Hello. Back for chapter number 15. Sorry for the wait things have not been kind to me lately, so I hope you enjoy! I also want to let everyone know I now have a youtube channel, so PM me for details if you want to subscribe to my channel!

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Xander seemed to come to the same conclusion for when he couldn't hear himself speak his eyes matched Wanda's and he held his throat clawing at it desperately as if in an attempt to pull any sort of sound out of it. That's when for the first time that morning Wanda noticed that not only was Xander's head bandaged, he also had stitches going along his neck. What happened? She hadn't noticed that before. realizing that only the doctor, who was currently standing behind her, would be the only one capable of answering her questions, the young girl did what she could to comfort the person she cared most about she grasped Xander's head in her hands, giving him a chaste kiss on his lips before saying "don't worry, everything is going to be ok…" but deep down, she didn't believe it, and she dare not read his mind to see if he believed it either, no matter how much she wanted to find out; it was definitely not the time. Wanda then let go off Xander and leapt off the bed. Turning to the door, she screamed "Doctor Palmer!" the doctor came running in, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the hateful glare the young Avenger was giving her. Wanda grit her teeth viciously and stomped right up to the doctor, grabbing her by the collar, seething with rage. She pointed a finger in Xander's direction. "what happened to him?! Why cant he speak?! What happened to his neck? TELL ME!" she shrieked her voice breaking in agony. She might have been attracting the attention of everyone one the floor right now but she didn't care. All that mattered was the boy lying in the bed behind who couldn't even so much as breath without remaining silent

"Wanda!" Steve screamed at the troubled girl, who didn't so much as blink or break eye contact with the doctor, but let go of her, tears glistening in her eyes, before she turned to look at a distraught Xander "What happened…." She repeated calmly, with her voice breaking slightly. No she had to be strong. Just looking at Xander showed her that. If she broke down now then she didn't know if she could handle Xanders reaction

Doctor Palmer sighed heavily, running a hand down her face before she began to tell Wanda what happened. "We discovered a bullet wound in Xander's neck, located right under the vocal cords. By some miracle, it only hit said cords and thankfully hit any vital spots otherwise…." She trailed off, not needing to continue. Wanda flinched. Shot? Xander had been SHOT?! But how? She was with him the whole time and there was never once a time where he seemed to be shot, so how…. Wanda gasped remembering when Xander had pushed her down. She had been in the process of unleashing her fury on the gunman when Xander pushed her down. Was it possible when she discharged her powers that she sent the bullet into Xander's neck around the same time he went flying? Which meant…. Her eyes began to fill with tears, her vision blurring as the realization sank in.

Xander's condition may have been her fault all along. The dam broke and Wanda's face became wet with tears. Unable to bear the thought of turning to look at Xanders face, much less wanting to read his thoughts to see what he thought of the situation Wanda did the only onther thing she could think of to do. She turned heel and ran out of the room, rushing past her two comrades and down the corridor until she was back into the lobby and out of the door to the hospital. She entered the cold damning outside world, where a harsh wet downpour was currently underway. The water soaked her completely; within a matter of seconds Wanda looked like she just crawled out of a swimming pool but it didn't matter to her. She just kept running as far away as she could her tears mixing with the rainwater and blurring her eyesight until she hit a slippery slope and she tumbled forward. The young girl fell to the ground but was able to catch herself, landing on her hands and knees. Thanks to just being in a hospital gown Wanda felt the asphalt and dirt of the hospital road dig into her delicate skin, but she didn't care. She hurt Xander and nothing was going to change it.

Wanda emitted a pulse of energy which devastated the road around her, as she let out an agonized scream, letting the world know of her pain as she curled up on the ground and wailed. She hadn't felt like this since Pietro died and those old wounds just continued to reopen based on the fact that while she couldn't save Pietro and therefore it wasn't her fault, Xander on the other hand was her fault. Regardless of whether or not her powers or the overwhelming amount of injuries to his head and neck were the true cause of his misfortune the fact remained that being with her was the direct cause of his current situation.

By the time Steve found her, she was still screaming.

3 days had passed since Wanda heard the news about Xander's condition. In that time Wanda was discharged from the hospital not long after she ran out the door (it took a lot of coaxing from Steve to get her back to the hospital so that she didn't catch a cold and it was hard enough to talk to the distraught young woman without her blasting him with her powers in a feeble attempt to get him as far away from her as possible) and immediately taken back to the Avengers compound for the remainder of her recovery. Needless to say, despite recovering physically, Wanda's mental state was left in shambles. She barely spoke a word after Steve found her and practically ate even less. She didn't even bother seeing Xander at all before she left. Not even to say goodbye. Steve and Natasha had to relay the message to him even though they loathed the idea of Wanda ignoring someone who clearly thought the world of her, at least as far as they knew. When they told him, it was clear that he was in agony, but they refused to ask whether it was because Wanda left without saying goodbye or because may have been responsible for his injuries Due to the extent of his injuries Xander's stay in the hospital would be even longer than Wanda's, as Doctor Palmer insisted that Xander remain under supervision until the full extent of his injuries were monitored and documented. Being the kind hearted person he was, Steve decided to check up on Xander during visiting hours, knowing that he would want to hear about Wanda, and at the very least, Steve could keep Wanda updated once she was willing to feel better. As it stood Wanda ignored everything that was said to her.

Wanda remained in her room most of the day never even leaving it. She ignored any attempts from the rest of the team to get her out of the room, whether it be for food or leisure. Natasha was the only one willing to bring Wanda any food, after the incident with Vision, the android never approached Wanda's room unless it was an emergency, plus he was wise enough to know that there was little he could do to get Wanda out of her depressed state. Steve just never entered her room on the basis of the fact that it would be impolite and like Vision didn't want to incur her wrath. Being the only one brave enough to enter Wanda's room wasn't exactly something to be proud of. Natasha had grown to care for Wanda like a little sister, even though the other girl had stolen her jacket. Seeing the young woman so utterly broken spoke volumes to Natasha and it was hard watching the poor girl destroy herself and being unable to do anything to help

That's where Wanda currently found herself. Still dressed in her pajamas, after haven taken an hour long shower for no other reason than to have a semblance of the feeling of drowning, the poor girl was splayed out on her bed, her eyes dull with depression as she stared at the white on the ceiling, which served as the blank canvas that was her broken heart . She couldn't stop blaming herself for what had happened to Xander. All she could think about was that Xander would no longer be able to have a normal life ever again never again would she be able to hear the sound of his voice; she had stolen that from him. Sure her life was also irrecoverably changed by the fact that she was experimented on by Hydra, which gave her telekinetic powers; the difference was that Wanda had volunteered to do so. Xander didn't get so lucky. How could she ever face him again? It bothered her that she hadn't read his mind to see what he thought of his situation, specifically what he thought of her, but she couldn't bring herself to face him. How could she? She was afraid he would blame her and never want to see her again. She might be a superhero, but even she couldn't handle that kind of rejection from someone she cared about. Was he even still at the hospital? No Wanda didn't want to think about it. All it did was cause her even more pain, pain that she couldn't bare. The only comfort that she had aside from the meager amount of food that her teammates gave her was sleeping, but that only last for so long and she ended up back in reality. She even awoke thinking she would go and see Xander, only to remember his condition and her fault in it. It was torture and she could barely cope with it. What was the point of living when she ruined the life of someone she loved most and couldn't do anything to fix it?

She kept replaying the moment in her head, when Xander pushed her to the ground. She had thought the bullet had went past her and it must have, but she hadn't taken into account the fact that she had been using her powers at the time. The bullet must have been caught in her hex and when she flailed, it must have been directed in a way that caused the bullet to get lodged in Xanders neck around the same time he was launched in the air in the chaos. Which would explain what Steve and Natasha would later tell her after they found her outside the hospital.

Steve and Natasha watched helplessly as Wanda rushed past them and out of the room, looking very much like a child who had been told their world was ending. Which in a way it was. Wanda's friend had been hurt and there was little if anything that could fix what had happened. She was so young too; no one should have to go through the things that Wanda had already suffered through yet here she was trying to live a life the best she could with the hand that she was dealt. But just how much heartbreak could one person be able to take before they broke completely?

Steve was just about ready to take off after the young Witch, when Natasha grabbed him by the arm, causing the former soldier to glance at the redheaded assassin with a questioning look in his eyes. Natasha, to his surprise, was looking at him with a sympathetic gaze and she shook her head sending him a silent message that Wanda needed to be alone for a bit and it wouldn't be that hard to track her down if she did leave the hospital anyway. " we need to get all the information about Xander that we can; if theres a chance that it wasn't her fault we might be able to calm her down a little" she said gently "Wanda's going to need to blow off some steam as it is and im sure neither of us want to be around her if that's the case"

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, before shaking his head "I understand that Nat, but someone needs to be there for her; if she does cause damage she might not be fully aware of it. Get the info from the Doctor, ill go after Wanda and take her home." He said before wrenching his arm free of the red head and took off, going after the wayward Sokovian.

Natasha sighed before turning back to the Doctor, folding her arms while giving the young woman a "make this quick and detailed" expression, though she knew Doctor Palmer would do her job well, having proven that as much so far. Maybe it was just because she was worried about their newest recruit, but Natasha just wanted to get everything she possibly could just to alleviate Wanda of her stress, though it was more likely she would just take it to her grave at this point with all the baggage she had. Just when she was starting to be les guilty about her brother's death too.

After a small awkward moment, Doctor Palmer cleared her throat ands moved towards a small xray, placing several charts on it and turning the machine on. Natasha was greeted with several images that looked like a brain scan (or rather two, one of Xanders and what could have been a normal one) and what appeared to be Xanders neck showing the bullet wound. She could tell the difference almost immediately; the normal brain showed activity where the brains speech center would be. Xanders on the other hand appeared to not have any activity at all. It was completely blank save for what maybe have been some damage. Probably from where he hit his head, Natasha was able to deduce that rather quickly having studied human anatomy during her training in the red room, but decided to see what the Doctor Palmer had to say since she was the only one of the two to actually possess a medical degree.

"As you can see here, M's Romanoff" Doctor Palmer began, gesturing towards the picture that depicted Xander's frontal lobe "Mr. Dawsons frontal lobe appears to suffered some damage due to the events at the theater, but at the same time shows no activity" she pointed to a spot showing said damage on the screen. Natasha frowned taking in the information but she had a few questions of her own.

"Is it possible that the two events are related?" Natasha asked hopefully. Doctor Palmer shook her head, looking like she was about the loathe the answer that she was going to give the red head spy "Unfortunately, its not likely, Brain wave patterns change when an individual exercises or meditates, but when someone is active there is still some activity. In Xander's case, there is none at all. Even with the damage, there would still be some activity, but there isn't, so its likely m's Maximoff's powers had some affect on his brain, but I cant say for sure if it completely wiped out his ability to speak or if the gunshot wound had any affect either; for all we know this could be temporary and just a result of exposure to M's Maximoff's abilities, but if they do return in time, his vocal cords are damaged so he wont be able to speak either way."

Natasha's eyes widened in horror at the doctors words. Oh Wanda was not going to like that. Having been exposed to Wanda's hypnotic capabilities herself, Natasha was aware that most of the time such instances were only temporary; only a few minutes after being exposed, the illusions wore off. The problem was that all those times Wanda had voluntary control of what she was doing, as opposed to her involuntary actions during the attempted assassination. That meant that Wanda in a matter of life or death had essentially either mentally or physically crippled Xander for life.

So on top of having his head injury and gunshot wouldn't, Xander would never be able to speak again and no matter what happened, it was essentially Wandas fault either way. Steve had tried to tell her that Xander was lucky to have even survived the gunshot wound as it was but Wanda had refused to listen, still traumatized by her role in the events. The poor Sokovian was still in shock and likely wouldn't listen to anyone for quite some time.

The girl let out heavy sigh and rolled over, trying to relax. Hard to do when your mind is constantly being assaulted by guilt and pain. No matter what mental discipline she put herself through, her mind continued to Wander back to Xander and his fate. It made her stomach twist and her heart ache. Wanda clenched the sheets tightly gritting her teeth as Xander's face continued to flash in her mind before it finally overwhelmed her and she grabbed her pillow throwing as hard as she could at the wall, the pillow slamming into the wall with the force of a kitten pouncing. Without missing a beat, Wanda leapt off her bed and made her way towards the wall, tears spilling down her face as she began punching it as hard as she could, completely losing control of her emotions, ignoring the sound of the wall vibrating at the impact of her fist, relishing in the bruising of her delicate skin, as she continued to punch the wall until her knuckles began to bleed. She persisted until her legs became weak and she crumbled, falling to her knees and letting out a broken wail. First her parents then her brother and now Xander. Why was it that everyone close to her had to die or get hurt. Yeah she should consider herself and Xander lucky because at least he wasn't dead but she might as well have killed him. It was all her fault.

Wanda buried her face in her hands as she continued to cry not caring if anyone heard her cries; nobody was coming for her anyway since they knew that she wanted her space. Or so she thought as not more than a few moments later, she could hear the sound of footsteps as someone entered her room and she felt two hands on her shoulders. Wanda stiffened, before lifting her head to see, much to her surprise, Vision, who had a sad look on his face knelling beside her like an old friend trying his best to provide her with what little comfort he could. Quite surreal, considering his lack of emotion (as far as she knew), but at the moment Wanda didn't care and she threw herself in his arms, crying on his shoulder until she had no more tears to cry.

They stayed like that for a little while until Wanda finally decided she had enough crying but she still stayed in Visions comforting warmth. She never thought she would be in this situation with the Vision, at least outside of what happened in the final moments during the battle of Sokovia. It was embarrassing, as was the fact she was crying in his arms right now, but at the moment, Wanda didn't care. Whether she realized it or not. She needed this.

"Wanda" Vision began, "I cant say I understand what it is you are going through, but know that I am here for you" he said

Wanda lifted her head to meet Visions gaze, her bloodshot brown eyes meeting the androids synthetic green gaze and for a moment she found herself lost in his eyes, but quickly shook the feeling of upon the realization she was still in the visions embrace. Blushing lightly she pushed away from the Vision and stood to her feet, before turning her back on her ally, walking towards the window.

Wanda gazed at the lake, wishing she could just disappear. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if holding herself would provide the same comfort the Vision did "Please Leave…" she whispered melancholy. "I just want to be alone right now…."

Vision wouldn't understand. He could never understand, being the android with no real heart. The only person that she would ever truly be able to confide in, the only person who could ever really understand her was dead.

Wanda heard the Vision leave, but didn't bother to say anything else. Her knuckles were still bleeding slightly, but she didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. Without saying a word she made her way back to her bed and curled on top of the covers, her eyes returning to the dull look she had before she broke down.

The Vision made his way to Steve's Office, Wanda's demeanor on his mind. Despite being a robot and therefore not fully capable of understanding the dynamics of human emotion. He was able to see and understand that Wanda was in deep pain and try as he might, the Vision was certainly not capable of helping her. It seemed to the vision that whatever was plaguing her was something that only she would be able to break out of, but there had to be something that could be done to help her. Perhaps the good Captain would be able to assist in finding that solution. Perhaps speaking to Clint would raise Wanda's spirits. It seemed that had helped the young girl immensely before. It was immediately apparent that the two shared a very close bond and that familial connection might be just what Wanda needed right now, if nothing else could help her, but sadly Even the Vision knew that it wasn't an entirely feasible plan given Clint's retirement and it certainly would be fair to him to keep dragging him out of retirement to hel Wanda when she really needed to help herself. She was so young and didn't deserve everything that happened to her. But it would be best to run this by the captain to avoid any conflicts. Wanda might not like it but she needed help. No one here was able to get through to her, which meant if Vision was correct, only one person would be able to help break Wanda from the spell she was under. His first instinct was Clint, but the man had already done enough and didn't need to be uprooted from his life every time Wanda was having a crisis and the problem was bigger than that. Wanda needed to confront the person responsible for causing her this pain in the first place, seeing as how Steve was the one visiting Wanda's lover, perhaps he could convince her to go to see him. Wanda might be going through grief but she wasn't heartless to those she cared about. The problem was that she had to see that. Oh what to do what to do?

Wanda has been Visions closest friend since his "Birth" and he cared very much about her, so he felt it was his duty as a friend to help her,

Vision soon found himself outside steves office, where he found the Captain looking over some reports. "captain?" Vision said softly getting the displaced soldiers attention. Steve looked up, placing his papers down on the table in front of him and looking at the naïve android in front of him. "what is it Vision?" Steve asked. Vision looked at the captain solemnly "I worry about Wanda, he deadpanned to the captain "she is under a large amount of stress because of what happened on her date. Is there nothing that we can do to assist her in her hour of need?"

Steve frowned. He was trying. Because he felt responsible for Wanda he wanted to make sure he could give her some good news about Xander as well as keep Xander updated about Wanda. But there was little that he could do. Wanda wasn't going to listen to him or anyone for that matter. The only person that she could listen to in order to get some help or closer was Xander and she absolutely refused to see him; going to the hospital was just too painful since she considered the entire situation her fault to begin with. This was one of the times were Steve wished Pietro had survived the battle of Sokovia since only he knew Wanda better than anyone else knew at this point, but that was wishful thinking and it wouldn't help Wanda in the slightest. Even if he was alive, he doubted Pietro would even be able to help since Wanda was never put in a situation where she was directly responsible for someone's pain. The absolute closest was when she sent Banner on a rampage but most [people had gone on to blame the Hulk on that rather than Wanda since she was behind the scenes.

His first thought was to contact Clint to see if he couldn't get through to Wanda but that wasn't a long term solution since Wanda had to learn to cope with things without having clint coming in to save the day every time she was upset, not to mention it wasn't a very practical thing to do in the long run. She was so upset about everything that she wouldn't leave her room, much less leave the facility…

Steve's eyes widened, and a grin took over his face. Maybe there was something that he could do, but he had to talk to quite a few people to get it done. The only question was would those people allow him to do what needed to be done in order to better help the young girl going through this mess. It might help to be sure but whether or not Wanda would accept this was another matter entirely. But if there was one person he knew who could pull some strings legally, it was Anthony Edward Stark. "I have an idea Vision, why don't you go get the hangar prepared; I have a feeling that we are going to need it." Vision nodded and took off to deal with the task at hand. With that Steve picked up his phone and got to work with what he needed to do. The phone rang for a few seconds before the call went answered "Pepper Potts office" a woman who was obviously a secretary answered "to who am I speaking too?"

The next thing Wanda knew she was still lying on her bed, the minutes turning into hours which felt like seconds too her but it didn't matter. Nothing was going to pull her from her stupor anytime soon so what did it matter to her if the day went by without her notice.

Or at least that's what she thought, until a soft knock at her door caught her attention. Turning over in her bed, she gazed towards her door, only for her to abruptly sit up her eyes widening in horror. Standing at her door with a sad smile on his face was none other than Xander Dawson, his eyes shining with love.

"Wanda" he mouthed

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