I lied to Bucky. I didn't find the time to eat that night. Or any of the nights following it. Stark was giving me more work, including washing all of his cars (he has millions of those damn things!) and running inventory on all the storage units in the whole tower. I had to do that from the shadows after I freaked the hell out of some scientists, too, which definitely didn't help.

At this point my routine is wake up early, get started on the chores until I need to leave for school, classes, lunch while I start on my homework, classes, get picked up by Happy, do homework in the car on the way back to the tower, get to work on the rest of my chores, finish my homework, collapse in bed at least after midnight so I've finally managed to get the work all done.

I think Wanda's noticed how much time I'm spending on my work. Peter doesn't often get the chance to come over these days, he's been kept busy with street-level villains below the Avengers' paygrade and his own homework and stuff. Wanda, however, is with me pretty much at all times. I think she's noticed how much I've been falling asleep in class, even if Peter and I have been able to use our usual methods of assisting the other in this situation and Wanda's taken a more direct approach by telepathically sharing the answer. It freaked me out the first time, I was lucky I didn't give us away.

I'm startled awake by the bell one day, quickly having to play it off like I was so invested in my work I forgot where I was. The teacher watched me with narrowed eyes, but said nothing. They were aware, just didn't have evidence enough to call me out on it. I offered a sheepish half smile. They finally looked away, somewhat accepting my silent apology.

"Carmen? Are you okay?" Wanda asks me, setting a hand on my shoulder. "Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I nod, standing up and grabbing my stuff from the back of my chair. "Please tell me it's lunch now?"

"Yup," Peter smiled. "Let's go eat, I'm starving!" I chuckle and nod in agreement, following him out.

On our way through the corridors, Wanda grabs my hand and pulls me into the bathroom, glancing around to make sure we're alone. "Something wrong?" I ask her. "I was about to ask you the same thing," she replied, frowning at me. "Are you okay, Carmen?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I feign confusion. "You're a good actress, but that won't work on me," Wanda reminds me, eyes flashing red for a moment to prove her point. Shit, she's in my head.

"You've not been eating, sleeping or taking any breaks from your work. Don't think I haven't noticed. I'm not dumb."

"Look, Wanda, it's no big deal. It's not like I'm dying." "It's bad for you, Carmen," Wanda replies sternly. "You need to take care of yourself." "I'm fine," I repeat irritably, turning to leave. Wanda only uses her magic to grab my waist and pull me back to her.

"Don't make me hypnotise you, Carmen. I don't want to have to do that," Wanda sighs. "You're the one preventing me from going to eat lunch with threats that you'll hypnotise me to eat my lunch, so..." I point out, hoping this is enough to get her off my back for now.

She gives me a look, then shakes her head and releases me. "I'll let you copy my homework later, okay? At least that'll be something taken off your plate." "You don't have to, I can handle it," I assure her. "Carmen, you've got six hours worth of homework tonight, not including anything you might get after our last class," Wanda points out. "The least I can do is help you  get through some of it. And I'll make dinner tonight so you've got a bit of a break from it. Now go get your lunch."

"Wanda, I-"

"Carmen." Her eyes flash warningly. Red for promised danger.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just go," I sigh, heading out.

~•~

Wanda's been annoyingly helpful recently.

She keeps making meals that I'm supposed to make, for a start. While it's great that I don't have to do it and I'm very thankful for it, she uses it as a chance to make me eat, which still takes up a lot of my working time. And you wouldn't believe the portion sizes she gives me!

"Carmen, you haven't finished it."

"Wanda, there's enough to feed an army."

"You have an increased metabolism, Carmen. You need the extra food."

"You're putting me on par with two super soldiers and literal gods."

"As well as Peter, who has the same increased metabolism as you do. And you hardly touched your lunch. Did you even eat breakfast this morning?"

"Of course I did."

"Then what did you have?"

"Toast."

"Liar."

"Worth a shot."

"Eat your food."

"Since when did you become my mother?"

"Would your mother want me to let her know her daughter is refusing to ever eat any more?"

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"... ugh, I hate you."

"I love you too," she smirked as she walked away smugly, knowing she'd won. I begrudgingly continued eating even though it really was too much for me. I guess my stomach got used to eating less over the last few weeks. All this food at once is a little overwhelming in comparison.

I thank god that the food's at least really tasty - it's some kind of Sokovian dish, Wanda's a good cook - as I finally force down the final morsels of food. That took longer than I would've liked.

I sigh and start gathering all the plates, but Wanda takes them from me with her magic. "Go rest up, okay? You deserve a break. And don't get any ideas, I'll be checking your room in a minute to make sure you're not working."

I roll my eyes, but I'm too tired to fight her. "Whatever. Just don't-"

CRASH!

"... smash anything..." I sigh, waving my hand over the dropped glass. It's much more efficient than Wanda cleaning it up herself since I can sink every single fragment into the shadows, no matter how small. I make it all reappear in the bin. "I'd recommend getting a piece of bread and patting it around the floor just in case. It'll catch any tiny pieces."

Wanda nods. "Okay, Okay. Now go!" "Yeah Yeah, dorina," I sigh, heading off to my room.

As I walk, however, I start to feel my dinner coming back up on me. Oh god. I hurry to my room, slamming the door behind me. I manage to make it to the en suite just in time to get it in the toilet. At least it didn't hit the floor, I guess.

I continue until my throat's sore, then add another for good measure. Surely this has gone beyond the last meal by now. Why am I still throwing up?

"Carmen? You better be in he- oh!"

I hear Wanda hurry over and hold my hair back for me as my stomach sends up more vomit. I attempt to keep it down, not wanting Wanda to see this, but I'm forced to choke it out.

"Just get it out. It's okay," Wanda soothes me, gently rubbing my back. I don't know why, but this helps a little. Is this what people typically do for each other when they're throwing up? If it is, it's a nice gesture. I'll have to remember it.

After retching one last time, I think it's finally over. I pant a bit, my throat on fire. Wanda grabs a towel, wets it and helps me clean myself up a bit. "Jarvis? What are Carmen's vitals like?"

Miss Stacy has had a high temperature for a few days and is malnourished. She is now also dehydrated.