It had become increasingly difficult for Wanda to sleep, so at 6 AM the Sokivan dragged herself out of bed. With a long yawn, she crossed her bedroom floor and grabbed out a sweatshirt from her drawer and tugged it on over her head. She then moved to slip her feet into her shoes. The last time she went to see Pietro was when they had the funeral for him. After that, Wanda boarded the quinjet with Clint and headed to her temporary home. She didn't have flowers to bring him this time, but she would go out and get some the next time she went into the city. When Steve had told her they could bury him in the lot of the new headquarters, she didn't feel that was right. He should be buried next to their parents, but she also knew she couldn't bear having him all the way in Sokovia. Or, what was left of Sokovia. This way, she could visit her brother more. He would always be close to her this way.

Wanda took one step outside and immediately her eyes locked onto the grave near the end of the lot. With shaky legs, she moved toward it. The cool breeze brushed her hair against her cheeks and goosebumps rose. With each step, she could feel it getting harder for her to breathe. Her throat became rather tight. In all her life, Wanda never thought she would see Pietro's grave. She always imagined dying at his side, together. She never wanted to live a life without him.

The Sokovian sat down from across the headstone. Her shaking hand reached forward to brush against the engraved letters. Wanda began to remember the funeral. All the Avengers attended. Even Fury and Hill made appearances. She wasn't happy that Stark was there, but she didn't want to start a fight at her brother's funeral. Steve and Clint said some nice things about him. Wanda could swear that the archer was getting choked up halfway through his speech. Steve asked her if she wanted to say anything, and she went on about how he was the best brother ever. How he pulled her under the bed when their apartment was bombed, how he always watched over her, and how he was the only person left who cared about her. After a moment of silence, Pietro was lowered into the grave. Wanda lost it at that point. She collapsed to her knees and let out a heartbreaking sob. Steve had put a hand on her shoulder at that point, squeezing gently as she sobbed into her hands. When she had run out of tears, Clint helped her up and got her settled in the quinjet.

Wanda stared at the grave, feeling a few tears run down her cheeks. Quickly, she wiped them away. She leaned forward and rested her forehead on top of the headstone.

"Pietro…"

She swore that she could feel a hand in hers. Her head turned to the side slightly and she was sure that Pietro was there, sitting next to her with that crooked smile on his face.

"Brother," she whispered in her native language.

"Wanda?"

The voice was not Pietro's. Her mind decided to stop playing tricks on her and showed her who truly was there. Steve stood in front of her, sweating and breathing heavily. He must have been out for his morning run.

"Captain," she replied, her voice cracking slightly.

He paused for a moment before speaking. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your visit. I just…" His eyes went to her hand that was outstretched slightly, gripping onto nothing. "Was just making sure you're okay."

Wanda lowered her hand. "I am fine. Please, I just want to be alone."

"Of course. See you at breakfast?"

"Sure."

Wanda went back in not too long afterwards. Sweet smells were coming from the New Avengers' personal kitchen. The Sokovian followed it, along with the signs on the walls (the place was awfully big), feeling her stomach ache with hunger. As she got closer to the kitchen, she could hear everyone's loud voices. She kept herself locked in her room so long yesterday that she didn't even know the rest of the team had arrived. When Wanda came near the entrance, she felt herself get a little nervous.

She could practically hear Pietro telling her to stop getting so worked up.

They all got a little quiet when they saw her standing in the doorway. The little kitchen was actually kind of cute. A man Wanda did not recognize stood at the counter, flipping pancakes on a griddle. Everyone else was seated at the table, waiting eagerly for their breakfast. It seemed Steve really liked doing everything with the team. That was nice. Too much for her, though.

"Wanda," Vision said, almost looking surprised to see her there.

"Hey, come sit down," Natasha said, patting the chair next to her. "Wilson is a great cook."

She looked over to the man who was cooking the food.

"Hey," he greeted. "I'm Sam Wilson. Come on in, breakfast is almost ready."

Wanda moved with hesitant feet to the seat next to Natasha. She sat down and immediately looked down at her hands. The unfamiliar man next to her reached a hand down, startling her slightly. She looked up at him.

"Hey. I'm James Rhodes," he greeted. "Call me Rhodey.

The name was familiar to her. "You are a friend of Stark's."

Her eyes must have glowed red for a moment because he leaned back a little and retracted his hand.

"Yeah, I am," he replied with a small nod.

Everyone went back to their conversations.

A plate of food was set down in front of Wanda a few minutes later. For a moment, all she did was simply stare. The plate was loaded with pancakes and way too much syrup. On the side were bacon and eggs. Her eyes stealthily looked to everyone else. They all almost immediately dug into their food and complimented Wilson on the great breakfast. Vision, who sat across from her, did not have a plate but seemed to enjoy watching everyone else eat. She looked back down at her own plate, unsure of where to start with all this food. Out of habit, Wanda cut her pancakes in half and began to eat the half closest to her. After a few bites, she moved to nibble on her bacon and ignore her eggs. Every other bite she moved to take a small sip of water.

Her mother always taught her to eat everything that was on her plate, but she really couldn't this time. She knew they didn't know about her own eating habits. Wanda wanted to be polite and eat as much as she could, but after eating one full pancake and a strip of bacon, she could not bring herself to pick up her fork again.

Trying not to bring too much attention to herself, Wanda set her fork down quietly and cleaned around her mouth with a napkin. The rest of the team was going about their business; eating their food and telling stories. When she looked up once, she swore she caught Vision looking at her. She tried to ignore that.

The Sokovian pushed her chair back and stood up, ready to head back to her room.

"Wanda, are you done?" Steve asked.

She nodded her head.

The look on his face made her brace herself for a lecture about how she should be eating more, but he let it go.

"Okay," he replied.

Wanda turned and walked back to her room. Once she had the door closed behind her, she plopped herself down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Absentmindedly, she hummed a Sokovian tune to herself. She began to remember what Vision had told her last night. He believed she could fly and she really wasn't sure if she should believe him. There was a voice in her head that was telling her to just give it one shot, but she wasn't sure. While living with the Bartons, she wasn't allowed to use her powers as freely as she once did. She was restricted on manipulating minds and Clint gave her quite the lecture about how rude it was to go looking in someone's head. Wanda tried her best to stay out of people's minds after that, but she allowed herself to slip up every now and then. It had been a while since she stretched out her powers. The thought of stretching them out to the point of flying made her a little nervous. She didn't want to somehow lose control and hurt someone.

She turned onto her side and grabbed the picture that was on the nightstand. When she went to see Pietro's body after the battle in Sokovia, they had found the picture folded in his pocket. The picture was of their parents, her, and Pietro. She vaguely remembered the picture being taken. Her and Pietro must have been around nine years old, close to their tenth birthday. Pietro always liked to look at this picture. He kept it safe ever since the bombings that killed their parents.

Wanda would now keep it safe.

Wanda left her room in the afternoon. After getting changed into pants and a shirt, she made her way down the hall with quiet feet and headed for the outside.

She almost felt self-conscious as she stood out on the lawn by herself. Agents exited the building every now and then. The sun beat down on her face and the breeze ruffled her hair. Green eyes scanned her surroundings before she began to let red energy pour out of her hands. It felt good to finally let loose for a moment. Keeping it bottled up only made her feel tense. Wanda took a deep breath as she let the red magic swirl around her hands and up her wrists. Her fingers slowly danced. Eyes closed slowly as she focused on controlling the amount of magic that poured out of her hands. She hummed softly to herself, enjoying the moment she finally had to simply relax. Wanda no longer cared that she was standing in the middle of the lawn where plenty of people would stare and judge her.

The Sokovian opened her eyes and looked down at her feet. Was Vision right? Could she really fly?

Only one way to find out.

Wanda planted her feet firmly on the ground and aimed her hands at the ground. With pursed lips, she began to summon more magic. Fingers contorted and danced while she concentrated. After a few moments of nothing happening, she was ready to give up. But finally, as she summoned more magic and lifted her hands up to her hips, she began to levitate a few inches into the air. It wasn't much, but Vision was right.

She could fly.

"I see you are trying out my theory," a voice said.

The voice startled her and Wanda lost her concentration. She was on her butt in a second. Thankfully she was only a few inches off the ground and not several feet.

"My apologizes," Vision said, stepping forward and extending a hand. Wanda accepted and he helped hoist her up. "That was a very good start. I am positive that with some more practice, you could make more progress."

Wanda smiled a little. "Well, let us see."

Vision returned the smile and stepped back as she began to summon magic again. Like before, she raised her hands to her hips and began levitating herself a few inches off the ground. Those inches eventually turned to feet with enough concentration and will. She was quite wobbly and often faltered a few inches, but she always managed to regain the height. Before she knew it, she was several feet off the ground. And from there, she only went higher and higher. Below her, Vision was smiling brightly. He soon flew up to join her.

"This is impressive, Wanda," he told her. "I knew you could do it."

Wanda smiled slightly and shrugged her shoulders. "This is kinda cool." She wished Pietro could see her doing this. "Thanks, Vision."

"Why are you thanking me? You are the one who accomplished flying without my help."

"I could not have known to do this if you had not told me," she replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Wow, Maximoff," a voice said. Wanda looked down and saw Natasha and Steve standing below them.

"So I guess we're the only ones who can't fly now," Steve said with a small chuckle.

Wanda and Vision both descended to the ground. Vision landed with grace, while Wanda awkwardly lowered herself down and stumbled slightly once her feet touched the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him smirking a little.

"We're going shopping," Natasha said to Wanda, a smile on her face. "We gotta get something nice for you to wear tonight."

Oh. Right.

Tony Stark had planned a party for tonight to celebrate the New Avengers. Wanda had tried her best to forget about the party, and it seemed she was able to until now. When she had heard about the party, she immediately began dreading it. Going to a party meant standing alone awkwardly and she hardly knew anybody that was going to come. It also meant spending a night in Stark's presence. Seeing him made her blood boil. He was the thing that constantly reminded her of all the bad times in her life. Hell, he was the reason why all those bad things happened. It was his fault her parents were dead and his fault her brother was now dead too. It took all her strength to not tear him apart whenever she saw him. She so desperately wanted him to feel the way she felt when Pietro died. He did so many bad things without consequences. Without punishment. Wanda hated him. She hated him with all her strength.

"About that..." Wanda began slowly.

Natasha put a hand up. "Nope. You're going. Kinda mandatory that all the New Avengers show up, considering the party is for us."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Are you sure it is not for him? It seems everything is always about him."

Natasha fell silent. Steve cleared his throat.

"Vision, how about we find something for you to wear?" the super soldier said.

The android nodded his head. He then turned to Wanda. "I will see you at the gathering."

The Sokovian nodded her head and watched him walk away with Steve.

"This is stupid," Wanda muttered under her breath.

"You look great, though," Natasha replied. "Just mingle for a while. Get a drink. Come find me if you need anything."

And with that, Natasha was gone; into the crowd.

Wanda sighed and smoothed out her black dress. Natasha had given her quite the makeover. First the black dress, then some uncomfortable high heels, a curler to her hair to give her some loose curls, and some red eyeshadow and eyeliner. She felt stupid. Wanda would have rathered spending the night by herself in her room, maybe read a book or something. Honestly, she wanted to be doing anything else instead of being at this party that Stark was at. While in the doorway, she could already hear his loud laughter. That laugh only made her roll her eyes even harder.

Okay. Just a couple hours of mingling and then she could return to her room and pretend this night never happened.

Wanda entered the room and immediately tried to stay in the shadows. Her first stop was the bar. Even though she wasn't exactly of age to be drinking (just five months shy of being old enough), she was sure they would not card an Avenger. At the bar, she got a glass of red wine and began walking around with it in her hand. Every time she got slightly annoyed with something, she'd take a small sip of the wine. Before she knew it, the glass was empty.

Every now and then she was approached by someone. They would try to make small talk with her, and when it was clear that she was getting irritated, Steve would rush over and save her by jumping into the conversation and eventually lead the person away. Stark's laughter kept echoing throughout the room. Each time she heard it, she clenched her fists so hard that her knuckles would turn white. As she looked around, she noticed Vision was fitting in pretty nicely. He had materialized a suit and she had to admit, he looked good. Everyone seemed so fascinated with him. At least he was having a good time. Or maybe he was pretending to.

Every once in a while, someone from the team would come over and check on her. She would tell them that she was fine and then they would go back to the party. Wanda would sit down in a chair after getting another drink and watch everyone have a good time. This would be better if Pietro was by her side, keeping her company and never leaving her side. Without him here, she was so alone and very uncomfortable with all these strangers around her. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to disappear.

"Maximoff."

Shit.

"Stark," she greeted coldly.

He sat next to her on the couch. She scooted a couple inches away. Wanda took a sip of her wine.

"How's it goin', little witch? Enjoying the party?"

Was he being serious?

"No, I am not," she replied. Her accent seemed to get thicker as she got angrier with him being next to her.

"You seem to be enjoying the wine."

Wanda rolled her eyes. Did he not understand that she didn't like him? He had a lot of bravery to come up to her knowing how much she hated him.

"I know you hate me," Stark suddenly said after a few moments of silence between the two. "I admit, I didn't think much about the weapons the company was making before I was held captive. I've changed since then."

The Sokovian scoffed. "You think you have changed?" she asked. "You have not. All you do is take, take, and take. That's all you have done your entire life." Wanda shook her head and took another small sip. "Not to mention, you only think about yourself and you hardly think things through. You have no compassion. It is why people are dead." Wanda glared coldly at him. "It is why my parents are dead. It is why Pietro is dead."

Tony stiffened, yet shrugged his shoulders. "You do know Ultron was the result of you warping my mind, right?"

When he saw the horrified look on her face, he seemed to regret his words.

"Look, I didn't mean-"

Wanda cut him off there. With a quick flick of her hand, she splashed the rest of her red wine in his face. "You are the scum of the earth," she said in Sokovian. As the red energy began to leak from her hands, someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her up from the couch. Her glass dropped to the floor, shattering into pieces. Everyone at the party was staring at them.

"Maximoff, what the hell are you doing?" Steve asked.

She spun on her heel to face him and pulled her wrist out of his grasp. "I knew this was not a good idea. I am going up to my room."

"Let me escort you," Vision said, walking up behind her and putting a hand on her arm.

"I can go by myself," Wanda insisted, looking over her shoulder at him.

"You have consumed almost four glasses of wine tonight. I would like to make sure you get to your room alright."

"Fine," she muttered.

Vision led her out of the room. He kept a hand on her lower back and instead of pushing his hand away, she allowed it. Somehow, his presence was making her a little more calm. He didn't say anything to her, which she liked. The silence helped her think and after being in a room full of people who wouldn't shut up and with thoughts so loud, the silence was quite relaxing.

"I am going to get in so much trouble," Wanda said, breaking the silence. The Sokovian wasn't really excited for the lecture she would be getting from Steve. "He just… makes me so damn angry."

"I have noticed that Tony Stark has a knack for making many people angry," Vision replied.

"Does he ever even talk to you?" Wanda asked. "I mean, he did create you and then he just left you here."

"He does sometimes. Tonight we spoke once." He looked at Wanda. "I think he misses JARVIS. Hearing me must remind him of the AI."

Wanda considered that. "Still. He creates one good thing and he won't even try to get to know him. Typical."

"I am the one good thing he has created?" Vision asked. "I believe his Iron Man suits are also good."

She shook her head. "People hate those suits. They fear those suits. You are different, though. You will not go rogue and try to destroy the world."

Vision looked unsure.

"I know you won't," she reassured him.

The two arrived at her room and Vision removed his hand from her lower back to face her. Wanda found that she wasn't quite as angry as she was before. Walking and talking with Vision helped a little bit. Somehow, she just felt… comfortable around him.

"I am sorry you did not have a good evening," Vision said, looking a little sad.

"It is fine," Wanda replied, smiling. "I knew it would not end well." She opened the door to her room. "Thank you for walking me back. Bet you were dying to get out of that party as well."

Vision shrugged his shoulders. "I have to admit, it was quite overwhelming. Many were quite… curious about me. They liked to poke me to make sure I am real."

"Idiots," Wanda muttered.

Vision smiled. "They were funny. Sleep well, Wanda."

She returned the smile and stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Vision. See you tomorrow."

"Right. See you."

a/n. second chapter here we go. leave a review if you would like another chapter!