The Witch's Shadow (Wanda Maximoff x Girl)

Six

I spent the next few days in my room.

Even with the window dimmed the room still feels too exposed, so I stay in my shower bed. As the days pass it gets harder and harder to get up, harder and harder to do anything but sleep. The bathroom was freezing but I was too tired to get up and get more blankets. So I stayed in the cold shower, shaking under the blankets I did have.

Late one night a pain started in my chest. At first I thought it was another panic attack, but then the pain started to spread to my arms and legs. It felt like my entire body was on fire, like my blood was boiling. I wanted to scream but my jaw was locked shut from the pain. It got harder and harder to breath and my vision went spotty.

WANDA! HELP! I yelled in my mind in the hope that maybe she would hear me. My vision got darker and the last thing I saw was my bathroom door being blasted open with red energy.

When I woke up I was in a lab. I could breath better but my body was still on fire. I couldn't move or even open my eyes and panic started to build up. The sound of a familiar voice eased the panic, but only slightly.

"Isn't there anything you can do Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"Nat I don't even know what's wrong with her," his voice was tired and I wondered how long I'd been here.

"Guys, she's awake." Wanda's voice floated to me and something squeezed my hand.

"Are you sure? Her eyes are still closed," Nat asked as she got closer to my bed.

And I can still see that Bruce wants to jump your bones, I think.

"Umm yeah she's definitely awake," Wanda told her.

"Ray how do you feel? Do you have any idea what's going on?" Natasha's voice is right by me and it's a comfort knowing she's so close.

I feel like I'm being deep fried from the inside out. And no, Natasha, I have no idea what's wrong with me, because if I did, I'd tell you, I practically yell at her.

Be nice,Wanda's voice scolded me in my head. "She said she feels like she's being deep fried and she doesn't know what's wrong."

"Deep fried?" Bruce asked, "that could be any number of things.." while him and Nat went off and talked I turned my attention to Wanda.

Are you ok Wanda? I asked her, concerned. She sounded jittery and tired.

"I'm fine I just haven't slept much these past few days. You've had us worried," she says softly.

Why haven't you been sleeping? Wait.. past few days? How long have I been here? I demand.

She squeezed my hand again, "you've been unconscious for three days and I'm not sleeping because I kind of haven't left the room."

Three days?! And... you've stayed with me? I couldn't fathom why she would have done that. Nat sure, we had history, but Wanda and I just met.

"Well yeah, I wanted to make sure you were going to be ok and then when they didn't know if you were going to wake up at all I got worried and then I thought what if you couldn't talk when you did wake up and look it's exactly what happened." The girl was rambling and it was adorable.

Wanda.

"Yea?"

Thank you for saving me.

"You're welcome Ray."

So I guess this means you haven't been practicing huh?

"Not since that day and I'm starting to crawl out of my skin. It gets a bit uncomfortable when I can't use my magic."

And just like that, it clicked.

Ever since I got my powers, I'd used them everyday. This was the first time I had gone a long period of time without using them. And Wanda must have had the same idea because she yelled for Natasha and Bruce and told them what I had just thought of.

"It makes sense," Bruce mused. "Magic is almost like a living being, sharing your body. Maybe with the collar on it's built up and poisoned your blood?"

"So she needs to purge the magic from her system?" Natasha asked the doctor. "And then she'd be better?"

"It would stand to reason. Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to tell Tony that he needs to turn off her collar."

"Nat wait, we don't know will happen if he does that. It could be dangerous." The doctor sounded concerned.

"She'll die if we don't Bruce. I'm not losing her again." The tone Nat had was not one to be argued with.

"Ok fine, but she needs to be somewhere that if her powers unleash they won't hurt anyone."

"You can use my training room," Wanda offered. "Tony designed it so that my magic couldn't break it."

"Then it's settled, I'll make Tony turn off the collar and you get her to the training room." She stormed out of the room, her boots thudding on the floor.

"Come on kid give me a hand," Bruce told Wanda as my bed started to move. It wasn't long before we were in the gym, I recognized the smell of it, all gyms smelled the same.

"I don't like this," Tony's voice boomed.

"You don't have to like it, you just have to turn off the collar," Natasha snapped at him.

"How do we know she won't kill us all when I do?" He challenged.

"She won't," Wanda told them.

"And how do you know that?" Tony asked as he rounded on her.

"I've been in her head, trust me, she doesn't want to hurt any of us. Well except maybe you Tony."

Just then my back arched in a spasm and this time I did scream.

"Ray!"

"Tony now!"

"Get her in the room!"

The bed stopped moving and there was a scuffling sound and then I felt all my powers come flooding back in a giant wave. And it was too much. It was like drowning and it consumed my body. I screamed as it took me over and exploded out of me. I opened my eyes just in time to see rolling black smoke fill up the training room. The more smoke left my body the less pain there was, until finally it all stopped and I passed out again.