Red Winter - COMPLETED

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Nighttime

Gasp. Wanda jolted up in her bed, the room spun as her head whipped around taking in her surroundings. Gray walls, soft carpet, light breeze from the open window. She was in her room, she was safe. It had been 2 days since the team headed out for their mission, the compound seemed to echo with an eerie silence. Without Bucky there to comfort her, Wanda woke up every night from her nightmares, sweat pouring down her forehead. It's just a dream Wanda, get ahold of yourself. The cool air hit her bare arms making her shiver lightly. Wanda bit her cheek, cocking her head in order to peek out of the window. The moon highlighted the tree tops in the distance, a calming wind danced overhead, causing birds to hurry out of the wood. Nighttime was always Wanda's worse fear as a child, the darkness wasn't her friend. Now, as an adult, she found it relaxing and soft. No longer was she afraid of the dark and what lurked in the shadows, the darkness was her friend.

Slowly she rolled over, pulling the covers snug around her body. The clock on her nightstand read 2:28, she had only slept for three hours. Relax, you need to rest. Cheering herself on wasn't working, not an ounce of her body was tired. Uncertainty washed over her as she began to realize she wouldn't be falling back asleep. I could use some hot water. So she rolled out of bed and onto her feet. Even with a cool breeze sneaking around her room the carpet was warm and soft on her bare feet as she sunk her toes into its depth. Walking toward her bathroom she dropped the nightgown she was wearing, feeling the chill against her breasts. The bathroom was dark and cold, the large tub set back by the window. Wanda shared a bathroom with Natasha, both rooms having a door leading to it. Not only was it tastefully decorated, thanks to Nat, but it was full of products. Every bubble bath you could ever want, bath bombs for days, and all the perfumes you could smell. Wanda grabbed a bath bomb and headed toward the tub, she turned on a perfect combination of hot and cold water before plugging the drain. Even with only the moon to light the room you could see the steam dancing from the water. Wanda popped the bath bomb into the rising puddle, watching the purple shimmer bubble around. The smell of lavender filled the room. After clipping her hair up and out of the way she tipped a toe into the steam, it was perfect. Slowly she submerged her body into the water, feeling the heat warm her soul. Warm water still poured into the tub, not yet at the height she wanted it. Leaning her head back she closed her eyes, listening to the water run. "Mhmmmmm." Relaxing, the water soothed her worries for the moment. With a wave of her glowing hand the door closed, not letting a single stream of steam escape. The hot air trapped inside with her.

Moments past as she ran her hands through the water, her eyes remaining closed. It was almost time to turn the water off or she would overflow the tub, but before she even had the chance to turn it off the knob turned, stopping the flow. Wanda opened her eyes and looked down by her feet where the spout was, surly she didn't use magic to turn it off...so what did? Wanda sat in the water for a moment, contemplating her thoughts only to be inturupted by the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall. Quickly she hopped out of the tub, ran into her room to throw on underwear and her black dress that lay on the floor, then quickly hurried out of the room, grabbing tall knee high socks and her lace up boots.

The hall was empty, an eerie silence bounced off the walls. Wanda took this moment to pull her socks and shoes on, walking slowly as she did. "Who is there?" Her accent flowed off the tounge. No answer. Slowly scarlet  flooded her hues as she rose her hands, tingling fingertips of red. "Answer me." Nothing.

As the hallways opened into the parlor she stopped, a figure stood in front of the large window. "Who are you?" Wanda kept her guard up, magic at the ready. The figure, she noticed, wore a cape. To small to be Thor, too big to be the Vision. "Answer me." Wanda stepped into the room, her senses tightened. The figure lifted a hand, making her clench her fingers tight. "You're helmet and cape, are you playing dress up?" Wanda smirked, taunting the figure. "Not exactly." Finally an answer, the figure was a man, his voice was whole and a tadbit groggy. "Then explain yourself." It was about now that she realized the alarm hadent gone off, Tony get a finger print scanner just for them...how did this person get in? "How did you get in here?" Wanda stood by the couch, a good ten feet from the man who began to chuckle. "I did not come to chat my dear." Just as his sentence ended Wanda saw the coffee table fly at her, quickly her covered it in red and sent it the other way. "What do you want?!" Again, a wholesome laugh as the man lifted both his hands, objects from all over the room flew in her direction. Wanda tried her hardest to turn them all away, eventually surrounding herself with magic so everything bounced off. "You're remarkable." The man walked toward her scarlet bubble she crouched in. "Strong. I like that." Just as he walked closer Wanda saw another person enter the room. "What's going on?!" It was Steve Rogers.

The man glanced over in surprise as Steve ran into the room and raced up to him, sending a punch right to the jaw. The man stumbled back, but there was no force in the punch, making Wanda feel uneasy as she looked up from her red glaze. The two men fought for a moment before the man tumbled over, knockedout cold. Wanda kept her magic up as Steve ran over to her, "Let's go." He held his hand out to her, she looked at it closely. The scars he sported were there, his voice was his. So her magic fell as she stood up. "Who is that?" She looked over to the man on the floor. "Magneto." Wanda looked at Steve who was now headed out of the room, so she began to follow. "That mutant the team is after?" Steve nodded, headed toward the door. "Where are we going? Shouldn't we call Tony?" Steve grabbed the red leather jacket that hung on a hook in the doorway before tossing it to her. "He shut down the alarm system an all cellphone towers in a thirty mile radius. We need to leave in order to contact anyone." Wanda followed Steve out of the compound and toward a jet that was parked on the runway. "What made you come?" The Witch stopped walking and crossed her arms, Steve realized she was no.longer following him and turned around to face her. "Tony called. The reception was bad and I couldn't hear him, so I tried to track him. That didn't work. So here I am. Seems like good timing too. Now come on, we have to get to Black Widow, she's at that school." Wanda followed him into the jet, it was empty. Looking around she didn't recognize anything about it, something was very off. "Steve...where is Sharon?" The man turned and smirked, "Home." Wanda looked over to him, "Why did you call Nat by Black Widow?" She crossed her arms, "How did Tony call you when the mission is black light?" Black light was a term used for a mission where they held absolutely no contact with outside people for safety purposes. A wide smile appeared over Steve's face, Wanda stepped back watching blue scales begin to trace Steve's face..."What..." Wanda turned to run out of the jet but Magneto stood in the door way,  the two caught eyes just as something smacked over her head. Wanda blacked out.