The Prophecy

Terrors

Four days after the events in Lagos, Wanda woke up in the middle of the night screaming.

"Baby, it's only me," I sighed as she tried to fight me off before I got hold of her wrists and held her arms still, "it's only me."

"Hi," she exhaled quickly, loosening the force on my arms as she relaxed again and looked around the dimly lit room, "what time is it?"

"Really early," I yawned slightly without even meaning to.

"Sorry ... I woke you up again," she shook her head, laying back down on the pillow with her face toward my pillow as I laid down too and brushed some of her hair behind her ear.

"It's alright, I'm a pretty light sleeper," I smiled sadly, "do you want to talk about this one?"

She shook her head again, "I just- I just want to be able to do more, I wish I could go back."

"I know," I sighed, "you can't though, you know that thinking you can is futile."

"We live with a team of scientists and hero's, surly there's something they can do."

"Time travel? You want them to ... invent time travel for this one specific event?" I checked.

She hesitated but proceeded to nod, "I wish I could bring them all back, apologise or stop it from happening again."

"If that bomb had exploded in the town square, hundreds of people would've been killed, me and Steve would be gone, you'd be gone, Sam would be gone ... sometimes life is a sacrifice you have to pay," I admitted sadly.

"Spoken like a true hero," she raised.

"I was a villain long before I was who I am now," I replied.

"So you're saying, it's okay that I killed people, because the bomb would've killed more?"

"That's actually not what I said at all Wands," I sighed, "in both scenarios the bomb did the killing, it was only through your intervention that the number of people was significantly lower. This job ... we try to save as many people as we can but sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. If we can't find a way to live with that, next time ... maybe nobody gets saved."

She released a heavy shaky breath as she closed her eyes and nodded slowly, a few tears slipping out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

"Why does everyone around me always die," she quivered.

"Babe," I sighed, pulling her into my chest as she began crying harder, her hand scrunching up my bed shirt as her tears dripped down onto my bare chest.

"My parents, Pietro, Lagos," Wanda listed as she sobbed, "I can't keep doing this."

"None of those instances were your fault, stop blaming yourself," I whispered, running my free hand through her hair as I placed a kiss on the top of her head, "we've both lost people Wanda, our abilities come with an element of loss but that's no one's fault."

She exhaled shakily through her mouth and let out a small yawn through her tears, "I'm just so tired."

"I know," I nodded slowly, "go to sleep, I'll be here the whole time."

"I don't know if I can," she sniffled.

"Try," I whispered, placing a final kiss on her forehead before she tipped her head up to look at me, cupping my cheek and giving me a soft lazy kiss on my lips as her body got heavier and she finally drifted off into a slumber, my mind awake as ever as I looked up at the ceiling, counting every flaw in the paintwork until my own eyes fell shut.

___

"I saw the news," Beka told me as she sat on my bedroom floor, swirling her mug around in her hands, "that was quite a show you guys put on in Nigeria ... I thought the Avengers didn't do shit like that."