Life | Steve Rogers.

eleven.

The first moment in which Wanda was distracted by the thought of her dead brother in her arms was when the third screeching yell reached her ears, making her hands shake in fear. She had been too into the features of her beloved brother to realize that someone she had grown close to was being tortured somewhere close to the room where she was staying, and she was doing nothing to help it.

But as she started to wrap her head around the realization of that person being Hazel, the same person was dragged into the room in the arms of a guard and carefully placed on her bed. As the man walked away and gave Wanda enough space to take in Hazel's conditions, something snapped in her.

Hazel's face was practically white and the sign of electrodes attached to her forehead were clearly visible by the purple bruises surrounding the attachment of her hair. A loose bandage was wrapped around her left elbow, slightly stained with blood, and she almost looked as if she was dead. She wasn't, thankfully, since her chest was slightly inflating and deflating itself, but Wanda still felt tears pricking her eyes as guilt rushed over her like a tidal wave, making her close her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Haz."

-

Hazel woke up three days later and, much to her surprise, she felt stronger than ever. The bracelet was still tightly wrapped around her wrist, but she could feel the enhanced power flowing in her body, eager to be released. She remembered she had been enhanced before, but not to this extent. And she hated it.

When Wanda realized Hazel was waking up, she gave her a small smile to which Hazel replied to almost immediately. She didn't hate her for what had happened, she couldn't have avoided it in any way, but she felt betrayed. She had felt alone again and she thought it was a feeling she had grown accustomed to, but she wasn't, not after joining the Avengers.

She had found her mind going back to Steve quite often in those three days, during which she had dreamt about destruction and sorrow. But sometimes, his comforting face would appear in her dreams and relax her, embracing her in a tight hug she could almost feel real, even if it wasn't. She had woken up wondering if he was ok, considering the huge wound the explosion had caused him, but she knew she had used her powers enough to avoid his death.

She wished she could go back to him, to train with him, to listen to Marvin Gaye with him or to talk about the things he liked the most about the 21st century and the things he missed the most about his time. But she didn't know whether she would have survived the following days or not. By now, she knew she would have brought Pietro back to life, but she didn't know whether this plan involved her surviving or not, and she honestly didn't mind that much.

As she took in her surroundings, she noticed Wanda had probably remained in the same position for the whole time, sitting on the bed with Pietro's head resting on her lap as his body laid limp on the rest of the bed.

Wanda was staring at her with puffy eyes and her mouth slightly open, probably on the verge of asking something but not finding the strength to. Hazel preceded her.

"I'll give him back to you, but you can't stay here. They will use you both the way Ultron did, and we can't let it happen," she murmured, her mouth hoarse for three days of not speaking at all.

"What about you?" Wanda asked. Hazel simply shrugged, steadying herself on her bed as she observed Pietro's features. He was clearly a handsome man, but his beauty was different from Wanda's. She was more of a particular beauty, with features that wouldn't necessary make every man swoon at her, but Pietro was. His features were regular, almost geometric, and he reminded her of a statue she had once seen on a bag of a tourist that had come to New York, while she was begging for money. She somehow knew his character was as sweet and lively as his figure, and she wished she could have been alive to see it.