Just a Doll

Wanda: I regret nothing. This story is a collab with Dana and each chapter is basically our perspective of the same events. Again, I regret nothing, flames will be used to make marshmellows. I do not own The Avengers.

Chapter 1: (Faints)

"'The last day of attendance is on Monday! You don't have to show up, unless you're in a class with Lee otherwise he's going to call your parents and harass you about it like this is f**king second grade!" I grumbled, kicking snow aside as I made my way out of my school and onto the street.

It was a beautiful but frigid day; the sky was clear and the sun was shining but there was a pretty nasty wind chill. I had to button up my coat all the way to the neck, even though doing so made me pretty uncomfortable. My backpack held my computer in it, which made it pretty heavy. The wind was blowing in my face, which even my hood couldn't protect me from.

So all in all, I was in a pretty bad mood.

"Never mind that I'm one of three people who actually shows up regularly, that's just not enough. Some people! Thank god the term is finally over and I can rest my brain."

I turned up my phone volume, causing Disturbed to blast through my ears. Whenever I wanted to channel my emotions into something, I would listen to that band – they had the most pulse-pounding tracks I had ever heard.

"I'm the hand of god! I'm the Dark Messiah! I'm the Vengeful One!" David Dramian's voice wailed, ringing through my brain as I made my way down the street towards the subway station.

"In the darkest moments, in a dying world, what have you become?" I sang along, pausing at the corner as the light turned red. A multitude of cars flooded the street, causing me to sigh. Where were all these people going? Don't they have homes to go to? Aren't they tired of moving around?

Don't get me wrong – I had lived in the big city for most of my life. This kind of atmosphere was something I was pretty used to. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't get tired of it from time to time. It was just so cluttered, so soul crushing. It was like being a single cog in a gigantic machine, spinning on until it wore out.

Dad, mom and my doctor all say I shouldn't use such exaggerated phrases when describing how I feel. But I honestly don't know how else to frame it.

I shoved my hands into my pockets; the cold always sank into my legs first, leaving me numb and quick to tire out. I liked snow – I really did – but I really wish I had some lined pants. I should probably go shopping sometime this week. If I even had enough money to buy anything worth mentioning.

I mean goddamn it, even a pair of shoes these days cost a hundred dollars! Why is everything so goddamn expensive now?

Somebody shoulder rammed me. I yelped and stumbled a bit; apparently the light had changed while I was lost in thought. Annoyed again, I crossed the street, my eyes on the train station.

Should have gotten the driver's test, but nooooo, I just had to keep putting it off. Then I could be driving home on my own power and have less of a headache to deal with.

All I wanted to do was get home, but once I got to the station I'd likely be standing there for thirty minutes before a bus showed up. By then, a lot of other people would be waiting too so I could stew in my claustrophobia for forty minutes until I got to my dad's house.

The bus ride was more rickety then normal – somebody dropped a bottle of alcohol on the floor, leaving a horrible stink behind for nearly half the ride. And there was a couple making out at the back. I felt like it was never going to freakin end.

Finally, I hit my stop and got off. The cold wind hit me in the face like a pillow with nails in it.

Well, this is a great start, isn't it? I thought morosely.

I was being tested a bit. My dad was a musician, so he was often out of the country on tour with the orchestra. My mom was at home, but she was allergic to cats – and one of the only good things that came out of their divorce was the fact that dad wasn't, so I could have one at his house. And I couldn't leave my poor little Ashley all alone, could I?

Before dad had either taken our pet to the vet (our first pair had passed on) or hired someone to take care of them. But since I had turned 18 six months ago, and I had just gotten off school, dad figured there was no better way to test my newfound maturity then to have me look after the house and the cat while he was away. For two weeks!

Of course, he then went on to rant about how I could call my brother (second year university) or my mother if there was trouble, and the family we knew who usually took care of such stuff, almost like he figured I would break down at the midway point out of sheer stress. Of course, that just gave me even more incentive to ride this out all the way.

I unlocked the door with the key (I never forgot them since I started wearing them on a necklace) and stepped inside.

Immediately I was charged by my kitten, my cute little black tuxedo bundle of joy, demanding to be fed and petted and showered with affection. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what she wanted – Ashley only really meowed when she wanted food or if she didn't like being picked up. She was a pretty quiet cat.

"Hey there darling. You want some food?" I cooed, sliding my bag off my shoulder and stuffing my coat into the closet. Wincing, I pried my ancient boots off my feet – they were far past their prime and were starting to give me blisters on the black of my heels. I kept forgetting to ask if I could get new ones...

Ashley meowed insistently. I smiled and petted her on the head before walking into the kitchen. I grabbed the canned cat food – she had turned her nose up at dry food quite pointedly – and gave her half a cup full. I didn't want her getting overweight, like Sammy...

Determined not to think about that, I pulled my computer out of my bag, along with the cable and the mouse, and set up at the table. It was going to be a little lonely, this week. Sometimes I was afraid that once I had to leave the nest (so to speak) I would end up by myself.

I'd never been on a date before because I had never met a boy who wasn't immensely immature or someone I felt like I could hang out with. Autism made normal friendships ever so slightly more difficult, and pretty much killed my ability to date anyone in either of my 'normal' high schools.

I sighed as my computer started booting up. I often felt like I was missing out on a lot of life experiences with how weird I was. And I'm not just referring to being a tomboy who still likes some girly things or stuff like that – I just felt like I couldn't relate to other kids my age.

My phone buzzed. I glanced down at it and smiled. Well, most people at least.

Alexis was my best friend, and the only person who ever contacted me on the phone aside from my parents. We'd met at a social skills group and clicked almost immediately, and we've stayed that way for a while now. I had spent New Years at her house for two years in a row now.

She'd gotten me a present for it – a bobble head of my favourite female superhero, Wanda Maximoff. I had finally found her twin a few days ago in a mall. Since I was just as obsessed with those movies as she was, I liked them a lot. Almost as much as my Espeon and Vaporeon plushies!

Hey.

Hi. How's life?

Life's fine. Currently trying to not let English exam eat my brain.

I know. :( So freakin glad that's over. That music video took far more energy then it was worth. I better be getting a good grade for that.

How's Ashley?

Hungry, it seems. She eats like a lady, though – prim and polite.

Aww :)

How're your stories coming along?

Just fine. Yours?

Got writer's block. Maybe watching a movie will break it up.

That sucks. I hope it helps.

I smiled slightly, rubbing my fingers against my forehead. I should probably take some aspirin. I was a bit leery about that stuff – half the time, it was like it didn't work at all.

When I downed the pills with water, Ashley started meowing again. I frowned, walking over to her. She was staring down the hallway to the stairwell, her whole body unusually tense.

"What's wrong?" I asked her. Of course, she couldn't answer – but a second later she bolted into my brother's room and disappeared under his bed.

I stared at the hall, slowly approaching it.

There was a light on.

What? I could have sworn I turned my light off before I left for school this morning. Did I forget? My stomach tightened. Or...or was someone in my room?

Part of me wanted to go for my phone – but I didn't want to call the police and then end up looking like an idiot when it turned out I had just forgotten to flip the switch on my way to breakfast.

Instead, I grabbed the broom off the wall (shut up – it was the closest potential bludgeoning object to me) and cautiously made my way down the stairs.

There wasn't a whole lot in the house worth stealing (though not in my opinion – I'm still pissed at the guy who kicked my mom's door down and stole all my DS games, forcing me to buy them again. Seriously, fuck whoever that was!) so perhaps someone had broken in and then left. But I had to check.

Perhaps it was just someone who was cold and hungry, not dangerous but desperate. Maybe...

My hands tightening on the broom stick, I walked across the floor to my room. The door was mostly closed.

Admittedly, I kind of froze up at this point. What was I thinking, that I was some sort of freakin action hero? That I would beat a robber into submission and then casually call the cops, like Sherlock Holmes? This was nuts. I should be running and hiding – probably taking Ashley with me.

But part of me got mad – this was my room, damn it! It belonged to me and no one else! I wasn't going to let any random asshole just traipse right through it.

So I shoved the door open and stared inside.

And stared. I felt my mouth dropping open.

There were two people standing in my room – a pair of young adult twins. One was a girl with beautiful long black hair. She was wearing a crimson red overcoat and black jeans, along with bracelets on her wrists and a pendant necklace. She was fair skinned and taller then me, though not by much. The other person was a boy. He had messy silver hair and the same dark eyes as the girl. He was wearing track pants and a blue shirt, with a white coat over that. He was tall and slender.

They both looked familiar. Very, very familiar.

My eyes drifted over to my table. My two bobbleheads of the Maximoff twins were gone.

I looked back at them. I felt the broom slip out of my hands.

The girl spoke first. She looked a mix between worried and embarrassed. "I'm so sorry," She said. Her voice had an eastern accent. I had heard it recently. Very recently.

As in, the last time I popped 'Avengers: Age of Ultron.' into my mom's DVD player.

"We were caught up in this strange flash of light, and then we found ourselves here. We didn't mean to intrude...miss? Are you okay?"

The world suddenly looked funny to me – like everything was very far away.

"You're...but you're...but...but..."

It was like every single gear in my brain had jammed simultaneously. It was like my computer screen had gone blue, before the little pop up asking you to restart appears. Right before it crashes.

Then everything went black for a little.

End Chapter

Don't forget to check out Dana's Chapter 1 on the way out!