Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 68

||Please forgive me when I break your heart.||

She felt their energy before they stepped into the jet, and Wanda pulled the headphones down and listened as the voices of the other mutants got closer and closer.

Bruce was slumped against the seat beside her, and she suddenly realized the blanket covering her body—Bruce's blanket.

She stood up and walked over to the back end of the jet, and she saw them—the mutants, who carried Sharon's lifeless panther body. Even under the dark sky, Wanda could see the extraordinary lavender coat that covered the panther. Even without life, she was stunning.

Havok and Sunspot carried Sharon into the jet carefully, and Wanda moved slowly towards them as they set her down on the table in the middle. Her panther body was stained in her own blood, and the piece of metal or steel or whatever the hell it was was still stuck inside of her, and all Wanda wanted to do was pull it out and relieve her of that pain she no longer felt.

"She'll be shifting back to her human form soon," Havok said through the thick silence. Her eyes met his, and she could swear she saw a thin line of tears in his eyes. The other mutants gathered outside of the jet, some of them coming in to sit down and rest. Their faces were long with exhaustion and sadness, but for some odd reason, Wanda found herself walking to the storage part of the jet, where the team kept bottled water and first aid supplies. The mutants were scratched and sliced and bloodied in places Wanda couldn't even imagine, so she walked over to them and began handing out supplies to clean them up.

It was the least she could do. Because it was either that, or stare at Sharon's lifeless panther and sulk in that grief she still felt bubbling inside of her.

Havok stood beside Sharon the entire time, and Wanda walked up to him to hand him a bottled water, he didn't even look at her. She wasn't sure what their relationship was like, but in those few times she saw them interacting, they were always arguing with each other.

"She was a pain in my ass," he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and deep. Wanda walked over beside him, staring at the deep cut on his neck, the blood still slightly spilling out. She would have to patch it up, maybe even talk to Bruce about it needing stitches, but he continued on. "The only reason I gave her such a hard time was because she was the only one in our group who I knew didn't judge me for who I was. She never mentioned my struggle with my mutation, or even joked about it, because I think she knew how self-conscious I was. And yet, I still gave her a hard time."

Havok ran his hand down Sharon's nose, touching her whiskers in the process. Her panther body was strongly built, and there were scars beneath her fur that Wanda could see; signs of past battles she fought in.

"Sit down," she told him, and he obliged, his eyes still focused on Sharon. Wanda had to pull down part of his uniform to get a good angle on his neck, and he didn't even flinch when she applied disinfectant to his wound, cleaning up all of the blood. From what she could tell, he didn't need stitches, so she placed a thick bandage on his cut and proceeded to clean off the rest of his scratches.

"What did you do to us?," he said after minutes of silence. She stopped working for a second, looking at his face before continuing on. "One moment I was fighting, the next I was frozen in time. I couldn't even move an inch."

"Mental manipulation is the best way I can describe it," she said to him, turning his face to hers so that she could wipe away the blood on his left brow. "My abilities are a bit complicated."

"You really are a witch, aren't you?"

"Did you doubt my abilities?" she asked, half offended.

"I doubted the I-can-show-you-your-fears thing, but now, after what you made me see and feel, I have no doubt you can destroy anyone with the flick of your finger. Pretty bad-ass actually." She smiled to herself, wiping a final swipe across his chin, then sat back on her heels. His face was clean, save the fresh scratches and cuts lining his neck and cheek. He was a handsome man, not much older than her, and she felt herself frown when she watched as his eyes darkened again.