Leave all your loving and your longing behind. Characters: Wanda, Tony, and later Daimon Setting: Various places in NYC Content: There is making out and sort of nudity but that's it. Summary: It's Wanda's birthday and it isn't a particularly happy one.
Gasping, Wanda jolted awake and gazed, bleary-eyed, around her dim bedroom. She'd heard a voice say her name, she was sure of it, and she knew that voice so well and to hear it was somehow heartbreaking- yet she couldn't quite remember who it belonged to. Falling back against the pillows she stared at the dull cloud-mottled sunlight streaming through a crack in her curtains and wondered who she'd been dreaming of. The sudden answer crashed over her and left her paralyzed in the way that sudden thoughts of him always did. Pietro. It was their birthday today, only the third one she'd ever spent without him.
Wanda had been forcing herself not to dwell on him for so long that every day it became easier to pretend it didn't hurt. She could go about her life as if there wasn't a huge gaping hole somewhere within her, part of herself simply gone. It really was easier in the daylight, when she could keep busy and be with people, but at night when she lay in quiet darkness with memories replaying in her mind, it still hurt as much as it had in the beginning. He'd made his choice and she'd always supported him, but that didn't mean she could stop feeling the loss or betrayal. In darker moments she sometimes wondered if losing him to death could be any worse than being so completely abandoned.
Of course it was impossible not to think of him now, with her dream- nightmare, really- fresh in her mind and her silent room still in a state of semi-darkness. With a small groan she finally forced herself into a sitting position and sucked in a shuddering but calming breath. JARVIS' unobtrusive voice broke the silence to report the weather (cold, but at least it would be a sunny afternoon thankfully without snow) and remind her of her schedule for the day, which was surprisingly clear. She wasn't actually sure if that was a good thing or not, given her mood. With an effort she crawled out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom for a long hot shower. Afterward, feeling only moderately better and still unable to banish any thoughts of her brother, she threw open the curtains and stared out over the gray early morning city. A text message from Nick pulled her from her contemplative dejection and, once she was dressed, she ventured downstairs for a cup of coffee with a hope that the day might improve.