I would like to apologize about the long wait for this chapter. Here it is!


Wanda had been curled up for hours, drifting between consciousness and sleep. Finally, unable to drift off, she sat up. Suddenly, she flinched as all the things she had been unconsciously making levitate crashed to the ground.

She showered and dressed, before leaving her room. She wasn't hungry yet, so she occupied her time for the next hour in the training room, trying to work on her abilities. She levitated most of the objects in the room simultaneously, but had a harder time being precise with her actions. Finally, she went up for breakfast.

After she ate a piece of toast with some ice water, she was startled by an announcement on the coms. She hadn't even known they had coms, but the voice over the speaker was proof enough.

"All Avengers meet in the rec room. All Avengers meet in the rec room." Natasha's voice was clear and professional over the speaker.

When Wanda made her way to the rec room, wondering why they were all gathering. When she arrived, she sat down on one of the couches, avoiding everyone's gaze. She didn't want to talk. The small moment of happiness she'd had when she saw Vision's flower had disappeared since that day.

Wanda was shaken out of her thoughts by Steve's clear, purposeful voice. "We've been working hard for almost two months now, and all of you have had prior experience. So Natasha has managed to convince me that you are ready for your first assignment. Nothing too big, but we want to test you in the field. We're taking the jet to Pakistan, as Nat got wind of an arms dealer in the area. They were known to have worked with Hydra. Get ready; we leave in two hours."

Wanda nodded. She was ready to take out some of her frustration on someone. She headed for her room to get dressed in her battle clothes, trying to push off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.


"Destination ahead. Get ready."

The voice over the speakers was FRIDAY, the replacement for JARVIS. Wanda flexed her fingers, ready for the fight that was to come.

When the plane touched down at twilight, invisible in stealth mode, they got out quietly as Steve went over the plan.

"Quickly and quietly. We want this over with us in command."

They were doing well until they got into sight of the bunker. She could see little, except for the dry, dusty earth and the concrete building before them. There were patrols everywhere, at least thirty men in total, some higher up to get a good vantage point. Thankfully, the scattered boulders made for good cover.

"Let's go."

At those words, they sprung into action. Natasha rolled forward, firing off six shots in quick succession, dropping six men like stones.

Steve leaped forward as well, swinging his shield forward and taking out about four.

Sam launched himself into the air to deal with the men higher up, Rhodey at his side. Vision flew forward to join them, and Wanda herself joined the fray.

She picked up one man with her powers and threw him into two of his companions, while at the same time launching scattered chips of stone into a group of men aiming to fire. Many dropped, clutching their faces, as the sharp pieces of rock cut them. She grinned in dark satisfaction, pleased to have a way to vent her frustration.

Wanda ran for the bunker, the door illuminated in red as she grabbed hold of it with her mind and yanked it off it's hinges.

She ran for dark opening, but before she made it in, swarms of men ran out to meet her, a spray of bullets forcing her to stop and throw up a shield of glowing energy to deflect them. She narrowed her eyes in determination, and suddenly, three men were thrown to the sides.

Suddenly, backup arrived. Natasha dropped more men, shooting without even blinking.

"Can you get us in?" she called over, not taking her eyes from her targets, which were dropping like stones even now.

"Yes." Her voice full of determination, Wanda yanked the guns from the men and threw the men into the air, letting them fall where they would.

She took the lead, running into the dimly lit bunker. She kept going, Natasha on her heels, until they reached a large room.

It was large enough to fly in easily, with a large balcony bridging a gap. In the gap were huge wooden crates. She froze when she saw an open one. It was filled with guns. Not small hand-held ones, but machine guns. Large machine guns with hundreds of rounds, some large, some small. But all made for killing.

She stared at the man standing on the other side of the bridge. He was relatively short, with close cut black hair, and a large scar running from his forehead, across his eye, and down to midway of his cheek. He held himself confidently, making him seem taller, and his light green eyes were both ruthless and angry. At his back were around 50 men, all armed.

Natasha looked at her with a tight smile as the other Avengers finally joined them. "Gotta feel bad for them. Terrible odds." And with that, the fighting began.

Natasha fired quickly, taking out those in front, with Sam and Rhodey firing from above. Steve ran forward, his shield in front of him, and slammed a fist into one man, while slamming another off the balcony with his shield. Vision dove into the fray, obviously altering his density, as bullets were simply going right through him. However, his arms seemed to be normal, as two men went down with quick hits.

Wanda had to shake herself out of her proud moment. She was about to throw herself into the fray when she saw the leader of the men heading for a steel door near the back, two men guarding his back. She felt a sting of rage that the coward would flee, and flew herself toward them fast.

She landed in front of the door, her eyes glowing scarlet. The man eyed her in disgust.

"Enhanced," he snarled, his accent Australian. "Back down."

She narrowed her eyes, and the two men on either side of their leader drew their guns. She quickly stopped them from shooting, concentrating to keep both down at once.

In the deafening noise of the gunfight, Wanda did not notice one more. Suddenly, a white hot pain exploded in her abdomen, and she stumbled back. She stared the small man in the eyes, and he smiled cruelly, before his two guards led him through the door.

Wanda let them, feeling dizzy and sick. She gently touched the agonized area, and when she lifted her hand, it was covered in blood. She sunk to her knees, wincing as blood flowed from the gunshot wound. She couldn't think or breathe. She somehow met Vision's agonized eyes as he tried to get to her, but she was losing consciousness, struggling to breathe.

"WANDA!"