Weeks passed and Wanda slowly recovered, Clint and Peter, alongside the rest of the Avengers were there every step of the way.

Except Natasha.

The former assassin had formed a bubble around herself, and seemed to move like a ghost around the compound. She went on endless solo missions, spending as little time at the compound as possible.

However Wanda found friendship in none other than Peter Parker. The two teenagers took comfort in each others presence as they both struggled through similar things. When Wanda had nightmares, Clint, Peter, or sometimes Steve would be there to comfort her. Not Natasha like she was used to.

It was different having them by her side. She didn't dislike it…but Natasha understood her. Natasha would know when to push for details and when to just hug her, Natasha would know when Wanda was going to have a panic attack before Wanda even knew herself. Natasha would be there for her, no matter what. And having that so violently taken away was taking a toll on Wanda. She hadn't seen that oh so familiar gleam of ruby red hair since she was hurt by the bomb.

Wanda missed the person who was there for her no matter what.

Nevertheless, she had a great few weeks with the Avengers and found herself fitting in more.

She was currently crawling through the stuffy vents with Clint and Peter, attempting to play pranks on the other Avengers. Unfortunately, Clint was about a subtle as a beached whale, so all their attempts failed miserably. Peter was snacking on pop tarts in the back.

"PETER! If this is going to work, then you need to shut up!" Wanda whispered. They were currently above Tony, who was focussed on fixing some new device he'd created. The plan was that if Wanda used her magic to start randomly moving a few things around to freak him out, they'd be able to sneak down and take out the device.

It was a…terrible prank.

"SORRY!" Peter half yelled, half whispered.

Out of nowhere, Tony looked up to the vent. "Guys I know you're up there." he said in a monotonous voice.

They all groaned. "WHY ARE WE SO BAD AT THIS?!" Wanda said, as they climbed out of the vents.

"You're stupidly loud. That's why." Tony said. "Anyways, Wanda. We need to have a discussion about something."

Wanda raised her eyebrows. This could be going in MULTIPLE directions. Clint left the room, mumbling something about finding Natasha, leaving Peter behind.

"Long story short kid, you need to be in full time education." Tony said. Wanda's heart dropped to her feet. "And I've taken the liberty of enrolling you at Midtown Tech High School…that's Peter's school!"

Wanda didn't know whether to be excited by the prospect of going to school with Peter, or dreading the occasion. "But-" Wanda started.

"No buts. You're registered under Wanda Maximoff, as no one knows your actual identity yet. I've put Nat as your main contact in the office. You'll be joining Peter's grade, so do your best to keep up, you'll be younger than everyone else. Start on Monday." Tony said flashing a smile.

"I-" Wanda started.

"Omg Wanda! It's going to be so much fun! You can meet Ned, MJ…" Peter started rambling on and on.

Wanda didn't know how to feel about this, on the one hand she was excited to be starting something new, but on the other, she'd never been to a proper school, and now she wouldn't have Pietro by her side.

Or Natasha.

"Wanda?" Tony said. "Hey kid." he waved his hand in front of her face, bringing her from her thoughts.

"Yeah? Oh yeah, um, sounds great." Wanda said.

"Great. Run along then, I'm busy." Tony said.

Peter and Wanda left the lab and went back up to the Residential block, Peter noticed Wanda's quiet mood.

"Hey Wands, you ok?" Peter said, slinging an arm around the younger girl.

"Yeah, yeah, I've just uh- never been to a proper school. I guess I don't really know what to expect." Wanda admitted, pulling the sleeves of her cardigan over her hands.

"Well we've got a couple days, so I can tell you everything you need to know, plus you'll probably be in all my classes." Peter said. "I promise it'll be all ok, yes, school can suck sometimes, but my friends are cool, I'm sure you'll get on well with them!"

The boy pulled the younger girl in to his side, gently hugging her.

"Thanks Peter." Wanda smiled, as they headed back up to the common room.

—

NIGHTMARE:

Wanda found herself standing in the middle of what looked like a war torn field. Broken machinery lay discarded and burning in piles, bullet caps, arrows. The place was crowded. She walked around, wondering where she was. That was when she saw.

A group of bodies lying in front of her, all of them looking sickeningly familiar. She felt her stomach drop to the floor, and her hand covered her gaping mouth.

She saw Tony first, lying with his eyes scarily blank, and his skin pale. No heart beating. No breath escaping. Wanda choked on a sob as she walked through the rows of her dead team mates. Clint, Sam, even Thor, Cap, Peter….then, Natasha.

Wanda fell to her knees as they went weak at the sight of her old mentor lying lifelessly in front of her. Natasha had a bullet hole directly through her chest, blood still seeping. She desperately started rummaging to find anything to bring Nat back. Her mind wasn't thinking logically.

"NAT! NATASHA!" Wanda screamed shaking the woman. "NATASHA! WAKE UP!"

The woman, of course, remained lifeless, but Wanda continued to scream her name. She felt someone tap on her shoulder, so she whipped her head around to see Clint standing behind her. Her incoherent brain couldn't process the fact that a minute ago….Clint was dead?

"You killed her." Clint said, his face looking at Wanda in disgust. "YOU KILLED HER." he yelled.

Wanda cowered back, and looked down at Natasha again, watching as the end of her hand started to turn to dust.

"Nat…? NO!" Wanda screamed, her voice hoarse, trying to grab on to the dust. "NATASHA PLEASE COME BACK! NATASHA!"

—

Wanda jolted violently awake with a scream, tangled up in the bedcovers. Her door burst open, and Clint, Cap and Peter came bursting in, poised for any kind of danger. They sprung in to action when they saw Wanda thrashing around and screaming on her bed.

"WANDA!" Clint yelled, running over. "It's ok kiddo, it's okay." he tried, but as Wanda looked up, she cowered even further away from him.

"I'M SORRY!" Wanda screeched, curling in even further on herself, letting sobs wrack her body violently. "I'M SORRY! NATASHA!"

Then, a certain redhead appeared at the door, terribly masked concern written all over her face. She marched forward, pushing past Cap, Clint and Peter, who had retreated, and sat down next to Wanda.

"Wanda…?" Natasha asked in an unusually soft voice. Wanda's head snapped up, her round, blue eyes staring at Natasha in disbelief.

"But…Natasha?" Wanda whispered, her voice as fragile as thin glass. "NO! I killed you. I killed you." Wanda returned to keeping her head in her lap and pulling herself in to a ball. She started hyperventilating again. "You died. You died. You died. I killed you. IT'S MY FAULT.'

"Wanda, Wanda listen to me." Natasha said. She gently wrapped an arm around the shaking girl, who in an instant uncurled and flung herself at Natasha. The older woman, wrapped both arms around her and let the girl cry in to her shoulder.

It had been a rough time avoiding Wanda. Natasha would hear her wake up at night, and it would take all her willpower not to go and comfort the girl. She would see how Wanda would occasionally just mope around the compound. It was supposed to be for her own good, but Natasha could see now that she shouldn't have neglected her. She stroked the back of Wanda's long hair gently, letting her fingers untangle the knots in the usually flawless hair, whispering gentle reassurances. She'd hated avoiding Wanda. And looking back her logic wasn't logical at all. She didn't realise that it would get to this point.

"Wanda, it's ok. You're safe." Natasha said, Wanda whimpered back in response. "I'm here, I'm ok. You didn't hurt me. We're at the Avenger's Compound, alright?"

Wanda motioned something of a nod, but continued to bury her face in Natasha's shoulder.

Natasha shooed the boys out of the room, Clint switching the lamp on as they nodded silently and left the room, Peter having to be practically dragged.

They sat there, Wanda engulfed in Natasha's arms for about five more minutes, before Wanda lifted her head from Natasha's shoulder and looked up. Sniffling, she dried her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Wanda whispered, her voice hoarse from crying. Natasha shook her head.

"No. Absolutely not Wanda. This isn't your fault so don't apologise." Natasha said, her voice commanding but not mean.

After a beat, Wanda replied. "I've missed you." In a sheepish voice.

Natasha pulled the girl back in. "I've really missed you too Little Witch."