one-shot collection [multi-fandom]

One Year || Wanda Maximoff

One year.

One year ago today was the battle of Sokovia.

As the two of you stood in the middle of the main lounge in the Avengers Compound, you were only mildly aware of the feed of year old news clips looped in memoriam of all the lives lost that day. Instead, your attention was focused on the girl beside you, because in her despair, that was all she seemed, a young girl who had truly lost everything.

For what felt like hours, the two of you stood there silently, fingers entwined as you watched the tears track down her cheeks as she blankly stared at the screen before her. Teammates and friends came and went; some offered soft words of support while others merely offered a solid hand on the shoulder, or a soft smile. All the while, you stood there, your fingers caught in a grip so tight you almost feared the strength behind it.

Because that's what is was, an unbelievable strength. For her to carry on after losing her other half, it was a strength unseen and unappreciated by many.

Only once did you leave her side. You'd simply crossed the room to collect a tissue or ten, but when you returned you knew you couldn't do that again. In her grief-filled mind, her sight and her thoughts were hazy, there was no rational thought. Her breathing had sped up, pupils blown wide with an understandable fear.

She thought she was alone.

She was scared.

With a speed unknown to you, you grasped her glowing fingers, peppering them with light kisses before drawing her into your chest.

No one should have to feel alone.

Least of all her.

Least of all today.