Part One: I Walk the Line

I keep a closed watch on this heart of mine.
I keep my eyes wide open all the time.
I keep the ends out for the tie that binds.
Because you're mine;
I walk the line.


Chapter One

Wanda sat up sharply as she woke up. It took a moment for her breathing to level out before she raked her fingers through her hair. She really needed a shower since her hair was greasy but she could not find the energy to climb out of bed and get into the shower. All she wanted to do was sleep or watch reality television. It was total trash in her opinion but watching the news was making her physically sick. The only news story there seemed to be was Steve, Sam and herself being declared war criminals. Wanda grew up during the Yugoslav Wars. Her grandmother had survived Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. She knew what a war criminal was.

Since being checked out of the medical facility, she had been set up in a safe house in the centre of Wakanda with Steve and Sam not too far away. T'Challa had suggested keeping them in separate safe houses would not draw attention, though emotionally, Wanda hated it. While she was not really speaking to them, their presence made her feel safe. She had spent so much of her time finding ways to barricade the door that her nightmares were about her failing to do so. Even the slightest knock made her jump out of her skin and leave her hiding in the closet.

She almost did when her door knocked, only when she heard Steve's voice she went to the door.

"Wanda, I got breakfast," Steve announced. Wanda unlocked each bolt on the door and opened it to see Steve holding a bag up. "It's something called akara."

Wanda let him in but did not say a word. Steve grabbed two plates and split the bag of akara evenly between the two. Wanda sat at the breakfast bar, but when Steve pushed the plate to her, she started to pick bits off the battered food but not actually eat it.

"So," Steve began, "apparently the reason T'Challa has been MIA is because a cousin he did not know about turned up and tried to take the throne."

"Oh," Wanda said quietly. She had not really noticed that T'Challa had been missing.

Steve noticed how disinterested Wanda was in this conversation and decided to change it, "So, what happened on Keeping Up With the Kardashians?"

"Um, nothing much that I did not say last week." She did put a bit of the akara into her mouth, and it did taste delicious. Even then she still kept pulling bits off. "Where is Sam?"

"Well, he said he would venture outside since he figured he would 'blend in with the locals'." Wanda did attempt to smile, but just could not bring herself to do it. "You know, what do you think about taking a walk?"

"Outside?"

"Wakanda has a cloaking device that shields all the tech they have made from the outside world. We'll be perfectly safe."

"I need to take a shower first."

Steve nodded as Wanda moved away from the breakfast bar. Once she had turned the shower on and locked the door, Wanda stripped from her nightdress and took a hard look at herself in the mirror. Her face was breaking out, particularly around her forehead and chin. Her eyes had dark circles and her face looked so shallow that she looked like a different person.

She felt disgusting.

On the counter there was a pair of scissors. Wanda took one look between her face and the scissors before grabbing them and cutting a chuck out of her long stringy hair. She only cut it to just above her shoulders but she took a sharp bit of breath when she realised what she had done.

"Shit," she whispered in Sokovian.

-o-

"You know if you wanted a re-style, you should have just come to me," the hairdresser commented when she looked at Wanda's hair.

"I don't know why I did it," Wanda replied softly.

"Well, what I can do is firstly clean it, and the cut it so it is even."

Wanda nodded and allowed the hairdresser to do what she needed to do. She took a glance at Steve before being led into the back room. In Steve's mind, he knew Wanda must be suffering some sort of post-traumatic stress. Expecting her to be over what happen in just two weeks was like expecting her to do quantum physics: it just was not going to happen.

Wanda remained silent the whole time they were in the salon.

The hairdresser managed to salvage the hair, cutting it to a bob cut. "Next time you want a haircut come to me first."

"Sorry, I don't know why I did it," Wanda repeated. Steve smiled and thanked the hairdresser for her help as he paid. Once they were out the salon, Wanda asked, "How does it look?"

"Suits you actually. Looks more... Mature."

"You mean I look less like a teenager," Wanda stated plainly.

Steve decided to keep quiet at that moment. The sun was beating down on them and Wanda instantly felt the heat go to her head and she had to sit down on some steps. Steve passed her a bottle of water and told her, "Here. Drink this."

Wanda took the water and sipped it. It did not cool her off but it made her less light headed. "I should be used to this heat: Sokovian summers were awful for it."

"I can't say New York is much better. Spring was always better for me as a kid. Not too hot and not too cold. Played with my asthma less." Wanda took another sip and then splashed some onto her face. "Better?"

"A little. Maybe we should find Sam."

Given that it was nearly lunchtime, finding Sam was not hard. He was standing by a market stand that sold jaffle, which was essentially a toasted sandwich. From the smell of it, it looked like it was minced beef filling today.

"Tell you what, we should pack this whole whistleblowing thing and open one of these carts," Sam commented through a mouthful of jaffle. He then saw Wanda and then said, "You've cut your hair." Wanda looked down at her feet. "It looks good."

"You hungry Wanda?" Steve asked. In theory, she should be hungry since she had very little breakfast, but Wanda shook her head. The more he thought about it, he had not seen Wanda eat a proper meal in two weeks.

"I want to go back to the safe house," Wanda said quietly. "The heat is making me tired."

-o-

"I think this is more than post-traumatic stress Steve," Sam commented when they were back Wanda's safe house. Wanda was asleep in the bedroom while the two of them were in the kitchen. "I think she's depressed."

"It makes sense; she has a history of depression," Steve replied.

Steve remembered what it was like after Pietro's death: Wanda ate very little, slept very little and was in a funk that no one seemed able to shift until Natasha had decided that Wanda needed to see a psychiatrist. It took a few weeks and anti-depressants for her symptoms to subside and for her to be cleared for active duty.

"True. Maybe we really should have done a full check on her mental health history."

"We'll never know the full extent though. The most recent medical records we could get was from HYDRA, and I don't think they care about the mental wellbeing of their test subjects."

"Point."

"I guess we could find a psychiatrist."

"We should, though maybe when Wanda feels ready."

Steve looked at the store cupboard and fridge, "I think I may cook some paprikash. It's her favourite dish so it may show her that we care."

"Do you know how to cook paprikash?"

"It isn't hard."

A couple hours later, Wanda woke up to the smell of spice, tomatoes and chicken. Curious about what the smell was, she walked out of the bedroom and towards the kitchen. On the stove there was a pot of paprikash stewing away.

Wanda felt a bile in the back of her throat.

The last time someone had cooked paprikash for her, she was manipulated into trusting him only for him to throw it in her face, calling her dangerous even if he did not see her as dangerous. He was complicit in her first imprisonment, and his apology meant nothing when he did nothing to stop her second, more inhumane imprisonment.

Wanda grabbed the pot and threw it on the floor. The crash caused Steve and Sam to run into the kitchen.

"What the hell Wanda?" Steve asked in shock.

"I hate him," Wanda uttered bitterly.

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Vision. He claimed to have feelings for me but did nothing to stop Ross from signing that order to put that collar on me."

"I don't think he had a choice..." Steve began but the look Sam gave him suggested that Wanda was not over exaggerating.

"After we were captured, Vision basically handed her over without question. He knew the details because he was in the room with Wanda and Ross when the order for her to be sent to the Raft was done. Surely somewhere in that head of his, he knew it was not right but the only thing he said to us after was that we broke the law and deserved what punishment we got."

Steve tried not to let his anger get the better of him, but it was proving difficult when he remembered everything that had happened in the last two weeks. Truth be told, Steve never felt at ease around Vision. The android reminded him too much of Ultron, and the fact he was the guardian of the Mind Stone - which they still did not understand the full extent of its power - made him trust him less, lifting Thor's hammer or no lifting Thor's hammer. Some part of Steve's brain knew that Vision probably did not mean to be so cold but if he had claimed to love Wanda, then he would not have done that.

Steve took a deep breath and rubbed his hands along his face. Eventually he said, "Okay. Maybe we should think of something else for dinner. Wanda, do you have any ideas?"

Wanda blinked like he had asked her to recite an obscure Shakespeare soliloquy. Eventually, she asked, "Do they do pizza here?"

"No, but I can make us some," Sam answered going straight to the cupboard.

Wanda took one good look at the mess on the floor and whispered, "I'm sorry guys."

"Hey, don't blame yourself," Steve said trying to give her a reassuring smile. "We'll help clean up and hopefully Sam is a better cook than he claims."

"Hey!"

-o-

The pizza turned out to be surprisingly decent and Wanda ate a surprising amount of her pizza before setting it aside. Upon Sam's insistence, they decided to watch a movie. However, by the midpoint, Sam had fallen asleep and Wanda had checked out. They finished the film but by that point Wanda was barely noticing the credits rolling. Steve had to wave his hand in front of her face for her to come back to earth.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just tired."

"It's been a long day."

"I'm sorry about today."

"What have you got to be sorry about?"

"The haircut, the paprikash..."

"Do you even know what you were thinking when you chopped a chunk out of your hair?"

"I don't know. It just felt disgusting and I felt the need to remove it." Wanda pushed her hair from her face and announced, "I'm going to bed."

"Okay. Do you want us to go?"

"Actually, can you stay? I just feel safer with you both here."

"Okay. Get some sleep."

Wanda entered her bedroom and looked at the mess she had made of it. She hated mess, but she just felt so exhausted that tidying it seemed like pure torture at that point. Instead she stripped herself of her clothes and just climbed into the crumpled bed.

She spent most of the night staring at the wall.


So... I saw Avengers: Infinity War. *Deep Breath*

All I am going to say is that some gaps need to be plugged