The Age of Miracles- Maximoff Twins Oneshots •Temporarily On Hold•

Mad Hatter (Wanda)

Title is from the Melanie Martinez song Mad Hatter. I did some research on schizophrenia, but not extensive, so who knows how accurate this is. But I guess everyone is different, sooo... that's the excuse I'm gonna go with.

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Wanda had always heard voices. She sometimes wondered if they were just her thoughts, but they were too illogical. Right? She didn't realize that wasn't normal until her parents had heard her telling them to shut up when she was four.

"Who're you talking to?" Marya had asked her, confused.

"The voices in my head. They won't stop yelling," Wanda had said with a frown.

She was confused when her parents looked at each other funny.

"You hear voices?" Django had asked, concern in his voice.

Wanda had nodded. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

Marya had tightly grasped Wanda's shoulders, giving her a serious look. "Sweetheart, don't tell anyone about this, ok? It's not normal. They'll lock you up if they find out."

"Who?" Wanda has asked.

"Anyone," Django had said sternly.

Years passed, and when Wanda was thirteen, she saw a man walking down the street, arguing with no one.

"Who are you talking to?" Wanda had asked curiously.

The man gave her a crooked smile, which made her back up. The voices in her head screamed at her, to run, to fight, to do something.

"The voices in my head," He'd replied.

"You hear them too?" Wanda had asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah. Listen, girly. Don't you tell no one you hear things. You'll get stuck in the looney bin."

Three weeks later, Wanda learned he'd be admitted to an insane asylum. Pietro had looked into it further for her. He came returned, looking scared. He took her face firmly in his hands. "You can't tell anyone about your voices. You really will get locked up. The law says so."

Wanda gulped, actually getting scared now. She swore to never tell anyone about what went on in her head. Ever.

Six years later, Wanda tossed and turned in her new bed at the Avengers facility. She couldn't sleep, the voices keeping her up. They'd gotten better after Wanda had been given the power of telepathy. After all, she was now hearing input from many different places, not just her own head. But once Pietro died, and she locked herself in her room, they'd gone back to how they were.

She used the phone that Clint left in her room to look up a bunch of random crap before looking up 'hearing voices'. A long list of disorders and things popped up. She hit one of the first suggestions. 'Schizophrenia.' She learned what she could, her gut starting to twist with realization. The symptoms could include hearing voices, hallucinations, impulsiveness, paranoia, laughing at inappropriate times, oversleeping, insomnia, antisocial behaviors. She'd always had all of those issues. She also had depression, but she was pretty sure that was from trauma. These details didn't mean she had this schizophrenia thing, though. Did it?

She quickly deleted the search and started mulling this new information over. Clint and Natasha- the only Avengers she'd talk to- kept telling her that she should talk to their friend Sam. They said he was a therapist, and that she'd like him. She was skeptical. But who knew, maybe he'd know what was wrong with her.

Suddenly, memories resurfaced. Being told many times to never tell people. Her gut twisted again. But this wasn't Sokovia. This was America. Things were different here.