Black Widow: Dark House

48. "Angel By The Wings"- Sia

Bold Italics- Russian

Italics- any language besides English

**- thoughts/ memories

Hours.

It had been hours.

The church had been engulfed in flames for hours. Emergency personnel arrived to fight the fire and clear a perimeter. The surrounding buildings had been evacuated. Tony had used the iron man suit to help fight the fire. Steve, Bucky, and Yelena had worked with the police to establish a perimeter and make sure that everyone from the surrounding area got out safely.

No one had been hurt.

Except one person.

Natasha and Wanda were doing sweeps around the church and surrounding areas to try and find Ana. They had been looking for hours with no success. Natasha tried not to let her mind run away with her. She stayed focused despite her shaking hands. Ana was okay. She had to be. There was no other option.

Wanda reached out with her mind, looking for anything similar to Ana's thoughts. She felt her powers flood out from her like water as she searched, frantic and desperate to find her friend.

Pain.

Blinding pain.

All consuming pain.

It stabbed into her brain like a white-hot icepick, making her scream, almost bringing her to her knees.

She felt her skin cells growing and rip themselves apart to form new ones, her muscles stretching and cracking as they wrapped around her exposed bones that were bending and contorting back to their original form. Her lungs expelling ashes, smoke, and mucus as they choked to breathe again. Sweat dripping down her nose as her eyes rehydrated in her skull. Small rivers of blood running down her neck as her teeth individually popped through the flesh of her gums. Her vocal cords stringing themselves back in her throat, untwisting from her trachea, coming to life as a wailing scream tore through her.

Wanda heard it, the scream. Ana.

She closed her mind; it was too much.

Staggering she moved forward, following the sound of the banshee-like wailing.

"ANA!" Wanda screamed, wading her way through the smoke and ashes as she continued down the alleyway.

The guttural screaming grew closer but lessened, as if the pain the person was experiencing was starting to lessen.

She approached the southeast corner of the church alleyway, the flames still billowing from the walls. In the light of the fire Wanda saw a shadow on the ground, sliding itself away from the building towards a dumpster. Wanda hastened her steps, the screams turning into agonizing groans as she neared.

"Ana?" Wanda gasped as she approached.

The figure swiped at her with semi-burnt clawed hands, vicious, fearful, like a trapped animal with a broken leg. Desperate.

It was Ana. Wide eyed, covered in ash and soot as her body continued to contort and shift as it healed itself. Ana convulsed, letting out panicked growls at the sight of Wanda as she took another swipe at Wanda.

"Ana it's me, it's Wanda. It's okay" Wanda said, lowering her stance but keeping her distance.

Ana's body shook with pain as she looked at Wanda, her gaze animalistic and overwhelmed with pain as if she was unable to process who Wanda was while her body was flooded with the need to simply survive.