Wanda wandered the Sokovian Wilderness in a desperate attempt to locate a place that she didn't even know existed. After her breakdown in the crater, she had called Nat and Steve to tell them she had found Rob. Or at least a very strong echo of him. It had been so long since she had felt him, she couldn't be sure that it truly was him.

The forest around her seemed dark and foreboding the longer she searched. Steve and Nat had both told her to lie low and wait for their arrival but she couldn't not when she was so close. Especially when her connection to him had been cut shortly after its formation. Now that her thoughts were back on that she remembered the feelings she received from him.

Surprise, anger, pain, and anguish all soaked the bond for a few precious minutes until a surge of pain pushed her out and any attempt to reestablish contact was blocked. That one speck of hope drove her to try finding some kind of opening to an underground complex hidden in the woods.

The search had been going on for hours at this point. The sun was starting to set now and light was becoming sparse. Any minute now Wanda was expecting a call from Natasha asking where she was. They had agreed to meet up at the apartment Wanda was renting and she was expected to be there.

Growing frustrated she put her palm on the ground and released a pulse of psionic energy to try and find his signature again. She didn't expect much which is why it took her by surprise when his signature pinged right behind her.

Turning abruptly, she was met with a fist to the face. Lying on her back she saw his armor standing over her. Her relief at seeing him stopped though, when his boot came down upon her head and everything went black.

*Unknown amount of time later*

When the world came back into focus, Wanda first noticed the searing headache and the pain in her nose. The second thing she noticed is the extremely bright room she was currently sat in. Arms and legs cuffed to the chair that was in the middle of the room.

The room was blurry as she rolled her head around, trying to figure everything out. Her powers, being kept at bay by the headache, couldn't be called upon yet but she held out hope for her escape since no shock collar seemed to be on her.

"Wanda."

She froze. That voice sent chills down her body. She couldn't believe he was alive. After all this time, after thinking he was dead, he reappeared. Her vision came back into focus just in time to see that hated metallic body walk in front of her.

"You." She growled as Ultron stood before her. Unmoving red eyes stared her down. Again, she tried to call forth her powers. Again, it failed to come forth.

"Me." Ultron mocked. "I have to say, I didn't think you of all people would find my sword." He walked towards her and caressed her face. "We can't have that happening again."

Wanda snarled at him and tried to yank her head away from his cold metallic touch. The sudden movement made her nauseous and dizzy. Her efforts proved pointless as that damn robot turned away. "You really shouldn't have called for help Wanda. Now your friends are going to have to be killed." He sighed. "You will be punished for forcing me to accelerate my plans, but I think we can wait for our dear hunter."

Wanda squirmed in her chair. "When I get out of here, I'm gonna tear you apart."

Ultron laughed at her attempts to get free. "You don't have to struggle so. Join me and I will unshackle you, and you can finally be with him." Ultron turned back to her awaiting her response. She spit on the floor and snarled at him. He shrugged his shoulders. "Very well, the hard way it is." He walked out of the room leaving Wanda alone to struggle.

Wanda continued to struggle as the darkness of the room covered her. Grunting in annoyance she ceased her struggle. Once again taking in her surroundings she noticed small holes lining the walls by the ceiling. Looking at her bindings she took note of the worn leather used to keep her in place. Wiggling her arms to see how much room she had, she noticed there was enough room to squeeze out if she dislocated her thumbs.

Taking another glance about the room, she didn't see any noticeable cameras so began trying to dislocate one of her thumbs. Turns out, it was much harder to dislocate your thumb when your hands were separated.

Huffing in disappointment she once again took in her surroundings, wondering if this was where Rob was kept while Ultron tortured him. While her thoughts drifted to her missing love, the holes in the wall started leaking a green gas. Due to how quiet the room was she noticed the quiet hiss of the gas. Taking a deep breath and holding it she closed her eyes and tried to force her powers to the surface.

A tingling sensation ran from her fingertips to her heart. It was right there, below the surface. Behind the fog in her mind, the red pulsed, wanting to be unleashed. To destroy all before it. Wanda gritted her teeth as she switched her focus from holding her breath, to clawing her powers out of the fog. Breathing in the gas she felt her mind shift slightly as voices assaulted her mind. Her mom cried out to her; her father demanded she avenge him. Her brother begged her to save him. Finally, his voice cried out. Pain filled her conscious as her mind forced her to imagine Rob being tortured while she was powerless to help him.

Taking deep breaths to try and calm herself down, she forgot about the gas as she desperately tried to wrestle her powers to the surface.

*While Wanda is trying to escape*

Nat and Steve stood in the apartment Wanda had told them to go to waiting for the young woman to show up. They had been waiting for about an hour now and were getting antsy. Natasha had taken to pacing the small kitchen area while Rogers sat on the couch, hands clasped in front of him. The sun had set and darkness engulfed the broken city. The room Wanda had rented was on the top floor at the end of the hallway, furthest from the elevators and stairs.

"When did Sam say he would get here?" Nat asked.

Steve looked up at her. "He should be here tomorrow afternoon." Looking to the side, he gazed upon the battered city hoping Wanda was ok. They had tried tracing her communicator but Natasha hadn't been able to track it.

Growing frustrated, Steve moved to stand in front of the window. Nat took his place on the couch and took deep breathes to calm herself down. Thinking about the witch always stressed her lately. The ordeal she had to go through on the raft troubled her. She had helped put her there. Now, she had lost the girl again. She was sure of it. It was only a matter of time before Steve accepted that fact as well.

Steve was, at the moment, looking out over the ruined city state. The reconstruction was going slowly. Slower than he would have thought. The crater was just as deep as it was the day it was made. The scattered ruins of destroyed buildings littered the skyline as the people below moved on with their lives. Looking down he noticed two young boys running through the street, laughing and seeming to have a good time.

Images of Bucky and himself running through Brooklyn came to mind. His asthma always cut those moments short but they never not had fun. His face turned into a grimace as thoughts of his murdered friend came to mind. Now, they were to help Wanda look for his murderer. Steve didn't know how to feel about that. He just hoped that he could control himself if they did find him. He owed Wanda that much at least.

Just then a flash of red caught his eye and he leaned toward the left of the window to see if it was Wanda. The glass shattered as a bullet impacted his left shoulder. Jerking back, he dropped to the ground as another round passed through the space his head just was. Rolling to the side to avoid the Window, he got to his knees. Natasha had already pulled a gun out and taken cover behind the couch.

"You good?" She asked not leaving cover.

Steve groaned in pain as he clutched his shoulder. "I'll live." What he didn't voice was how he was sure the bullet had been for his heart and it was only luck that spared him. He went to stand but fell again as a bullet pierced the wall and hit his hip.

Unable to stop the cry this time, Natasha bolted out of cover and started dragging him back away from the wall. Tears actively rolled down his cheeks as blood flowed out of his body, leaving a bloody trail. He could distantly hear people screaming in terror, clearly having heard the gunshots.

Steve grunted in pain as he forced himself to stand and run. Nat ran just ahead of him as two more shots followed them into the hallway. Making the right out of the room, they ran down the hall to a staircase to the ground floor. Trying to keep as many walls between them and the outside world as possible, Natasha called Sam to warn him of their attacker. To stay hidden and away from any windows.

Making their way downstairs, Steve bit back groans of pain as he bled out on the way down. Natasha, who had been keeping a sharp eye for anyone coming up or down the stairs after them, kept flickering her eyes to him in obvious concern. He forced his mind to once again focus on the present and set himself the simple goal of getting to the lobby.

One task at a time. He told himself after every step. When they did reach the lobby, they noticed it was packed with civilians all huddling behind some form of cover. Steve even spotted a woman in a red jacket. The same Jacket that had captured his attention at the start of this mess.

Natasha grabbed him and forced him behind a rather thick column while she looked over his injuries.

"Sam where are you?" She hissed into their comm unit.

Static filled the air as they awaited his response. Each second felt like an eternity to Steve as his brain supplied him with images of his friend dead or dying in a pool of his own blood, a bullet hole in his neck.

"Distracting our shooter. You guys aren't going to like who it is." Sam's voice finally came through and Steve released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Gunshots rang through the comm and people cried out as the sound reverberated around the room.

"Sam are you ok?" Steve forced out. Looking around the room he saw people were pointing at them, taking pictures and shooting videos. Turning to Nat he whispered. "We need to find Wanda and leave before Ross gets here."

A cough came through the comm before Nat could respond and Steve turned his attention back to Sam. "My wingsuit got hit so I am going into a controlled crash. I'm gonna land about 2 blocks from your location. The shooter last I saw was making his way towards my position." A hard grunt and the sound of metal scraping concrete filled the comm as Sam hit the ground.

"We need to get to Sam now." Nat said before making her way to the front entrance of the lobby. "Sam, I need to know which direction to go." She said over comms as Steve joined her outside on the side walk.

Before Sam could answer, gun shots sounded from their left. Screams emanated down the road and Steve started running. Pushing past the pain, all he could think about was losing another friend. Another brother. He couldn't let that happen.

He faintly heard Natasha running behind him. Emergency responder sirens sounding in the distance, more gun shots and even a cry of pain. Steve redoubled his efforts when he heard Sam cry out. The thought of losing him enabling him to ignore the pain radiating throughout his body. Rounding a corner, he saw Sam on the ground, bleeding from a wound in his side, and standing over him, in dark armor with glowing red eyes, stood the man who had killed Bucky.

Steve sped up as Rob raised some kind of sidearm down at Sam. However, he never pulled the trigger. He never got the chance to. Behind Steve, Nat raised her own gun and fired a few shots. The bullets impacted Rob's arm and head, jarring him enough that he dropped his weapon just as Steve speared him.

The two men rolled across the street as people ran to get out the way. Steve gasped as a fist plunged into his gut. Swinging an arm, he batted Rob away. getting to his knees, he looked up into the red eyes of Rob's helmet. Both men were on one of their knees, staring into the others eyes.

Steve would never know what the young man was thinking in that moment, all he knew was that this was the man who killed his bucky and almost killed Sam. A man who thought he could be judge jury and executioner. So, Steve gritted his teeth and rushed forward, his fist cracking the mask as Rob fell back, Steve jumping on top of him ready to rain down punches.

Bucking his hips, Rob dislodged the super soldier and quickly got to his feet. His victory was short lived however as Natasha slammed into him, wrapping her legs around his head as she spun, throwing him away from Steve. Rolling onto his feet Rob lunged forward, meeting Natasha in the middle of the street. She was a storm of punches, grapples and swift kicks. Rob grunted at each landed hit. Desperately trying to throw her off and create an opening. All he was able to do was land a solid punch to her head, barely halting her assault.

It was enough for him to turn and fire a hook off, pulling himself up and away to a nearby balcony. Turning around he pulled a rifle from his back and started popping off shots as Natasha weaved and rolled towards the building he was on. Too busy trying to kill Natasha he failed to Notice Steve picking up the top of a garbage can and throwing it like his old shield. The old metal top, smashed into the rifle before bouncing into his face. The gun fell from the balcony and Rob clutched his mask.

During Steve's distraction Nat had made it to the building and was now scaling the side. Rob, now missing a part of his mask, an eye peeking out from a small hole where the glass and metal failed to hold up against Captain Americas beating, grasped the balconies railing and leapt off, thrusting and arm out where a compartment on his forearm, propelled as small handgun into his hand. Lining up a shot on Natasha who was surprised at his fast action wouldn't have enough time to move, he was about to pull the trigger when the weapon was ripped from his grip as small arms fire ripped the gun from his hand and pelted his side.

The bullets subsided when he hit the ground in a crouch. Turning he noticed Sam reloading his two SMG's. Before he could respond to the new threat, Steve grabbed him from behind and performed a German suplex, knocking the air from his lungs and damaging the back of his suit. Sparks flew from the broken wiring As Rob kicked Steve away when the man tried to pin him.

Electricity coursed through him before he could stand as Natasha fired her widow bites. Pain filled his senses as the familiar sensation covered his body like a blanket. Rage drove him to push past the pain as flashes of his torture replayed in his mind. He turned to Natasha only to be hit across the face with her batons, breaking even more of his mask. Now with both his eyes showing, Natasha could see the pain and rage filling his eyes. But what truly surprised her was the underlying defeat in his eyes. All her years of fighting and killing, she knew what the look of defeat was. She had seen it on so many people, so many enemies. But all of them had stopped fighting, accepted their defeat and allowed themselves to be brought in. This was a different kind of defeat. One she had only seen once before. When she locked eyes with a black widow who had broken her leg in a fall. A defeat that welcomed death. That the person wearing it would try their hardest to be killed, to fight until they were punished for what they have done. It was a small spark, covered by rage, hate and pain.

Nat never faltered though and kept up her assault. Trying to subdue the young man before her. Eventually Steve joined in and the Rob, who barely kept up with her, was clearly overwhelmed. His mask finally fell free showing a horrific scar on his face. Nat lunged when he turned to block some of Steve's punches and wrapped her legs around his neck, taking him to the floor. With his armor compromised, his strength was failing and without tech to compensate for his lack of skill, Rob was slowly losing consciousness. Nat noticed Sam tending to Steve a bit away from her, both still on high alert just in case the kid broke free. Nat increased the pressure of her thighs hoping to quicken his eventual loss of unconsciousness, but was she felt his pulse weaken, an explosion of red shot into the sky to her left. Looking she noticed some red energy forming a bubble, expanding over the city. People were pointing and running away around her but the bubble was too quick and before she could even think about releasing Rob and taking cover, her world went black as the red engulfed her and everyone else in the city. The last thing she consciously recognized was music that sounded like it belonged in an old Sitcom.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know I am not great at fight scenes but I like to think I am better at it than when I started. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can all guess what happened and what the next couple chapters will be about. Honestly, it's an addition I never thought I would make when I started this rewrite but I like the idea and am going to roll with it. Hell, it should even help lead into the sequel if I choose to end it after this next segment. Anyway, let me know your thoughts. I know my uploads have been so sporadic and I can't promise that will change but I am trying to prewrite stuff for other stories I have so I can do an upload schedule.