Last Time on BPoT:
"Enough." She starts her journey back to the real world. "I shall be there in two days. Make sure Shield knows I will not be turning myself or my brother over to them."
"I have already spoken to Fury."
She pauses. "Thank you."
"Will Pietro be joining you?"
She grins. "As if I could stop him from a chance to annoy Clint. No, my brother will be there as well. He…dislikes leaving me alone with humans."
"Of course." Charles starts to fade. "Until Thursday, then, Miss Maximoff."
She peels open her eyes, the corners dry. Pietro is at their hotel window, his left foot rapidly tapping the floor. The smell of mildew wafts over. She rustles enough to let him know she's returned.
"You were gone a while," he says, never looking back. "Doctor Strange?"
"No, Charles." She stands. "We're needed in New York."
And now:
Two young adults – one dressed as a female elf, the other as a Stormtrooper – push through the glass door of Stark's building. Natasha zooms in the security camera. It would be weird, if it weren't an annual thing every Halloween. Something about Stark just inspires people to not act their age. It's also true he gives generous amounts of candy to everyone who asks it; and while most adults are in trying to score an internship or business deal, a few do it just to get a quick snapchat photo beside him.
"Mr. Stark's out right now," Stacy, the front deck secretary, tells them, flashing a sweet smile. She's good. Which is why Stark hired her in the first place. She can weed out any posers, and stand up to the best of them. "Candy is to the right, in the second room with the Hulk/Frankenstein face."
"We were told we would be meeting him here," a thick, sarcastic Russian accent asks, just as a wave of red swirls around her. The beach-blond hair shortens and darkens to black. Her outfit changes to a black and red dress.
Not just anyone would reveal their trick card like that.
Natasha stiffens, her fingers itching to go to her gun – the obvious one on her hip, not the one on her back. But it only takes a few seconds to recognize this isn't another HYDRA attack. No, this time. No, today they're here by official invite. "Wanda Maximoff."
Strangely, the Stormtrooper doesn't change.
Natasha raises an eyebrow. "Pietro Maximoff."
The Stormtrooper tugs his bulky mask off, to reveal the serious face of Ms. Maximoff's younger brother. His light hair is sweaty, stuck to his forehead. He doesn't say anything. Doesn't need to either, he looks just like his profile in the SHIELD database. As does his sister. Makes sense they would come incognito. And what better way then as Halloween partiers?
It takes guts, though, to agree to come after what they did, what they helped HYDRA to do. It isn't enough to forgive, but it's a start. It's been almost a year since HYDRA took Loki, last Christmas. She blinks. How did she miss that time? It feels too short for how much as been packed into it. Granted, nothing outlandish, but emotionally it's been more than enough.
"Let them up, Stacy," she says, focusing back on the now.
"Mr. Stark left instructions to give you full access to the top floors," Stacy tells them, still playing the dutiful secretary. She stands and pushes back her chair with a neat tap of her heel. "If you'd both follow me."
As she turns to the elevator, they both exchange looks that tell Natasha more than they'd probably like. Pietro is still very much against them coming here. He might think it a trap to get revenge on their participation in HYDRA's attack. Wanda is wary, but curious. Whatever Professor Xavier told her must have been quite convincing.
Natasha stores it for later.
Stacy pushes the golden button for the upper elevator with a dainty, perfectly manicured finger. "Will you be staying with us?"
"No," Wanda says, her eyes narrowing.
"Mr. Stark will be most disappointed." Stacy taps her Stark-pad a few times.
The elevator dings and they walk in.
The ride up is tense. Pietro looks as if he might vibrate out of the box, were it not for his excellent control. Lessons, Natasha is sure, Magneto trained into him early on. She'd rather not think of how he got a silly, smiling kid to be so hard in less than three months. And then what HYDRA must have also enforced.
Later, yes, she'll dig into that, but for now she focuses on the real mission.
Loki.
Who has been having more off-days than good.
Evidently Halloween brings up memories/nightmares/terrors. Yellow eyes and purple are the worst triggers. Professor Xavier refused to say anything concrete, treating his help as doctor/patient confidentiality, but he has alluded to a Titan called Thanos. It's the same name Odin gave when he pulled the purple ooze out of Loki.
"Will you be needing anything else?" Stacy asks as the elevator doors open to the communal living room.
"No." Wanda pauses. "Thank you."
"Of course, Ms. Maximoff," Stacy trills.
Natasha makes a mental note to tell Stark to raise her paycheck. She glances at Clint. "Thoughts?"
"We're desperate."
"She's good."
"And a criminal with a lot of deaths on her hands." Clint slouches in his chair. "Her brother has only a bit less than her. Fury is not liking this. Hell, I don't like this! They whammied us, Tasha. Bad. And yet we're letting them come."
"Xavier says she's on the up and up. Feels guilty."
"She should."
"Clint."
"No, Tasha. I'm staying mad this time. There's no magic purple goo to blame mind control. This is all on them." Clint glares at the screens. "I'll have eyes and ears on them at all times."
"As will I, Stark, and every member here, including Xavier. We'll handle it."
Clint snorts. "That why Stark fled?"
"SHIELD meeting."
"Is that where he is?"
"Of course."
"Good. Maybe he'll convince Fury how bad an idea this is." Clint stretches and gets up. "Well, let's go crash this party."
Natasha grimaces softly as she follows him. It's true, Wanda and Pietro have a lot to prove to them. Its only by Xavier's recommendation, and Loki's deteriorating state, that's letting them in. And the abundance of magical improvements to the building Dr. Strange emailed Stark two days ago.
Natasha resolves to up her game as well.
There will be no blindsiding this time.
0/0/0/0/0
Banner has already introduced himself to the twins by the time they enter. Professor Xavier sits a few feet away, hands folded. Natasha firms her expression into near nothingness before she stops two feet from the group. Clint ignores all social boundaries and flops on the couch. Wanda gives him only a cursory once over, but Pietro fixates on him.
Natasha wonders if it's a male alpha thing, or fear of retribution.
Or both.
"Ah, Agent Romanoff," Professor Xavier says, waving her closer. "Miss Maximoff was just telling me she's ready to start tonight."
"Really?" Natasha rolls her shoulders back. "You think that's best? Shouldn't you get to know Loki first? Apologize? Then pick his brain?"
Wanda tilts her head to the side. "The professor told me it was urgent. So, we came. Now you wish us to delay?"
"Of course not." Natasha smirks. "But he will remember it was you who handed him to HYDRA. He won't trust you."
"I do not expect him to."
"Then why tonight?"
Wanda attempts a careless, devil-may-care shrug. It fails. She still looks guilty. "I can feel his power humming the air. It is tight, scared, and dangerous."
"You think he'll hurt us?"
"Perhaps."
"Professor?" Natasha glances at him.
He massages his temples. "I can feel it, to an extent. You must remember, Agent Romanoff, I am a telepath, but magic means almost nothing to me. I cannot touch it. And there is too much magic attached to Loki's very being for me to really help."
"I see."
"Do you?" Wanda demands. "If I am not successful, Loki's magic will explode from him. It will not level New York. Not physically. It will, however, touch every person in it and warp them. Chaos. No, worse, madness. They will see and feel as he does. How many people do you think will endure that?"
Natasha's right eye twitches.
Not many.
Wanda must read some of her emotions, for she settles. "Do not question my methods. I have done great wrong. Let me fix it."
Natasha gives her a curt nod. She'll go with it, for now.
"Where is Loki?" Wanda asks.
"His room," Banner replies. "Do you want to go there? Or should I bring him?"
"Bring him. This will not be pleasant process. We keep his room safe ground. No connection."
Banner's eyes loose some of their tension. He's been worrying over adding new faces since the beginning. Even more so after he learned who they were. Seeing Wanda care about her patient has eased some of those legitimate fears. Natasha, again, wonders if this is intentional, to make them lessen their guard, or real compassion.
Only time will tell.
And subtle tells, which Natasha will be watching out for.
"Would you or your brother like anything to drink, Miss Maximoff?" Professor Xavier asks, wheeling his chair over to the kitchen counter. He pours himself a glass of tap water and drinks it slowly. Wanda doesn't relax an inch.
"Water, please," she answers, hands loose at her sides.
"Nothing," Pietro says a beat later. Most likely making sure the fastest of them can't be drugged.
Wanda sips her drink while they wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Natasha glances at the clock, then the professor. He sighs at her look.
"It appears Loki is in the midst of a rather terrifying flashback at the moment." He turns to Wanda. "He has been getting them with increasing frequency. His brother fears it might be Thanos trying to reach out still, to take back control. Their father said he thinks this unlikely, but not impossible."
"Take me to him," Wanda commands, already marching for the doorway. "If this is legitimate fear, we cannot ignore it."
Natasha sees a flash of a smug smile cross the Professor's face.
Ah, so he hoped she'd suggest this. Interesting. Natasha hopes it pans out for them. So far no one can get through to Loki when he's in these flashbacks, except for Xavier…and even that's a struggle for the mutant.
The screams and pleas are heard two hallways down. Pietro's lips tighten into a thin line. Wanda doesn't express anything. Thor stumbles out as they reach the room. He scans them over, a warrior tensed and ready to defend his own. He stiffens at the two new faces, but relaxes when he sees the Professor.
"It is not as bad as last night," Thor murmurs. "But I still cannot persuade him to return to reality."
His large fists tremble.
Outside thunder booms as rain pounds against the windows.
"This is the young woman I told you about," Xavier gestures to Wanda.
Thor scans her again. "You are the one who aided HYDRA in taking him."
"Yes."
"Then know you that not only will this team hunt you, should you prove false, but I and an entire realm will as well. You will not be able to escape justice."
"I seek only to reverse the harm I have caused."
Thor's lip curls up. "You think yourself up to this task?"
"Honestly? No. But I will do it anyway." Wanda straightens. "I am the best at dreamscapes. And I owe it your brother."
"My brother is a field of traps, my lady." Thor winces at anther scream. "He will try and fight you. Mentally. Maybe more so if he recognizes you."
"I am prepared for this."
After a long moment, Thor stands aside. His threatening presence stays, but he allows her access.
Wanda strides in, pauses as she takes in the huddled figure, and then conjures up a wisp of red smoke. A burst of green lashes out at her – Loki's own natural magic, gone haywire. Wanda calmly absorbs it. Her smoke creeps closer and closer. Loki's screams increase in volume. Whether because he recognizes the smoke, or because of the flashbacks, is unknown. Regardless, he scuttles backward, hands clawing at the wallpaper, shredding it.
The red smoke reaches him anyway. Curls around him like a blanket; settles on his shoulders. He flinches from it, at first, then his eyes widen. A shaky hand goes up and strokes the smoke once. The panicked essence is still there, but it's more contained now.
Wanda has her eyes closed. Every so often she jerks, as if dodging something. A mental attack?
But from whom?
Half an hour goes by like this, with Loki drooping more and more, his posture relaxing. Wanda only gets more tense, fatigue hunching her shoulders. On and on it goes, until Loki's eyes clear of the madness, and he takes a deep breath through the nose.
"Y-you," he breaths, green smoke increasing.
Wanda jerks again, as if hit. "Yes. I have come to…redeem myself."
"I suppose I owe you my thanks," he forces out, pushing up the wall until he's standing. There are blood marks in shape of claws behind him, blood on his fingernails. A vivid reminder of what happened. The red smoke is still round his body, green sparks intermingling.
"It is not permanent," Wanda tells him. "I will need more sessions."
Loki sighs. "I suppose it was inevitable."
"Brother!" Thor admonishes.
"Peace," Loki says, flinching at something. "It seems you and I shall be working together, Lady Maximoff."
Wanda doesn't seem very sure how to take that. Probably remember her whole part in this. "You still see shadows?"
"Shadows…yes." Already Loki's gaze has dimmed.
Wanda flexes her fingers. "If you are up to it, I will do more now."
Loki walks to the little eating table and sinks into the straight-backed seat there. He beckons Wanda over to the other chair. She complies, and then gestures Xavier to wheel in.
"I will have need of your powers, Professor," she says, already conjuring up more of her smoke.
Has it been forever since I updated? Yes, yes it has. Do I have an excuse. Yep. I married. Believe it or not, that takes up a lot of your time. So, yeah, updates might be even longer. Sorry.
Hope this makes up for it. :D