Vanished {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 15

It was the fourth day that Alex had spent in bed, still recovering from her time with Ultron. It was also day four of her Friends marathon and she had just started season nine, something which made Tony threaten to take her DVD player away if she didn't take a break from it.

Feeling more and more restless and tired of seeing the same six faces, Alex had begun testing her strength by teleporting around her room. Tony had somehow gotten Dr Cho's regeneration cradle and was able to use it to heal up Alex's right hand, but he refused to risk using it on her left hand.

The loss of a hand was something Alex had thought about before. When she'd first gotten away from her mother, she'd gone to a hospital for help. The surgeon who fixed Alex had said there was a low chance of her getting out of it with both her hands still working as there was no way to judge the nerve damage. There was also a warning that as she got older, her hands may relapse and more damage could appear. Alex used this to reassure herself at least she didn't have to worry about that happening to her left arm now.

Perhaps it was that which made the loss of it easier; having already come to terms with it happening, Alex didn't feel too depressed or sorry for herself. The initial shock hit her hard and if she looked down to see her residual arm it did sting her heart slightly, but Alex refused to let it hurt her as much as it should. Tony had warned it would get worse but currently, it was like fifth place on the list of things Alex had to worry about.

Someone knocked on the door and Alex mentally ran through who it could be. It was probably Steve, judging by the fact they'd actually knocked, so feeling happier, Alex called for them to enter.

Wanda entered, causing Alex to murmur a swear in surprise. She was wearing a red jacket that Alex was fairly sure belonged to Natasha, which for some reason made Alex feel a little annoyed. She still hadn't seen Natasha and Clint since she got back, making her believe she'd done something wrong because according to Steve, the last time she'd been with them, Alex had panicked for a reason no one was willing to tell her.

Alex tried using her left arm to pause Friends but it was awkward and her elbow was too big to press the small buttons. Again she tried, Wanda stepping forwards as she did so,

"Do you want me to help you?"

"No." Snapped Alex. She switched what she was doing, using her arm to knock the remote closer to her body so she could then use her hand to press pause. It worked, but her right hand shook terribly and the effort put into keeping it still for the second it took to press the right button left Alex feeling exhausted. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to help you get dressed for physio. Stark says you shouldn't be using your hand until the therapy starts incase you over exert yourself."

"It's fine." Covering said shaking hand with her blanket, Alex glared at Wanda who, to her credit, didn't lower her eyes as she spoke again,

"Then let me say sorry. Pietro has already apologised despite me telling him to wait for you to be better, but he's not the only one who has hurt you. You're not the only one whose been put under psychological torture, I know what it feels like and that no one deserves to go through it. I'm apologising for everything I did to you, not just for the things I made you see, although they are what I'm most sorry for."

"Thank you, Wanda. It may take me some more time to fully forgive you, but I do forgive you."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you. You've forgiven me instantly, even after what we have done."

"If I judged you based on past things you've done, it would be hypocritical of me. You're young, you've got time to change and Pietro's reassured me you will."