The Witch's Shadow (Wanda Maximoff x Girl)

Thirteen

A steady beeping noise was annoying me. I opened my eyes and was blinded by a white light, making me groan and cover my face with my arm.

"Jarvis dim the lights." Nats voice came from beside me.

I peeked over and was pleased to find the lights had dimmed to an acceptable brightness. Natasha was sitting in a chair by my bed and she smiled at me when I looked at her. Not her usual cocky smile but a tired one. Dark circles under her eyes were forming, like she hadn't slept in days.

"You ok?" I asked her, my voice scratchy.

She got up and got me some water and waited until I had drank it all before answering. "You and Wanda had us worried. It's been a rough couple of days."

"Oh gods, Wanda!" I sat up too fast and the room started spinning.

"Be careful!" Nat scolded as I fell back against the pillows again.

"Is Wanda ok?" I fought to keep the panic from my voice.

"Yes... and no. Bruce managed to remove the bullet and get her stable and her body is healing. But it's been three days and she should be awake by now," she tells me cautiously.

"Where is she?" I struggled to get up, I had to see her.

"Stop you're going to hurt yourself. She's next door, I'll take-" Nat didn't get to finish before I was gone and crashing to the floor in Wanda's room. I pulled myself up in a chair just as Nat came storming in.

Wanda was laying on her bed, a faint red glow coming from her. She looked peaceful, like she was just asleep. But when I took her hand it was cold and she didn't wake, didn't move at all. I held her hand between mine, rubbing my thumb over the top gently. "Why won't she wake up, Nat?" I turned to her, tears in my eyes.

"Oh Ray," Nat whispered as she realized the thing I had been avoiding for months. "You love her."

I give her a single nod before I turned back to Wanda, watching for any signs that she was in there. Eventually Natasha left and I was grateful for that.

A day passed and then another, and Wanda still didn't wake up. The others stop by every now and then, sometimes they try to get me to move, but usually a blast of magic sends them away.

Eventually I couldn't keep my eyes open and I fell asleep still holding wandas hand.

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I opened my eyes into a nightmare. But not one of mine. All around me was swirling red flames. I started walking through them and they got hotter and brighter. Eventually I had to squint to see.

Something hit my foot and I looked down at a charred body. I looked around and there was a lot of bodies. The longer I walked the more there were. Then they stopped.

And there was Wanda.

She was kneeling with her head bent and her hands in her lap. As I watched, three people came up to her and she looked up at them. They looked normal and then they started to burn. The look on Wanda's face was pure anguish.

As the people crumbled to dust she looked back down. A few seconds later it started again. The same thing happened over and over. I felt her anguish every time the people burned.

I pushed my way to her and when she looked up at me her face fell. "Not you too." She muttered.

I sank to my knees in front of her, "Wanda snap out of it! This isn't real!" I pleaded with her.

"I'm sorry you are here Ray. I never wanted you to burn." Her eyes looked right through me.

"Wanda!" I waved my hand in front of her face but she didn't even blink. "Wanda I need you to snap out of it. I need you to come back. I need you... I love you." Putting both hands on her face I kissed her.

I know it was wrong and not at all how I'd hoped our first kiss would be, but I poured everything k had into it, praying that she would snap out of it. But when nothing happened at first, my heart started to break.

But then, ever so slowly, she kissed me back.

I pulled back and she looked at me. Not through me, at me. "Ray?" She asked confused.

"Hey," I sighed in relief.

"Where are we?" She looked around horrified.

"In your nightmare. And it's time to wake up." I told her as I pulled her up.

"How?"

"Take my hand Wanda." When she did my black tendrils swirled around us and I held her close. "Close your eyes." I closed mine just as the blackness blocked out the red....

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...and opened them back in the room. I sat up and found Wanda looking at me.

"You didn't have my permission," she tells me.

"What?" My confusion clear.

"In there. You didn't have my permission to kiss me."

"Oh... right," I mumble as the realization of what I did weighs down on me. "About that, I'm sorry I just-"

"But you have it now."

"I- what?" I didn't think I'd heard her right.

"You have my permission to kiss me." A smile played on her lips as she repeats herself.

"I do?" I ask, scarcely daring to breathe.

She nods, "yes. You've had it for a while now. I just.. didn't know how to tell you since we've never talked about it and I thought about just kissing you but then I didn't want to ruin our friendship if you didn't feel the same and-."

Her words are cut off as I kiss her.

Unlike our kiss in her dream, I take my time with this one, kissing her softly at first, my hands coming up to cup her face as I move to sit on the bed next to her. Her hands grip my shirt and pull me closer, her lips pressing harder into mine, kissing me deeper, and I nibble her bottom lip, making her moan slightly and then-

A startled gasp from the door.

I broke away from her and glared at the door. Natasha was standing there, her face as red as her hair. I raised an eyebrow at her, "what?"

"I uhh just wanted to check on you but you both look well so I'm gonna go," she says quickly before half running from the room.

I turned back to Wanda and grin, "where were we?"