was destroyed with a ray from his gem and Sam shot at it with his gun a few times, slight amusement on his face as he spotted the destruction both Wanda and Vision had caused.

"That's good for now," Natasha said. "You guys can go do whatever," she said, and moved to talk to Steve, a worried expression on her face. Wanda wondered what was wrong, but she dismissed the thought and followed the others. Sam, Vision, and Wanda made their way to the facility, and they went to the living room. The television was on, and Wanda paid it no mind until she heard her own name.

"It has been leaked from reputable sources that Wanda Maximoff, an enhanced person who is suspected of stealing government secrets and killing government agents, is currently affiliated with the Avengers, and is somewhere in the New York area. Wanda Maximoff joined with the Avengers after the aforementioned events and allegedly fought with them against an army of 'metal men' in Sokovia 2 months ago. Her twin brother, Pietro Maximoff was killed in Sokovia."

Wanda felt herself go completely still, and the casual banter between Vision and Sam had gone silent. She went cold, like every warm, bright thing had been sucked from her life. The program continued, but this time, a thin blond woman with glasses was speaking with her snobby voice.

"Well, personally I think it is a good thing that one of these enhanced people was killed. They are very dangerous, possibly even more dangerous than the Avengers themselves. These 'Maximoffs' are very dangerous individuals, and need to face justice for what they have done to our government. Wanda Maximoff needs to be held accountable for her and her brother's actions. She should at the very least be removed from our country-"

The woman's nasally voice was cut short as the television screen shattered and Wanda lost control. A blast of energy shot out from her, blasting Sam and Vision backwards and shattering the windows on the floor.
She sunk to her knees, holding her head in her hands. "Я монстр (I'm a monster)."

Suddenly, the image of Sam and Vision being blasted away flashed in her mind, accompanied with a thrill of fear. She stumbled to her feet and raced over frantically. She found Vision lying on top of Sam, protecting him from the blast. She touched Vision's shoulder and he jerked slightly, opening his eyes. His mechanical blue eyes met her brown ones.

"Are you alright," she whispered, and he nodded.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, and she backed away on her hands and knees. He knew now. He knew and Sam knew and Natasha and Steve would know. They would know that she broke everything she touched, that nothing good could come from being near her.

"I am sorry," she said again, barely more than a whisper, and ran to her room.