Avengers: Don't Get in My Way
Chapter 5
Light sprang forth suddenly from a widening bank of localized red and black fog in the midst of alien plants spread out in neat rows outside a simple hut dwelling. The sky was an azure blue, peaceful and serene, and the warm sunlight filtering through the nearly cloudless sky was a comfortable yellowish hue. With the exception of the distinctly otherworldly vegetation in the vicinity, one could easily believe they had materialized in the center of a lush garden.
The flora and fauna that surrounded Wanda Maximoff as she exited the swirl of rapidly dissipating fog was anything but Earthly, however. The leaves were of an odd greenish color, tinged with purple, resembling the leaves of a red cabbage. The fruit growing atop these odd stalks was a dull orange, bulbous and barbed, yet still soft despite the prickly appearance. Around the garden, for there was no better description of the place she found herself in, were jagged ridges of rock that gave the impression of standing among an explosion of life nestled in the bosom of a dead, rocky crater.
Though the world with the strange plant life and oddly close yellow sun was beautiful, and apparently teeming with life, the young woman could feel no presence of any intelligent or animal life at all, not even insects. As far as she could determine, she was the only form of life on the entire planet that didn't spring from and remain rooted to the ground. It was a strange feeling that left her skin tingling and a sharp chill moving down her spine. The planet was unnerving and devoid of the comfort that a subliminal connection with other life all around you brought.
It feels as if Thanos' chosen sanctuary is as unnatural and devoid of any true meaning or beauty as he himself was, she thought as she strode through the garden towards the squat hut at the other end of the long rows of plant life. An empty and senseless void of a locale perfectly suited for a megalomaniacal and insane piece of walking, breathing shit. How appropriate.
Wanda's face hardened at the silent thunder of thoughts rolling through her mind like an impending storm. Her eyes swept around the expanse of Thanos' chosen home, and she shook her head in near disbelief. She never thought any living thing could be so vacant and feckless, but Thanos seemed to constantly and consistently prove himself to be anything but something you would classify as a being deserving to be dignified by the consideration.
Even the most evil and corrupt person had some tiny spark of something within them that marked them as something you could pity, if you could feel nothing else beyond hatred for them. Thanos didn't have even that tiny, minuscule aspect within him, and in the end, he had reaped what he had sown: blissful nonexistence. It was blissful for the universe, at least. The tragedy was that the universe only finally achieved the bliss of Thanos' nonexistence after he had wrought such atrocity and devastation on the vast infinitude that was the universe.
The doorway to the hut was standing wide open, and she moved to its threshold. Within, the hut was Spartan and utilitarian. There was a bed, a chair, a table, and the necessities for one to maintain a minimal home. Beyond that, there was nothing, nothing but the former inhabitant's body lying sprawled on the floor, surrounded by a pool of dried vile blood. The Mad Titan's head lay several feet from his body. It had been cleaved from its neck with a single decisive cut, and had rolled into a defiantly upright position so that its lifeless eyes stared at her unblinkingly and without a hint of remorse or apology in the dead gaze.
The body of Thanos proved how persistent and pervasive evil truly was. The body had lain there, dead, for over five years and yet the signs of decomposition were minimal, nearly invisible and indiscernible. At casual observation, you could easily believe he was killed only moments ago, rather than years earlier. Even after he had tasted even the tiniest hint of justice, he still managed to gloat unceasingly and torment her without the slightest hint of reprieve. Thanks to him, she lived within a perpetual hell and experienced suffering that no one deserved.
He had taken more that anyone could comprehend from pretty much everyone in the entire universe. Even with the reversal of the Snap, he had still managed to break all those whose lives his insane machinations had touched, even if they weren't aware that their very souls were still very much shattered and fragmented. She knew, though, and she swore that what madness he had done to them all would be truly reversed, taken back and rectified.
She swore this on her very soul, because her soul was useless to her without the things and people that comprised that soul to begin with. True justice would grace the universe with its touch again, no matter what it took, no matter what it might cost her. No price was too high in her mind and heart to put things back as they should be. Even if she had to sacrifice her own eternal soul to save the soul of the universe, so be it. There were far worse ways to lose one's soul. Wanda knew; she'd already lost hers, or at least the part of it that mattered. Whatever was left was coin she was happy to pay to make sure no one else had to endure what she was enduring at that very moment.
Her eyes opened suddenly and her breath rushed in with a harsh gasp. Her body was alive with a current, a surge of power that she could never have imagined. There was a power, a tangible touch of something indescribable wreathing her in its influence. It burned through her entire being, and tingled on every nerve ending of not only her body, but also her very existence. It was close, so close she could taste its essence on the very air like ozone during a harsh thunderstorm.
Wanda…
The voice was a whisper, like a ghost on the wind tickling at her mind, but she heard it. She felt it. Her mouth was dry, and her lips felt chapped and cracked. In a rasp born of emotion and fear that all this was some strange hallucination or dream, she called out in a cracking voice, "Viz? Viz, is that you? I'm here, Viz. I'm here. I'm here my… my heart."
You came… you came for me…
In the squalor of the hut that had come over it after the death of its inhabitant, Wanda sunk to her knees in ragged spasms, and felt the wall that had been holding her tears at bay crumble and fall away, the battle lost. "Of course I came," she answered, her reply torn by a half sob. "I will always come to you… come for you. There is no me without you, Viz. Without you, there's nothing…" Her words trailed off into a whisper.
Call me to you, Wanda. Draw me home to you…
Wanda blinked hot, fat tears from her eyes and searched the area around her with unfocused, unseeing eyes. Her voice cracked again, "How? How do I draw you to me, Viz? Please, tell me how. I feel you. How?"
There was silence, and Wanda waited in a panic, blinking away huge tears as fast as they formed in her eyes. The empty pit in her stomach was growing as she desperately waited for a response, any response to her question. Her fingers pulled through her hair, straining the strands against her scalp, and she clawed at her head. Maybe she was going mad. Maybe she was already crazy.
She'd used power she didn't understand to get there, a place light years from where she and Vision had found each other, and what if it was all just a cruel joke played on her by her own mind and tortured grief? What if none of this was real, and she'd stepped the first step on an ever sinking spiral of insanity? What if the loss of Vision had caused the loss of herself as well? What was she without Vision? She had existed before she met Vision, of course. But she had only been alive after Vision had come into her life.
Feel me… reach out with your heart and feel me… feel me coming to you…
Wanda sobbed in relief as the voice came back to her after what felt like an infinite expanse of silence. She sniffled deeply, and shook her head so strongly the building tears her eyes held splashed free to fall on her clothing and the floor beneath her. She stretched her hands upwards as her fingers jerked and pulled something intangible and invisible to her, towards her. Her entire body shook and trembled as her hands writhed in the air, and her hands slowly became wreathed in red swirls of light.
"Come to me, Viz. I feel you. I just feel you…" she whispered as the light around her hands intensified and brightened, and she could feel… something drawing closer to her, coming closer, reaching out to her. She couldn't identify what she was feeling, precisely, but she felt it, whatever it was.
Slowly but surely, it was creeping to her closer and closer every second, and she could feel it. It was warm, it was hot and it was hovering right there, so close to her. It was there, and she suddenly could touch it, she could feel its shape and presence. She was no longer alone on the godforsaken planet that Thanos chose as his final home. Joy flooded through her, burned through her tears.
You did it… I am here, with you… I feel you…
Wanda felt her body wracked in the shudders and shakes that come on the heels of intense strain, and immense relief, and her eyes fluttered open. She opened them, feeling a smile form on her lips even as her face was streaked with harshly shed tears. She opened them to look upon the face of the other half of her soul, the part of her heart that completed her.
Bright golden light greeted her shimmering and clouded gaze and a new wash of tears flowed over her soft rounded cheeks as the image shimmered into slow clarity. Beyond her outstretched hands, the golden light pulsed and flickered, and finally her eyes focused. The form before her grew more distinct, took shape, and slowly crystallized in her eyes.
As her eyes snapped into focus, she shook her head violently and threw her head back in a loud, long wordless scream. It wasn't Vision that her eyes opened upon. The form she knelt staring at wasn't at all what she expected, what she heard, what she hoped and prayed for, what she desperately needed to see. Hovering over her hands before her was a golden crystal, glittering and shining as it slowly revolved over her outstretched palms. She had called forth the Mind Stone from whatever oblivion it was that Thanos had consigned it and the other stones to.
The stone continued to float before her as she wrapped her arms around her head and fell to her side, shaking, screaming and releasing a torrent of tears and anguish. The inexorable feeling of falling deeper and deeper into a black pit of insanity rushed over her with immeasurable force. "I'm crazy, I'm crazy, I came all the way out here… I thought I was coming for you… it was all a lie! I've lost you, I lost everything, and now I'm losing my mind! Thanos, you son of a bitch, you fucking son of a bitch!" she screamed in heart rending agony. Around her, the hut shuddered and shook with the force of her emotions swirling and ripping through her very soul.
Wanda… I am not lost… I am not complete, but I am not lost. There is much more to do, still. Only you can do this… we can do what must be done…. But we must gather them all to restore all…
The cracking walls ceased crumbling, and the clatter of trembling objects stopped as she held her breath for what felt like interminable years. Finally, her strained and anguished voice rushed from between cracked lips, "Wh-what? You… you're not… you're still… you are Viz? All of what? The stones? That's madness! The stones abuse and destroy!"
Her arms came back around her head and she shook violently. Her head shook convulsively beneath the canopy of her arms as she battled desperately to make sense out of what was happening to her. Sobs of despair coupled with screams of pain and rage ripped from her very being as she struggled to hold onto whatever shreds of reality she could grasp.
I am… and I am not. I am an… aspect of Vision. One of many. But yes, we must gather the stones, all of the stones… you can… we can… eliminate what is and restore what should be, but it will require all of us. If you trust Vision… trust me. Please. What Thanos did was… unnatural. It violated the laws of existence, the laws that form the fabric of the universe. The stones only do what they are used to do. They are primal, elemental forces of nature, of creation or destruction. It is the wielder that determines the path they follow. We must set things right to repair the damage he caused. Call us, all of us, to you…
Wanda felt her body shaking. She shook with uncertainty, with fear, with disbelief, and she wasn't sure if she were regaining her senses, or if she was spiraling deeper into madness. Was she having a psychotic break, and becoming lost in an inescapable miasma of delirium? Or was justice taking her by the hand and leading her to the door to rectification and salvation?
"If you truly are part of Vision," Wanda said finally as she pulled her arms from around her head. Her eyes spilled another fat tear rolling over her cheek as she focused on the stone. "If you truly are, then I will trust you. I trust Vision with all I am."
X
The stars were little more than brief streaks out light outside the view port as the group that referred to themselves as the Avengers, and a few guests, rocketed on their way through the vast expanse of space. The ship was the same that Tony and Nebula had returned to Earth in after nearly dying in the void of space when Carol Danvers, also known as Captain Marvel, had found them and returned them back to the safety of Earth.
Since then, it had been repaired, retrofitted, and repurposed for the task of carrying the heroes to places where conventional transportation couldn't take them. Going into space qualified as just such an instance. Thankfully, the ship was spacious enough to provide comfortably adequate room for all its passengers, and it was easily sustainable for protracted voyages.
The conversation had fallen into a silence. Each person aboard the ship looked around at each other, and tried to gauge what the other was thinking. There was an uneasy tension in the air, and finding the proper way to say what was on their minds was becoming increasingly difficult. The subject was too volatile and too much of a hotbed to simply start spouting out opinions, everyone realized.
Finally, Rhodey drew a deep breath and let it out. His eyes moved over everyone in turn, and he shrugged. "Okay, if nobody's going to say it, I guess I'm going to have to," he said finally with a slight sound of exasperation in his voice. "We have to at least consider what state of mind Wanda is in at the moment. She may have simply gone nuts, or she may have a much darker intention. Either way, it seems more likely than not that this is going to become a problem, a really big problem. We have to face that fact, and face it now."
"What are you trying to say, Rhodey?" asked Sam, suddenly standing from where he'd been sitting on a bench halfway across the room. "Are you trying to say Wanda's freaked out, gone nuts, and is going to obliterate us if we get in her way? Is that what you're trying to say?"
Doctor Stephen Strange scowled and shook his head slowly. "It's something we have to consider, people," he finally said. "I think it's more than obvious that Miss Maximoff's grip on reality is tenuous at best. Can anyone here really say for certain what her reaction to us showing up is going to be? Are you willing to bet your life, and the lives of everyone else on this ship, on whether or not you think you know what's going to happen?"
The others fell silent for a moment, while all eyes were on Strange. Carol cut her eyes over to Thor, who was calmly leaning against a bulkhead with his hands folded over the top of Stormbreaker, his massive axe. Her brows rose slightly and she turned her attention back to the conversation, discussion, whatever you wanted to call it in silent interest.
Sighing in exasperation, Clint stood up and glanced around the room before he came to stand toe to toe with Strange. "So, you're saying we should all just assume that she's gone nuts, and that she's going to just decide to blast us because it sounds like the best way to spend her Friday night, so we all should just hop off the ship ready and willing to take her down? Never mind that she's a kid, she's a friend, and she's feeling like shit and needing help, instead of a fight? Yeah, that approach will just give her all kinds of fuzzy good feelings," he said with a half glare directed at the sorcerer. "She'll be sure to throw us a tea party afterwards, too, huh?"
Hank let out a long sigh in a somewhat irritated tone, and gave his wife's hand a squeeze before he interjected, "Kid or not, Barton, she's an extremely powerful kid who can obviously do things we can't even be sure of, one way or the other. With that kind of power, she's dangerous simply by the virtue of having that sort of power, especially with the state of mind she's in. The slightest thing could set her off, probably without any of us even realizing that it could, and then we'd all be in danger." He took his glasses off and started cleaning them with obvious agitated energy.
Rhodey waved a hand towards Strange and Hank with an expression that said far more than words alone would. "Besides, didn't you say she almost demolished your house and could have killed you and your family right before you called?" he asked. His expression hardened and his eyes narrowed. "Those were your words, Clint. Nobody's putting that coming out of your mouth but you."
"Exactly my point," Hank picked up, despite Janet's grip on his arm trying to silence him without being rude about it. "The kind of power she's got, she could kill all of us, probably. She warped reality itself to step through a hole in space outside your farm and come out on a planet halfway across the galaxy. If she can do that, if she could pull your house apart at the seams without blinking an eye, what do you think she could do to us if she wanted to hurt us? I'm not saying we should try to hurt her, but we should be realistic and be aware that there's a very real possibility she could decide she needed to hurt us, especially if her judgment is compromised. You yourself said she was behaving erratically and unpredictably. Being prepared to fight is just smart thinking."
A voice from behind them shut down any further comments for a few seconds. "That's assuming we even could hurt her," Bruce said as he stepped around to find a seat in the central cabin behind the control center and cockpit of the ship. "Wanda has always been powerful. She's never known the full extent of her potential. Since she came back, she's shown a vast increase in her power levels and her abilities. She fought Thanos to a standstill by herself, even before Carol joined in, while he had all the stones. She hurt him. She didn't annoy him, she hurt him and scared him. Except for Carol, maybe, I don't think any of the rest of us could do that. I know the Hulk sure as hell couldn't do that. Thanos stomped my ass six ways from Sunday on the Asgardian ship like I was next to nothing."
Hank stood and ran his fingers back through his thick salt and pepper hair and began pacing as the discussion continued. Janet looked at everyone else, and then stood to try to calm her husband down.
Bruce sighed, and looked around the room at all of them in turn. "But, this is Wanda," he said in a solemn voice with a somber expression. "Just because she could hurt us without much effort at all, I honestly don't believe she would, whether she's out of her mind with pain and grief or not. It's just not who Wanda is, and we're her family now."
Strange frowned deeper and drew in a slow, deep breath. He shook his head, amazed at the apparent naïveté the others were displaying. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "But you can't say that unequivocally," he said, casting a sidelong glance towards Bruce. "Right now, she probably wouldn't hurt us, like you say. But if she gets her hands on the stones, assuming the stones can even be recovered, and I'm of the mind that they are reforming somewhere in the universe as Wong is… we've already seen how the stones corrupted Thanos and the sort of chaos and destruction he caused as a result. If the same happens to her… then the scale of threat we're facing would astronomically increase."
"Hey, hey, hey!" exclaimed Clint with a furious expression as he stepped forward and pointed a finger right in the Sorcerer Supreme's face. His eyes burned with anger like the sun. "Thanos was already a crazy and corrupted bastard long before he ever laid a finger on the first stone. Stones or no stones, Wanda is our friend. She's my friend. And I promise you as surely as God made little green apples, if you make anything even resembling a move to hurt her without her giving us a damned good reason to try to take her down, magic or no goddamned magic, I'll put an arrow between your eyes without thinking twice or losing a second's sleep over it, Gandalf."
"I'm with Clint," Bucky said after having sat in silence the whole time until that point. He swept his gaze over the rest of them as he flexed the fingers of his mechanical left arm absently. "If anything, Wanda deserves our help, or at least us trying to help her. She spent most of her life as a street kid, alone with only her brother to keep her company, and she lost him in a violent and senseless way. Then Thanos came along and she lost Vision and the others. We're the only family she's got left, and we're damned well going to treat her like the family she is."
Strange stared at Clint, trying to stare him down, but wasn't having much luck. Clint wasn't going to back down, that much was obvious. As much as the sorcerer's ego pushed at him to try to convey a superior attitude and seem dismissive of the archer, his mind won out. He knew that if Clint and he were to clash, Clint wouldn't be as easy to subdue as one might think. More, Clint was the type to harbor a grudge, and wasn't likely to let it go any time soon.
"Yeah, well, everybody needs family," a voice piped up as a furry large raccoon climbed up onto a seat. Rocket jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at the small group assembled in a small cluster there. "Even if your family is like this group of yay hoos."
"I am Groot!" exclaimed the sentient tree creature standing among the group that Rocket indicated with his thumb jab. "I am Groooot!" The tree's tone was indignant and its brows, for lack of a better term, pulled down over its eyes in a glare.
Rocket shrugged, and scratched the back of his neck, "Sorry, Groot, but you know what I mean. You guys are my family, all the family I've got, and yeah… maybe we're a strange bunch, but show me a family that isn't a strange bunch, you know?" He reached out a small hand and patted the shoulder of the tree.
Groot smiled and nodded his wooden head slowly. "I am Groot," he agreed with a placated tone.
"The sweet rabbit's right," Thor said finally as he pushed off from the bulkhead he'd been leaning against for most of the trip. "Wanda is young, and she's feeling an enormous amount of pain and grief, much more than she's probably known in the past. Worse, it's all come at once, wave upon wave."
Confusion flowed over several of the faces present in the room, and Rhodey looked around at everyone and whispered, "Rabbit? What rabbit? Is he talking about the raccoon?"
"Yeah, he's talking about the 'raccoon,' Tin Man," growled Rocket with more than a little irritation in his voice, and quite loudly in contrast to Rhodey's whisper. He then turned to regard each of the humans and aliens in the room. "And he's the only moron on this ship that's allowed to call me that, unless you want a few dozen blaster bolts to munch on, got it?"
"I am so happy, Rocket, that Thor and I are the only ones that can call you 'rabbit,'" the large bald humanoid named Drax said with a wide dull smile. He lightly slapped the furry alien on the back with a large hand.
Rocket clenched his eyes and fists shut as she shook in barely repressed anger. "I said he was the only moron on this ship that could call me that, Numb Nuts," growled Rocket with a tight jawed stare.
"Exactly," beamed Drax, apparently unaware of Rocket's consternation. "He's the only moron that can call you that. Then, of course, there's me. I'm not a moron so I can call you rabbit."
Rocket curled in on himself and shook so bad, the rest of the passengers were afraid he was going to explode, or tear through the hull of the ship and rocket into space. With barely restrained rage, Rocket roared, "You're a moron too, you idiot! So, no you can't call me rabbit, goddamnit!"
The young human man that stood among that particular group reached over and laid a hand on Drax's large forearm. "Dude, don't even try to figure it out. Just don't call him rabbit, keep calling him Rocket, and don't worry about any of the rest of it. It's a lot easier for everybody that way," he whispered to the big man. "Otherwise, he'll flip out and have a meltdown."
Drax looked at Rocket, then over to Quill and tilted his head, whispering back, "We don't want him to have a meltdown. But what if he has a melt up instead?" Those unfamiliar with Drax and his species just watched and listened in stupefied silence, wondering what exactly was happening as the idioms went completely over the big man's head.
"'Melt up?' I'll show you a goddamned meltdown and melt up, you overgrown ball sac! Come here!" yelled Rocket as he drew his very large gun and cocked the safety off as he took aim at his befuddled teammate. "I'm gonna widen your cake hole, you bald headed, lumbering…!"
Gamora, the green skinned woman that was also Rocket's teammate stepped between him and the oblivious Drax. "Rocket!" she yelled as she slapped his gun aside. "Calm down! Thor's the only one that can call you rabbit. We get it. Give it a while, Drax will get it soon enough. In the meantime, just ignore him. You usually do anyway, so what's so hard about doing it now?"
"He's a goddamned idiot!" yelled Rocket in protest as he slid the safety back into the active position on his weapon with an exaggerated pout. "You'd think after six fucking years, he'd get something that simple at least! Fine! I won't shoot the stupid ball sac. This time. He does it again, and all bets are off. You hear me, Cue Ball? All bets are off!"
Groot reached up and patted his friend's shoulder with a sympathetic gesture and quietly said, "I am Groot."
Rocket scowled and hopped down off the seat again. "Yeah, yeah, I know," he grumbled as he found a place far away from the center of the chamber to climb up and start cleaning his weapon with more gusto than was necessary. "He can't help being a fuckin' moron, I know. It doesn't make him any smarter, that's for damned sure."
Carol watched everyone quietly, which was mostly uncharacteristic for her. Usually, she had something to say about pretty much anything, but thus far she'd been unusually quiet during the trip. She checked the instruments even as the ship came out of hyper light speed. "We're coming up on 0295-S, also known as the Garden. I'll fly down and do some recon. We don't want to waste time if she isn't even here," she said as she started glowing a bright yellowish color.
"Thank you, Carol," said Bruce with a faint smile. He stood up and began prepping for the trip to the surface. "Just be careful, okay? She's going through a lot, we all are, but as Thor said, I don't think she's ever had so much bad stuff pile up on her all at once like this. We'll want to play it by ear, you know?"
The Kree hybrid smiled and patted the big green man's shoulder. "Don't worry, Green Jeans," she said with a playful smirk. Her face sobered as she nodded while cycling the airlock. "Wanda and I talked some after the battle. I think we got fairly comfortable with each other. Comfortable enough that she won't hurl the planet at me, I hope."
She popped Bruce in the shoulder again fondly, and then stepped into the airlock and let it seal before flying out into space. Within seconds, the bright yellow light of her trail shot towards the beautiful planet below. Bruce couldn't help wondering what exactly they'd find down there, especially if Wanda was there after all.
X
The fifth stone finally coalesced before her as she drew it slowly and steadily from the void in which it had been floating. Like the others, it rotated slowly before her as it held itself suspended in the air. She felt the fatigue starting to creep up on her, but she still had far too much work to do. She had to retrieve the final stone, and then prepare to begin her mission to set things right once more. It would be taxing and dangerous, but it was necessary. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't repair the damage Thanos had done to all life and reality throughout the universe.
We are almost reunited. Only one remains to be retrieved…
"Yes, Viz, we're almost done collecting them. It won't be long now. It won't be long, my love," Wanda said in an almost dreamlike voice. The light played over her eyes in a sharply refractive manner, and it gave them an eerie back lit illumination. It would all be worth it very soon.
Only one remains… Then we can correct that which has been damaged and twisted…
Each stone floated equidistant from each other before her, and the light caught their facets, sending sparkles of light playing all about her as the sun slowly moved towards the horizon. It had taken hours to get this far, to draw the stones from their remote locations where they had reformed to where she was there in Thanos' hut beside his garden. At the end of the line, a shimmering light rippled, and within it, the vaguest sheen of the final stone slowly built itself within its light. Soon, she would hold all six stones, and wield the power necessary to return the shape of all things back to its proper form.
They have arrived… They are coming to meet you, Wanda…
The silence in between their conversation had given Wanda enough time to allow herself to rest minimally, to conserve energy as she drew the stone an atom at a time from its rebirth position to where she called it. She still didn't understand how or why she was able to do such a thing, all she knew is that she was able to, and was doing it. How could she argue with the fact that what she was doing was good and right when she was doing what should have been impossible?
She drew in a slow breath and nodded softly. "I know," she replied to the voice in her mind. "I felt them arrive. I felt Carol come close to confirm my being here. I hope they'll be happy that I can repair the damage done, and return those to us that we shouldn't have lost. We can all be happy, we can have our friends again, and I… I can have you back in my arms, where you belong, where you should always have been."
There is the possibility that they may perceive what you intend to do as the wrong thing to do… They may attempt to dissuade you or prevent you from restoring what should be…
Wanda shook her head firmly as the stone continued to slowly materialize in its floating setting. "I would hope not," she said with a soft tone. "I know this is the right thing to do, this is what should be done. How could they not know this, too?"
They believe that they will be protecting you and that they will be saving you from yourself… They will naively believe that because they do not understand, it must be something that will result only in catastrophe… They will attempt to convince you of this as well. You must do what you feel you must. You must follow the course that your heart and soul set for you, Wanda…
Silence lingered as Wanda continued to concentrate on pulling the final gem to her. She felt a deep and lingering sadness welling up inside her. Something within her stirred and swirled, and intertwined with the fear that she would be misunderstood.
They will believe that you have fallen to madness… They will believe that your righteous mission to restore the true state of the universe is a delusion… They will believe that bringing Mr. Stark, Natasha, and the others, as well as myself back is a dream driven by your inability to cope with reality… They will try to "help" you… They will not understand… It is unfortunate, but you must not allow them to turn you from your task. The universe and what should be must be salvaged. Only you can do this…
Wanda wiped sad tears from her eyes and sniffled, even as she shook her head adamantly. "No, you'll see. They will see the truth. They'll know. They'll be scared at first, frightened that its beyond all hope, but they'll come around. They'll see that I have to do this, that it's the right thing to do. They'll see the truth. You'll see, my love, you'll see," she said as the beatific smile returned to her lips. The final stone was almost manifest.
It is my sincerest hope that you are correct, Wanda… We shall see… The time is quickly approaching that will reveal the truth of their belief and actions… They simply do not and will not understand… not until it has been done and they see the goodness that you will work to repair reality itself…
The voice and presence faded, as it had several times since she had started feeling Vision's presence in her mind, and she concentrated on completing the transition of the final stone. It still had some time yet to go, but every second brought it that much closer to being completed.
Clint turned and held up a hand at the large group of companions that accompanied him to where Wanda was. Just ahead, she was doing something with the stones. All of them but one was visible, floating in the air near the young woman, and it looked as if it was slowly joining its companion pieces. They'd all heard her speaking, yet they didn't see whom she may have been speaking to.
Doctor Strange opened his mouth as he stepped forward, giving the distinct impression he was about to confront Wanda in a less than friendly manner. Clint slapped his hand flat over the sorcerer's chest and shook his head. The mage nodded reluctantly and stayed where he was. Bucky took up a position next to the Sorcerer Supreme, and made no mystery of his intention to hold him back if he tried to act without their go ahead.
Clint moved forward and tried to smile in a friendly manner as he approached his friend. "Hey there, Wanda," he said in his normal congenial tone. "You've got a really good idea for a spot to have some alone time. Out here, you're about as alone as you can get." Though he was trying to be natural and relaxed, he couldn't help being on guard just a little.
Wanda barely glanced in their direction. Her hands kept weaving the strange patterns she used when her powers were in use, and the red energy swirled about her hands and the stones in vivid light. "Hey, Clint," she answered with a faint smile. Though she didn't stop what she was doing, she turned to look towards the group of her friends. "Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Garden."
The others nodded and murmured greetings, but let Clint take the lead. "So… you know me, I don't like to be nosy, but I have to ask," Clint began, looking rather sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck with a nervous tic. "Who's going to see, and what are they going to see? What is it that you have to do, anyway? Any way we can help?"
Wanda wiped her nose with the cloth she'd been keeping inside her jacket pocket lately. It was obvious that she'd been crying recently and pretty badly if the severity of her sniffles was any indication. She smiled a wan smile and nodded her head in a gesture intended to indicate where they were.
"Viz, of course," she answered in a light tone that Clint hadn't heard in her voice for some time. "He thinks that you won't understand what I have to do, and why I have to do it. He thinks your fear of the unknown will interfere with your ability to understand. Viz hopes you understand, but you know how he is. His equations tell him it's most likely that you won't, not at first. It'll take time, but I told him I believed you may all be frightened at first, but you'd see soon. You'd get it, you'd understand."
Clint glanced over his shoulder a moment at his companions. Bruce wore a concerned expression and shook his head slowly. Despite himself, Clint agreed. It was obvious even to him that Wanda wasn't thinking clearly. Just admitting it to himself hurt him in his soul. He had been hoping against hope that Wanda was coping with her grief better than this. Sadness sprung from deep inside him like a geyser, and it threatened to find its way to the surface in his eyes and voice.
"So, um, Vision's here, huh?" he asked as he choked back the crack in his voice, though he knew some of it came through. "How long has he been here with you?" He kept an eye on what she was doing with the stones. The last stone was getting alarmingly close to being solid.
Wanda glanced back at him, and tilted her head while the smile remained on her lips. "Not exactly, no," she answered as she found his eyes with her own. "Part of him is. The Mind Stone is part of him, but he's part of it, too. He's been helping me understand what I have to do, and how I have to do it. It won't be long now, not long at all. We're going to fix things, we're going to put things back to the way they should be."
The final stone finally solidified and she let her hands be still. They continued to float as they were, but the red energy Wanda exuded faded from sight. "We're going to bring them back, Clint. All of them. Viz, Nat, Tony… all of them. All that weren't supposed to die in Thanos' madness before and after the Snap will be back as if they'd never left. Our hearts and souls will finally be at peace and able to live, instead of stagnate as they have been. Morgan won't be without her father, Pepper won't be without her husband, we won't be without Nat, Bruce will finally be able to continue living instead of existing, and me? I'll be complete for the first time since Viz was taken from me."
Clint was stunned. They'd all talked about this, about how this was probably what Wanda was up to, and he'd allowed himself to at least accept the possibility of what the others were saying, that it was impossible and dangerous. Standing there, looking into her eyes, though, he saw the belief that she could do it in her eyes, and he believed she could as well.
He knew they weren't going to buy it, but the more he watched her and listened to her, the more he believed it, despite the fact she was sounding a little looney tunes saying she was talking to Vision. Yet, they'd seen much crazier stuff than that hadn't they? This was actually pretty tame in the grand scheme of things, especially seeing the sort of things that Thanos did with the stones, and the sorts of things Wanda could do on her own. What could she possibly do with the stones in her possession as well? Anything, that's what.
Doctor Strange strode forward, unable to stay quiet any longer. He brushed off Bucky's attempt to keep him in place, and stood beside Clint. He fixed her with his arrogant gaze and a condescending tone colored his words, "Wanda… you do realize how utterly insane that sounds, right? The fabric of reality and the universe is a delicate and fragile thing. There's a natural order that must be maintained. What you're talking about would rip all of that asunder like tissue paper. Do you honestly believe that's the 'right' thing to do?"
Clint's face turned red, as he grew livid. It was all he could do not to punch Strange in the mouth as hard as he possibly could. "Fuck! Goddamnit, Strange, didn't you hear a word I said earlier? I told you not to fucking push her, not to attack her. We had a chance before you opened your goddamned big assed mouth. I hope you're fucking happy now," he whispered in a harsh tone. "Fucking prick."
Wanda stood and her face hardened as she leveled her stare at the sorcerer. The anger simmered just under the surface, and Clint could see it in her eyes as surely as he could see the sun in the sky. Her mood had shifted from friendly to hostile fast enough to give someone watching whiplash.
She narrowed her eyes slowly as she waved a hand and the stones flew to her and took up positions in a circle floating around her hand and wrist. The stones glowed softly as they seated themselves in their psionic sockets. Wanda's lips twisted in a light smile.
"Funny you should mention the fabric of reality and the universe, and the Natural Order of Things, sorcerer," she said with seething venom in her voice. "Every spell you cast, every little nudge you give things, every little sparkle of your magic violates the fabric of reality and the universe, and shakes the natural order," she said shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "According to you self appointed guardians of the universe, that's perfectly acceptable to your self righteous defense of those forces. Yet, when it's not you or yours, suddenly it's a cataclysmic event. That's a rather biased prejudice, isn't it, mage?"
Strange scowled deeper and shook his head. "My order does exactly that, we protect this dimension and the forces of the universe and reality from all threats," he declared. "Sadly, that includes you, Miss Maximoff. I'd much rather that it didn't, but you're the one making yourself a threat. I'm trying to talk you out of such a reckless path. I'm on your side, whether you choose to believe me or not. But rending the very stuff that existence is made from isn't the way to do what you want to do. If I have a biased prejudice, it's directed towards safeguarding our reality, not towards allowing its annihilation."
Wanda's head tilted as her gaze washed over the group at large, and she held up her hands as if to encompass all of them. "And the rest of you? Are you giving in to your fear and lack of understanding and calling yourselves 'on my side' as well? Or are you willing to actually witness and consider what I propose, and try to work through your fear to the understanding I know that you can find as you allow yourself to see?" she asked the remainder of the group. The stones started spinning around her hand and glowing brighter.
Bruce moved forward a bit, but kept his posture neutral rather than aggressive. Though he trusted Wanda wouldn't hurt him, he didn't want to take a chance on provoking her while she was this angry and in the possession of all six Infinity Stones. "We are on your side, Wanda," he said in a sympathetic tone. "We want to believe you, we want to understand and see the truth in what you're trying to do. In order for us to do that, though, we need you to be patient and understanding. It's hard wired into humanity to fear what it doesn't understand. Please, help us to understand what you're trying to do. Don't demand for us to understand or try to make us understand. Just help us to understand, okay?"
She nodded, but turned her attention back to Doctor Strange. Her attention wasn't by any means flattering now. "You obviously aren't interested in understanding, in gaining enlightenment for a greater understanding of the forces you purport yourself to be a master of," she said in a cold, quiet tone. "Since you aren't, there's nothing productive in listening to your condescension any further. It's time for you to drop out of this conversation, Doctor."
She raised her left fist, circled by the stones, and closed her fist. The stones glowed brightly, their light illuminating the area around her like a spotlight. Strange called out in surprise as the Cloak of Levitation he wore suddenly wrapped around his body tightly, binding him as effectively as any other form of restraint. In addition, it wrapped itself hard around his mouth to silence him. He was unable to move, or utter a single sound. He toppled over and fell to the lush ground in silence.
Her gaze turned towards her friends and teammates once more, and the stones swirled around her hand even faster. Clint hurriedly glanced over his shoulder and back at the young woman. He held his hands out towards her, palms open and smiled nervously. "Hey… Wanda…" he drawled out slowly. "Take it easy, okay? It's us, its okay. Let's all just calm down and you can tell us what you're planning, okay?"
Wanda's eyes started to glow a deep red, and Bruce called out, "She's not listening at the moment. We're going to have to subdue her. Don't hurt her, but we need to calm her down so we can all talk civilly."
"Subdue me, Bruce?" she asked with a voice echoing and rumbling like thunder. "Are you truly foolish enough to believe that you can? You'll understand soon, I promise you will. But for right now, you're not ready to accept the truth yet. I told you that you didn't want to get in my way. I don't want to hurt you, any of you. I won't hurt you. But I won't let you keep me from doing what I must, either."
Carol let her power come to the fore, and she glowed brilliantly as she flew rapidly towards Wanda. "Sorry, Wanda, but I can't let you do that," she said in a sincerely sorrowful tone as she managed to grapple the Sokovian woman into a submission hold, even as the others advanced on her. "We know you don't want to hurt anybody, or get hurt yourself. So, come on, please… settle down and let's talk about this like adults? You can even leave that pompous ass Strange trussed up while we do."
Thor spun Stormbreaker rapidly, and then directed the axe towards Wanda, allowing the lightning he called from the sky to arc out towards her. "This will only stun you for a moment, Wanda. Please, listen to reason. We don't want to fight you."
The lightning scattered around her, arcing around her in bluish white branches of pure electrical energy, but as quickly as Thor had directed them her way, Wanda pulled them all to a central point, and the energy dissipated as if it were never there. He'd never seen anything like it. Even Thanos hadn't performed such an act while he had the stones against him.
He hefted Stormbreaker, considering trying it again, because it seemed to have stunned her for a moment, but he was sure she would be ready for a second attempt. He didn't have to worry about making the choice, however. Before he could react, his grip on Stormbreaker proved to work against him.
The stones glowed and suddenly, Stormbreaker shot into the air like a comet, dragging Thor along with it. He yelped in surprise and tried to redirect the axe, but it was if it had a mind of its own. Deducing that Wanda was in control, he tried to release his grip, and figured he'd call Stormbreaker back later, but he was unable to loosen his fingers. He was forced to keep a firm grip on his axe. Try as he might, he couldn't let go.
The others saw what she was doing and followed Bruce's decision to rush her, hoping she wouldn't be able to focus on dealing with all of them at once. Carol still had her in the grapple, so they thought they might stand a chance if they could keep her off balance.
Wanda still struggled with Carol, and saw the others coming at her fast. "I told you, I won't hurt you, but I can't let you stop me, either," she called out. Her voice sounded truly apologetic and her expression was no longer angry, but seemed more sad than anything.
Just before any of them could get to her, they were all frozen in place, unable to move. It was as if time stopped around them, only they were still aware. Carol redoubled her efforts to try to take Wanda down without hurting her, but Wanda clenched her fist and Carol faded from sight as if she were a ghost. In the blink of an eye, the Kree warrior was gone.
Finally free of the grip that Carol had her in, Wanda raised her hand and clenched her fist again as the stones flashed once more. The entire group, including Strange, disappeared into nothingness, leaving Clint standing alone before Wanda.
"Wanda… what did you do?" he cried out in shock, even as he jerked his head around, trying to find even the tiniest sign of his teammates. "Where are they? What did you do to them?"
Wanda shook her head softly, and her lips curled into a soft, gentle smile. "There's nothing to worry about, Clint. I promised I wouldn't hurt any of them. I sent Carol back home, to Earth. I put the ship in orbit, about to leave and head back to Earth as well, and that's where all the others are."
Clint released a held breath in relief. "Oh, thank God. I was afraid you'd gotten angry and decided you weren't in such a nice mood after all. I should have known better. That's not who you are. I know better than that."
"I meant what I said about wanting you all to understand, and to see the truth in what I'm doing. I want so much for you all to understand, and to accept the gifts that I'm going to bring to all of you," Wanda said. Her voice was sad, yet hopeful at the same time. "I swear to you, on Vision and Pietro's lives, I'm not crazy. I know what I'm doing, and I know how it has to seem. I need you to know, Clint. I need you to believe in me and trust me. Please?"
He searched her eyes even as she searched his. He wasn't sure what he was seeing in them, but his gut told him that if nothing else, she believed what she was telling him. Maybe she was crazy, maybe she wasn't. He couldn't say for sure one way or the other. Either way, she was still the same girl that he saw as a little sister. He wanted to believe her, to believe in her and trust her as much as she wanted him to.
"Aw, hell," he said finally, laughing softly despite not knowing why he was doing so. "Even if you are crazy, I still believe in you and trust you, Wanda. I don't understand any of this shit, its all batshit crazy to me. I think I understand you though. I hope I do, anyway. Crazy or not, I know you have to do this, I know you need to try. I trust you with the stones. It's not you or in you to be anything like Thanos. So, that being said… I hope you're right, kiddo. I pray you're right."
He reached out, drew her into a tight hug, and patted her back lightly. "Go do what you have to do, Wanda," he said as they withdrew from the hug. "I'm rooting for you, you know that, right? I'll see if I can't try and make some sense out of all this to them. They want to believe in you and trust you too. Well, maybe not that asshat Strange, but the rest, yeah. Take care of yourself, okay? You know where to find me if you need me. I'm always right here."
"I know," she said with a wistful smile. She returned the hug with a tight embrace, and when they pulled back, she leaned up and kissed his cheek lightly. She held his face lightly in her hands for a moment, and smiled up at him. In a soft voice, she whispered, "YA lyublyu tebe, starshyy brate. Give my love to Laura and the kids, and take care of yourselves. All of you."
He nodded lightly, and she closed her fist slowly, the gems glowed brightly and he faded from sight. She stretched out her senses using the stones, and made sure he was safe and sound aboard the ship with the others, and well on his way back to Earth. She smiled wistfully again and the Space Stone glowed again. She stepped into the fog and was gone in an instant. It was time to begin her work.
AN - Once more, I used Google Translate on the phrase she said to Clint at the end there. The translation is "I love you, big brother." Once more, I apologize if the program butchered the beautiful Ukrainian phrasing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!