Dear reader,

Thank you for coming on this page, I really hope you'll have a good time.
This is the alternative ending of the first OS "Mistrust" !

As I am French, do not hesitate to point out any mistake I might have made.

Have a wonderful time,
Good day / night to you.

Yours,
The author.

Work Text:

MISTRUST
P.O.V. : Tony Stark
Second ending

It had been hard at first, accepting Wanda Maximoff on the team. She had messed up with his mind, with the minds of the team. She had helped Ultron. But in the end she had fought with them. And she had lost so much more than the rest of the team : her country. Her brother. Of course they had lost Banner, but he was a big guy and they knew he could take care of himself. Her ? Not so much, or so they believed. She was just a kid, barely eighteen. And she had known nothing but war for most of her life.

They hadn't even talked that much about it, they just had all agreed to take her on the team. It was a way to thank her and to help her after her loss, but deep down Tony knew it was also a way for them to make sure she would not mess up with their minds again. She knew it too. She could feel they still resented her for what happened in Wakanda and she knew they were right. She was a monster. She had hurt them.

The team had opened up a bit to her, but she could tell it was still difficult for most of them. She could tell they were still scared, especially Tony.
He had proposed her a flat in his tower but she had refused. She did not want to impose herself to the other members of the team. So she had found a really small flat, the only she could afford with the small cheque Tony insisted on giving her each month as being on the team did not let her any time to find a job to pay her rent.

Tony did not think it was possible to live with the small amount of money he gave her but she never complained, never asked for more. He wondered if she managed to have another job after all, but J.A.R.V.I.S. had found nothing about it. The other Avengers did not ask questions. They did not want to interact with her that much at first, and they felt it would be too strange to talk about it after six months.

He knew some of them were growing more comfortable with her presence, mostly because they went on many missions with her, but Tony still felt the fear that had crept in him in Sokovia. He could not deny her powers looked cool, and he really like the Red, but he did what he could to not stay too close to her during combat.

Tonight was not different. He was flying above his teammates but never above her, or at least he tried to, but in the end the others had gone away, in many directions and the only one he could see from where he was flying was the Witch.

No matter what he thought, she could hold herself in combat. She was blasting robot enemies, just like she had with Ultron. Tony refocused on the robot in front of him, he could not afford to get distracted, not now when they were terribly outnumbered.

'Anyone ? Cap' ? How is it going on your side ? Having fun ?'
'Of course Tony, so much fun.' He heard Cap' pant in his earpiece.
'Oh, I didn't hear you, I thought you had left to take a nap.' And he could almost hear Steve roll his eyes.
'Maybe you should pay attention to your surroundings, Stark.' The Witch sighed as she blasted three robots coming for Tony from behind.
'Hey ! They were mine ! Don't steal my enemies, kid !'
'Then you have to be more careful !' She groaned and two others exploded right behind him.

He turned in surprise. Yeah he could not tell them that but he was getting tired. They had been doing that for 3 hours already, and he could feel the Witch below getting tired too. And if the tone with which Cap' had answered was any indication, they were not the only one. He shook his head to clear his mind and kept firing at the enemies, but their number did not decrease.

He could hear the Witch pant heavily. He glanced at her, she was holding her shield with one hand and firing red light with other. She was clearly struggling under the number. Few of the robots could fly, so he decided to attack her opponents too. She looked relieved but still reminded him to be careful and take care of the flying robots.

'Okay, we're inside and Banner's in place. He's trying to deactivate all of them. It shouldn't be too long.' Natasha said over the Com.
'Great.' Tony exclaimed. 'Who's up for a pizza ? I'm so hungry !' His teammates groaned and Barton answered 'Pepperoni for me.'

He glanced around him but there was nothing so he concentrated on Wanda.
A wave a red blasted everything around her and Tony brassed himself against the wave of energy coming his way, but when nothing happened he realised the teen had put up a shield in front of him.

'Thanks, kid.' He said, looking around them. Almost all the enemies were down, but so was Wanda. She was trying to stand but was swaying on her feet. She looked at him and her eyes widened, she rose her hand and fired his way. The blast shot past Tony, who turned around to see it blowing two remaining robots. He had not heard them and he was sure that, had they attacked him from behind, he would have been in a very bad position.

He was turning around to thank her when a blood-curdling scream echoed in their earpiece.
'What was that ?' a slightly panicked Captain America asked. 'Banner's almost done, we just need one minute !'

Below him, Tony saw Wanda fall to her knees, then backwards. When her body hit the floor he saw a small pool of blood beginning to form on her stomach. He spotted the two robots responsible and blew them up. He landed next to her, took of his mask and laid her on the ground.

'J.A.R.V.I.S., automatic mode.' and two of the suit's guns aimed around him, firing the second an enemy was detected.
Tony took hold of the teen's wrist and searched for a pulse. It was weak but it was there.

'Tony, what happened ? What was that ?' Clint asked.
'Wanda's down. Shot. I'm gonna need Banner for this, my medical knowledge is not enough.'
'I've just deleted the program, whe should be clear of robots now, I'm on my way.' the scientist answered.
'Okay kid, it's gonna be okay. Don't worry.' Tony was assessing the wound. More like wounds, two bullet holes could be seen. 'J.A.R.V.I.S. scan.'
'Two bullet wounds. two broken ribs, one of the bullets is stuck in a rib. The liver has been scrapped by a bullet, the stomach as well. One of her lungs is punctured.'
'Thanks J.A.R.V.I.S.' Tony nodded 'I'm going to press against the wounds to stop the bleeding, all right kid ? It's going to hurt, I'm sorry.'
' 'T's okay, just do it, Stark.' She mumbled quietly.

His eyes shot towards hers. He tried to smile reassuringly but found it difficult. He had not seen any exit wounds when he had laid her down and he knew they would have to take them out during surgery.

'Okay, keep talking to me, kid.'
'What ?'
'Just keep talking. Say what you want, I don't care, just talk.' He grimaced at how panicked he sounded. He really did not want to scare her.
'Are you all right ? Did any robot got to you ?' she frowned. It was hard to find something to tell someone who hated you.
'I'm good. You did a really good job. Thank you kid.' He was frowning too, from what he saw they were not your usual bullets the robots had used, and he had difficulties stopping the hemorrhage.
'Great. that's nice.' a small smile appeared on her lips. 'Thank you Mister Stark.'
'What for ?' He asked confused. Why would the wounded girl who saved his ass three times in the last fifteen minutes thank him ?
'For helping me when you hate me.' His frown deepened.
'I don't hate you. Why would you say something like that ?'
'Because it's true. And you're right to hate me. I messed up your mind after all.' She had closed her eyes so she could not see Tony widen his eyes. 'You're too nice, you shouldn't even give me money, you shouldn't have taken me in. The team deserves better than the freak I am, the whole team feels like you, Tony.'
'Tony', she had never called him 'Tony' before. Always 'Stark', or 'Mister Stark'. But he was shocked to hear what she just said, and from the gasps he heard in his earpiece he realised the others could hear everything and were as shocked as he was.
'Don't say that kid, you're part of the team now. You're one of us.' She weakly shook her head.
'Not when my teammates are afraid of me.'
'We're not.' Banner's voice answered and she frowned. 'Wanda, if they can accept the Hulk, then the can accept you. Believe me with this one.'
'The medical team's on its way.' He heard Steve say above his shoulder. He nodded without looking at him.

He could see Wanda's eyes shining. 'Hey kid, it's okay. Of course you'll have to spend some time in the hospital at the tower but maybe it's the sign you should come and live with us, don't you think ?'

She frowned but her breath was too shallow to answer now. She had use too much of her strength to answer him. On the other side of her body she could feel Bruce kneeling. She felt him take her wrist but then everything went black.

Tony looked at his scientist friend. 'She's gonna be alright.' But he said it more for him than to reassure the team.

At the same time the medical team arrived and shooed the Avengers away.
They could just follow them to the chopper. Tony decided to go with her, the other would arrive in their plane. He refused to leave her side. Not after what she had told him

He had not realized it before. It just thought she was a solitary girl, and he could understand it after all she'd been through. He had not realized she felt their fear toward her and thar she was trying to do what she felt was best for them.

In the chopper he sat next to her, grabbing her hand and never letting it go. Around him the doctors ran back and forth, trying to stop the bleeding as much as they could.

His eyes were fixed on her face. She was so pale, so thin, so frail. She was just a kid, why the Hell had he allowed her to come with them ? Why was she even part of the team ? She should go to school, have a part-time job and hang out with friends !

Friends. Did she even have friends ? Now that he thought about it she spent most of her time at the Avengers Compound and he could not say if any of them considered her a friend.

He was quite sure she was right and the others feared her powers, even though in the six months she had spent with them they never had the smallest reason for that.

The battle had taken place just outside of New York so the ride back was short. When the chopper landed the doctors ushered him away and ran with the stretcher to get her to surgery.

Tony had been waiting for ten minutes when the rest of the team arrived, Bucky with them. Of course he wasn't officially part of the team, but since he had been reunited with Steve he also lived in the Tower. Tony tried to avoid him when he could but they were cordial.

He nurse came to fill them on what was happening. She was undergoing surgery. It was hard because the bullets had touched some organs. the one in her rib was easy to access but the other… not so much. Her heartbeat was weak and the medical team was struggling due to her important blood loss.

The team sat in silence for hours. At one point they took turns to go the bathroom and wash themselves as they were still covered in dust, oil and blood. Bucky then left to get them food and Banner followed him to get some books or games, or something to keep them occupied.

It took 7 hours for the doctors to leave the block and come to them.

One of them walked to them. None of them could read his face, not even the spies. They all stood and gathered around him, thousands of questions on their lips but he silenced them with a raise of his hand.

'I'm Doctor Potter.' He nodded to them. 'The surgery had been long and difficult. Miss Maximoff had lost a lot of blood and there were many internal damages.' They all frowned, not sure about where he was going. 'Her heart was weak and the surgery was almost too much but now she's fine. She had been transferred in an individual room. She should wake up in aday or two.'

They all sighed, relief clear on their faces. A tear even ran down Tony's face.
The doctor gave them a few details but Bruce was the only one to listen to him.
They all gathered in Wanda's room. She seemed so peaceful. Her frail form was too pale. No one had realised how thin she was. Natasha frowned, taking her wrist in hand and comparing it to hers. They all agreed they would take better care of her from now on.

The took turn guarding her room, keeping her company. Steve and Bucky had bought the biggest Teddy Bear they could find, Clint had brought flowers and was talking to her in her sleep about his family and little Nathaniel Pietro barton. Natasha often came with him, bringing chocolate every time, and now five boxes were sitting on the small bed table by her side. Bruce talked to her about the last scientific discoveries he had read about. He had brought balloons, which were now flying just above her head. Thor had brought an Asgaardian dress and recounted her his achievements as the God of Thunder. Finally, Tony had brought her a small, handmade, metal figurine. It looked a lot like her brother and it even could run. Each time he was alone by her bedside he would tell her how sorry he was they treated her so bad and how relieved he was she survived. He knew he would not have been able to forgive himself, had she died.

It took her exactly 44 hours to wake up. She was still in pain but she did not mind the bone-crushing hug the entire team gave her. She was surprised to see them all by her side, happy and relieved to see her awake and she couldn't believe the amount of present they had gotten her. She even cried in front of Tony's present. Now that she was awake the Avengers were excited. They had already told her she would be moving in with them, in the Tower. They had refused to hear her protests. Tony had decided he would still be giving her money, even though she did not have a rent to pay anymore, and he even gave her a pay raise.

'What do you want me to do with all that money ?' He had told her. 'You just have to go to the cinema or something like that.' he had shrugged and she had smiled.

Tony had also talked a lot with her these last days. He had thanked her at least fifty times for saving his life. He had also reproached her the fact that she had saved him and put herself in danger around forty times. Now, he really felt responsible for her, almost like a father with his daughter. On her side, Wanda trusted him now, she even confided in him from time to time.

A week later, she was still weak but she had been able to go back to the Tower with the rest of the team. Her suit in the Tower was way bigger than her small flat, and she was near her friends.

Friends. Yes, friends. They had had long talks, and all of her teammates had profusely apologised to her for being jerks. A lot of tears were shed, a lot of laughters were heard, a lot of games were played.

When she thought about it, Wanda smiled. Finally, she felt at home. Finally, for the first time, she felt as if she belonged there. And that made Tony so much happier.