Variation - W.M.

Chapter 52 - Wanda

I watched the black and white intro to my favorite show play on the screen, a pillow hugged against me as I sat up in my bed.

"Hey, Wanda" Clint greeted me as he walked through my open door and I raised a brow at his unexpected visit. He was one of the few people on the team that I found myself trusting besides Pietro, Nat and Olivia so the visit wasn't unwelcome as much as unexpected.

"Hi Barton" I nodded in greeting, my words falling out in the thick Sokovian accent I hadn't minded as much since Olivia had arrived. I was pulled out of my thoughts almost immediately when I picked up on the tangled web of Clint's mind that was extremely unlike him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, just wanted to see how you've been doing with Ollie gone" he smiled and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I'm fine" I snapped, slightly annoyed. So far both Nat and Pietro had also come to 'check on me' like I was a child. "I've been dating Olivia for less than a week, I'm not going to fall apart because she's on a mission."

Clint shook his head, moving to sit next to me. "I just asked because you were worried she wasn't ready, that's all." He turned his head to the screen, his brow furrowing. "So what are you watching?"

I sat straighter, completely sure that something was going on. "You never ask about my sitcoms. You called them old and boring" I reminded him, far more alert in his actions.

"Laura's been watching one recently, just looking for one she would enjoy" he shrugged, watching the scene with slightly narrowed eyes.

The word 'distract' popped out at me from the fog of thoughts in his brain and my face hardened. "Why are you distracting me, Clint?"

"I thought we agreed that you wouldn't look around in my head" the man hummed, avoiding my question.

"JARVIS, what's going on?" I questioned the compound's AI.

"Nothing new, Miss Maximoff" he answered, although the response did nothing to put me at ease. A rock settled in my stomach as a new sensation reached me, one that felt far too familiar in two ways. I moved the pillow off my lap, moving to stand up.

"Clint, what's going on?"

"Listen you can't go out there, Rogers asked-"

"Rogers? Why can't I go out there? What happened to Olivia?" I ask frantically, moving to the door and starting for the medical wing of the compound.

"Maximoff-"

Clint was cut off when my brother appeared, picking me up and speeding the way I had already been heading. When we arrived Steve was speaking animatedly to Helen Cho.

"She started speaking in another language and then just dropped, but I don't think she knew she was" Steve reported and Cho nodded, catching sight of us and saying something lowly before turning and disappearing.

"I told you she wasn't ready" I growled, well aware that my eyes were blazing as I stalked toward the man.

"She may have made a couple mistakes but she did a good job convincing Bucky to come with us," Steve said calmly in an attempt to defuse the situation. Pietro held me back as I started towards the blonde.

"Then why is she in there?" Pietro asked, moving to look over Steve's shoulder.

"We were ambushed. Some guy named Zemo blew up the building and got to Bucky. She took a beating but still held her own against Bucky." He told us before focusing on me. "She used her training well, you should be proud."

"She's dying" I hissed, the magic swarming my hands disappearing. Pietro shot me a sympathetic look, his hand squeezing mine reassuringly.

I had told Pietro about the connection I seemed to have with Olivia soon after she showed up and it was why her mind always felt so open, all her thoughts clear. It was also why the absence of the buzz of her mind felt so jarringly silent and empty. It made sense, since her powers had come from the me in her world.

This, however, was far worse than the silence and it took me back two years ago. This is the reason I didn't want her to go. This was the feeling I never wanted to feel again.

"She's going to be okay," Pietro muttered, pulling me into a hug. Steve smiled apologetically before moving around us, heading toward Nick Fury who seemed to have appeared at some point.

"I don't like feeling this way. I don't like this connection" I whispered, hugging him back. "This is your fault."

"You felt the connection before you were dating," my brother reminded me. "You were also already close to her."

"I shouldn't have let her go then."

He scoffed, amused by the idea. "You wouldn't have been able to stop her."

I sighed, knowing he was right.

Pietro waited with me outside of the medical wing until Cho came out, explaining that Olivia would be okay but that she had numerous injuries that might leave her unconscious for a while. She still felt weak and quiet but now it was more like when she was deep in sleep rather than fading from this world. I felt all the tension in my body melt in relief knowing that she would be okay.

As I sat next to Olivia, my hand resting on hers, I felt myself probe into her muffled mind every so often, reassuring myself that she truly was okay and that she would come back.

I couldn't take another person I loved dying.