Escaping Maximoff

In My Room

I was never good at sleeping. My mind always seemed to race quicker at night, haunted by memories from years past – words I could have said, things I should have done. The people I'd lost weren't really gone; they'd always return at night, whether in my thoughts or, worse, in my dreams. I tried to let sleep take me, but images flashed behind my eyes, making the effort a burden.

I sat up shivering, Wanda's red blanket slipping from my body as I stood. I paced around the living room for a few minutes, my desperation to escape reality growing bigger with every passing second. I couldn't take it anymore. The room felt confined; there wasn't enough space for me to exist in it, so I walked out into the hall.

A dim light from the moon slipped past a gap in the curtain, lighting up the path of where I was going. There were still a few rooms I hadn't explored, but I didn't want to go anywhere without Wanda's permission, so I chose to go upstairs and sit by the big window on the landing.

My feet pattered softly against the stairs as I crept up, the red blanket trailing behind me. I hadn't been upstairs before, but I hoped Wanda wouldn't mind if I was quiet. I passed her door and went to make myself comfy in the crevice of the wide windowsill when something caught my eye. I placed the blanket down and walked over to a small side table, my hands eager to reach out and take the picture frame.

It was Vision. I was certain it was the synthesoid. Sam had shown me thousands of pictures of the Avengers, and it wasn't like the dude really blended in. My shaky fingers traced the smiling faces. The robot's arm was held loosely around Wanda's waist, and even through the glass, I could tell a faint blush coloured her cheeks. She was happy. She was actually happy. Sadness glossed over my eyes as I stepped away, cold creeping up my arm from where I had touched the photograph. I could never make her feel like that. We had both lost too much. I knew that I was just some stupid child who had come into her life by accident and that I would never mean as much to her as the Avengers did, despite how much I wanted to. She had quickly become one of the most important people in my life, even though she didn't know it.

Wanda deserved more than life had given her. She had earned the right to have a real family, not a lost teenager with no sense of purpose.

I heard Wanda open the door and step out into the hallway. I could practically feel her mind turning, trying to come up with something to say, but she couldn't.

"You were wrong," I said, my voice quiet and shaky, my nails digging into the palm of my hand. "My worst fear isn't the dark. It's losing the people I love."

She walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me, resting her head on mine. It had started to feel so natural, like I belonged in her embrace. "Do you want me to braid your hair?" Her whispers sent gentle vibrations down my spine as she spoke, her hot breath tickling my neck. I turned around in her arms to face her, my eyebrows scrunched slightly in confusion. A small smile tugged at her lips as she brushed a twisted lock behind my ear. "It always made me feel better when Natasha braided my hair."

I thought for a second before nodding. I followed her into her room and sat at the edge of her bed as she quickly grabbed a hairbrush out of a drawer. Wanda settled on the bed behind me, crossing her legs so she could easily get close. "Let me know if anything hurts," she said softly, rubbing my shoulder lightly with her thumb before starting to brush my hair. Her fingers deftly separated the strands into sections, twisting and weaving them expertly, pulling only slightly as she did so. Her hands were gentle, careful never to cause even the slightest pain. As time passed, I moved further back, resting fully against her front when she finished. Wanda dared to place a small kiss on the top of my hair as her arms enveloped me once again. "Are you tired now?" She asked, noticing how my eyes fluttered closed. I muttered a small yes and tried to get up to walk back to the living room, but the redhead stopped me with a tug on my arm, pulling me back into her warm embrace.

"Can I stay with you?" I whispered shyly, nervous to ask even though I knew she would say yes.

She hummed in response, her arms tightening around me one final time before moving to let me get under the covers.

I fell asleep pretty quickly after that, the familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon almost as comforting as the hand holding mine.