Wanda recoiled backwards, feeling as though her mind had emptied itself. She looked up, stopping in what she had been doing, and realised what the feeling was. Pietro. Her mind clouded over and she tried to search for him, and when she found him she felt a weakening thread. It was almost as if a piece of string had been cut between the two and suddenly there was nothing holding them together.

'No strings on me,' was what Ultron would repeatedly say, to assure himself that he had no ties to anyone or anything. And now he had done the same to Wanda, cutting away everything she held dear.

When she could no longer feel Pietro's mind or presence she let out a cry of anguish and fell to her knees, all of her energy escaping from her body. Almost as if they were running away from her. She continued to scream and could see nothing but red. Her brother had died. Her body and mind couldn't absorb it and yet that was all she could think.

Pietro was dead. She felt herself become drawn towards a crash, almost like something falling. Ultron. She heaved herself off the ground and searched for her brother's murderer.

She surged all of her power and energy into her palm as she drew near Ultron's body and knelt beside him, showing him her grief and what he did to her.
"Wanda," he said quietly. "If you stay here, you'll die." She glared at him, wondering how he could say this to her and yet allow her brother to die.
"I just did," she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice brave and steady. "Do you know how it felt?" and then she pushed all of her energy out to him, yanking away his heart.

'No,' she thought, 'he has no heart.' She pulled and yanked and suddenly it was in her palm, bleeding out liquid.
"It felt like that." She said, looking towards him with hatred and fire in her eyes as he died in front of her.

She knelt down beside him and started to cry. She had avenged Pietro, but somehow it wasn't enough. She wanted him here, next to her, rejoicing in the victory of finally killing Ultron. She wanted him to wrap his arm around her, like he always did, kiss her forehead and tell her that they had won, they were Avengers now. But no, it was just her. He will never get to become an Avenger, he will never save the world a million times with the other Avengers.

She could feel her mind swarm with sorrow and continued to cry, and realised that the sorrow she felt was not hers alone. She could feel it in Barton's mind. She saw into his head, she saw that Pietro had saved Barton and a young boy. He sacrificed himself. 'Guess he really was an Avenger,' she thought. She tried to push everything from her mind and body and allowed herself to carry on grieving.

She felt a bang happen from all around her, and before she knew it she was suspended into the air, floating. No. Falling. She gasped, realising she had left her post. She was meant to protect it. And now the city was falling. She could feel two other minds around her.

Stark and Thor. They were risking their lives to destroy the city, to save billions. And she was here in the train doing nothing but falling. Wanda felt her body go numb and tried to imagine Pietro. She would see him soon. She imagined his arms finding their way around her.

Wait. There were arms around her. The arms pulled her towards the body of whom they belonged to. 'The Vision' she thought as she looked into his eyes. He had come for her. He looked at her for a second before looking up and carrying her away from Sokovia. She gripped onto him tightly, closing her eyes and allowing herself to feel the cool air brush against her face, and for a moment nothing else entered her mind apart from the feel of freedom and the comforting arms holding her close.

2 months later

She still was not used to being a member of a team. Romanoff had been helping her to fit in and get used to her powers. But Wanda was still lonely. All she wanted was Pietro. He had always been there to help her. She would often find herself alone in her room, crying and repeating a clip of her and him over and over. Granted, it was only a news footage clip of them standing and protesting, but it was a good memory.

A memory of before they were a part of Strucker's experiments. Before they had become enhanced, and before she had come to call herself Scarlet Witch. But she would also find herself not regretting anything. She would look at herself every day and find herself becoming a little bit stronger, and a little bit more healed than before.

"Wanda?" a voice called to her from across her table during lunch. She looked up and saw The Vision standing before her. She swallowed down her food and smiled at him. He had become one of the only people who could make her smile lately.
"Yes?" she said.
"Would you mind if I sat with you?" he said. She remembered that he rarely came into the cafeteria as he had no need for nourishment. She nodded and looked down to her almost empty plate, trying to think of a conversation as he sat down.

"How are you, Wanda?" he asked. She looked up and said the same thing she always said when someone asked her this question.
"Surviving." He smiled at her. She pushed her mind out to him, trying to read what he was thinking right now. She knew he could think and feel, yet people thought differently. They thought he was just an android, incapable of human feelings, but she knew differently. She could feel his purity, his kindness, and to her this meant he was human.
"I can feel you inside my head, Wanda." He said to her. She blushed and looked down, continuing to eat.
"No, don't worry. It wasn't a bad feeling. It was nice. I could feel your energy rushing through my head. It…" he hesitated slightly, "it almost makes me feel human."

She looked up abruptly, "You are human."
"No." he said, smiling at her. "I am not. I am synthetic, nothing but flesh created by a machine."
"You are human, Vision!" she said, leaning towards him. "You can think, you can feel. You can admire things and fear things. I can feel it inside you. Your kindness, your contentment, I could feel everything." She said, pushing her hand towards him and holding his wrist lightly.
He looked down and gulped. "Everything?" he asked. She nodded.
"Wanda, do you think that I am capable of love?"

That question has plagued her mind for almost a week. Was he capable of love? She had not known how to answer, and after he asked that he had left and had been avoiding her ever since. 'Does he love someone?' she thought. She felt her chest pull slightly. Almost as if like a twinge of…jealousy? No, she was not jealous.

She was walking towards the training room where she had promised to meet Sam Wilson for training. He had become another source of friendship and comfort ever since… ever since Sokovia. She walked towards the door and heard voices.
"I don't know why you don't just tell her?" she heard Sam say behind the door. She perked her ear towards it.
"I cannot," she put her hand to her mouth. The Vision. So he really did love someone.

"Why? I've seen the way you look at her, and she looks the same way to you. And I can tell that she misses you since you started avoiding her." Sam said. What? Vision was avoiding someone else other than her?
"It is just friendship she feels. Nothing more. I saw her doubt when I asked her if I was capable of love."
"But did she right out say that you weren't?" there was a pause. Were they talking about her? They must have been. Wanda could not think of anyone else that all of this could apply to.

"No." Vision replied.
"There you go," Sam carried on, "just tell her." She heard nothing else apart from a sigh from Sam and looked into his mind. She saw that Vision had flown away. She waited about two minutes before entering the training room, smiling as if she heard nothing, and started training.

"Vision?" she said, walking towards him on the grass outside the facility. He jumped slightly and looked up at her.
"Yes?" he said slowly, almost as if he was afraid of what she would say.
"Would you mind if I sat with you?" she saw his lips quirk up and he nodded his head. She sat next to him and pulled her knees to her chest, not knowing what to say. 'How can I tell him I feel the same way?' she thought. So she did the only thing she knew how. She pushed her mind.

She felt him gasp slightly at having his mind completely invaded by her. She showed him everything she had felt during the past week. The hurt at not seeing him, the confusion at what he had asked her, and then she burrowed deep into her mind and showed him more. Her excitement whenever she could see him, the rush of her chest whenever he spoke to her.

She showed him how she had felt jealousy when she thought he loved someone else. And then she pushed out her own feelings. Her happiness when she thought of him, her memory of him saving her life and how perfectly his arms fit around her when he carried her away, and she showed him love. All of the love that she could carry in her body was for him. Towards him.

She gasped and stopped, her energy making her feel slightly numb. She looked at him, and he looked as shocked and shaken as she was. She hadn't seen him move. 'Guess I'll have to get a reaction out of him,' she thought.

Wanda leaned forward and rested her hand on his cheek, and he looked towards her with wide eyes and she leaned forwards, closing her eyes and sealing the gap between them, brushing her lips against his for a moment. She pulled away, biting down on her bottom lip. She looked up and saw his eyes sparkling.
"Why me?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I guess love chooses anybody." She replied. He looked down.
"I am not worthy, Wanda. I could never give you what every human desires. Family, children or…intimacy." He said, looking down. She lifted her hand to his cheek once again and stroked it with her thumb, and said the only words that mattered in that moment.
"Love is for souls, not bodies."

He looked at her, and smiled, bringing his hand over her own and leant forward, crushing their lips together. He brought his other hand round the back of her neck while her other one came up to his shoulder. They tilted their heads and allowed their lips to form perfectly, fitting together as if they were always meant to. Her mind had emptied, but it wasn't emptying like it had during the battle at Sokovia, this time it emptied itself of any sorrow, fear, sadness and only allowed itself to think of just this moment.

Their kiss became more heated, and she lifted herself off of the ground and wrapped her legs around his and put both of her hands onto his neck, and he moved his own around her back, holding her closely.

They broke away and she gasped for air, resting her head on his shoulder. His grip on her body tightened, as if she would crumble away any second. Wanda looked up at his face and giggled, feeling like she was on a high that would never come down. He looked down at her, confused, yet allowed his lips to pull upwards and he gave out a slight chuckle.

Nathaniel Pietro Barton. That was what Clint had called his child. She felt a warmth surge through her body when she found out he had named his child after her brother. 'Well, it suits. Without my brother, Nathaniel would have no father.' She smiled whenever she heard Romanoff mention the baby, and she knew that Clint had forgiven her of everything she had done before. He even told her to visit sometimes, and often found herself wishing she could be as could an auntie figure as Romanoff was. 'Auntie Wanda.' She thought to herself, and smiled.

Suddenly, the thought of not being able to have children with Vision didn't scare her so much anymore. She knew Romanoff was doubtful of their relationship, as she could never have children and probably felt Wanda was wasting an opportunity for a family life. But Wanda knew she did not want that life. She was an Avenger now, and as long as she had Vision and the team, and knew she had a family.

"I'm trying!" she said, heaving her body upwards. Wanda had been trying to use her energy to fly recently. Vision always had his hands on her waist when she did so, always afraid she would fall. This time, however, Sam had convinced her to fly on her own. She tried pushing her energy downwards and felt her body lift itself, shaking slightly. She saw Vision lean forward as if he wanted to protect her. She tried to stabilize her herself and Sam started to laugh.

"Well, witch, guess you're not worthy of flying like myself, Rhodey and Vision here." He said, teasingly. He spread his arms out, allowing his suit to spread its wings and lifted himself into the air, flying circles around her. She looked down at Vision and saw him smile, encouraging her to keep trying. She pushed her body higher into the air before hearing the doors spread open.

She saw Steve and Natasha walk through the doors, and knew that this was when the real training began. She saw Sam land on his feet to the floor and she did the same. The four of them looked towards the Captain and Romanoff, and they all knew that this was the day they become The Avengers.

"Avengers," Steve called out, and she smiled as he opened his mouth to say the words.
"Assemble!"