The Price of Power 2: Kill Confirmed

Chapter 1: Nightmares and Daydreams

"What are you doing up?"

You jump slightly as you feel a pair of arms snake around your torso from behind. You quickly relax again once you realize that it was just Wanda. You hadn't heard her approaching.

"I thought I told you to stop wandering off in the middle of the night." Wanda adds, the sound of her voice muffled as she presses the lower half of her face against your shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep." You say, looking back out at the waves lapping against the beach in the distance. You stood on the balcony of your hotel room, hands gripping the rail in front of you. Barbados was beautiful all the time, but the night was especially peaceful.

It had been nearly six months since the two of you left to travel the world, and it was the best six months of your life. No villains to defeat. No one to tell you what to do or how to do it. Just you and Wanda and a whole globe to explore. It was like you were living a dream.

Wanda rests her chin on your shoulder and looks up at you with concerned eyes. "Again?"

You nod slightly, eyes trained on the line where the ocean met the sky. You hadn't expected dying and coming back to life to be easy, but it has proven to hold very persistent consequences. Ever since that day six months ago, you haven't been able to fully shake the overwhelmingly dark emptiness you felt when Calder pulled the stone out.

It was like whenever you closed your eyes, you were reminded of that void. Sometimes you were awoken by nightmares, and sometimes you just didn't sleep at all. Some days were better than others, though it was getting better with time.

Wanda squeezes you tighter and presses her face against your neck, inhaling deeply. "At least come back to bed. We've got a plane to catch tomorrow." She mumbles tiredly.

A cool breeze blows through your hair. You would miss the sweetness of the ocean air. "Don't remind me." You groan, leaning back against Wanda. "I'm just trying to enjoy this place as much as I can before we go."

This was the last night of your vacation. You had been to countless countries across the the world, and tomorrow, you would be back at the compound doing who knows what for Tony. They were supposed to officially initiate you as an Avenger, whatever that meant.

Wanda presses several soft kisses to your neck. Her warm breath combined with the cool air sent shivers down your spine. "Come back to bed." She whispers against your skin as she begins slowly pulling you backward toward the balcony door.

A small grin pulls at your lips, and after a few stubborn moments, you relinquish your hold on the railing. You let her pull you back inside and she falls back onto the bed, taking you with her.

You turn around so that you were both laying facing each other. Wanda was already looking at you, her eyes full of thought like they usually were. You wondered what she was thinking, but said nothing.

The two of you laid there for a long while just looking at each other. It was like she was daring you to close your eyes.

Eventually, Wanda reaches up to brush a lock of hair behind your ear. "Is it the nightmares again?" She asks in a soft voice. She knew exactly what was wrong. She always did.

You didn't even try to deny it. There was no use. "Just the past couple nights." You reply truthfully. You didn't typically have them every night, and they usually ranged in severity, but they were always about the same thing. The dark, empty void. The nothingness of death.

Wanda's thumb moves to trace your cheekbone gently. Comfortingly. "Why didn't you tell me?" She asks. Not accusingly, just concernedly.

"It was the last few days we had out here. I didn't want you to spend them worrying about me." You say in almost a whisper.

A moment of silence passes as Wanda thinks of the right way to respond. She couldn't be mad at you. She knew that if she were in your shoes, she would have done the same thing. It was out of a place of consideration, not ill-intent.

"No secrets, remember?" She says softly.

You nod. "I know. I'm sorry." You couldn't help but feel guilty though. Not because you didn't tell Wanda about the past couple restless nights, but because you felt like you were passing your problems onto her somehow. You didn't want her to have to carry that weight.

She leans over and presses a gentle kiss to your lips. When she pulls back, you lean forward and press your forehead against hers as you both lay against the pillow. The exhaustion of going the past several nights without much sleep was hitting you all at once.

Like you had so many times before, you use the steady rhythm of Wanda's breathing to lull you to sleep.

Wanda smiles satisfactorily when she finally feels you drift off and settles herself closer next to you. She never felt inconvenienced by what you were going through, just worried. She figured coming back from the dead would come with a price, she just hoped it didn't last long.

Eventually she too drifted off, already dreaming of the next time she could escape with you again.