Author's Note: Hello, everyone! I know I promised a chapter regarding everyone's favorite archer's biggest secret...and that's still coming, I swear! But this idea would not leave my brain! It's a lot shorter than most of the other chapters and also very different from my normal style. Very introspective...

The Maximoff siblings are very fun characters to try to dissect, especially Wanda. This chapter came about because I was musing on the nature of each "vision" she showed each of the Avengers, and how they all seemed to center around either worst fears or worst regrets; or some combination of both. I also wondered what each Avengers' mind would 'look' like, and how Wanda would react to what she sees. Thus, this lovely little snippet was born.

As always, feedback is forever appreciated. Hope you enjoy.

P.S.: Just as a head's up, Pietro DOES NOT DIE in this universe! Because in a world with things like T.A.H.I.T.I. and regeneration cradles, there is no excuse for him to be dead. And it suits the purposes of my story to have him alive. And...gosh darn it, he's an awesome character!


Chapter Nine: In the Mind's Eye

Tony Stark, the man behind the name that spurred her on towards revenge…is much more fragile internally than the devil-may-care persona he presents to the world would suggest.

Wanda stretches out her hands and watches as the glowing red tendrils surround the man's head.

Suddenly, every secret of his soul is laid bare in her mind's eye.

What she 'sees' is surprising. The man does not think like a 'Merchant of Death'.

Protect…atone…make up…not enough…blood and fire, so much blood…Yinsen…Pepper…the team…

It is the last she seizes upon.

Can't be alone…not again…alone in the dark…always alone…never enough…can't fail…

Tony Stark is a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist. The Avengers' benefactor. A technical wizard. Snarky as all get-out.

Tony Stark is terrified of losing his team.

Worse, he's terrified that he will get everyone killed, with no one to blame but himself.

He is so terrified, that he is willing to do almost anything to protect them, protect the world.

For a moment, Wanda almost pities him. She knows loss.

Almost…but not quite.

She remembers the terror and grief that ripped her apart as she and Pietro lay huddled on the floor of their bombed-out apartment. She remembers her brother's desperate reassurances that all would be well, even as tears streamed down his face.

And she remembers the name printed on the dud explosive.

Stark…

So Wanda uses her newfound knowledge to create the man's worst fear. He sees his team lying dead, victim of another alien attack.

He sees Captain America (Rogers…Know-it-all…trustworthy…maybeIlookuptohimkinda …hehastheworstdissapointedface…friend…) say that his best efforts have failed. That it is all his fault.

And Wanda knows that he will act exactly as she hoped.

At last, her parents' deaths will be avenged…

She pushes down the twinge of guilt that surfaces, the thought that her parents wouldn't consider this a fitting tribute…

Justice will be done…


When the Avengers show up in Wakanda, Wanda is eager to test out her powers once again. They are proving a very useful weapon.

At first she sticks to slightly more conventional fighting methods, such as repelling and pushing back. But soon, Ultron comes beside her and whispers, "It's time for some mind games."

And she is more than ready to begin.

The tall, blond warrior is her first target. Thor, she remembers. As before, the red tendrils float about him and he stands still as she worms her way into his innermost thoughts.

Unlike before, he is able to push her off for a moment, delaying her vision from 'appearing' before his eyes.

His mind is stronger than a normal human's, she realizes. He will not be so easy to manipulate.

But manipulate she will. For her powers are not exactly human, either.

She senses protectiveness once more, but also the pressures of being an heir. The guilt at leaving his home, to fight another world's battles.

The fear that he is still the impulsive boy that charged into battle, heedless of the consequences. That his power will lead to destruction.

We are all dead! Can you not see?

You're a destroyer, Odinson…see where your power leads you…

Thor stares at her in muted shock. And for a moment…Wanda almost feels ashamed. He has done no harm to her, after all. He is merely guilty by association.

Almost, but not quite.


Pietro helps her take down the Captain. 'God's Righteous Man,' Ultron called him. He winces as he collapses in a heap, jerking slightly as her red lightning flashes through him.

From Ultron's contemptive description, Wanda expects to find a self-righteous uber-patriot in his head.

What she finds is more complex than that.

There is patriotism, yes, but it is far from blind. There is honor and decency—things Wanda would normally scarce dare to name without sarcasm. Such things died along with her mother and father. But they are there, nonetheless, and she cannot deny them.

Curiously, though, there is a spot she cannot reach.

She pushes, but in her own mind's eye, she sees something strange.

A skinny blond man seems to cloud her 'vision', pushing back her mental intrusion. With a shock, she realizes that the figure and the Captain are one and the same.

Of course. She thinks. They had heard the story a thousand times: Captain America, the genetically altered super-soldier, the perfect living weapon.

Of course, HYDRA had their Winter Soldier…though not anymore. No one knew where he had gone, in the chaos that had occurred since the fallout of SHIELD/HYDRA.

The skinny man stands in a belligerent pose, blocking her from seeing what lies in this mental pocket.

"Not here!" He seems to scream. "I won't let you! You can't have them!"

Wanda can only see vague flashes.

"Punk." "Jerk."

"Daddy, watch me!"

"Don't do anything stupid…"

"I love you…"

"'Til the end of the line…"

It is not fear or regret that protects these images. Not an emotion she can work with.

It is love. Fierce, determined love.

Wanda knows this emotion; she knows it all too well. So she backs away.

But there are regrets in the Captain's mind...

"I'm gonna need a rain check on that dance…"

"Don't you dare be late…"

"If only..."

"I had a date…"

Wanda seizes onto the painful, raw regret, and twists it. He sees the welcome that should have been his, the woman that would have been his wife…

"The war's over, Steve…we can go home…imagine it!"

As she leaves him, still crashed on a pile of rubble, she again feels the guilt, stronger than before.

A warmongering American. She tries to chide herself. An enemy.

A good man… Whispers the part of herself that still believes there can be such people in the world.

A good man.


The Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, Natalia Romanova…the woman's identities float through Wanda's mind, each bringing a host of memories.

It is painfully easy to warp these memories; there so much regret present that the spy's mind is practically singing with it.

Regret…and shame.

Red, red, dripping red, red in my ledger, can't wipe it out…never wipe it out…never belong…never loved…never to know love…

Love…but that is present, too. Her love for the archer, the Captain; love like the kind she has for Pietro. Her love for Thor and yes, even Stark, a friendly sort of love.

And then, there is a love that is directed elsewhere, somewhere that is buried deep and protected, like in the Captain. So Wanda presses on.

And for a moment, the guilt is back. The woman's memories bear almost too sharp a resemblance to Wanda's own—it appears they both know the dark side of Soviet and ex-Soviet governments and institutions.

"You'll break them…"

"Only the breakable ones…"

We have both been broken. Wanda thinks. I was once an innocent child. Now, I am an angry shell…

"The ceremony is necessary…for you to take your place in the world."

"I have no place in the world…"

"Know my pain…" Wanda mutters. For I also have no place in the world. They have twisted us both, Black Widow. We will neither of us ever belong…

The thought makes her feel sad and weary, so very weary. She almost wants to lie down and sleep, to stop fighting…to maybe find someone who will tell her different.

Almost…but not quite.


She peers around the corner of the balcony, where the archer is shooting off arrows that send shock waves throughout the building. He does not miss his targets.

Wondering what interesting secrets lie in his head, she lifts her hands in preparation…

But he is fast and quick, with honed reflexes and keen vision.

She reels back as a metal arrow presses itself to her forehead and shocks her into stillness and mild pain.

"Done the whole mind control thing before…not really a fan." She hears dimly.

Pietro appears and punches the man, sending him sprawling. He snatches the arrow from her head and scoops her up in his arms, as he has done so many times before. They leave the archer lying on the ground, wincing.

All she can process is pain. It makes her want to quit this madness.

But when her brother asks if she is alright, all she can say is, "I want to finish the plan…"

Pietro's face is so concerned, that she almost retracts the statement.

Almost, but not quite.


The monster (who doesn't really look like a monster…) is also shockingly easy to manipulate; but fascinating.

Fear and rage and regret and love all run through him like a multicolored banner.

Banner. How fitting.

Like two sides of the same coin, the monster and man occupy different aspects of the same Bruce Banner.

The man is calm, collected, scientifically minded; passionate to learn and discover and help.

The monster is unchecked protective rage, who also desires to help.

Neither side is bad, she realizes. The monster's only problem is that it doesn't think. It acts.

So she grabs onto the fear and regret (regret for the lives taken, fear that he will take more, fear that he will be a liability to…)

Well, this is interesting.

Wanda's lips quirk at the thought of what she sees. And yet, it is not without sense.

The man's emotions run high and deep. It only takes a small nudge to send him over the edge.

Soon, a roar of rage reverberates through the air.

And again, the conscience she thought was dulled for good elbows her heart. But it is not enough.

Not yet.


It is not until she realizes the true extent of Ultron's plan that it is enough. She frees the geneticist from the Staff's control. She and Pietro race out into the teeming city, desperate to perhaps stem some of the madness they helped create.

She prays to a God she doesn't quite believe exists to please, let them make up for their mistake.

No. Her mistake.

Pietro will probably contest that point later, but he was not the one who invaded a place where no other living being has a right to be: a person's mind.

She induced Stark to make Ultron. She is the reason people are calling for Banner's arrest. She is the reason the Avengers are being bashed by every news station worldwide.

This is all her fault.

All I wanted was justice...

No, she realizes, what she wanted was her parents back. But no amount of mind-warping will give her that wish.

So Wanda wonders if perhaps, just perhaps…

Perhaps they may have been wrong about the plan. About the Avengers. About everything.

But somehow…being wrong doesn't seem like such a terrible prospect.


Ah, Wanda...yeah, you've kinda been wrong on a lot of things...but it's about to get a lot better. And you'll soon learn what was in that protected area of Steve's mind. (Give you a hint: the two most important people in his life, in this universe, anyway!)

Next update may or may not come this weekend. I have rather a lot planned... But it will come! In the meantime...

Reviews are wonderful things...