Be Still My Heart

Healing Requires Sacrifice

Wanda POV-

Y/N seems so peaceful while driving. She hums or quietly sings along to the music as she taps to the beat. We put the windows down just to enjoy the cooler night air. "Thank you for coming along." Y/N glances over at me as she continues driving. "Of course, I don't mind." We pull up to the small complex shortly after.

"This is it." We both get out of the car and walk inside. Y/N turns on the lights revealing a small living room, kitchen, and master suite downstairs. "My room is upstairs." I follow her up the wooden steps to what appears to be an office and bonus room space. One of the walls is filled head to toe with books, and there is a punching bag sitting in the middle of the bonus room with mats on the ground. At the top of the stairs on the third floor is Y/N's room.

Everything is in this space. She has a bathroom in the far corner, a skylight, full size bed, tv and more books. "Do you have a porch?" I walk over to the double doors and pull back the curtains to reveal a small porch that overlooks behind the townhome. You can see the full moon tonight since there is not a single cloud in the sky.

"This is really nice, Y/N. I can see why you wouldn't want to get rid of it, but have you lived here alone since your parents died?" Y/N turns around to face me, a duffle bag in hand. "Yeah, it's partially why the Avenger Facility sounds so nice. It gets pretty lonely here and too many reminders." I walk back into her room and shut the doors behind me.

"You can sit anywhere, I am almost done anyway." I sit down on the edge of her bed and watch as she continues to pack. "Do you mind if I change?" Her question catches me off guard. "No, I don't mind. Do you want me to step out?" She shakes her head no.

I try to keep my eyes focused on anything in the room but her as she pulls off her shirt but I spot something in the mirror that is on the wall across from me. There is a fresh mark spanning about six inches long that wraps her side and a smaller thin one next to it. They look like they are still healing. "What happened to your back?"

Y/N quickly grabs the black hoodie she had pulled out of her closet and throws it on over her body. "I don't know. Must have scraped it on something." She grabs her duffle bag and turns off her closet light. "Y/N," I grab her arm as she steps in front of me. "It's nothing, honest."

She refuses to make eye contact with me. "Y/N, you can talk to me. Don't make me find out for myself. Those look worse than accidental marks." She looks up to the ceiling briefly before looking back down at me. "How can I even trust you'll not tell anyone?" Her words are quiet even though we are the only two people in the house.

"Can I show you something? I won't snoop into your mind. I'll only let you into mine." She cautiously nods her head. "How are you going to do that?" I open my hand to her and wait for her to take it. "This is why you can trust me."

I had a gut feeling from the moment that I met Y/N that she would change my life. I want her to trust me, to know I won't hurt her. No matter what has happened to her in her past, I'll be there for her.

I drop my mind barrier and begin showing her my memories of my family: my parents, my brother, their deaths. I show her how I came to get my powers. Everything that I have done wrong like Lagos. How I got to where I am today because of my past. When I finish, I slowly put my mind barrier back up.

I go to pull my hand away from Y/N but she won't let go. "Wanda, you didn't have to show me all that. I know it is personal. I just needed one reason to trust you and you just gave me ten." I always get teary when I have flashbacks to my parents' deaths or my brother's. They flood my nightmares, their voices, laughs, screams.

Y/N slowly lifts her free hand to wipe away a tear from my cheek. "I'm sorry. I know it doesn't change anything but I am." I nod my head acknowledging her apology for my losses. "Thank you, Y/N, but now you have to tell me how you got those cuts."

She drops her duffle bag back to the floor and lets go of my hand. She lifts the side of her hoodie to show me the marks again. They are clean cuts. No hesitation. Perfectly straight. I lightly trace my finger along the outside of the larger mark. "Y/N," she has her head tilted around to watch my hand.

"Healing requires sacrifice, a sacrifice I have no problem giving for anyone deserving of it. And my healing ability decreases the time it takes for me to heal but I can't instantaneously heal myself like I can do to others. These are from earlier today when I healed Peter," she runs her finger along the longer mark, "and healing you." She points to the smaller one. "They'll most likely be gone by tomorrow or at least fully closed."

I look up and meet her gaze. She is waiting for my reaction. "Why here? Can you pick the location?" I can faintly see a couple other marks along her back and sides that are almost entirely healed but I can still sense the magic that flowed through them. "It's why I have to focus so hard. I have to visualize where I want the mark to appear on my body in order to heal someone."

This is why she doesn't want me to tell anyone. "You don't want Stark to know, do you?" She shakes her head no before dropping her hoodie back down. "If he knows, he might not let me join. I need this. I need people in my life who care about me. Like you." I can tell she didn't mean to say that last part. "I won't tell him."

Y/N grabs her duffle bag and slings it back over her right shoulder, the opposite side of her cuts. "Thank you for sharing your memories with me, Wanda. I'll have to show you mine one day." I stand up next to Y/N and grab her duffle bag from her. "Let me get it and only when you're ready to show me." She takes one last look around her room before turning off the main overhead light and walking out with me trailing right behind her.