A few nights later, you couldn't sleep and normally, when this happened – which was almost every other night – you'd head down to the lab and share a cup of tea with Tony while he worked, and he talked about things you hardly understood.
It was the perfect way to make yourself tired again.
But when you woke up this time, you were practically being pressed into the mattress by Wanda, and you didn't want to wake her, so you just stayed there, letting her heart beat against yours as you rubbed her back. By the happy sigh she let out in her sleep and feeling content having her close to you, you knew it was soothing you both.
When she started whimpering in her sleep, you frowned, trying to move just enough to catch a glimpse of her face, and then you noticed her eyebrows were drawn together in distress, her own frown tight on her face. Her eyes were moving frantically under her lids, and she let out a shuddered breath, whimpering again, the sounding breaking your heart. She tightened her hold on you and when you heard her mumble your name brokenly in her sleep, you decided to wake her up.
"Wanda, babe," You whispered, putting your hand on her side and running it up and down since you couldn't move much otherwise, "Wake up, love, come on."
Your voice and your hand shaking her side gently, seemed to coax her out of her sleep, but when she blinked up at you, you swallowed thickly, not missing the tear that fell down her cheek. She didn't say anything at first, just getting her bearings, and when she got up a bit, letting you go, you thumbed away the tear that she hadn't even noticed had fallen.
"Sorry." She mumbled, embarrassed, and you let out a shaky breath, pulling her into a hug as you both sat somewhat awkwardly on the bed, facing each other.
She cried quietly against you, the nightmare must've been awful for it to do this to her, and you just held her, trying to offer whatever comfort you could.
"Don't apologize," You whispered, trying not to let yourself cry because seeing her like this definitely made tears sting your eyes, but you willed them off, pulling away to hold her shoulders, catching her eye before asking, "Want to tell me about it?"
"Just...don't ever leave me, okay?" She pleaded, her voice wavering as her chin trembled and you furrowed your eyebrows, biting your lip to keep steady as she continued, swiping at her nose before speaking, "Don't...I just really need you, alright? I'm...it's not just because I don't know many people here or you're the only one who knows what we've gone through, it's that," She took a deep breath, more tears spilling, but she ignored them, needing to get this out, "I care about you so much," Her eyes were on her hands as they laid in her lap, "And if anything ever happened to you," She shook her head, "I already lost so much and I can't lose you too. That would...that'd be it for me. I know it."
"I won't leave – I would never leave," You assured insistently, emphasizing your words because she sounded so sure at the end, "Wanda, I feel the same way and that's why I've been..." You trailed off when her eyes met yours, a worried, curious frown planted on her lips, so you switched gears, "I don't like everything you're doing with Strange, I think he's using you and I think he's trying to get into your head because he knows you're so much stronger than him."
"I'm not that much-"
"You are," You told her firmly, your words holding so much conviction, she was practically forced to believe you, "And the fact that he is slowly convincing you you're not says all I need to know about him."
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head and you sighed.
"I'm not becoming someone's pet just because they brought us here and tell us we can save their world, that we're useless in our own – I won't do it and I won't let that happen to you either," As the words spilled out of your mouth, your breathing picked up, and she took your hands in hers, bringing them to her lap, keeping her eyes on you so you knew she was listening, "Wanda, this place more than scares me, but it's not because they have other beings that we didn't or possess a magic that we only read about in fiction – I'm scared we'll wake up one morning and realize we threw ourselves away to be their puppets, doing their bidding on command, being used as a means to an end."
