Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 16: I Can't Control Their Fear

"Clint, you can't overpower me," the A.I. said, holding Clint tightly in the headlock, not giving him an edge to get out. Clint smiled as he slightly struggled to breathe.

"I know I can't," he wheezed out. "But she can." Vision directed his attention to Wanda, who stood in front of him, twirling a ball of red energy. With each wiggle of her finger, the little ball grew a little larger in size. Wanda's eyes glowed a light red as she used her magic. Vision looked at her sadly, knowing that he couldn't let her leave.

"Vision, that's enough. Let him go. I'm leaving," Wanda said, trying to sound strong, but on the inside she was scared.

"I can't let you," Vision said strongly, still holding Clint. Wanda moved her hands apart, the glowing red ball floated in the middle. Vision's body started glowing a deep shade of red, as his hold on Clint weakened, and Clint's body slipped through Vision's.

"I'm sorry." Vision's body then solidified, Wanda's magic weighing him down. He slowly was brought to his knees.

"If you do this...they will never stop being afraid of you." His weight now pressed into the floor, denting and breaking the tiles. Wanda's magic still pressed down on him. Her face twisted in agony as she put all she had into her powers.

"I can't control their fear, only my own." Wanda stepped closer to Vision and gave her magic one final push, sending Vision straight through the floor and several floors beneath, descending through the compound. Wanda relaxed slightly, feeling a little bit of a headache start to form. She looked down at the many holes she made, Clint joining her.

"Oh...Come on. We got one more stop." He grabbed her hand and gently led her out of the compound and into a grey van. Wanda tilted her head in confusion, having never seen the archer drive a van.

"What's this?" she asked, her Sokovian accent poking through just a little bit. Clint smiled as he opened the driver's seat and got in.

"It's our ride. Hop in." Wanda reluctantly got into the passenger seat, propping her feet on the dashboard.

"Okay. Where to now?" Clint smirked at her but didn't answer. "Fine, don't tell me."

"I'll tell you, once you tell me what happened between you and Jemma." Wanda stiffened and looked out her window, suddenly feeling quiet.

"I don't really want to talk about, Clint." Clint could hear the change in her voice and the little sniffle she let out. He sighed sympathetically and looked over at Wanda. He noticed her bring a hand up to her face and wipe away a tear.

"Come on, Wanda. Tell me what happened. Did you two get into a fight?" He knew she didn't want to talk about it, so he hoped that if he guessed it, she'd open up. Wanda shook her head.

"Not exactly."

"Well, then, what? I'm not gonna leave it alone. She said that when she woke up you were gone; no note, no phone call, nothing. She said she tried texting you and calling you and you never answered. Then she said she tried calling Steve, but he wasn't answering...and I started to get worried listening to her." Clint sighed as he ran a hand through his hair roughly. He was getting upset. "I thought something happened to you. I was freaking out the whole time I was driving to the compound. I kept thinking, 'She's gotta be here, she's gotta be here. What if she's not here?' How did you even get to the compound?" Wanda turned her head and stared out the windshield.

"I took a cab."

"You...you took a cab. What time did you leave?"

"I don't know. It was around four in the morning. I got to the compound close to five." Clint was silent for a few minutes, processing the information, before he spoke again. He was frustrated, angry, and worried, and he tried not to yell at Wanda.

"You can't just run away in the middle of the night, Wanda. Anything could've happened to you. Do you realize that? Do you realize that literally anything could've happened to you? You could've been hurt or worse." Clint shook his head, ridding the thoughts of Wanda being hurt or killed or worse in the streets of New York. "Help...help me understand, Wanda. Help me understand why you did it. What were you even thinking?" He tried to calm down. He knew how Wanda worked; she didn't do anything without a good reason and yelling at her was the surest way of making her clam up.

"I...I found out that Jemma blames me for what happened with Lily." Wanda looked down at the floormats of the car. She tugged on her sleeves again, hiding her hands, and played with her many rings. Clint looked over at her quickly before looking back to the road.

"What do you mean she blames you? Jemma never once blamed you. She told you that, many times. Where did you get that idea?"

"...I looked into her head—"

"What did I tell you about doing that?" Clint asked sternly, scolding her like she was a child and he was her father.

"I'm sorry. It's...just she was having a nightmare, and I thought that if I saw what it was, then I could help her. But...when I looked into her head and saw it, I knew the truth, so I had to leave."

"And what was this 'truth'? What did you see?" Wanda took a deep breath, preparing to tell Clint what she saw.

"First I saw Sokovia, after Ultron. It was destroyed. There was no one around, except for one person. Then the scene changed and I was in the apartment. I went to Jemma's room and I found her and Lily together, and they looked so...happy. Jemma looked so happy. I've never seen her as happy as I did then. She and Lily were talking and laughing, and then..." she paused, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Clint glanced over at her, checking to see if she was okay. He knew she was prone to panic attacks, and he was ready to pull over at a moment's notice. "Then, the ceiling of the apartment started to crumble and fall, like the building in Sokovia. Lily pushed Jemma out of the way, and she was crushed. Then, I guess I caused it because I appeared in the room with glowing red eyes and my magic twirling around my hands. I...I told Jemma it was her fault this happened, and she said it was mine. She blamed me. She...blamed...me."

"Just because it happened in a dream, doesn'tmean that that's how she really feels," Clint said gently. He pulled the vanover and turned in his seat to face Wanda. Placing a comforting hand on herupright knee, Clint gave her a soft look. "She doesn't blame you, Wanda.Jemma's still hurting, and she'll be hurting for a long time. And while I'msure it may hurt her to see you at times, I know for a fact that she does notblame you. No one blames you for what happened, okay. No one. The only thatblames you, is you. If you keep holding onto this hurt, you'll neverheal. You need to let go, Wanda. It's the only way you'll get better." Clintlooked Wanda in the eyes before leaning over and bringing her into his arms. Aftera few minutes of holding the young girl, Clint pulled away and the two of themcontinued on their way to their next stop.