Archive of Our Own

One
Bright stadium lights lit up the warehouse I was supposed to meeting a contact in. The little bitch set me up. People descended from the ceiling and formed a circle around me. Idiots, they should have just tranquilized me from their perch. People cast shadows, and the shadows were my home. They moved in on me slowly and I grinned. The closer they got, the closer the shadows got.

"Don't move! Keep your hands where we can see them!" A masked figure yelled.

That only made my smile bigger, they really were idiots. A faint glint in the rafters caught my attention and I could just make out a stupid looking American uniform. So Captain America was running this shit show.

The commandos were almost to me and I'd been patient enough, it was time to play. I raised my hands and looked directly at the star spangled idiot, and flipped him off with a smile. Then I ran at the commandos. Just before I ran into them I hit their shadows.

And in a blink I was gone.

Or rather, just gone to the ones on the ground. I appeared again right behind the Captain and before he could move, I snapped his neck, and let his body crash to the ground below. The commandos looked up at me and started shooting. I only laughed. Their bullets went right through me, In the shadows nothing could hurt me.

I looked around and targeted the spotlights, eyeing the slim bits of shadows behind them. I flashed behind each one and cut the power, sending the warehouse into darkness. But I could see perfectly. I flashed to each of the commandos and killed them all quickly.

When the last one dropped from my hands I looked around, making sure I got them all. Nobody liked loose ends. The warehouse was empty and I sighed, playtime was over. Time to go home. I started to flash but just as I entered the shadowrelm a bright flash of light obliterated all the darkness.

It sent a searing pain through me and unfortunately I screamed. And then I passed out.

When I woke up I was strapped to a chair with a collar on. Kinky. I looked around the tiny room and saw I was alone. I strained against the cuffs and when they wouldn't budge I flashed. Or at least I tried to. At most I became transparent for a second before grunting in frustration.

My magic had never failed me before and i could feel it pent up inside me. Something was stopping it. I grew angrier by the minute and many many minutes passed before someone finally came in the room. An ugly man with a goatee and a pissed off look.

He came over to me and started to talk, "by now I'm sure you've realized that your powers don't work. That's thanks to the dampening collar around your neck. Now, I don't know who you are, but you killed a lot of my people. So I only have two questions- who are you and who do you work for?"

I only grinned at him, this was going to be fun. "I am Shadow and Shadow works for nobody."

********five hours later********

"I am Shadow." I seethed through my clenched jaw. A jolt of electricity ran through my body from the chair I was strapped to and I held in a scream. It only lasted a few seconds and I took a shaky breath when it ended.

"Who are you?" The man with goatee asked again.

"I. Am. Shadow." I bit out for the hundredth time. I braced myself for the shock but none came.

Instead the man said, "Jarvis send in Scarlet Witch."

"Right away sir." I looked around for the voice but it was just us in the tiny room.

Before long a woman came in. A beautiful woman with long red hair. She couldn't have been much older than me. I eyed her cautiously, she looked soft. If she was to torture me I would be surprised if she could bring herself to.

"What do you want Stark?" She asked looking at me. I must have been a sight, my long black hair stuck to my face with sweat and my black skintight suit with rips in it. I'm sure my face was whiter than usual but torture will do that to a girl.

"I need you to get into her mind. Find out who she is and who she works for."

"Why do you need me to do that? All this technology, surely you have something that can do it." Her accent was hard to place. Almost Russian but slightly different.

"I've tried. She's unusually... resilient." He admitted. He put a hand on the woman's arm and she glanced at it. Her body language said she was uncomfortable with the contact and the man either didn't notice or didn't care. "Wanda please."

"Let go of her." They both looked at me in surprise. "Your touch is obviously making her uncomfortable. Release her."

"And what are you going to do if I don't, Shadow?" He gripped her harder and her eyes flashed red.

"Tony." She warned.

"I will kill you." I told him calmly. "Women should not be touch without permission. And you obviously don't have it." My powers may be hidden from me because of the collar, but I had other talents. I slid my hands from the cuffs and stood with one smooth motion. I grinned at the man and took a step towards him. But only one. My body was slammed back into the chair by a red fog. I looked at the woman, stunned.

She had magic like me. I relaxed my body and looked into her glowing red eyes and nodded slightly. I wouldn't fight the beautiful woman; not today at least.

"Enough," she said shaking off the man. "Leave us Stark." The man looked between us and eventually left after the redhead gave him a look. When he was gone she turned back to me. "I am sorry about him. Sometimes he can be..."

"An ass?" I offered.

"Yes. But I think this time it was warranted. You did kill a lot of our friends."

"They attacked me. I was defending myself, you can't put their deaths on me."

"And what about the guards at the lab you broke into? Surely they didn't pose a threat to you."

"No, but they were in my way." I grinned hoping for a reaction and I got just the one I wanted. She started to glow a brighter red and i was pressed harder into the chair. But I didn't mind, I just stared at her intently. She was magnificent. "Why do you take orders from that man? Clearly you are far more superior than him. He should be kissing your feet."

Her magic dimmed slightly and when she answered she seemed almost sad. "He saved my life."

"So it's a blood debt then. I can understand that." I took a deep breath and grinned at her. "Let's get on with it then. Wouldn't want to disappoint him."

She walked over to me and put one hand on the
Back of the of the chair while the other formed a red ball. I gazed up at her, gods she was beautiful. "Good luck," I whispered to her.

She looked almost apologetic as she placed her hand on my face. My vision went red and then nothing.

  ~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

I was in a room I recognize with a voice saying, "you are shadow."

"I am Shadow." I repeat. "I am shadow."

                ~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~

I'm in the training room, people coming at me. I dodge and attack them. They get me down and kick me. Suddenly I'm behind them. The first time I use my magic.

               ~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~

I'm on a hospital bed strapped down, an IV hooked into me. Black sludge going into my veins. It burns. I scream.

                 ~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~

A man in a coat bends down to talk to me. It's raining and I'm cold. He puts his jacket around me and picks me up. He's warm and I fall asleep. When I wake up I'm in a room with other children.

                  ~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~

The man again in an office. His face blurry. His face. See his face. See.
I can't.
He saved me.
He betrayed me.
Taught me.
Used me.
His face.

  ~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

My vision came back slowly and I saw the redhead across the room on the floor, my black tendrils swirling around me. The woman looked to me with what could only be pity.

I despise being pitied.

She slowly got up and left without a word, returning a few minutes later with another redhead. It couldn't be. She was dead.

"Natasha?" I asked, practically cried.

She gave me a small smile, "hey Ray, long time no see."
*******

Two
"Her name is Raelle, we were in the Red Room together." Nat told the others. We were all in a conference room with a large round table and tall windows that let in a glorious view of the skyline. I was cuffed to a chair at one end of the table with Natasha next to me and the others at the other end.

"Until someone decided to defect," I mutter under my breath.

Nat shot me a warning look before continuing, "she's like me, we were both taken from our families, trained and forced to kill. And obviously, given her powers, Ray was experimented on."

"I don't like it. Doesn't seem like too much of a coincidence that the person we've been hunting for months just happens to be an old friend of yours?" Tony said as he started to pace around the room.

"Yeah how do we know it wasn't a plot by the Red Room?" A dorky looking man asked.

"Because it doesn't exist anymore." All eyes turn to me. "I burned it down," I tell Nat with a grin. "Along with everyone involved. I've been hunting their operatives for the past year."

Nat looked at me with disbelief, "you killed them all? Why? Most of them were innocent, like us."

I laughed at this. "Innocent Natasha? We are far from innocent. They all got what they deserved."

"What about Yelena, Ray? Did you kill my sister?" Her voice was quite, deadly.

"No. I would never hurt her. I've been looking for her since I burned the Red Room. But nothing yet. Im sorry Nat." And I truly was, Yelena was like a sister to me, just like Natasha used to be.

She visibly relaxed and turned back to the boys. "I know she's done some things,"

She was cut off by Tony, "done some things? She killed Cap!" He yelled at her.

That man was really starting to piss me off. Torture was one thing, respectable even. But raising your voice at a woman was never acceptable. My jaw clenched and I glared at him.

"Calm down," a voice said in my head. A voice with a slight accent.

"Hello witchy," my eyes went to her and she was very pointedly not looking at me. "You invade my mind, the least you could is look at me. Or do you find me that unattractive?" I teased her. Her eyes flashed over to me and a tinge of pink started on her cheeks. "Ahhh so you do find me attractive. Can't say I blame you, I am very beautiful. And flexible. And good with my hands, what with being an assassin and all." I smirked as the pink in Wanda's cheeks turned into a bright red.

"Stop," Wanda warned, "you need this to go well. Nat can only do so much but if you want your freedom, and to not be locked up for the rest of your life, you need to convince them that you're not a danger to them."

"What do you care what happens to me?" I was genuinely curious. Other than Natasha and Yelena, nobody had ever given a damn about me.

"I don't care. But from what I saw in your memories, I kinda figured you'd be against confined spaces." Her voice was guarded, like there was more to it then that.

"Ray!" The sound of my name snapped me back to Natasha. While Wanda and I had been having our conversation, Natasha had continued her own. And now all eyes were once again on me.

"Sorry what?"

"They, we, want to know why you killed Cap."

"He was there," I shrug. And it was the truth, I personally had nothing against the guy. Sure I found his costume obnoxious but he fought for what he believed in, and not many people did anymore. But judging from from the death glares from almost everyone there, that wasn't the answer they wanted. "Look, it wasn't anything personal. But look at it from my point of view- I went to that warehouse to meet a contact. And instead, your men ambushed me. For all I knew, you were going to kill me, or worse. So I did what anyone, even you guys, would have done. I protected myself. And as per our training," I looked at Natasha, "I took out who I believed to be the leader, first." Taking a deep breath I make it look like I'm steadying myself, I have to sell this next part if I had any hope of freedom, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry." The words left a bad taste in my mouth, apologies were never my style, "he must have been a good man for you all to react this way about his death."

The silence was palpable, and almost unbearable and for a moment I wondered if they hadn't bought my story. But as it turns out, I shouldn't have doubted myself. "I still don't like it," Tony grumbled.

"You know it's what Cap would have wanted," Nat told him softly. "He always did believe in second chances. And she'll be under my watch. If she steps one toe out of line, I'll take her to the Raft myself."

That sent a real shiver of fear up my spine. The Raft was one place that nobody wanted to get sent to. A maximum security prison built specifically to house the most dangerous of enhanced people. And once there, nobody ever got out.

"She keeps the collar on," he ordered.

"Of course, wouldn't dream of taking it off." She gave in way too easy.

"Natasha," I growled, "I am nothing without my powers."

But of course she ignored me. "I'll keep her under control Tony," she promised.

"I'd like to see that." I thought. I saw Wanda smile ever so slightly.

"You," Tony said pointing at me, "if you do anything out of line, Nat won't have time to take you to the Raft. I'll kill you myself." He didn't wait for a reply and just stalked out of the room. The others followed him and then it was just me and Nat.

"So what now?" I asked her. "You uncuff me?"

"Now," she said going to the door, "we get you a shower. You smell Ray. And you got out of the cuffs fifteen minutes ago." She walked out the door and I stood to follow her, slipping the handcuffs into my pocket. You never know when you'll need a pair.
*****

Three
I followed Natasha through a lot of hallways and to an elevator that we rode up to 34th floor. When the doors opened I expected to see other people, not an apartment. Nat stepped out and tossed her jacket into the couch before going to the kitchen and getting a drink from the fridge. I followed slowly and looked around. One wall was completely glass and let in an obnoxious amount of light. In front of it was a sectional and mounted on the wall was the biggest television I had ever seen. Across from the living area was the kitchen where Nat stood watching me. Across from the elevator was a hall that had several doors leading off it.

"Want a drink?" Nat offered. I shook my head and continued to look around. There was some weird art on the walls and bookshelves everywhere overflowing with books. Natasha didn't say anything else until I finished looking around and eventually came to stand across from her in the kitchen.

"So Tony just let's you live here?"

"Yeah we all do. He built these apartments for us when he converted the tower."

"Must be nice to have rich friends," I said sarcastically.

"It is. Especially when he gives you your own credit card." She laughed at my expression and started to walk down the hall, motioning me to follow her. "Guest room," she said as we stopped at a door. "With it's own bathroom. You'll stay with me until the others trust you. My room is at the end of the hall. Enjoy your shower." She turned to go and stopped when I grabbed her arm.

Of course I immediately dropped it, "sorry, I didn't mean to assume I still had your permission."

"You're still doing that?"

"Always," I grinned. "So about this." I put my hand on the collar, "I don't really have to wear this right?"

She sighed and suddenly looked exhausted, "yes Ray, unfortunately you do. It's just until Tony trusts you."

"So for the rest of my life."

"Ray, I really don't want to argue right now. I just got back from a mission and I'm exhausted. So can we please do this later?"

The desperation in her voice caught me off guard, "yeah sure."

"Thank you. Help yourself to whatever you want, I'm going to take a nap." She turned and disappeared into her room. I opened the door to what was now my room and stopped. The thing was huge, if this was the guest room I could only imagine what the master looked like.

A giant four poster bed with a canopy was against one wall with matching nightstands and a wardrobe. Who still used wardrobes? Across from the bed was another huge television with every Gaming console you could imagine and a ton of games for each. Not to mention a DVD player and movies. And Another floor to ceiling window. What was with this Tony guy and such large windows? A desk was in front of the window and a door lead off to one side, probably the bathroom.

As I stepped onto the plush carpet a voice range out, "greetings, I am Jarvis. How may I assist you today?"

"Who's there?" I looked around and I was completely alone.

"My name is Jarvis. I am an interactive artificial intelligence that Mr. Stark has installed in the entire tower."

"Great so he can spy on me," I sighed as I walked further into the room.

"On the contrary, Mr. Stark values privacy above all else and has a privacy setting so that nobody, not even himself, can access what is going on in peoples rooms."

"Well that's a plus i suppose." I thought a moment, "Jarvis was it?"

"Yes Miss."

"Call me Ray. Now, tell me about the tower and those who live here." So while I showered in the ridiculously extravagant marble bathroom, and for several hours after, Jarvis told me everything there was to know about the tower and it's inhabitants. Jarvis answered all her questions and finally, when night had long since fallen, I finally ran out of questions.
"Thank you Jarvis, you've been extremely helpful. That'll be all."

"You're welcome Miss. Ray."

The past few hours had been filled with the sound of Jarvis talking and without it, the room seemed bigger. Almost too big. My nerves started to go into overdrive and my adrenaline spiked. The room was too vulnerable. I grabbed all the blankets and took them into the bathroom. I tossed one over the glass shower wall and put the other one inside. Taking a breath I went back out and got a pillow and raced back into the bathroom. I closed the door and went to the shower, sitting down in the blanket nest.

Trying to calm my breathing I closed my eyes and tried to think about something, anything else. Thankfully my mind cooperated for once and my thoughts drifted to the Witch. To Wanda.

I still couldn't believe she had powers like mine. Not exactly like mine obviously, but still, I had never met someone who had come close to matching mine. The way she got into my head, saw my memories, was impressive.

Thinking about that turned out to be a mistake. Flashes of the Red Room forced their way into my mind and my breathing quickened at them.

NO! Think about Wanda.
Her red hair.
Flash! Blood on my hands.
Her soft smile.
The cruel sneer of Dreykov.
Dreykov. The person who made me into this.
No no, focus.
Wanda.
Wanda.
Wanda.

I was so focused on trying to focus that it took a moment for me to realize that someone was saying my name.

"Ray? Ray are you ok?" Wanda's worried voice flowed through my head.

"Hey witchy," hopefully she couldn't hear the strain in my voice.

"What's wrong? You were calling for me. You sounded... scared."

"Oh just a mild panic attack. I'm fine." I was far from fine, but she didn't need to know that.

"Ray I can feel everything that you're feeling. You're not fine. I'll have Jarvis get Natasha, you shouldn't be alone."

"NO! Don't! Please.." I begged. Me, Shadow, begged. "I'm not alone, you're with me."

"I don't know..." she said unsure.

"I'll be ok Witchy, it'll be over soon." And it would be, it was already starting to fade. As my heart slowed down and my breathing returned to normal, a wave of exhaustion came crashing down over me. "Thank you," I told the girl.

"For what?"

"Just for being here." The last of my strength was fading and I laid back and curled up. Just as sleep took me, the last thought I had was of Wanda.
*****

Four
"Miss Ray, Miss Romanoff has requested your presence in the kitchen." Jarvis chirped at me. I groaned and stretched, all my joints protesting from the hard shower. Slowly I got up and left the shower, cracking my back and knees in the process. A quick glance in the mirror told me that my hair would be up today and that's what I did as I went to meet Nat in the kitchen. She had her back to me doing something with stove. Music was playing quietly and she was humming along with it.

I watched her intently; this Natasha was very different then the one I knew. Red Room Natasha would have never been caught dead singing along to a song, let alone in her pajamas. Or cooking. Or standing up for her friends, that would have gotten you killed in the Red Room. I leaned against the island and just watched her. She sounded happy, content. Free. Like she had no worries.

"Must be nice," I thought with a slight scoff. The sound made her turn and she smiled when she saw me.

"Morning Ray. How'd you sleep?"

"Oh fabulously," I said sarcastically. "I don't understand how you can sleep with that giant glass wall."

She laughed, something else she almost never used to do. "It takes some getting used too. You could have had Jarvis dim the glass, it helps." She turned back to the stove and started to scoop out whatever it was that she was cooking. She filled up two plates and set one in front of me. A pile of pancakes looked up at me and my stomach greeted them, loudly.

"Since when can you cook?" I took one and rolled it up and shoved it into my mouth, not bothering with silverware.

"It's a new skill," she said as she opened the fridge and pulled out a couple bottles of juice, "orange or apple?"

"Apple, obviously." She slid the bottle to me and I cracked it open, taking a long slug. Nat watched with an amused expression as I, probably very grossly, devoured my breakfast. "Not bad," I told her as I patted my stomach.

"You're going to wish you hadn't eaten so fast in a minute," she took a last bite of her food and set the plate by the sink.

"Why?"

"Because today," she said with a grin, "you get the amazing privilege of being my workout buddy."

"Ugh do I have to?" The last thing I wanted was to spend my first day in the tower in a sweaty smelly gym.

"Well, it's either that or I can have Jarvis lock you in the apartment. Your choice, Ray."

"So what are we working on today? Arms? Legs? Stamina? From what I remember you never could go as long as me in the training center," I teased with a grin.

"Oh Ray," she said as she walked around to my side, "I think you'll find that I can last a very long time." She trailed her hand across my shoulders as she walked towards the door to her room.

"I'm sure that dorky guy from yesterday would know to know that."

She looked over her shoulder and gave me a puzzled look, "who Bruce? We're just friends."

"Oh yeah sure, if you say so." I got up and followed her down the hall. "Come on Nat, the guy looks at you like the sun shines out of your ass." We go into her room and she starts to pull clothes from her closet, throwing a few things on her bed. Her room, I noticed, was a lot smaller than the one she gave me. And there wasn't a glass wall. "So mine is the guest room huh?"

She gave me a sheepish look, "it was too big for me."

"That's what she said."

"Very mature. Here," she handed me a bundle of clothes, "you can borrow these until we get you your own things. Now go get changed, we leave in ten minutes."

"Yes ma'am," I snap a fake salute and turn around and do a dramatic march out. Once back in my room I was blinded by the sunlight coming in through the window. "Jarvis can you dim the window?"

"Of course."

Almost immediately the glass turned a smoky color and the light was cut in half, leaving the room pleasantly dim. "Thank you, that's much better." I took the clothes and put them on the bed and was surprised that Nat remembered my style. She had given me misty leggings but there was a pair of black jeans, a few dark green t-shirts, a sports bra and some socks. I hold up the bra and sigh. It was definitely too small. But beggars can't be choosers so I stripped out of the pajamas I had found in the wardrobe. The leggings fit perfectly but I had to fight the bra. By the time I got it on and my boobs squished into it Nat was banging on my door.

"Ray! Least go!"

"Yes drill Sargent!" I yelled back. Throwing on a shirt I went to the bathroom and rummaged through the drawers until I found a brush. It took a few minutes but I finally got my long hair tangle free. Throwing it up in a bun I head out to find Nat who glances over me and raises an eye at me feet.

"No shoes?"

"I haven't worn them since I got my powers," I shrug.

"But you don't have powers now," she said slowly.

"Oh yeah," I sigh. "Thanks to your friend Tony and this," I tug on the collar and it beeps at me.

"It's only for a while."

"Yeah so you've said," I bite at her.

She looks at me with sorrow for a second before going back into her room and coming out a minute later with a pair of black boots. "Here these should fit."

I put them on and they did fit but it was weird to have something on my feet. Once I got my powers shoes were a hindrance, I needed to feel the ground below me in the Shadowrelm. It also helped me to feel vibrations if someone was coming up behind me. I took a few steps and heard laughing behind me.

"I'm sorry," Nat laughed, "but you look like a baby learning to walk."

We got into the elevator and Nat pressed a button and we quickly descended.
******

Five
When we got to the gym it was weirdly empty. The only person there was Wanda and she was throwing around red magic balls in a private room.

"Why is she in there?" I asked Natasha as we passed by.

"She has a hard time controlling her powers, so Tony built her a special training room." She lead us to an area where the punching bags were. After we got our gear on we took turns holding the bag for each other. After an hour or so we were out of breath and Natasha offered to go get us a drink.

"Promise you'll stay here."

"Scouts honor," I tell her as I hold up two fingers.

"It's three fingers dummy," but she leaves me there. Alone.

I hop up and start to wonder and end up by Wanda's area. She's still in there, throwing balls. I go to the door and stand there, watching her. She moves gracefully, almost like a dancer. Her hair flows around her and a red glow illuminates her skin.

"Beautiful," I think.

She lets out a small yelp and a ball ends up by my head. I duck just in time and it goes out the door, hitting the wall and leaving a big scorch mark. "Oh my god! Are you alright?" She rushes over to me and puts her hands on my arms as she looks over me.

"I'm fine," I grin. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't. Ok well you did, but it's not your fault. I don't have complete control over my powers and that's how accidents happen." She was still holding my arms but she was looking at my face now. I raise an eyebrow and look between her and her hands. "Oh sorry!" She removes them and crosses them over her chest.

"It's ok." We stand there for a minute in silence until I can't stand it anymore. "So these powers of yours, what are they?"

"Well I can make people see their worst fears. I can read minds and I can do this," She bit her lip for a second before holding up a hand. A red spark ran over it and then a small ball started to form. Her brow scrunched in concentration and then she sighed heavily as the ball went out.

"You're fighting it," I tell her.

"What?"

"Your powers, you're fighting against them."

"Well yeah, I don't want to hurt anyone," she looks at me weirdly.

"And that's exactly how you'll end up hurting someone. You can't fight against them, you have to trust in them. Trust in yourself. Otherwise you'll never control it," I explain to her. I thought for a second and then had an idea, "can I show you something?"

"Yeah," she said warily.

"I'll need to touch you, and you'll need to go into my mind." I warn her.

"Ok," she held out a hand to me, but I don't take it.

"Can I touch you Wanda?" I ask her.

"Yes you can," she tells me softly.

I step close to her and turn her so that her back is against my front. I wrap an arm around her waist and take her hand in my free one, her palm facing up. Settling my head on her shoulder I whisper, "enter my mind." I felt her hesitation and whispered, "you won't hurt me Wanda, trust yourself."

A second later I felt her in my mind. "What now?" She asked.

"Now, you let me take control." And to my surprise, she did. I felt her powers flow through us and I concentrated on them. They weren't so different from my own, and I found comfort in their familiarity. "Look," I told her as something started to form on her palm. Her magic turned into a silhouette of a woman. Slowly it started to dance on her palm and as it danced it got bigger. As it grew I felt Wanda's fear grow with it. "Trust me Wanda. Don't fight against it." Her fear didn't go away but she slowly stopped fighting. I let it grow for a few more minutes and then released it. It disappeared in an explosion of red sparks that rained down gently on us. I slowly released Wanda and stepped back, watching her. She was watching the red sparks fall softly, awe on her face.

"That was..."

"Yeah, you did good," I smile softly at her.

"I didn't do anything, that was all you." She looks at me puzzled, "how did you do that?"

I just shrug, "your powers aren't so different from mine."

"Really?" She said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, pretty much. Except I can't give people visions, But I can walk through shadows."

"Hence the name Shadow."

"Exactly!"

She chuckles and smiles at me and I can't help but notice how her lips turn up when she does. They look soft and I wonder if they feel as good as they look. A cough brings my eyes back to hers and I realize she probably just heard what I was thinking. "I'm so sorry, that was rude of me to think."

"Ray you don't have to apologize, it was a thought."

"Still, I shouldn't have thought it." And I shouldn't have. It was wrong of me to think about something like that, especially with someone I had just met the day before. Granted, it's been an eventful day, but that was no excuse. "Umm I should get back before Nat wonders where I am."

"Ok," she said confused.

I left without another word and went back to the punching bag. Thankfully Nat wasn't back yet and I started hitting it hard. I got lost in the sound of my fists hitting the bag and didn't notice when Nat was back.

"Ray? Hey earth to Raelle," she said putting her hand on my shoulder.

I'm ashamed to say that she startled me so much I turned and swung. Thankfully she saw it coming and ducked out of the way. She grabbed me and wrapped her arms around me, making my skin scream. "Natasha, let go of me."

"Are you gonna swing at me again?" She asked into my ear.

"No, now please let me go." She did and as soon as her arms were off of me I stepped away and tried to control my breathing. I hated being touched unexpectedly. Something that she used to know.

"I'm sorry for touching you." I guess she did remember. "Are you ok? You never used to freak out this bad.."

"I'm fine," I snap. "Just tired. Can we go back to the room?"

She nodded and that was all the permission I needed.
******

Six
I spent the next few days in my room. Even with the window dimmed the room still feels too exposed, so I stay in my shower bed. As the days pass it gets harder and harder to get up, harder and harder to do anything but sleep. The bathroom was freezing but I was too tired to get up and get more blankets. So I stayed in the cold shower, shaking under the blankets I did have.

Late one night a pain started in my chest. At first I thought it was another panic attack, but then the pain started to spread to my arms and legs. It felt like my entire body was on fire, like my blood was boiling. I wanted to scream but my jaw was locked shut from the pain. It got harder and harder to breath and my vision went spotty.

"WANDA! HELP!" I yelled in my mind in the hope that maybe she would hear me. My vision got darker and the last thing I saw was my bathroom door being blasted open with red energy.

When I woke up I was in a lab. I could breath better but my body was still on fire. I couldn't move or even open my eyes and panic started to build up. The sound of a familiar voice eased the panic, but only slightly.

"Isn't there anything you can do Bruce?" Natasha asked.

"Nat I don't even know what's wrong with her," his voice was tired and I wondered how long I'd been here.

"Guys, she's awake." Wanda's voice floated to me and something squeezed my hand.

"Are you sure? Her eyes are still closed," Nat asked as she got closer to my bed.

"And I can still see that Bruce wants to jump your bones," i thought.

"Umm yeah she's definitely awake," Wanda told her.

"Ray how do you feel? Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"I feel like I'm being deep fried from the inside out. And no, Natasha, I have no idea what's wrong with me, because if I did, I'd tell you."

"Be nice," Wanda's voice scolded me in my head. "She said she feels like she's being deep fried and she doesn't know what's wrong."

"Deep fried?" Bruce asked, "that could be any number of things.." while him and Nat went off and talked I turned my attention to Wanda.

"Are you ok Wanda?" I asked her, concerned. She sounded jittery and tired.

"I'm fine I just haven't slept much these past few days. You've had us worried."

"Why haven't you been sleeping? Wait.. past few days? How long have I been here??"

She squeezed my hand again, "you've been unconscious for three days and I'm not sleeping because I kind of haven't left the room."

"Three days?! And... you've stayed with me?" I couldn't fathom why she would have done that. Nat sure, we had history, but Wanda and I just met.

"Well yeah, I wanted to make sure you were going to be ok and then when they didn't know if you were going to wake up at all I got worried and then I thought what if you couldn't talk when you did wake up and look it's exactly what happened." The girl was rambling and it was adorable.

"Wanda."

"Yea?"

"Thank you for saving me."

"You're welcome Ray."

"So I guess this means you haven't been practicing huh?"

"Not since that day and I'm starting to crawl out of my skin. It gets a bit uncomfortable when I can't use my magic."

And just like that, it clicked.

Ever since I got my powers, I'd used them everyday. This was the first time I had gone a long period of time without using them. And Wanda must have had the same idea because she yelled for Natasha and Bruce and told them what I had just thought of.

"It makes sense," Bruce mused. "Magic is almost like a living being, sharing your body. Maybe with the collar on it's built up and poisoned your blood?"

"So she needs to purge the magic from her system?" Natasha asked the doctor. "And then she'd be better?"

"It would stand to reason. Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to tell Tony that he needs to turn off her collar."

"Nat wait, we don't know will happen if he does that. It could be dangerous." The doctor sounded concerned.

"She'll die if we don't Bruce. I'm not losing her again." The tone Nat had was not one to be argued with.

"Ok fine, but she needs to be somewhere that if her powers unleash they won't hurt anyone."

"You can use my training room," Wanda offered. "Tony designed it so that my magic couldn't break it."

"Then it's settled, I'll make Tony turn off the collar and you get her to the training room." She stormed out of the room, her boots thudding on the floor.

"Come on kid give me a hand," Bruce told Wanda as my bed started to move. It wasn't long before we were in the gym, I recognized the smell of it, all gyms smelled the same.

"I don't like this," Tony's voice boomed.

"You don't have to like it, you just have to turn off the collar," Natasha snapped at him.

"How do we know she won't kill us all when I do?" He challenged.

"She won't," Wanda told them.

"And how do you know that?" Tony asked as he rounded on her.

"I've been in her head, trust me, she doesn't want to hurt any of us. Well except maybe you Tony."

Just then my back arched in a spasm and this time I did scream.

"Ray!"

"Tony now!"

"Get her in the room!"

The bed stopped moving and there was a scuffling sound and then I felt all my powers come flooding back in a giant wave. And it was too much. It was like drowning and it consumed my body. I screamed as it took me over and exploded out of me. I opened my eyes just in time to see rolling black smoke fill up the training room. The more smoke left my body the less pain there was, until finally it all stopped and I passed out again.
*****

Seven
I was really getting tired of passing out.

When I woke up again I was back in the lab, but this time I felt fine. The room was dark, the only light coming from the open door and the heart monitor. The steady beeping quickly got annoying and I wished I was in my own bed. Funny how Nat's guest room now felt like my room. I sighed and closed my eyes and felt the familiar sensation of the Shadowrelm. My eyes snapped open and I was in the giant bed in my room.

My hand flew to my neck and sure enough the collar was still there. But how had I used my powers then? Cautiously I flashed back to the lab and scared Bruce who had apparently come in to check on me. When he saw me appear out of nowhere he jumped and his skin got a faint tinge of green. He took a deep breath and the green went away.

"I see you've figured out you have your powers back," he said with a slight shake to his voice.

"Yeah but I'm confused. Why am I still wearing this if I can use them again?" I fingered the collar and it beeped at me.

"Natasha and Wanda convinced Tony that for your health and so nothing like yesterday happens again, that you needed your powers. He agreed but only if you kept the collar on. And He made a few modifications."

"Such as?" My stomach sank, knowing how Tony felt about me I could only imagine what those modifications could be.

"Well he added a failsafe. You can only use your powers in the tower and if you go outside the bounds then the collar explodes."

"I'm sorry, did you just say it explodes?" Great I was wearing a bomb as an accessory.

"Yeah, it also explodes if you use your powers to attack anyone in the tower."

"Great. Anything else?"

He thought for a moment before saying, "Well you destroyed Wanda's training room."

Apparently I had destroyed the entire gym but Bruce neglected to tell me that. Luckily Tony was very rich and it was fixed within a week. I moved back into Nat's apartment the day I woke up and thanks to my powers I was actually able to sleep in the bed. My favorite thing to do with them is create a dome around me as I sleep.

And for the first time since I arrived at the tower I was actually sleeping. Nat made me stay in bed for a few days to make sure I was recovering properly and no amount of arguing would convince her otherwise. Thankfully I had a visitor who came to see me everyday.

Wanda.

At first she just stayed for a few minutes but after a couple of days I convinced her to stay for a movie. And then another and another. I found out pretty quickly that she loved musicals and hated horror. Not that I could blame her, given her past it wasn't a surprise. The one time I convinced her to watch a scary movie I talked through the entire time making fun of it. At one point I even got her to laugh. Her nose scrunched when she did and it was the most precious thing I'd ever seen. The jump scare at the end still got her and she grabbed my arm. The sudden contact made me tense slightly but then I saw her expression and couldn't help but laugh.

I was thankful for Wanda. She didn't have to visit me, but she did. She didn't have to be kind to me, especially after I killed Cap, but she was. And I was more thankful then she'd ever know.

One night after Wanda had left and I finally fell asleep, I dreamed. But this wasn't my usual dream. Normally I dreamed of the things I did in the past, but tonight I dreamed of Wanda. And in a way that I'd most definitely never dreamed before.

We were in my bed and she was straddling me. My hands were on her hips and she was leaning in, very slowly. Finally her lips grazed mine and I lifted my head to kiss her harder. She moved to my neck and started to kiss lower. And lower. She lifted my shirt and trailed kisses down my stomach, biting softly. She got to my pants and looked up at me before continuing.

Even in a dream it was one of the best feelings I had ever felt.

Suddenly I was blasted across my room and someone yelled, "what the fuck!?"

I shook my head trying to get the sleep, and the dream, out of my eyes. And when I finally focused I realized I was not, in fact, in my room. As I looked around I realized with a slow horror that I was in Wanda's. She was standing by her bed, hands up, glowing.

"Ow Wands," I moaned as I picked myself up.

"Ray? What the hell?" She slowly put her hands down and the only light came from the moon shining in through her windows.

"What happened? Why'd you blast me?"

"I was sleeping and then suddenly you fell on me and I wasn't awake yet and I blasted you. Sorry about that."

"No it's my fault. I must have flashed in my sleep." That was a new one, something I didn't even know I could do.

"Do you do that a lot?" She asked as she sat back on her bed.

"No, never actually. I was dreaming and the next thing I know I'm getting thrown into a wall," I grin at her, "good job on that."

"What were you dreaming about? Maybe that's why you, what do you call it? Flashed?"

As the dream came flooding back into my head my grin disappeared. "Umm. It was nothing."

Wanda's brow furrowed for a second and then understanding came over her face. "Oh," she said softly.

I looked away from her and muttered, "sorry," before I flashed out of her room and back to mine.
******

Eight
I'm not proud to admit that I avoided Wanda for the next week. Every time I was out and saw her coming towards me I flashed back to my room. Anytime she came to see me I flashed somewhere else. It had gotten to the point that even Nat was annoyed with me. "For fucks sake Ray, just talk to the girl. Whatever happened couldn't have been that bad if she's still trying to talk to you." I hadn't told Natasha what had happened, just that I'd had a new power development and it had ended badly.

But while I had been avoiding Wanda, she had finally grown desperate enough to talk to the one person that scared her the most. Natasha.

~~~third person pov~~~

Wanda walked up to the Widow who was doing paperwork. "Hey Nat, do you have a minute?"

Nat glanced up and then back to her work, "is this about Ray?"

"Yes."

The widow sighed before she put her work aside and looked at the witch, waiting.

"Oh Um well you've probably noticed that she's avoiding me," Wanda began nervously. Something about the girl had always terrified her.

"Yeah what happened there? She won't tell me and I've been dying to know."

"She flashed into my room one night and she had had a dream and I accidentally saw part of it and now she won't talk to me."

"What kind of dream?" When Wanda didn't answer her Nat laughed, "oh that kind of dream."

"So what do I do? She won't talk to me and I miss my friend," Wanda admitted.

"Listen," Nat sighed, "there's some things about Ray, about her past, that you need to know. But," she said as she stood up, "it's not my story to tell. So let's go find her. She may not tell you about her past, but at the very least, she owes you a conversation." Nat walked towards the door and looked back at Wanda who was still standing in her spot, "coming?" She asked the witch.

~~~Raelle pov~~~

A knock came on my door and Nat called, "you in there?"

"Yeah, what do you want?" I yelled back from my bed.

Nat opened my door and came in followed by a nervous Wanda. I sat up quickly and Nat gave me a look, "don't even think about it. You owe her an apology and an explanation."

And she was right as usual, I did. So instead of flashing to a different floor, I flashed to the kitchen. I went to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of vodka and three shot glasses. I set them on the island and poured the drinks. I had already downed mine by the time the others joined me. I filled my glass back and scooted the other two towards them. Nat took hers without hesitation but Wanda just looked at hers, "I don't drink," she said softly.

Without a word I picked up hers and drank it. Nat set hers back down and I filled ours up again, but this time I didn't drink it right away. "I'm sorry Wanda, for how I've treated you this past week. Especially after you were there for me and it was shitty of me to ditch you, especially because you did nothing wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong either. Yes you crashed into my room but that was an accident. And you can't control what you dream about, and I get that you were probably embarrassed that I saw it but I see a lot of things from everyone," Wanda gushed out, like she was afraid I'd disappear again.

"Wanda," I sighed heavily, "I'm not embarrassed about the dream, I'm ashamed."

"That I saw it, or that it was about me?" She asked slowly.

"Neither," I told her, "I'm ashamed because I sexualized you. And then I disappeared instead of talking to you, like a normal person."

"Ray, it happens, it's normal. You don't have to feel ashamed of that." Wanda reached out and tried to take my hand but I flinched away.

"Ray just tell her," Nat said softly.

I looked between the two of them and grabbed the bottle of vodka and went to the couch. Sitting down I took a long drink from the bottle and looked at Wanda. "My past isn't pretty. You might know some of Nat's but mine is worse. Natasha was raised from birth in the Red Room, but I wasn't. For the first five years of my life I lived with my parents and it was horrible. From what I remember it was nothing but pain. They used to... let random men.. do whatever they wanted with me In exchange for drugs. Eventually Dreykov found me and he took me to the Red Room. From there my childhood was much like Nat's." I looked towards Natasha who was perched on the arm of the couch looking at me, "after you left I was assigned a mission. It was a honey plant."

Natasha visibly tensed at that, "they used you as a honey plant?" She seethed.

"What's that?" Wanda asked softly.

"It's where they use a girl to seduce a mark and get close to him using whatever means necessary. Usually ends with them having to fuck the mark. Or getting beaten. Or raped." Natasha said heatedly.

"But you're assassins... couldn't you just kill them if they did that?"

"No," I told her gently. "We operated solely under the radar and if word got out that an escort killed a prominent public figure with her bare hands, and then it was also discovered that that escort didn't actually exist, it would throw a wrench in the plans of operation. Or that's how Dreykov put it, who knows if it was the truth."

"What happened on that mission Ray?"

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to Nat. Anyway, after that mission, Dreykov sold me to Hydra." Wanda sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of her former captors. "They experimented on me and gave me my powers. When I learned how to use them I escaped and went back to the Red Room and destroyed it. I've been looking for the other Widows since."

"Yelena," Natasha whispered.

"Yeah, I lost track of her in Budapest about six months ago. That's what my meeting was for when you guys captured me. My contact said they knew where she was."

"Who's Yelena?"

"My sister," Nat told her.

"I didn't know you have a sister," Wanda said as she looked at Nat, seeing her as not just an assassin but as someone who has lost a family member.

"There's a lot you don't know little witch." Nat reached out for the bottle and I handed it over to her. She took a long drink before saying, "and I think it's about time we all actually got to know each other."
*****

Nine
As the night wore on, we got progressively more drunk. Well, Nat and I were drunk and Wanda was asking us questions that we probably wouldn't have answered without the help of alcohol. And as the night progressed, Wanda got bolder and bolder.

"So were you and Nat, like, together?" She had asked randomly.

Nat and I had looked at each other and just started laughing, "no little witch, no way," Nat got out between laughs.

"Yeah Wands she's like my sister. Plus I'm not her type, she's more into... zucchini," I smirked at Nat who threw a pillow at me.

"Zucchini?"

I wiggled my eyebrows at Wanda who finally got it and made a disgusted face, "Bruce? Really Nat?"

"We are just friends!" She exclaimed in exasperation.

"Could you imagine having sex with Bruce and then he hulks out? You'd explode!" I looked at Nat, "but then again you do need to get laid."

"Ray!" She yelled.

"Well you do, maybe then you wouldn't be so..." I waved a hand in her general direction.

"So what?"

"So.... Wound up."

"Oh like you're one to talk. When's the last time you got laid then Ray? Huh?" Nat challenged.

"This isn't about me," I said avoiding the question.

"Fine. Wanda," Nat said turning her head to the girl, "what about you?"

"Well I was in Hydra until a year ago and there wasn't exactly an opportunity to date or anything."

"So never?" I asked wonderingly.

"Never," she confirmed.

"Not even a hot Hydra guard?" Nat asked.

"None of them were women," Wanda confessed.

"I know! What's up with that? Like come one Hydra get with the times. Would one female guard have killed them? At least the Red Room was all women," I say as I reach for the bottle of vodka on the table. Just as my hand was about to touch it, it moved slightly away from me. Surprised, I look up at Wanda who is very pointedly not looking at me or the bottle. Trying again to get the bottle, I keep an eye on Wanda, and sure enough Just as I was about to touch it, it moved. Frustrated I sat back on the couch and crossed my arms angrily.

"What's wrong?" Nat asked.

"The bottle ran away from me," I sulked.

"It.. ran away from you?" She asked as she moved to pick it up. She stopped just as her hands were about to touch it, and then grabbed it like it really would run away. She held it triumphantly and grinned as she took a drink.

"Show off," i muttered.

Nat laughed before she stood up and looked at both of us, "I'm calling it a night. Wanda would you help Ray to bed please?" She didn't wait for an answer and went off to her room.

I tried to stand and immediately fell back into the couch, I must be drunker then I thought. Wanda stood and walked over to me, looking unsure. She reached out for my hand but stopped. I held out my hand and she took it, pulling me to my feet. She helped me to my room where I promptly fell on the bed. I patted the spot next to me and Wanda came and sat down. "Can I ask you something?" I asked her, "well two things technically because that was already a question."

"Of course," she said with a small smile.

"Why don't you drink?"

And just like that her entire mood changed. "For the same reason you don't like to be touched Ray."

And with one sentence I was no longer drunk. "Who?" I asked deadly quiet.

"It doesn't matter, it was when I was with Hydra." Her voice was small and was starting to break.

Soon her shoulders were shaking with sobs and for the first time in my life, I made a conscious decision to break my rule. I wrapped my arms around Wanda and held her tightly as she sobbed into my shirt. I started to grow angry at everyone who had hurt her and then at myself for asking that stupid question.

I held her for what seemed like hours as she cried herself out, and even when she stopped I made no move to let go. Because as dumb as it may be, as long as she was with me I knew she was safe.

Eventually her breathing evened out and I realized she was asleep. As gently as I could I laid us down and made a blanket of magic over us. Wanda's hands griped my shirt tightly and her head was nestled under my chin. I rubbed her back long into the night, partly to comfort her and partly I think to comfort me.

I must have dozed off because in the early hours of the morning I woke to Wanda jerking in her sleep. She was muttering something in what sounded like Russian but wasn't. I shook her shoulder gently until her eyes opened a bit, "Ray?" She asked sleepily.

"I'm here Wanda," I told her as I tightened my grip on her. "I'm here."

"And I'm not going anywhere," I thought.
*****

Ten
The next morning I woke up to someone tracing patterns on my arm. "Good morning," I said as I opens my eyes to look at her.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to wake you," she said as she hurriedly pulled her hand off my arm.

"It's fine, it felt nice." I rolled onto my stomach and said, "you can keep doing it if you want." I buried my head in a pillow and kept my eyes open just enough to watch her. She hesitated a moment before ever so lightly touching my back. Her light touch sent a shiver through me and made me want more. I guess it had been a while since I'd had human contact.

After a few minutes her light hesitant touches got firmer, exploring my back more. The hem of my shirt had ridden up a few inches and her fingers grazed my exposed skin. Very slowly she started to scratch it and I moaned lightly at the sensation, surprising both of us.

"Is this ok?"

"Yes," I breathed out as I pulled my shirt up, exposing more of my back for her. I felt her weight shift on the bed and then she was straddling me. The sudden change surprised me but I kinda liked the weight of her on me. Her hands danced over my skin, nails teasing me slightly. I sighed deeply and and she laughed as I pressed into her hands.

And then a knock on the door broke the spell. I disappeared from under Wanda and reappeared by the door. I opened the door and found a smug Natasha on the other side of it. "Hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" She looked around me to where Wanda was on my bed. "Hey little witch, have a good night?"

"We didn't do anything!" Wanda squeaked out.

I rolled Amy eyes at Nat who was now laughing, "did you need something?"

"Actually yes, Tony called a meeting and couldn't find Wanda. I told him we had a bit of a girls night and she was probably still in bed, looks like I was right." She smirked at me and told Wanda, "meetings in ten, don't be late."

"Goodbye Natasha," I said as I closed the door in her face. Looking at Wanda I notice she looked almost shy. "Sorry about her." I walked back to the bed and flipped down beside Wanda.

"It's ok, it's just weird seeing that side of her. Before last night I was actually kind of afraid of her," Wanda confessed.

"You, an all powerful witch, afraid of a Russian spy?"

"I'm not a witch, but yes. She absolutely terrified me," she looked at me her eyes wide, "don't tell her I said that!"

I pretended to think, "what's in it for me?" I teased.

Wanda swallowed hard, "wh-what do you want?" She asked softly.

I grinned at her, "you, me, tonight, in my bed." I watched her cheeks turn red and I continued, "for a movie night. There's some new ones out I've been dying to see."

"Right, movies! Deal!" She said a little too fast.

"Miss Maximoff, what did you think I meant?" I asked with a fake seriousness. I laughed at her deer in the headlights expression, "I'm just teasing Wanda." I held out my hand to her and she took it without hesitation. The second her fingers twined with mine I flashed us to her room. "You should get ready," I told her. "Nat said ten minutes about seven minutes ago."

"Oh god the meeting!" She exclaimed as she jumped up from the bed and started to run around her room. She grabbed a new shirt and stripped off her old one and I quickly closed my eyes and didn't open them again until she said my name. "Ray? I hate to ask but could you-?" I flashed to her side in an instant and then flashed us to the conference room. "Thank you," she whispered before she disappeared into the room.

I could hear her mumble some excuse about oversleeping as she took her seat. I noticed that Nat was smirking softly at her in a knowing way. I watched the meeting for a moment through the glass in the doors before my stomach interrupted me. Flashing back to Nat's kitchen I rummaged around until I found a stale donut and what passed for coffee.

Nat really needed to get groceries. God how I missed being able to flash to Paris for breakfast and then Italy for supper. Hell, I just missed being able to go outside. Frustration started to build up in me so I went to the gym. I was surprised to see that it looked like nothing had happened, but Tony could pay for the best. 

I went to the punching bags and started taking out my frustrations on it. For hours I hit that bag, until my arms went numb and I couldn't lift them anymore. Sitting in the bench I looked around the gym and found Nat looking at me as she leaned against the wall. When she saw me looking she came over.

"You ok?"

"Not really," I told her truthfully.

"Did something happen with Wanda? Did she do something?" Nat asked in a protective way.

"No nothing happened with Wanda. She's actually been a great friend, probably a better one then I deserve."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I'm tired of being here Nat." She got an alarmed looks and I realized how that sounded. "Not like that Nat, I promise." My mind went to where hers had gone, to a night before she left, when she had found me almost dead from an overdose. "I just meant here in the tower. I miss my freedom, and I know this is better than a cell, but honestly it's just a bigger prison."

"It's not that bad though is it? I mean you got a pretty cool room and a gym and you can go wherever you want."

"But I can't go outside. It's just like being back in the Red Room."

She stood up and held out her hand, "then let's go talk to Tony."
*******

Eleven
So we went and talked to Tony who gave in really easy. "I'll turn the explosive off for one hour a day, but the power dampener goes back on. I still don't trust you and you can't run without your powers." And that was that.

So here I was, on the room of the tower, watching the clouds. The wind blowing my hair around and the sun warming my soul. Cheesy I know, but after being cooped up for weeks you would be too. And that's where Wanda found me, watching the sun start to set. Dusk was my favorite time of day, nothing beat all the colors. There weren't any in the shadows.

We sat in silence as we watched the sun set, not talking until the beeping on my collar interrupted the silence. I looked over at Wanda who had her eyes closed, her hair moving slightly in the breeze. I couldn't deny that she was beautiful. The way her hair fell around her face, the shape of her lips as they smiled, the way her nose crinkled and her eyes sparkled.

The beeping grew louder and I sighed. Standing up I looked down at Wanda who was still sitting. She looked peaceful and I didn't want to disturb her so I went inside and back to the apartment. The moment I got into the building I felt my powers come back. I went to my room and stripped before going to take a quick shower before the movie night with Wanda. For some reason I had a nervous flutter in my stomach at the thought of being alone with her in my bed after this morning.

When I was done getting ready I cued up the movies and went to the kitchen to get the snacks. I had just finished setting everything up when a knock on my door sounded. "Come in," I called as I put the finishing touches on everything.

I looked up to see Wanda in an oversized hoodie with the hood up and sweatpants. "Hey," she said softly before crawling into my bed.

I sat next to her and asked, "you ok Wands?"

She looked at me with nothing but sadness in her eyes, "not really. Tony decided that we were going to start going after Hydra. He got a location on one of the bases and wants us to go take it out tomorrow. That's what the meeting was about this morning."

"I'm sorry Wanda, I know how hard it must be for you to think about Hydra." I opened my arms to her and she leaned into me without hesitation.

"I thought when I left I'd never have to go back, but I knew eventually the others would want to take it down."

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. I'm sure they would understand," I rubbed the girls back trying to comfort her.

"No I do," she sighed heavily. "It's time I face my past."

"How can I help?" I wasn't used to people needing comfort, especially from me and I was at a loss.

"Can we just stay like this?" She asked as she gripped my shirt.

"Of course we can."

And that's how we stayed, the movies forgotten. Eventually Wanda fell asleep but I couldn't. I was worried about her and the mission tomorrow. It would be hard for her, going back to Hydra. It was hard for me when I went back and destroyed the Red Room. And Wanda was a lot nicer than I was.

I stayed up all night thinking about the things I couldn't fix and when morning came I was exhausted, but wired. There was no way I could sleep with Wanda going out to fight today. We had breakfast together and then she went to get ready. I hung out with Nat who was with Bruce but I didn't mind him third wheeling, he was actually pretty nice once you got to know him.

He was staying with me today and I think it was because Tony didn't trust me alone. We said goodbye to the others and then I followed Bruce to a set a computers where the feed from the body cams was.

I watched them get to the base and destroy it. Turns out Wanda's fears were unfounded. Once she got there and in the thick of it, she had no problem destroying the place and actually came back in a good mood. We spent that night watching movies while she told me all about it. And for the first time since I'd known her, she seemed to have a spark in her eyes.
*****

Twelve
And so that's how the next several months went- Wanda and the others went on a mission every couple of weeks taking down a new Hydra base, and then Wanda would come and spend the night in my room. Sometimes we talked about the mission but most times we just watched movies into the early hours of the morning, with Wanda in my arms. Nothing ever happened on these sleepovers, not that Natasha ever believed me, but she was hardly ever in her room anyway. Her and Bruce had started dating at some point and things were getting serious.

One day Nat, Wanda and Tony went on a mission leaving me alone with Bruce. I liked to watch the body cameras the team wore, since I couldn't go with them it the only way I could see what was going on.
This particular mission they were in Amsterdam trying to take down a Hydra base in the country. Everything was going smoothly until someone shot the jet down with a rocket.

Bruce and I watched helpless as the jet crashed and the sound of gunfire came over the coms.

"Nat!" Bruce yelled into the coms at the same time I called for Wanda.

"I'm fine," came Natasha's reply but Wanda didn't answer.

"Im ok too guys, thanks for asking." Starks voice yelled. "Nat where are you? I can't see through all this smoke."

"I'm pinned down about a hundred feet to your left." She yelled back before shooting at more people. "Wanda! We need you!"

"I'm coming! I was occupied." Came the witches voice. I sighed in relief, her cam was dead but the audio still worked.

I watched through Nat's cam as guys in black commando suits came towards her, but before she could shoot, a red glow picked them up and threw them aside. Then Wanda came into view- She was covered in dust and her head was bleeding but she like she was having fun. She was glowing a bright red and throwing bad guys around.

I smiled at the screen and Bruce gave me a look. "What?" I asked him.

He shook his head, "nothing."

For a minute it seemed like the team was winning until a shot rang out.

"Wanda!" Nat screamed. "Tony! Wandas down! Can you get to her?"

"My suit is damaged I can hardly move." His cam moved and there was Wanda laying on the ground, a pool of red forming around her. Panic raged inside me and my magic pulled me towards the girl lying on the ground.

I turned to Bruce and grabbed his shirt. "Take off my collar."

"I can't. Tony said-"

"Fuck Tony! I can help them! I need to get to her, She's dying!" I cried.

A look of realization appeared in his eyes and he pushed a button on the computer. My collar fell off and I felt all my powers flood back. Tony must have kept the power dampener on so low I didn't notice. And then I was gone. Traveling through the shadows.

In a blink I was in the middle of a war zone. I looked around for Wanda and found her about 20 feet away, partially hidden behind some rubble. Shots rang. Out and peppered the ground around her. Anger overrode the panic and I released my magic. I stepped out from behind my cover and black smoke swirled around me. Commandos came charging at me I knocked them aside easily.

I got to Wanda and knelt beside her, my magic making a shield around us. "Wanda wake up!" I shook her shoulders and she moaned in pain. I scooped her up and she yelled out but I had to get to the shadows. Had to get her home. I ran with her straight at a wall and as soon as we got into the shadow of it, we were back at the tower. Bruce watched as I set her down and looked at me alarmed but I didn't have time to ask why. and I turned back to the shadows and went to get the others.

Finding Natasha was easy, all I had to do was follow the cursing. She was crouched over Tony who was trying to get his leg out of his suit. When I appeared in the shadows beside them Nat gave me a look of pure wonder and then smiled at me. "It's about time you got here. Did you get Wanda?"

"No I thought I'd let her bleed out. Of course I got her." I looked at Tony and said, "give me your hand. You too Nat." Natasha didn't hesitate but Tony did. "We don't have time for this." I grabbed his hand and then we were back in the tower.

I fell to the floor gasping for breath. I'd never traveled with two people before and or used so much magic at once. My vision went spotty and Before everything went dark I heard Nat calling my name.
******

Thirteen
A steady beeping noise was annoying me. I opened my eyes and was blinded by a white light. I groaned and covered my face with my arm.

"Jarvis dim the lights." Nats voice came from beside me.

I peeked over and was pleased to find the lights had dimmed to an acceptable brightness. Nat was sitting in a chair by my bed and she smiled at me when I looked at her. Not her usual cocky smile but a tired one. Dark circles under her eyes were forming, like she hadn't slept in days.

"You ok?" I asked her, my voice scratchy.

She got up and got me some water and waited until I had drank it all before answering. "You and Wanda had us worried. It's been a rough couple of days."

"Oh gods, Wanda!" I sat up too fast and the room started spinning.

"Be careful!" Nat scolded as I fell back against the pillows again.

"Is Wanda ok?" I fought to keep the panic from my voice.

"Yes... and no. Bruce managed to remove the bullet and get her stable and her body is healing. But it's been three days and she should be awake by now."

"Where is she?" I struggled to get up, I had to see her.

"Stop you're going to hurt yourself. She's next door, I'll take-" Nat didn't get to finish before I was gone and crashing to the floor in Wanda's room. I pulled myself up in a chair just as Nat came storming in.

Wanda was laying on her bed, a faint red glow coming from her. She looked peaceful, like she was just asleep. But when I took her hand she didn't wake, didn't move at all. I held her hand between mine, rubbing my thumb over the top gently. "Why won't she wake up Nat?" I turned to her, tears in my eyes.

"Oh Ray, you didn't," Nat whispered as she realized the thing I had been avoiding for months.

"I couldn't help it." I turned back to Wanda, watching for any signs that she was in there. Eventually Nat left and I was grateful for that.

A day passed and then another, and Wanda still didn't wake up. The others stop by every now and then, sometimes they try to get me to move, but usually a blast of magic sends them away.

Eventually I couldn't keep my eyes open and I fell asleep still holding wandas hand.

~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

I opened my eyes into a nightmare. But not one of mine. All around me was swirling red flames. I started walking through them and they got hotter and brighter. Eventually I had to squint to see.

Something hit my foot and I looked down at a charred body. I looked around and there was a lot of bodies. The longer I walked the more there were. Then they stopped.

And there was Wanda.

She was kneeling with her head bent and her hands in her lap. As I watched, three people came up to her and she looked up at them. They looked normal and then they started to burn. The look on wandas face was pure anguish.

As the people crumbled to dust she looked back down. A few seconds later it started again. The same thing happened over and over. I felt her anguish every time the people burned.

I pushed my way to her and when she looked up at me her face fell. "Not you too." She muttered.

I sank to my knees in front of her, "Wanda snap out of it! This isn't real!" I pleaded with her.

"I'm sorry you are here Ray. I never wanted you to burn." Her eyes looked right through me.

"Wanda!" I waved my hand in front of her face but she didn't even blink. "Wanda I need you to snap out of it. I need you to come back. I need you... I love you." Putting both hands on her face I kissed her. She didn't move at first but then she kissed me back.

I pulled back and she looked at me. Not through me, at me. "Ray?" She asked confused.

"Hey," I sighed in relief.

"Where are we?" She looked around horrified.

"In your nightmare. And it's time to wake up." I told her as I pulled her up.

"How?"

"Take my hand Wanda." When she did my black tendrils swirled around us and I held her close. "Close your eyes." I closed mine just as the blackness blocked out the red....

~<>~<>~<>~<>~<>|<>~<>~<>~<>~<>~

...and opened them back in the room. I sat up and found Wanda looking at me.

"You didn't have my permission."

"What?" My confusion clear.

"In there. You didn't have my permission to kiss me."

"Oh... right. About that, I'm sorry I just-"

"But you have it now."

"I- what?" I didn't think I'd heard her right.

"You have my permission to kiss me." A smile played on her lips. I had permission so I took a chance. This kiss was worth everything. I cupped her face and kissed her deeper, grazing her bottom lip. She moaned slightly and then-

A cough from the door.

I broke away from her and glared at the door. Nat was standing there, her face as red as her hair. I raised an eyebrow at her and she just backed away. I turned back to Wanda and said, "where were we?"
*****

Fourteen
The next several days was spent getting Wanda recovered enough to move into her room, or rather, my room. Now that our feelings were out in the open, at least to each other and Nat, it only made sense that I looked after Wanda while she recovered.

Tony came in one day with my collar and demanded that I put it back on. He didn't even seem to wonder why I was sharing Wanda's hospital bed. All he did was fume and threaten when I told him no. "Tony, if I wanted to escape, I would have by now." I told him calmly.

"Why are you still here then?" He asked perplexed.

I raised an eyebrow and looked at the sleeping Wanda in my arms and back to him. "Are you blind? For a genius you're pretty stupid." His jaw clenched at that remark and I smirked, "Why would I leave when Wanda is here?" I placed a kiss on her head and watched the confusion and finally the realization flash across Tony's face. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally turned and left.

"That man was very confused," a sleepy Wanda said.

"His face was priceless though," I told her.

She chuckled softly, "so were his thoughts."

"Oh you little eavesdropper," I teased her. I kissed her head again and pulled her closer to me. I loved these moments with her, no pressure to be anything other than just me, just us. It had been a lifetime since I had felt this kind of peace.

The day Wanda could finally leave the infirmary was a joyous day. As much as I loved cuddling every night, that hospital bed was not kind to my back. Bruce had finally given his ok and I couldn't wait to get Wanda into my bed. And thanks to my abilities, she didn't even have to get up.

I flashed us to my room and we stayed in bed for a solid week. It would have been longer if Natasha hadn't come in one day and dragged me out, much to Wanda's amusement.

"What the hell Nat?" I asked, slightly irked.

She crossed her arms and faced me, "we need to talk."

"About?"

"You. Joining the Avengers."

"HAH! Are you serious?" She couldn't be, but judging by the look in her face, she was. "Nat I can't be an Avenger."

"Why not?"

"Well for one I killed the star spangled idiot."

"And we have forgiven you for that," she said dismissively.

"Ok well for two, I don't want to." I crossed my arms in a slight stance of defiance.

"Ray," something in her voice concerned me, "you might not have a choice."

"What do you mean?" A sinking feeling settling in my stomach.

"It's best if I just show you."

Turns out that when I had rescued Wanda and the others, a camera had caught it all. And that would have been fine if it wasn't for the Godlike person who was on the video. As I watched it, I knew it was me, but I couldn't believe that it was.

I had long black horns, almost like antlers and my hair writhed around like it was alive. My skin was pale except for around my eyes, and those were pitch black. My magic had formed a suit and if I wasn't terrified of what I was seeing, I'd say I looked pretty hot.

"So my options are join your boy band or go to jail for unsanctioned magic?" I looked at Nat and the others perplexed.

"The president is concerned that an unaligned magical being poses a security risk," Tony said.

"Security risk? I'm not a security risk. I didn't even know I could do... that." I waved my hand at the monitor where I stood frozen on the screen.

"Well you can and the powers that be don't like it, and neither do I for that matter." Tony came and stood in front of me. "I still hate what you did to Cap, but you did save us."

"Only because Nat would have killed me if I had left you behind," I tell him.

"Stop being an ass for five seconds!" He exploded. "I don't think you realize just what's at stake right now. Either you join us or you go to the Raft. Do you have any idea what they'd do to you there? It would make Hydra and the Red Room look like a day spa."

"I will not be a prisoner again, Stark." I told him calmly. "Yours or anyone else's. I would rather die." And I meant it, I would die before I had my freedoms taken again.

"Ray," Nat said as she put a hand on my arm, "think about this. You wouldn't be our prisoner, you'd be a member of this team. You'd be going with us on missions, no more staying behind while Wanda goes out to fight."

"That's low."

"Or you go to the Raft, where you would be a prisoner. No powers, no freedoms of any kind. You'd be alone again."

I knew what she was doing, using my fears against me. And it was working, and she knew it. "Fine. I'll join your band, but just so we are all clear, I'm not doing this for you guys."

"Oh we know, self preservation is a big motivator," Tony said sarcastically.

"Apparently not to some," I glared at him with hatred.

"Ok that's enough!" Nat exclaimed as she came between us. "Ray go back to Wanda, Tony and I need to talk."

"With pleasure, boss." And then I was gone. But not back to Wanda, not yet. Instead I flashed to the one person who I knew would be able to talk sense into me.

I appeared in a small apartment, dimly lit. The sound of a train passing by filled the air. A person was sleeping on the couch, blond hair falling around her face. I crouched by her head and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes opened at the contact and she smiled when she saw me.

"You're late," she said sleepily.

"Sorry Lenny," I said softly.

"Did you bring macaroni?"
******

Fifteen
After making macaroni for the ever sleepy Yelena, I filled her in on what had been going on. "So you and the witch huh?" She said through a mouthful of food.

"She's not a witch," I said, "she's like me."

"And you can make things move with your mind. Therefore, witch." She smiled at me smugly and I couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"You have cheese on your face," I told her.

After she cleaned her face she sat quietly for a minute before finally asking, "how's Natasha?"

"She's good. She misses you and it's driving her crazy not being able to find you."

"She can't, not yet. It's not safe." Yelena got up and put her plate in the sink.

"I know Lenny, I told her what we agreed on. I hate lying to her but she can't know about this. If she knew that Dreykov was still alive, if she knew what we were doing and why, she'd go look for him and that's what he wants." I rubbed my head hard, this conversation always gave me a headache. "Are you any closer to finding him?"

"I've got a lead that I'm going to check out tomorrow. I think he's partnering with Hydra."

"Hydra? Why?" Dreykov always despised those nazi bastards, unless of course he got something from it.

"Who knows, maybe they are helping him rebuild the Red Room." Yelena went back to the couch and sat heavily.

I went and joined her and she leaned her head on my shoulder. "Don't worry Lenny, we'll find him and then we can all come home."

She scoffed slightly, "home? Where is that Ray? The tower?"

"Home is wherever we all are, together."

"And Wanda," she teased.

"Oh shit, Wanda!" I jumped up panicked, how long had I been gone? "I gotta go, I'm late getting back."

Yelena laid down on the couch and waved at me, "see you later, be safe."

I bent down and gave her a kiss on her head, "you too. Call me if you get into trouble. You still remember how?"

"Yes," came her answer in my head.

I took a last look at my sister, hating that I had to leave her alone again. You'll be back, I reminded myself, now that there's no tracker you can come back whenever.

Flashing back to the tower I walked into my room and found Wanda gone. "Wanda?" I called out but got no answer. I went back out to the hall and heard muffled voices coming from Nat's room. Going to her door I peaked in and found Wanda and Nat on the bed, playing cards and laughing. It was nice to see them getting along. I smiled softly at the sight of them and then went back to my room and took a shower. I stayed in for a long time, going over everything.

By the time I got out it was late and Wanda was back in my bed. I crawled in next to her and big spooned her, being careful of her still healing wound. She pressed against me and I kissed her head. "You were gone a long time," she said softly.

"Yeah sorry, I needed some air. Had a lot to think about." I hated lying to her but there was no other choice.

"Nat told me. I'm sorry you have to join under these circumstances, but I'm glad you are."

"I am too. Now I can go with you and keep you out of trouble," I teased.

She scoffed jokingly, "keep me out of trouble? You're the troublemaker."

She had a point, "thank you, I try." We were silent for a moment before I asked, "how's your wound?"

"Healing quickly thanks to Bruce and my powers. It should be all healed by the mission next week."

"So soon?"

"Yeah, and you'll get to come on this one," she said through a yawn.

"How exciting," I mumbled into her hair. "Sleep now," I told her.

"You won't leave?"

Where did that come from? "No baby, I won't leave."

And I didn't. Not that night at least.
******

Sixteen
Every night leading up to the mission, after Wanda was asleep, I snuck out to see Yelena. We went over the mission and compared intel. Her sources said that it was likely Dreykov was or had been at the Hydra base that we were going to be attacking. And if he was there, I had to get to him first. I stayed with Yelena until early morning and then rushed to get back into bed with Wanda before she woke up. If she noticed anything amiss, she didn't say anything.

The day of the mission was crazy. We got up while it was still dark and everyone got suited up, even me. To my surprise Tony had made me a suit almost exactly like my old one but made with bulletproof fabric. Of course I cornered Bruce and made him tell me that Wanda was healed enough to go on this mission. After several reassurances I finally believed him.

When we were all ready we loaded up on the jet and headed out. This was the first time in years that I had been on a mission with Nat and I had missed it. Her flying though, not so much. "I see your flying still sucks," I told her as she turned sharply.

"You're just jealous you can't fly," she retorted.

I laughed at that, "oh Natasha, I don't need a jet to be able to fly."

Wanda looked over at me with surprise, "you can fly?"

"Oh I can do a lot of things baby," I told her with a wink. The blush on her face was worth the looks from the others.

"Coming up on the base," Tony told us. "Get ready to drop." Everyone got up and started to put on parachutes and I just watched. Nat came and held one out to me and I took it, but didn't put it on. The ramp door lowered and I looked over the edge, the Hydra base glowing faintly in the early morning darkness.

"So what's the rules?" I asked.

"No rules. Destroy the base and everyone inside," Nat said with a grin.

This was going to be fun. We flew over the base and got the signal to drop. I let everyone else jump first and then I followed. I loved the rush that jumping gave me. The others had already deployed their chutes when I went rushing past. I heard someone yell my name but I just laughed. I headed towards the main Hydra building and just as I was about to hit, I used my magic to slow down and crash through the roof.

The sounds of confusion were like music to my ears. "Hi boys," I said with a grin. "I'm looking for a man called Dreykov, has anyone seen him?" The sound of gunfire was my answer and I shrugged, "guess not." I took out the Hydra agents with a blast of magic and headed out of the room. The hallway was deserted and I chose a way at random. The sounds of distant explosions told me that the others had made it.

A group of agents came around a corner and I tore them apart, all except one. That one I slammed into the wall and held there. "Where's Dreykov?" I asked him. When he didn't answer I pushed him harder into the wall and cracks formed in the plaster. "Where is Dreykov?" I asked again.

"Not here," came his strained reply. So he was working with Hydra. "Hail Hyd-" his words were cut off when I snapped his neck.

Running around a corner I was met with doors that I blasted open and inside was what looked like the command center. Dozens of agents started to shoot me but a wall of black smoke stopped the bullets and I sent them back to their owners. This was almost too easy. I found a computer and hacked into it. I searched for Dreykov or any mention of him, but there was nothing. Pulling out a flash drive I downloaded everything to it and put it in my pocket before smashing the computer.

Turning around I stopped in surprise, Nat was standing there looking at me. "What are you doing?" She asked suspiciously.

"Just looking for more bases," I lied smoothly. Or so I thought.

"What did you put in your pocket?"

"Souvenir," I told her with a grin as I stepped towards her. Her hand moved to the gun at her side and I stopped. "Nat? What's wrong?"

"Don't lie to me Ray. I heard you with that guard. Why are you looking for Dreykov? I thought you killed him."

I stepped towards her and she brought the gun up, leveling it with me. "Nat I can explain. It's not what you think."

"Then explain. Now."

I took another step towards her and she shook her head at me to stop. "I'm sorry Natasha." I flashed behind her and knocked her out, catching her as she fell. I gently lowered her to the ground and took her gun, putting it a few feet away from her.

The sound of someone saying my name made me look up from the unconscious Natasha. Wanda stood in the door, looking from me to Nat. "What's happening Ray?"

I breathed deeply and stood up, facing her. This was not going how I had intended. "She's fine Wanda, I promise."

"What did you do?" The look of hurt and betrayal on her face almost broke my heart. Almost.

"What I had to," I told her. "And you're going to walk away Wanda. Walk away and forget you saw this."

"I can't do that," she said as she raised her hands, red sparks running across her fingers.

"I won't fight you," I couldn't, not her.

"You won't have to," a voice said and then the room was blasted with a white light.
******

Seventeen
I woke up in a cell that was flooded with light. "Ouch," I moaned as I covered my eyes. Sitting up on the small bed I felt something scratch my neck, and sure enough, the collar was back. I stood and went to the clear wall, "hey! Let me out!" I yelled as I banged on it. Lights on the other side turned on I saw Nat there, sitting on a chair watching me.

"You get one chance Ray. One chance to tell me what is going on. Or you get sent to the Raft." Her voice was hard, and it reminded me of how she used to talk back in the Red Room.

I sat back on the bed and sighed, "I can't, Natasha."

"Why not?" She asked angrily. "After everything these past few months, why would you do this?"
I didn't answer, just looked at her sadly. "Damn it, talk to me Ray! Why are you looking for Dreykov?" She approached the glass, "are you working for him?"

"Never," i seethed at her.

"Then why?"

"I can't tell you." I leaned my head back on the glass and closed my eyes.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me Ray," she said with a softer tone.

I looked at her briefly and said, "I am Shadow."

"Don't do this."

"I am Shadow." And that's all I said for the next three days.

Whenever anyone came to ask me questions, I gave them the same answer. They each took a turn, all except Wanda and I was glad. I don't think I'd be able to keep from talking to her, to keep from explaining. Natasha came the most, and most of the time didn't even talk, she just watched me.

One day she was asking me questions again, the same ones over and over. I had gotten good at tuning her out and I was actually falling asleep. "Ray?!" Came a panicked voice in my head. Yelena. "Ray can you hear me?" I tried to answer back but with the collar on I couldn't. I was surprised the bond was working with it on. "I found him, but things went wrong. They got me Ray, I need you." Her voice was getting fainter and it was hard to hear over Nat's voice.

"Natasha shut up!" I yelled at her, trying to hear Yelena.

"Oh so she finally speaks," she said angrily.

"Sokovia," Yelena said so faint I almost missed it.

"Let me out," I told her as I got up.

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"For Yelena."

"Yelena?" She said softly. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Everything. She found Dreykov in Sokovia but he caught her. I need to get to her before he hurts her."

"How do you know this?"

"We have a bond. I figured out that I can give a small amount of my powers to someone and then we can talk with our minds, no matter how far apart we are." There was no time or point in lying now.

Nat scoffed in disbelief, "so you've known where she was this entire time?"

"Yes. We've been hunting Dreykov. He escaped when I destroyed the Red Room." This was taking too long.

"Why not tell me?" This time she sounded hurt, but we didn't have time for this.

"We couldn't. He wants you, he always has. If I had told you then you would want to go after him. We couldn't risk losing you too," I said in frustration.

"Losing me too?" She asked slowly. "Who else did you lose?" I couldn't help but freeze, and she noticed. "Ray who does he have?" I shook my head at her, I couldn't tell her that. Only Yelena knew. Nobody else could know, it was too dangerous. She must have seen the panic in my eyes because the next thing I knew a door opened in the glass and she was in my cell, pulling me into a hug. "Who does he have?" She asked again as she held me tightly.

And after all this time, I finally broke. "He has my daughter."
******

Eighteen
After I finally broke Nat took me to the meeting room and called everyone in. None of them seemed too happy that I was out and Wanda wouldn't even talk to me. Not that I could blame her.

"Why are we here?" Tony asked.

"Tell them what you told me," Nat said. She saw the hesitation in my eyes, "you can trust them."

And I suppose I had to. "Dreykov is alive. I was looking for his location at the Hydra base when Nat and Wanda interrupted me. Yelena and I have been hunting him since I destroyed the Red Room. I didn't tell anyone because I knew you would want to help but I couldn't risk it. He wants Natasha, he's been obsessed with her since she left and we couldn't risk him getting her. But now he has Yelena and I need your help to get her back." I took a deep breath and looked at Nat, who nodded at me. "He also has my daughter."

You could have cut the silence with a knife it was so thick. Finally Bruce spoke, "you have a kid?"

"I thought that it was impossible for Widows to have kids?" Tony asked right after.

"I got pregnant on a honey trap." I hadn't told Nat this part and she breathed in sharply. "It was supposed to be my graduation mission and it was in a way. I graduated from the Red Room but before my surgery they found out I was pregnant and they decided to let me have it. A new recruit they called it. So they kept me locked up until the baby came and then they took it. I didn't even get to hold it." My voice broke and I had to stop for a second. "They kept me for a few weeks and another Widow would come and check on me. She told me that the baby was a girl, and that she was with the other children. Soon after that Dreykov sold me to Hydra and they gave me my powers. And then I went back to the Red Room to kill Dreykov and to get my baby back. But they were gone. I looked for over a year and eventually found Yelena In Budapest. And she's been helping me ever since. And now she's in trouble and we have to help her." I looked around the room and they were all looking at me with various emotions. Emotions we didn't have time for.

"Say you are telling the truth, why should we help after everything you've done?" Of course Tony would ask that.

"Because I did it for my family. Who here wouldn't risk anything and everything for the ones they love?" I looked at Wanda and she finally met my eyes. "I'm so sorry," I told her. She gave a small nod but didn't say anything.

The collar made a chirp and fell off my neck, much to the surprise of everyone. We all looked at Tony who had his phone in hand, pressing buttons. "Let's go." He said as he walked out of the room. In shock we all followed him to the lab where he had everyone's suits. "Well? Get ready."

And wordlessly that's what we did. A few minutes later we were all on the jet headed to Sokovia. Tony was piloting while Nat talked to Bruce about a possible Code Green. I went and sat in the copilot chair and looked at him.

"Why are you helping me? It's not like you've been my biggest fan."

"Because I know what it's like to have your family taken from you, and if I had the chance to get them back, I'd probably do unspeakable things." He looked at me and for the first time since I've met him, there was no malice, only understanding.

"Thank you Tony."

"Don't get used to it," he said but with no trace of venom.

I laughed lightly and went back to my seat but stopped when I saw Wanda sitting alone. I went over to and sat next to her. "I need you to know that I never lied about how I feel about you."

She looked at me and bit her cheek before saying, "I know. I could always hear how you thought about me, and you thought it so loudly that it blocked everything else out."

"I never meant to hurt you, any of you. Yelena and I thought we could handle it ourselves," I only hoped we would be in time to help Yelena.

"We'll get her," Wanda said as she put her hand on mine.

I gave her a tense smile and squeezed her hand. We spent the rest of the flight like that, each of us preparing for what we were going to find. When we go over Sokovia, Tony turned to me and asked, "any idea where the base is?"

And I realized that I didn't. But then Wanda spoke up, "I do."

"What?" I asked in surprise.

She gave me a sad smile, "I'm from here, and the Hydra base here gave me my powers."

"I guess we have a lot to learn about each other," I told her.

"Yeah we do," she said before going and sitting by Tony. She directed him away from the town and into the woods where we came across the base in the side of a mountain. As soon as it came into view I felt a tug, and I flashed to it.

I ended up in a cell. But a cell that held a bound Yelena. Her eyes got wide when she saw me and she shook her head violently as I started towards her. I pulled the fag from her mouth and she hissed, "you idiot it's a trap."

And that's when the lights came on and a voice from behind me said, "welcome home Raelle."
*****

Nineteen
I spun around and there he was, Dreykov. He looked at me with a smug look as I glared at him. "Welcome home," he said again.

"This is not my home," I told him. I stepped slightly in front of Yelena and I felt her fingers tug at the hidden pocket on my waist. "Where is my daughter?" I asked him.

"Oh you'll find out soon enough. But first," he said with a sickening grin, "where is dear Natalia?"

"Who knows? It's just me," I lied.

"Oh come now, do you think me a fool child? I know you came in a jet with the so called Avengers. And I also know that she is with them." His eyes got a greedy little sparkle to them when he talked about Nat and it made me sick.

"Why do you want her so bad?" I was genuinely curious about this.

He took a breath and looked like he was savoring his words as he spoke, "she is perfection. Or rather, she will be, with a little adjusting."

"You'll never have her," I told him.

"And why is that? I got the two of you," he waved his hand over us.

"But not for long," I told him with a smirk, "Yelena?"

She stood up from the chair she had been bound to, "I'm good." And then she hit me on the head.

I woke up strapped to a table, a tube of blood running from me and into a child. Her little eyes were closed and her chest rose and fell rapidly. Her black hair was fanned around her face and her eyes twitched like she was having a bad dream. I tried to move, to go to her, but I couldn't even move a finger.

"Good you're awake," Dreykov said out of my sight. The sound of footsteps got louder as he walked to my table. "We gave you a sedative so you may find it hard to move," he laughed at this like it was the funniest joke ever.

"Ye-le-na," i grunted out.

"Yelena is fine. Actually better than fine, she has rejoined her true family. With the help of a this charming new drug we made." He moved over to the child and stroked her head. "You must be wondering what this little experiment is. You see, you are very special. So special in fact that we haven't been able to replicate your powers. But now that we have you back we can make more. By putting your blood into the child, your child by the way, we can train her to be loyal and use her powers in pursuit of the greater good."

I stopped listening when he said my child. The sight of his hands on her made my vision go red and my blood boil. I felt the sedative burn out of my blood and my powers come alive. He was still by her, my daughter, and could easily kill her if I attacked now. So I waited, I let him talk and when he finally moved away from her a few minutes later, I flashed out of my restraints to my daughters side. I yanked the tube out of my arm and pulled hers gently out, bending her arm to stop the blood flow.

When I looked up he was watching me, but not in fear. That pissed me off even more, he should be very afraid. I stepped towards him and felt the same rush of power that I felt when Wanda had been hurt. With each step towards him it grew, and the closer I got the more his stupid smile faded. He made a break for the door but a whisp of magic caught him and lifted him off the ground. I brought him to me and he finally looked afraid.

"You can't hurt me," he said, "I made you. You'd be nothing if it wasn't for me. I made you special, I gave you your powers. They belong to me."

He really didn't know when to shut up, "yes you did. I guess I should thank you actually, because if it wasn't for you, I never would have found a family who loves me. And as for my powers," I smirked, "if you want them back you can have them." And I sent a blast of magic into him and funneled all my rage into it. It filled him up and he started to glow brighter and brighter and then he began to scream. And it was beautiful. Then his skin melted away and he fell into a sludgy puddle on the floor.

That was less beautiful but totally worth the grossness.

I went back to the table with my daughter on it and picked her up gently. She made a little sound but stayed asleep. She was light and that concerned me, how heavy were kids supposed to be? I had no idea but I would find out. I carried her out of the room just as an explosion ripped through the compound. Dust rained down in us and I made a cocoon around us. Heading towards the explosion I hoped I would the others there, and I did. They were locked in a battle with an army of Hydra soldiers and Yelena.

Nat must have seen her and run to her only to be attacked. I could see her trying to talk to her and not hurt her, but Yelena wasn't listening. Some soldiers saw me and started to shoot my way and I blasted them away. How dare they shoot at a child?

My rage returned and my magic went wild like it had a mind of its own. It destroyed soldiers left and right, I hardly had to think about it. Before long I had cut a swath through the soldiers and stood by my friends. When they realized they were losing they started to run back into the compound, but that just wouldn't do. They all had to pay.

I waited until they had made it in and then I brought the mountain down on top of them.

I smiled as they screamed as they were crushed. I don't know how long I stood there just watching the carnage, but long enough that the girl in my arms woke up. She made a noise that drew my attention and I looked down into her little blue eyes that were looking at me. And they were afraid.

That snapped me out of it. I let my magic go and felt it drop away and I was me again. "It's ok little one," I told her. "You're safe I promise." And I would give my life to keep that promise if need be.

A hand on my arm pulled my attention from the girl and I looked up and saw Wanda. She was looking at me a new look and she smiled, "let's go home Ray."

"Yelena?"

"On the jet. Nat managed to knock her out." She held out a hand to me and I took it.

Together we walked back to the jet that held our friends and family.
******

Twenty
The next few months were spent getting Yelena back to her right mind and getting to know the little girl who was now the most spoiled kid in the world. It didn't take her long to get used to the tower and the people and after a few days she was running around laughing and playing with anyone who would play with her.

Tony had offered to build me my own apartment in the tower but I declined. I was still wary someone would come along and take my daughter from me, but living with Nat slightly made the fear less. My daughter, who we named Melina, was never out of my sight. When I eventually did sleep she was either with Nat or Wanda and when Yelena was back to herself she took her role as aunt very seriously.

One day when I woke from a rare nap I found them piled in Nat's bed, fast asleep, Melina sandwiched between Nat and Yelena who had their arms around her. I turned and left quietly and found Wanda in the living room putting together a toddler bed. She smiled at me when I came in and I went and gave her a kiss. Together we built the bed and hopefully the start of a beautiful future.

      ~~~~~~~~~~ 5 years later ~~~~~~~~~~

I walk into mine and Wanda's house and look around for my wife. Usually she's in the kitchen baking cookies or muffins when I get home from the tower, my love has a big sweet tooth. But today the kitchen is silent. I put my keys on the hook and walk through our house looking for her.

I find her curled up in bed fast asleep. Trying not to wake her I get out of my work clothes and slip into bed with her. As I snuggle up close she moves closer to me.

"I fell asleep," she mumbles. "No cookies today."

"That's ok love, you need your sleep. How's my girls today?" I ask her as I rub her pregnant belly.

"Moving around a lot." A kick to my hand brings a smile. After being married for three years we had finally decided to have another child and after we made the decision it was like our magic knew. Wanda got pregnant a week later and at first we couldn't believe it but then we thought why question it. Our magic had always had a mind of its own, had always done what we wanted. Why should this be any different? "Where's Melina?" She asked sleepily.

"At the tower with Uncle Tony. She had an idea for his suit and of course they just had to implement it right away."

Yes, Uncle Tony. Nobody was more surprised then me when he took an immediate liking to Melina. He built her so many toys her first year that he ended up building a playroom that took up an entire floor of the tower. And when she had started to display signs of having powers he built her her first suit, just in case he said. And as she got older, the only person who could keep up with her ideas was Tony. They spent most days in his lab building the ideas of a seven year old.

It had taken me years to be comfortable enough to leave her alone in the tower. But then again she was never truly alone. All the Avengers would protect her like their own. I still woke up some nights in a panic thinking that Dreykov would come and take her again. On those nights I would sit in her room and watch her sleep until the feeling went away. And through it all Wanda had been there. And I was forever grateful to her.

I rub Wanda's belly until she starts softly snoring and I kiss her head. I keep my hand on her belly and feel our child kick. It never ceased to amaze me, our life together.

A life I never thought I would have.

I snuggled my wife closer and fall asleep, dreaming of our future that was yet to come.