That night, Wanda laid awake, staring at the ceiling. She was exhausted, but the deafening sound of her guilt kept her up. She rolled over and grabbed her phone to check the time. It was 3:30am, and Wanda groaned. Why can't it just be morning already? She placed her phone back on her nightstand and closed her eyes, trying one more time to go to sleep. After laying still for a few minutes feeling nothing, Wanda opened her eyes and sighed deeply.

She was still upset about what happened with Vision. She knew he blamed himself for her reaction, and she didn't blame him (in fact, she wasn't even upset by him), she was upset at Tony. She knew he never really liked her, not that she cared since she didn't really like him, but it hurt her that her own teammate was afraid of her and her powers. If she was being honest, she wasn't really surprised that the team was afraid of her, some part of her always knew it; she just didn't want to admit it.

Wanda tried to focus her attention on anything but her thoughts. She sat up and got out of her bed, silently leaving the room, and headed into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. She wasn't thirsty, but she wanted something—no—needed something to do to take her mind off the fact that her own mind wasn't letting her fucking sleep. She rubbed her eyes as a big yawn escaped her lips. She stared at the closed curtains of the living room windows, focusing on the late night sounds of the city.

The feeling of something soft brushing up against her snapped Wanda from her trance, causing her to jump slightly at the sudden contact, but she calmed down when she saw the familiar orange fur of Griffon's head at her feet. Looking up at her, Griffon let out a little "meow" as he continued to rub his head against Wanda's leg, purring softly. It was safe to say that Griffon liked Wanda much better than he liked Lily. Wanda laughed quietly at the feline and bent down to pick him up. Griffon curled up in her arms, purring louder.

"What are you doing up, huh?" she asked him in a whisper, not expecting an answer. Griffon's green eyes stared back at hers, blinking slowly, as if to fire the question right back at her. She sighed, continuing, "Yeah, I know. We should both be asleep. Come on." She carried the feline back into her room and placed him on her bed. Griffon jumped out of Wanda's arms and walked around a little bit on her bed, finding the most comfortable spot. Finally, he settled down and curled up in a little ball and fell asleep. Wanda followed him and got into bed and pulled him close.

As Wanda settled into the silence ready to fall asleep, a strange sound from Jemma's room snapped her out of any impending sleep. Creeping out of her room, Wanda walked the few steps it too to get to Jemma's room, and sat outside her closed door, listening curiously to find out what the sound was.

In her room, Jemma laid asleep, tossing and turning, caught in another nightmare. They weren't as frequent as they used to be, but this one bothered her for a while. She laid in her bed, whimpering as the dream haunted her. Wanda sat outside, listening to Jemma whimper and cry in her sleep. She grew curious of the nature of her dream, wanting desperately to look inside Jemma's head to help ease her sleep and to satisfy her own curiosity. Wanda quietly crept into Jemma's room and walked to her side of the bed.

Her footsteps were light and quiet as she walked across the hardwood floor, careful not to wake Jemma. Kneeling beside her, Wanda's eyes burned a dark red as she brought up her hand, a red mist slithered gracefully around her fingers, and allowed the magic to enter Jemma's head. Wanda's eyes widened as she saw into Jemma's dream, and at that instant she knew she made a mistake.

Wanda looked around at the war-battered streets. Buildings were destroyed and rubble laid in the roads all around her. Smoke from the many fires and dust filtered through the air making it hard to breathe. The area looked familiar to her, but she couldn't place the location. Turning to her left, she started walking, trying to see if she could find someone, anyone. She didn't know how long she had been searching, but she found no one. There was no one here; she was alone. Odd. She kept walking, looking at the semi-familiar destroyed buildings and streets, scratching at her head. Where was she?

"Hello?" she called into the emptiness of the city. She waited a minute, hoping to hear a response. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Hello?" a voice called out to her in the distance. Through a cloud of smoke, Wanda could see the silhouette of a person. Though she was still confused, Wanda was happy that she wasn't alone.

"Over here," she called waving her hand in the air, signaling the person in front of her, but the person didn't follow.

"Hello?" the voice called again.

"Hey, I'm over here," Wanda tried again, this time the voice walked in her direction. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she felt a brief pang of dread. Something about this dream didn't feel right. The figure stepped out from the cloud of smoke and stood before Wanda but didn't look at her. Wanda's hand flew up to cover her mouth as a loud gasp escaped her lips. She looked at the young woman standing in front of her and she immediately knew where she was; Sokovia.

Suddenly, the backdrop faded, and Lily disappeared from Wanda's vision. Wanda was now in the dark. She didn't know where she was now or what happened to Lily. Trying to find an answer, Wanda turned around frantically looking for a way out of the dark. To her left, she heard the sound of laughter. Wanda felt relief; maybe they could help her. She ran towards the laughter, smiling brightly, but her smile soon faltered as she was catapulted from the darkness to the familiar layout of Jemma's apartment that had quickly become her home. Confusion filled her as she looked around. Somehow, the apartment looked different.

The laughter rang out again, pulling Wanda towards the hallway leading to Jemma's room. Following the laughter, Wanda stalked towards it. The laughter grew louder until Wanda was standing in the room. She felt tears pool in her eyes as she looked over and saw Jemma and Lily lying next to each other laughing at the TV show they were watching; neither of them noticing her standing in the room.

Jemma laughed louder as Lily tried to bury her face into her neck, and a pang of guilt struck Wanda's core. In the short time that she had lived with Jemma, she had never seen the young woman look so happy, but yet here she was, smiling so brightly that the corners of her mouth reached her eyes and her eyes shined with happiness and love. A small part of Wanda felt jealous of the love that the two of them shared.

"Lily, come on, stop it," Jemma squealed loudly as Lily kept tickling her.

"Jemma," Lily whined as she pulled her face away from Jemma's neck, the bare skin slightly red. "You know I leave in a few days, and you keep teasing me. Do you feel joy watching me suffer like this?" Lily pouted slightly causing Jemma to burst out laughing.

"Actually, yes. Yes, I do feel joy watching you suffer," Jemma replied in a snarky attitude, still laughing at Lily's fake guilt trip.

"You're such a fucking sadist," Lily said laughing placing a kiss on Jemma's forehead and leaning back in the bed.

Before Jemma could reply, the apartment started to shake violently. All lightheartedness left the atmosphere as the roof started to cave in and the building crumbled. Wanda stood frozen in fear and sadness. She reached her hands out, trying to summon her powers to stop the debris from falling, but it was no use; she wasn't really there.

"Jemma move!" Lily yelled as she pushed her out of the way. Jemma screamed as a giant piece of ceiling fell on top of Lily. Tears blurred her vision, but as she looked to her left, she could make out another figure.

"There can be only one," the voice said. Wanda turned to the new voice that sounded familiar to her and bit back a scream. Next to her, stood herself, eyes a bright red and a red mist surrounding both of her hands. "This is your fault, Jemma. You couldn't protect her, and now she's dead. It's all your fault." Wanda sank to her knees as she watched the dream version of herself taunt the brokenhearted woman. Jemma sat up in the rubble and looked over at her, tears streaming down her cheeks and a look of anger painted on her face.

"No, it's not my fault. It's yours. It's all your fault! It's your fault!" she screamed at her, but when Wanda turned to the dream version of herself, she was gone. In her place, Wanda stood with glowing red eyes and the red mist surrounding her hands.

Wanda's eyes snapped open as she pulled herself out of Jemma's nightmare. She breathed heavily, stumbling back away from Jemma. She blames me. I knew it. I knew she blamed me. I knew it. It's my fault. The tears stung her eyes as she accepted the truth; Lily's death was her fault. Some part of her always knew that, but she had believed the lies of those that harbored some hatred and fear of her. Wanda silently left Jemma's room and stumbled back to hers, still entranced by the betrayal of Jemma's blame.

Guilt washed over her and enveloped her, dragging her down into the deep recesses of her mind, suffocating her. She couldn't breathe as she grasped at the baseboard of her bed. Her heart ached all over again, as if she was back in Sokovia, but this time there was no easing the pain. She wouldn't fall for Jemma's lies anymore. How she hadn't caught them earlier was beyond her; she caught Natasha's blame right away, but Jemma's was carefully hidden. She was clever.

Wanda quickly changed out of the clothes that she was wearing, suddenly filled with a desperate need to leave the apartment. She didn't know where she would go at almost four in the morning, but she just had to leave. She packed some clothes in a small bag, grabbed her phone, charger, wallet, and keys and silently slipped out of her room. Wanda hesitated as she reached the front door of the apartment. Her fingers grazed the doorknob as she contemplated leaving a note for Jemma, she didn't want her to worry about her. She doesn't care about me. It was all just an act. She only pities me and blames me for Lily's death. She'll barely even notice if I'm here or not. Huffing to herself, Wanda wiped the stray tear that fell as she opened the apartment door and left.

○○○

Wanda stood on the lit up New York street, alone, and without a plan. She didn't really know where she could go, especially at this time of night, but all rationale left her as she hailed a taxicab that was coming up the street. Wanda wiped her tear stained face as the cab pulled over in front of Wanda, ready to pick her up. She opened the door and slid in, avoiding the driver's gaze through the rearview mirror and closed the door.

"Where to, miss?" the gruff voice of the driver spoke. His right eyebrow was raised as he looked back at her through the mirror. Wanda was quiet for a few seconds as she thought of where she could go, and before she even really thought about it, she blurted out the address of the Avengers compound. "You got the money for that?" His eyebrow was still raised.

"Yeah," Wanda said quietly and pulled out a small wad of cash. The driver nodded at her and turned his gaze away from her and focused on the road.

"Alright," he said as he pulled away from the curb and started heading toward the compound. As soon as he pulled away, the meter started running. Wanda focused all her attention on the growing numbers, losing herself to her thoughts once again. "So, you running away?" She barely heard him. The driver cleared his throat loudly, pulling her from her thoughts.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I said, you're running away?"

"What makes you think I'm running away?" the driver chuckled a little, his head bobbed as he laughed.

"Listen missy, I've been a cab driver for ten years. I've seen everything. I know what running away looks like, and you," he looked back at her through the mirror." You are running away." Wanda remained silent. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being right; even if he was. "So, what're you running from? Ex-boyfriend? Annoying parents?"

Wanda didn't know how to answer. Her situation was much more complicated than the small list that he gave out. She was quiet for a moment before letting out a small, "It's complicated." The driver nodded as if he understood what she meant, and maybe he did, but Wanda doubted it. There's no way that he or anyone could understand what she meant.

"Yeah, no. I get it. I was young too. Everything was complicated. But you know, it don't have to be."

"I think it's a little too late for that."

"Why don't you tell me what happened. We've got a pretty long drive ahead of us, maybe talking about it will help pass the time." Wanda contemplated telling this stranger her life story. What would he do if he found out who she really was? What she had done? She was never really open to anyone outside of her brother, except maybe Jemma. She sighed to herself before looking at the mirror.

"I'm running away because I am responsible for the death of my friend's wife," she said bluntly. She didn't see the point in sugar-coating anything. "After she died, I moved in with her ex-wife, and I guess we've been helping each other through the grief and depression and whatnot. She kept telling me that it wasn't my fault and that I shouldn't blame myself, and I believed her, but tonight...tonight, I found out she blames me...I always knew she blamed me, but I didn't think it would hurt so much." Wanda quickly wiped the tear that fell down her cheek. She wasn't about to cry in front of a stranger. Her driver was quiet for a couple of minutes, before he exhaled quickly.

"Well," he started. "That certainly is complicated." Wanda gave him a small laugh, acknowledging his attempt at lightening the mood. "Did she actually tell you that she blames you for her wife's death? Or are you assuming this?"

Wanda was silent as she thought of his question. Her driver continued.

"Kid, I'm sure she doesn't actually blame you. If she did, she wouldn't have opened her home up to you. You know, my son was killed four years ago. Yeah, him and his wife and four-year-old daughter."

"I'm so sorry," Wanda said quietly. She felt bad for this man because she knew the pain of losing your whole family in an instant. "What happened?"

"Drunk driving accident. They were stopped at a light, and the driver in the car behind them was drunk and rammed into them, knocking them into traffic. They were killed pretty much instantly, so..." the man grew silent as he talked about the deaths of his family. Wanda felt sorry for him, but uncomfortable at the same time. She never knew how to comfort people; Pietro was much better at that.

The man took a deep breath and continued. "It's funny. I lost my whole life because of some asshole's mistakes. He was entirely at fault, and yet, I could never bring myself to blame him or hate him. You know why? I knew that he was struggling with his own demons. I knew that he didn't need me adding to his own guilt. He may not have felt guilty then, hell, he may not even feel guilty now, but someday he's gonna feel it, and when he does, he doesn't need to feel me blaming him."

Wanda knew he had a point, but this incident was different, and she couldn't explain that to him. The two sat in silence for the majority of the ride; neither one knowing what else to say. Before long, the cab had reached the familiar driveway of the compound. Wanda knew that the strange man had figured out her identity as he pulled up when he looked at her through the mirror again. He then laughed to himself.

"I thought you looked familiar, kid." Wanda smiled at the man and grabbed her bag. She opened her door and got out, closing it, and walked over to the driver's side. She held up the wad of cash and looked at him.

"How much do I owe you?"

"For the ride or for the advice?" the driver joked. Wanda laughed and gave him a small smile as he looked at the meter. He told her the amount, and Wanda gave him that, plus extra.

"Thank you, Mr..."

"John."

"Thank you, John. For everything."

"You're welcome, kid." Wanda turned away from the cab and started to walk to the compound, but the sound of a horn stopped her and brought her back to the cab. "Let me give you one more piece of advice before you go. Even if your friend does blame you, know that it doesn't last forever. Once they start to heal, all that hurt and anger will fade away. If she's a true friend, she'll know how hurt you are and she'll go easy on you. The advice was free, by the way."

Wanda smiled at the middle aged man and thanked him again. John smiled and pulled away from the compound and left. Wanda walked up to the door and took her phone out of her pocket, looking at the time. It was a little after five in the morning. She knew that most of the team would be asleep, except for maybe Steve who spent a lot of time up in the training rooms working out because of his nightmares. She rang the doorbell, hoping that someone was awake to answer her and let her in, but she also didn't want to wake anybody. Suddenly, Vision's voice came over the comm.

"You are trespassing on private property. Please state your business or be on your way before the authorities are called." Wanda sighed; she forgot her ID at the apartment. She pressed the button on the call box, ready to answer Vision.

"Vision, it's me. Please let me in, I forgot my ID." The line was silent and Wanda wasn't sure if Vision heard her or if he was just ignoring her.

"Wanda? Is that you?" the A.I. asked puzzled, confused as to why his teammate was outside of the compound at five in the morning. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" Wanda sighed, getting annoyed. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep.

"Yes, Vision. It's me, Wanda and I know what time it is. Please Vision, open the door." After a moment of more silence, Wanda saw Vision's red and vibranium body phase through the ceiling until he was directly behind the front door. He pressed a button on the wall, unlocking the door, and held it open for her. "Thank you."

"Wanda, what are you doing here at this time of night? Does Jemma know you are here?"

"No, she doesn't, Vision. And I would like to keep it that way. Promise me, that if she asks, you won't tell her I'm here."

"Wanda, I don't think—" Vision said, sounding unsure and uncomfortable.

"Please, Vision," Wanda pleaded. The A.I. sighed and looked into Wanda's green eyes.

"Alright." Wanda hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Vision."

"What are you doing here, Wanda?" he asked again, feeling a little nervous; clearly something happened between her and Jemma.

"I...just needed to get out of there. I don't really want to talk about it, Vision." Vision nodded and led Wanda further inside the compound and up to her room. As they reached her door, Vision placed a hand on Wanda's shoulder, stopping her from entering.

"Wanda, I feel the need to say this. Under the orders of Mr. Stark, if you are to stay here, I cannot permit you to leave the premises. I hope you understand."

"Yeah, I understand, Vision," Wanda said nodding her head in agreement. She turned the doorknob, opening her door, and stepped inside.

"For what it's worth," Vision said causing Wanda to turn back to the A.I. "I'm sorry for what happened earlier today. I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay, Vision. Really, it's water under the bridge." She had almost forgotten about their little fight earlier. So much seemed to happen since then, making it feel like it happened so long ago. Vision nodded and disappeared down the hall, leaving Wanda to get some sleep.

Wandaentered her room and closed the door. Dropping her bag on the floor, she tookher phone and charger and plugged it into the wall before collapsing onto herbed. She didn't bother changing her clothes, and she just laid there, lookingaround at her room. It looked the same since the last time she was there. Shefelt her eyes start to flutter as sleep took over her, and she didn't fight itas it dragged her under.