Wanda felt her body slam onto the hard-concrete ground with a gasp. She couldn't breathe. All of the air had reared its way out her body. She coughed and spluttered, breathing heavily as she rolled onto her knees, both her pale hands resting on the concrete. She didn't seem to be in Wakanda anymore as brick city buildings stood tall beside her, the warm streetlights making out the roads and white pathways instead of the green forest of trees. It was no longer daytime, as she looked up to the pitch-black sky. From what it seemed like with the dead streets and absence of people, it might have been midnight. Flakes of snow danced over the back of her hands, but Wanda couldn't feel it. It was as if her mind and not had turned numb, lost in the silence. This was probably shock, she told herself as she tried to recollect her memories. She could still feel the raw untouched power that was radiating through her body when she destroyed the stone; the sheer terror she felt of seeing the rest of the people she called family giving it their all to bring down the armored Titan, only to swatted like flies one by one, and Vision...

And Vision...

The details of her hands had gone blurry as streams of tears fell on the ground. She couldn't stop it. Like a tidal wave, she felt everything all at once. Everything. The death of her parents in Russia, the death of her brother in Sokovia, and now death had visited the only being she truly loved. She couldn't take it. It hurts. She buried her head down into her knees and wrapped her arms around her neck, hoping to hide her cries from the cruel world. In anger and in grief, she let out a bloodcurdling scream, ripping apart the silence and tranquillity that the city offered her, yet she couldn't hear it.

"Dammit..." Wanda murmured to herself. The cold finally settled as she rubbed her hands across her arms. She tried to get up, only to fall back on her knees as pain shot through her side. She must have broken a rib or a few from the looks of it, and Wanda would be surprised if she did. Carefully, she stood in cold trying to maintain her balance, one step at a time. First, she needed to find a doctor or someone who knows how to fix a broken rib.

She stopped and held out her hand, and soon enough a small light of red matter wrapped and danced around her hand, twirling through her fingers like threads woven into a loom. The was a good sign, at least. She still had something of hers. Something that can't be taken away from her. She continued to walk along the streets, clutching her side in discomfort. Thankfully, she didn't cross paths with strangers that would be hanging around at this time of night. She looked around, her head now clear and precise in her surroundings. Street-lights were a good thing to see, as well as a fully functioning city, which probably means...

Bingo.

On her left, stood a gas station with a 7/11 building. A large, neon red sign that read 'OPEN' hung on the entry door. The cold white lights flickered over the darkness around it. She lumbered inside and was overwhelmed by the smell of warm baked goods and cleaning supplies. It was empty, besides a teenage boy with an in a blue jacket and rainbow beanie near the freezers and the clerk. Aisles of different food stood before her, ranging from savory to sweets. Beside her, there was a cashier stall littered with trays of chocolate bars and colorful candy, occupied by a bored clerk leaning over the cashier with a phone in his hand, his silver hair lopping over one side of his face. Wanda walked over to the newspaper stand and grabbed a paper, flipping it over to the front cover. She expected to see the aftermath of the snap, headlines all over the newspaper, quotes of people screaming and crying over their loved ones. But there was nothing. It was just an ordinary newspaper.

"I don't...How can this…" Wanda stammered, frantically flipping through the pages. Once she skimmed over it, she tossed it on the ground and grabbed another from the shelf. The boy beside her must have noticed her strange behavior, as he turned to face her with confusion. All of a sudden, her side shot up her body with pain, causing her to yelp and fall backward onto one of the freezers with a large thud. Her head felt like it was going to explode, clutching her side for support. It was as if someone dipped a knife in fire and stabbed her ribcage.

"Woah " The boy exclaimed, motioning towards the gash. "Do you need to go to a hospital or something?" Wanda looked up at him, still in shock. She gave him a waving hand gesture to tell him its fine.

"No, I'm- I'm okay, thanks. I just need to- just rest for a little bit." Wanda tiredly replied, sliding further down the freezer.

"Hey, no drunks allowed in here, alright? I've already had to mop up after them this week, now get-" She heard the clerk yell out but was cut off by the doorbell ringing through the shop. She glances over the aisle to see a group of three big muscular men in black hoodies and ski masks. Her eyes traveled from one of the men's bodies to their hands, which seemed to be holding a handgun to the clerk's face. Wanda could hardly move her body. The teenage boy beside her seemed to understand the current situation, as he held his hands up to calm the offense.

"Empty the cash onto the bench, and get on the ground, now!" The gunmen said menacingly. Like a mouse in a hole, the clerk lowered his head and started to nervously jiggle his keys into the socket of the cashier. "Hurry up!" She stared at the exchange helplessly until the boy beside her spoke up.

"You know, you can't do that and just pay attention to one person. There are other people in this store as well, or that's just considered rude." The teenager sarcastically pointed out. Wanda would have shut him up if it wasn't for the overwhelming pain. She didn't have time for this. She faced nightmares one couldn't even imagine, and she's really expected to be scared of these arrogant fools? Pathetic.

"Shut up!" One of the other men commanded, pointing his own gun at the teen as a threat. Suddenly, a large bang echoed throughout to store but before the teen could comprehend what was going on, the bullet stopped in mid-air, captured in a red glowing barrier protecting them both. The teenager stared wide-eyed at the glowing barrier, until he noticed Wanda's bloodied hand up, surrounded in a deep red glow. With her other hand, she grabbed a nearby shelf to hoist herself up, slowly feeling the pain turning into a numbing sensation as power burned through her skin.

"Put. The gun. Down." Her voice seethed through her lips. Her eyes gleamed a reddish hue as she stared down the robber.

"Shut the fuck up, lady" He barked, changing his and his gun's attention to her. She took a few steps forward, noticing the robber waver his gun. "Get back, bitch."

"I've lost so many people in front of me, people who I called family. People who I loved. So trust me," Wanda growled, twisting and turning her hand by her waist as she gathered more energy in her fingers. "You really do not want to piss me off." Within a split second, Wanda whirled her hand around her body and flicked the energy blast towards him, sending him backward and painfully hitting the glass window. The other two started to open fire towards the two, only for Wanda to block the rain of bullets. A wave of red light echoed through her finger as one of them was thrown through mid-air into one of the shelves, while the other charged in for a punch. Luckily, she dodged in time and blocked his second throw, an orb of red energy formed over his hand and launched him across the shelves to join the other guy. They all groaned in pain on the floor. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder to find the brown haired boy gaping at her like a fish out of water. His head glanced from her to the masked men then back to her.

"You alright?" Wanda asked calmly. He slowly nodded his head in response in surprise, before his eyes flickered behind her for a second. She saw it for only a second, as his face switched from bewilderment to confusion.

Bang. Bang.

Instinctively, Wanda flicked her fingers towards one of the men causing him to be tossed through the window, while glass shattered all across the pavement outside. The air finally stilled around her as silence flood through her ears. It was all so quick. She looked back in horror, feeling the high of her powers drain out of her as she snapped back into reality; the teen stood motionless, as dark red blood soaked through his jacket and started dripping onto the tile floor. He looked down at the right side of his chest in shock, his mouth slightly apart before his crutches fell along with him.

Wanda rushed to his side and kneeled down beside him, his breathing started to labor against the glass of the coolers. The blood covered both his and her hands as they tried to stop the bleeding wound. The bullet had shot right through his shoulder and using her abilities she raised her hand over the wound where it softly glowed a reddish light. It was warm against his clothing, he thought, but suddenly he soon felt his vision blurred around him and black spots danced across his eyes.

"Hey, hey…" She gently but nervously cooed with a forced smile. "You're gonna be fine, okay? Look at me…" She raised her hand to his cheek, tilting it to focus on her. Wanda didn't know what to do. She was never good at healing, always ready to destruct, but she couldn't help but give a warm smile: the only thing she could give him. "You're gonna be alright." From the hand touching his skin, the energy passed from her through his temple as his eyes glared a familiar deep red rather than the soft brown eyes he held. Tears no longer weld in his eyes and Wanda attempted to dissipate the fear and confusion running through his mind. Glimpses of distant memories clouded her mind at first, but Wanda ignored them and kept pushing on.

She looked down at his pockets and reached for his phone, hoping it would have access to an emergency hotline. She didn't have her phone on her, and as much as it seemed like a good idea, she couldn't stay here with him. She needed to find a way back. A way back to Clint and Steve and-

"Nine one one, what's your emergency?" A female voice spoke through the phone.

"Hi, yeah, there's uh… there's been an armed robbery and- and someone's gotten hurt. I'm fine, but-" Her voice started cracking as helplessness clouded her head, holding back tears. The red streams seemed to have woven his wound until no fresh blood was found through his clothing. "There's a boy here, and he's- he's gotten shot somewhere in his shoulder."

"Okay, stay where you are. Can you tell me where…" Wanda removed the phone from her ear before the lady on the other end of the call finish her sentence and placed it gently on the teen's lower chest.

"They'll come any second now, but I've got to go and figure out what's going on. I can't be here when they come. Do you understand?" Wanda whispered. He breathed shakily before slowly nodding his head in response. She stood up beside him, a small smile gleamed across her lips as her figure made its way over the shattered bottles, littered food, and unconscious bodies. That was when her attention grazed off the boy as she stared around the store. The clerk must have run away when the kid got shot, which seemed like a reasonable reaction. The kid stared aimlessly at the walls, with her soft words echoing through his head as she walked into the streets and disappeared into the night.

'You're gonna be okay…'

Hi, so this is my first full fanfiction that I've written and that I'm confident enough to publish. I spent like a few weeks writing it because I can't write for shit and I'm in the middle of exams and due assignments, so I did kind of rushed it last minute. If you like it, keep on reading. If you see any mistakes that could be grammatically improved, please leave a comment and hope I do better next time. Thanks for reading.