The Other Widow -Avenger's Soulmate Story

Chapter 23- Strange things

The next few days went by peacefully

Most nights Valentina would sleep with Wanda, Loki, Bucky, or Natasha

Wanda and Loki continued to help her nap during the day by calming her mind

Steve still hadn't let up on her

She had to admit that it hurt, seeing how much he hated her and how he saw her as a monster

But it was valid, she didn't hold it against him

She had done awful things to people, she deserved to be seen in the light Steve saw her in

Besides that, she hadn't gotten to be alone her entire stay

Someone was always with Valentina, meaning there was nothing she could do about the food situation

She had to eat and couldn't do anything about it

She was waiting for the moment Bruce cleared her so she could be back in the gym and start loosing those calories

"Hey" Wanda said as she walked into Valentina's room with Loki and Stephen

"How are you feeling, did you sleep ok?" She asked

"I feel fine, I slept fine too" said Valentina

"You're a terrible liar" Loki said shaking his head

"Come with us, we want you to try something" he said helping her up

Stephen made a hand motion and a portal appeared in the middle of Valentina's room

"It seems awful dark in there" Valentina said

Loki pulled her in with him and Wanda and Stephen followed after them

Once her foot touched solid ground they were in a library

A big library

"Have you ever tried meditation?" Stephen asked

"No, I never had much leisure time as an assassin" Valentina said

The three Avengers looked at each other and went silent

"That was meant to be a joke" Valentina said with a small bit of amusement

They walked over to an open area with candles that were unlit in a circle with a rim of sparkly dust

"This is my usual set up and it's a lot to clean up and set up again so I just leave it as is" Wanda said

"Step inside and take a seat in the middle" Loki said

Valentina sat down cross-legged in the center of Wanda's setup

"Ok close your eyes and take some deep breaths" Stephen directed

He also started up the large chimes which ringed peacefully in the room

"I'm going to enter your mind to help you. Your going to find your core center and once you do, your going to open yourself up to it. You'll know exactly what I mean when you find it" Wanda instructed

With an approving nod from Valentina, they began

Memories began to flash through Valentina's mind

A whirlwind of moments of her life

They're loud and they surround her until everything stops and all of a sudden it's silent

She's in a room, a cell-like room

Something very familiar as to what she spent her childhood in while in Hydra

There was a figure in the corner of the room

It was Valentina, but as a child

The child version of Valentina lifted her face from her knees and looked Valentina with her eyes closed

When she opened her eyes they were glowing purple and Valentina fell into darkness

Outside of Valentina's mind POV (hope that makes sense)

Suddenly Valentina's eyes open and they're glowing purple

Her body floats up while still in her seated position

The candles light up and they, along with the dust, began to come off the ground

They began spinning in circles around her

Valentina's hair begins to glow and fly, her whole body glowing by now

"What's going on?" Loki exclaimed

"I don't know, it was a memory, it triggered something in her" Wanda said with wide eyes

Just as fast as it started, everything stopped

The candles and dust fell immediately and Valentina's body floated back to the floor gently

She closed her eyes and when she opened them again she was back to normal

"What just happened?" Valentina asked quietly

"I don't know" Wanda said

"What was that we saw? It was me as a kid" she asked again

"You don't remember that?" Wanda asked

Valentina shook her head.

"It was a memory" Wanda said

Valentina swallowed hard

"Let's get back to the tower, have Bruce check over you and Wanda to make sure everything's ok" Loki said as he approached Valentina and helped her up

Stephen put his arms around Wanda's waist

"Are you ok?" He asked quietly

"I'm fine, but that was... strange" she said distractedly

"Let's get you to Bruce, just to be safe" he said kissing her head

Stephen created a portal which took them straight to the med bay

Bucky was in there with his shirt off and his arm elevated on a side table thing

"Bucky are you ok? What happened" Wanda asked immediately

"Oh nothing to worry about sweetheart, just getting it recalibrated, been having some heavy training sessions with Steve recently" he explained

"Are you all ok?" He asked

Valentina didn't know what to say

"Fine, just wanted to get these two checked" Loki said looking at Bruce

They sat the two women down immediately and started running tests

"Stress levels seem to be off the chart for Ms. Petrov" Jarvis reported

"Ms. Maximoff seems to be dehydrated and blood sugar is slightly low" he added

Bruce gave Wanda something to drink and eat to hopefully help her regulate

"That doesn't sound so good doll" Bucky said when Jarvis announced his worries

"What exactly happened?" Bruce asked

"I think we should get the others too" Stephen said

Valentina reluctantly nodded in agreement and they all made their way to the common area floor while Jarvis made an announcement to the Avengers