Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 15: Runaway

That night, Wanda laid awake, staring at the ceiling. She was exhausted, but the deafening sound of her guilt kept her up. She rolled over and grabbed her phone to check the time. It was 3:30am, and Wanda groaned. Why can't it just be morning already? She placed her phone back on her nightstand and closed her eyes, trying one more time to go to sleep. After laying still for a few minutes feeling nothing, Wanda opened her eyes and sighed deeply.

She was still upset about what happened with Vision. She knew he blamed himself for her reaction, and she didn't blame him (in fact, she wasn't even upset by him), she was upset at Tony. She knew he never really liked her, not that she cared since she didn't really like him, but it hurt her that her own teammate was afraid of her and her powers. If she was being honest, she wasn't really surprised that the team was afraid of her, some part of her always knew it; she just didn't want to admit it.

Wanda tried to focus her attention on anything but her thoughts. She sat up and got out of her bed, silently leaving the room, and headed into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. She wasn't thirsty, but she wanted something—no—needed something to do to take her mind off the fact that her own mind wasn't letting her fucking sleep. She rubbed her eyes as a big yawn escaped her lips. She stared at the closed curtains of the living room windows, focusing on the late night sounds of the city.

The feeling of something soft brushing up against her snapped Wanda from her trance, causing her to jump slightly at the sudden contact, but she calmed down when she saw the familiar orange fur of Griffon's head at her feet. Looking up at her, Griffon let out a little "meow" as he continued to rub his head against Wanda's leg, purring softly. It was safe to say that Griffon liked Wanda much better than he liked Lily. Wanda laughed quietly at the feline and bent down to pick him up. Griffon curled up in her arms, purring louder.

"What are you doing up, huh?" she asked him in a whisper, not expecting an answer. Griffon's green eyes stared back at hers, blinking slowly, as if to fire the question right back at her. She sighed, continuing, "Yeah, I know. We should both be asleep. Come on." She carried the feline back into her room and placed him on her bed. Griffon jumped out of Wanda's arms and walked around a little bit on her bed, finding the most comfortable spot. Finally, he settled down and curled up in a little ball and fell asleep. Wanda followed him and got into bed and pulled him close.

As Wanda settled into the silence ready to fall asleep, a strange sound from Jemma's room snapped her out of any impending sleep. Creeping out of her room, Wanda walked the few steps it too to get to Jemma's room, and sat outside her closed door, listening curiously to find out what the sound was.

In her room, Jemma laid asleep, tossing and turning, caught in another nightmare. They weren't as frequent as they used to be, but this one bothered her for a while. She laid in her bed, whimpering as the dream haunted her. Wanda sat outside, listening to Jemma whimper and cry in her sleep. She grew curious of the nature of her dream, wanting desperately to look inside Jemma's head to help ease her sleep and to satisfy her own curiosity. Wanda quietly crept into Jemma's room and walked to her side of the bed.

Her footsteps were light and quiet as she walked across the hardwood floor, careful not to wake Jemma. Kneeling beside her, Wanda's eyes burned a dark red as she brought up her hand, a red mist slithered gracefully around her fingers, and allowed the magic to enter Jemma's head. Wanda's eyes widened as she saw into Jemma's dream, and at that instant she knew she made a mistake.

Wanda looked around at the war-battered streets. Buildings were destroyed and rubble laid in the roads all around her. Smoke from the many fires and dust filtered through the air making it hard to breathe. The area looked familiar to her, but she couldn't place the location. Turning to her left, she started walking, trying to see if she could find someone, anyone. She didn't know how long she had been searching, but she found no one. There was no one here; she was alone. Odd. She kept walking, looking at the semi-familiar destroyed buildings and streets, scratching at her head. Where was she?