whereianonymouslypostfics

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Growing Pains Part 8

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~11.5k

Summary: Little Nat is almost 13 and school’s a bitch. Retired mob boss turned stay-at-home mom Wanda has to figure out how to deal with bullies at her daughter’s school. 

A/N: More Little Nat and pups.

Warnings: Fluff, teen angst, injury, reference to previous injury/trauma, bullies, and mentions medicinal drug use, sickness

Natalya hasn’t been this excited to go to school in a long time. She won’t deny that there’s an undercurrent of worry nagging at her, but it’s mostly being overwhelmed by the fact that she gets to have her dog at school with her. She spent almost an hour after dinner last night going over rules with her moms, but the most important one was that if she felt Rogue was uncomfortable enough to be a danger to anyone, she was to leave and find a quiet, place away from people. 

Nat has to remind herself to slow down as she walks toward the school. She knows that Rogue can keep up with her, but she wants to be kind to him since he’s doing her a huge favor. She has a bag full of his treats, some his normal and a few of his special ones that always get his attention. Then she brought a large blanket so he wouldn’t have to rest on the tile floor all day long. 

She scratches his head and she smiles as he looks up at her and licks her hand. His tail is wagging and his tongue is out as he follows her toward the hill. His vest is on and he’s looking every part the service dog as he follows Nat’s lead to the principal’s office. 

Another condition that had been given by Ms. Lewis was that she’d like to do a brief meet and greet with Rogue before school started. Nat knew that he was going to be well-behaved for this, but hopefully it would be quick and she could visit her friends before class. 

“Ms. Lewis?”

Natalya taps her dog’s nose and he sits as she waits to be called into the office. It only takes a second but she’s surprised to have the door opened for her. She offers the blonde a smile as she walks inside once she’s waved toward the seat in front of the desk. She tries not to feel like she’s in trouble as she sits down and tells Rogue to do the same. He listens and looks around the room for a bit before turning to the person in front of him. 

Despite not being medicated for his day at school, you and Wanda both decided that you should put a few protective measures in place. You made sure that Little Nat had the tracking app on her phone that would help her locate Rogue using his GPS collar. You didn’t think he would get out and run off, but you believed that if you didn’t prepare for it, it was more likely to happen. Secondly, you sent Natalya to school with two medications. One was an anti-anxiety medication and the other was an oral sedative. You hoped she wouldn’t need them, but you wanted her to have them just in case. You’d told her to call you if anything happened and you’d tell her which medication to give. 

That said, as Rogue just sits looking relaxed and content as she talks to her principal, Nat’s hoping she won’t have to use anything of Rogue’s today other than his treats. 

Amy Lewis sits behind her desk and watches the rather large, but calm dog sit down beside Natalya. She had second guessed her decision to let this happen a few times last night, but she’d been reassured by Wanda yesterday that Nat would be properly prepared and take this seriously. She knew it was a privilege that could be revoked, and that she had to follow all of the rules. 

Be that as it may, it wasn’t a bad idea to just check in, meet her dog, and confirm that they were on the same page about some things. 

“Are you and Rogue ready for today?” 

Amy watches as Natalya smiles widely before she nods and starts to explain how she’s been prepared for today. She talks about everything she brought for her dog, and how she was going to take him out after every other class. Nat also mentions that she had been given meds by her vet mom just in case, but she was sure she wouldn’t need them. 

“That all sounds good, Natalya. The only thing I’ll add is that he can’t be in the cafeteria.” 

Natalya nods and she reaches out to scratch her dog’s head with an adoring look. He wouldn’t like to be in such a loud crowded place anyway. He’ll eat outside with her on the hill. 

“Yes, ma’am, and thank you for letting me have him here.” 

As Nat looks up at her, she notices the several bruises on her face for the first time. She figures those must be from the paintball incident, and she feels a twinge of sadness at the thought of Nat being tormented for so long. She had talked to her boss yesterday and argued for Stacy’s expulsion, or at the very least lengthening her suspension, but the superintendent had told her no. She was frustrated and felt defeated for not being able to help Natalya out. She hoped that at least Rogue’s presence at school would deter Stacy from continuing to pick on her. 

That said, she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to keep him here on the reasoning they’re using now. She might actually have to go to a doctor and get official paperwork, but for now, she was just going to see how this went for the next couple of days. 

“Of course, Natalya. Let me know if you need anything today, okay?” 

She wants to say more, but as she watches her leave with her dog and a smile she’s probably not had here for a while, she realizes that for now, this is enough. 

Taylor’s practically bouncing in excitement as she walks around the halls looking for her friend. She barely talked to her yesterday because she’d been in such a funk, but she was hoping that she felt better today. When Taylor spots her friend, she stops short when she realizes she’s not alone. One of her dogs is with her and he’s wearing a service vest. She has a lot of questions, but first she needs to check in and see how she’s doing. 

“Nat!” 

Both Nat and Rogue turn at the sound of Nat’s name, and Rogue’s tail is already wagging when he spots a familiar face. Nat’s quickly swept up in a hug and she laughs when it’s cut short so her friend can get a good look at her. 

“How are you feeling? You need to get ungrounded so you can read my many texts.” 

Nat actually did get her phone back this morning, but it was just to be used for emergencies. She tells Taylor that she saw the messages but she was too worried about getting in trouble to reply to them. Nat realizes she should ask about this, but it’s Friday already and she’s almost finished with her grounding. She wishes she could have a sleep over with her friends this weekend, but she’s not going to push it. She’s exhausted from this week, and she’s not sure if staying up all night would be the best idea. 

Eventually she shrugs and mentions how her face is a little sore, but she’s fine otherwise. She’s glad to have her dog here with her. When she mentions this, Taylor looks to the dog by her friend’s side and she holds out her hand to him with a smile.

“Yeah, I noticed. Hi bud. What are you doing here?” 

Rogue takes the opportunity to lick and then rub his head on Taylor’s hand in a request for pets which is quickly granted. Nat smiles widely as she tells Taylor about what transpired in the past 24 hours. 

“Yeah, my mom apparently went to the office yesterday after dropping me off, and requested that he come to school with me.  I think she’s hoping that he will scare Stacy.” 

Taylor hums as she thinks about this. She briefly glances to other students that walk by them with slightly curious and confused, but she ignores them for now. She’s sure this will happen a lot, but given that Rogue’s wearing a large sign that says, do not pet, she doesn’t think he’ll be bothered. 

“That’s a good plan. I love it. He gets to stay here for good?” 

Nat shrugs as she mentions that it depends on how he does today. The sight of Luke coming down the hall distracts both brunettes and Taylor stops petting Rogue which makes him huff in annoyance. He looks around to see if anyone else will pet him, but everyone seems to be ignoring him. He spots Luke as soon as Taylor calls him over. 

“Hey Luke. Look who’s here.” 

Luke’s smiling widely as he reaches out for one of his favorite shepherds. He pauses though when he notices his get up and he shoots Nat a questioning look while trying to ignore Rogue’s pleas for attention. 

“Hey there, bud! It—is it cool to pet him?” 

Luke looks around as he asks this but Nat shakes her head before reaching into her pocket to grab one of the treats she has there. She hands it to her friend and watches as Rogue follows the movement carefully before he begins sniffing furiously. 

“Of course. He wouldn’t let you not pet him honestly. That’s just for everyone else really.” 

Once they find Alyssa and everyone’s greeted Rogue, it’s time for the first class to start. Nat tries to ignore the looks she gets and sits in her usual seat in the corner of the classroom. She takes out the blanket she’d brought for Rogue from her backpack and folds it a couple of times before setting it down beside her. She tells Rogue to sit before giving him another treat when he obeys. She tries not to worry about how class will go, and as she glances down at her dog to see him looking around curiously, she hopes that he does well. 

Wanda’s flitting around the house anxiously as soon as she returns from dropping off Rogue and Natalya. She realizes that she’s been so excited about figuring out a solution for Natalya, that she hadn’t really considered this could go poorly. You’d discussed it last night, but even then, Wanda was just so eager to provide her daughter with some form of comfort that she didn’t really put too much thought into it. However, after dropping Rogue off, she realized that he’ll be at school all day meaning he won’t be able to get a break away from people until he came home. 

Honestly, Natalya sometimes didn’t do well at school all day, but she just sent a nearly 17-year-old sedentary dog there for the unforeseeable future. The only thing keeping her from driving back to pick him up was Natalya’s excitement and reassurance that she can handle this. She might almost be outweighed by him, but Rogue listened to her and she had a lot of treats. She knew him well and could tell when he was uncomfortable, so she was hoping that this would be enough to keep things calm. Wanda would have no way of knowing unless Nat called. She had been told to call you if something happened, but she’s certain that she’d find out one way or another. 

So Wanda was trying to spend her day being productive, and not worry too much about what was going on at her daughter’s school. She certainly missed having Rogue around to keep her company, but at least Fletcher was being attentive today. She must know that it was just her today and she was trying to take advantage of being alone. She’s already helped her clean the house and figure out what to make everyone for dinner. Now all that was left for Wanda to do was relax and prepare to infiltrate the PTA on Tuesday. 

She doesn’t realize that she falls asleep until she gets a text from you around lunch time. She wakes up on the couch to Fletcher making biscuits on her stomach. She somehow recognizes what’s happening half awake and she manages to stop herself from rolling over and dumping Fletcher onto the floor. She’s done that before and her cat had been upset with her for hours afterward. Wanda takes a moment to scratch Fletcher’s chin before she sits up and grabs her phone. She stifles a yawn as she reads your text message. 

I’m coming home early.

Wanda frowns in confusion and she checks the clock to see that it’s only 12:30. She’s tempted to call you and ask if anything is wrong, but she figures that if something was wrong you would call her. She supposes she’ll see you when you get here. She spends the time until you get home making lunch for the two of you, and she’s nearly finished when she hears the garage door open. She goes to greet you, but you beat her to it and almost hit her with the door. You jump in surprise before shooting your wife an apologetic look. 

“Oh, sorry Wands. Boone, watch out!” 

You sigh in defeat as your dog practically charges past you to get into the house. He runs into the living room and finds Fletcher still on the couch. You look away before you can see him lick his sister’s face only to get batted on the nose in retaliation. 

“Hey, Y/n, are you feeling, okay?” 

You smile widely as you lead Wanda back toward the kitchen, and you’re nodding before you even decide what you’re going to say. Honestly, you’d been completely useless for the few hours that you’d been at work. It was an admin day for you, so you didn’t have the pressure of seeing clients as motivation to help you focus. You immediately realized that you were going to spend most of your day worrying about how Nat and Rogue are doing at school, and by the third time you tried to start the same task, you decided to call it a day. You had texted your wife so she wouldn’t be caught off guard, and you’d promptly packed up your things, grabbed your dog and returned home. Boone was a little confused, but he forgot all about your unexpected departure when you let him stick his head out of the window on the ride home. 

Now that you were here, you were hoping to eat, relax and not think too much about how your daughter was doing at school. It was nearly lunch time and you hadn’t heard from her yet. You’re going to take this as a good thing, and continue to resist the urge to text your daughter and check in. 

“Yeah, I just couldn’t focus for shit, Wanda. Are you also fretting?” 

You shoot Wanda a knowing smile before you reach into the fridge to grab a snack. You hear your wife sigh and her grip on your hand tightens as you shut the fridge and turn back toward her. She gestures to the food that was lying on the counter that she’s put together, and you smile widely before putting your snack back in the fridge. You look back to your wife, and you honestly don’t need her to answer your question to know that she’s also had trouble focusing today, but you let her confirm your suspicions. 

Wanda follows your lead to the living room and watches as you fall onto the couch with a sigh. You wait for her to sit beside you before you start to eat the lunch she’d made you both.

“I haven’t been able to think about anything else. She hasn’t contacted you, has she?” 

You shake your head and finish chewing before you tell Wanda that you hadn’t heard from her all day. Despite looking worried as well, Wanda realizes this must be a good thing. She takes a deep breath and decides to try and relax with you. You smile when she leans against you to share your food. You hand the bowl to her and sigh heavily as you stretch out and close your eyes. You’re going to sit here with your wife for a bit, and then maybe you’ll get outside and try to clear your mind. 

Your daughter knows to call if she needs anything, so for now you’re going to believe that everything is going well. 

Natalya sighs heavily as she lies back on the grass beside her dog and friends. She’s tired from her morning of classes because she’d actually paid attention for a majority of them. She wasn’t sure why, but having Rogue sitting beside her, and briefly with his head in her lap, was relaxing beyond words. She was able to actually follow the lessons and participate now and then when she wanted to. 

Now it was lunch time and she and her dog deserved a break, and in Rogue’s case, a handful of treats. 

Taylor looks to where her exhausted friend is lying with her dog’s head on her stomach. He looks tired, but he’s still alert as he takes a moment to rest away from the noise of the classroom. She’s impressed by how well he did in the one class she had with Nat. After greeting her again and getting a few pets, he spent the rest of the class lying down at Nat’s side. He actually started snoring quietly at one point, but since it was after they’d broken up into small groups, Nat had let him be. Luke and Alyssa are seated beside their friend already starting to eat their lunches. The sound of plastic crinkling causes Rogue’s eyes to open and he’s immediately interested. 

“So, how’s he doing so far, Nat?” 

Nat opens her eyes and sits up with a wide smile as she reaches out to pet her dog that she’s jostled. He doesn’t seem bothered though because as he sits up, he smells something delicious that he’s going to try to get some of. Nat keeps him from begging for food though by giving him one of the snacks she’d packed him this morning. It was mostly carrots and other vegetables that he likes to eat from his mom’s garden when she’s not looking. Nat sets it in front of him and he immediately sticks his face in it as he chows down. 

Nat smiles proudly as she pats her dog’s head before reaching for her own lunch. She’s surprisingly hungry and she hopes that she can eat now and not have to worry about heating anything up. She doesn’t want to walk to the cafeteria, but she can leave Rogue here if she has to. Her friends will watch him.

“He’s done so well! He mostly slept and ate treats.” 

All of her friends smile at this and the way that Rogue looks up with a carrot in his mouth as if he knows that he’s being talked about. Nat scratches him before she takes out her phone to see if her parents have texted her. She knows that they were nervous about this and she wants to text them to say that things are going well so far. She takes a moment to do this before taking back Rogue’s empty container and placing it in her backpack. Most of the food he’s dropped on the grass and Nat just rolls her eyes as she watches him chew messily on his snack.

“Such a good boy.” 

You’re sitting outside with your dog when the text comes from Natalya. You and Wanda have a group text with her, so both of your phones going off at the same time is a pretty good indicator of who’s trying to contact you. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Wanda reach for her phone at a speed that belies her calm expression. You don’t bother to grab yours because you’re sure that your wife will share what Natalya has to say. You wait patiently, watching as Boone brings back his frisbee and offers it to you with an enthusiastic lick that makes you cringe a little. 

“Thanks bud.” 

“Natalya says everything is going great.”

You turn when Wanda says this and you can’t help but smile at the wide, relieved smile that greets you. You get up and walk over to her after throwing the frisbee once more, and you sit down with a relieved sigh. Glancing at the phone in Wanda’s hand, you see that Nat’s sent you both a cute picture of Rogue. He’s eating something orange, likely carrots on the grass during lunch time. He looks relaxed and you both are glad to see it. 

Still, you know you’ll be a little on edge until you see both your daughter and dog walk through the door safe and sound. 

Luckily, you and Wanda are able to kill time the rest of the afternoon relaxing together. Well first she had to stop you from literally pacing the halls by taking you and Boone out for a walk. Once dinner was made and it was getting closer to time for Nat to be finished with school, you both decided to go pick her up. 

She wouldn’t be going to practice again until at least next week, so it was mid-afternoon, instead of early evening when you and Wanda pulled up to the car circle. The sight of Rogue sitting calmly beside Natalya made both of you smile widely, gratefully. 

You throw open the back door and Rogue takes the hint to jump in the back and Natalya gets in beside him with a bright smile. 

“Hi Moms! How was your day?” 

Both you and Wanda think about this briefly before deciding to be a little vague. You don’t want Nat to know how stressed you were about her taking Rogue to school today. Even though Wanda’s baked cookies and lemon bars, and you’re tense from the worry, you don’t want to say this outright. Instead, you turn to offer your daughter a smile as Wanda starts to head home. 

“It’s Friday, so it was great! How was yours? Rogue do well?” 

Natalya had already told you that he did well, but you were hoping for a little more detail than what her text had said. You watch her smile widen as she reaches out to pet her panting dog with a nod. Rogue’s sniffing around for treats on the blanket that Nat had dragged to school for him. He looks content yet eager to be going back home as he looks out the window and watches their progress. 

“He did! He just slept most of the time I was in class, and he hung out with us outside for lunch. Ms. Lewis said he can come back on Monday!” 

You notice Wanda smile out of the corner of your eye, but you decide to focus on your daughter right now. You’re glad that this test run seemed to work well, but the real determining factor would be how Rogue reacts if, when, Stacy returned to school and tried to confront Natalya. You try not to worry about this now because you want to bask in your daughter’s happiness that has been absent for nearly the past week. You spend the rest of the ride chatting with Nat about her day, and by the time Wanda’s pulling into the driveway, you can tell your daughter is getting tired. She’d had a busy, exciting day. 

The back door opens as Wanda stops short of the garage like she usually does when one of the dogs is waiting for them. Boone had been inside when you left, but he likely decided to wait for his brother to return outside while the weather was still nice. 

You watch as Rogue gets out of the car to greet the other shepherd before Nat shuts the door and waits for her mom to finish the short ride. 

“Do you have a lot of homework, milaya?” 

Wanda asks this as you all get out of the car, and she’s distracted enough by Nat’s answer to miss you cringe as you stand up. You curse under your breath before cursing yourself once again at the fact that you’d been so tense all day. This was murder on your back and you knew that if you didn’t sit down, or do something relatively low-activity the rest of the day, you’d find yourself on the third floor again. 

You wait for the dogs to come inside before shutting the garage door and following your family into the house. You smell your wife’s wonderful baking, and you’re not surprised in the least to see Nat in the kitchen eating one of the lemon bars. 

“Is there anything I can help cook for dinner?” 

Her gaze wanders to all of the pots and pans still out drying because she has a feeling that most of the cooking has been done. Wanda hides a blush at her very obvious stress habit before she shakes her head in response. She reconsiders however when she realizes that there is something she could help with if she wanted to.

“Nothing left for tonight, but if you want, we can get started on something for tomorrow?” 

Tomorrow’s weekly dinner was going to be at Nat and Yelena’s place just down the road, and when Natalya remembers this, she can’t help but cheer excitedly. She loved going there because her aunts would always have some new animal there to show her. Yelena had a tendency to foster a lot of animals at once, and although Natasha wasn’t as excited about it all, she helped out a lot. If she’d had access to her phone, she would certainly see that her aunt texted her a hint about what would be waiting for her. It usually came in the form of an emoji, but tomorrow would just have to be a surprise. 

You end up just watching Natalya and Wanda make a dish for the weekly dinner. You’d offered to help, but Wanda had told you that it was fine. She’d suggested you should sit in a way that told you that you probably hadn’t hidden your tense muscles as well as you’d hoped. For this reason, you didn’t protest, and you just admired the sight of your wife and daughter cooking together seamlessly. 

You don’t realize that your smile shifts downward as you look at your daughter’s face a little more closely. The bruises look angrier today and you hate the sight of the bright purple dots spread across the right side of her face. You don’t realize you’re caught staring until Wanda hands you a spoonful of something. You don’t even know what it is, but you take the offering and look away before you can see your wife’s questioning look. 

Dinner passes in a similar manner. Natalya does most of the talking, but that’s fine with you because you can’t help but be distracted tonight. You’re thinking of the long-term plan that you and Wanda discussed, and you just hope that it’s going to be enough to keep your daughter safe. 

You honestly just wish you knew why Stacy was even bothering your daughter at all. Of course there were a lot of petty, middle-schooler reasons, but without a definitive answer, you couldn’t help but wonder if your efforts, Wanda’s efforts, would yield any positive results. 

Stacy Jenkins scowls as she sits on her bed and glances around her very pink room. Her gaze lands on the vanity mirror atop her dresser that holds far more beauty products that someone her age really needs. They’re scattered haphazardly on to the surface of the dresser, and despite telling herself that she was going to use this time off of school to clean it up, she hadn’t bothered yet. 

She was still slightly miffed about being suspended. Despite knowing that she was going to get in trouble eventually, and honestly, she’d expected it a lot sooner, she was still upset. Her parents hadn’t talked to her much more about it when they all arrived home. Her Dad had given her one of his disappointed looks that usually only led to the normal amount of avoidance that she experienced. He went back to work after telling her once again that she needed to leave Natalya alone. As if that was going to do any good. 

Stacy wishes she had her phone. At least then she could distract herself from thoughts of school with something mindless. She pouts at the fact that her mom had taken it and told her she wouldn’t get it back for an entire week. At the time she couldn’t tell if it was true, or if it would be waiting for her on the kitchen counter Monday morning. It depended on how upset her parents were, or rather quickly they became distracted by something else and completely forgot about her. 

Sometimes there were benefits to having her parents be so busy, but most of the time Stacy just felt lonely. 

Her father was in charge of his own tech company that made him enough money that they often were able to take extravagant vacations over the summer. Sometimes she was gone for the entire summer on a cruise or vacationing in Italy. She enjoyed these times the most because it was the only time her dad wasn’t working. Sure, he was thinking about work because he couldn’t go an hour without doing so, but at least he wasn’t working long hours and missing dinner most nights. 

Her mom didn’t even seem to mind. She worked as well, but it was mostly volunteering and school-related tasks. She didn’t have to work for money, and Stacy’s honestly not sure what her mom would do if she chose to get a job. She’d written a book, years and years ago, while she was still in diapers, but nothing since. 

Stacy hadn’t even read it despite the fact that there were at least two copies on the expansive bookshelf downstairs in the living room. 

Still, other than taking her to and from school, and briefly for dinner, Stacy didn’t see her mom much more than she saw her dad. Most of her time was spent in her room, on her phone or doing homework. She rarely hung out with friends on the weekends, and she didn’t have any siblings to spend time with. 

Stacy was used to being alone. 

That wasn’t to say that she particularly enjoyed it. 

At school she was social, and she had a group of followers that she was friendly with. She was used to being popular because of who her parents were, but she could only name a couple people that she truly felt close to. That said, they weren’t close enough to spend time together outside of school. This left her alone anytime she wasn’t at school which left her with too much time on her hands to wonder why she had no real friends. 

She gets to her feet and stomps over to the dresser before her thoughts venture too far down that familiar dark path. She stares at the assortment of makeup in front of her and sighs before she starts to organize all of it. Loosely organize it all. 

She spends a few minutes doing this before she glances up at the mirror and frowns. She stares at herself for a moment before scowling at the sight of a few spots of glitter on her face. She had to admit that Natalya’s prank was a good one. Mostly because she herself hated glitter and getting it off of her face of all places with a difficult task that still wasn’t complete 3 days later. She stops at the thought of the brunette that she would see on Monday. 

Nat was never one to really speak up or even stand up for herself. She was a loner and Stacy had figured this out within weeks of starting school over 2 years ago. She’d left her alone until this year, and if someone else asked her why she’d changed her mind, she’d be hard pressed to tell them the true reason. 

She frowns and furrows her brows at the thought before she squeezes the makeup sponge in her hand into her fist. She knows why she chose Nat to pick on. She just refused to admit it. 

When Stacy realizes that she has foundation all over her hand she shakes her head before heading to the bathroom. She’s going to have to deal with her problems at some point, but for now she’d rather ignore them and focus on someone else’s. 

She’s just not sure how long she’ll be able to. 

When you take your medications right after dinner instead of when your reminder goes off, Wanda realizes that you’re still in pain. She knows that this can happen when you’re stressed, but she hadn’t thought it was this bad. When she wakes up the next morning to find that you’re not in bed, she wonders where you are. It’s only 6am on a Saturday and she sincerely hopes that you hadn’t needed to go smoke this early. She sits up and sees that your phone is still here, so you couldn’t have gone too far, and she sighs before throwing off the covers and slipping out of bed.

She walks down the familiar hallway to the staircase that leads to the third floor, but she stops short at one of the spare bedrooms. A door is opened when usually they’re all shut, so she peeks inside the room and is surprised to find you fast asleep with Boone lying on the floor beneath you. He looks up at her and his tail starts to thud against the floor, but Wanda just slips back out into the hall and heads back to her room. 

She’ll have to ask why you hadn’t made it back to the bedroom later, but for now she was going to try to sleep for a little while longer. This doesn’t go completely according to plan because Rogue sneaks in only about 30 minutes after Wanda’s returned to bed. He must have heard her and decided that it was late enough to beg for breakfast. Wanda groans under her breath when she turns to see him looking at her with big sad eyes from where he’s standing beside the bed watching her. She tries to get him to jump up in your spot, but instead, he just whines and lies down at her side. She tries to sleep for only 15 minutes more before she feels bad about leaving him hanging. 

Wanda sneaks downstairs and fills up the dogs’ food bowls. It takes her a couple of minutes to make sure that she gets their meds right. She’s barely conscious enough to remember that one of their medications is in the fridge. 

Once she triple-checks to make sure they’re right, she turns to the two dogs and puts their respective bowls in front of them. They eat quickly, as usual, and then Wanda lets them outside before she hurries to start some coffee. It’s barely 7am, but she’s not sure she’s going to attempt to go back to sleep. She might sit outside, despite the chill. 

“Mama?” 

Wanda jumps and nearly drops the creamer in her hand when she hears her daughter’s voice. She hadn’t realized that the younger Maximoff was awake, and she spins around in surprise at the fact that she’s downstairs already. Wanda glances to the clock before she turns back to Natalya who looks as confused as she does. If Wanda’s not mistaken, she looks a little worried as well. 

“Natalya, what are you doing up already?” 

If she had to guess, it was the dogs who woke her up, but it’s still rare for Natalya to come downstairs before the sun’s up, especially on a weekend. She hadn’t even started cooking yet, so it’s not as if the smell of food had lured her. 

Natalya frowns as she looks to the back door where the dogs had left through a few minutes ago. She’d woken up when Rogue had left her room to bother her mom for breakfast. She had planned to go back to sleep, but she had to take a trip to the bathroom. On the way there, she noticed that you were asleep in one of the guest rooms. The door had been wide open, and she’d started to shut it until she saw you fast asleep. She can’t remember ever seeing you sleep somewhere other than with Wanda. One time you’d slept on the couch, but that had been years ago. 

She couldn’t help but worry that something was wrong, and after trying and failing to fall back asleep she decided to try and figure out what was going on. 

Nat shifts nervously as she watches Rogue amble back inside and shake himself out with a yawn. She turns back to her mom who’s still watching her and waiting for an explanation. 

“Are you and Mom fighting?” 

Wanda hadn’t been expecting this question and she doesn’t hide her surprise well. That said, she doesn’t need to consider the question very long, and she shakes her head before setting the creamer on the counter with a frown. 

“No, milaya. We’re not. What made you think that we were?” 

As soon as the question is out of her mouth, she realizes that her daughter must have seen you sleeping in the guest room. She has to admit that this hasn’t happened except maybe once before. That was years ago when your doctor was still trying to figure out which pain meds to put you on. Those first months of trial and error had been brutal for you, and tough for Wanda as she watched you struggle with your pain. She was grateful that Yelena had introduced the idea of smoking pot to you, and even though it took a few more months for you to find a good combination of meds, you definitely had been better off. 

The other time that she’d banished you to the guest room was before Natalya was around. She had been pregnant and very moody at the time, and she’d claimed that your breathing was making her nauseous, so you’d left to the guest room. She’d only felt bad immediately, and she’d snuck into bed with you only an hour later. 

Natalya seems to consider this before she shrugs and mentions what Wanda had suspected her to. She’d apparently noticed you sleeping somewhere else and hadn’t realized what the real reason was. Wanda honestly didn’t know the real reason either, but she could guess. 

“I think she was worried about keeping me up.” 

An hour later, you’re woken up by the smell of breakfast and coffee from downstairs. You roll over with a sigh and wait as you shift carefully to see how you’re feeling. You’d woken up only an hour after going to sleep and you’d realized that it was going to be a long night of tossing and turning if you didn’t do something about it. You’d gone upstairs to smoke, but even then, you hadn’t felt great, so you’d retreated to one of the guest rooms to try and sleep it off. You didn’t like sleeping alone, especially when Wanda was just down the hall, but you’d been worried about waking her up, or ending up worse off in the morning. You’d stretched and slept in a weird position to try and alleviate some of the tightness in your muscles. 

You’re grateful as you roll over and sit up that you feel almost as good as new. You sometimes remember how you’d felt nearly 15 years ago without any pain, but you never dwell on that long. There was really no point, and honestly, things could be much worse. You were going to be grateful that you were pain free now, and not complain. 

You wander down the hall to your bedroom and make a quick stop to the bathroom to brush your teeth since you still taste like weed. You reemerge to see your daughter and Wanda sitting in the living room with the dogs, and since she’s on the couch facing you, Wanda sees you immediately. She smiles and you skip a few steps to reach her quicker which of course makes her roll her eyes. 

“Y/n, really? You’re going to fall on your face one of these days.” 

You shake your head before you reach out to hug your daughter with a smile. You kiss her hair before releasing her so she can finish her second breakfast. You turn your attention to your wife and sit beside her on the couch with a sigh. You don’t even bother telling Wanda that the only time you’ve ever fallen down these stairs was when you were drunk or high, or when you were tripped by your wife’s demon cat. 

“Not a chance, Wands.” 

Wanda shakes her head but she accepts your hug and then the several kisses to her cheek before your lips meet hers. You’re smiling widely and Wanda squeezes you one last time before shooting you a questioning look. Your answer comes in the form of you jumping up and heading to the kitchen to get yourself breakfast. 

“I’m starving! Do either of you want anything? Oh my gosh you made waffles? I love you!” 

Both Maximoffs watch in awe and admiration as you run to the kitchen with the dogs on your heels. Natalya is convinced that what Wanda had said earlier was true because you seemed perfectly happy, and not at all angry with anything at all. You sneak a couple pieces of something to the shepherds, and immediately look up to see if Wanda noticed. Which of course she did. She stands up and grabs her coffee mug with a sigh. She could use a refill. 

“Coffee, please?” 

You smile and offer a small nod before you reach out for Wanda’s mug and go to fill it for her. While you’re doing that, Wanda’s heating up syrup for you and she even goes to the fridge to get your whipped cream. You’re surprised when you turn around to see it sitting on the counter next to your plate. Your confused look is enough to make Wanda chuckle, and she just kisses your cheek before shrugging and taking her coffee from you. 

“Just don’t overdo it, love.”

You scoff at the mere idea of getting a sugar high and ruining your chances of being in your wife���s good graces for this weekend. That said, you are putting a hefty amount on your waffles when your daughter makes her way to the kitchen. She’s watching you as she stands at the bar top, and you grin before tilting the can toward her with a mischievous glint in your eye. 

“Would you like some, Little Nat? Not this much, but a healthy amount?” 

You don’t have to see Wanda’s face to know that she’s rolling her eyes, but you don’t mind this morning. You’re feeling much better, and more importantly so is your daughter. You’re glad to see her smile, and even happier when she points up as she leans her head back, and you both get the joy of watching Wanda’s horrified expression when you spray the whipped cream directly into Natalya’s mouth. 

“Y/n!” 

The rest of the day is more enjoyable than expected. The weather’s nice and you spend most of the day outside either walking or working in the garden with Wanda. Even Natalya ventures past the fence to help her moms harvest the rest of the season’s vegetables. She sneaks a couple of green beans to her dogs when Wanda’s not looking, and you can’t help but snort at the fact that you’re not the one breaking the rules this time.

You’re not going to tell on Little Nat though, and when you and Wanda sit down later to watch a movie, you ‘forget’ that Natalya’s grounded and she ends up joining you. Then the three of you get ready to head over to Nat and Yelena’s for dinner.

You frown slightly as you try to coax your dog up to follow you to the garage. Rogue is already on Wanda’s heels, but Boone doesn’t seem interested in leaving his bed. You reach out to pet him a little and he shifts with a loud ‘harumph’ before settling once again. You figure that he’s just not feeling it tonight, so you kiss the top of his head and hurry to grab a treat from the pantry. 

“Y/n?”

Wanda had just noticed that you weren’t behind her, and now that both Natalya and Rogue are in the car, she turns around to see what’s keeping you. She frowns when she sees you leave Boone with a treat, before scratching his ears one last time. You stand up and when you turn to face her, she can tell that you’re a little worried. Despite trying to hide it with a smile, Wanda sees you running through the possible reasons why Boone’s not up for one of his favorite activities of the week. 

“Is he okay?” 

Wanda doesn’t realize that it’s a loaded question until you just sigh with a shrug. He could just be tired, but today had been an easy day, so you can’t help but fear that something else is bothering your dog. That said, he looked fine and you had to remind yourself that he was getting older. Maybe he just didn’t feel like socializing tonight. You still made a mental note to not be gone too long tonight, just in case. 

“I’m sure he’s just tired.” 

Wanda can tell you’re not entirely convinced, but she doesn’t want you to worry too much. She grabs your hand before leading you to the car with a small smile. Boone will be fine here. He can sleep or spend some time with his sister. Not to mention, Rogue will certainly get most of the attention tonight, which he loves. 

When you arrive to your friends’ house, you’re not surprised to see Yelena out in the front yard with two dogs and something else in her lap. As soon as you park the car, Natalya’s running out to greet her aunt, but she makes a pit stop at the dogs when they swarm her first. You smile and Wanda watches in amusement as Nat smothers her aunt with a hug that the blonde doesn’t even pretend to dislike. 

“Aunt Yelena! Hi! Who’s this??” 

You realize that whatever Yelena had been holding earlier had been set on one of the deck chairs. Specifically on a small bed. As you lead Wanda to the front door, you can’t help but feel your heart rate pick up at the sight of the adorable puppy. How your friend hadn’t told you about this, you’ll have to find out later. 

Yelena smiles and turns as the front door opens only a few seconds later. It appears that everyone’s realized that they’ve arrived. 

To her credit, Natalya hugs her other aunt and then Steve before she takes the offered puppy with wide eyes. Yelena is just explaining how she is fostering him for the next couple of months, as you meet Natasha for a hug. You can’t help but scoff and mutter under your breath. 

“A couple of months she says. Fast forward to three years later…” 

Nat laughs at this and after everyone exchanges hugs, you follow Natalya inside the house where she wanders around a little aimlessly with the lab puppy in her arms. She’s not sure where to put him, but she also doesn’t really want to put him down any time soon. 

She smiles when Rogue follows her to the kitchen, but stops when he realizes she’s got another dog in her arms. He comes up to investigate and Nat cautiously holds out the sleeping puppy to him with a smile. 

“Isn’t he cute?” 

Rogue simply sniffs him before huffing and heading toward the food. He didn’t seem to care about the other dog nearly as much as second dinner. 

Natalya ends up placing the puppy in his crate during dinner, but she still keeps an eye on him from the other side of the room. Once the food is set out on the table and everyone is seated, you can’t help but sigh in relief. It’s the host’s turn to sit next to Natalya, so you’re beside Bucky and Steve tonight. You turn to your left when Bucky nudges you to get your attention. You half expect him to present you with another weird object for Natalya, but he just shoots you a curious look. 

“Where’s the other fur baby?” 

You can’t help but smile at the question, but it turns down a little at the thought of your dog at home. You hope he’s alright. Your smile returns too quickly for Wanda who’s sitting across from you to notice it’s absence, and you shoot her a brief look before answering Bucky with a quiet groan. 

“Well, I’m sure Fletcher is up to her normal mischief. She’s probably shredding my favorite hoodie again, or peeing on my pillow. Boone, the perfect angel, wasn’t in the mood to grace us with his presence tonight. He was too comfortable to move.” 

Bucky laughs at this and steals a glance at Wanda who of course is scowling at your character assassination of her cat. Bucky can’t argue against this though, but he can see the concern hiding behind your humor. He hopes that the old dog is just tired, and it’s nothing more. The years he spent watching you dote on your dog and have him follow you everywhere told him how important he was to you. He’d been with you for an important part of your life, and Natalya had grown up with him. Both dogs. 

It was difficult to think of them not being around.

He glances to Kit who’s currently in the living room batting Fanny II in the face. Bucky’s not sure he could even think about not having the anxious dog in his life, and he’s only been with him for a few years compared to your nearly 16. Bucky stops mid-sip when he realizes how old the dogs really are. How has time passed so quickly? 

An hour later, you get drawn into a conversation about Steve getting a cat, and you have already made plans for him to meet one that’s up for adoption at your clinic. You tell him all about her and show the many, many pictures you have on your phone when something your brother-in-law says catches your attention. 

“What’s wrong with a movie?” 

You frown in confusion as you watch the older Maximoff scowl at his sister in offense. You turn to Wanda to see her shake her head with a shrug that does nothing to hide her true feelings about her brother’s choice. You don’t get to ask anything further about Pietro’s apparent date before your phone goes off. 

“Nothing’s wrong with it, Piet, but do you want to do that first? Wouldn’t you rather do something that lets you get to know her first?” 

You stifle your laugh at your brother-in-law’s look before he seems to consider what Wanda’s said. Steve’s still looking at the cute calico’s pictures on your phone when it starts to vibrate in his hands. He frowns when he sees a notification from one of your apps. 

“Y/n, something went off.” 

You heard it before Steve says this, but you smile before taking the phone back from him. You slide the notifications down and see you have a ‘barking alert’ from your pet camera. You click the notification to see the short clip that usually shows your dogs barking at their cat or each other. This time you see something completely different and you stiffen before you can stop yourself. 

You see Boone standing near the kitchen counter barking at nothing in particular. You’ve turned down the sound, but it ends up not mattering because he stops suddenly and starts to twitch instead. You frown as you watch Boone’s head jerk in a way you’ve never seen before. It almost looks like he’s itchy and trying to scratch his ear, but he’s standing and making no effort to actually scratch himself. When his mouth opens and you notice him drooling you realize that something’s not right. 

“Excuse me.” 

You don’t say this to anyone in particular, but you stand up and head for the front door before you can talk yourself out of it. You miss Wanda shooting Steve a confused look, to which he only shrugs, as you leave the video and look to the live feed. You have way too many pet cameras in the house, and you often forget they’re there, but you’re grateful for their presence when you check the one from the kitchen and see that Boone’s still standing with his nose barely an inch away from the kitchen cabinets. 

You are grateful that you drove tonight because you don’t even think about whether or not you have the keys as you reach your car. You open the door and press the button to start it and carefully back out of Yelena’s driveway and head back to your house. You just need to check on your dog. Then you’ll be right back. 

Wanda checks her phone and frowns when she sees that you haven’t texted her. You’ve been gone for 10 minutes and she was starting to worry. She had already tried to ask Steve what had happened, but the only information he had was that a notification came up on your phone and then you had left. Wanda checks her own phone but sees nothing but the email she’s ignored for two days and the last picture that she’d downloaded. Just as she’s about to lock her phone, a new notification pops up. 

Person detected

The pet cams.

You barely resist the urge to run into the house when you arrive a few minutes later. You take a deep breath before opening the door, and you feel your breath catch when you’re met with your dog looking right at you. You smile at him and slowly reach out to pet him as you look around curiously for any clue as to what just happened. Boone’s not providing any as he rubs his face on your hand with a whine, and gets an obscene amount of drool on you. You grimace, but don’t hurry to clean it off as you take a close look at your dog. 

“Hey, buddy. Are you feeling, okay?” 

You stare into Boone’s cloudy eyes and feel your chest tighten from a wave of unexpected emotion. You can remember the first time you looked into your dog’s eyes and they were bright, clear and full of life. You don’t see that right now, and the realization is one that you hadn’t been expecting today. You really weren’t prepared for it, and you couldn’t help but slump on the ground next to your dog with a sigh. 

“Sweet boy.” 

You forget about the mess Boone made of your hand, and you pull him towards you so you can hold him close to you. You close your eyes that burn with tears as you take a moment to really feel your precious dog. 

He’s skinny. He has been for a while, but increasing his food and giving him more exercise has only helped a little. He’s the type of skinny that is hard to see underneath his fur, and harder still since you see him every day. He’s skinny enough that if you walked into an exam room to see him waiting for you, you’d be immediately concerned. You take a deep breath and try to push this thought away as you pull away to look at your nearly 17-year-old dog. 

“How has it been 16 years since Wanda brought you home?” 

You sniffle pitifully and wipe your eyes before reaching for your phone that’s vibrating from your pocket. You’re not surprised to see that it’s Wanda, but the fact that she knows what’s going on is a little shocking. Then again, it’s on brand for your wife to know everything. You’d just forgotten in the years since it’s no longer been solely because of her job. 

Is everything okay with Boone? 

You can’t help but glance at the one camera pointed toward you before you type out a response. Wanda’s watching you on your phone and sees your text come in a few seconds later. 

I don’t know. I’m going to stay here with him.

Wanda isn’t sure what happened, but the fact that you’re sitting on the kitchen floor crying beside your dog tells her that it wasn’t something minor. She wants to rush home to you, but she can hear Natalya talking animatedly from across the table, and she knows that her good mood will disappear as soon as she goes home. Whatever will be waiting for them won’t be as carefree and enjoyable as their weekly dinner. 

Now Wanda just has to navigate explaining your absence in a way that doesn’t tip off her too-smart daughter. 

She responds quickly with an ‘okay’ before she glances up to see Steve looking at her. She’s sure he suspects something, but she feels like she just got her happy daughter back, and she doesn’t want that to end so soon. 

“Apparently Fletcher made a mess in the kitchen when she turned on the sink.” 

If anyone knew she was lying, they didn’t mention it and luckily only a few minutes later, it was time for dessert. 

After cleaning up a little, you lead Boone back to his bed and sit with him for a bit. He seems to be completely back to normal, and maybe a little confused as to why you’re sitting with him on the ground, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He lays his head in your lap and you bite your lip to keep from crying harder at the sight of his head of mostly grey fur in your hands. 

You aren’t sure how much time you have until Wanda comes back with Natalya and Rogue, but you aren’t quite ready to face them yet. You allow yourself a few minutes of just sitting with your dog before you try to calm down. You know that you have options and that there are things you can do to try and figure out what happened tonight, but you just aren’t sure you want to do them. Specifically, you aren’t sure you want to put Boone through that. 

As you watch him amble out onto the deck and into the backyard, you think back to the time where he’d be out the door and off the deck faster than you could blink. You remember how fast and agile he was in his younger years. You sigh heavily as you follow him out into the yard, and you try to pinpoint the exact moment when he slowed down. 

Was it when he turned 7 and stopped running up and down the stairs each time? 

Or was it when Natalya was 10, and he’d missed a step and fallen down the last 5 stairs? 

No. You knew it was earlier than this, and there was no exact moment that you could blame for your dog’s decline. He was just getting older, and although age wasn’t a disease, the fact that it carried a higher risk of developing mobility and cognitive issues, meant that you saw it in higher frequency once pets reached a certain birthday. 

You said this same thing to clients all of the time. You saw it in their pets all of the time. 

You just hadn’t really been ready to see it in your own pets. 

You certainly hadn’t been prepared to accept that your pets were far past ‘slowing down’, and what that could ultimately mean for you in the near future. 

“Thanks for the ride, Piet.” 

Wanda sighs as she watches Natalya run into the house with Rogue trailing behind her. She was trying to build up her courage to go inside and face whatever news you had for her, but she was falling a little short. Even after an extra glass of wine at dinner, she wasn’t feeling very courageous. 

She turns to see her brother watching her with a sympathetic look that makes her feel a little better. She’d told him after dinner that something had happened to Boone, and he, like the rest of the family, feared what this meant. 

Everyone knew how old the dogs were. They knew that they’d honestly lived past their estimated lifespan at this point, and it was incredible to think about. They were found on the streets and saved from an uncertain life, and given a long, loving one that included a large family with fur siblings. Pietro didn’t want to think about either of them dying because everyone would be devastated by the loss. 

You especially.

Pietro tries to shake away these thoughts before he offers his sister a smile. He hopes that they are all worrying needlessly. 

“Of course, sestra. Keep me updated?” 

Wanda just nods before she opens her door and steps out of the car and into the cool night air. She has a feeling she knows where you’ll be, and she waves to her brother as she rounds the house and heads toward the backyard. It’s a nice night out, and if you’re trying to clear your mind, you’ll likely be outside. 

It was something she’s watched you do for years. It was why she bought this house in the first place. The number of places that you could go to escape and be outside, while still being nearby were endless. Until you picked your favorite places, she’d often have to go floor by floor looking for you on the decks, or the occasional balcony. 

Tonight, you were exactly where she thought you would be. You’re on the deck in the back watching as both Boone and Rogue sniff around the fence of the garden. Natalya is supervising them since the last time they’d skulked around outside together, they’d pulled an entire plant out through the wire fence. 

“Hey.” 

You smile when you see your wife appear on the steps in front of you. You didn’t realize you’d been spaced out until you blink and force yourself to sit up. Wanda doesn’t say anything else as she sits beside you and reaches out for your hand. She smiles as you squeeze it, but when you continue to simply sit in silence, she feels it fall. She wishes that their biggest concern was still her infiltrating the PTA on Tuesday. At the moment, that seems far less daunting than whatever is going on with Boone. 

You don’t want to talk about it right now because you’re not sure you can without crying. Wanda seems to understand this, and she’s content to just sit beside you as your children explore the moonlit backyard. You want to have a calm conversation with Wanda about what you think is wrong with Boone, but you don’t want to tell Natalya yet. She would be upset, and you want to make sure that you’re right before you tell her anything that might worry her. 

That said, you can’t help but feel like the time for you to have this conversation with your daughter is imminent, and that very thought makes you tear up later when you, Wanda, and Boone are in your bedroom. Boone had wandered in earlier and decided to lie down at the foot of the bed, and you couldn’t help but be worried by this. Did he realize that something was wrong? Is that why he wanted to be nearby? 

When Wanda comes back from her shower to find you sitting at the end of the bed watching your dog, she braces herself for the worst. 

“I think he had a seizure.” 

This was honestly not far off from what Wanda had suspected, but that doesn’t make it any easier to hear. After watching the short video that had literally sent you running, she thought it looked a lot like what you described in dogs who were just moments away from a full-blown seizure. He’d been twitchy and drooling and maybe even fly-biting? It was hard to say, but she’d heard your spiel enough over the years to know that if you were right about this, it wasn’t good news. 

Wanda sits down beside you and looks to Boone who’s lying on his side snoring, looking perfectly content. 

“What’s that rule of yours? They get one for free?” 

Wanda knew it was risky to try and lighten the mood this way, but she wasn’t sure what her alternative was. A discussion about your fur baby’s mortality wasn’t going to be pleasant in the least, but Wanda can at least try to keep you from spiraling if at all possible. 

You can’t help but smile a little at this because it certainly is what you tell people. Usually, their dogs are younger and it is less ominous, but you tell them that they get one seizure for free, but then they are started on medication. You know it’s not the same for Boone, but you can’t help but wish that it was. Despite the trepidation of waiting around for him to have another seizure, you know that once you start him on medication, there’s no going back. 

You nod to yourself a couple of times before you turn to your wife with a sigh. You reach out for her hand and pull her closer to you before wrapping an arm around her waist. 

“I don’t want to be right about this, Wanda.” 

It seemed like the simplest thing to say in the grand scheme of things, but you didn’t want to get too far ahead of yourself. Sure, you could have taken Boone somewhere tonight, but you don’t think it would have done anything other than stress everyone out. You would check on a few things Monday at work. Bloodwork, maybe some x-rays, but nothing needed to happen tonight. 

Well that wasn’t true. You needed to somehow find the rationale to remain calm and just sleep on this. You’d already lost a lot of sleep this week, but something told you that tonight would be the worst by far. 

When your alarm goes off Monday morning, for the second night in a row, you’re not sure you slept at all. You remember spending most of the night lying motionless beside your wife as you considered how today would play out. You went over the list of tests you wanted to run nearly a dozen times, and considered having to rush Boone to an ER at least 10 times. You drink two cups of coffee before you realize that it’s Monday and that Stacy will be returning to Natalya’s school today. 

You can tell that the Maximoffs are anxious about it.  It’s only Rogue’s presence beside Natalya with his vest and a calm look on his handsome face that keeps you from worrying too much. You take a deep breath before you hug your daughter and wish her a good day at school. You know that Rogue will do his job and keep Nat safe, but you just aren’t sure how long this is going to last.

You try not to think of this as you kiss your wife goodbye before heading to work with your other dog and a thousand scenarios on your mind. Boone sniffs his brother’s ear before following you out to the garage. 

Wanda doesn’t manage so well. She’s tapping her fingers against the steering wheel nervously as she glances in the rear-view mirror at Rogue. He’s still resting as he’d been the entire drive, and it’s only as they’re sitting in the dreaded drop off line at school that Wanda glances to her daughter. 

“You’ll text or call if you need anything, milaya?” 

Natalya nods before she turns to Wanda while patting the phone that’s in her pocket. She’s glad that she’s no longer grounded because she really needed to catch her friends up on everything. She also still wanted to have a sleepover, but she would worry about that later. 

“Yes, Mama. I will.” 

Wanda kisses the top of her daughter’s head before she ducks out of the car and grabs her dog. She waits patiently as Rogue stands and jumps out before waving to her mom with a wide smile. 

“See you later!” 

Wanda just watches Natalya and Rogue walk toward the school for a few seconds before she has to pull forward and drive away. She takes a deep breath before glancing over her shoulder one more time. Rogue’s with her. She’ll be fine. Nothing will happen on Stacy’s first day back. 

Right? 

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Tribulations Part 2

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~9k

Summary: Continuation of part 1

A/N: This part is a bit angstier

Warnings: angst, discussions of death, illness, and injury

Rogue’s sitting up in his run whining periodically as he watches everyone move around outside of his glass prison. He is still tired from his walk outside and disappointed that he didn’t get to leave, but that was hours ago. He wasn’t sure why he was still here and he was getting antsy. He was also getting sick of his cone. He’d tried removing it with his paws or bashing it against the side of his run, but he never made much progress. He was stopped before he got anywhere close to taking it off, so he’s a little confused that only a few hours later they’ve taken it off of him. 

His tech is currently setting his cone aside and disconnecting his fluid line which makes him think it’s time for another walk. He stands up excitedly, if a little unsteadily, in preparation, and whines impatiently. The sound of a laugh catches his attention and he stares at the source as a slip lead is placed around his neck. 

“I know, bud, this is going to be exciting!”

Rogue doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but he doesn’t really care. He’s excited for another chance to flee this place, so he’s prepared to walk back out into the fenced off area behind the ICU. When they turn a different direction he’s confused, but no less excited to see the outside. He hopes he can leave soon. He doesn’t feel great yet, but he’s only a little unsteady and tired. His insides don’t feel like they’re on fire anymore which is nice. 

“Come on, Rogue. They’re in here.” 

Rogue’s ears perk up in confusion as he’s led to an unfamiliar door. He waits patiently for it to open, hopefully to the outside, but as he steps in he realizes it’s something better.

It takes him a moment to recognize his doctor sitting in a chair that’s facing him. She’s talking to two people who immediately turn and Rogue’s tail is wagging before he even registers who they are.

“Hi Rogue!” 

“Are you feeling better, my sweet boy?” 

The only response his moms need is Rogue running into the room and practically launching himself at them with an excited whine. He’s a bit uncoordinated in his attempt to climb into Wanda’s lap, and you’re there to hold him off so he doesn’t cause too much damage. He’s so excited to see her, and watching Wanda’s face light up makes you realize she probably wouldn’t care if he actually did sit in her lap, but it wouldn’t be comfortable for her. 

“It’s good to see you too. We missed you.” 

Wanda’s already tearing up as you try to get Rogue to sit, but it’s useless. He’s way too amped up, so you just settle on holding the leash that he’d yanked out of the tech’s hand to keep him with at least two feet on the ground. You watch with amusement and a peculiar tightness in your chest as your wife loves on her dog.

“Gentle, bud. You need to be careful.” 

Rogue only whines in response as he rubs his giant head against Wanda’s hands as he tries to get as close as possible. You ignore all the fur and Wanda ignores all of the slobber as she kisses her dog’s head with a relieved smile. She’d gone with her blonde wig today because she’d worn it last night, but she had only applied enough makeup to cover her injury. She’d decided that she couldn’t exactly walk in with sunglasses again. You’d told her that it would be fine, and no one would notice, but Wanda had still been a little anxious about it up until Rogue had walked in.

You glance to Rogue’s doctor with a wry smile before muttering something under your breath. 

“Obviously you can see who the favorite is here.” 

Audrey laughs and Wanda spares a few seconds to roll her eyes, but she doesn’t offer a response beyond this. She is too distracted by Rogue putting half of his weight in her lap as he tries to cuddle against her. She just cradles his huge head against her chest as she pets him lovingly. It’s as adorable as it is ridiculous, but you can’t deny the two of them this after the last 24 hours they’ve had. 

“Believe it or not, sometimes it’s even more obvious than this.” 

You laugh in response before you reach out to scratch Rogue behind the ear. His eyes that had been closed in bliss snap open to look at you. He licks your hand a couple of times before snuggling back into his mom. You can’t even pretend to be upset as this is honestly more attention than you thought you’d get from Rogue today. You also love how much he loves Wanda, and you’d never want to get in the way of that. 

Audrey excuses herself to give the three of you the rest of your limited time alone. She has rounds in an hour for shift change, but as she walks back into the treatment area, she’s not surprised to see the doctor who’s going to take over for her here early. She almost always is.  “Dr. Lancaster, is it 6 o’clock already?” 

The brunette turns away from the tech she was talking to, and Audrey sees that familiar affection that she tries to hide with a dramatic eye roll. Although the duo doesn’t work together often, honestly, they keep opposite shifts for a reason, they get along well enough. They’d been able to get past their brief dating history from a few years back when Audrey started working here, and if pressed, Rachel would admit that they were almost friends at this point. 

Still, Audrey can’t help the urge to rile up the brunette every now and again. Not that it ever works. Not here at least. This is evidenced by the fact that Rachel just offers her a slight smile before leveling her with a challenging gaze.

“Not yet, Dr. Cohen, but I caught wind that tonight would be a busy one, so I decided to stop in sooner rather than later.” 

Audrey can’t argue with that because although they’d only had 6 inpatients last night, throughout the day, that had grown to over a dozen. It would definitely take longer than the designated hour to review each case. For this reason, she doesn’t waste time giving the other doctor any more grief before leading them back to the ICU. She sighs at the appearance of the organized chaos of having so many patients here.

“It definitely will be. We have everything from an ulcerated GI mass to foxglove ingestion. Where would you like to start?” 

Despite her assumptions, the pair was almost finished with rounds by the time that Rogue came back to the ICU. Reluctantly came back to the ICU. Luckily most of the cases were relatively straightforward, and it didn’t take much beyond just a basic history to get Rachel up to speed. They are distracted by the sound of loud whines coming from the treatment area, and Audrey quietly sighs in defeat.

“Here comes your last patient. Rogue a 3-year-old male neutered GSD. Approximately 36 hours ago, he ate a whole foxglove flower. Or tried too. His mom somehow managed to get him to spit out a majority of it right when it happened which probably saved him. He’s received two doses of the antibody therapy, and as you can hear he’s doing much better.” 

Rachel just watches as the dog comes into view only to dart out of sight immediately. That made sense. Honestly, she could count on one hand how many well-behaved, anxiety-free shepherds she’d treated. Hopefully this one was well-behaved despite being terrified. 

Another few seconds pass before the duo hears a groan and the tech that took Rogue to visit his parents appears. She’s holding the slip lead that’s around Rogue’s neck, but Rogue isn’t walking behind her like they expected. Someone has the almost 100lbs dog in their arms as they walk as quickly as possible toward the dog’s run. 

“You’re being ridiculous, Rogue. We’ll be back tomorrow. You’ll see your favorite person again soon.” 

You roll your eyes when Rogue just whines pathetically despite not struggling now that he’s in your arms. He must know that he’s not going to get out of this, and perhaps that behaving will get him home sooner. He’s panting by the time that you arrive at his run only to see two familiar faces. You smile but wait until you can set Rogue down before greeting them. He’s unhappy about it and grumbles in distaste, but he doesn’t struggle or try to flee as he’s hooked back up to his IV line and a bowl of food is placed beside him. 

“Sorry for trespassing, Dr. Cohen, but he well…you know how it is. Dr. Lancaster, nice to see you again.” 

You recognized the brunette immediately and were grateful that you could see who was taking over for Dr. Cohen now that the day was ending. You had no doubt that all the doctors who worked here were competent, but the two in front of you were next-level smart. 

“That was actually less painful than last time, so no complaints from me.” 

You smile as you glance toward Rogue who’s still getting settled as his tech gets everything hooked up. You notice the cone that was waiting in his run has been placed on the ground outside and you wonder if they don’t think it’s necessary anymore. You know Rogue gets destructive if he’s bored, so you can’t help but wonder if he’ll try to chew out his catheter. You don’t want to step on anyone’s toes though, so you say nothing as the other doctor speaks up. 

“You too, Y/n. I’ve been told that Rogue is doing well and should be out of here by this time tomorrow if all continues to progress as expected.”

You smile at the news and the fact that the other doctor remembered your request from last time to be called by your first name. You consider how you’ll make a hasty exit, but Rachel speaks up again and her astuteness catches you by surprise. 

“Do you think he’s more likely to behave with or without his cone?” 

Rogue’s been left to his food now and he’s eating while lying down which makes you suspect he’s tired. He must have worn himself out during his time with Wanda, but hopefully that just meant that he will sleep better. You still aren’t sure of the correct answer when you speak up a few seconds later.

“It’s hard to say. He’s definitely the troublemaker at home who likes to chew things when he’s bored. I’ll leave it up to your discretion.” 

Both doctors in front of you just nod before sparing a glance at Rogue whose head is lying next to his bowl as he stares up at them with sad eyes. 

“I better get back to the favorite. Bye, Rogue, love you! Be good buddy…and he doesn’t care, alright. Thanks, you two. Have a good night.” 

As you hurry back to Wanda who you’re certain is anxious about how long you’re taking, you miss the amused look passed between the two vets you left behind. 

“She’s funny. I hadn’t met her before yesterday.” 

Rachel nods in agreement as she remembers the time that she met you over drinks with a mutual friend. 

“She is. I met her through Sidney a while ago. They worked together for a bit.” 

Audrey nods before she notices that Rogue is already asleep. He really must be exhausted. She decided they’d leave him cone-less for now, but they’d just have to see if he became bored enough to warrant it later. She turns back to Rachel who’s glancing over her notes with a thoughtful expression. They’re done at this point, and Audrey will likely be able to leave work soon. This thought causes her to smile and she shoots the brunette beside her a questioning look. 

“I think that’s it for patients. Is there anything else you wanted to catch up on?” 

She watches as Rachel hesitates for a split second before she shakes her head. Audrey figures that’s it so she nods and gets ready to make her leave, but she’s stopped short when Rachel speaks up. 

“No, not at the moment, but maybe when we both have a night off, we can catch up then?”

Audrey just smiles widely before nodding in agreement. She couldn’t wait. 

You’re grateful that the somber mood of last night is absent as you and Wanda arrive home. Seeing Rogue really did improve her spirits and she cuddles her cat with a renewed fervor as she scoops the tabby up from the couch. Fletcher has absolutely no complaints, and you leave the duo alone as you retreat to the backyard to walk Boone.

You consider everything you’ve been told and how Rogue will likely come home tomorrow. You’re thrilled that the very expensive treatment was effective, and you’re glad that you’ll have your family back together again. This thought makes you pause and you stand on the second to last step off the deck with a frown. There is very little that you want more than to see your wife happy. As cliché as it sounds, it truly does make you feel lighter, fulfilled when Wanda is happy. 

There’s a lot to be arranged and there will likely be more arguments in the future, but you believe Wanda when she says that she’s going to get out. This isn’t just the nebulous claim that she’d made to you years ago. This time you felt that Wanda was dedicated to formulating and executing a plan that would hopefully get her, and the rest of the family away from crime for good. 

You don’t realize how long you’d stopped to think until Boone is running back toward you. His tail is wagging and he sniffs you for an unusually long time before rubbing his head on your hands. You realize he must smell his brother, and you smile at the fact that the shepherds are so bonded. You never would have guessed this would happen when you first saw them tearing at each other that night in front of the compound. 

“Y/n?” 

You turn around to see Wanda standing on the deck shooting you a concerned look. You realize you do look a bit strange, and you walk back up the steps so you’re at eye level, more or less, with your wife. She takes steps toward you and reaches out for your hand. 

“Is everything okay?” 

It’s a loaded question that you can answer in many ways. Wanda realizes this too as her concern shifts to curiosity before your eyes. You wonder for maybe the hundredth time since getting married, if you’ll ever be able to hide anything from her.

Finally, you nod as you think about how by this time tomorrow, all five of you could be lounging on the couch relaxing together. Of course, you don’t want to think about Wanda going back to work so soon, but you’d be a fool to think that it was impossible. You want to keep your promise and not discuss your argument before Rogue is home, but you don’t want to lie either. You especially don’t want interacting with your wife to become tense.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about Rogue coming home and how we’ll be one big happy family again.” 

Wanda smiles slightly as you say this, but you can tell by how her shoulders drop that she’s realized what you’re hinting at. She takes your hand and leads you toward one set of deck chairs. She sits first before gesturing to the seat beside her. 

“I’m excited for that too, Y/n. It…the thought of all of us together makes me want this all the time. I want to make it happen.” 

You squeeze your wife’s hand with a smile, ignoring as Boone shoves his head in your lap with a whine, before bringing it to your lips. 

“I want it too, Wands. We’ll make it happen, together.” 

Wanda offers you a smile so bright that you can’t help but feel a little dazed. 

Dr. Lancaster frowns as she glances around the ICU. Honestly things are stable at the moment, and she’s discharged 4 patients during her shift. She takes this as a win, but even this doesn’t make the fact that the one patient that was doing so well seems to have backtracked.

She glances at the telemetry screen across the room and frowns at the slowest heart rate on display. 

She didn’t understand why Rogue had been doing so well only to worsen drastically since his visit with his parents. It’s likely not the cause, but he hasn’t woken up for hours and his heart rate has dropped precipitously. The only thing that made sense was that he ingested enough of the plant to need supportive care for longer than they anticipated. Two doses may not be enough despite almost costing $14k, and the most concerning part was she isn’t sure how many doses it would take. 

It's nearly 3am, and she sighs in defeat before leaning back in the chair behind the tech station. The duo is working around the room, so she took the advantage to sit and gather her thoughts. She was considering her next steps as the bloodwork she has running for him finishes up. If it’s anything but perfect, hell even if it is, she might end up giving a third dose. She recalls what Audrey told her earlier about getting approval for treatments for Rogue. Rather, she remembers how she’d been told that it wasn’t necessary since both parents had expressed to do ‘whatever he needed’. 

Rachel tried not to pay too much attention to billing and how things added up, but it was part of her job. She mostly tried not to let it influence her thoughts on what the best treatment is for her patients. That said, when there are obvious financial restrictions, she does take that into account. It’s just a balancing act that she finds harder to manage in severe cases such as Rogue’s. 

Luckily, she doesn’t have to worry about it too much in his case since it sounds like you barely batted an eye when you paid another hefty deposit before leaving last night. 

Rachel does something that she never is tempted to do when on shift. She reaches into her pocket and takes out her phone to check on something. The only times she uses her phone at work is for the calculator or to reference one of the many textbooks she has on it. This time; however, she goes to her messages and scrolls down until she finds what she’s looking for. 

It’s a group message with Sidney, Caitlin, and an unsaved number that she assumes is yours. Sidney had set up this group chat to let them all know where to meet. She hadn’t responded since they were carpooling, but she sees that Caitlin had given the message a thumbs up, and you’d told her that you would be there. She never had a reason to save your number or even think about it again.

Until now. 

She only considers texting you for a few seconds before shaking her head and shoving her phone back into her pocket. This should be no different than any other case. She’s not going to bother you in the middle of the night. Especially when she already has permission to do whatever she deems necessary for Rogue.

She turns back to look at the sleeping shepherd who has barely moved since he fell asleep. He was spared from his cone since he was never awake to show any interest in his catheter, but Rachel would have preferred that to the eerie stillness that overcame the dog as soon as he lost consciousness. 

The quiet beep from the computer in front of her alerts her to Rogue’s bloodwork being finished. She glances at the results and immediately skips to the chemistry. She closes her eyes and curses silently before getting to her feet. 

It was time for a third dose. 

You wake up first, well second really, to the feeling of someone stepping on your neck. You grimace and resist the initial urge to push whoever is on top of you off. You did that once, and Fletcher yowled bloody murder which of course woke up Wanda who fretted over her for nearly five minutes when you’d only put the cat on the floor. Gently. 

You knew better than to start the day like that again, so you just roll away and let Fletcher reach Wanda undisturbed. 

You wait for a few seconds to see if your wife will wake up, but when you just hear Fletcher continue to purr you breathe a sigh of relief. You glance at the clock to see it is only 7, so you close your eyes and try to go back to sleep. 

You only manage a few minutes before your phone vibrates against the bedside table forcing you to open your eyes. You figure it’s important given the early hour so you reach for it with a yawn before looking to see who’s texted you. The unfamiliar number makes you frown, but as soon as you read the message you turn to make sure Wanda’s still asleep before you jump out of bed to make a call. 

Y/n, it’s Rachel. Call me when you get a chance? I have an update on Rogue

You make sure you close the door behind you as you escape into the hallway. You find Boone lying in wait, and you smile as you reach out to pet him as he sits up quickly to greet you. You lead him downstairs quickly so he won’t wake Wanda, and you let him outside while you rush to the coat closet to grab a jacket. 

Once you’re dressed as warmly as you can be for the time being, you follow Boone outside and unlock your phone. 

The shift change has already occurred, but after rounding with Audrey, she decided to be the one to reach out to you. She’s still in the hospital so she can keep an eye on Rogue’s condition, but she’s not currently responsible for his care so she can afford to call you. 

Since coming back from after Rachel’s shift was over, Audrey was disappointed to find that Rogue was not doing as well as she expected. She had hoped that he would be gone by the time her day off came, but instead she came back to find him worse off than she left him. His heart rate has dropped again and his potassium is through the roof putting him at risk of deadly arrythmias. 

This was not what she wanted to see, and she was certain that this was not the news Rachel wanted to give at the end of her shift. 

Audrey honestly finds starting the intensive, time-sensitive treatments preferable to calling you with bad news. She watches Rachel pace as she’s on the phone with you, and she shakes her head with a sigh. She doesn’t envy the brunette right now. 

Rachel takes a deep breath before she answers her phone that rings barely two minutes after she sent you the text. She was glad you were so prompt because otherwise she would have had to wake you up and hit you with the bad news while you were likely only half-conscious. 

“Hi Y/n, sorry to bother you so early.” 

She hears panting and the sound of a tags clinking in the background before you respond. She catches the wariness in your voice, but you don’t seem surprised that she’s calling. 

“It’s okay, I was already up. Also, I figured whatever you had to say was important.” 

Rachel nods before she begins to pace and tell you everything that’s happened in the last 12 hours. Rogue’s lethargy, cardiac issues, and bloodwork abnormalities. She mentions how she gave him another dose early this morning and she fears that if it doesn’t lead to any improvement by this afternoon, she’s not sure what else she can do beside combating whatever side effects continue to arise. 

“We’ve already started administering Calcium gluconate and we’ll follow that with aggressive fluid therapy, but…” 

Rachel trails off uncertainly. Although she knows that you’re aware of the risks and the prognosis at this stage, she doesn’t want to be insensitive by just saying it outright. She doesn’t know you very well, but she doubts she needs to sugarcoat this for you. That said, a bit of tact will likely be appreciated. 

She doesn’t have to consider how to proceed because you beat her to it with a contemplative hum.

“We’ll just have to see how he does.”

 Rachel only hesitates for a second before she nods in agreement. “Yes.” 

You take a moment to think about how you’ll tell Wanda all of this, but even through your disappointment, you realize that you don’t need to take up the other doctor’s time for this. You sigh as you stand up from the chair you’d sunk into during Rachel’s update. Boone is on his feet ready to head inside, but he just whines when you stand in place and stare out into the yard with a frown. 

“I understand. Thank you for calling. We’ll…we’ll avoid visiting again in case that had anything to do with it.” 

Rachel wants to disagree so you don’t feel guilty, but she can’t honestly say that the visit yesterday had no effect on Rogue’s condition. If she thought it would be any consolation to you, she’d say that he likely would have crashed regardless of your visit, but she knew better. 

She promises to have someone give another update today before she hangs up with a groan. She doesn’t like the idea of leaving on this note, but she has to go home and get some rest. Like Audrey, she is working two days in a row, and she needs to be ready to come back tonight. She decides to stop in and make sure the blonde doesn’t need anything before she leaves. 

Wanda finds you and Boone in the kitchen when she finally is able to detach herself from Fletcher. The cat was being abnormally clingy, but given the circumstance, she decided to let it slide for another day or so. She couldn’t really complain given the fact she was down one clingy pet. 

“Morning, Y/n.”

You’d been getting everything ready for Wanda so you could serve her coffee and breakfast before telling her about Rogue. You weren’t excited to ruin the decent mood that she’d only just managed, but you couldn’t lie to her about this. She deserved better than that, and it would likely only end in disaster for you both. 

You smile at your wife before greeting her with a kiss as she wanders into the kitchen. You hand her a mug of coffee made just the way she likes it before finishing up with her breakfast. You set the plate in front of her seat at the counter before pouring your own coffee and grabbing the milk.

“Morning, Wands. How did you sleep?” 

Wanda opens her mouth to tell you that she slept great and only woke up because Fletcher was aggressively head butting her face, but she stops short. She watches you fill your mug with milk, and grab your plate in your other hand. She sees them shake slightly as you settle beside her after placing everything on the counter. You try to force your posture to relax, but Wanda is able to see how tense you are in how high you hold your shoulders and how straight your spine is. 

She sets her coffee down as she turns her body to face you. She can’t help but fear that something is wrong, and the only thing that comes to mind is the first thing that leaves her mouth. 

“What is it? Has something happened to Rogue?” 

Wanda can’t stand the idea of this any more than she could yesterday or the day before. However, last time she saw him, he seemed to be fine and everyone was hopeful that he would be home soon. Today even. As she watches you frown and your shoulders slump, she feels her stomach drop. 

You don’t hesitate to explain the situation to Wanda. You don’t leave anything out including how precarious the situation was right now. You’re honestly not sure what caused him to tank, but if it was the excitement of seeing them (Wanda) again, the crash unfortunately would have happened either way. You suppose it’s ideal that it occurred while he was in the ICU. You watch as your wife processes what you’ve said, and you hate how you can see the anxiety roll off of her in waves.

“How many treatments can they give him? Is there any point in continuing them if this last one shows no improvement?” 

You hate that Wanda’s asked this question because it was one you had thought of yourself. The answer was easy for you to reach, but you hadn’t wanted to tell Wanda how bleak things would look if Rogue didn’t improve. You wanted her to have another ten hours or so before she thought about that. 

Instead of saying all of this though, you just shake your head with a defeated sigh. 

“I don’t know if there’s a limit, but if he doesn’t respond well, we might have to consider stopping.” 

Tears fill your wife’s eyes immediately and she stands up from her chair and walks into the living room. You’re surprised by this, but you don’t say anything as you watch her walk toward the back door with a frown. She doesn’t go outside like you thought she would though. She just stares outside and holds her clenched fists at her side stiffly. You are afraid she’s going to lash out at something and hurt herself, so you abandon your breakfast and take a few tentative steps toward her. 

“I’m sorry, Wanda.” 

You’re apologizing for many things: having to ruin her morning, not being able to promise that Rogue will be okay, and finally, that you started an argument with her that led to this entire ordeal. You feel guilty for many reasons, but mostly you just want to make sure that your wife is comforted. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to keep her from being upset, so you settle for the next best thing. 

Wanda shakes her head but doesn’t turn to face you as she continues to stare outside into the vast backyard.

She’s always wanted to do something with it, as pretty as it was, but she never had the time. She considered putting in pool, but that seemed unnecessary and strenuous. She also thought about closing off part of it for a garden. She loved the idea of watching food or flowers flourish, but that undertaking was almost more daunting than having a pool put in. How would she find the time to keep up with everything that would grow? It would require planning, dedication, and attention to detail that she couldn’t spare. 

Not unless she quit her job. 

She thinks about wandering through rows of food with you and her pets while trying to keep them from eating whatever she plants. Rogue for sure would need to be watched carefully. 

This thought makes Wanda’s tears fall faster and she shakes her head again as she realizes that this may never happen. She may never see the day where she’s free a majority of the day every day, let alone with Rogue by her side. She desperately wants this though. She’d give almost anything for it. 

She wipes her eyes with a heavy sigh before turning around to face you. If Rogue recovers enough to come home, she’ll make sure that this happens. For him. 

For her family. 

Rogue spent two days unconscious after the visit with you and Wanda. He’d needed a urinary catheter, and feeding tube placed, and one of his added treatments was rotating him every 4 hours. During this time, multiple vets battled the cardiac side effects with aggressive treatments that either kept things stable or minimally improved. It wasn’t a great outlook and by Tuesday, it was decided that his 4th dose of the antibody therapy would be his last. The third dose didn’t seem to improve his situation, and after a long discussion with a doctor you hadn’t met, you and Wanda decided that you wanted to stop.

You didn’t want to think about Rogue just lying in his run unconscious for hours on end, and Wanda couldn’t stand the idea of him being in pain. She wanted to give him a fair chance to recover, but 4 days after he’d first been admitted, he was closer to death than anything else. 

You two had gone to visit him on the 5th day because you knew that it would be time to call it soon. If he wasn’t going to improve soon, how was it fair to just keep him in a comatose state? Wanda hated the idea of stopping his treatments, but she agreed with you in the end. 

The visit to the ICU was a cage side one since Rogue wasn’t walking, let alone awake. You sat next to Wanda on the floor as she pet her sleeping dog with teary eyes. She talked to him, and made sure to tell him how much he was missed and who was at home waiting for him. You have to look away from him after a while because watching him just lie there is too much. 

Your gaze wanders around the room because you can’t help it, and then you see Rogue’s ECG. 

It’s unremarkable except for the bradycardia, and you just watch it flash a dangerously low number for nearly a minute before you blink slowly. You were staring at it for so long, you wouldn’t be surprised if you were imagining things, but after blinking again, you see that the number beside Rogue’s name has doubled. You continue to watch for a few more seconds to make sure it doesn’t return to a lower number, but it stays where it is. 

You frown as you turn toward Rogue who is showing no signs of waking up, and you carefully move into the run beside your wife. Wanda looks up immediately, confused and stricken, but you just shake your head and offer her a reassuring smile. You glance at your watch as you kneel behind Rogue and reach for his leg. 

“It’s okay, I’m just checking something.” 

Wanda shoots you a worried look, but you don’t say anything else as you reach out to feel Rogue’s pulse. You look to your watch to count, and you are surprised to see that it is truly higher than it was a few minutes ago. You open your mouth to tell Wanda this but you notice that she’s staring at Rogue wide-eyed. 

“Y/n…he’s whining.”  You frown as you lean in to listen, but you don’t hear anything immediately. It takes a few seconds in your uncomfortable position to hear him it’s so faint, but you smile as you stand up to look for someone to help you. 

“That’s great, Wands. His heart rate is a little higher too.” 

Wanda’s talking to Rogue again as you step out of the run to find his vet looking between your dog and his monitors. He seems a little surprised as he asks, 

“Is it really that high?” 

You nod as you tell him what Wanda said, and minute later the two of you are standing beside the tech station watching as Rogue is examined thoroughly. He’s propped up so he’s sitting upright, but he still hasn’t opened his eyes. His whining grew a bit louder, but other than that he was still mostly unresponsive. 

Both you and Wanda left a bit later feeling confused but hopeful. You weren’t going to get too excited, but you couldn’t help but be optimistic. 

Shortly after you wake up next morning, you’re informed that Rogue has opened his eyes and is becoming more responsive. Despite wanting to go back and see him, you and Wanda are in agreement that you don’t want to risk his recovery. You both have to go to work, but you make sure to have your phone on loud and with you all day long just in case.

Nothing new happens that day, or the next, but by his 7th day in the ICU, Rogue sits up on his own. 

The doctors are able to remove his feeding tube and urinary catheter when he’s standing and eating on his own by the 9th day. He’s very unsteady on his feet, but with two people, one holding a sling underneath him, and the other leading him in front, he’s able to walk. 

Wanda’s bruises are almost completely healed by the time everyone deems it safe to visit again. 

Rogue has been improving steadily in the last week, and he’s becoming restless from being hospitalized for nearly 2 weeks. Although he wasn’t able to walk on his own very well, he’d shift around in his run in a manner that resembled pacing for hours on end. After hearing this, you were hopeful that he’d be ready to come home soon. 

Wanda was reluctant to visit again since she feared a repeat of what happened last time. You’d told her it was unlikely given his progress, and ultimately her desire to see her dog won out over her paranoia. The two of you showed up at the ER with Boone since the shepherd was becoming equally restless in this brother’s absence. He’d started to stare outside or wander around the house as if looking for him, and you realized that it was time for him to be brought into the loop. 

Audrey Cohen was the attending again when you came to visit a second time. She didn’t have anything to update you on, so she left you to visit alone while she kept an eye on the comings and goings in the ICU. Things were busy as usual and she still had a couple of hours left on her shift, so she was making the rounds again. She was glad that Rogue was doing better and although she would learn from last time and not be too hasty with discharging him, she was hoping he’d be ready soon. 

Rogue’s anxiety was becoming more apparent as time passed which was a double-edged sword. It was good that he was feeling more normal and his personality was returning, but unfortunately his anxiety made him a little higher maintenance. As you’d alluded to, in his boredom, Rogue had become destructive. He’d tried to take out his catheter after chewing through his fluid line. He’d also started to try and dig his way out of his run, or at least that what it had looked like when he’d ripped up the potty pads on top of his blankets. 

Audrey decided that after another 24 hours of normal vitals and Rogue being able to walk on his own, she would discharge him. 

Boone sits impatiently in the visitor’s room with his parents. He knows he’s not here for him since he feels fine, and because you told him that they were here to visit someone. He hoped it was his wayward brother, but he couldn’t tell with all of the different smells in this place. 

It wasn’t until he heard voices and scuffing paws outside the door that he realized that he was right. 

You and Wanda sit up in anticipation as the door opens. You see two techs leading Rogue in on a help-em up harness and you smile widely at the sight of him. He’s obviously very weak, and he can only take slow, deliberate steps, but seeing him standing after the last time you visited him was such progress you feel your eyes burn with unshed tears. 

“Hi buddy.” 

Rogue’s tail begins to wag and you hear Wanda sniffle beside you as you two wait for your dog to be brought to the bed that had been set out for him. Boone stands up excitedly and begins to whine as he waits impatiently for his brother to get settled. You tell him to sit and he does, but it can barely count with the way that he’s sliding across the floor with the intensity of his tail wagging. You decide to let it go since he’s obviously as excited as you are, but you make sure he stays out of the way as the duo lay Rogue down.

You thank them for their help and as they leave you tell Boone he can go say hi. Wanda waits until the shepherds greet each other excitedly with sniffs and headbutts before getting on the floor beside them. She sits beside Rogue’s bed and smiles tearily at his attempts to stand. You can tell that he wants to play with his brother, but he doesn’t have the energy. Boone seems to catch on and he goes from his play bow to sitting beside Rogue. He licks the other shepherd’s face before he places his head on the ground next to his brother, and watches as he greets Wanda with a whine.

“It’s so good to see you up, bud. How are you feeling?” 

You join the trio on the floor but just watch as Rogue greets his mom with enthusiasm that’s muted by his low energy. Still, he manages to lick Wanda’s hands half a dozen times before he falls into her lap with a whiny yawn. He lays his head against her and lets her love on him thoroughly as he closes his eyes. He looks content and you smile as you reach out to scratch him behind one of his ears.

 “I’m glad to see you’re feeling better, Rogue. We hope to have you home in a couple of days. How does that sound?” 

The rest of the visit goes well and you, Wanda, and Boone leave hopeful that you’ll see Rogue again soon. You stopped by the front desk to see if you owed anything at this visit, but after being told that any remaining balance can be paid at discharge, you leave. You don’t think about how the bill so far has definitely been enough to pay for a new car as you walk outside to meet your wife and dog. The smile on her face and Boone’s excited tail wags are worth far more than any price you could pay.

“Ready to go home?” 

The next time you see Rogue, it’s two Fridays after Wanda brought him here. It’s almost 7pm and this time it’s just you. Wanda had to work late tonight, and despite insisting that what she was working on now would lead to her retirement, you still didn’t like it. You knew it was unfair. You couldn’t ask Wanda to leave and then expect her not to have to do any work to make it happen. You couldn’t have your cake and eat it too. Honestly the most annoying part about visiting Rogue alone tonight was that you knew he wasn’t going to be very happy to see that Wanda wasn’t with you. 

You ignore the tendrils of jealousy associated with this as you walk into the lobby. You greet the CSR who you’re on a first name basis with at this point. 

“Hi Michelle. How are you?” 

The redhead smiles at you and shrugs as she gestures to the ringing phones. 

“Busy as always, but it’s good to see you, Y/n! Dr. Lancaster said to send you on back. She had something she wanted to tell you.”

You’re a little surprised by this but you just nod before leaving Michelle to the phones. You don’t have a badge to get into the back, but before you can worry about it too much, you’re nearly knocked over by a brunette rushing out. Apparently to meet you. 

“Oh! Sorry Dr. Y/l/n. I was sent to let you in. I’m Antonia.” 

You smile before introducing yourself and following the tech into treatment. 

“Hi, you can call me Y/n, Antonia. You helped with Rogue when he was first admitted?” 

You know the answer since Wanda had told you about this over a week ago. She’d mentioned how when he was first brought here, he was understandably stressed, and she’d needed to assist with some things to get him settled. She didn’t remember much detail other than that the staff she’d been instructed by had been helpful and understanding which, regretfully, she hadn’t appreciated at the time given how stressed she was. Recalling everything with you later though, she’d mentioned how grateful she was and you’d joked that everyone in vet med was like that. 

Although the sad truth of it was that they weren’t. 

You watch as Antonia seems to hesitate, you must have caught her by surprise, before she nods thoughtfully. She stops in her tracks to let someone walking a partially paralyzed dog past go first, and she turns to you with a small smile. 

“I did, yes. I’m really glad he’s doing better. He’s such a sweet, if a little mischievous, boy.” 

You laugh at this and follow Antonia as she heads through the IMC toward the hallway that leads to the ICU. It’s nearly empty except for two people in white coats, doctors, standing awfully close together. You look away before you even really register who it is, and you pretend to stare at your hands as you fiddle with your wedding ring. 

“That’s pretty accurate honestly.” 

You’re grateful that by the time you look up, all you see is Rachel standing alone looking at something in her hands. A notebook. She looks up at you and Antonia, and you don’t see any sign of anything amiss in her expression, so you decide to ignore what you just saw. 

“Good evening, Y/n.” 

You nod and offer a smile in greeting as Antonia excuses herself to get Rogue ready for his visit. You wonder if you two will just stand in the hallway for this, but you don’t have much time to consider it before Rachel’s turning away and waving you along.

“Evening, Dr. Lancaster. I hope Rogue isn’t causing too much trouble today.” 

You see the other doctor smile and she shakes her head as she pushes the door to the ICU open. 

“Not any more so than yesterday. He’s only destroyed one cone today. We put some chew toys in his run to see if this would deter him, but of course he only wants to eat his bedding or the many layers of vetwrap around his catheter.” 

You groan in annoyance and sympathy as you look around the bustling room. The door to Rogue’s run is open, but you don’t see him so he must be outside on a walk. You come to a stop behind Rachel and watch as she glances around the room as well. On a second pass, you realize that Dr. Cohen is nowhere to be seen. 

“What a pain. I’d apologize on his behalf, but I’m certain he’s not sorry.” 

You’re led farther into the ICU and when you stop by Rogue’s run you confirm that it is in fact empty. You turn around to face Rachel who stopped behind you, but your gaze goes to something else first. 

“Rogue, look at you!” 

Your dog is being led back inside, or rather he’s walking himself, with no obvious lameness, and you’re thrilled to see it. You smile widely as he nearly drags Antonia toward you, and reach out for him. He sniffs your hand and moves closer so you can pet him. He’s looking around all the while and you can’t help but laugh despite the desire to roll your eyes. 

“Hi Rogue. Sorry, it’s just me this time. Mom’s working.”

You nearly let out an undignified snort when Rogue whines long and low in despair, before sitting at your feet. You look up and realize that you’re being watched by two pairs of eyes, and at that time you realize that Rachel hasn’t told you whatever it is she had planned to. 

Antonia hands the leash to you when someone calls her for help across the room, and once she’s gone you return your attention to the other doctor.

“So, he’s doing well?” 

The brunette just nods before she says something that honestly surprises you almost as much as it excites you. 

“He’s doing remarkably well. All of his vitals and bloodwork have come back normal. I would say that he’s even safe to be discharged tonight, if you wanted to take him home with you.” 

You glance down at Rogue with wide eyes as you consider your options. You want nothing more than for Rogue to come home for good, but another part of you is too anxious to jump on this opportunity and run home with it. You think about what Wanda would want if she was here, and you nearly smile at the thought of her already being on her knees and hugging her dog gleefully. 

Yeah. You really want him to be home. 

As if sensing your reluctance, she offers you a smile and another form of reassurance that is enough for you to make your decision. 

“Even if he was a perfect patient that wasn’t trying to eat his way out of here, I would say that he was ready.”  

This is how you end up walking out of the ER, after paying another $4k, with your excited dog and a weightless feeling. 

Wanda is barely able to stomach the idea of dragging herself out of her car and into the house. She’s so exhausted that she could fall asleep where she’s sitting right now, and probably not wake up until tomorrow. Today was ridiculously busy given her short break from work, and she was feeling the effects of it. She’d talked to her brother earlier this week about retiring, and that had led to a very long and tense discussion about expectations for the future. 

Pietro wanted her to be happy, but he also wanted her to be practical, and safe. There was a lot that went into getting out, as they’d discussed, but despite having a migraine after their conversation, Wanda felt a bit better. She had a solid, or at least tenuous, plan in place to get the ball rolling. She had been excited to share this with you last night, but you’d been stressed by your own work schedule, so she’d decided to wait until tonight. 

Thinking of you reminded her that she’d missed a visit with Rogue tonight and she frowns at the thought. She’d checked her phone multiple times since the time of your visit had passed, but you hadn’t updated her. She’d jokingly, except not really, asked for at least two pictures of her fur baby, but she’d received nothing yet.

Her desire to find out how her dog was is what eventually motivates her to get out of her car and walk toward the door. She stifles a yawn as she shuts off the light behind her as she walks into the mudroom. 

“Y/n?” 

You’re not anywhere in sight and not even Boone or Fletcher comes to greet her. She frowns in confusion as she searches for you when you call out to her. 

“I’m in the den!” 

She walks through the kitchen quickly, eager for an update, only to find the door closed. That’s weird, but she’s not going to let that stop her from checking in. She sets her bags down on the counter before heading your way. 

“How was Rogue? Did the visit go well?” 

There’s an obvious pause before she hears you speak up in a tone that would have likely frustrated her even if she wasn’t exhausted. 

“It went. Nothing really of interest to report.” 

Wanda’s nearly scowling as she reaches the door to the den and starts to push it open. 

“What the hell does--?”

Wanda trails off and stops in her tracks when she looks into the room to see that you’re sitting on the couch with Boone, and Fletcher’s tucked up against her brother while she grooms herself. Her attention then drifts down to who’s sitting as close as physically possible to the door, and now at her feet, and her eyes widen. 

“Rogue! You’re home!” 

Wanda drops to her knees at the same time that Rogue jumps to his feet, and they collide in a furry, wet hug. Wanda’s arms wrap around her dog’s neck as the shepherd turns to lick her face, and it’s messy but she doesn’t care in the least. She doesn’t realize she’s crying until she soaks Rogue’s fur and it starts to stick to her face, but she just holds him tighter as he whines excitedly. 

“It’s so good to have you home, sweet boy. I missed you so much.” 

You smile widely as you watch your wife greet her dog enthusiastically. You don’t realize how long you’ve been watching them until Wanda turns to you red-eyed but visibly happy. Rogue is leaning into her and panting as he looks between the two of you. 

“You were supposed to send me pictures.” 

Wanda tries to sound annoyed even though she’s not, but you still shoot her a guilty look as you run a hand through your hair. Boone is lying on top of you so you can’t really get up, but the expression on Wanda’s face makes you want to hold her close. That said, you’re sure that Rogue’s already called dibs on cuddles for the foreseeable future. 

“I know, but I thought this would be better?” 

Wanda looks back to her dog before nodding tearfully. She kisses his nose before running her hands all over him as if to reassure herself that he’s real. He’s here. He’s okay. 

She turns to you as she admits, 

“It is. It’s so much better.” 

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Growing Pains Part 7

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~9.6k

Summary: Little Nat is almost 13 and school’s a bitch. Retired mob boss turned stay-at-home mom Wanda has to figure out how to deal with bullies at her daughter’s school. 

A/N: Enjoy 😘

Warnings: Fluff, teen angst, injury, reference to previous injury/trauma, bullies, and mentions medicinal drug use

Natalya takes a deep breath as she stretches her arms out in the middle of the outfield. She’s smiling as she mentally prepares for this game with very little sleep. She’d almost fallen asleep in multiple classes today because she’d been up late. She’d been restless for some reason, and she wanted to blame the rain. Luckily it warmed up a lot throughout the day so the grass is only a little damp, but Natalya is still sure she could slip if she was running fast enough. 

It's luckily the 4th inning already and her team is up by 5. This lead might not last though because they have 3 people on base and the batter had hit a triple last time she was up. Natalya tries to keep this in mind as she waits for Taylor to throw the next pitch. The sound of the bat making contact with the ball makes her start, and her feet are already moving as she watches to see where it will go. 

You and Wanda are accompanied by a smaller crowd than usual for this game. Pietro is the only other family member who’s here that’s not a dog, and he’s sitting at the end of the bench next to his sister who has Rogue beside her. You have Boone at your feet, and you check on him periodically, but he’s happy to just be sitting in the sun and relaxing. You’d decided to bring them because the rain from last night had kept them both from getting much time outside. Now that it was slightly dryer out and you accepted the fact you had to bathe them soon anyway, you thought they would make good company. As expected, Rogue is sticking to Wanda’s side like glue, and Boone is lying on your feet. 

Pietro will occasionally reach over and scratch one of the shepherds, and he would point to Natalya whenever she appeared to see the dogs perk up slightly. You found it adorable and if you weren’t surrounded by other parents, you’d be taking a ton of pictures of them. 

“Do you think they’ll be able to hold them?” 

Pietro asks this at the top of the 7th inning where Natalya’s team is only 2 ahead of their rivals. Nat’s standing further back in the outfield than usual, and her friends are looking tenser by the minute. You frown slightly at the thought but you don’t hesitate to nod as you decide that they’ll pull through this. The other team is at the end of the batting order and these hitters aren’t as intimidating. You try not to be anxious about it because no matter what happens you won’t be disappointed. Well, it was the last game of the week and Natalya was still grounded, so a victory trip for pizza wouldn’t be happening. You try not to feel guilty about this as you watch the first strike get hit into foul territory. The outfielders are waved to the right, and they all take a few steps in anticipation of the hit. 

Natalya is bouncing on the balls of her feet impatiently waiting for something to do. She tries not to think about how she’ll go home after this no matter what, but luckily a distraction in the form of a ball headed toward her territory keeps her from dwelling on this. She’s smiling and focusing on the ball, so she’s not expecting what happens next. 

First, she thinks a bee flew into her and stung her because that’s happened once. However, once she feels three more hits, one on her face right as the ball reaches her, she realizes something’s wrong. She cringes and then curses when the ball smacks her in the jaw when her vision is filled with red.

“Ow! What the hell?!” 

Natalya stumbles but stays on her feet as she tries to wipe at her eye, but she makes it worse and whatever it is isn’t blood. She misses someone calling a time out and a few people running in different directions, but the pain in her mouth is distracting her. She probably should have turned so it hit her cheek again. 

“What the fuck?” 

You and Wanda are quick to stand up when you hear loud popping that sounds suspiciously like a gun. It’s a little triggering to be honest, and both Maximoffs are zeroing in on the source. You watch as your daughter stumbles as something hits her and the side of her face turns red before her jersey is splashed with yellow. You only have a second to be relieved at the discovery that Nat’s been shot by a paintball gun when you notice movement out of the corner of your eye. 

“Pietro-.” 

Wanda stops short as she and her brother see someone running behind the locker rooms and toward the parking lot. They’re dressed in all black carrying a gun, and as soon as Pietro sees him, he’s gone. Wanda is too slow to stop him and her attention turns to Rogue who had spotted the shooter too and wanted to help. He’s on his feet and starting to jump off the bleachers, but Wanda holds him back and you do the same with Boone. The dogs realize something’s up but Boone turns back to the field when things start to get a little hectic. 

The game had been stopped and Natalya was brought in from the outfield by the left fielder and Taylor who was trying to assess the damage while looking for the perpetrator. She can tell that her friend is in pain, and she is pretty sure she got a tooth knocked loose. She frowns in sympathy because as much as she loves her mom, she hates going to the dentist and she knows that Natalya is the same way. 

She doesn’t notice Nat’s uncle run off, but she sees her dogs stand up as she glances over to her mom. She usually had both of them here, but luckily her dentist mom is the one who was able to make it today. 

“What hurts, other than your mouth?” 

Nat just shakes her head as she thinks about where else she was hit, but she can’t really focus on anything other than the paint in her eye. She doesn’t realize her normal grey jersey is now yellow and green to match with red face, but Taylor doesn’t bother to tell her this now as she leads her friend to the dugout. 

You consider following Pietro, but you decide to focus on your dogs who are growing more restless as Natalya gets closer. They’re focusing on her, and you wait until you’ve grabbed both of their leashes before you follow Wanda’s lead. Wanda is about to go onto the field, but Natalya and Taylor are led away from the dugout and toward her by their coach. Wanda’s fidgeting anxiously as she waits for her daughter to be brought to her. She’s trying to convince herself that the smattering of red on her face is not blood, but there’s definitely some dripping from her mouth where she’s holding her jaw with a pained look. 

“I think I’m about to swallow my tooth.” 

Taylor cringes at this and it worsens at the sight of Nat’s mom waiting for them. She looks appropriately worried and you’re right behind her as you quickly take in your daughter’s appearance. Taylor’s mom is also off of the bleachers and coming to check on Natalya. If the youngest Maximoff had enough presence of mind she’d be embarrassed by all of the attention she’s getting. 

“Sweetheart, what hurts? Is your face, okay?” 

Wanda doesn’t even realize that she’s not speaking English. Sometimes it happens when she’s worried and as much as Nat wants to reassure her mom that she’s fine, she just shakes her head. She can’t focus on anything other than the paint that’s stinging her eye. Someone comes up to try and wipe it away with a wet cloth, but they’re not very successful. 

“Here, look up for a second?” 

Nat does and she nearly jumps when she feels something scratchy that she belated realizes is one of her dogs, brush against her hand. You frown but don’t look away from your daughter as you chastise Rogue for not listening to you. 

“I told you to sit.” 

“I think we need to go to the hospital.” 

Pietro’s returning as soon as you and Wanda begin to lead Natalya away. You stop short to chat with Kayley and Wanda shoots her brother a questioning look that he only shakes his head at. 

“Did you get anything?” 

Pietro doesn’t answer immediately as he takes a second to watch you try to get the paint off Natalya’s face while talking to a dentist. She asks Nat questions that Taylor answers and both parents frown as they decide that Wanda’s right and she should go to the ER. If not for her broken tooth, then for the paint in her eyes and the recent concussion that Nat had. 

You don’t realize that Wanda and Pietro are in the middle of a conversation, and you interrupt them as you start to lead your daughter to the parking lot. 

“Let’s go, Nat. Thanks, Kayley.” 

The blonde just nods as she takes out her phone to call her friend as promised to let her know that you and Wanda will be by with Natalya soon. Taylor just watches her friend leave and wonders what the hell just happened and how she’s going to finish the rest of this game. 

Wanda’s stewing from where she sits beside her daughter in the back seat of your car. Pietro had agreed to call the cops and give them what information he had while he took the dogs home. This left the three of you to go to the hospital and try and get Nat taken care of. You’re driving faster than you usually do, but not fast enough for Wanda to comment on it. Not that you’d slow down much. You’re thinking of the possible suspects and how you’ll punish them if you ever get a chance. You pull up to the ER with a scowl and stop the car before turning back to your wife and Natalya who has her right eye shut. 

“I’ll drop you off here, and meet you inside, okay?” 

Wanda just nods and Natalya mutters something that you don’t hear, but don’t bother with right now. You wait until they’re both out of the car and headed for the doors before driving to the parking deck with a series of muttered curses. Now that Natalya’s not in the car, you allow yourself to get upset about what happened. You’d mostly been worried about Nat when at school, and you still were, but you were also seething and wanted to know who the hell did this to your daughter. 

Your first thought is Stacy, but this seemed unlikely for some reason to you. Maybe it’s because she struck you as someone who didn’t like to get her hands dirty. Maybe she had someone else go after Nat. Either way, you’re going to figure out who was responsible, and you park so quickly you nearly hit the wall in front of you with another loud curse. 

“Fucking hell.”

Wanda was walking Natalya through the front doors of the ER when she hears someone call her name. She’d barely glanced around to see how busy it was because she knew it would stress her out. She wanted to focus all of her attention on getting Nat helped, but she almost didn’t hear the familiar voice call out to her. It was only Nat slowing down that made Wanda realize that she’s missed something. 

“Wanda! Natalya.”

Wanda nearly sighs in relief at the sight of a familiar face in a white coat. Wanda honestly hated hospitals and still hadn’t gotten used to coming to one like a normal person. She was at least finally glad to know someone. She offers the blonde a smile before she turns toward her daughter who’s only managing to offer a mangled smile. She has some blood dripping down her chin that’s very similar in color to the red paint on the same side of her face. Emily had been briefed about what had happened, but she was still surprised to see how messy the brunette looked. Still that doesn’t change how Emily wants to deal with this, and she looks around for you briefly before motioning for the duo to follow her. 

“Let’s go get you cleaned up.” 

You’re only a couple minutes behind, and Emily’s only just started to clean the paint from Natalya’s eye when you walk through the exam room. You’re slightly less annoyed, but seeing Nat grimace as her face is cleaned renews your ire and you barely manage a smile as Emily turns to see who’s walked in. 

You are about to speak up when your phone rings, and you hold back your sigh of annoyance as you fish it out of your pocket. You are surprised to see that Pietro’s calling you instead of Wanda, and your first instinct is to hand the phone over to your wife. 

“Pietro, what’s up? Do you need to talk to Wanda?” 

You’d turned away slightly but you continue out into the hallway after shooting your wife a look when Pietro responds. 

“No, Y/n I wanted to talk to you. The police tracked down the shooter.” 

You’re a little surprised to hear that this has happened so soon, and you neglect to respond to Wanda’s concerned look as you head out into the hallway with a frown. 

Pietro had been on the phone all the way to your house. First, he’d called Bucky and Steve to see if they still had their connections with the police. Despite their years away from crime, they’d luckily kept a couple of contacts in the event that they ever needed assistance. After getting this person on the phone, Pietro gave the only information he had, the physical description of the shooter and their license plate, before arriving to his sister’s house. The dogs were surprisingly reluctant to go inside, and Pietro realizes they must know that something is up. He had to practically drag Rogue inside, and he’d almost missed the detective calling him back. 

He hadn’t considered calling his sister for more than a second or so because he knew that between the two of you, you were the more level-headed one. Wanda would undoubtedly lose her mind over what he learned, and despite you usually being the more rational one, Pietro anticipates having to talk you down as well. 

You only take a few steps away from the room because you don’t want to stray too far. That said, you immediately feel the urge to start pacing when Pietro fills you in on what you’ve missed. 

“What did they find out? Who is he?” 

Somewhere along the way, you’d decided that the shooter was a he, but you’re not proven wrong when Pietro speaks up with a sigh. He’s on his way to the hospital to check up on his niece, but he decides to change course when you give him a better idea. 

“It was Stacy’s groundskeeper’s kid.” 

You are first trying to figure out who in this day and age still had a groundskeeper, but then you realize that being a CEO to a fortune 500 company means you have way too much money. Then you realize that you don’t quite care about this right now, and you’re more focused on the fact that this confirms your suspicions. Stacy must have asked him to do this, and that alone makes you want to slap her. You haven’t trained with Nat or Yelena in years, but you feel the urge to do so overwhelm you at this news. 

“I don’t even…. have they found him? What’s the plan?” 

After a short conversation, you leave Pietro to figure out how to get this kid into custody and go check on your wife and daughter. You’re relieved to see that Natalya’s face looks far less red, but you see that she has tears running down her cheeks too. This makes you frown, but you don’t say anything as you walk back into the room. You apparently missed Nat getting dental rads taken and one look at them tells you why your daughter is crying. 

“This is going to have to come out. Do you have a preference on who does it?” 

Apparently, you missed something because Nat and Wanda don’t seem confused by this question. The former takes a moment to think about it before she asks if she’ll be knocked out. When Emily nods Natalya just sighs before glancing down at the paint that still covers her jersey. She hadn’t really wanted to play in her game today, but this was definitely not a desirable alternative. 

“Whichever is fastest, please.” 

It turns out that Emily was asking whether or not she wanted an ER dentist here or Taylor’s mom to take out her tooth. The faster option in this case was to have someone in the hospital do it, and only an hour later, Natalya’s tooth is out and she’s a little loopy from the drugs.

Wanda of course had asked you about what Pietro had said, and you told her the truth. Lying to your wife had never gotten you anywhere but couched before, so you didn’t even try. You saw the exact moment when she contemplated murder, and you’re extremely grateful that there are significantly fewer guns in the house. 

“We’ll call Piet again as soon as we can. Let’s just get this one home.” 

Wanda doesn’t argue despite wanting to, and after thanking Alyssa’s mom, they’re heading home. The ride is tense and with Natalya passed out in the back seat, it’s also silent. It’s a long car ride back despite you speeding, and when you get home it’s almost dark and past dinner time. Your dogs are pretty upset about being left alone after such a stressful event, and they wake Nat up with their annoyed howling. Wanda takes them outside while you take Nat upstairs to rest. You considered just letting her hang out downstairs, but with the way the dogs were acting, you weren’t sure how much rest she’d be able to get. 

“Do you want anything to eat, Little Nat?” 

Nat doesn’t answer immediately and you think it’s because of the drugs so you don’t rush her. It’s not until you notice that she’s crying again that you realize something else might be going on. You hate to see her so upset, and you reach out for her as soon as she starts to wipe away her tears with a scowl. 

Natalya is thinking of how miserable she is despite being doped up on pain medication. Her mouth hurts only a little bit, but she’s upset about how she still doesn’t feel safe at school. She hates how Stacy is still tormenting her despite not being allowed at school for the rest of this week. She just wants to be left alone, but she’s not sure how this is going to be possible. She fears she’ll have to switch schools or something else drastic. She doesn’t want to leave her friends, and she doesn’t want to run away. She’s going to have to deal with this head on if she hopes to ever get a good night’s sleep again. She can’t just wait for Stacy to send someone to do her bidding. 

She showed today that whether she’s there or not, she’s going to find ways to torment her. Nat won’t last long like this. The anticipation would likely kill her. She’s probably being a little dramatic, but she can’t help it. She’s tired, hurt, and wants to catch a break. 

Nat shakes her head as she moves away from you to burrow underneath her covers. She sniffles pitifully before she speaks just loudly enough for you to hear her. Her gaze is cast down toward her hands as she fiddles with her covers, so she misses your reaction to what she says. 

“I just want her to leave me alone, Mom.” 

You think about what Nat said for almost 20 minutes after she’d fallen asleep. You hate that your baby is unhappy, and that she’s being tortured like this. You’re going to figure out how to deal with this so your daughter can start enjoying things again, and not have to look over her shoulder. You’re just not sure how to accomplish this. 

You leave Nat’s room in a huff and you barely notice Wanda as you head straight for the garage without a word. You close the door behind you and head to the far wall before kneeling down with a scowl. You look at the bottles of booze that are locked in the cabinet that you and Pietro installed one year after Wanda had seen Nat reading the label of a bottle of whiskey. Her curiosity wasn’t too concerning, but once she started having friends over, you and Wanda didn’t want there to be copious amounts of booze within reach. 

Now, you’re struggling to remember the code since it had been so long since you’d had anything to drink, but you manage to get it opened before Wanda comes into the garage. 

“Y/n?” 

You don’t hear her as you grab the closest bottle to you which unfortunately is not the best option, but you take it out anyway before standing with a sigh. You start to open it even before Wanda speaks up. You’re turning back to head into the house before you even realize that Wanda is standing in front of you. You stop short and curse as you spill some of the drink on your shirt. 

“Y/n, what’s going on?” 

Wanda’s frowning when she realizes why you came out into the garage. She can tell you’re upset, and she’s sure you’re thinking about drinking far too much when you practically jump at the sight of her. 

“I can’t talk about it just yet, Wands.” 

You shake your head before trying to go around your wife, but she grabs your arm to stop you for a couple of reasons. She understands that you may not want to talk now, but she’s not going to let you get uselessly drunk. Not only do you work tomorrow, but you’re not supposed to mix alcohol and your medications. 

You frown as you turn to your wife fully prepared for what she’s about to say, but you don’t argue with her despite your desire to do so. 

“You’re not supposed to drink, detka.” 

You sigh in defeat as you grab your wife’s hand and lead her back inside. You ignore your two dogs that have come to investigate as you step inside and head for the back door. You want to at least get outside for a minute to take a breather and not do anything inadvisable like calling your friends to schedule a hit on a teenager. 

“Come sit with me?” 

Wanda follows you outside and you both sit on the deck chairs. You sit in silence for a minute as you just hold the vodka in your hand in a painfully tight grip. You take a deep breath before glancing out to the yard where your dogs had run off as soon as they escaped through the back doors. Wanda watches nervously as you lift the bottle to your lips and take a much shorter drink than you’d like. It’s only a second, and your wife doesn’t have time to even open her mouth before you’re handing the bottle to her with a sigh. 

“Our baby is miserable, Wands. We need to figure out how to make this right.” 

Only a few minutes later, you are on the phone with Yelena while Wanda talks to her brother to get an update. You were lucky enough to get Yelena and Nat on the phone, and you were trying to figure out how you three could help Natalya. You weren’t above asking Nat and Yelena to talk to your daughter and teach her how to defend herself better. If Stacy was going to keep trying to hurt your daughter and the administration wasn’t going to do anything about it, it was up to you. You’re glad that Yelena jumps at the opportunity and already plans to come by tomorrow to talk to her niece. Both of your friends are as horrified as you were to hear about what happened at the game today. Nat had actually contemplated going after Stacy directly, but you’d talked her out of that quickly, despite not really wanting to. You couldn’t stoop to her level, and none of you could be as involved as you wanted to be. 

You had to give Natalya the tools to deal with Stacy while Wanda figures out how to deal with the school’s administration. 

After talking to Pietro, Wanda was only a little reassured that those responsible for this afternoon would be dealt with. The 15-year-old who had shot at Natalya with a paintball gun had been arrested and charged with aggravated assault. He was facing 6 months in prison if he didn’t pay $75k for bail. Both Wanda and Pietro were sure that Stacy’s family would bail him out, so they were trying to figure out how to use this against the family, and hopefully improve Nat’s case against her at school. 

It wasn’t the easiest to do because they were both very emotionally attached, and Wanda was a little bit tipsy from sipping from the bottle you’d given her. The stress had been getting to her, and she briefly forgotten how strong the drink was until she stood up too quickly and nearly fell over. She almost stepped on Rogue, and he yelped in surprise which made Wanda feel even worse. She’d set aside the bottle and sat down beside her dog as she finished making arrangements with Pietro. 

“So your goal is to bring hell to the PTA?” 

Wanda had told her brother about her plan because she honestly still wasn’t convinced that she could do it. She knew she had your support and confidence, but sometimes you were biased and you didn’t tell her things she didn’t want to hear. That said, you both wanted a solution and she was worried about being blinded by this and making a fool of herself. She can’t tell from her brother’s tone if he’s about to prove her right. 

She sighs as she runs her free hand through Rogue’s fur with a small smile. He turns to her and licks her face and she scrunches up her nose in equal parts disgust and amusement. 

“That was the plan. Become big enough to matter and keep Natalya safer at school.” 

Pietro frowns at this because he can’t help but wonder how much easier this would be if Wanda was still a feared mobster. That said, she’d have to deal with far worse than mean kids at school, but being able to strike fear into people’s hearts with just a look did have its perks. 

Eventually the older Maximoff just nods and smiles at the thought of Wanda going to all of this trouble. She probably doesn’t want to do this, but she’d do anything for Natalya, even at the expense of exposing herself to the public. It’s been nearly 2 decades, so hopefully no one really remembers her. He decides not to worry about this until it becomes a problem, and he just sighs as he finishes his beer and smiles widely at the idea of his sister bringing hell to earth. 

“That’s going to be great, sestra. You’re going to kick ass.” 

You’re not feeling as confident as Pietro when you get off the phone with Yelena and Nat. You wish you hadn’t given Wanda the booze because you feel like you could use some right now. You sigh as you leave Wanda to continue talking to her brother, and head upstairs to check on Nat. She’s still asleep so you just head to your bathroom, grab some weed and head up to the third floor. This will be the first time in months that you’ve smoked without having a pain flare up. However, you’re hoping that given the circumstances Wanda won’t give you a hard time about it. 

You’re lying down and smoking by the time Wanda finishes up talking to Pietro. She does the same thing you did, and she checks on Nat before she sets out to look for you. She’d already put up the bottle you’d left with her, so she only had her dogs as she passes the bedroom and heads for the third floor. She has a feeling she knows why you’re up here, and despite knowing she should give you some grief, she just plans on asking to smoke with you. 

You hear the door open behind you and the sound of dog feet on the deck before you turn around to see the expected sight. Your wife looks stressed, but she doesn’t look mad which you are relieved about. You smile at her and gesture for her to sit beside you as you take another drag with a tired sigh. 

“Here, come sit.” 

Wanda does but she doesn’t lie back like you do as she tries to convince herself that you both can keep Natalya safe. She’s sure you were talking to Yelena about teaching your daughter self-defense, and despite how conflicted she is about this, she wants Nat to be able to defend herself. If she can’t stop the onslaught at school, she’ll be damned if she allows Nat to be defenseless. She’s pulled from her thoughts by the feeling of a hand on her waist. She turns to see you shooting her a questioning look, and she just sighs before leaning back so she’s sitting beside you. She cuddles close despite the off-putting smell of the burning joint, and she hides her face in your hair and takes a deep breath.

“I’m tired of watching Natalya get hurt, Y/n.”

You nod in agreement, but don’t say anything as you take another long drag. You should probably slow down, but you’re tense and your mind is all over the place, and you’re not sure you’ll be able to sleep soon without a little help. You watch as Wanda pulls away slightly and when you catch her looking at the joint in your hand, you hold it out to her wordlessly. 

She hesitates for only a couple of seconds before taking a tentative drag. She hasn’t smoked in almost a year because she now viewed weed as your medicine, and she didn’t like to take it from you. She also is more of a fan of alcohol than weed, but she didn’t indulge in either very much. She feels the need to calm her nerves tonight though, and like you, she can’t think of a better way to do that. She holds onto it for a while before handing it back to you with a sigh that you feel more than hear. One of your arms is wrapped around your wife as you both become lost in your thoughts of how to help your daughter. 

Wanda takes a deep breath as she walks through the familiar halls to get to the main office of her daughter’s school. She ignores the sea of kids that she passes through on her way, and she holds her breath as she walks back toward where she hoped the principal was. It was still early. She’d honestly just dropped Natalya off before parking in the visitor lot and storming in here. She had a plan, and she was going to see it through and get her daughter some help. She’d been as despondent this morning as she’d been last night, and her face had a series of bruises that made Wanda regret getting rid of most of her guns. She needed a solution to this fast because she wasn’t going to let her daughter continue to be at danger in school. She’d take her out of it and teach her herself until this is all worked out if she had to.  

She takes a steadying breath before she knocks on the door with an unreadable expression. It’s open, but the blonde is looking at her desk and hasn’t noticed her yet. Wanda doesn’t miss her surprised look when she realizes who’s at her door. 

“Mrs. Maximoff.” 

Amy Lewis had been the principal of this particular middle school for nearly 5 years. She’d seen her fair share of troubled students, but only a handful of them had been in a situation similar to Stacy’s. She would admit that of all the bullies with rich parents, Stacy’s gone a lot further than any other. When she heard about what happened at the softball game yesterday, she knew that one of Natalya’s parents would show up sooner rather than later for a meeting. 

Given that Mrs. Maximoff was a stay-at-home mom, it made sense that she was the one to grace her office. She wishes she was more prepared for this meeting because she honestly can’t say that she can keep Stacy out of school any longer for this. Despite the evidence from the police and the arrest they made, there is no proof that Stacy asked for this to happen. She would be suspending her further, on a whim and that would get her in trouble regardless of whether or not she could prove that Stacy’s presence at school proved a threat to Natalya. 

Wanda tries to leave all of her feelings about the disappointing investigation behind, and focus on what she can do to help Natalya now. She knows that it will take time for her to gain any sort of power in the PTA, so she’s hoping she can get a little help from the principal. 

“Ms. Lewis. Good morning. Sorry for barging in, but I was hoping you would have time to talk.”

It wasn’t a question but the woman behind the desk nods before she motions for Wanda to sit down. She does and she resists the urge to jump right into it when she watches Amy sit up straighter and give her undivided attention. 

“Of course. I’m sorry to hear about what happened yesterday.” 

She means this and Wanda can tell, but she waits to be too appreciative. She wants to see if the blonde would be any help to her today. She had a plan and she had a couple of back up plans too. She would just have to see how things go, and remember how to be intimidating if necessary. That said, she didn’t want to make an enemy of her daughter’s principal. That would be counterintuitive to her entire plan. 

“Thank you. We’re all shaken up by it, but I had to practically drag Natalya to the car this morning.” 

Wanda thinks about how Natalya had barely eaten breakfast, and she’d dragged her heels when getting ready for school today. She couldn’t blame her daughter for not wanting to go after all that’s happened to her. Her face was sore from the paintballs, and her eye was still bothering her a bit. Her vision was blurry on and off, and despite how concerning this was, Alyssa’s mom had convinced them it was normal. It could last for a few weeks though which was bad news for multiple reasons. 

Natalya asked if she could stay home, and Wanda almost let her, but she had an exam today that she shouldn’t miss. Wanda felt guilty about it as soon as she saw her daughter panic at the reminder. She must not have studied for it, or she’d forgotten about it. Wanda couldn’t even bring herself to be upset about this all things considered. 

“I understand that you can’t keep Stacy out of school forever, but yesterday made me truly fear for Natalya’s safety.” 

When she gets no argument or defense in response, she continues in a voice that doesn’t betray her uncertainty. She’d thought about it all night long, and the only option that she could think of was what she was what she prepared to give right now. She realizes she probably should have asked you about it first, but she’d come to the conclusion this morning after you’d left for work with Boone. 

“Our dogs are registered as service animals. They’re alert dogs for my wife, but what if one of them accompanied Nat to school?” 

Wanda’s not surprised to see the unease on the other woman’s face, and her first question was one that Wanda already had an answer to prepared. She is only partly fibbing because despite their extensive past by her side while she was a mobster, they haven’t done anything other than be companions for over a decade and they weren’t really registered. You’d stopped bite training with Boone as soon as Natalya was 2, and you and Wanda believed that her past wasn’t going to come back and haunt them. 

That said, the two were still intimidating looking when they wanted to be despite being up there in years. Sometimes you were unprepared when kids were afraid of them because to you, they were sweet, albeit protective softies. You forgot that Natalya grew up with them and was tugging on their fur as soon as she could make a fist.  

Wanda was a little more prepared for people to be afraid of the duo, so she barely batted an eye when Amy shot her an uncertain look. 

“Won’t they…I’m not sure that would be the best idea. Not only is there the liability aspect, but it might be…” 

Amy trails off because she realizes that what she was going to say would be problematic in several ways. Sure, Natalya may not truly need her dog, a service dog at school with her, but there were kids who did. She’s had a few come through this school, but it had been a while. Certainly, there was an adjustment period, but kids were funny about what they cared about sometimes. Instead of making fun of someone for having an unnamed disability, they loved seeing a dog around. Even if they weren’t allowed to touch them. 

A little more thought makes her realize this isn’t going to be a permanent thing. It was only a few months until summer, and even if it was the beginning of the school year, could she really say no to this? She didn’t have another option for keeping Nat safe at school. Short of having someone follow her around which would arguably be a bigger distraction, she can’t intervene in any way that would truly guarantee Nat’s safety. She’d already been through so much, and if she couldn’t expel Stacy, she supposed she could let this happen. It would just require a little paperwork, and a trial run. 

“Okay, we can give it a try, Mrs. Maximoff, but on two conditions.” 

Wanda nods but doesn’t say anything as she waits to hear what the rules are going to be. She hopes that it’s doable and she belatedly hopes that you won’t be upset with her for going ahead and proposing this. She figured that she would let Natalya take Rogue. She didn’t want to take Boone from you, and he actually was very helpful to you when it came to remembering to take your meds while you were at work. You told her several times how Boone would stick his nose in your pocket where you kept your meds during his free time at lunch. Wanda argued that you kept treats in there too, and that’s what your dog was probably looking for, but you were insistent. It wasn’t worth arguing though and if it helped you remember to take them, she wasn’t going to complain. 

“First, they need to be well-behaved. They can’t disrupt class in any way, and they can’t show any signs of aggression towards the students.” 

Wanda wonders if this includes Stacy, but she just nods instead of asking this. She’s hoping that her daughter’s tormenter will at least be intimidated by the sight of Rogue. If it gets to the point that he has to growl at her, maybe it will be enough to spare Nat more pain. With any luck, having her dog by her side will help reduce her stress. 

“Second, I’ll need you or your wife to fill out some paperwork with their registration details and Nat’s specific needs.” 

Wanda resists the urge to cringe at this because neither of the dogs are registered, but she’ll figure out a way around this. She offers the blonde a smile as she nods in agreement. She’ll get this done, but more importantly, Natalya will be safer. Maybe Rogue will help her anxiety like Boone’s helped yours. She smiles at the thought before getting to her feet with another nod. 

“Understood. Thank you, Ms. Lewis.” 

You’re finishing up with your first appointment when Wanda sends you a confusing text message. You hadn’t slept great last night because you were stressing about what happened yesterday, so you’re a little slower than you’d like to be. That said, after reading the message five times you realize that you’re missing something important. 

Do the dogs have any registration papers? 

You briefly recall how both of your dogs were literally picked up off the street. You had no official adoption papers, and despite being licensed with the state, you had nothing like what Wanda was asking about. You responded to her before going into your next appointment. You feel your phone vibrate a few minutes later, but you can’t look at it until you’re finished up with the sick puppy.

About half an hour later, you remember to check your phone, and you frown again when you see what Wanda’s said. 

Can we get them registered as service dogs? 

You decide to call your wife because you have no idea where any of this is coming from. You don’t even consider what Wanda’s plan truly is, and you’re surprised and a little confused when she tells you a few minutes later. 

“Wait, what? You want her to take one of them to school? 

You listen carefully as Wanda tells you about her visit to the principal’s office this morning. You had known that your wife wanted to do something about Natalya’s situation at school, but you hadn’t expected her to go and immediately confront the principal. You also were caught off guard by the plan that she had come up with. 

Wanda is fiddling with the ends of the blanket on her lap as she waits anxiously for you to respond. She’s sitting on the couch with Rogue lying beside her with his head on her lap. He lets out a whiny yawn that brings you back to the present. You’re concerned about Wanda’s plan for a couple of reasons, but you figure you should start with the most straightforward one. 

“Well Boone actually is registered. I did it a couple of years ago so he could fly with me.” 

You don’t say that you don’t want Boone to go to school with your daughter. You honestly don’t want either of your dogs to, but you don’t say that yet. Selfishly you would miss your dog being with you every day, but the practical side of you worries that a school is not an ideal environment for your old, slightly decrepit dogs.

Wanda smiles at this news and turns her attention to Rogue as she scratches his head. He starts to pant and Wanda coos at him as he licks her hand before resting his head back on her. You’re trying to figure out how to tell Wanda about your reservations when she speaks up again. She’s clearly thought this through, and you’re both relieved and slightly miffed about being left out of the conversation. 

“That’s great, detka, but I was hoping that it would be Rogue that she takes with her.” 

You don’t respond immediately because you’re thinking about how this would work. You’re in complete agreement with your wife when it comes to ensuring Natalya’s protection. That said, you don’t know if giving her a guard dog is the answer. You’re trying to figure out how to tell her this, but you come up short. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Wands? Rogue can be a little…over protective.” 

You are sure to tread carefully because you learned the hard way that Wanda was as overprotective of her dog as she was of her cat which is something you never thought you’d see. Fletcher luckily didn’t cause much trouble these days even if she only took her meds if Wanda gave them to her. All things considered you couldn’t complain much. Rogue on the other hand still had a lot of mischievous tendencies despite slowing down. 

Wanda frowns as she thinks about this and shoots her nearly sleeping dog a glance. She understands what you’re saying, but she feels that as long as you both talk to Nat about how to properly give him commands everything should be fine. Maybe she was a little optimistic, or maybe she was just really grateful to have an, albeit temporary, solution for Natalya. 

When Wanda tells you that she feels you can both handle preparing your daughter for this, you realize that Wanda isn’t going to take no for an answer. You hold back your defeated sigh before you promise to look for the paper work and send it over to her as soon as you can. 

When you hang up the phone, you’re still trying to decide if this will be more of a benefit rather than a burden for your daughter. 

Wanda picks Natalya up right after school is finished. She isn’t feeling well enough to go to practice, and since her eye is still bothering her, she decided to skip today. After telling her friends and coach, she finds herself sitting alone with her back against the brick wall of the gym as she waits for her mom. She didn’t have a great day because a majority of it was spent daydreaming about how she could get her revenge on Stacy. She knew that she didn’t have a chance of getting access to a paintball gun or something similar, but she let her mind run rampant up until her test this afternoon.

That had gone about as well as she could have expected given the circumstances. She decided not to worry about it now because it was all done with at this point, and she had more important things to worry about. She hears a car pull up but she doesn’t bother looking up until she hears her mom’s voice. She gets up slowly and ignores how her knee pops as she walks over to her mom with a small smile. 

“Hi Mama.” 

Wanda smiles brightly as she waits for her daughter to get settled beside her. She reaches out to rub her back soothingly as she drives out toward the road with a sigh. She takes a couple of minutes to catch up on Natalya’s day before she decides to bring up what she did this morning. She hadn’t told anyone about her plan because she wanted to make sure it would actually happen first.

You’d sent her the paperwork after lunch, and she’d used it to complete the forms that Natalya’s principal had emailed her. She just used Boone’s information for Rogue and hoped that they looked similar enough that no one would question it. She just hoped that Natalya wasn’t completely opposed to the idea. 

“So, milaya, I had a question for you.” 

Wanda waits until she has her daughter’s attention, and once she turns from the window to face her, she continues with a small smile. 

“What would you think of having Rogue with you at school?”

This immediately gets Nat’s full attention and she’s frowning in confusion as she tries to figure out if she heard her mom correctly.

“What do you mean?” 

Wanda explains what she got the principal to agree to this morning, and it’s obvious that Nat’s surprised to hear what her mom did. At first she’s a little embarrassed because her mom asked for this for her, but as she thinks about it a little more she realizes that she’s grateful. She would love to have Rogue with her at school. It would make the day more enjoyable, and she would feel a little safer with him around. He’s always taken good care of her, and she suspects he’ll do the same at school.

Of course, she thinks about how she’ll stand out with a dog at school, and she’s a little nervous about that. However, instead of mentioning this she asks something that Wanda wasn’t prepared to answer. She pulls into the driveway and watches as Natalya spots Rogue coming around the house toward them with his tongue hanging out as he pants happily. 

“And mom’s okay with this?” 

Wanda doesn’t answer immediately because she realizes you hadn’t really been as excited about this as she was. She understands that you have your reservations, and she’s sure you’re going to want to talk about them once you’re home. Still, she feels good about this. She hopes that it all works out because everyone desperately needs a solution to this Stacy problem. Preferably one that doesn’t break the law. 

“She and I talked about it earlier, and she’s on board. We just want to go over a few things tonight first.” 

Natalya’s first genuine smile in over 24 hours appears, and Wanda can’t even bring herself to scold her daughter for jumping out of the car before she’s pulled into the garage. She just sighs in defeat, and slows to a stop as she watches Nat greet Rogue enthusiastically. He’s still rubbing his head on the brunette’s legs as she leans over to kiss him. Wanda just watches them for a bit before she turns off the car and gets out with a groan. She grabs Nat’s backpack and waves to duo inside so she can get started on dinner. She’s still smiling when she arrives to the kitchen, and it only widens when she hears Natalya laugh as she lies down on the couch only to have her dog jump on top of her a second later. 

“Rogue, no. Get down!” 

You stifle a yawn as you grab Boone’s vest and your bag from your car before you head inside. You let Boone lead the way as usual and you open the door for him so he can rush inside. He’s greeted by Fletcher, not his brother, but before you can question this you see him sitting beside Natalya as she finishes up her homework. You smile at the sight before you turn to find your wife in the kitchen working on dinner. You set your bag down before holding up Boone’s vest with a pointed look that Wanda just smiles at. 

“Hi Wands. I brought you something.” 

Wanda watches as Rogue comes to sniff the vest in your hand on the way to greeting you. He sniffs it for a while before deciding that the food cooking is much more interesting to him. He walks over to the stove and sniffs the soup that’s cooking, but you and Wanda ignore him for now as your wife greets you properly. She kisses you before taking the vest and deciding to see how it would fit on her dog who’s contemplating counter surfing. 

You leave the kitchen to greet your daughter, but Natalya beats you to it. She’s jumping to her feet and running over to you before you even turn around. You smile widely as you meet her in an enthusiastic hug.

“Hi mom! How was your day?” 

You are relieved to see Nat’s feeling better, and you don’t even have to ask if she’s been told about Wanda’s idea. Seeing her so excited about the prospect of taking her dog to school robs you of any chance you had of getting Wanda to reconsider. You hold back a sigh as you kiss the top of your daughter’s head before shrugging in response. 

"It was good, no complaints. What about you, Little Nat? How was your test?” 

You watch as Nat cringes at the reminder, but she doesn’t hesitate to tell you that she doesn’t think it went well. You know that math is her least favorite, and weakest subject, but she’s insisted that she doesn’t need a tutor. You might have to revisit this in the future, but for now you’re going to believe that Natalya’s just been distracted enough about everything else and didn’t give the test enough of her attention. Still, it’s not great to hear that she might have failed, but you’re hoping that Wanda’s proposal to take Rogue with her won’t make her inattention worse. 

“Sorry to hear that. Do you think you need outside help, or is it just the day?” 

Nat thinks about this for a minute but eventually she shakes her head before hugging you again. She really is in a better mood, and your desire to tank this with relevant questions drops further. You watch her run off to help Wanda set the table, and you decide to wait until after to talk to your wife about how tomorrow will go. 

Dinner is fast because Natalya is practically bouncing around from her unspent energy. Wanda sends her outside with the dogs as you finish up cleaning, and she decides to address your concerns. She watches you put up the last dish before closing the dishwasher and drying your hands. She decides to get right to it because she knows you’ve probably been fretting about this since she told you. 

“Do you want to talk about what’s on your mind?” 

You nod immediately, but you don’t say anything as you take a second to glance outside and make sure the trio aren’t getting into trouble. Sometimes when Nat’s extra hyper, she’ll try to run around, but when she has the dogs with her that usually turns into a fiasco quickly. She once raced the duo to the woods, and they all came back covered in leaves, twigs and more than a few cuts.

Luckily, tonight Nat is just throwing the frisbee around with them, and no one’s gotten hurt yet. Once you’re reassured that your children are taken care of, you reach out for Wanda’s hand and lead her to the couch with a sigh. You’re tired from the past few days, but you try to push this aside as you sit down beside your wife. 

“I’m just concerned that this might not be the best idea for our kids. Nat’s already distracted in school, and I’m afraid Rogue’s presence won’t make this better.” 

Wanda can’t really argue with this, but she figures this is just something that you both will have to talk to her about. She was also hoping that Nat having her dog nearby   would decrease her stress and therefore make it easier for her to concentrate. Still, she knows her daughter and you might have a point. She nods as she turns to watch Boone run off to chase the frisbee. Neither of them is fast enough to catch it midair anymore, but they still enjoy fetching and sometimes fighting over who gets to bring it back. 

“That’s not something I thought about, honestly, but it’s a good point. I think that we just need to talk to her and remind her that this isn’t permission to not pay attention in class. We’ll just start this as a trial run.” 

You could argue with this, but in the end, you don’t want to be back at square one. You want to try and do something that will make Natalya feel better, and given her already drastically improved mood, you know that taking this away now would do more harm than good. 

“Okay, that sounds good, but I’m still worried about Rogue. He’s only really been at home or with you for years, and I worry that sending him off to school with her might be overwhelming for him. What if he gets scared or too protective? I don’t want Nat to have the added stress of taking care of him while in school.”

As the vet, your first thought was about Rogue being stressed around kids and trapped in a school. You consider the horrible reactions that he could have, and the danger he could pose to people as a result. You love him dearly and he’s your third child, but you know how anxious he can be. Being around his favorite mom all day helped with this, and being at home was usually relaxing. You’re just not sure how well things would go tomorrow. 

Wanda considers what you’re saying and she has to admit that you’re right. Rogue hasn’t left the house without one of you, or at least an adult from the family, in years. He’s a high stress dog that despite enjoying being with Natalya, may not like everyone else. She sighs in defeat as she tries to come up with ways to combat this. There were always anti-anxiety drugs, but you wouldn’t want to have him on those for the first time in years tomorrow. There might be an adjustment period and you didn’t want him to be hyperreactive around a bunch of teens. That sounded like hell. 

“I honestly don’t think we can take it back after seeing how excited she is, Wands, but let’s just take it a day at a time for now, okay?” 

Both you and Wanda look to the backyard when you hear Natalya’s laughter through the cracked back door. She’s on the ground with her two dogs licking her face and arms and you find yourself smiling widely at the sight. You can’t say no to her now because you’re not going to risk upsetting her after the weeks she’s had. You sigh as you lie back and close your eyes for a few seconds. You’d like to go to sleep now, but it’s still early, and you’re going to have to go over ground rules for Natalya tonight. 

Wanda seems to be on the same page, but she lies down beside you with a yawn. You’ll do it a little later. For now, you’re going to just watch Natalya enjoy her time with her dogs. 

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Tribulations Part 1

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: 14.6k

Summary: Arguing with Wanda leads to more stress than usual for both of you.

A/N: Here's the angst (FINALLY). It will be two parts just because it's so damn long!

Warnings: Angst, arguments, sickness, discussions about death/end of life.

Money. 

Of all the things that you thought you’d argue about with your wife…well this wasn’t in the top ten. 

Neither of you had ever really considered money an issue in your marriage. It certainly wasn’t a point of contention like you’ve heard it can be with most other couples. You both make plenty of money, sure Wanda made a lot more, but it wasn’t as if either of you were ever stressed about money. 

For this reason, you’re not sure how a simple conversation about getting affairs in order had caused an argument. 

That said, when emotions were running high, sometimes both you and Wanda were guilty of saying things you shouldn’t. 

This conversation started because of an issue that you and Wanda were far more used to fighting over. 

Her job. 

She’d been out last night, like most nights of the week, and one of her meetings hadn’t gone as well as she’d hoped. She’d been sitting down with one of her suppliers to renegotiate terms, but she’d somehow offended him along the way. She couldn’t quite remember what she’d said that made him so upset. Was it the previously agreed upon 10% fee increase, or was it the fact she was only signing a 2-year contract instead of a 3 year? 

All Wanda really remembers is that the table between them had been flipped and guns started going off. After the table hit her in the face and broke something, it actually protected her from being shot more than once which she was grateful for. She was only a little less grateful after she went through surgery to repair her zygomatic arch and remove the bullet from her side. It was just a flesh wound, but this fact only made you feel a little better when you arrived at medical to visit your wife. 

She admittedly had looked a little rough with the bruising beneath her left eye that extended down her cheek. The careful suturing along her face was unlikely to leave a scar she’d been told, but that didn’t stop it from looking gnarly right after surgery, and for weeks afterward. 

When you’d seen your wife lying in bed with a grimace and a horrendous looking bruise you’d panicked. You’d already been briefed by Steve as usual, but even he wasn’t able to appease your growing anxiety this time. 

You’d been at work when he called you, and it took you longer than you would have liked to leave. This stress was compounded by Wanda’s appearance, and you may have been a little blunter than you usually were after she was hurt on the job. 

“You need to get out Wands.” 

You usually didn’t start the conversation like this. You of course asked how she was feeling first, but usually you’d sit with her for a bit and fuss over her before you asked her to explain what happened. You’d barely waited two minutes and Wanda’s shame at being hurt quickly was overshadowed by annoyance at your insistence that she quit.

“It’s not that easy, Y/n.” 

You of course knew this and you told her this, but not in the best way. This had probably been the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

“Well obviously, Wands, but you need to try harder.” 

“How do you propose I do that, Y/n?” 

You had been too focused on the discoloration and swelling around her eye to think of anything particularly plausible. 

“I don’t know, Wanda, but you need to leave before you get killed.” 

Unsurprisingly, Wanda had given you the silent treatment for an hour until you finally left her alone to return to work. You were more upset by the fact that she’d gotten hurt than anything else, but you’d taken your fear and frustration out on her which you felt guilty about. You’d been distracted for the entire time you’d attempted to stay at work that night. You figured you just needed time to calm down while Wanda needed to focus on getting better. She shouldn’t have to worry about you and your insecurities right now. You’d visited her for two days at the compound after work until she was discharged and set free to go back home. 

You’d been hoping that she would return home and take time off of work, but that hadn’t happened. Wanda had to make up for lost time, and you had been so mad you just went home and didn’t speak to her for nearly 24 hours. 

When Wanda finally came home the third night after her surgery, she found you in the living room working on something that surprised her. She barely greeted her dogs as she eyes the words ‘last will and testament’ and wonders what the hell you’re doing. 

She doesn’t realize that she’s asked this out loud until you turn around and shoot her a slightly annoyed look. You look tired like you haven’t slept well, but she doesn’t even have time to consider this right now. She focuses on your scowl and the pen that you’re holding in a white-knuckled grip. 

“What does it look like, Wands? I figure we need to be responsible.” 

Wanda’s response is so quick it almost gives you whiplash. She sounds offended and it doesn’t take you long to figure out why. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

This is when you realized that you hadn’t paid enough attention to your wife. Not only was she in pain and stressed about work, but now you were surprising her with wanting to have your will updated. 

You honestly had just wanted to make sure that everything was in order. Did you leave all of your money to Wanda or Yelena? Check. You did the same for nearly everything else except for one thing that you plan on leaving Natasha. You decided that you weren’t going to tell Wanda about that because even though it is ancient history, you had a letter stashed away that you wanted to give her in the event that you die before Wanda. 

Wanda had sat down beside you waiting for your response, and you just glared at the paper in front of you before you claimed that it wasn’t personal. 

“I just want to be prepared.” 

Wanda frowns at this but she doesn’t argue as she considers asking to read it. It’s not entirely her business even though she’s sure you’ve left her most everything, but she does wonder. Still, she knows she should focus on the reason why you’re doing this tonight, and she can’t help but sigh in defeat. 

“It was a fluke, detka. It won’t happen again.” 

You’re still on edge and Wanda’s empty promises just grate on your nerves. You have been with her for years and you know better than that by now. You know that she can’t guarantee that she’ll be safe, and this truth is a bit harder to stomach tonight. You shake your head before setting down your pen and turning to face your wife.

“So I should just wait until you die to worry about this?” 

Despite knowing that this question is designed to antagonize Wanda, you can’t help but be a little desperate. You know that the only way, the best chance, for Wanda to be safe in the long term is to quit. You’ve talked about it a dozen times in the past year alone, and you both agreed that if you were going to start a family, both you and Wanda had to be as far away from her business as possible. 

This is what you’re thinking about when you ask Wanda to reconsider her career choice in the cruelest way you can. Selfishly, you want your wife by your side for years to come, and you want to stop having to worry about her every time one of you leaves the house. 

You see Wanda’s face fall and you know you’ve made a mistake, but you can’t stop. You unconsciously choose to channel your fear into the least productive line of questioning that focuses on something you couldn’t care less about at the moment. 

“Is all of your money under just your name? Am I the beneficiary or will it all be left to your brother? How does that even work when it’s all earned illegally?” 

You watch as Wanda’s frown turns into an ugly sneer, and you feel yourself tense. You wish you could take a moment to breathe instead of panic, but unfortunately when your wife’s concerned this can be difficult. 

“Are you seriously asking me if you get my money right now? Is that all you care about?”

Even as she asks this, Wanda knows that this isn’t the case. You’re both extremely riled up about different, yet related issues and it’s making you say stupid things. You stand up nearly throwing your chair back onto the floor causing the dogs to jump in surprise. Boone is sitting beside your chair and Rogue stands behind Wanda as you blindly lash out and send the papers in front of you scattering across the floor. Rogue jumps in surprise and ducks behind Wanda while Boone stands up beside you. 

“I don’t give a shit about your money, but we need to start somewhere. It doesn’t seem like you want to admit that you’re never going to leave your job!” 

You and Wanda just stare at each other in silence for an agonizingly long time. It’s Wanda who finally speaks up because you’ve finally said your piece. You’ve voiced one of your greatest fears and you have nothing else to throw at your wife. Wanda eventually just rolls her eyes before storming toward the garage. She doesn’t want to be around you right now, not if you’re just going to keep pressuring her into making a difficult decision. She has a headache and shouting at you has only made it worse. 

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.” 

You don’t manage to respond before you watch both Wanda and Rogue escape to the garage. You hear the door open only moments later, and you’re not exactly shocked to hear her car start and back out leaving you and Boone to think about what you’ve done. 

The morning after your argument with Wanda is worse than you thought it would be. You wake up alone in bed with Boone lying in the hallway right in front of the stairs. The fact that Wanda didn’t come back last night leaves you equally annoyed and upset, but mostly at yourself. You go through the motions of getting ready for work,  but you manage to check your phone a half dozen times for a text or call from your wife. 

Nothing. 

You guess you don’t deserve a check in after last night. 

Wanda didn’t have a much better night away from you. She woke up with her entire left side throbbing and Rogue at the foot of the bed. She forgot to take her medications last night, and she’s certainly regretting it now as she tries to sit up. Her side burns and she bites her lip to keep from screaming as she finally manages to get to her feet. She doesn’t waste any time going to her purse and grabbing the two medications she’d been given a few nights ago. 

She slowly heads to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and something to eat. She’s starving since she skipped dinner last night, and the sight of Rogue following her reminds her that she hadn’t grabbed any of his food before leaving the house. She sighs in defeat as she sets her glass in the sink and looks to the pantry for suitable alternatives for him. She ends up just making extra eggs and toast to give him which feels ridiculous, but Rogue doesn’t seem to mind at all as he munches away at his breakfast on a plate that looks just like hers. 

Wanda is sitting at the table where you’ve always eaten dinner while at the compound when she thinks to call you. She bites down on the urge and swallows it with her slightly burnt toast as she shakes her head. She needs time to think about everything that’s happened in the last week. She’s still not feeling up to talking to you yet, but she has to admit that you make a good point.

You’ve been wanting Wanda to quit her job for years. She’s honestly considered doing it for nearly that long. However, there’s always been something stopping her from taking the chance and leaving the mob. She’d always claimed that it was a dangerous and tedious task untangling herself from the criminal empire she’d run for longer than a decade. 

The risks of leaving herself and by association her family vulnerable never sat well with her, but this wasn’t what kept her from quitting her job. 

She’d never told anyone, certainly not you, but she was terrified of leaving her job. She was afraid that doing so would change everything, and once she had no mobster job, no secret appeal, you’d become bored of her.

It felt silly and conceited, but Wanda knows that becoming a stay-at-home mom, which is the ultimate goal, isn’t nearly as exciting as what she does now on a daily basis. There’s an irrational, or perhaps fearful, part of her brain that’s telling her that quitting will ruin your relationship. You’ll realize that without all of the excitement and danger, that she’s nothing special.

Wanda’s only tried to think of comparable careers that she could pursue to keep this from happening, but it wasn’t realistic. If she was going to leave the mob, she couldn’t try to do anything else. She needed to take a break from work, perhaps permanently, and then stay on the right side of the law for the rest of her life.

She knows she’s been lucky to avoid being charged and going to jail, but at some point, her luck will run out. 

Similarly to how she escaped a few days ago, although not unscathed, she knows that one day she may not make it out. The idea of dying from an injury sustained while working makes her pause and drop her fork back to her plate. She ignores Rogue’s whine as he sits beside her with sad, hungry eyes. 

The idea of leaving you in this fashion makes her blood run cold. She never wants to leave you alone and unprotected, hell she never wants to leave you period, but the idea of blindsiding you in this way…

She pushes her chair back from the table and grimaces as she stands and takes her plate to the kitchen. She sets it in the sink before she stands at the counter staring off into the living room but not seeing anything. She thinks about what would happen if she died. Would someone come after you? Her family? She hates to think of you being hurt, or worse, but the thought of you grieving her death makes her a little nauseous. She makes some coffee and nearly chugs it as she thinks about how she’d feel if she was in your position. 

She has to admit that you are far more patient than she would be. If she had asked you to leave work as much as you had, and been told no for so long…she’s not sure she would have tolerated it. She likely would have threatened to leave you by now, and although she’s pained by the thought, she can’t help it. Her anxiety would make it near impossible to sit home alone night after night not knowing if you’d come home. 

She disappears into the bathroom to change the bandage covering the wound on her side. It’s been cleaned up and closed but it’s still oozing because it’s impossible not to move at all. As she looks into the mirror she pauses before taking off her shirt. She focused on the red line down the side of her face and the splotchy skin beneath her eye. She’s stunned that she didn’t end up worse off after that night. 

As she thinks about this, she can’t keep her mind from wandering to you. 

She’d seen your apprehension when you first came to visit her after her surgery. She’d been in pain and drowsy, and she’d just wanted to cuddle with you. She’d been prepared for some anxiety and was ready to offer reassurance, but your resolute request that she quit caught her off guard.

At first she’d thought that you were mad at her for getting hurt. She’s certain you were worried too, but she’d thought that this had been overshadowed by anger, and she still believes this.

She spends most of the morning scowling as she tries to work out what she wants to do. She needs to do something, and although she’d intended to work, a call from her brother told her that there was nothing to do. He was taking care of everything so she could have the day off, and no amount of arguing with him would change his mind. 

So now Wanda’s mildly irritated at her brother too when she decides that she’s sat around for long enough. She doesn’t want to walk around the compound if she can’t work, so she decides to take more pain meds and take Rogue on a walk around town. 

She retreats to the bedroom once again to figure out the easiest disguise she can so she can get some air as quickly as possible.  

You’re struggling to get through the day at work while Wanda’s busy picking between two different blonde wigs. You slept like shit and it’s caught up to you so quickly that you’ve been forced to drink coffee while at work. This is something you’ve managed to avoid for years, and it’s not something that anyone at work misses. You receive shocked, both kidding and serious, looks when you walk through treatment with a cup of 50% coffee and 50% milk. 

You stifle a yawn as you try to focus on your next appointment. It shouldn’t be too difficult, but then again nothing was very easy for you when you were fighting with your wife. You could name fewer than half a dozen times that you disagreed enough to avoid one another for any period of time. You sigh at the thought and push your way through the treatment area door so you can head up to your office. Your assistant is still taking a history so you probably have time to drop your coffee off at your desk and delay the inevitable. 

You slouch in your seat in front of your computer and stare at the screen without really seeing it. You ignore the glare and the schedule in front of you as you consider how you could have gone about this differently. 

You loved your wife. That wasn’t even a question. 

The real question that you’ve been wrestling with for years was far less straightforward. Most of the time you tricked yourself into not thinking too much about the risks associated with Wanda’s work, but incidences like a few nights ago caused your anxiety to ramp up. You think about Wanda’s reassurance that everything will be fine, and you’re honestly sick of hearing it.

You’re sick of trying to believe it. 

Maybe it had worked when you first met her because you didn’t know any better. You hadn’t gone through everything you have now. You’d seen and experienced too much of the collateral damage that came with being with Wanda, and now you were just tired.

You don’t get to dwell on this as your phone goes off and you’re being summoned for your appointment. 

You’ll think about this later. After all, you’re not sure that you’ll be seeing your wife tonight. 

Wanda had made the uncharacteristic decision to wander downtown among the bustling city life for her walk with Rogue. Not only had she wanted to be distracted, but she hadn’t wanted to be alone. She knew her mind would wander too much if she went on a hike or anywhere more secluded than where she was now. She was wearing her favorite blonde wig and sunglasses that covered most, but not all, of her injury.

Her first stop after she’d found parking was a pet store. She’d found the closest thing to the food you had for Rogue at home, but she’d been unable to buy it without a prescription. She’d only considered bothering you for one for a millisecond before she saw an entire shelf of human grade dog food as she went to put up the bag she’d chosen. She eyes the boxes carefully and realizes she’d basically be feeding Rogue soup, stew, or some other wet food. This was too messy for right now, so she just grabbed a bright blue bag of kibble that had salmon in it. Rogue loved salmon which you learned after he’d stolen an entire fillet from the kitchen counter when you had your back turned. This thought reminds her of the only real requirement you had for your dogs’ food. 

Something about avoiding grain-free. She couldn’t manage to remember the reason at the moment, but that mattered little as Rogue started to whine and nudge her hand with his nose in excitement. She decides to focus on him for now and hurries to check out. She’s going to try and focus on him today instead of herself if at all possible. 

This is how she found herself sitting in a fairly crowded park with a bag filled with dog food, two new bowls, doggy bags, and jerky treats. Rogue had been good about wandering around so far, but Wanda knew it was never a bad idea to have treats when she took him on walks. He was sometimes triggered by someone running or something too loud, and the only way she’d ever been able to snap him out of his fear was with food or cuddles. 

“Sorry for the delay, bud.” 

Rogue didn’t seem to mind as he scarfs down his new food with gusto. She just rolls her eyes before pouring some water into the spare bowl with a sigh. She glances around behind the cover of her sunglasses and people watches for a few minutes. She follows a cyclist down their path toward the lake and to the gardens beyond before her attention is stolen by a loud squeal. She looks around for the source and nearly melts at the sight of a child, probably no older than 2 or 3, smiling widely as she reaches up for her father. 

She jumps excitedly and Wanda watches as the man leans over and hoists her up high in the air. The squealing resumes as the toddler is spun around under the watchful eye of a brunette who’s following the duo with a stroller in one hand and a purse in another. Wanda feels a surprising pang of envy at the sight, and has to look away before she makes a face that might be misunderstood. She reaches out for her dog who’s now sitting beside her as he does his own survey of their surroundings. He’s panting as he stands up seemingly ready to continue walking, and Wanda just sighs in defeat. She packs up the mess before slowly getting to her feet with a slight grimace. Her pain meds have kicked in, but her side still aches with too much movement. 

She’s probably going to regret this outing later, but for now she’s just going to use it to forget. 

In the few minutes it takes to walk down to the lake, Wanda’s mind has already begun to wander back to you. 

She follows dutifully as Rogue leads them around the water past groups of sunbathers and families having picnics. She only has to slow him down once when he starts to pull at the gates of the flower garden. She knows that she shouldn’t go in there since he’ll try to dig something up, but there isn’t a sign that says ‘no dogs’ so she doesn’t fight him. 

As she follows her dog as he explores the grounds, Wanda thinks about to the last time when she truly felt free of responsibility. 

Was it when she was in elementary school and she didn’t know what her dad did for a living? Or was it after, in middle school when she learned about the family business, but still had no idea that she was going to be the one to take it over? She had always assumed it would be her brother. That he would be mentored by their father until he retired.

She’d never expected to be orphaned and then thrown into everything. 

Sometimes she was still surprised that she hadn’t run the business into the ground. 

She wonders what her life would be like if that had happened.

Would she have still met you, or would her life have gone in a completely different direction? Maybe she would have had to flee and start all over with her brother.

Wanda hisses when Rogue yanks on his leash at the sight of another dog. She’s quick to redirect his attention and tell him to sit until they walk past. She gives him a treat before making a turn into what looks like a sea of flower beds. 

“Behave.” 

Rogue already has his nose in the dirt of one of the rose beds, and Wanda sighs in defeat. 

“Rogue no. Come on.” 

The dog whines but he continues on his way without additional protest. Wanda lets him wander around for a bit longer until she needs to takes a break. She needs to sit down and the first place she finds is luckily in the shade. She’s exhausted from her poor night’s sleep and pain, but she still doesn’t want to go home yet. Or rather to the compound. 

She startles when Rogue jumps up to sit beside her on the bench, but she’s too tired to tell him to get back down. He luckily just sits down and pants as she closes her eyes and leans back against the bench. She grimaces when her shoulder hits something hard, and she turns to investigate, but she stops short. 

“Rogue no!” 

Her shepherd’s mouth is already closing around a colorful tall flower with so many petals it’s ridiculous. The pink scatters but a fair amount disappear into Rogue’s mouth as he sucks them down like he’s starving. Wanda stands up quickly and ignores her body’s protests as she quickly yanks Rogue away from the flowers. Wanda curses under her breath as she glances back at the ruined few flowers whose petals have fallen onto the bench. It’s only as Wanda traces their path and considers sweeping them away that she spots the plaque. This is what she must have been leaning again since the rectangular metal sign had raised letters that she definitely felt digging into her skin. 

When she sees what it says; however, she stops breathing. 

Foxglove (digitalis purpurea)

She’s been married to you long enough to have a running list of things that are toxic to pets. The most common ones that she can never forget are onions, garlic, grapes, and dark chocolate.

Some are more regional toxins such as a type of weed you told her about because you found the name entertaining. 

Then there was Foxglove: a cardiotoxic plant. 

Wanda quickly turns to Rogue when she realizes he’s still chewing, and she drops to her knees so quickly she shocks them both. 

“Rogue, open your mouth. Spit it out now!” 

Wanda wrenches open the shepherd’s mouth and he nearly bites her in his surprise, but Wanda grabs his tongue and does her best to grab the remaining soggy petals that she sees. She grimaces and then cringes when Rogue starts to gag and even more saliva and macerated petals fall into her hands or on the ground. She looks to the small pile on the ground knowing that it isn’t nearly all of them, and she curses under her breath before standing up. 

She was already sweaty, but now she’s also shaking as she hurries to the closest exit while reaching for her phone. She can’t remember where the closest emergency vet is, and despite not being ready to talk to you, she doesn’t hesitate to call your number.

You’re in the middle of an appointment so you aren’t able to answer your phone. You don’t even hear it vibrate as you examine a dog that weighs nearly as much as you do. Well at least you’re trying to, but it’s difficult given that he’s just walking around in circles and pushing you around with his massive body. 

“Do you think you could hold his leash while I listen to him?” 

When you don’t answer your phone for a second time Wanda leaves a quick message before she calls Steve. 

She is probably about a twenty-minute walk from the car and she’s not sure how long it will take to get to the ER. She’s panicking because she can’t remember how long it takes for signs to show up after eating the flower, but the fact that it causes heart problems is enough to nearly send her into a panic attack. 

“Hey Wanda.” 

Wanda barely greets her friend as she tries to explain what happened while she leads Rogue out of the park. He doesn’t understand her urgency, but luckily he’s keeping up with her as she rushes to get them to the car. 

“Steve. Where are you right now?” 

When he tells her that he’s about an hour away with Bucky, Wanda curses under her breath. She grows tense and ditches the bag from the pet store on a nearby bench. It’s slowing her down and it seems like she needs to hurry up. 

“Can you look up the closest ER clinic for me please?” 

By the time Wanda gets Rogue to the car, he still seems fine, but she doesn’t waste any time heading toward the hospital. It’s about a 15-minute drive, and Wanda makes it there in 10. She’s so worried about getting Rogue taken care of that she doesn’t notice how his demeanor changes immediately when he realizes where they are. He digs his heels in and she practically has to drag him through the front doors.

“I know, Rogue. I’m sorry, but this is on you, bud.” 

It’s not until she’s facing a receptionist that she realizes that she just walked in here without a plan. She is luckily still wearing her sunglasses, but she nearly says her real name as she speaks up. 

“Hi, my dog ate almost an entire foxglove plant about 45 minutes ago.” 

The subtle widening of the brunette’s eyes confirms Wanda’s fears and she barely resists the urge to throw Rogue’s leash at her when she simply nods. 

“Okay, can you tell me your name and your dog’s name? I’ll call someone up to triage him.” 

Wanda gives them her fake name which luckily matches the credit card she has on her before she turns her attention to Rogue. He’s tense and his gaze is darting around the room at any sign of movement. When he sees someone come out from the back and head towards them, he somehow grows even stiffer. His ears fold back and he steps back immediately. The woman in scrubs seems to understand, and she just offers Wanda a smile before gesturing toward the scale along the wall behind her. 

“Hi, my name’s Antonia. Can we see if he’ll let us get his weight?” 

Wanda immediately regrets tossing the treats she’d bought because those would have helped a lot. She walks with Rogue to the scale, but he steps over it twice, avoiding it as best he can before Wanda has to bodily lift him onto it. She’d usually be more patient, but time is of the essence and this is likely important. 

Once Rogue jumps off the scale he steps behind Wanda’s legs and tries to hide when Antonia reaches out her hand. 

“92lbs, great. Now I’ll borrow him so a doctor can examine him and try to induce vomiting. Is that okay?” 

That truly is the million-dollar question. As soon as Wanda nods and tries to step out of the way when she hands over the leash to the brunette, Rogue begins to try and pull away. He starts to thrash his head and whine in an attempt to get free. Wanda hates that she didn’t have time to ease him into this, but this wasn’t something that she could have planned. 

She does her best to try to calm him, but he must know that he’s going to be taken away and he doesn’t do well with strangers. She reaches out for him to keep him from getting out of his collar, and as soon as her hands are on his back he starts to cry out in distress as he bucks against her hold. 

“Rogue, hey, it’s okay. Rogue, look at me.” 

She reaches out for her dog’s face and turns him toward her with as reassuring smile as she can manage. He’s panting and his hot breath is fogging up her glasses, but she keeps them on as she scratches his ears and kisses the side of his head. 

“I’m sorry, I know you hate being here, but they’re going to help you okay? You need to behave.” 

Almost as if he knows what Wanda’s saying, Rogue whines in protest before he throws out his tongue and manages to hit her injured cheek. She cringes but doesn’t hesitate to pull him close so she can whisper in his ear.

“I love you my sweet boy. I’ll be here waiting for you.” 

Wanda stands up and when Rogue immediately starts to look around frantically, she grabs his leash with a small smile as she turns toward the very patient tech. 

“I’ll pretend like I’m going with you, if that’s okay?” 

The brunette hesitates but she second guesses it as she just nods and leads the way. She scans an ID badge and opens the door for Wanda to walk through. Rogue unsurprisingly isn’t very willing to walk through, but a firm tug and another whispered reassurance is enough to get him through the door.

Wanda tries to ignore the multiple people, at least two doctors, in the room and the pets they’re looking at. She doesn’t make eye contact as she holds out Rogue’s leash and starts to sneak out. Rogue doesn’t catch on immediately, but then he spins around and lunges as he tries to follow her. He nearly takes the tech’s arm off, and his anxious cries make Wanda tear up. She hates to leave him here, but he needs to be treated by someone, and you weren’t available. 

Wanda’s hand finds the door handle, and she retreats before Rogue can get too worked up. She holds up a hand to him and speaks in a tone that he recognizes but only partially acknowledges in his heightened state of anxiety.

“Settle. I’ll be back. I promise.”

Wanda ducks out before she can second guess her decision. She forces herself to walk away despite how hearing her dog cry makes her want to cry too. She goes back to the desk because she’s sure there’s paperwork to fill out. After that’s done, she’s told that she should get an update as soon as a doctor looks at Rogue. She just nods before retreating to a secluded corner of the waiting room. She sits in the sun despite being hot because it’s the only way she can justifying keeping her glasses on. She takes them off briefly to clean them, but she doesn’t dare look around before slipping them back on.

She pulls her phone out again before trying to call you again. 

“Hi, you’ve reached Y/N. Leave a message.”

Wanda sighs in exhaustion, annoyance, and defeat before she leaves you a slightly passive aggressive message. 

“Y/n. I’m at the emergency vet on the East side with Rogue. Call me back when you get a chance.”

You get a moment to breathe about an hour later, and at this point Wanda has been briefed on Rogue’s progress, or lack of so far. You’ve had a hectic afternoon and you only just get to grab your phone when someone else pulls your attention away. You drop it back into your pocket to address the possible emergency that’s waiting in treatment. You haven’t even gotten to eat lunch yet, but the presence of a vomiting dog luckily helps curb your appetite. 

Wanda’s sitting motionless as she listens to a doctor tell her about Rogue’s reluctance or simply failure to vomit. 

“If we can’t get him to vomit, we can administer activated charcoal to try and neutralize the toxin. The problem is…” 

Dr. Cohen briefly considers how difficult it was to give Rogue his injection of apomorphine. He was still very stressed and he attempted to get away from anyone who tried to touch him. He became an almost 100lbs bucking bronco and not only was this dangerous to everyone involved, but it was going to make treating him impossible. 

She recognized the name that Wanda signed in under, but she’s never met you so she’s unsure of what you look like. Since time is not on her side, or Rogue’s, she decides to cut to the chase.

“Are you Dr. Y/l/n? I saw the name you checked in under.” 

Wanda seems a little surprised by this question and she looks up at the blonde before shaking her head. She turns away because she can feel her face aching and she’s suddenly self-conscious about it again. She only briefly considered what people must think of her coming in here with her sunglasses on. Either she’s under the influence, or she’s hiding something. 

“No, that’s my wife. Sorry, that would probably make everything easier to explain.” 

Wanda offers a self-deprecating smile and luckily it seems to move things along. The doctor smiles back before she shakes her head despite her response.

“No that’s okay. I was just curious because Rogue’s not letting us put an IV catheter in and that will be important for what we need to do.” 

Dr. Cohen explains how foxglove causes GI symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, but it can also cause a slow heart rate, arrythmias, and even death if it’s not treated promptly or aggressively. Since Rogue didn’t vomit, this makes things a bit more complicated, and higher risk. Wanda feels herself stiffen at the idea of her dog getting so sick and having to stay here overnight, but she pushes this aside. She’ll do whatever is necessary for him to be okay. She doesn’t care how much it costs or how long he needs to stay here. Although she knows that he’ll hate it. 

“Typically, if we can’t place a catheter while they’re awake, we would sedate them. However, given what Rogue ate we don’t want to do anything to lower his heart rate if at all possible.”

Wanda just nods in understanding before she pictures her scared dog not letting anyone touch him. She isn’t sure he’s ever had to be hospitalized, certainly not since they rescued him, so she’s sure his vet experience was limited. 

She takes a deep breath as she tries to push aside her terror at the guarded prognosis she’s been given, and focus on the now. 

“Okay, that makes sense. Can I do anything to help?” 

Dr. Cohen hesitates because what she’s going to ask is unconventional, but she was hoping that Wanda was a vet. The fact that she’s married to one at least suggests that she might understand protocols and how sometimes their goals and patient compliance don’t always align. 

“I shouldn’t be asking, but do you think he would be calmer if you were in the room while we tried to place the catheter?”

Wanda didn’t answer immediately because although she was sure that she could calm her dog down, she wasn’t sure if it would be enough. She wanted to try and help though so she nods before standing up and following the doctor back to the treatment area. 

“Okay, let’s give it a shot.” 

Wanda immediately realizes how much the small team of techs have tried when she arrives to see her dog standing as far away from the duo as his leash would allow. They had different treats, an e collar, a muzzle, and what must be catheters and tape scattered around the floor. Wanda doesn’t have time to ask where they’d like to start before Rogue spots her and comes running for her. He barrels into her and she grimaces when he jumps up on her and bats at her with his paws. She swallows a curse when her side spasms before she shoots Rogue a glare he doesn’t see. 

“Rogue, sit down.” 

It takes him a couple of seconds to comply in his excitement, but he sits in front of her and pants happily as he tries to ignore everyone else’s existence. She looks down to him and holds out her hand with a small smile. 

“Lie down. Wait.” 

Rogue listens before Wanda turns towards the techs and Dr. Cohen who are standing by watching.

“How would you like to do this?” 

After slathering a tongue depressor with squeeze cheese and offering it to Rogue to gauge his interest, Wanda reluctantly takes a muzzle that has some cheese spread across it. She was told that her involvement with this required extra precautions, and although she’s fairly certain that Rogue won’t bite her, she doesn’t have the energy to argue. She also doesn’t want to drag this out. 

“Here, Rogue, want some more?” 

It takes him a few seconds to fall for it, but when he does, he has cheese on his face and Wanda can move the straps behind his head and secure it. She tries to ignore how everyone is just watching her, and she speaks only to Rogue. 

“Alright, bud I’m going to buckle this and it might make a loud noise. “

As predicted Rogue flinches a little but Wanda scratches his head causing him to look up at her between his furious licking. She keeps petting him as she looks to the two techs that have their supplies in hand. 

“Tell me where I need to be so I’m not in your way.” 

As Dr. Cohen watches her technicians get on their knees beside Rogue and his mom, she’s surprised by how knowledgeable the blonde seems to be. She figures it must come from being married to a vet, but she didn’t seem to trip up at all with this process. She wonders if Rogue’s had to be hospitalized before, but she realizes it doesn’t really matter. He obviously trusts the blonde, and he’s already getting his catheter wrapped as Wanda holds him around his neck and distracts him with cheese and kisses. 

Once they’re finished and Rogue’s eaten all of his cheese, he stands up quickly. He shakes out his leg with the catheter briefly but he doesn’t try to go for it. Wanda keeps scratching him before her hand goes to the buckle behind his head. She turns to Dr. Cohen with a look that she can’t decipher past her glasses.

“Can I take this off?” 

Rogue doesn’t seem too bothered by it, but that’s likely because his mom is nearby. She is about to nod, but she stops short as she spots the cone that’s still lying on the floor.

“Yes, but we’ll need to put a cone on so he doesn’t chew at his catheter.” 

Also so he doesn’t bite us when you leave. Dr. Cohen doesn’t say this, but she’d be naïve to think that Wanda doesn’t recognize this. 

Still, the blonde removes his muzzle before reaching out for the e collar. Rogue obviously knows what’s about to happen, and he starts before taking a step behind his mom. 

“Rogue, close your eyes. Bedtime.” 

Rogue immediately falls on his side and covers his eyes as he pretends to sleep. Wanda sighs in defeat and she rolls her eyes when she realizes this won’t work. She turns behind her to get a treat that she can use to lure him. 

“You’re too smart, Rogue, but luckily you’re very food motivated.” 

And dumb enough to eat a poisonous flower. 

Rogue stands up when Wanda waves a treat in his face, and she tells him to sit again before holding up both the cone and the treat. 

“Wait. No wait.” 

Rogue lets her put the cone over his head before he lunges for the treat when she tells him okay. Wanda’s fingers are spared from the savage chewing that Rogue starts while Wanda tries to secure his cone. One of the techs comes up and helps her thread some gauze through the base of it, and luckily Rogue doesn’t protest too much. 

“That went better than I thought it would.” 

Wanda just nods before she realizes what comes next. She’s going to need to leave again, and it wasn’t until now that she realized why coming to help was a bad idea. Rogue’s already up on his feet and leaning against her heavily as he watches her expectantly. He must think he can leave now that she’s back, and the idea of leaving him again makes her chest constrict. 

“It did. We’ll take him to the ICU to set him up for monitoring and fluids.” 

Wanda nods before she moves to leave them to their work. She’s a little surprised when she’s asked if she’ll walk him to his run. The idea of him fighting them every step of the way is enough for her to agree. 

“Okay, Rogue. Let’s go to your temporary digs.” 

On the way, Dr. Cohen tells her that she’ll start supportive treatments, but monitoring for the next few hours will be important. One of the techs returns with a bowl full of wet food mixed with something black, ah charcoal. Rogue sniffs at it and when it’s placed in his run he just looks at it before turning back to Wanda. She just waves him in before reaching down to take off his leash once he’s inside.

“Go on, bud. Don’t pretend like your curiosity didn’t get us into this mess.” 

Rogue allows the door to be shut behind him, and Wanda just watches as he eats from the bowl behind the window. She turns toward Dr. Cohen who’s watching Rogue eat. 

“Thank you for your help. I hope to be able to call you with good news soon.” 

Wanda just nods before thanking the doctor and heading back to the lobby. She’s exhausted and by the time she’s sitting back at the window the sun has disappeared. She reaches for her phone to call you again and when she gets your voicemail again, she’s torn between being angry and terrified. 

“Hi, you’ve reached Y/N. Leave a message.”

Wanda waits until the beep before she signs audibly. She tells you that Rogue’s eaten an entire fucking foxglove plant and that he wouldn’t vomit. He was administered charcoal and was going to be hospitalized until they could figure out how he would respond. 

She doesn’t even say bye before she hangs up and turns off her phone. She’s annoyed and saying it all out loud made her anxious again. She hates that she was so distracted, and she didn’t see Rogue try to eat the flower. She’s cursing herself for leaving the compound at all because despite wearing glasses, her headache is back and she’s so stiff she needs to lie down. That said, she doesn’t want to leave until she knows what’s going on with Rogue. She wants him to keep doing well, but she’s afraid that when her update comes in a few hours, that it won’t be good news. 

She slouches down in her chair before sighing in exhaustion. She honestly shouldn’t have even left her bed this morning. She should have tried to sleep the day away to make up for last night. She shakes her head at the idea of actually being able to sleep. She was so on edge that nothing she did would make her sleep except maybe taking far more of her pain medication than she should. 

She doesn’t realize she’s wrong until she’s awoken by someone shaking her forcefully. She sits up in surprise and turns immediately to see the technician from earlier shooting her a near frantic look. She sits up, not even noticing that her wig is a mess and her glasses are falling off her face. 

“Mrs. Y/l/n, I’m sorry to wake you, but Dr. Cohen needs to speak with you.” 

This doesn’t sound good and Wanda has to resist the urge to check the time as she stands up and nods quickly. She takes a moment to straighten her hair and put her glasses on top of her head. She may as well abandon this part of her disguise. She catches a glance at the clock and realizes it’s nearly 8pm. She’d slept for two hours. 

She doesn’t get to wonder where you were before she’s standing in front of Dr. Cohen. The blonde looks a lot less relaxed than when she last saw her, and Wanda can’t help the way that her heartrate jumps and her entire body tenses in anticipation of what she’s about to say. 

Wanda barely notices as the blonde reaches out to place a hand on her arm as her words register. 

“Rogue’s coding, we need a decision about what you want to do next.” 

Wanda sits up with a start as her eyes fly open behind her sunglasses. She looks around frantically before she sees a clock and determines that it’s only 7pm. She groans under her breath as she removes her glasses and cleans them off with her sleeve. She’d barely been able to see through Rogue’s saliva, and given that it’s dark it’s impractical to keep wearing them. Still, under the bright fluorescent lights of the lobby, Wanda can’t help but slip them back on. She’s certain of the impression she’s giving off, but she doesn’t care at the moment. She’s more concerned with keeping her identity a secret opposed to hiding her injuries. Wanda sighs in defeat as she lies back against the chair again and reaches for her phone. 

She’d turned it off and isn’t surprised to see that she’s missed some calls. 

She ignores them for the moment as she fidgets nervously in her seat. She’s wondering if her dream was a sign of what’s to come, and she can’t help but force herself to her feet to check in on her dog. 

Wanda doesn’t make it to the desk before the sound of the automatic doors opening catches her attention. It’s mostly the labored breathing that makes her turn around, and she’s equal parts relieved and annoyed to see you looking stressed and out of breath as you hurry into the lobby.

“Hey, Wands. I’m so sorry I’m so late. How is he?”

You speak low enough for no one but Wanda to hear, but she still stiffens at the sound of her name spoken in public. She shakes her head before walking toward you and leading you back to her seat. She figures you can both check in on him once you have been given a rundown of what happened. 

You seem confused but don’t argue as you sit beside Wanda and listen to her tell you about Rogue. 

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything since they set him up in the ICU. I’m just worried since he ate the whole thing and I was only able to get some of it out of his mouth. I just…I hate this. “

You frown in sympathy as you watch your wife tear up. You watch her push her glasses up her nose before she gives in and pushes them onto of her head. You reach out for her with a questioning look and you try not to notice how she hesitates before leaning into you. 

“I hate that I was distracted and let this happen. I should have just stayed home.” 

Wanda’s crying harder now and you wrap your arms around her shoulders as hers fall to your waist. She hugs you back despite her aching side. That reminds her she’s probably due for more meds right now. Wanda sighs as she tries not to think about her poor dog, or how she’s still upset with you after the argument you had yesterday. 

It seems like forever ago, but the irritation is still there so Wanda pulls away before she really wants to. You notice and you can’t help but sigh in defeat. There’s too much going on right now to talk about what happened last night. You reach out for Wanda’s hand and are grateful that she doesn’t tug it away. She looks down at your joined hands before meeting your gaze with a distant look. 

“It’s not your fault. Rogue can’t help himself sometimes. He’ll be well taken care of here though, and we’ll do whatever he needs.” 

Wanda simply nods as her mind wanders back to her dream. As short as it had been, it was jolting and making her consider everything she’d been told when she first got here. She thought about the forms she signed, that she’d barely read, and she sighs before turning and leaning back in her seat. 

“Do you think I should have put him as a DNR?” 

You hadn’t been expecting this question and your frown deepens as you think about it. Rogue was a young healthy dog, but if he coded it likely wouldn’t be while under anesthesia. It was during this time that CPR was the most successful, so if he happened to flat line while lying in his run, it was going to be due to the side effects of the foxglove. You hate that you can’t reassure Wanda that this won’t happen, and what’s even worse is that you won’t give Wanda a straight answer. 

“I think that it’s your choice, Wands. He’s your dog and you know him best.” 

Wanda’s tears begin to fall again and she cringes as she wipes them away. You glance at the bruising around your wife’s eye and it honestly looks much worse under this lighting. You figure that’s why she was wearing her sunglasses earlier, but maybe it was just part of her disguise. You watch as Wanda struggles to reach into her purse with trembling hands. You don’t realize what she’s looking for until you hear the sound of pills rattling. 

“Do you want help?” 

Wanda shakes her head but says nothing as she finally manages to open the bottle and takes two instead of one. You don’t comment and you wait until she’s swallowed them dry before opening your mouth. She beats you to it though as she squeezes her eyes shut and takes in a shaky breath. 

“I don’t want to lose him, Y/n. I can’t lose him.” 

You squeeze her hand again but don’t say anything as you both become lost in your thoughts. 

You imagine that Wanda must feel as lost as you would if it was Boone who had gotten himself into trouble like this. You would want to do whatever possible to help him and you wouldn’t care how much it cost. You wouldn’t want him to suffer, and you’re not sure you would have done anything differently from Wanda.

You watch as she struggles to come to terms with her dog’s mortality for so long that you don’t realize that someone’s snuck up on you. 

“You must be Dr. Y/l/n.” 

You look up to see a blonde in a white coat, and immediately you sit up in recognition. This must be Rogue’s doctor. You offer a small smile before you stand up and hold out your hand. You don’t notice Wanda jump in surprise at the new arrival, but she recovers quickly as she stands as well. She’s anxious for an update and the appearance of Rogue’s doctor means that there’s something to report. 

“Yes, but Y/n is fine. It’s nice to meet you Dr. Cohen.” 

The blonde smiles in agreement before glancing to Wanda briefly. She offers a small nod before she motions for the couple to sit down. Only you do, but it’s brief before you’re back up on your feet beside your wife. 

“You too. I have an update on Rogue.” 

The doctor begins to detail how Rogue did well for the first half hour on fluids and pain medication, but he’s since started to show signs of toxicity. He’s had some GI upset and was obviously lethargic. His ECG showed that his heart rate had dropped considerably since intake. When you hear the numbers, you try not to react especially since you notice that Wanda’s watching for your reaction. She realizes that none of this is good, but she’s just not sure how bad it is yet. Neither doctor is saying it despite her desire for them to do so.

Finally, you frown as you recall what you know about foxglove toxicity. Mild cases are treated supportively, but you’re not sure if that’s where Rogue is yet. 

“Is he starting to have arrythmias yet?” 

When the blonde nods you sigh as realization hits you. This is what you were afraid of. You turn suddenly when you feel Wanda fall into you. She doesn’t realize that she’s swayed and is struggling to keep her footing until you grab her arm. You quickly help her sit down, but she’s not aware of what you’re saying. She’s fixated on the fact that her dog is having issues with his heart.

He could die.

You sit down beside Wanda a couple of seconds later, but at this point Dr. Cohen is gone. You asked what the next move was and she explained the antibody treatment that they luckily had in hospital. It was ridiculously expensive, but you didn’t care, and you told her to do whatever she could to help Rogue. 

The bill could be as much as a car, and you’d pay for it without question. 

“Wands, hey. Can you look at me?” 

You’re on edge from the unresolved argument and trying to get through the day regardless, and that stress compounded with your worry for Rogue is making you near desperate for some relief. You still somehow wait patiently as Wanda struggles to pull herself from her spiraling. It takes a bit of coaxing, but eventually Wanda turns to you with her eyes filled with tears. 

“I’m sorry.” 

You frown and you open your mouth to tell you wife that she doesn’t have to apologize for crying. You want her to do what she has to in order to cope, but you don’t get a chance to tell her this. 

“It’s okay, yo-.”

“I’m sorry I’ve been dragging my feet. I-I know I need to—I need to get out.” 

Your jaw drops but you can’t manage a response as you fail to process what Wanda’s talking about. Luckily she doesn’t leave you hanging for long. 

She sits up and takes a deep breath before she squeezes your hand tightly. You nearly flinch but instead you meet your wife’s troubled gaze. 

“I’m just scared about what will happen if I leave. What you’ll think of just me, but that’s…it’s selfish of me. I can’t let you be scared for me every day. That’s not fair.” 

You hesitate because despite this being what you wanted to hear last night and this morning, you’re not sure why Wanda’s brought it up now. You struggle to find words and you’re still floundering when Wanda turns fully to face you. You focus on her tear-stained cheeks and the bruises that are faintly visible beneath her make up. She gestures to her face when she realizes what you’re looking at with an exasperated sigh. Luckily you can tell that she’s not upset with you. 

“I mean look at me. This hurts like a bitch, but the worst part is that I can’t promise…I can’t guaranetee it won’t happen again. I don’t…” 

Wanda trails off and you try to say something but you only manage a couple of words before Wanda keeps going. You realize that she has a lot to get off her chest and she wants to do it all at once. You don’t argue despite feeling that this isn’t the best place. That said, sometimes you can’t really predict when these things will happen. 

“I don’t--.” 

“I don’t want to fight with you. No-not now, or ever, but especially not when Rogue might…when he might-.”

You open your arms almost before Wanda falls into you with a barely stifled sob. You don’t bother looking around because you don’t really care if anyone’s watching you. You don’t want to make Wanda feel any worse than she already does. You’d rather figure out a way to make her feel better, but since there’s not much you can do about Rogue right now, you figure hearing her out is best you can do right now. You hold your wife tightly as she turns to whisper in your ear. You stiffen at what she says before you let out a heavy, relieved sigh. 

“I just want us to be a family. Y-you, me, the fur babies, and a human one eventually.” 

You take a moment to sort through your many thoughts before you land on what you eventually say. You squeeze your wife one more time before you pull back so you can meet her gaze. You hate to see her cry, and you hate even more that you’re not sure you can do anything about it.

“I appreciate you saying all of that, Wanda, but we don’t need to worry about that now. Let’s focus on Rogue, and revisit this when he’s home recovering. Okay?”

Wanda wants to argue because she wants your forgiveness so badly. She doesn’t want to be at odds with you right now, but she knows better than to believe that she should always get what she wants. She just nods before she looks back up only to realize that Rogue’s doctor had left. She turns to you in confusion, and you prepare to fill in the gaps. 

“Where’d--? What did you tell her to do?” 

Dr. Cohen returns to the ICU in a noticeably better mood than when she left a few minutes ago. She glances to Rogue who’s still lying on his side as he had been for the past twenty minutes. She sighs before turning to Antonia with a small smile. 

“We’re going to start him on the antibody therapy. Can you go grab it while I calculate the dose?” 

Antonia only nods before she jumps up and heads for the pharmacy to grab the drug. She’s glad that Rogue’s parents were able to afford this treatment because watching the shepherd’s heartrate drop over the past hour had been discouraging to say the least. The terrified dog had gone from sitting in the far corner of his run to pacing as he had vomited and had diarrhea, before he laid down and seemed to fall asleep. After cleaning him up a little, which he barely even flinched at, the shepherd practically collapsed in the middle of his run and stayed there. 

She hopes that he responds well to the therapy. She’s seen dogs die from ingesting a single petal, let alone an entire flower…

It’s not until 10pm that you finally get Wanda to come home with you. After talking to Dr. Cohen once more after Rogue was started on the antibody treatment, you’re both told that it could take him hours to respond positively. They had approval to give another dose if necessary, and after being reassured that she’d receive a call about any negative changes, Wanda’s walking arm in arm out to the parking lot with you. 

As soon as you step onto the sidewalk you feel Wanda sigh heavily as she practically stumbles to her car. She must be exhausted. You are and you only worked all day. You didn’t stress for the entire day like she did. You catch her hand before she can retreat to her car and drive herself home. 

“Let’s carpool, okay? I can come back for my car once we pick up Rogue.” 

Wanda doesn’t hesitate as she reaches into her pocket and hands over her keys. You unlock the door and watch as she collapses into her seat before you walk over to the driver’s side. You glance back toward the hospital with a sigh before you take a fortifying breath for the trip home. 

You’re glad that Bucky’s already dropped off Boone when you arrive because that’s one less thing to worry about. You greet your dog with muted enthusiasm as you watch Wanda wander aimlessly into the house. She goes to stand in the living room before she starts to look around with a frown.

“Fletcher?” 

You just look to the stairs where you hear muted footsteps, and you can’t help but smile when you see your wife’s cat rush toward her. Wanda doesn’t react to her immediately since she still semes dazed, but eventually Fletcher makes her presence more obvious. She meows loudly before reaching up toward Wanda with searching eyes. Wanda reaches down easily and lifts her cat into her arms with a sigh. 

You just watch as she cuddles with her cat for nearly a minute before deciding that it’s time to eat something. You’d been busy all day, and hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. You’re certain that Wanda’s in the same boat, so as she seeks comfort in her cat’s presence, you and Boone head to the kitchen. 

It’s only a few minutes later that Wanda seems to realize that you’ve left her, and she wanders over to watch you cook. She’s so exhausted she thinks that if she sits down, she’ll pass out straight away. For this reason, she’s probably going to need to eat standing up, but she can’t help but feel a little uneasy about what happens next.

You two are both back home after a long exhausting day, and the last time you spoke in the house was to have an argument. Wanda barely addressed the issue at the hospital, but as she watches you heat something on the stove, she’s worried she’ll need to pick up where she left off. Otherwise, you both will be in for an uncomfortable night. 

She doesn’t realize that you’re thinking the exact opposite as you stir the soup in the pot in front of you. You don’t want to focus on your argument right now. Not when you know that Wanda’s mind is all over the place, and she’s distressed enough to breakdown in public. You appreciate what she said earlier, but you don’t want her to make such as important decision under duress, only to regret it later. 

You turn around to grab two bowls from the cabinet, and you pause just long enough to see that your wife really does look stressed. Stressed and exhausted. You glance to Boone who is greeting his sister as she finally decides that she’s finished being cuddled. This inevitably makes you think about Rogue and how although he doesn’t seek out her attention, he’s been a good brother to Fletcher. 

Thoughts of your pets makes you sigh slightly, and by the time you come back to the counter where Wanda’s standing with dinner, you decided to get right to it. 

“I don’t want us to stress about anything tonight except Rogue. We can worry about everything else later, if that doesn’t seem unreasonable? I just think it will be easier…for both of us.” 

You turn away before Wanda can respond, but when you return with spoons for you two, you see her frowning. Wanda’s deep in thought and she’s trying to push down her urge to resolve this argument now. She knows that you’re right about this though since every time she tries to think about the future she can’t help but wonder if Rogue will be in it. 

Finally she sighs in defeat as she accepts a spoon and sits down in the chair she’s just been standing behind. She nods before watching as you move to sit beside her. There’s so much she wants to say to you, but right now she’s going to do as you ask and try not to worry too much about what’s on her mind. 

“Okay. Until Rogue comes home then.” 

You offer her a smile before the two of you begin dinner in companionable silence. 

Rogue’s tail thumps against the papery pads beneath him as he blinks away some of his exhaustion. He’s not sure how long he’s been here in this run, but it feels like it’s been days since he saw his mom. Sure his perception of time was off from his frequent naps, and he didn’t feel well at all, but he was certain it had been too long since he was dropped off here. 

He hasn’t tried to stand in a while. His entire body feels too weak, and the thought of mustering up the energy to even roll over made him nauseous. He glances out of his run to see the same blob of purple that has been following him since he got here. His vision is a little blurry, but the tech in purple scrubs who’s been assigned to him is always nearby. He missed the last check in when he was asleep, so he’s surprised when she comes up to his run a little bit later with another bag of fluids, a couple of syringes, and that dreaded thermometer. 

He hated the thermometer. 

“Hi Rogue. Are you feeling any better?” 

Antonia has been watching his vitals carefully and things seem to be improving slowly but surely. Since starting the antibody therapy, Rogue’s heart rate has increased by ten beats per minute and his arrythmias were less frequent. Still, he was very weak and had spent most of the time sleeping. His fluids kept him hydrated when he started to vomit, and the pain medication helped him feel a bit better. The anti-nausea medication that had been given an hour ago was still taking time to kick in, or at least it felt like it. 

The antibody therapy was administered every 12 hours, so Rogue had about 10 to show enough improvement to go without another dose. Antonia is still a little amazed at how much the treatment costs, but she’s not going to get too hung up on it. She’s just glad that Rogue’s family is able to pay for it. She just hopes that it won’t be in vain. 

She saves the task of taking Rogue’s temperature for last because he hates it. Even in his sleep he seems to jump in surprise, and the couple of times he’s been awake he’s whined. Most of the time he’s been too weak to do anything else, but this time he actually yelps and his head, cone and all, shoots upright in protest. 

“Sorry, bud. This is important.” 

Rogue just grumbles in response before he keeps trying to shift. He manages to almost sit upright before he flops back down in exhaustion. He doesn’t completely fall back though as Antonia uses her free hand to steady him, and only a few seconds later, both of them are helping him sit upright. 

“Do you want to sit up? Here.” 

Antonia grabs Rogue’s shoulders and helps him rotate so he’s upright before moving his lower half to follow. She pushes him a bit against the side of his run so he doesn’t have to hold himself up. She reaches out to pet him before she gathers up her supplies and stands up to head out.

“Also, no fever, so that’s good!”

Rogue doesn’t look enthused from where he’s propped up against his blanket, and he just stares at her blankly.

Antonia feels bad for him, so she decides to leave him be. Although it’s not as obvious given how sedate he is, she tries to keep in mind that he’s a highly anxious dog. For this reason, she doesn’t linger, and she leaves him with water, replaced pads on top of his blankets, and restarts his fluids. She returns to the tech station to update Rogue’s chart just in time for the clock to strike midnight. 

Her shift ends at 5am, and she’s hoping that Rogue will show more improvement by then. She glances at the dog whose eyes are now closed and sighs at she returns her attention to the screen in front of her.

She’ll just have to wait to find out. 

Surprisingly, the most awkward part of the night for Wanda was not crying in the middle of an ER clinic in front of her dog’s doctor. Instead, it was the decision of where to sleep that night, or rather whether or not it would be appropriate to sleep in bed beside her wife. She had gotten ready for bed quickly given the late hour, and changed her clothes before she realized that you were in the room with her doing the same. You seemed a little less on edge about all of this, or you were just hiding it well, while Wanda was exhausted and a ball of tightly wound nerves. She hesitated long enough for you to understand her dilemma, but you only got into bed before pulling the covers back enough for the invitation to be clear. 

“Come on, Wands. We need sleep. I’m sure you’re more tired than I am, and I’m close to passing out.” 

Wanda’s skeptical look disappears before you notice it, and she just nods before she tries not to feel weird about being in bed with you. In the past, the two of you rarely argued for longer than a day, which meant most of the time you didn’t have to worry about going to sleep angry. She didn’t have to worry about not being able to sleep due to being upset with you, and she didn’t have to wonder if you were upset with her. 

As of now, she really couldn’t tell and that was adding to her stress. She was considering if she should have just slept at the compound again when you reach out for her. You wrap your arms around her waist and sigh tiredly before shooting your wife a worried look. 

“I’m sorry you’re so stressed and worried about Rogue. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you today.” 

Wanda hears that unsaid apology behind your words and she sighs too as she turns to face you. She feels a slight pinch in her side and the grimace makes her head ache, but she ignores it for now. She focuses on you and how your concern becomes a contrite expression before her eyes. She watches you fidget a bit before planting a kiss on the exposed skin of her shoulder. 

“I’m sorry about how I approached the conversation of your retirement. I shouldn’t have hit you with it so soon after being hurt…while you’re still hurt. I was scared and that made me selfish which wasn’t fair to you.” 

Your head dips down as you try to hide your face, but Wanda reaches out to catch your chin. She’s frowning but she’s not even really sure if it’s more because of her own actions or yours at this point. Everything is so jumbled in her head right now that all she can offer you is a small smile. 

“Honestly, detka, it’s your turn to be selfish given how long I have been. We’ll have a real discussion about what quitting would look like for us, but as you said, let’s just try and rest tonight. Okay?” 

You can only nod in response before you settle in next to your wife. It’s nearly midnight, and you both have no idea what awaits you tomorrow.   

The first time Rogue stands up after his treatment, he nearly falls over. He’s very wobbly and it’s very disorienting trying to balance himself, let alone walk with one paw in front of the other. He only makes it a couple of steps out of his run before he falls to the ground with a whine. It’s at this time that his walk outside is aborted and he’s steered back into his run by two techs. 

Dr. Audrey Cohen stands by and observes Rogue as she looks at all of his vitals throughout the night. He’s done surprisingly well and his ECG has almost completely normalized. The occasional dropped beat is the only abnormality, and now of course, she realizes ataxia. That said, it’s hard to say how long this has been present since this is the first time they’ve attempted to take him outside. He has a urinary catheter in and they’ve minimized moving him since he was so critical. He’s not doing great by any means, but seeing him have the drive to at least try and stand and walk is encouraging. 

Audrey looks at the time before considering how she’ll report all of this to his parents after rounds. She figures that he has a good chance of recovering, but the bloodwork that she’s about to run may tell her whether or not another dose of the Digoxin F-ab is warranted. 

She waits until Antonia is finished collecting his blood before speaking up. 

“I’m impressed with how well he’s doing. Maybe after talking about his case at rounds, we’ll decide if he need another dose.” 

Antonia turns to her with a small smile before nodding as she stands after collecting her samples. She’s been working as an ICU tech for nearly 8 years, and she’s closing in on her self-imposed deadline to go to vet school. She’s applied for the current cycle, but she won’t hear back for a few months. She’s anxious of course, but she’s also grateful that her job offers her ample opportunities to continue learning. Especially rounds. 

Typically, there are rounds between the technicians and then the doctors, but rarely do they do rounds together, unless it’s one on one when transferring care. Since expressing her interest in vet school a couple of years ago, she’s been allowed to sit in on doctors rounds whenever they have enough coverage. 

“Sounds great. I’ll be ready. I only have Humphrey’s treatments to finish.”  

When you and Wanda wake up, you realize that the distance you’d put between the two of you did not last through the night. You honestly don’t mind because it’s nice to sleep beside her again after the argument you’d had. That said, you realize very quickly that your hand is in the wrong place. 

Wanda woke up a while ago, but she hadn’t been able to force herself to do anything but lie beside you. She was still exhausted after yesterday, and she didn’t want to spoil the peace that she’d somehow managed to find during the night. 

Well, the source or the cause isn’t exactly a surprise to her. She has always slept better when you were beside her, but she’d been woken up by the pain in her side. The ache from her still healing wound forced her into consciousness and she had to stop herself from immediately moving away from your touch. 

She did a great job up until the pressure became unbearable when you tried to pull her closer as you slept. She hisses under her breath, and she hears you curse before you pull back quickly.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Are you okay?” 

Wanda’s already nodding despite her grimace as she turns away from you with a sigh. She stares at the ceiling for a moment before turning to face you. She sees your worried expression and quickly offers you reassurance that she’s fine. Well, she could feel better, but her side doesn’t even hurt anymore now that there’s nothing touching it but her clothing.

“It’s okay, it was mostly uncomfortable. It’s time for my next dose of pain medication though.” 

Wanda places her hands on the mattress preparing herself to sit up and grab her medication from the bathroom, but you beat her to it. You nearly fly off the bed as you hurry to grab what Wanda needs. The redhead opens her mouth to protest, but she falls short when her phone starts vibrating on the bedside table. 

“I can get them. I’ll be right back.” 

Wanda reaches out for her phone and frowns when she doesn’t recognize the number. She figures that whoever is calling her before 9 in the morning must have something important to tell her. She just hopes that it’s not work. 

“Hello?” 

Audrey was grateful that she was able to call Rogue’s moms with relatively good news. His bloodwork looked near perfect, and a second attempt to get him outside after rounds was more successful than the first. He was far more willing to follow someone outside until he realized that he wasn’t actually getting to leave. Getting him back into the building was difficult, but luckily Audrey’s plan was to get him out within the next 24 – 48 hours. Max 72, if she had her way. 

She’d decided to call the number that was given to them at check in despite knowing it wasn’t the vet parent. She figured that it was the right thing to do given that she’d brought the dog in. If she was lucky, you’d be around to listen in as well. 

“Hi, this is Dr. Cohen. I’m calling about Rogue.” 

There’s a pause as someone shifts in the background, something drops, and someone mutters a curse. Audrey has to remind herself to keep a straight face despite being alone in her office. A few moments later she’s nearly smiling. 

“Yes, hi. We’re both here, thank you for calling.” 

Once you’re settled beside Wanda, you both listen as Dr. Cohen relays how Rogue has done in the past 12 hours. You’re glad to hear about his progress, and you can tell that Wanda’s relieved which of course makes you happier. You both agree that one more treatment would be a good idea, and they planned to check back in later this afternoon. Depending on how he was doing, they would be able to visit him. Wanda hoped that it was a good idea. Despite wanting to see her dog she didn’t want to make his stay any more stressful by seeing him only to leave again. You’d convinced her that a visit from her would make his day, and hopefully he wouldn’t be there for too much longer anyway. 

After the call, you can tell that Wanda’s already a little bit brighter. She greets Fletcher with what the tabby deems appropriate enthusiasm, and she responds in kind by practically climbing Wanda like a tree. You stifle a laugh as you hurry to get coffee made and breakfast sorted. You feed Boone and then let him out before stepping back into the kitchen in front of the stove. 

Wanda watches as you cook her an omelet, and she laughs so hard she nearly snorts when she watches you make another smaller one that she can only imagine is for your dog. 

“For both of them, if she doesn’t touch it, Boone will happily help her.” 

Wanda isn’t surprised that Boone scarfs up his ¾ of the omelet while Fletcher sniffs her portion suspiciously. She nibbles on it before she begins to eat with more intention. It’s just eggs, a small amount of cheese, and spinach, but that’s apparently enough for the tabby. 

“Aw she loves it! How cute.” 

You smile at this before you make yourself a larger omelet and sit beside Wanda at the counter. You sigh in exhaustion as you nearly collapse into your chair. You slept well last night, you slept great honestly, but you were still worn out. You’re grateful you don’t work today and that you can focus your attention on your wife and pets.

You’re not sure if Wanda plans to work today, but the fact that it’s nearly 9 and she hasn’t touched her phone beyond that initial call from the vet gives you hope. You don’t dare ask because you don’t want to be disappointed, so you two mostly eat in silence. Wanda’s thinking about what she’ll fill her day with while she’s waiting for news of Rogue.

“Do you have any plans?” 

You’re still considering this yourself when Wanda asks you, so you shrug before mentioning all you’d come up with so far. 

“Not really. Other than getting outside at some point to enjoy the weather. What about you?” 

You wait with bated breath as Wanda shakes her head with a sigh. You noticed earlier that she hadn’t bothered with makeup today. Certainly not enough to cover up the bruise around her eye and the thin line of sutures from her surgery. It looks worse today and you frown in sympathy at the idea of Wanda being so stressed and hurt yesterday. You reach out for her hand and smile when she squeezes yours in return. 

“Not at the moment. My face hurts more today, so maybe I’ll get to take it easy.” 

You love the sound of this, and you smile widely as you consider all that you can spend the day doing. 

Despite waiting anxiously for news, the day flies by with you and Wanda spending the morning watching TV before taking a short, slow walk outside. Boone was excited to get around, and Fletcher actually tolerated her harness and leash today, at least for a bit. For the last ten minutes of the walk, unsurprisingly, Fletcher had managed to get Wanda to carry her. You find it difficult to even roll your eyes when you see how happy the pair look, and Boone keeps you plenty distracted with his antics.

After forming a small pile near the deck of the many sticks Boone decided to try and carry with him, you lead your dog back inside. It’s nearing 4 and you could use another nap, or at least a snack. Boone’s on the same page, and after getting his post-walk treat, he takes it over to his bed and lies down. You grab both your and Wanda drinks as the redhead tries to take off Fletcher’s leash. You set the two glasses on the coffee table before falling onto the couch. You stifle a yawn as you wait for Wanda to join you. 

Wanda’s just sitting down after wiping as much cat hair off her as possible when her phone rings. She starts in surprise and is about to jump back up to retrieve it from the kitchen, but you beat her to it. 

“Let me get it.” 

Wanda doesn’t argue, but she turns to watch as you walk to the kitchen and grab her phone from the counter. It’s the vet again, Wanda had saved their number after the call this morning, and you hand her the phone with a smile. 

“It’s for you.” 

TBC

taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Blackout

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~1.9k

Summary: Y/n and Wanda host a party? Maybe? No one remembers.

A/N: Hi, sorry for disappearing for a while. I'm just finding it hard to write right now. :(. I have more planned though, and I'm making good progress on the angst prompt. It might just be a bit.

Warnings: Angst, fluff, jealousy, threats of violence.

On an average day, you have no trouble falling asleep or even staying asleep for that matter. Although you could sleep the day away on the weekends, Wanda only lets you sleep so long before she tries to coax you out of bed to be productive, or more frequently, spend time with her. She’s an early riser and always has been, so she gets lonely when she’s by herself too long. You used to put up more of a fight, but as the years have passed, you realized that snuggling on the couch, or even going for a walk if the weather was nice, was a reasonable alternative. You loved sleep, but you loved spending time with your wife more. 

This isn’t to say that you still don’t have the ability to sleep like a rock. Even with the conditions less favorable than you would like.

When you start to stir while it’s still dark outside, you know there’s a damn good reason. You groan under your breath as you snuggle closer to the body in front of you. You tighten your hold on Wanda with a small smile. You’re not surprised that she’s not awake yet after the night you all had. 

You frown slightly at the thought of this as much as the sudden realization that something is off. You force yourself to open your eyes and even in the dim light you can see that the person in front of you isn’t who you expected. Instead of red hair you see blonde and once you pull your arms away, you’re given your confirmation in the form of an annoyed grumble. 

“Noo, I was comfy.” 

You furrow your brow and sit up as you groan at the unexpected soreness in your back. You sigh and look down at your friend before realizing that someone else is in bed with you two. You figure it’s Wanda, but when you turn around you see Nat covering her head with a pillow.

“What the hell?” 

You mutter under your breath as you leave bed despite Yelena’s protests. You nearly stumble in the dark and your slightly hungover state. You curse yourself before you manage to get to the door and head down the hall in search of your wife. 

The first thing you notice when you step into the hall is that it’s still dark outside. You have no idea what time it is since you didn’t bother to check before coming out here, but it’s less important to you right now than finding Wanda. You glance around and see that there are 4 dogs downstairs, all looking at you, but you don’t take much time to look at them as your gaze moves to the kitchen. It’s a mess, even in the dark you can tell the counters are covered, but again, priorities. 

You walk down the hall toward the guest rooms to try your luck there. The first door you open reveals Pietro sprawled out on the comforter out cold. Your confusion only grows as you slowly close the door behind you as you continue your search. You don’t find Wanda in any of the other rooms and you’re beginning to worry. 

Did she leave? 

You’re still trying to work out what happened last night when you hear the sound of dog tags clinking above you. You turn toward the staircase to the third floor and see a furry head seemingly floating in space, but no that wasn’t right. You blink a couple of times before heading toward the shepherd who’s wagging his tail and hurrying down to greet you. 

“Hi Boone.” 

You briefly wonder who the other four dogs are downstairs. How can you not remember more of what happened last night? 

You follow your dog’s lead back up the stairs to see if Wanda’s resting up here, but again you come up empty. You sigh and consider just collapsing on the couch to take a break, but you stop short. Despite your head still pounding from a mild hangover, you are more motivated to find your wayward wife. You decide to take a moment to try and wake yourself up by stepping out onto the deck first though.

The cold hits you as soon as you slide the door open, and only milliseconds later, you’re actually hit by something big and furry. You jump in surprise before you realize that it’s just Boone pushing past you on his way outside. You glare at his retreating form before you walk out to the deck and stand at the railing that surrounds the entire space. You sigh before glancing down to the driveway that’s dimly lit by the lights outside the garage. 

You recognize Natasha’s car and Pietro’s easily, and you simply shake your head before going back inside. You close the door behind you before heading downstairs. Boone will figure out how to get back inside easily enough once you make it downstairs to the den. There’s a dog door there that you and Wanda keep open during the day.

You identify the other four dogs in the living room as Yelena and Bucky’s before you check the last place that you can think of to look for your wife. 

Wanda’s still asleep when you finally track her down. She’d been exhausted after the party last night, and had come in here to rest briefly before heading upstairs. She doesn’t realize that she never made it until she hears Rogue’s collar as he jumps off the couch to greet someone.

“Hey bud.” 

Wanda groans and opens her eyes to see you bend over to pet Rogue before you head to the windows against the far wall.

“Sorry to wake you, Wands. I hope I didn’t banish you down here.” 

Wanda rolls over again before she forces herself to sit up and watch you kneel down and open the dog door in the corner of the wall of windows. You stick your head out before whistling for your dog who immediately comes running. You hear his paws hitting the ground as he races for the dog door that he knows well. You stand up and move out of the way as your second shepherd comes barreling in to the room. 

Boone and Rogue greet each other before Wanda remembers to respond to you. 

She runs a hand through her hair before shaking her head and offering you a smile that you don’t notice. 

“You didn’t, banish me I mean. You did wake me up, but that’s probably a good thing.”

You can’t help but smile sympathetically as you watch your wife roll her shoulders before wincing as she turns her head. You offer her your hand before you meet her gaze with an apologetic look.

“Also sorry for whatever drunk and disorderly things I did last night. I honestly don’t remember much after that last bottle Piet opened.” 

Wanda rolls her eyes but she’s smiling at you as she takes your hand and stands up. Her brother of course was likely still passed out, but he was responsible for the already wild party taking a turn for near debauchery.  Wanda didn’t remember much more than you, but after her brother tried to start a game of spin the bottle, she tried to set him on fire. 

“I still can’t believe you lit up Pietro like that.” 

Wanda can’t tell by your tone if you disapproved, but as she follows you back into the living room, she sees the smile on your lips. 

“It wasn’t exactly intentional.” 

She smiles wider when you snort at this because despite telling the truth, setting her brother on fire for threatening to kiss you wasn’t completely unbelievable. You’d only had time to laugh at the idea and shoot Pietro a smug look before one of the cocktails he’d found on the internet ended up in his lap. 

This one had been a shot of whiskey and amaretto with an intimidating flame on top. It was supposed to be added to beer, but the shot glass never made it there before Wanda slammed her empty glass on the table so hard it sent Pietro’s drink flying. It was unfortunate, but fitting that the drink ended up nearly burning through the crotch of his jeans. The most unfortunate part however, was Pietro stripping everything off in his panic. 

So other than getting an eyeful of your brother-in-law and having to wash some liquor out of the rug, you don’t remember much of last night. 

Wanda pauses on her trip upstairs as you stop to greet the many dogs that have taken up residency in the living room. She smiles as you pet your dogs too because they swarm with the group so as not to be left out. Wanda glances around the room that’s surprisingly clean and she wonders who she has to thank for that. She certainly didn’t clean up before she collapsed in the den. 

“Where is everyone else?” 

You pause in your quest to scratch all the dogs when she asks this, and she can’t help but frown in anticipation. You know what’s coming next, so you just shrug before chuckling under your breath. You turn away from the pack of dogs that are all getting settled again before reaching out for your wife’s hand. 

You lead her up the stairs with a gentle tug. 

“Pietro is passed out in one of the guest bedrooms, Steve and Bucky left, I think, and Yelena and Nat ended up in our room somehow.” 

Wanda’s eye twitches at this and the sight of the sisters lying in her bed with a very obvious gap in between them. It doesn’t take her a lot of time to realize where you spent the night and she’s scowling at the thought. You drag her down the hall to where Pietro is, but Wanda puts up a bit of resistance. 

“And where did you sleep, Y/n?” 

You decide to take the better option between the two that you can think of at the moment. It’s subtle, when most of the time it isn’t, but you know Wanda’s irritation at the fact you slept with Nat is at the forefront of her mind right now. Needling her will either result in her admitting that she’s being unreasonable, or she will get upset with you and you’ll suffer from the silent treatment. 

“I slept between them, but Yelena hogs the covers so I had to practically push her out of the bed to get any sleep.” 

Wanda opens her mouth to say something, not bothering to glance into the room where her brother’s sleeping as you continue the unprompted tour. 

“Y/n--.” 

“Wands come on. I want to have sex with either of them as much as I wanted to kiss your brother last night, which is to say not at all. I’d actually rather break my leg falling off the third-floor deck again, so please. Can we just sleep?” 

You’ve arrived to an empty guest room where you plan on spending the remainder of the night. Hopefully cuddled up with your wife if she can get on board. You release her hand and move to turn down the covers, but you wait as you glance at your wife with an expectant look.

Wanda eventually just sighs before she grumbles something under her breath that makes you laugh. Her jealousy is legendary, and you’re slowly but surely making progress. Just not tonight it seems. 

“I’d set them on fire too, if they dare try it.” 

You crawl under the covers and immediately turn toward your wife with open arms. She’s quick to lie down and scoot back into your arms with a content sigh. She feels her exhaustion return, and she barely notices the door opening as one of the dogs find them. Instead, she focuses on the feeling of you kissing her neck as your amused voice sounds behind her. 

“I know, Wands. I know.” 

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Costume Party

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~5.8k

Summary: You and Wanda go to a Halloween party

A/N: This one was mostly for my own benefit tbh...

Warnings: fluff, lusting over wifey, angst

You’ve never done something like this before.

Correction. 

You’ve never done something like this before with Wanda. 

You’d lost count of how many parties you’ve gone to since starting at the clinic you were hired at right after graduation. There had been Halloween, New Year’s, and Christmas parties over the years, but it was no surprise to anyone which was your favorite. 

The parties were usually held at one of the doctor’s houses or a venue in town. Somehow, you’d avoided having to host at your place because although it was large enough, you definitely didn’t want anyone snooping around. You also knew it would be nightmare for security. One year you’d used Pietro’s house and that had gone pretty well, but you didn’t want to put him out again. Especially since he hadn’t been able to attend. 

This was exactly what you and Wanda were dealing with today.

You’d wanted Wanda to come with you to this year’s Halloween party hosted by the lead doctor at work. You’d thought about it a lot and you were convinced that if she dressed up enough, she would be unrecognizable. When the idea first came to you, you did extensive research to pick the best option for Wanda. Rather you picked the top three ideas and then presented them to your wife with a hopeful expression. You’d immediately disregarded matching costumes because that was one cliché you weren’t into. Your options had been narrowed down as well, and since you loved a good top hat, you were going to put together a steampunk outfit somehow. 

Wanda had met your options with reluctance. Not because she didn’t want to go with you, but as always, she was just worried that her disguise would fail. She didn’t want to be conceited enough to think that she’d be easily recognized, but she also didn’t want to risk the fallout associated with the alternative. You’d agreed, which is why all of the options for your wife included full, if not over the top make up.

“I’m not…can you explain this one again?” 

You remember how Wanda had shot you an uncertain look as she gestured to the picture you’d printed out of the costume you really wanted your wife to choose. 

It was from one of your favorite artist’s music videos and it involved pink hair, a suit, and makeup that made her look like a skeleton. 

A very hot skeleton.

You’d told your wife some of this, and since she’d recognized the artist’s name, she’d finally decided to go with it. 

“You’re sure you can find someone to do the make up?” 

You’d certainly considered this since as much as you’d like to give it a shot, you didn’t have the necessary skill. You talked to Nat and she’d used her connections to find someone in school to be a makeup artist. They’d already confirmed that they could do any of the three choices, and they were willing to sign an NDA.

It was all just up to your wife now. 

“Okay, let’s do that one then. It looks…cute.” 

You’d laughed at this, and you smile at the memory as you stand in the living room waiting for your wife to finish up.

It was the night of the party and you were already dressed and ready to go. Granted your costume didn’t involve quite as much work as your wife’s, but you’re still a little antsy to get going. You glance at your pocket watch. The one that you bought to go with this costume. It looked old and fit the theme perfectly, and it somehow cost less than $50. You know you’ll probably rarely use it after tonight, but it’s still worth it.

You’re excited to finally introduce your wife, or at least her alter ego, to everyone that you work with. You know it’s causing Wanda a fair amount of anxiety, but you’re going to do your best to reduce this as much as possible. You’ve prepared answers to any questions and you’ve practiced with Wanda a dozen times since she agreed to go to this party.

You’re ready.

Wanda’s regretting her decision to say yes to you. 

As much as she loves you, she’s not sure that this was the best idea. Her costume is coming together nicely, and she can’t say that she even recognizes herself in the mirror, but she’s still nervous. 

She has blue contacts in and her make up is almost completely done. Her pink blonde hair looks so out of character that she’d laugh if she wasn’t afraid of scaring her make-up artist. They already appeared a little on edge when they started, but as they’d gotten into their work they luckily seemed to relax. Wanda was trying to make small talk, but her own nerves made that minimal. 

She nearly jumps when she feels something brush against her legs and the hands in her lap. She glances down just enough to avoid getting poked in the eye, and she spots Rogue looking up at her curiously. She smiles at him and scratches his head before she realizes that he’s getting fur all over her. Luckily she’s not changed into her suit yet, but she’d hate to ruin the effect by showing up covered in fur.

Then again, if anyone will understand the plight, it will be a bunch of people in vet med. 

“Hey bud. Are you getting bored? We’re almost done here.” 

Not that she thinks Rogue will be any less bored soon since he’s not allowed to come tonight. The invite had kiddingly said that all pets were allowed, but there would be no pet sitters at the party. Not only did that sound like hell, but she is certain that Rogue would not do well. He’d probably stick to her side all night and she didn’t want that. She wanted to try and enjoy her time with you, and that would be much easier if she wasn’t worried about her dog while trying to maintain her cover.

Almost half an hour later, you glance up at the sound of the bedroom door opening. You smile when you see Rogue run out first, but you nearly drop your phone at the sight of your wife.

“Holy shit.” 

You’re smiling widely as you watch Wanda descend the stairs in all her glory. You try to focus on each part of the costume before taking it all in at once.

She hadn’t wanted to dye her hair for this so she’d found a very convincing wig. It’s long enough that the pink falls past her shoulders and down her back. 

The simple black suit with a white top looked tailored within an inch of its life, and you were obsessed with it. The dress shoes she wore were so new they shined and you don’t realize you’re staring until suddenly you catch a hint of your wife’s perfume. You look up and are immediately rendered dumb again at the precise, surprisingly flattering makeup. 

“Wow.” 

Wanda hadn’t failed to notice your attention, but she was a little preoccupied by your appearance to comment immediately. 

She’d seen you collecting pieces of your costume over the past few weeks, but this was the first time she was seeing it come together. She doesn’t realize that she’s stopped short and Rogue’s stumbled into her as she takes in your unreasonably attractive look.

You’re wearing a dark red tailcoat that extends down past your calves that are adorned in black boots that fall just short of your knees. Wanda focuses on the leather of the coat and how it tapers into a material that matches the red of your tight pants. Her gaze drifts back up to the elaborate belt and the corset that nearly makes her bite her lip. The corset dips into a V to reveal a hint of the black collared shirt you’re wearing underneath. 

“Well fuck.” 

You’re smiling widely as your wife finally meets your gaze before it flits to your personal favorite portion of your ensemble. The hat. 

You are wearing more jewelry than you usually do, and you’re not sure you can eat anything in the corset, but the look on your wife’s face is so worth it. 

“You like?” 

The unnecessary question is just met with a silent nod as Wanda reaches out for your gloved hands. She admires the gauntlets you’re wearing and the attention to detail that your costume required. She meets your gaze again with another muttered curse as she reaches up to touch the goggles that you have secured around your hat. You only considered wearing them briefly until you realized how hard it was to see through them.

You also had considered wearing a skirt or a dress, but this was a work party, and you didn’t want to overdo it. 

“You look fantastic, detka. Shit.” 

Wanda’s really regretting her decision to go to this party now because that means they need to leave soon, and she’d want nothing more than to stay here with you instead. She’d love to take off this costume piece by piece, but unfortunately, she’s going to have to wait.

You’re reaching out for Wanda, stopping just short of touching her face before your hand falls to one of her lapels. You play with Wanda’s fake pink locks with a grin of your own that tells your wife all she needs to know. That said, it never hurts to hear how much you appreciate her, out loud. 

“Thanks, babe. I’m a bit at a loss for words. You look so much better than I ever imagined. You did a great job, Lane!” 

The makeup artist that Wanda just realized was still here smiles politely before offering you a rushed thanks. You ask them to take a picture of you two before you let them flee to the car that brought them here to be escorted home. You gave them a hefty tip on top of their paltry fee, and since they signed the necessary documents to ensure their silence, you let them go with a thank you, but not another thought. 

“I’m kind of wishing I didn’t say I’d go to this party after all.” 

Wanda can’t help but laugh when you say this, and you have to resist the urge to lean in and kiss her. You don’t want to ruin her makeup. She sees you lean in slightly before falling back again and she offers you a sly grin.

“That’s going to have to wait. I’m also a little worried I can’t eat or drink anything at this party.

You’ll find out later that she can do both, she just has to be careful about it. You arrive a fashionably 30 minutes late only to be greeted by the lady of the house.

You smile widely and Wanda prepares herself for a night of niceties and subterfuge. 

“Y/n! Wow you look great! Oh goodness you must be Linda. It’s so nice to meet you!” 

That was the other thing about tonight. 

You had to remember that you were married to ‘Linda’ tonight, and that the woman beside you was in life insurance. It sold itself, but it was honestly not something very interesting to talk about which was key. 

You accept a hug from the taller doctor, and you send her a silent thank you when she just shakes Wanda’s hand before waving the two of you in. You can tell that Claire’s house is already full of your coworkers and their spouses, and you have to bite back a smile at the glee you feel at finally being able to introduce Wanda to them. You lead Wanda down the hall by the hand as you turn around to glance at the blonde with a knowing look.

The theme tonight had been very loosely thrown out by several people at work. Pop culture or media. Being the person that you were, you were very anxious about dressing up wrong, and Wanda had to remind you that it honestly didn’t matter. Pop culture or media could encapsulate practically anything.

Including a movie character. 

You pause momentarily before you speak up loudly enough for Wanda to hear you. She gives the blonde beside you a once over before realizing that she never would have guessed her costume if you hadn’t just told her.

“You look so much like Uma Thurman right now that it’s a little scary.” 

You note the yellow and black jumpsuit as you walk farther into the house where you catch normal music instead of something Halloween themed playing. That was one thing you didn’t enjoy about the holiday. The cheesy music. 

Claire laughs as she follows you to the open living room that has nearly two dozen people either talking, dancing, or enjoying the food and drinks. 

“It was Rick’s idea. He dressed up as Bill for some reason. I think he’s trying to tell me something, but I’m not quite sure what it is.” 

You stifle a loud laugh as you catch sight of the blonde’s husband at the counter mixing drinks dressed the part of a villain. 

You and Wanda make the rounds before either of you bother to grab a drink. You’d met multiple couples dressed up in a variety of costumes, and you think your favorite was a female couple dressed as Dracula and Freddy Krueger. 

Wanda’s paranoid as always and gets some bottle of beer while you get whatever was in the punch bowl. You smile at your wife lovingly as you lean against the small alcove beside the kitchen you’ve managed to escape to. You take a sip and spend the next few moments admiring Wanda’s still perfect suit and makeup. You are dying to kiss her, but as you watch her carefully sip from her bottle, you know that you’ll ruin her lipstick. The black lines carefully drawn across her lips have the effect of looking like teeth, and if you think too much about it, you’d be a little scared of her. 

The makeup doesn’t just stop at her face either. It extends down her neck, and any other exposed skin to make her look the part of a skeleton. The fingers circling the bottle are meticulously drawn on, and you’re surprised to see they’ve held up well to shaking half a dozen hands. 

“What’s on your mind?” 

You realize you’re caught when you meet Wanda’s gaze to see her shooting you a suspicious look. You don’t have time to respond before someone over her shoulder catches your attention. 

“Dr. Y/l/n, oh my God, I barely recognized you! You look so good!” 

You stand up a little straighter and offer a wide, genuine smile as you look over the younger woman’s outfit.

Meghan is one of the newer vet assistants at work, but she’s so quick to catch on that it feels as if she’s been there for years. She’s smart, a great multitasker, and you’re seriously going to miss her when she goes to vet school in a year. 

The brunette is dressed as Medusa and her long locks are styled to look like the snakes on top of her head. Her green dress glitters and has the appearance of scales that really bring her costume together. You say something about her hair, and she just smiles before she turns her attention to Wanda. 

“Thanks! I think that you win the coolest hair though. I was dying to wear pink but couldn’t make it work with this outfit.” 

She holds out a hand to Wanda who doesn’t hesitate to take it as she slips into her unthreatening wife-of-a-doctor persona. 

“I’m Meghan one of the vet assistants. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Wanda nods in agreement which you can tell is genuine. Of all the assistants at work, you talked about Meghan the most because she was usually a huge help on days you were there. You have to stop yourself from reacting when Wanda speaks up. 

“Linda. It’s nice to meet you too. Y/n has nothing but good things to say about you.” 

You watch in amusement as Megan blushes before she hurries to change the subject. She’s still so shy, and she tends to underestimate her value. She reminds you of someone else you know. 

“Oh, thank you. Now I have to ask since I know a bit about Dr. Y/l/n’s taste in music, but was the costume your idea or hers?”

You try not to flush at the question and the follow up questions that you’re sure your wife will ask. If not now, later. You usually mention your surgery days if they’re especially interesting, but you don’t think you’ve ever told Wanda about if they’re more relaxed. On these days, depending on who else is working, you’ll have music playing in the surgery suite, and sometimes your tastes are all over the place.

The last surgery day where you’d just had 5 dog neuters in a row, you’d been listening to early 2000’s pop. 

When you see Wanda smile wickedly, you know what’s about to happen. You’re just grateful that she chose Meghan to confide in because you’re certain you would have died of embarrassment if she’d told anyone else this. 

You watch Wanda lean in as if she’s telling a secret before she thoroughly throws you under the bus. 

“If I didn’t know better, I’d be a little insulted that she spent nearly two weeks watching all of Lady Gaga’s and Brittney Spears's music videos to figure out my outfit.” 

From Meghan’s expression, you can see that the brunette can’t tell if Wanda’s joking. She quickly clears this up though as she shrugs and offers the younger woman a smile.

“I’d already thought of an idea myself, but I didn’t want to spoil her fun. I’m just glad she didn’t ask me to dress up as a dog or something.” 

Meghan laughs as you roll your eyes because seriously? You wouldn’t waste the opportunity to dress up your wife by putting her in a dog suit that drowned her. You suppose that putting her in that costume would have helped hide her identity, but you hadn’t wanted to do it like that. Selfishly, you wanted to show her off. You wanted people to see how beautiful and smart and kind your wife was. 

Maybe not so kind right now, but that was fine. You could take what she dished out. 

“That’s hilarious! I’m actually surprised she didn’t bring either of your dogs tonight. The costume she made Boone for Halloween was so cute!”

You had to admit that you’d done a pretty good job with his costume. You’d worked on Halloween and you hadn’t wanted to dress up, but you definitely hadn’t passed on the opportunity to put Boone in a cute outfit. You had dressed him up as a dogtor because it was practically expected. He had his own little white coat that you’d fitted out of one of your own. You gave him a fake stethoscope and bought him scrubs that wouldn’t be too hard to tailor to fit him. You’d honestly put in an entire weekend getting it together, but you didn’t regret it at all. Even when Boone peed in it because you’d overlooked one crucial detail. 

“Did she tell you how long she spent on it? Hours! I thought she was just going to buy something to have him carry around, but I honestly should have known better.” 

As your wife and Meghan laugh and talk about you like you’re not there, you glance around the room curiously. You’ve met most of the people here already and you’re honestly getting a little tired. Tonight, has been a lot, and despite having fun, you can tell that your social battery has drained a lot since walking through the front door. You find your host and smile at the sight of her talking to a Velma and Daphne. You take another sip of your drink, but you stop short when something fuzzy brushes against your leg. You look down and see a small tortie staring at you. Your smile widens as you kneel to scratch the purring cat.

“Wan—Um Lin, look a cat!” 

Wanda looks down at you a little startled, but this quickly melts away when she sees the furry creature head butting your knees. She offers a small smile before she shakes her head with an adoring look that makes you glad that it’s too dark for anyone to see you blush from down here. 

“Cute. Leave it to you to find a cat to hang out with.” 

You start slightly when the cat jumps onto your knees, but you recover quickly and scoop her up into your arms. You scratch beneath her chin as you come face to face with your wife who is such a big faker sometimes that you can’t help but point it out. 

“Yes, cats are the worst. I don’t know how you even have one when you can’t stand them.” 

The teasing tone is the only reason that Wanda doesn’t start an argument right here in the middle of a party. She reaches out to scratch the adorable cat who’s getting fur all over you as she glances at you before sparing Meghan a look. She can’t have the brunette thinking that she actually hates cats. She’s married to a vet for Dog’s sake. 

“You’re one to talk, detka. Fletcher knows I love her and that’s why I’m the favorite.” 

Meghan snickers at this and you’re temporarily distracted by the pet name that you didn’t think Wanda would risk using here. You just sigh and smile dopily as the cat that has basically adopted you starts to play with Wanda’s bowtie. Her claws sink into it and she bites it furiously until it starts to give. You consider rescuing your wife, but she looks the most relaxed she’s been since walking in here, so you let it go on for her sake. 

You hear someone call Meghan’s name, and you turn to see another couple of assistants with what look like shot glasses. You’re so grateful to be out of your twenties. Meghan gives them the universal sign of ‘one second’ before she turns back to you with a smile. 

“Duty calls. It was good seeing you. Have fun with Misty.” 

You realize belatedly that this is the cat that Wanda’s still snuggling with, and you grin before something occurs to you.

“Have fun with all that alcohol. Find me before you leave? I brought the many pins you let me borrow last week.” 

Your costume, although cute, had been close to falling apart when Boone kept tripping over his stethoscope. Meghan had come to your rescue with nearly 10 bobby pins that you’d only realized you’d forgotten to return when you arrived home that night.

Meghan nods in agreement, and waves goodbye to Wanda before she’s off. You and Wanda are left alone, relatively speaking, with Misty the cat.

“She’s lovely.” 

You figure that Wanda’s talking about Meghan, and not the cat, but you can’t be sure. You only nod in agreement before reaching out to free one of Misty’s claws from the crumbling bowtie. Wanda smiles at you and then her eyes widen in surprise when Misty turns toward you and starts to swat at your face. Or more specifically your hat. 

“Y/n, she’s --.” 

You don’t have time to flee before Misty reaches out her paw for the feather that’s tucked beneath the goggles on your hat. You curse and try not to freak out when suddenly you have a cat clinging to your hat and hanging in front of your face. Wanda reaches out to grab her and you’re carefully, but quickly extricating yourself from your hat when hear laughing. 

You have an armful of cat in your hat by the time you realize your boss has come to your rescue. You see Claire walking toward you with Bill—Rick, who has a feather toy in hand. You try not to feel ridiculous as you drop to the floor and try to roll Misty onto the carpet. 

“I should have warned you, Y/n. She’s obsessed with feathers.”

You laugh despite thinking ‘no shit’, but you breathe a sigh of relief when the tortie spots her favorite toy and leaves your hat on the ground with nothing but a lot of fur to show for it. 

You stand up and brush out your hat as much as possible before you shoot the blonde a smile. 

“To be fair, I shouldn’t have to be warned about that.” 

You and Wanda take a moment to gather yourselves. After you help her untie her ruined bowtie, and leave it hanging from her neck in a way that’s somehow even hotter, she puts your hat back on your head.

“You’re so cute, Y/n.” 

You want to defend yourself because you’re sure Wanda’s poking fun at you, but you don’t get a chance. Wanda carefully leans in and presses her lips to yours in a soft kiss. She figures that it was worth it when you pull away a little dazed and free of the black streaks that cover her own lips. She smiles at you again before reaching out to grab your gloved hands. She brushes the cat hair off of them and your corset before she sighs inaudibly.

“Are you having fun?” 

Wanda asks this a bit later after you’ve finished your drinks and met a few more people. It’s nearing 10 o’clock and you’re honestly ready to leave. You figure you need to find the host before you duck out, but you decide to take a couple of minutes to hold your wife close where you’re settled on one of the loveseats. You are surrounded by people, but you only pay attention to Wanda who’s pressed into your side and leaning her head against your shoulder. 

You eventually nod before looking around for Claire. You don’t see her immediately, but you’re not too worried. She’s been an impeccable host as always, so you’re certain she’ll catch you right as you head for the door. 

“I am, but I’m getting tired. We better get home before I don’t have the energy to take all of this off.” 

Wanda opens her eyes when you say this and she spares your outfit a glance, as if she hasn’t been looking at it all night, and hums. She makes sure no one is within earshot before she offers you a smile. 

“I wouldn’t worry about that, Y/n. I’d be happy to help you.” 

You don’t doubt this, and you smirk before summoning the energy to sit up. You suddenly want to be home. 

“That’s very thoughtful of you. I would of course, love to return the favor.” 

Wanda laughs at you as you stand up and hold out a hand to help her to her feet. She grabs it and you tug her to her feet fast enough to make her yelp in surprise. She shoots you a glare when you laugh at her, and she makes a point of dropping your hand and walking away without looking back. You roll your eyes with a smile before you hurry after her obediently and meet her in the kitchen where Claire’s reappeared. She’s collecting dishes and stacking them in the sink for later when she spots the two of you. 

“Hey, calling it a night?” 

You smile before you nod and glance around the cluttered kitchen. There are glasses, cups, bottles, and plates everywhere. Wanda stands behind you, likely surveying the area with a similar intention.

“We were, but we wanted to see if we could help with anything before we headed out.” 

It took a bit of convincing, but you’d helped throw out some of the bottles and get the dishes loaded into the dishwasher before you were being shooed out of the kitchen. You hugged the other doctor again before thanking her for hosting. You and Wanda are near the front door before you remember what you’d told Meghan. You mention that you’ll grab them from the car and bring them back in, and Claire simply nods before claiming that she’ll give them to her for you. 

You keep chatting as you walk to your car with Wanda, and you vaguely register the presence of other cars as you duck into the passenger side and reach for the console. 

“Here they are. Thank her for--.”

“Freeze! Don’t move!”

You jump in surprise and then nearly stumble back in terror as you turn and see someone pointing a gun at you. They’re standing by the street but they’re crossing the lawn in quick, purposeful steps. You stiffen and faintly register Wanda gripping your arm tightly as she pulls you back against her. 

“Y/n.” 

She realizes before you do that this person isn’t a threat. They’re dressed as a cop and they’re not even looking at you or her. Their focus is on Claire who’s already scowling at the new arrival. Wanda doesn’t know who this is, but that’s less important to her than addressing your obvious anxiety. 

“Campbell what the hell are you doing here?” 

The brunette with the fake gun leers before he closes the distance between them in a hug that Claire looks like she’d refuse if she could.

“Don’t be like that Sis. I’m here for the party.” 

You’re just starting to breathe again as you watch the exchange play out with a dull sense of awareness that’s clouded by your anxiety. You try to shake your shock, but it’s hard and you’re still looking terrified when the duo turns back to you. 

“You’re about three hours late for that, but go on. Rick’s inside.”

Campbell is about to head inside, but he spares you and Wanda a look first. You’re not sure what he planned on saying, but the look on your face must be enough to clue him in. Wanda bites back a curse and you flinch at the question and the unwanted attention.

“Shit, you okay?” 

Claire turns to you and you force yourself to speak before she gets a chance. You’re not even sure if you’d decided what to say before the words are falling out of your mouth. 

“Fine. You startled me, is all.” 

You see the exact moment that Claire gets it, and you have to stop yourself from recoiling in shame. It would have been impossible to get off work for so long without disclosing to your boss what happened to you. At least the extent of your injuries. When you’d been kidnapped from work and then hurt by Rumlow, well you’d taken months off of work. You’d been in the hospital for a while, and even though you can’t be sure because of all the drugs you were on, you think that Claire visited you.

You’d told her later that you’d been shot, and despite returning to work without any complications, the incident stuck with you. It was impossible to ignore the effect of the traumatic experience.

Even months later, the idea of someone pointing a gun at you nearly threw you into a panic attack. 

You feel Wanda press herself against your back as an arm circles your waist, but you can’t relax. Not yet. 

“Campbell go inside. I’ll be there in a minute.” 

Her brother looks like he wants to argue but instead he just shrugs and heads out. He says something to you that you completely miss along with Wanda smiling politely in response, but you can’t bring yourself to care right now. You’re in survival mode and you immediately work out how you can get out of here as quickly as possible. You glance up at Claire before your gaze darts to the front door where you see Campbell disappearing. Someone’s standing in the doorway though and you nearly curse when you see Meghan looking confused.

You nearly shove the bobby pins that you miraculously held onto into the blonde’s hand with a pained smile.

“Here you go. Thank you again for tonight.” 

Wanda’s reaching into your pocket for the car keys, but you barely notice as you watch a range of emotions play out on your boss’s face. Concern, confusion, and then understanding.

“Are you going to be alright?” 

You manage to make your smile appear a little more genuine before you nod and manage a quick one-armed hug before ducking into your car. 

“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” 

You wait until Wanda says her goodbyes and gets into the driver’s seat before you take a deep breath. You watch in the rearview mirror as Claire hesitates for a moment before turning around and heading back into the house. If you had to guess Campbell’s going to get an earful, but you can’t think about that right now. You watch both her and Meghan disappear into the house before you realize that Wanda’s holding your hand. She’s started the car, but she’s turned toward you with a concerned look. She reaches out for you, but she stops short when you flinch. 

“Y/n, I’m sorry he scared you. I’m not sorry that Claire’s going to chew him out for it, but he didn’t know. He’s not a threat to either of us, okay?” 

You just nod a couple of times as you try to process what she’s said. You take a deep breath before removing your hat and holding it in your lap. You feel like you can’t breathe deeply enough in this outfit, and you really want to get home so you can take it off. Wanda seems to realize your dilemma as you start to take slow deep breaths. She buckles up and starts off down the street toward home. 

“Let me get you home, so I can take care of you.”

You crack a smile at this and you can’t help but sneak another look at your wife’s suit. Damn you hope she wears it again after this. You fiddle with your hat for a moment before you clear your throat. 

“I seem to remember you promised to help me take all of this off. Is that still on the table?” 

Wanda rolls her eyes at the question despite the fact that she’s glad to hear you ask. She doesn’t think that what you’d originally intended is still on the table, but she’ll just have to see what happens. Usually anything that triggers your anxiety like this leads to overwhelming exhaustion shortly after. 

Either way, she’s happy to do whatever you need to feel better. She doesn’t want tonight to be tainted by this incident. She’s glad she came out with you, and she’s even happier that you seemed to have fun. She would have to do some serious damage control, but hopefully dressing down, cuddling, and spending time with your fur babies will be enough. 

“We’ll see, detka.”

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

A Day in the Life 

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~1.1k

Summary: You and Wanda are targeted

A/N: Something short and sweet. This is NOT the secret third option prompt, I need more time for that one...I’m already at 12k though :)

Warnings: Injury, blood, death and fluff

You hadn’t ever really considered being attacked in broad daylight, especially not with Wanda by your side. You knew what she did for a living, and you understood the inherent risk associated with being seen with her. That said, you never truly considered how this could affect your everyday life beyond being a little more cautious about where you went in public and who you were with. You were a fairly trusting person, but Wanda had convinced you to be at least a little wary of all attention that came from strangers now that it was more well known that the two of you were together.

Most of the time when you and Wanda went out together, it was to places considered her territory. This meant little to you, but the important part was that Wanda said you were safe here. No one would retaliate against you here, or at least that’s what she claimed.

You hadn’t expected her to be proven wrong when the two of you were standing in line at a bakery. Your hand was firmly held in your girlfriend’s as you look at the menu. You had come here after lunch for dessert and you were accompanied by Wanda’s usual bodyguard and friend, Steve. His friend, Bucky, who you were sure was serving as your bodyguard, was accompanying you as well, and they both watched the entrances like a pair of intimidating hawks that were ready to swoop in when necessary. You’d learned to ignore their presence as guards and talk to them like the friends they were when it was acceptable. This was a good example, but you were distracted by food, and Wanda was distracted by you. You were always so adorable when it came to food.

You were about to order when it happened, and you truly didn’t see it coming. You’d been looking behind the counter, so you didn’t see the trio that came from the back. Wanda doesn’t notice them until she hears Bucky’s warning.

“Hey!”

She turns but by the time she sees the knife, she stiffens in anticipation. She doesn’t have time to reach for her gun or even react beyond cursing when she hears gunshots and she’s shoved out of the way. You push her out of the way, but you fall on top of her as the two of you crash to the floor. Wanda looks over your shoulder to see the two men get shot before they even get close, and then the third in front of her. He’d been inches from her, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to attack before he was stopped. She doesn’t realize that the knife he’s holding has blood on it until she’s on the ground beneath you.

“Fuck.”

You groan in pain as something sharp pierces your skin and sinks into your back. You had reacted without thinking and even with the pain you’re feeling you don’t regret it. When you heard Bucky speak up, knowing that he never does until you’re all alone, you knew something was about to happen. You did the only thing you could think of when you saw the movement through the display glass. You pushed Wanda out of the way.

You didn’t mean to fall on her, but you hadn’t expected to be stabbed in her place and it hurt like a bitch. You’re winded when you land on the ground and you can’t support yourself. You collapse but Wanda’s beside you grabbing your arms to keep you from faceplanting. She’s looking over you frantically for an injury, but she doesn’t see it until she looks to Bucky and Steve who are quickly closing in on them.

“Shit, detka.”

Wanda watches the dark red stain on your shirt continue to grow on your back from where you’d been cut. She starts to panic and tries to lift you off of her and get you on your feet, but she can’t make her body move. Her brain is screaming at her to help, but she can’t do anything but watch you bleed out until Steve’s voice sounds a couple of seconds later.

“Come on, Y/n. Let’s get you out of here.”

Wanda is quick to jump to her feet once you’re lifted off of her by the blonde. He makes it look effortless, but he’s careful not to jostle you too much. Despite this you hiss in pain and nearly fall back to the ground at the pain in your back. Wanda grabs your hands and pulls you along to the car to get you to the nearest hospital. Bucky’s already out the door on lookout and he opens the car door for them before pulling out his phone. He shoots Steve a look that he just nods at, and the brunette goes back inside to deal with the mess now that you’re on your way.

“Fuck, that hurt. I didn’t realize it would hurt so much.”

You’re breathing heavily as you try to get comfortable in the back seat next to Wanda as Steve gets in the driver’s seat and takes off. You reach out for the redhead with a questioning look that she just nods in response to. She’s looking you over frantically, prepared to agree to whatever you need until you speak up with a small smile.

"Did you get me a cookie?”

Wanda just looks at you incredulously for a moment before she takes off her jacket and reaches under the seat for the first aid kit. She grabs the necessary supplies before moving toward you just to stop you from bleeding any further on the seat.

“You’re ridiculous. You’re literally bleeding out, and you want a cookie?”

You can’t help the pained laugh that escapes you and you turn slightly so Wanda can get a better view of your wound. It’s still bleeding but it seems to have missed any major vessels because it’s only a slow stream at this point. You jump and curse when Wanda presses gauze with styptic powder to your cut with an apologetic look.

“You love me.”

Wanda can’t help but smile tearfully at you before she just nods in agreement. She leans in to kiss your cheek and then your lips when you turn to face her.

“Love you? I’m going to marry you someday.”

You hadn’t been expecting this response and your eyes widen, but you end up smiling as you throw out an arm to stop yourself from flying into the front seat when Steve takes a turn too quickly. You reach out to her with a smile before nodding in agreement. You’d want nothing more than to be able to call the woman across from you your wife.

“Whenever you want, Wands.”

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Whoops I meant secret third option.

Angst might take longer than I thought... I'll be in Orlando for a vet conference until Wednesday, and I only wrote half of it on the plane. I'll keep working at it/might post something from the queue in the meantime 🤞🏻

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Angst might take longer than I thought... I'll be in Orlando for a vet conference until Wednesday, and I only wrote half of it on the plane. I'll keep working at it/might post something from the queue in the meantime 🤞🏻

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Hell Hath No Fury

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~3.2k

Summary: Wanda gets big mad

A/N: Realized there's not enough cat fics for this au

Warnings: angst, animal abuse, violence, threats

It was only Tuesday, but it had already been such a long week. It all started on Sunday when you’d gone down into the basement for something only to return with an ashen expression. Wanda had immediately been concerned, but you hadn’t given her a chance to ask before you silently came to sit with her on the couch between her two dogs and cat who was curled up on her lap.  You’d sighed heavily before saying the last words Wanda had expected. 

“We have termites. A lot of termites.” 

Wanda had regretted her need to confirm what you said, and she’d nearly run back upstairs after seeing what you had. She immediately started to freak out as she tried to figure out who to call and what had to be done. You’d already told her your suspicions as you sat on the couch petting your dog with a blank look. 

Despite being the one who took care of the stray bug here and there that Fletcher was too lazy to deal with, you didn’t like bugs. They grossed you out, and despite being the vet, you would rather stay as far away from them as possible.

For this reason, you were already thinking about where you could go while the issue was dealt with. You’d call an exterminator and then you and Wanda would pack an overnight bag or two. 

Now, two days later, you, Wanda and the pets were at the compound while the house was being fumigated. Of course, the fact that you’d seen so many bugs in the basement meant that the issue was far more extensive than just spraying and replacing some chewed up flooring. 

You and Wanda had been torn between worry and disgust when you’d heard how infested the house was and how much of an undertaking getting rid of them would be. Forget the cost and the extensive repairs, you and Wanda would need to be elsewhere for close to a week. The compound wasn’t exactly an ideal location for you given where your job was, but you’d done it before so that wasn’t a huge deal. You mostly hated that Wanda had finally left her job, only to have to come back for a ridiculous reason.

You both had declined your friends’ offers to put you up because you were a family of five and that was a lot for anyone to take on. It seemed silly to burden your family when you had perfectly suitable rooms at the compound. 

Once all of the pets had gotten settled into the new, old, rooms, you and Wanda had taken Monday morning to decompress. You’d had to take a couple of phone calls to arrange everything that couldn’t happen over the weekend, but by dinner time it was official. The fumigation would occur on Tuesday and then hopefully by Thursday a crew could come in and start the repairs. 

You’d gone to work this morning feeling far more stressed than you were used to following a weekend, but you were going to have to make it work. Wanda was at least grateful that she could just sit around or wander the less populated areas while she let her brother do all of the work.

It was a little weird for her to be back here, but not have anything to do. She had no meetings, no phone calls to take, and she didn’t have to think about how the business was doing.

When she’d handed over the reins to her brother last week, she had told herself that she wouldn’t hover. She wouldn’t get involved and she would only help him out if he asked for assistance. Yet here she was fretting about how her presence was complicating things. She hadn’t been able to just sit upstairs and watch TV when she knew that her brother was working downstairs. She needed to get away and so she’d taken her dogs, and cat, out for a walk. It was spur of the moment decision to take Fletcher, but the tabby had yowled and darted out of the door to follow, and Wanda couldn’t bear to keep her locked up. She figured that Fletcher would just hang around her brothers.

When they all made it down the elevators and then down some stairs that led them toward a less populated area, Wanda opened the doors and let them all run out. She had Fletcher’s harness on which she figured was better than nothing, but when she’d attempted to put on her leash the tabby had dropped to the ground and played dead. You had only laughed when this first happened while Wanda watched on helplessly. Fletcher had decided she’d rather let Wanda drag her around before she would walk like a dog. For this reason, Wanda didn’t even bother today and she let her tabby out to roam free despite her better judgement. 

She mostly paid attention to the cat since Rogue and Boone were good about staying near her. She didn’t realize that she’d become lost in thought until about ten minutes later she arrived to a wooded area. She has her dogs on her heels, but she has no idea where Fletcher went. 

“Fuck.”

It was a warm, sunny day and Fletcher had decided to take advantage of the opportunity to bask in the rare sunlight. She’d left her mom behind and headed toward the grassy hill that had picnic tables and a fire pit. It was after lunch so there were very few people out, but Fletcher ignored them as she searched for the sunniest spot to sun in. 

She found it after a few minutes of searching, and she dropped down before curling up into a ball with a yawn. 

Although she hadn’t enjoyed the sudden move from home to here, at least she got to spend time outside here. Her mom never let her wander around outside alone, and since she refused to be walked like a dog, she just had to stare longingly out the windows toward the woods that held all sorts of adventures that she’d never be allowed to experience.

Maybe she’d have to rethink the leash.

She’s asleep before she manages to make any definitive decision. 

Dustin pushes his way out and onto the grounds of the compound with a scowl. He wasn’t impressed with how his meeting with the new boss had gone. He’d been promised a renegotiation of his contract with the Maximoffs now that the sister had resigned, but apparently her absence wasn’t enough to get the terms he’d been hoping for. 

He could tell that even though Wanda was gone, she was still pulling some of the strings. Pietro hadn’t changed much if anything about how he ran things and this, unfortunately, for him meant that he’d have to tolerate his same pay or look for employment elsewhere.

He’s considering doing just that as he practically stomps out into the grass and runs his hands through his hair with a frustrated growl. He tries not to think about the stray grey hairs that he’s had to dye black to feel less like the ten years his senior that this job has aged him. 

He had too many expenses, too many debts to keep working at the salary that he was being offered by the Maximoffs. Mr. Maximoff now. The only problem was he isn’t sure if he would be able to do much better anywhere else. Certainly not without starting over. The Maximoffs didn’t give out letters of recommendation, but there was a stigma associated with moving from one employer to another in their business. You couldn’t just leave one without having a damn good reason, and wanting more money was one of the worst reasons to have.

Dustin stops in his tracks as he feels his frustration boil over. His clenched fists are starting to ache in that familiar way that tells him that he really needs to punch someone. He wishes he had someone to take his anger out on. He drops down at one of the picnic tables with a sigh before he looks around the abandoned grounds with a frown.

It’s nearly 4 o’clock. Most people will be wrapping up soon and going home. He should go home too, but he doesn’t have good news to deliver, and that makes him want to stall as long as possible. He’s still seething at his failure and contemplating punching the seat beneath him when he spots something out of the corner of his eye.

What the hell? 

Wanda’s beginning to panic. She and her dogs are searching fruitlessly for her cat that ditched them. Wanda doesn’t spot her anywhere and after nearly twenty minutes of searching she has to stop to catch her breath. She didn’t realize that she was practically running around until she takes a moment to think. She stands with her hands on her head as she gazes up at the trees. The sun is high in the sky and even beneath the trees, running as she is, Wanda can feel its heat. She takes a deep breath before glancing down at Rogue who’s come to stand beside her. He rubs his head on her leg with a whine and she smiles despite her nerves and runs a hand through his fur. 

It's only a few seconds later as she realizes how damn hot it is for near winter, that she knows where her cat must be.

“Damn it.”

Dustin had gone to investigate the strange ball of fur sitting near the firepit. He hadn’t expected to discover that it was a cat, and he’s already sneering at the sight of it curled up fast asleep. 

He’d hated cats since the very first one he met at 5 years old had bitten him so badly he’d almost lost a finger. Since then, he’d never gotten along with any cat he’d met, and tried to avoid them at all costs. If he ran into strays while on the job, if it didn’t draw unwanted attention, he’d shoot at them for fun. 

He considers doing this now, but he’s a little confused by the fact that it’s wearing something around its body. A vest? No a harness.  Dustin’s frown deepens as he gets within arm’s reach of the cat, and he kneels down to contemplate his next move. He doesn’t have long to think about it before he notices the cat’s ears twitch. He acts before the thought is fully formed in his brain, but he reaches out and quickly snatches the cat by the harness and yanks it upwards as he stands.

It yowls loudly and Dustin cringes as it starts to flail and ends up scratching him in an attempt to break free. 

“Shit!” 

Dustin curses as the cat maneuvers its way out of the harness and on his arm. It bites him with a ferocious growl, and the brunette immediately releases his hold.

“Ouch! Shit let go you little fucker!” 

The cat’s not letting go even as Dustin swings it around in an attempt to shake it off. Without thinking, Dustin walks over to the firepit and grabs the cat by its back legs and practically rips it from his arm. The cat’s hissing and likely gearing up for another bite when Dustin slams it down hard onto the stones surrounding the pile of ash. It tries to break free, but he’s got a good hold of it now, and he raises it up again to hopefully beat its head in when he’s interrupted. 

“Hey! What the fuck are you doing to my cat?! Let her go!” 

Dustin looks up and is surprised to see that Wanda Maximoff is hurrying over to him. She’s flushed and out of breath, but he’s mostly focused on the fact that she looks pissed. She’s glaring at him and when she finally comes to a stop he just watches as she grabs her gun and points it at him. 

“I mean it. Drop her now!” 

Dustin considers arguing because he’s still in a foul mood after his last encounter with a Maximoff, but he doesn’t want to get shot over a fucking cat. He stands up before doing as she asks, and drops the cat on the ground from nearly 4 feet up. She lands on her feet with an angry or pained yowl, he can’t tell, before she hisses at him and retreats to her mom’s side. Wanda just watches in horror as her bloodied cat limps over to her, and she sees red as she glances back at the brunette who just throws Fletcher’s harness down at his feet.

“Wanda Maximoff in the flesh. You know, I knew you liked pussy, but I didn’t think even you would become a sad cat mom.” 

Wanda flinches and she has to resist the urge to shoot this idiot for the way he laughs at her. For the fact that he hurt her fur baby. She’s practically shaking she’s so angry, but of course Dustin takes this the wrong way, and only sneers at her in disgust. He wipes his hands off on his already ruined suit, and hisses as he tries to staunch the bleeding from his wrist. 

“How pathetic.” 

This snaps Wanda out of her thoughts of murder, and she merely smiles as she kneels down to scoop Fletcher up into her free arm as carefully as possible. She takes a moment to look over her cat and she hates that the cuts on her face are likely from being thrown to the ground instead of biting the asshole in front of her. She kisses her tabby’s head before she shoots the brunette a questioning look.

“I’m not surprised that an insecure piece of shit such as yourself would hate cats, Mr. Howell, but what is your opinion on dogs?” 

It’s at that moment that Dustin realizes something is moving in his periphery. He stiffens and actually takes a step back when he sees two large growling dogs that are rapidly closing the distance between them. 

Instead of attacking him immediately though, they go to Wanda’s side and sit down obediently as if waiting for orders. This terrifying realization is accompanied by an increase in his heart rate as he looks back up to Wanda only to face down the barrel of her gun. 

“You have two options, Mr. Howell. I either shoot you dead right here, or I show you mercy and give you a head start before I let my dogs hunt you for sport. You have three seconds to decide.”

What is perhaps the only sign of intelligence he’s displayed today, Dustin doesn’t even respond before he turns tail and runs as fast as he can toward the compound. Wanda just smiles before she looks down to her dogs who are already locked in on their target.

“Don’t kill him boys. Maybe just a bite or two. Now go fetch.” 

The word ‘go’ barely leaves her mouth before her dogs take off for the fleeing brunette. Wanda knows that they’ll catch him before he escapes, and she can only hope that he’ll regret his actions when this happens. That said, she’s not feeling very forgiving as she moves to sit down at the nearest table. She sighs as she holsters her gun and grabs her phone with a frown. She ignores the screams behind her as she dials your number while watching her cat lick her wounds where she still sits curled up in her arms. 

“Wanda! What’s up?”

She takes a moment to try and calm herself down before she opens her mouth to respond. She doesn’t make it thought because you’ve obviously picked up on the unmistakable background noise. 

“Wait, who’s screaming? What’s happening, are you okay?” 

Wanda shakes her head as she turns to check on her dogs with tears burning her eyes. She sighs before she manages to put you at ease, at least marginally before she asks you to come home. 

“I’m okay, Y/n, but someone hurt Fletcher. I’m not sure…”

She trails off because she doesn’t really know the extent of the damage. All she’d seen was her cat being held by her back legs and thrown against the ground. She’s worried about head injuries and so many other things she doesn’t know where to begin, but she just wants you with her. She wants you to look Fletcher over and convince her that everything will be alright. 

“Who the hell--? You know what that doesn’t matter right now. I’ll leave now and we’ll take a look at her, okay? Does she seem alright? Stable I mean.”

Wanda can’t help but smile as she looks to her cat who’s settled a bit and is rubbing her head against Wanda’s arm. She breathes a sigh of relief and nods before she realizes you can’t see her. 

“I think so? She’s purring and trying to make biscuits. She’s bleeding though and I’m worried.”

She hears you moving around, probably packing up and she is eternally grateful for what you say next. 

“Of course you’re worried, but we’ll take care of her okay? I’m leaving and I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll meet you in the clinic.” 

The ‘clinic’ is the room you commandeered to check on your dog when Rogue first came into your lives. You’d told her that you didn’t need the area anymore, but something had stopped her from breaking down your makeshift vet clinic. As she stands up and heads into the building to get Fletcher looked at, she’s eternally grateful for her rare indecision. 

“Thank you, detka.”

You’re already in your car when Wanda says this, and you smile before pulling out of the parking lot as quickly as possible. 

“Of course, Wands. I’ll see you in 20 minutes.” 

Wanda frowns slightly when you say this because your work is nearly 40 minutes away. As worried as she is about her fur baby, she doesn’t want to you endanger yourself to get here sooner. 

“Make it 30, Y/n. We’ll be fine. I’ll just go sit with her downstairs and let someone know if we need anything. Don’t get a ticket or crash in your hurry home, okay?” 

You want to argue because you’d heard how frantic Wanda was and you wanted to be there for her, but she was right. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if you ended up in the hospital. 

You simply nod before slowing down slightly as you speed down the interstate. 

“Whatever you say, Wanda. Will you call me back once you get the dogs sorted?” 

Wanda can’t stop herself from smiling at the fact that you know exactly what she’d done. She glances over her shoulder at the duo who are still terrorizing the brunette, but no longer biting him. They’re just keeping him where he is until she tells them otherwise. She sighs before deciding what she’s going to do next before hanging up. 

“Yes, detka. I’ll call you in a few minutes.” 

You don’t bother asking what she has planned as you glance at the speedometer again. 

“Okay, love you.” 

“Love you too, Y/n.” 

Wanda stands up and grabs her gun before she hefts her cat up higher so she’s close enough to head boop her chin. She smiles and kisses the tabby’s nose before making her final decision. 

She puts her phone away and whistles to catch her dogs’ attention as she gets closer to the trio. 

“Good job boys. Now come here, please. I’ll take it from here.” 

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Delusions

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~5.4k

Summary: A familiar proposal is not what it seems

A/N: Realized that there isn't enough...angst

Warnings: angst, violence, blood, foul language, hurt/comfort

You sigh heavily as you escape to the treatment area that’s still hectic despite the beginning of the lunch hour having long passed. You aren’t sure how you got so behind this morning with appointments, but you still have two here that will likely bleed into the afternoon. You’ve figured out a plan for one of them, but you needed to talk to your technician first. 

A few minutes later you’re back in the exam room with a treatment plan that you hope this owner agrees with. The reason why you’ve been so delayed is due in part to the fact that this man couldn’t make up his damn mind. It wasn’t even just the indecision that bothered you, mostly because it slowed you down, but the fact that he wanted to know every possible outcome of his dog’s problem just wasn’t realistic. 

You’d walked back into the room planning to shut down any attempt to start with the hypothetical questions again, but he’d surprised you in a way that unfortunately rendered you speechless for entirely too long. 

“What did you just say?” 

You know what he said. Honestly. That said, you needed to be sure before you went off on him, and you needed the extra few seconds to figure out how to do it in a way that wouldn’t cost you your job. 

The brunette who was probably older than you by a decade simply smiles before repeating himself. You’re already tense but hearing him proposition you again makes you want to slap him. It’s not as if the rings on your finger aren’t obvious. 

“I said that I’d like to take you out for drinks. You’re beautiful, surprisingly smart, and I’d love to get to know you better.” 

You don’t even know what to do with the backhanded compliment, but you just shake your head before shooting him a serious look that doesn’t dim his smile in the slightest. Damn. 

“I’m sorry.”

 You’re not. You’re not sure why you felt the need to say that. Probably your damn customer service experience. 

“But that’s not going to happen. Not only is it completely inappropriate because I’m your vet, but I’m happily married and not interested.” 

You stopped yourself short of saying ‘in anything you might have to offer’ because that seemed rude, but shit, you are reeling from this proposal. You’d been trying to figure out how to get him to agree to hospitalizing his dog with a foreign body, which he did, but he just couldn’t stop there apparently. 

You wait tense and more than a little irritated when he just laughs at you with a glint in his eye that makes you steel yourself for what comes next. You contemplate just walking out, and you’ve actually turned toward the door when he speaks up. Again, his words stop you in your tracks, and you can’t keep yourself from spinning around to face him with an incredulous look. 

“Oh, I’m well aware that you’re married, Doctor. Your wife is rather infamous in our shared circles.” 

You have to take a couple of seconds to process this because what the hell? Was he admitting to also being a criminal? How would he have found out who you were otherwise? Honestly, you figured it was only possible due to the fact that he had people stalking your wife which freaked you out if you thought too hard about it. 

You remind yourself of his name so you can tell Wanda later before you shoot him a smile. Your confidence is feigned, but you’re hoping that he doesn’t notice this. 

“If that’s the case, I’m surprised you’re brave enough to ask me out knowing my wife will undoubtedly hear about this.” 

He hesitates but recovers quickly as he reaches into his pocket and digs out a card. You scowl as he takes his time to write something down before he holds it out to you. You don’t want to take it, but you don’t have all day and you need to take his dog and prep him for surgery later this afternoon. 

“Here, just think it over. I can offer you so much more than she can. I’ll be there from eight to midnight anyway, so it won’t be a huge loss either way.” 

You can’t help but roll your eyes at this as you snatch the card away and shove it in your pocket. You don’t intend to meet him, obviously, but you want as much evidence as possible to give to your wife. 

“Wow, flattery like that will get you nowhere.”

You turn to leave again, but you’re nearly hit in the face with the door when it opens suddenly. You startle but manage to hold in your curse when you see a harried technician in the doorway. 

“Oh sorry, Dr. Y/l/n! We need you in treatment, it’s urgent.”

You don’t look back at as you follow the blonde to treatment. You try to forget about what happened because you’re only halfway through your day, and you can’t afford to be distracted. You try not to sigh in exhaustion as you think about how hectic the rest of your day is going to be because of this. You’re going to squeeze in a surgery and hopefully send him home by the time you close. 

After all, you don’t want your client to miss the opportunity to be stood up by you. 

Wanda’s surprised to arrive to an empty house at a little past 8pm. She checks her phone only to see that you haven’t texted or called. This is rare and she realizes you’ve either had a chaotic day, or something was wrong. 

She doesn’t get to worry much; however, because after kneeling down to greet her cat, she hears the garage door open behind her. She smiles before turning back around to open the mudroom door to greet you. She’s not surprised to see that you look exhausted as you shut off your car and practically fall out of it. 

“Wands, hey. You beat me home.” 

You greet her with a kiss before grabbing your things and following her inside. You’re so exhausted you could fall asleep on the couch, but the fact that you have to tell your wife what happened keeps you standing. Wanda smiles at you as she grabs your hands and shoots you a questioning look. You’re far more tired than she initially thought, and she reaches out for you as your eyelids flutter closed. 

“How was your day, detka? Busy?” 

You nod before stifling a yawn in the palm of your hand. You shake your head in an attempt to wake yourself up, but it doesn’t do much good. You put your bag on one of the chairs at the counter, and throw your coat over it with a sigh.

“It was. I didn’t get a second to breathe which is why I forgot to let you know I was going to be late. I’m sorry.” 

Wanda shakes her head before she reaches out for your stiff shoulders. She smiles when you groan as she starts to rub the tense muscles under her fingers. You close your eyes and bask in the attention before your wife reminds you of the less than pleasant task you need to get over with. 

“It’s okay, I get it. Did everything work out?” 

Initially, Wanda can’t tell if your hesitation is due to her impromptu massage, but when you open your eyes to meet hers and only sigh, she realizes there’s something else on your mind. You nod in confirmation before stepping away so you can grab the business card that you’d kept in your coat all afternoon. You didn’t want to put it down where someone would find it, but you also didn’t want to lose it. The name on it was important. 

You have to resist the urge to gag at the reminder of the look Neil shot you when he came to pick up his dog. 

“Yeah, it did. Everyone lived and went home.” 

Wanda nods, but her gaze has dropped to the card that you’re passing between your hands nervously. She can see it’s a dark red business card, but that’s it. 

She’s about to ask when you finally speak up. 

“That said, there’s something I need to tell you.” 

You and Wanda end up sitting at the counter as you tell her about your odd, disconcerting experience this afternoon. You watch as your wife transitions from annoyed to confused to irate in a matter of minutes. She glances to the card that she’d set between the two of you with a scowl. The utter gall of this man to proposition you at work, and ask you to meet him at one of her clubs of all places. She didn’t have to tell you what she planned to do for you to have a pretty good idea, but that didn’t stop you from worrying about her. 

“Can I go with you?” 

Wanda turns to you and immediately shakes her head. She hates to deny you, but when it comes to her business, she knows that it’s for the best. There’s no reason you should get involved in this. 

“Absolutely not.” 

You frown and open your mouth to argue, but you think better of it. You snap your mouth shut and think about what Wanda will likely do to Neil tonight. Despite the fact that they will be in a crowded club, you doubt that your wife is going to let him live, or at the very least leave unscathed. You only worry about what will happen to his dog for a moment before you realize that it probably wasn’t even his in the first place.

Wanda watches you scowl and she prepares herself for an argument, but you just shake your head. You reach out and squeeze her hand with a sigh. You really don’t want Wanda to leave for what you assume will be most of the night, but you did see this coming. You didn’t exactly think that she’d brush off Neil’s obvious insults. You knew her too well for that. You also know that this is likely about something other than you because when it comes down to it, it almost always is when your wife is mentioned. 

Sure you’ve been hit on in the past by people who were clueless about your relationship, but you could usually tell when they weren’t. They had a particular air to them, and you could always tell that they were after something other than what they claimed.

You lean forward to kiss your wife’s cheek with another sigh. You glance at the clock and decide that you’ll try to make it an early night. As long as your anxiety about what your wife was up to didn’t stop you of course.  

“Alright, Wands. Be careful? I love you.” 

Wanda just smiles at you before she meets your lips with a hum. Her mind is already on a plan for the next few hours, but as she sits back in her seat and looks at you, she decides she’s not going to leave yet. She’s going to text Steve so he knows how to prepare, but first, Wanda’s going to make sure you eat something. 

“I love you too. Now let’s get you fed. I’m sure you’re starving.” 

Neil sighs as he places his empty glass down on the table beside his first. He glances at his expensive watch and scowls when he realizes it’s nearly 11. He had been waiting for nearly three hours for his guest, and he was getting impatient. 

He wasn’t foolish enough to truly think that you would show up. No, if you told your wife about his proposal, as he’d expected, he would be graced with the redhead’s presence tonight as planned. It had certainly been a risk approaching you the way he had, but he was hoping that it paid off. Certainly, choosing this place to meet in was a bigger risk considering the amount of preparation that was involved. 

He’d wanted to meet on Wanda’s turf so she’d be lured into a false sense of security. His assignment was straightforward, and he was hoping that tonight would be the night he would complete it. He raised his hand for another drink before realizing that he should probably stop. He wanted to keep his wits when facing his opponent after all. 

It was almost midnight when Wanda finally arrived at her club. She’d taken more time at home than she planned, but she honestly didn’t care about being on time tonight. She had cared more about spending time with you before she had to get ready to face Neil.

She’d heard his name before and knew who he worked for, but she couldn’t figure out what exactly he wanted from her. The farthest she’d gotten was to conclude that it was likely something she wasn’t willing to give. 

After talking with Steve, she’d arranged to have Bucky stay near the house to keep an eye on you while she was gone. 

She entered the club from the back as always with Steve on her heels as she made her way to her office. She passed several of her security team on the way and nodded to them as she wandered out into the VIP area.

“He’s over there. He’s about four drinks in.” 

Wanda nods as she takes in the sight of the brunette sitting in a chair that gives him full view of the dance floor. There’s an empty chair beside him that she’s sure was intended for her, but she’s not going to be out in the open with him. She has other plans.

“Have Rachel bring him another drink, then tell him I’ll see him upstairs in 10.” 

Steve nods before going off to talk to the bartender leaving Wanda on her own. Well, she was never really on her own when she was here, but the two guards nearby blended in with other wealthy patrons. She glanced to the upstairs VIP area that had been closed off about an hour ago for set up. She hoped that her decision to meet Neil tonight wouldn’t bite her in the ass. 

Neil’s only had a few sips of his newest drink when a familiar face appears in front of him. He frowns at the sight of the blonde before he shakes his head with a laugh.

“Well, if it isn’t Wanda Maximoff’s errand boy. I guess she decided to show after all.” 

Steve only frowns at him before delivering Wanda’s message with a pointed look. They both glance up to where Neil’s going to have to be in just a few minutes, and the brunette’s smile widens when he spots Wanda watching him. 

He sighs heavily as he drains the rest of his drink before standing up. He’s not the least bit wobbly as he raises his empty glass up toward the redhead who’s glaring at him now. 

“I suppose I shouldn’t keep the lady waiting.” 

Steve says nothing as he follows Neil up the stairs after he’d gotten a sixth drink. The redhead is sitting in a booth along the far wall by the time they arrive. She has her own drink and she watches him carefully as he strides over to her with a smug grin.

“If I’d known it was this easy to get a meeting with you, I would have resorted to flirting with your wife years ago.” 

Wanda, unsurprisingly, only scowls at him when he says this and waits until he’s slid into his seat across from her. She takes a moment to shake off her anger before she shoots him a menacing look. 

“I have to admit it’s not every day that someone tries to fuck my wife right under my nose. Then again, that’s not really what you were after, was it?” 

Wanda waits as Neil leers at her in a way that tells her exactly what’s on his mind. She clenches the fist that’s in her lap before she takes a sip of her drink to try and focus on something other than the brunette’s smug face. She takes a breath in anticipation of whatever disgusting thing he’s about to say. 

“Although I have to admit she’s quite the looker, you’re right. I didn’t do all of this just to get my dick wet. There was a higher purpose to getting you here.” 

Wanda grits her teeth at his words but doesn’t have time to do much else before he throws what remains of his drink in her face. She hisses and instinctively closes her eyes as she reaches for the knife that she’d stashed under the table. She opens her eyes just in time to see Neil dive forward and reach for her, and she brings the blade down in the middle of his hand. 

“Ahh, you bitch!”

Wanda leans forward to grab the back of Neil’s head and slams his face into the table. He’s temporarily stunned and it gives Wanda enough time to yank the knife out of his hand before using it to slit his throat. She ignores the gurgling noises and the growing puddle of blood as she jumps to her feet. She turns toward the sound of gunfire. It’s muffled by the music, but an unmistakable sound that puts the redhead on edge. She’s already drawn her gun and is taking aim when a barrage of gunfire forces her to take cover. 

She curses as she dives behind the bar, her gun still clutched in her hand. She holds it up, ignoring the burning in her leg as she spots someone in a mask running toward her. She shoots them and the another before she’s able to tap the com in her ear with another curse. 

“Steve where the fuck are you? Are you hit?” 

When Steve had been standing guard, he’d immediately realized that something was off. He couldn’t put a name to it, but he just knew that something felt wrong. He’d only had to wait for less than a minute before he’d watched half a dozen men in masks storm the stairs. He’d only managed to shoot two before they were on top of him, and then all hell broke loose.

The blaring of the fire alarm was Wanda’s only response, and she cringed at the sound before forcing herself onto her knees. She hissed as she moved her right leg and she groaned at the sight of a slow trickle of blood coming from a wound in her calf. 

“Great.” 

Wanda’s about to get to stand and try to assess her odds when she hears footsteps behind her. She didn’t get a chance to turn around before something struck her hard and sent her falling onto her face. She cursed and then screamed when hands grabbed her injured leg and dragged her back from behind the bar. 

She manages to turn herself over onto her back, but before she can shoot whoever’s dragging her, her gun is knocked out of her hand. She reaches for her second one and uses all her strength to kick her free leg up and into the face of the masked thug who’s still pulling her.

 She groans loudly as she falls to her knees and shoots the man who knocked the gun out of her hands. The second one though is already charging her, and they grab her by the shoulders and throw her back into the bar. She hits the counter with a sickening thud, and she’s still seeing stars when something hits her across the face. She reaches back to steady herself on the bar, but she’s too dizzy and she ends up on her knees again. 

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” 

The voice is unfamiliar, but Wanda’s sure that even if she could see straight, she wouldn’t recognize them. She’s still seeing double when she’s lifted off the ground again before she’s shoved back against the bar. Her back hits the granite countertop and she curses in pain. She makes the mistake of trying to put weight on her right leg, and she nearly collapses as a result.

It’s only the rough grip that keeps her on her feet. Wanda finally sees who’s in front of her when she tries reaching for a knife at her belt. She’s thwarted though, and the woman grabs her wrist before slamming her hand into Wanda’s nose. 

“Fuck!” 

Wanda’s head spins and the still blaring fire alarm disorients her further. She flinches when the grip on her wrist tightens before a gun is waved in her face. She’s only seconds away from resorting to her last-ditch effort when the sprinklers start to rain down on them. 

“Any last words, Maximoff?”

Wanda can think of plenty, but the sudden disappearance of the blonde makes her jump and then she ducks belatedly once she realizes the shower of water is getting on her too. She curses before she feels her body start to protest being up right, and she starts to sway. 

“Wanda!” 

Wanda’s eyes fly open and she struggles to stay standing as she turns to see you standing in front of her. Your hands are up and reaching for her, and she watches as you practically throw what remains of a bottle on the bar as you steady her. 

You’d been unable to sleep at home even after Wanda left. You’d tried to read and then watch television to distract yourself, but it didn’t work. You had been thinking about the incident with Neil today, and how something just didn’t add up. 

You didn’t understand why he’d go to the trouble to get Wanda at one of her clubs tonight. To be fair,  you didn’t understand a lot about her work, but the way he went about it just didn’t make any sense to you. If what he really wanted was Wanda’s presence, he had to have a better way to get it, right? Even if it had required a lie, Neil shouldn’t have had to bother you, and waste so much of your time today if it wasn’t strictly necessary. Right?

This is what you kept rolling around in your head until it was nearly 11 and you were still too wired to sleep. You laid in bed for a bit longer just staring at the ceiling before you began to worry about your wife. What if she was walking into a trap? It was this thought that finally made you text Bucky to figure out what he was up to. You were a little surprised to hear that he was hanging out on the third floor, and you sat up in bed before throwing off the covers and running upstairs.

Somehow, you’d convinced your friend to take you to the club because you were worried about Wanda. He’d refused at first of course, but you’d promised to stay in the car while he checked on your wife and called in back up. It wasn’t until you arrived and heard the fire alarm going off and patrons crowding the street that you realized something was wrong. 

If Wanda ever finds out that you just ran into the club without a plan, she’d be furious. However, as you hold onto your wife who’s having trouble standing, you can’t help but be grateful that you’d followed your intuition tonight. 

You grimace when Wanda cries out as you try to move her away from the unconscious blonde on the ground, and you quickly change tactics.

“Here Wands, hold on.” 

You wrap an arm around your wife’s waist and lead her to the nearest seat. Luckily, it’s not far and you sit her down with a groan before you take a moment to look her over. You feel your anxiety increase as you note the bloody nose, various scratches, and the bleeding wound on her leg. You glance over at Bucky who’s helping a pair of medics get an unconscious Steve onto a stretcher. The fact that there’s no blood is the only thing that keeps you from running over there.

When you’d stormed up the stairs, you hadn’t even noticed Steve initially. He was on the ground a ways from the stairs, and given that the bar was right in front of you, it was difficult not to notice your wife first. You’d run toward her and the blonde that was holding a gun to her head with nothing but a bottle of champagne that you’d grabbed from a bucket in the VIP area. You hadn’t even known if you’d even be able to knock her out with it, but when you raised the bottle and swung as hard as you could, well it shattered over the blonde’s head and sent her down hard. 

You know that someone will be over to help Wanda any minute, but you aren’t able to just sit by and watch her continue to bleed. You take off your jacket and then your shirt that will be easier to tie around Wanda’s leg. She just watches you dumbstruck until you manage to apply the makeshift tourniquet and she groans in pain.

“Shit! Y/n, what are yo-you doing here?” 

Wanda tries to sound mad, but her question comes out breathless and she’s so sore she can barely keep herself upright. Her back is aching and her ears are ringing as she watches you get back to your feet. You put your jacket back on over your bra, and frown as you reach out to wipe some of the blood off Wanda’s face. 

“I was worried about you.”

Wanda passes out only moments before the EMTs arrive to take her to the compound. You figure you have two choices, but you decide to drive with Bucky instead of in the ambulance. You don’t want to get in the way, and you’ll probably end up getting there first given how your friend drives.

You don’t speak to Wanda again until the early hours of the morning. You’ve already called in sick for work, but you’re still tense where you sit beside your wife’s bed uncomfortably warm. You’ve only tried to take off your jacket twice to remember that you’re not wearing a shirt underneath it. You consider asking someone for a change of clothes, but you don’t want to leave your wife’s side. 

She’s already had surgery to close the bullet hole in her leg, to set her wrist, and her nose. You had talked to Pietro and Nat when they came down to visit the unconscious redhead. Pietro was understandably pissed and already working on figuring out who was going to suffer for this. The blonde that you’d knocked out had been taken in for questioning, but you hadn’t had the bandwidth to ask about this. All you’d managed to do was check in on Steve who was luckily awake, and already back to work. 

It’s nearly 4 in the morning before Wanda wakes up from her surgery. You sit up at the sound of her monitors changing only seconds before you hear a groan. 

“Wanda?” 

The redhead doesn’t respond immediately, but she turns toward you with a pained look in her eyes. She blinks a few times before she seems to convince herself that you’re really here, and she smiles slightly at the sight of you. 

“Y/n. Is…Did I imagine it?” 

You have to stop yourself from scoffing at the idea, and you stand up and walk over to your wife’s bedside. You want to reach out for her, but no part of her looks safe to touch. Her wrist is in a cast, and she looks so tense and frail that you worry that anything you do will hurt her. You shake your head before you kneel at her side and meet her slightly unfocused gaze. You figure that the pain medications she’s on are responsible for this. 

“No, you didn’t imagine it, Wands. I got to thinking about how things didn’t add up, and I came to the club to confirm my suspicions. I’m really glad I arrived when I did.” 

Not that earlier wouldn’t have been better. You don’t say this though because you can already tell Wanda is confused. She frowns and she tries to sit up only to curse when she puts weight on her wrist. 

“Ow, shit!”

“Wanda, wait. Let me help you.” 

Wanda’s too tired to argue, so she lets you hoist her up into a sitting position with minimal fuss. Her back is still tender, but as you prop her up against the pillows on her bed, she barely notices. She looks over to you with an expression that’s torn between gratitude and frustration. She’s beyond grateful that you saved her from being shot, but she hates that you were in danger. 

She knows that she can’t protect you from everything. You’ve only had this argument a dozen times, but that didn’t stop Wanda from trying. This is why she’d told you to stay home tonight, but she would be lying if she said that your arrival at the club wasn’t timely. 

Finally, she sighs before she takes a deep breath which makes her nose ache. She groans at the thought of it being broken. What a fucking mess. 

“Thank you, detka. For the rescue. I won’t say I’m happy that you were there, but I am grateful.” 

You realize what Wanda’s saying and you smile before leaning forward to kiss her. You switch to her forehead last minute, and Wanda offers you a sheepish smile. You frown in confusion, but then end up nearly rolling your eyes at what she says. 

“I promise I was careful, Y/n.” 

You reach across the bed to hold Wanda’s uninjured hand, and you simply shake your head with a sigh. You know that protecting Wanda from getting hurt is near impossible in her line of work. You know that despite having the best security, and more weapons than you can fathom, things like this will happen. You hate it and tonight definitely made you want to ask your wife to quit again, but you can’t. You have to believe that this is a one-off, and it’s simply best to be grateful that Wanda’s already awake and making excuses. 

You lift her hand before kissing it with a teasing smile. 

“We’ll argue about your definition of ‘careful’ later, babe. I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

Wanda briefly considers what could have happened if you hadn’t shown up when you did. Your paranoia had likely saved her life while her anger may have almost killed her. She tries to consider what signs she’d missed when she’d arrived at the club last night. Had she been poorly prepared, or had there already been a trap in place? 

She knows that she has weaknesses. She’s not arrogant enough to think otherwise, but unfortunately sometimes she forgets that you’re probably her biggest and most obvious one. Anyone who knows who she’s married to is able to exploit this and trigger her fight or flight response like they had tonight. She can’t say for sure if she would have acted far differently if someone else had been threatened. If she’d been threatened, but all she knows is that anytime you’re mentioned or you’re potentially at risk, she loses her head a bit. 

She should be better than this. After this many years she should know how to separate her personal life from business. She supposes the problem is that others want to blur these lines and use one to influence the other. 

She sighs in annoyance at the headache she’s causing, and she turns back to you when you squeeze her hand. She turns to see you shooting her a concerned look, and she can’t help but melt. 

This is why she lets herself have a weakness. Being with you, and being able to call you hers is worth it. It has to be. 

“Are you okay?” 

Wanda just nods as she pulls you into a one-armed hug. You’re careful and barely touch her as you hug her back. She sighs in relief as she just tries to bask in your presence for a few seconds. The rest can wait. She just wants to hold you. 

“I will be.” 

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

House Guest

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~2.5k

Summary: You bring home a patient

A/N: Because I love pigs and want one

Warnings: Fluff, minimal angst, domesticity

Although you primarily treated cats and dogs at work, there was a rare time or two that someone would bring you an exotic pet that you were asked to treat. You usually were comfortable doing this, unless it was a snake or something with too many teeth, but today you’d been brought a pig. Their owner, a 14-year-old boy, had gotten him on Craigslist and apparently he was really sick, but the only thing you could find was that he was covered in mites. 

So many mites. 

You’d treated him and then tried to give him back to his owner, but apparently his mom had called and didn’t want a pig in the house. This put you in an awkward position, and after having an awkward conversation with the mother, you’d agreed to keep him for a few days. At least until the kid could get together an outdoor enclosure for his pet. 

“Come on Winston. Time to go.” 

So you and Winston the potbellied pig were headed home for the night. You’d had a long day and after trying to call Wanda to let her know of the plan and only getting her voicemail, you’d decided to just go home. You’re sure she’d be fine with it given that it was only for a few days. 

You were mostly worried about how Fletcher would act. Boone was usually good with additions to the house just so long as you still paid attention to him. Fletcher on the other hand was a little more possessive. You were just going to have to hope that things worked out. 

When you arrive home, Wanda isn’t back yet and you think about texting her to warn her, but you’re quickly distracted by Boone’s sudden appearance. You drop your phone back in your pocket and hurry to grab Winston from the ground before you shoot Boone a look. 

“Boone, I brought someone home. He’s going to hang out for a few days so be nice, okay?” 

Boone just sniffs the pig in your arms before you carefully set him down on the ground. Winston sniffs Boone too before he starts to wander around the living room curiously. You let him go as you set your things down and head to the kitchen. You have to make dinner, but you also have to feed the animals. You hadn’t gotten any food from Winston’s owner because he was currently feeding him potato chips and pretzels, so you’d stopped by the feed store to get a small bag for him. You find a bowl to pour it into and you let Winston sniff it before setting it down. 

“Boone, no. Come here.”

You pull Boone away from Winston’s bowl and hurry to fill your dog’s bowl with a sigh. Once you see that Fletcher still has food in her bowl, you head back to the kitchen to figure out dinner for the humans. You glance at the clock and frown as you check your phone again. 

Where is Wanda?

Wanda is eternally grateful that she smells something delicious as soon as she gets out of her car. She’s exhausted and a little sore from today, not to mention starving. She had breakfast when she left the house but has not eaten since. Her day had been hectic, and she’d spent too much of it chasing after a rogue employee and some ‘misplaced’ money. She’d ended up almost getting shot, and a little beaten up, but she got her money back. Not to mention the traitor was dead, so despite the exhaustion she felt right now, it wasn’t a bad day overall. 

Wanda opens the door and the smell of dinner grows even stronger making her sigh contently. She shuts the door behind her and smiles at the sound of little footsteps. She sees Fletcher run up to her and she meows loudly before stretching out in front of her. Wanda leans over to pick her up with a groan. She holds her up and kisses her face before walking with her into the kitchen. 

“Hi, Fletcher. How was your day? Busy too, I’m sure.” 

Fletcher licks Wanda’s cheek before she breaks free and jumps on the counter. There is food still on the stove, but everything’s turned off which makes Wanda think that you finished up a while ago. She makes sure that Fletcher doesn’t stay on the counter long before she starts to head upstairs to find you. 

“Y/n?” 

She figures you must be resting upstairs, and as soon as she sees Boone come out of the bedroom she smiles. She greets the shepherd who yawns cavernously with a scratch behind the ears as she follows him back into the bedroom. 

“Wands, in here!”

She heads down the hall toward the bedroom with a smile and pushes the door open slowly. She would love to shower before dinner, but she’s not sure she has the energy. She smiles when she sees you sitting on the ground, and she’s about to ask you how your day went when you turn around and reveal what’s in front of you. 

“Hey, de—is that—why is there a pig in our bedroom?” 

You sigh as you stand up and watch as Winston trots over to your wife to greet her. He snorts quietly and you can’t help but find it adorable as the duo greet each other. Well Wanda just stares at him in confusion and a little trepidation, while Winston sniffs her before moving to Boone who’s just standing behind your wife. 

“This is Winston. He just needed a home for a few days while his parents figure out his housing. I tried calling you.” 

Wanda hadn’t realized this given that she’d dropped and broken her phone earlier today. She goes to mention this, but she stops short and jumps slightly when she feels Winston run into her. You can’t help but laugh slightly and you don’t miss your wife’s glare as you shake your head with a sigh. You lean over to pick him up so he stops rubbing his wet nose on your wife, and you take a second to apologize for the possibly unwelcome surprise. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. He’ll stay downstairs, and –wait, what happened?” 

When you stand up and are able to look more closely at Wanda you realize that she’s hurt. She has a bruise forming around her left eye and she has a busted lip. You berate yourself for not noticing this sooner, and you quickly reach out for your wife’s face. You watch her flinch slightly and your frown deepens when you realize someone had certainly hit her.

Wanda sighs in exhaustion before she shakes her head with a slight grimace. She doesn’t really want to get into it, but she knows you won’t accept no explanation at all. You’ve clearly had an interesting day, and she wants to hear about it, but she knows it will have to wait. 

“Just a small confrontation is all. Nothing too exciting.” 

Wanda doesn’t need to be looking at you to know that you’re shooting her an incredulous look. You open your mouth to argue, but as you spend a few seconds looking at your wife you realize how tired she is. Her eyes look weak and her shoulders are lowered as if something is weighing them down. You decide to wait and have this conversation later because you’d rather try and get Wanda to bed as fast as possible. 

“More on that later, but for now, how about you shower while I get dinner ready?” 

Wanda considers arguing because she doesn’t need you to wait on her, but the fatigue she feels in every muscle makes her simply nod in agreement. She smiles gratefully before leaning in to kiss you. 

“Thank you, detka.” 

You don’t miss how Wanda spares the pig, Winston, a glance before she disappears into the bathroom. You sigh as you look down at your temporary guest before deciding that you’ll get him settled while fixing Wanda’s dinner. You didn’t say anything because one seldom appreciated being told they looked exhausted, but Wanda looked dead on her feet. You’d be surprised if she managed to stay up long enough to eat. 

For this reason, you rush out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen to make sure Wanda won’t have to wait for you. You hold Winston as you walk down the stairs because you’re afraid he’ll fall through one of the steps. When you set him down in the living room, you look to the pile of supplies you’d brought home. 

You’ll deal with those in a minute. 

Dinner first. 

Wanda stifles a yawn as she comes downstairs twenty minutes later to find you smiling widely. She’s still wrapping her mind around the fact that there’s a pig in her house, but she figures she’ll get an explanation for that soon. She smiles as she watches you put together Winston’s pen while you ramble to the pets who are likely not listening. 

“Alright Winston, you’ll sleep here tonight, okay? We’ll make sure Fletcher leaves you alone. Boone will probably watch you all night, but don’t let him worry you. He’s sweet. He doesn’t know he’s being creepy.”

The sound of Wanda laughing catches your attention, and you turn to see her sitting on the end of the couch watching you with an amused smile.

“You’re so adorable, detka.” 

You almost roll your eyes, but decide that you’ll finish this up later. You stand up and kiss your wife’s cheek before you head to the kitchen to grab her dinner.

“Thanks! I’ll tell you about Winston in a minute, but first, what happened today?” 

Wanda bites back a sigh as she considers the chaos that reigned for most of her day. She’s at least grateful that she can tell you that it’s resolved at this point. She focuses on this as she waits for you to bring her dinner. She had planned on following you to the kitchen, but she was quickly distracted by the pig that was sniffing his way around her living room.

She knew that you liked most animals, but she honestly never would have predicted that she’d be watching a pig wander around her house. She wonders if he’s litter trained because you’ve put a box in his pen along with some blankets and pee pads that she hopes will be enough to save the rug if push comes to shove. 

“So Wands. What happened?” 

Suddenly you’re in front of her again, and you’re sitting on the coffee table with a plate in your hands. You’re smiling at her despite focusing on her bruised eye. Wanda eyes the delicious smelling food in front of her, and realizes that she’s going to have to tell you what happened before she can eat. She frowns but doesn’t hesitate to shrug as she gives you a vague explanation. 

“Someone who tried to shoot me only managed to punch me once…or twice.” 

You frown and feel your heart skip a beat at the words that Wanda says in far too calm a tone for you to comprehend. You’re scowling by the time you hand Wanda her dinner, and you move to sit beside her with a worried look that you hide well. Well you figure your wife is focused on her food as you stare at Winston who’s sniffing the curtains at this point.

“That’s scary. Are you feeling, okay?” 

You lean against Wanda before promptly sitting back up in case she’s hurt elsewhere. She simply offers you a smile before nodding in confirmation and leaning into you. 

“I am. He just went for my face. The jerk.” 

You can’t help but laugh at this despite the fact that your wife being hurt makes you equal parts sad and furious. You sigh as you let Wanda eat, but wrap an arm around her waist as you hold her close. You hear her sigh but the smile on her face tells you that she’s content rather than frustrated. You smile too and you kiss her cheek as you continue to watch your wife eat. You’re a little hungry too, but not enough to motivate you to stand and leave your wife’s company. 

“I hope he looks worse than you do.” 

Wanda doesn’t dwell on the fact, or even mention that he’s dead and she merely smiles at you before holding out her spoon for you. 

“Oh definitely.” 

You smile but shake your head when Wanda offers you some of her dinner. You’ll get some of your own later. Your wife doesn’t relent though and you eventually just sigh before taking a bite of the meal you spent longer than usual cooking. This was mostly because you were running around taking care of the animals, but it still turned out pretty well if you did say so yourself.

“Mmm good.”

Wanda grins before setting down her spoon and placing the plate in her lap. You reach out for your wife and turn her face toward you to get a better look at her bruises. You kiss the purpling skin before planting another kiss on her nose which makes Wanda giggle. The sound makes your heart race and you’re still smiling when Wanda leans in to kiss you.

She pulls away sooner than you want mostly because she doesn’t want her food to get knocked over. She watches you pout, but she grabs your hands and squeezes them with a curious look that steals your attention. 

“So tell me about your pig friend.” 

Wanda watches as you light up at the question, and she listens silently as you describe your day. It’s not until you start to apologize that Wanda cuts you off because despite the surprise she doesn’t mind. Hopefully nothing that happens tonight will change her mind.

“I should have waited until you called, but they looked so hopeful when I suggested they find someone to watch him for a few days. I had already expressed my interest in pigs, and told them about a thousand times how cute he was…I’m sorry Wands. If you want, I can try to figure--.” 

You stop short when Wanda shakes her head before she relocates her plate to the coffee table. She shoots Boone a look and the shepherd just whines before she turns her attention back to you. You nearly yelp as Wanda pulls you into her lap, and the redhead laughs as you glare at her in faux annoyance.

“It’s okay, Y/n he’s kinda cute. You said he’s litter trained?” 

You smile before nodding toward the litter that Winston’s kicking at right now. You’d left the pen open and he wandered in to do his business apparently. You laugh when he finishes and kicks his back legs as he jumps out of the box. You feel your heart melt a little when he plops down on the bed of blankets you set up for him. Wanda watches you fawn over Winston with a loving smile and for a second, she thinks that she’d be okay with you having a pet pig. 

But only for a second.  

Masterlist

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Remiss

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~2.2k

Summary: Clearing the air

A/N: Filling plot holes?

Warnings: fluff, some angst, alcohol, a trip down memory lane, hurt/comfort

Wanda and the pets were asleep by the time you arrived home. The dogs were where they usually stayed, downstairs, while Fletcher was probably in your spot. Specifically on your pillow. This was only allowed when you weren’t home which for the first time in a while, you weren’t when the time to go to bed rolled around. 

It was almost 2 in the morning when you stumble through the front door. You’d left your car with Pietro because you had gotten a lot drunker than you anticipated. He’d called you a cab home and cleared it with security so Wanda wouldn’t be woken up by their call to alert her of your arrival. Still, you worry that she’ll find out pretty quickly because you trip over your feet as you hurry to turn off the alarm that starts to chirp annoyingly.

You curse as you shut the door and flip on the light long enough to punch in the code that’s been most recently committed to memory. Wanda insists on changing it twice a year, and although it’s a pain in the ass, you go along with it. 

You sigh in relief when the chirping stops and you turn around to make sure that you locked the front door. Once you confirm this you go to turn off the light, but the sight of your dogs makes you jump nearly a foot in the air. You curse and fall back against the door in surprise. Your hand goes to your racing heart as the duo shoot you matching expectant looks.

“Shit!” 

They don’t seem to realize that they scared the shit out of you, and they come up to you for their pets with wagging tails. You take a moment to scratch them both before you grab your phone and turn on the flashlight with a sigh. 

“Okay puppies. I’m gonna bed. Goodnight.” 

You make the treacherous journey to the living room and up the stairs to your bedroom in the near darkness. You don’t notice Rogue trailing behind you until you start to push open the door to the bedroom. You turn off the flashlight so you don’t wake up your wife, but now you also can barely see anything. 

You’re too tired to bother changing clothes before falling into bed, and you stifle a yawn as you smile at the sight of your wife. When you realize that she’s not alone you nearly roll your eyes. 

“Fletcher…”

The tabby is unsurprisingly curled up against your wife’s stomach, and you at least take comfort in the fact that she’s not on your side of the bed. You step out of your shoes and drop your bag on the floor with a quiet thud. Neither of them realize you’ve arrived until you fall on top of the bed with a relieved sigh. You groan under your breath, and bury your face into your pillow. You miss Wanda groan as she stirs at the bed sinking under your weight. She opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is her cat stretching in front of her as she purrs furiously. After she’s offered her a quick scratch, her attention moves to where you’re still lying face down on your pillow trying to sleep off your night. 

“Y/n?” 

Wanda had expected you back a bit earlier, but she supposes she can’t be too surprised that you were delayed. You were hanging out with her brother and he was nothing if not unpredictable. She realizes quickly that you must have had a lot to drink because when she sits up slightly to check on you. The smell of booze is enough to wake her up a bit more and she reaches out for you when you only groan in response.

“Rough night?” 

Wanda reminds herself to yell at her brother later for being an enabler, but she’s quickly distracted when you roll over onto your back. You’re frowning but she doesn’t get to ask what’s on your mind before you turn toward her and Fletcher with a sigh. 

“Have I told you…that I love you…a lot?” 

Wanda’s eyes widen as she looks at you, or rather your silhouette with a smile. She sees you reach out, but she’s surprised when you stop short and scratch Fletcher instead. It’s almost as if you knew she would move, and you close the distance between you and your wife as soon as the tabby’s gone. 

Wanda shrugs as she watches her cat jump off the bed and head for the door where she notices Rogue is now lying down.

“On occasion.” 

Wanda feels more than sees you nod before she lowers herself back down to the bed beside you. She ignores the smell of alcohol as she rests her head on your shoulder. She’s glad that you’re back. She’d missed you earlier and it was always easier for her to sleep with you beside her. You breathe out a sigh before muttering into your wife’s hair.

“Good. I’m glad.” 

Wanda frowns at your tone and how even half asleep it’s enough for her to realize that something was bothering you. Its too dark for her to see your expression, so she does the next best thing to try and figure out what’s on your mind. 

“Y/n, is something wrong?” 

She can’t help but run through the possibilities and she pulls back from you to try and get a better read on your mood. You don’t make it easy as you shake your head before reaching out for your wife. You run a hand up her waist to her back and finally to her hair where you start to play with a few strands that have escaped her ponytail. 

“No, no. I..I just wa-wanted you to know is all.” 

This still sounded too ominous for Wanda’s liking and she reaches out for you. She catches your chin and pulls you closer so she can kiss you. She catches you by surprise but you lean into the kiss and hold your wife like you’re afraid that she’ll leave. When Wanda breaks away, she doesn’t go far, and she rests her head on your shoulder as she wraps her arms around you.

“I love you too, you know that right?” 

You don’t hesitate to nod as you turn your head again before you’re lying on your back. You feel your head spin and you briefly regret drinking so much as you think about what you and Pietro talked about tonight. It started off innocent enough with who he was dating and how Wanda was handling staying at home this week. Then it turned to darker thoughts and somehow you’d had a conversation about your least favorite person. 

Wanda watches as you become lost in thought, and she can’t help but worry that something happened tonight. She considers reaching out to her brother, but luckily you don’t leave her hanging for too long. That said, you don’t really clarify much for her with what you say next. 

“I was just talking to Piet, and he reminded me that I didn’t say it enough.” 

Wanda misunderstands and she’s immediately on edge at the idea of her brother saying something like this to you. She is definitely going to yell at him tomorrow.

“He said that? That’s not true, detka. You tell me all the time.” 

Your brow furrows in confusion as you turn to see your wife looks a little ticked. You squeeze her hand before shaking your head with another sigh. You need to drink water, and take a shower, but you have something you need to say first. 

“Not like that. He wasn’t giving me a hard time. I just…”

You trail off as you consider the years you’ve spent with Wanda. All of the struggles and drama that you dealt with as a result of agreeing to be with your wife. You had doubted the decision some. You couldn’t lie and say that the idea of committing to the uncertainty and danger of being with Wanda wasn’t intimidating. That said, you honestly can only think of a handful of instances over the past 5 years that really made you second-guess your decision.

That said, you know that none of this was something that you could have predicted. No matter how much training, how many resources, and friends you have, you can’t be protected from everything. This is something that you and Pietro talked about tonight, and the conversation turned a lot more emotional than you’d been prepared for. 

“Do you remember the day we got married?”

Wanda finally sits all the way up and reaches for the lamp on her bedside table. She can’t stand to continue this conversation in the dark because she can’t tell what you’re feeling. You flinch slightly, but don’t protest as Wanda turns on the light before flopping back down beside you. 

“Yes, of course I do.” 

You seem to accept this answer but are still lost in your jumbled thoughts that you’re currently failing to organize. You shouldn’t have tried to start this conversation while drunk, but now you had no choice. You are sure that Wanda won’t let you just drop it. The look on her face tells you that much. 

You close your eyes before you imagine your wedding day. It was wonderful and you were stressed but in the best kind of way. You’d gotten to marry the love of your life with your closest friends by your side. You’d been so happy and a little naïve if you were being honest. You thought that not much would change, or at least not much that mattered, but it didn’t take you long to figure out how wrong you were.

“I told you I loved you then too, right?” 

Suddenly your wife is hovering over you and you see her concerned look before her question registers. Your arms suddenly feel like lead as you try to reach up and take your wife’s face in your hand.

“You’re worrying me, love. What’s on your mind?” 

You wonder how you can tell Wanda that you love your life with her. You’re so glad that you married her, and you don’t know how to tell her this. You’ve loved the life that you’ve had together, but it hasn’t always been a bed of roses. You have lost count of how many times you’ve been terrified, threatened, or hurt by someone who wanted to get something from your wife. Whether it was money, cooperation, or revenge, you had found yourself on the receiving end of their efforts too many times. You smile as you brush her hair behind her ears and confuse your wife in the same breath.

“Tonight, I just thought about all that we’ve gone through. The struggles, the enemies, all of the challenges we’ve faced.” 

Wanda had not been expecting this, and she can’t hide her surprise as she frowns in confusion. She had expected her brother to be lewd and inappropriate, so this trip down memory lane was a shock. She doesn’t get to ask why you and Pietro talked about this at all before you drop your hands to her shoulders. You push her enough for her to get the hint, and she moves so she can help you sit up. You groan as you lie back against your pillow and reach out for her hand. You play with the ring on her finger for a few seconds before you finally clue Wanda in. 

“It just made me realize that I never told you how it all made me feel. I hate that you probably blamed yourself when it wasn’t your fault. I just…tonight we talked about Vision, and it made me realize that other than bitching about him, I don’t know if I told you that I really didn’t blame anyone but him, Strucker, and Rumlow.” 

Wanda rocks back in surprise at your words and her mouth falls open but she can’t manage any sort of verbal response. She’s not sure how you know that she’s been harboring resentment toward herself for this since it happened. She supposes you just know her really well, but she still doesn’t understand why it came up tonight. Maybe she’s thinking too much into it. Alcohol eliminates most rational thought, doesn’t it?

“So that’s all I really wanted to say, Wands. I don’t love you any less or blame you for anything that happened to me.” 

Wanda feels tears stinging her eyes and she can’t help but lean forward and kiss you again. She ignores the taste of tequila, which explains a lot, as she allows herself to feel relief at your words. She didn’t realize how much guilt she’d been carrying with her, and despite knowing it will never completely leave her, she feels much lighter. 

“Y/n, I—”

“I’d even go through all of it again, if it meant ending up here with you. Sorry—I didn’t mean to. Interrupt.” 

Wanda smiles at your flushed face and kisses your cheek before pulling you into a hug. It’s a little awkward, so she crawls into your lap so she can bring you even closer. Her smile widens when she hears you sigh in relief. 

“I love you, detka. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” 

As you hold your wife in your arms, you’re certain you can say the same. There’s really no telling where you’d be if it wasn’t for Wanda. If you hadn’t met her after your awful physics lecture you likely never would have crossed paths. You tighten your hold on your wife as you try to push this thought from your mind. You don’t want to think about being anywhere but here.

“Me neither, Wands.” 

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Fluff coming this weekend because I think we all deserve it after this week.

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What I Need

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~2.2k

Summary: Wifey appreciation post

A/N: Obsessed with the idea of a self-conscious Wanda post-pregnancy

Warnings: mild angst, fluffy fluff, and smut

You have often wondered what your life would have been like if you’d skipped your physics class the morning you met Wanda. You vaguely remember when you woke up that morning that you’d considered doing just that because you were frustrated by how unnecessarily difficult the class was. 

You’d thought about getting a tutor, but you were stubborn and decided to just struggle on your own. Not the best decision in hindsight given that you’d received the worst grade that you ever had in college in that class. Still, you hadn’t failed and you had made it to vet school which had been your ultimate goal at that time.

You find it near surreal that if you’d chosen to press snooze that day until your alarm turned off completely you probably would have been fine, if a little behind in the class, but you likely never would have met your wife.

The thought of not meeting Wanda sometimes kept you up at night. You loved the life and home you shared with your family of dogs, a cat, and a very young daughter. Natalya was barely a month old and you had only just forced yourself to visit the office. It was weird being away from your family during the day, and you quickly realized that you hated it. That said, you only considered retiring for a few minutes because you know that not having a career wouldn’t work for you. You love your job and the opportunity to help animals, but sometimes you wanted to just sit at home all day with your wife and daughter.

You make sure to be quiet as you shut the mudroom door behind you and Boone as you arrive home. You aren’t sure where everyone is, and until they’re accounted for you want to make sure that you don’t disturb them. Sleep was difficult to come by these days when your daughter rarely slept through the night. 

You watch as your dog runs into the house and goes straight for the water bowl. You follow him and notice that Rogue is sitting behind the couch, but he’s only lifted his head as he watches you and Boone walk in. It doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to greet either of you because he just huffs and lays his head back down. You go over and pet him anyway, and it's at this time that you notice your wife is asleep on the couch. You smile at how peaceful she looks and you decide that you need to let her sleep.

You head upstairs to change and shower quickly before wandering back downstairs to figure out dinner. It doesn’t take you long to realize that Wanda’s already figured this out, and you head back upstairs to check on Little Nat. 

You listen at the door for a few seconds before you open it as quietly as possible and peek into the room.

As expected, your daughter is asleep and you decide not to risk waking her up, so you duck back out into the hallway. When you make it back downstairs you see that Wanda is stirring from where she’s lying on the couch. Rogue is lying in front of her now watching to see if he’ll get any attention before he glances at you. You shake your head before telling him to lie down which is does, but not without a whine that makes your wife open her eyes.

You grimace at the thought of waking her up, and you sigh as you sit down beside her with an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” 

Wanda smiles sleepily as she sits up and stretches before shaking her head. She turns to you and pecks you on the cheek before glancing to the coffee table. 

“It’s okay. I heard you go into Natalya’s room.” 

You should have considered this before checking on your daughter, but the sight of a baby monitor sitting behind Rogue makes you realize what your wife meant. You still feel bad that you interrupted her sleep, but she doesn’t dwell on it as she runs a hand through your hair. 

“How was your day at the office?” 

You spend a few minutes telling Wanda about your day back at work. You mention how very little has changed, but you still feel like you’ve been gone for ages. At this point, Wanda’s leaning against you as you’d noticed her yawn twice since you started talking. Rogue’s wandered off since you weren’t doing anything he deemed interesting, and Wanda’s luckily beginning to relax again. She didn’t put up a fight as you’d pulled her to your front and held her close as she started to drift. She clearly didn’t get much sleep today and you consider letting her fall asleep on you when she speaks up. 

“We missed you today, but I’m glad work was okay.” 

You smile in response before you kiss your wife’s hair with a sigh. You also missed being home, but you knew you’d have to return to work eventually. You just weren’t looking forward to it. 

“I missed you too. I would have rather stayed home with you and the little one.”

You take a moment to admire Wanda’s cozy looking outfit. You had put on sweatpants because they were always a great choice, but you can’t help but let your gaze linger on your wife’s long legs in her shorts. Your hands creep up towards Wanda’s stomach and you feel her tense as they come to rest on top of her sweatshirt. 

“I missed my beautiful wife.” 

You feel Wanda squirm and you try to get her to stop by moving your hands higher, and it works at least temporarily.  You know how self-conscious Wanda is about her weight right now. She’d only called herself a whale up until she gave birth, and most recently she’d dress similarly to how she is now to hide her stomach as much as possible. You only told her that she was beautiful and you loved her every day, but sometimes it only went so far.

You understand that today might be one of those days because Wanda’s response is a disbelieving huff as you rest your hands just below her breasts. These at least she didn’t seem to mind being larger. Even if they were still sore. 

“You don’t believe that I missed you?” 

You shift under her so she’s sitting between your legs, and you brush some of the hair that’s fallen in her face away so you can see her reaction. Wanda’s gaze flicks to you only briefly before she goes back to staring at her lap. You don’t give up though and you hum thoughtfully before you let your hands cup your wife’s breasts. 

“Of course I missed you. I always do when I’m gone, but if I’m being honest…today I found myself thinking way too much about this stunning body when I was supposed to be listening to clients.”

You watch Wanda shift and she hisses under her breath as she leans back against you. You feel her stiffen in your arms and you slowly drop your hands before sneaking them back up, but this time under your wife’s sweatshirt. You hadn’t realized that there was nothing underneath it until you feel her warm skin against your hands.

“Y/n…” 

Wanda doesn’t say anything else because she can’t decide if she wants you to keep going. She’s been longing for your touch for a few days, but her own insecurities have been stopping her from asking. Luckily, she married a doctor who seems to realize what her internal struggle is. She curses under her breath and arches into your touch as you start to play with her slightly sore breasts. 

You smile and let one hand drop to your wife’s stomach which immediately makes her breath hitch.

“Do you want me to stop, Wands?” 

Wanda doesn’t answer immediately and you lift your hands off of her as you wait for her decision. It doesn’t take long and when she practically begs you to continue, you can’t help but smile triumphantly. Of course, this is about you and what you want which is to touch your wife, but you’re also mindful of Wanda’s needs. She needs to be comfortable enough to let you touch her, and you only try to accomplish this by making her feel as loved, and worshipped as possible. You want her to see herself the way you do. 

You want the love of your life to love herself too. 

“No, please. Keep going.” 

You keep playing with your wife’s nipples with one hand while the other focuses on her rounded stomach. You were shocked by how much weight Wanda lost in the first few weeks, but she is still nowhere near her pre-pregnancy body. This doesn’t concern you though and you’re mostly focused on how to keep your wife happy as you both raise the wonderful, sometimes sleepless, child you’ve been wanting for years.

When Wanda whines as your hand drifts lower until you’re practically in her shorts you can’t help but kiss her. You meet her lips in a near frantic kiss and you groan when one of Wanda’s hands grabs onto your hair while the other reaches for your hand that’s between her legs. 

“Please, Y/n. Touch me?” 

If it had been any other time, you may have considered making Wanda beg for it. However, right now all you wanted was to give her anything she asked for, so it’s no surprise when you push past the waistband of her shorts in search of her arousal. You narrowly avoid her clit as you slide your fingers through her slick folds. You stifle a groan as Wanda jerks her hips and moans loudly. You meet her lips in another kiss as you continue to tease your wife until she’s practically vibrating in your arms. Her hand tightens around your wrist and she curses again as she squeezes her eyes shut. 

“Shit, detka. Inside, please.” 

Wanda’s barely gotten the words out before you push two fingers into her, and she bucks her hips roughly to push you in deeper.

“Fuck, oh please. Oh yes, harder please.”

“Shit Wands…” 

You moan as your wife starts to rock her hips against your thrusts, and the slickness between her thighs allows for you to add another finger and then Wanda’s near screaming. You curl your three fingers with each thrust and you can tell that your wife’s getting close. You kiss and nip at her flushed neck as you find her throbbing clit with your thumb. 

“Fuck! I’ve missed you detka.” 

You can barely make out what Wanda says in a breathy sigh, but you’re too focused on making your wife come to care.

Wanda’s hips jerk against yours erratically and suddenly you have an idea. You think that Wanda might hate you for stopping, but you can’t help but want to see her above you.

Wanda was so close when you suddenly pulled your hand away and sat up beneath her. She’s turning around to give you a piece of her mind when you just squeeze her hip and tell her what you want from her.

“What th-!”

“Take your shorts off, Wands, then sit on me again.”

Wanda shoots you a suspicious look, but you just watch and wait until she finally stands and sheds her shorts and straddles you in the same second. You moan at the sight of your wife hovering above you, and you drop a hand between her thighs before taking a deep beath. 

“Now ride my hand until you come.” 

The blush you see on your wife’s cheeks is worth the risk of pissing her off, and you grab her hip with your free hand and help her move against you. 

“God, fuck this feels--!”

Wanda’s cut off when a particular hard thrust makes her lose her train of thought. Luckily you got the gist of it, and you’re urging your wife to rock faster as you start to circle her clit again. 

“Come on baby. You’re almost there.”

Wanda groans and drops her hands to your shoulders as she leans forward so she can rock even harder against you. She curses before finding your lips and kissing you so thoroughly you start to rock your hips against hers. This pushes you even further in and Wanda gasps as her legs begin to shake. 

When Wanda sits up again and throws her head back you think that you’ve never seen anyone look more beautiful. You watch her grind down against your hand as she rides out the waves of her orgasm, and you can’t help but smile up at her with what is certainly an awestruck expression.

“Do you feel better, love?” 

Wanda finally stills and she lets out a heavy sigh from above you. She loves the sight of you spread out beneath her, and the look in your eyes tells her that she’s left you feeling needy. She smiles widely before she reaches out for you. 

“Much better, detka. That was just what I needed, but now it’s my turn to have my way with you.” 

You groan under your breath as Wanda pulls away from you to drop to her knees. You’re not exactly sure what your wife has planned, but you can’t wait to find out. You lean back against the couch again and release a sigh. 

“By all means, Wands. I’m yours.”

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Although I just finished an angry Wanda fic I really wanna post...😐