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"Peter?" Wanda called his name as she hung upside down on the monkey bars. She and Peter had gone to the park near Stark Tower, just to get away from everyone for a while.
"Hmm?" Peter hummed in response, copying her. They both hung upside down by their legs, facing each other.
"You've been through a lot, yeah?" She asked, treading on dangerous territory. Neither of them ever spoke of their pasts as it caused too much pain.
"I guess so, yeah. Why?" He looked her in the eyes, making both of them smile dorkily.
"I'm just thinking about stuff. It's been three years since Pietro died" She sighed, the smiles falling from their faces. Peter had never met Pietro but he had been told stories and had seen the events of Sokovia on the news when it had happened.
"Oh. I'm sorry" He mumbled. Wanda let out a dry chuckle before flipping herself around and off of the monkey bars. She sat on the ground underneath them, her knees pulled to her chest. Peter followed, sitting in front of her with crossed legs.
"It's okay. I remember the first birthday I had without him. Only a month after he passed. None of the other Avengers knew so I stayed in my room for the day. One hell of a fifteenth birthday if you ask me" She said, a sad smile on her face. Peter gave her a sympathetic smile.
"I always forget that you're only a year older than me. I forget how old I am a lot, which might be worrying" He hummed, getting a quiet laugh.
"Do the other Avengers let you train with them?" She asked, earning a shrug.
"Sometimes. Mainly Tony though. He's the only one who can help me with my suit since he made it and all"
"I can't train with them. They say that I'm too dangerous. Which, I guess, I am. They can't trust me after what happened with Ultron" She sighed and Peter felt the tension in the air.
"What actually happened then, cause nobody wants to tell me"
"I looked into their heads. Made them relive their memories and their fears. I don't think they realise that I saw everything too, I felt the pain they felt" She explained. Peter gave a curious look.
"How did that work? Like, how did you see it?"
"I guess, I saw things the way they saw them. Like, with Natasha, I saw everything from her point of view. It was like, I was her during that but I couldn't move or do anything" She ventured, not completely sure in her answer. Peter just nodded.
"Didn't Clint electrocute you or something?" He asked. Clint had told him his point of view on what happened one day when they were coming back from a mission.
"Yeah, the jackass did. He shoved a shocker arrow thing into my head. It felt like I was being fried to death" She remarked, glaring playfully at Peter.
"H-How did you deal? With what happened to Pietro? Y-You don't have to say if you don't want to but..." Peter trailed off, sighing quietly.
"Bad ways. I left my room, once every three days. I rarely got out of bed and if I did, it wasn't for long. I kept everything bottled up. And, uh... other things" Wanda whispered the last part. Peter was fairly sure what she meant.
"Where?" He asked, his voice softer than normal.
"Anywhere, honestly. Wrists, legs, god, even my ribcage. Anywhere that made it burn. Anywhere that made me feel pain for being the one that lived" She whispered, looking down at her knees.
"I used to do it on my calves. It burnt like a bitch, which was what I wanted. I watched my uncle die and I couldn't do anything to stop it. He surprised a burglar and they shot him" He explained quietly, making sure that nobody was around to hear their conversation.
"I'm... so sorry Pete" Wanda mumbled, her tone gentle.
"I'm okay now. His death gave me the motivation to help save people. I guess, his death cause Spider-Man" He hummed.
"So you don't still...?"
"No, I managed to stop last year. MJ and Ned helped me. You'd like them, I'm sure of it" He said, the cheerful tone back in his voice. Wanda smiled weakly at him.
"I don't understand how you're always so happy. It's abnormal" She scoffed at him.
"You still do it?" He asked, keeping his voice quiet as he spotted two children run into the park. Wanda nodded slightly.
"You're the only person who listens to me. You're actually the only person to really acknowledge me on the team. The others don't even call me by my name, just the hero name. It's been over three years and they still don't trust me, even after I saved their lives" She grumbled, nudging a stone with her foot.
"Do you ever just think of what it would be like, to just disappear? Never have to do any of this again?" She asked, looking over to Peter. He shrugged slightly.
"Sometimes. I think of what would have happened if that spider hadn't bit me. If I hadn't become Spider-Man and I was just Peter Parker" He replied.
"I miss Pietro so much. I just want to be with him again, with my family" Wanda whispered, tears slipping down her face, which she quickly wiped away.
"You're not saying what I think you are, are you?" Peter whispered.
"I have nothing here. Nobody trusts me, I'm dangerous, the public thinks that I'm a criminal and I'm technically in this country illegally. What do I have here that makes it worth me staying?" She whispered back. Peter gave a defeated sigh.
"I-I don't know. But I would miss you. So much. You're probably my only friend on the team" He stated. Wanda smiled slightly.
"Come on. We should get back to the tower before they think we've gone riot and murdered a bunch of people" She hummed, standing up. Peter followed and stood next to her, bumping his shoulder with hers.
"Love you Maximoff"
"Love you too Parker"
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Tony sighed as the surveillance footage ended. He closed his laptop, holding his head in his hands.
"Friday, how long as Wanda Maximoff been missing?" He asked.
"Ms Maximoff was last seen 4 days, 7 hours and 51 minutes ago, Boss" Friday replied.
"Still no signs of her?"
"I'm afraid not, sir"
Tony sighed again. Nobody had heard from Wanda, she hadn't appeared at school and she wasn't in the tower. She had just disappeared. Peter had told him that she wasn't at school and that she wouldn't pick up her phone. Seeing how frantic Peter had been, Tony ordered everyone in the tower to search for her.
It came to no avail.
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"T-Tony! We found her!" Steve's voice came from Tony's phone. Tony bolted upright in his chair.
"Is she okay, is she alive?" He asked, frantically.
"W-We don't know. She's out-cold and bleeding, badly. We're coming to the tower now!" Steve yelled before the call ended. Tony rubbed his eyes before making a call to Helen Cho. She said that she would be at the tower as soon as possible.
Tony paced around the kitchen, waiting for the sound of the Quinjet. He had made himself three cups of coffee and drank them before he finally heard the jet. Helen had arrived less than five minutes earlier.
He ran up to the landing pad, only to be held back by Steve and Clint. Both of their hands and clothes were stained with blood.
"Tell me what happened. Now" He demanded.
"W-We followed the lead you gave us, to a hotel. She was chained to a chair with Hydra soldiers all around her, b-but like, her wrists were slit and she was bleeding and there was a pool of blood on the floor and she was barely breathing when we finished off the soldiers an-and" Clint explained, his voice shaking. Tony nodded, taking deep breaths.
"Helen took her the second we landed. Tony, there were other marks on her wrists... self-inflicted" Steve said quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.
"I know" He replied.
"Wait, you know? You knew she hurt herself but you didn't think to stop it? Or tell us?" Steve spat at him, anger rising to his face.
"I only found out last month, after she went missing. I meant to tell you guys, but it slipped my mind. I was more focused on bringing her back" Tony spat back. Steve sighed deeply, shaking his head.
"H-How?" Clint asked, still standing next to Steve.
"I found surveillance footage of a conversation she had with Peter, the day before she disappeared. They talked about us, how we didn't treat them fairly. How we don't even know when her birthday is, how she spent her first birthday without her twin, alone, locked in her room" Tony replied, the words heavy in his mouth. The other two men looked down, almost in shame.
"You still have it, right?" Steve asked. Tony nodded.
"The whole team needs to see it" He followed. Tony sighed, before reluctantly nodding.
"Once we know that she's stable, I'll get everyone for a team meeting"
"Let's make sure that she is stable first then" Clint murmured as the three of them left, going towards medical.
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"She still hasn't woke up Peter, I'm sorry" Tony told the boy who had tears glistening in his eyes.
"Is she getting any better?" He asked. Tony just sighed.
"We're not sure Pete. We're trying everything, I promise you. But, I need to talk to you" He said, leading Peter into a conference room where all the other Avengers were sitting. Peter looked around, confused as he sat down.
"Pete, you were the last person Wanda talked to before she disappeared. I have surveillance footage of the conversation that you two had" Tony explained. Peter felt his mouth go dry and his heartbeat increase. He glanced at the other Avengers, his eyes wide.
"M-Mr Stark, this isn't a good idea" He said, his nervous tone obvious.
"Pete, they need to see this. We won't be mad at you, I promise" He said as the recording began to play.
He noticed the pain on everyone's faces as Wanda described her first birthday without Pietro. He noticed Natashas face drop when Wanda mentioned feeling her pain during the flashback. He noticed Clint tense up when she mentioned the arrow. He heard everyone gasp as they both mentioned their methods of coping. He heard their heartbeats when Wanda asked why she should stay. He felt the tension in the room when Tony turned the footage off. He felt the discomfort of everyone staring at him.
"Peter..." Steve whispered. Peter stared down at his knees.
"Why didn't you say anything to us?" Clint asked, keeping his tone gentle.
"It never felt right. You guys can't trust us, how would we be able to talk to you about stuff like that?" He questioned, his voice small. There was an uncomfortable silence.
"Did anyone else know?" Steve asked. Peter shrugged.
"I only told MJ and Ned. I don't think Wanda had anyone to tell" He replied, snark slipping into his voice slightly.
"Did you know where she went?" Natasha whispered. She looked horrified at what Wanda had said about feeling her pain.
"She said she would meet me at school cause she wanted to get Starbucks first. That was the last time I talked to her" He replied, looking up for a split second.
"Thank you, Peter. You can go now" Tony said, giving Peter a gentle nod. He left the room swiftly, making his way to medical.
"God, we've really fucked up"
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It had been two months since they found Wanda.
She was still in a coma.
Tony had fought with the doctors when they told him that if she didn't wake soon, they would have to take her off of life support.
All of the Avengers had fought.
They had been given one more week. Tonight was the end of that week. The doctors would turn the support machine off at midnight. It was currently 11:30 at night.
Peter sat by her bedside, holding her hand gently. He had been crying for possibly three weeks now. Tony wasn't sure of the last time the boy slept.
Clint, Peter, Natasha and Tony himself were seated around the bed.
As the time grew closer, Peter asked to speak with her, alone. The others agreed and waited outside.
"Wanda, please. I need you" He whispered, more tears slipping down his face.
"You've missed your eighteenth birthday, come on. You're now a legal adult, you don't wanna miss that" He chuckled weakly
"Please don't leave me alone. I can't do this without you. I need you. Please Wanda, please, please" He whimpered, placing his head down on the bed and letting go of her hand. He sobbed into the blanket.
"You don't have to" He heard a weak voice. He shot up from where he was to see Wanda, her eyes open and squinting at the bright light of the room.
His tears fell quicker, this time from happiness.
"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!" He exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face. Wanda smiled up at him.
"You really thought that I would ditch you, Parker?" She hummed.
"You asshole!" He whisper-yelled, sitting down again and taking her hand. She squeezed his hand lightly just as the other three came back into the room. She heard them gasp.
"Jesus kid" She heard Tony whisper as he left the room, going to get doctors she assumed. She tilted her head to see Clint and Natasha.
"Hi" She mumbled quietly. She failed to notice that both of them had tears in their eyes as they sat beside her.
"H-How do you feel?" She heard Clint's shaky voice.
"Like someone tried to kill me" She replied without hesitation. She heard him swallow nervously.
"We heard the conversation you had with Peter before... whatever happened" Natasha stated, slowly. Wanda's head snapped to Peter, her eyes filled with fear. Peter avoided eye contact with her.
"We know that we treated you, both of you, like shit. For what it's worth, we're sorry" Natasha continued. Wanda sighed weakly.
"It's okay" She muttered, still looking away from them.
"It's not okay. None of us checked on you after... Sokovia. None of us asked if you were okay, none of us tried to help you. We didn't even know your birthday until Peter told us. It's not okay at all. We're all going to be here for you from now on, we promise" Clint spoke, keeping his voice as steady as he could.
"Thank you" She mumbled just before Tony and some doctors came into the room. The doctors ushered everyone out to run tests on her. Peter gave her a smile as he left.
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It had been six months since Wanda had woken from her coma.
The team had stuck to their promise, they made sure that she was okay. She had opened up to them more, talking about life after her parent's deaths, talking about how she struggled with self-harm since then. Tony had set up therapy for her, which she was grateful for.
Everyone included her and Peter into more of their things, letting them train together, go on missions more and letting them into their conversations.
They had turned into the family that both teens thought that they had lost.