Seedlings

"You think very loudly, you know that?" Wanda's voice brought me back to reality as I snapped from my daydream of teenage thoughts. "Uh?" I turn to look at her with a half embarrassed look on my face. Oh fuck was I thinking too loud? Wait what does she mean I was thinking too loud? "Are you spying on my thoughts now?" I give her a smirk to try and cover up my teenage angst. Wanda lets out a weak scoff before pausing her show.

"No, because if I did you would've seen it by now." She waves her fingers as a cloud of red mist maniphest in her hand. I awkwardly nod my head as I try to come up with something witty to say. "Ahhh so…do you want to talk now?" I look up at her as I slowly raise my glass of water to my lips for a sip. Wanda contemplates for a couple seconds as she switches her attention between me and the TV. "What makes you think I want to talk?"

"Welp I figured you're probably in a better mood to talk since apparently my thoughts are so loud that you hear me without using magic." I put on a smile as I set my cup aside to make it float away from me. I slowly get back up on my feet as I point to her bed. "Can I sit next to you?" She shrugs her shoulders with not a whole lot of power to them. "Do what you want. It doesn't matter anyways."

SIGH. Why does dealing with depression have to be so difficult? And why is it so much harder to help someone with their depression? I put my hands together and CLAP. CLAP. "Okay…" I reach over to set aside her plate of fruits that I brought in before sitting down next to her. "So uhh Wanda, I know it's not my business but I think we should really get out and get some sun. You and I have been stuck indoors for a few too many da-"

"How can you possibly know how I feel?" She spoke in a weak and almost malicious tone as if she's trying to put an edge in her tiresome voice. "You've never faced any loss like mine before, Ned. I've looked into your head before and everything you've faced is nothing compared to me." Her eyes start to tear up and her voice quakes slightly as she tries to contain the hurt and pain in her heart. A hurt that's brimming out and spilling over into a lashing towards me. "If you want to talk then talk. Don't sit there trying to keep me company when the only company I want is to be with my family again." I look into her watery eyes and I see a person in hurt and internal turmoil. Her eyes are trying to call out for help but she won't allow herself to. I shift my sight down to her hands, they're shaking and clenching onto the pillow that's on her lap. Her knuckles are turning white and pale like she's trying to fight back her urge to lash out and shut me away from her.

"Wanda please. I'm not going anywhere." I slowly reach my hand out to touch hers. She flinches from my touch before slowly dropping her shoulders and pushing her head into my arm. "H-hey it's okay. I understand what you're going through right now Wanda." I awkwardly accept her into my embrace as I try to pat her on the back. "There there. It's alright. I'll be right here Wanda. Always." I scrunch up my face as I try not to cringe from my own actions and the sensation of her tears and snot running down my arm. I feel like I'm in one of those Hallmark movies about teenage love where the actors just aren't quite getting the acting right. Wait, does Hallmark even have movies about teenagers? All I know is that they're horrible romance movies made for middle aged white American moms who are still stuck in the age of cable TV.

Wanda continues to wail and cry into my arm as she finally lets go of the hurt that's been eating her up inside. I look around the room as I continue to pat her on the back. I think this is what you're supposed to do when someone is depressed and mourning. Just shut the fuck up and let them do them. Don't take anything personally and just be a rock for them….I think. Cause fuck! What she said really hurted. Like, I know what it feels like to lose people you love and care about too but mine are like splashes in a pond compared to her tsunami waves. I'm only pretending to be an orphan while she really has no one left in her family. Magneto doesn't exist in this reality, quicksilver is dead and so are her normal human parents. She's really all alone in this world…Not even vision will be there for her because I'm here.

I look towards the direction of the door before aim my hand at it. I create a few signs with my left hand to create a spell before swiping the magic circle into the walls of the room. The circle I had just created is a sound dampening spell that can hopefully give us some privacy. I don't want Steve or Vision to overhear our commotions and disturb us. I have a golden opportunity right here and I do not want anyone to squander it. And No! I'm not a fucking degenerate like that, just an opportunist trying to win the heart of the Scarlet witch.

The sound effect of my spell coming into effect and manifesting around the room caused Wanda to stir up from her spillage of emotions as she quickly pulled herself away from me. "Wh-what are you doing?" She slowly wipes away her cheeks and eyes as she looks around the room. "I'm just giving you some privacy Wanda." I try to assure her. "I know how embarrassing it feels when you know that other people can hear your crying and being emotional in your own room." I point towards her bathroom, which happens to share a wall with my bathroom.

"So that's what the loud banging was?" She tries to break into a smile but her eyes are quickly filled back up with tears as they begin to overflow once more. "H-hey uh if it makes you uncomfortable, I can dissipa-" before I can even finish my sentence she dives into my chest for another hug as she uses my body as a muffler for her wails. Welp I guess this is how this long and treacherous journey will go. I want her to trust me with all of her being and to do so I need to show her someone who she can trust with absolute confidence. And to start it off all I need to do is stand still as she locks me in a tight bear hug. It shouldn't be too painful right? I got muscles so dense they should have dunce written all over them.

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OH MY GAWD! She's finally asleep! I take a shallow "deep" breath as I try not to let any sounds of pain escape from my mouth. It's been over an hour and she's finally in a deep REM sleep. I didn't want to risk waking her up when she first fell asleep so I had to make sure she was fully unconscious before attempting to move from my position. I even had to shoot up a web to the ceiling to act as a rope to support my body when I was beginning to lose feeling below my torso. Is it normally this difficult to cuddle with a superpowered individual? She doesn't even have enhanced strength or durability, I do. I reach behind me to slowly peel away her fingers before slipping out of her grip with my high agility stats. I carefully catch her body from falling too hard onto the mattress before picking her up from the bed. I lay her down into a proper sleeping position before covering her with the blanket. After I was done tucking her to bed, I turned around to try and walk towards the door and out only to turn myself around because I had forgotten about the small pillow that she had on her lap.

I walk over to the other side of the bed and pick up her lap pillow that has fallen on the floor. I set it under her arms for her to cuddle it before heading out of the room. But I stop myself once more just right before opening the door because I still have my face exposed. I turn to look at my helmet before calling for it using magic. It floats into my hands before I place it over my head. I leave Wanda's room to head back into mine. I really wish I had kept my sling ring on me when I left to grab some food earlier because I could've just portaled into my room to change instead of feeling slightly embarrassed and inadequate because I can't get past a wall. SIGH. Ned just shut the fuck up man. This is what everyone goes through, the only people that don't have to go around walls and halls are those that can phase shift and teleport instantly.

Anyways it's about time I get back to work. But not just regular street level work, it's global domina-I mean world saving work. First thing first, I need a blood sample from the Boy Scout of the Avengers. Well technically there's three of them; one's over a hundred years old, one's made of metal and the last one doesn't think he deserves the mantle. Only one of them has the special sauce that I need and it's definitely not the regular human man.

I walk over to my bed as I pick up my bag from the floor. I should've just stayed home since I went there to deposit my loot and pack this bag full of clothes. Well I guess I couldn't resist the chance to introduce myself to a vulnerable and grieving Wanda. Sometimes misery loves company and there's not really anyone here who understands Wanda. Well, there will be one but I'm taking his place instead. I set the bag down on the bed as I begin to fumble through for a new set of clothes. After I changed into another set of sweatpants and workout clothes, I put my helmet back on as I head out of my room. I've never really gotten the chance to fully test out my strength and body and I figured this place is probably the best location for me to do so. I'm sure that Stark had designed a gymnasium with the Hulk's and Thor's strength in mind. Plus if anything, I'm sure Rogers will be there training.

Now I know what some of you might be thinking, my imaginary friends. If I'm a Spider-Man with all the strengths and abilities of a Spider-Man then, why do I need to do this and why was it so hard for me to stop the train earlier. Well ah to answer the train question that no one asked for, we all just need to watch the last episode of season one of Invincible. Sure I might not have the same durability and strength as a Viltrumite but I would've caused a similar derailment and wreck if I had tried to forcefully halt the train without slowing down the momentum. Any Spider-Man would since our strength is so great and exponential and definitely not portional to that of a real spider. Sure a real spider can lift 170 times their body weight, but your average Spider-Man can lift way way more than that when you apply real physics. The numbers and the feats just don't match up. And I want to figure out just where I am on the scale of the spider enhanced people.

After a couple minutes of walking through the facility I finally found myself in the gym. To my shock and surprise, the two boys scouts are in here training and getting their sweats on. I put on a smile behind my mask as I wave at them. "How did I know this was where I would find you two." I walk over to join them at their little corner of the area. Steve Rogers is currently practicing on a sandbag designed to take beatings from Thor, and Sam Wilson is practicing some bicep curls while watching his form. I walk over to the weight racks next to Sam so I can figure out the weights I want. I don't want to upstage the guy or anything but after picking up and and testing a couple different dumbbells I decided to put the heaviest sets back in their slots because they just aren't working for me. It felt like I was trying to exercise with pool noodles for weights. SIGH. Who knew that gift of super strength would come with the curse of never finding proper lifting gears.

I turn to look at Sam while contemplating my next moves. I don't want to have a bad relationship with anyone here but I also don't really want to get close with anyone else either. I walk over to Sam to give him a wave. "So huh how's the gym here so far? Has Stark added any of his pizzazz to make it special for the Avengers?" I lean on the weight racks with one arm on my hip. Sam just gives me a grunt as he continues with his curls. "...well alrighty then." I nod my head as I fiddle my hands together like Tony. Even after two lifetimes I still don't know what this hand gesture is called. All I know is that it feels like I'm trying to open an invisible Ramune bottle and it feels satisfying in awkward situations. I turn to look at Steve as I walk towards him. He's still in the middle of his practice with the sandbag but I guess he must've felt my eyes on him because once I got close enough he stopped to turn and look at me.

"I thought you wanted to stay in your room or at the very least be more interested in Tony's latest project. What brought you to want to hang out with these two old guys?" Steve puts on a smile as he begins to take off his gloves. I take a deep breath while scratching the back of my head. "Look Cap, uh I don't really know how to ask this so I'll just be straightforward with you. I came here because I wanted to ask for a sample of your blood." Steve crosses his arms as he lean his head back slightly. "Son, I know just how dangerous and valuable my blood can be and I know that it was one of the most important things the Government and Hydra had kept for a long time. Why do you think I'll just volunteer my blood over to you?" Even Sam finally got interested enough to make his way over to join us, well more Steve than me.

I let out a sigh because, of course, this is the typical response any super soldier would give if someone just randomly asked for a sample of their super serum. "Steve, I by no means wish to come off as disrespectful. It's just, well it's just that I have reasons to suspect that my spider powers came from a process very similar to yours. I know it might be hard to believe but just before this summer I did not look like how I do now." I wave my hand in the air as I project a tiny light spell that displays my old body. Obviously with my head cropped out. "I know not many people are aware of your origins. I can understand how you can be a little defensive when someone pops out of nowhere and claims to know about how you got your current body."

Steve furrows his eyebrows as Sam also crosses his arms. "What do you intend to do with the blood sample after confirming your suspension?" Steve slowly approaches me while Natasha suddenly walks into the gymnasium to join us. I glance towards her quickly before turning my attention back to Steve. "I plan on completing what Dr. Erskine would've done, after creating his perfect soldier. A cure for all of humanities' illnesses and shortcomings. A vaccine that can truly help the body recover and fight off conditions that can allow new diseases to invade the body." I move my hands around as I shift the hologram projection into an image of a medical needle dripping a drop of liquid into a sea of hundreds of people.

"I knew Steve was a child at heart but I didn't think he would be as mesmerized as this, just from your little magic show." Natasha joins in on our discussion with a smile on her face as she teases Steve. Steve gives her a look that says 'now's not the time for jokes' before turning back to me. "How do I know you aren't lying to me?" I cross my arms contemplating for a moment before ultimately shrugging my arms. "I guess you'll just have to put a little faith in me. Am I your teammate and an Avenger or am I just a hitch hiker that y'all picked up in Africa?" I let out a chuckle before dismissing my little magic show and producing my red business card from my hands. "Here give me a call if you're interested in helping me solve our little Erskine puzzle. Now I have something I wish to discuss with Thor. Natasha, do you know where I might find the Lord of thunder?" I hand Steve the card while looking at Natasha.