Chapter Fourteen
Aftermath
"Oh, this is just getting more and more interesting." Vox mumbles. Pietro and Sonya whirl around. She's standing in a doorway, grinning. "Which of you will be the most fun to control?" She points at them, "Eenie... meanie...miney..."
Quicksilver throws himself forward, suddenly ricocheting off a wall of red energy. He tumbles back. A figure steps out from behind Vox, hands glowing scarlet.
"...Moe."
"Wanda?"
The Scarlet Witch's eyes are blank, face twisted in a vicious scowl. Her hands flash out and tendrils of red energy fly towards Pietro. He dives out of the way, Sonya throwing up a shield around them.
"Scared?" Vox smirks. "I don't know why I didn't think of Wanda in the first place. She's obviously the most powerful of all of you... but she has a surprisingly vulnerable mind. I guess that's what comes when you think of yourself as unstoppable."
"Get out of her head!" Pietro yells, fists clenched.
"Now, why would I do that? She's the best weapon I've ever encountered."
"My sister is not a weapon!"
"Isn't that what you two were created to be? Weapons?" Vox turns her gaze on Sonya. "Freaks? Nothing more that glorified minions."
Quicksilver snarls, bursting out of Sonya's shield. "Pietro! No!" She yells, but he ignores her, slamming into Vox. She hisses, waving her hand, and Wanda captures him in a cocoon of energy.
"You really thought I'd go down that easily?"
He kicks his feet. "Let go of me, Wanda!" He sounds angry, but his eyes are wide.
"Frightened?" Vox hisses. "You've seen what your sister can do, haven't you? She's always been much more powerful than you, hasn't she? She could kill you in the blink of an eye."
"Let them go." Sonya says, her voice shaky. "You don't have to hurt them. I'm the one you want, and honestly, I don't know why, but just leave them be."
"Sonya, don't!" Pietro snaps.
"How noble. And how delusional. I don't want to settle with destroying you, Sonya, I intend to destroy everyone you've ever cared about. Just for the fun of it."
"That's psychotic. You've gotta have a motive. People don't work like that."
"Oh, well, Astoria's got a motive... and she's in charge... I guess taking over the world sounds fine." She shrugs. "Do you want to know what Wanda's deepest fear is?"
"Just leave them alone!"
Vox continues on, unfazed. "It's losing the people she cares about. Especially her brother. Imagine how it will break her when she finds out she's the one who killed him. Tragic, isn't it?"
Suddenly, Pietro goes crashing to the ground, enveloped in a purple bubble. "I can't let that happen." Sonya snarls.
"Do you think you can defeat Wanda? You've never seen her give it her all. You should be running right now."
"This monologueing is starting to piss me off." Pietro says as Vox continues ranting about her evil plans, "I couldn't care less about what her plan is, but I'm getting my sister back."
"Don't you dare go rushing in without a plan." Sonya hisses, grabbing his arm. "You'll get yourself killed."
"I will not. Wanda would not hurt me."
"Maybe not, but Vox will."
"She must catch me first. Which she will not, because I am too fast. Trust me, this plan will work."
"What plan?!"
"The one where I get my little sister back, and you stay back here, safe, so I do not loose you, too."
"Your plan is terrible."
"IT IS THE ONLY ONE WE HAVE!"
"A lover's spat?" Vox chuckles.
Pietro whirls. "You shut up." He turns back to Sonya. "This will work, I am sure of it."
"If you can distract Wanda, then I'm going after Vox."
"No."
"Yes."
The plan works... at first. Pietro tackles Wanda, and Sonya even manages to punch Vox in the nose. But the brunette has no interest in holding back. She knocks the healer flying, Sonya slams against a building, pain exploding in her middle. Sonya gasps in shock, her ears buzzing, vision going black as purple energy sparks around her. She struggles up right, but Vox stabs her in the stomach. Sonya screams, rolling out of the way.
"If I just keep giving you fatal injuries, how long will I be until you stop healing yourself?" Vox asks, kicking her in the stomach and pulling a gun out of seemingly nowhere. "Is that even possible?"
The healer scrambles to her feet, wounds still sparking. She isn't able to throw up a shield. She stumbles, tripping on a loose brick, as Vox fires the weapon. Pietro whirls around and throws himself at Sonya. He can feel his sister's powers snatching at him, slowing him down. He knows there isn't time to get Sonya out of the way. "Hey, maybe I'll survive this one, too." He thinks, as he tackles her, three rounds burying themselves in his back. "I hope that doesn't hurt her too badly."
Sonya screams at his pain and he apologizes silently. "PIETRO!"
"What? You didn't see that coming?" He smirks, going limp against her.
"NO! YOU IDIOT!" She yells, stiffening as she feels him weaken. "No. NO." Sonya looses focus on Vox, scrambling out from under Pietro's limp body, and hands glowing. "No, no, no! Don't you dare die on me, don't you dare!"
To her right, Wanda screams, red energy exploding around her. She whirls on Vox, attacking with everything she has. But Sonya doesn't register this, she's too focused on Pietro. Her body is trying to heal itself, but she doesn't let that happen, pushing all of her powers in to bringing him back. She's filled with pain, unsure if it's her own or someone else's. Tears are burning in her eyes, she sobs as they land on his face, glowing. Pietro gasps, stiffening, as they sink into his skin, healing him. Sonya whimpers with relief, falling against his chest as everything goes dark.
Sonya blinks her eyes open slowly, groaning softly at the pain in her head. She feels like she's been run over by a truck. Full of bricks. Repeatedly. "You would think cell regeneration would do something about soreness." She mumbles to no one. She's lying in a bed in SHIELD's medical center, a place she's been often enough to recognize it by the ceiling and the smell of iodine.
"You're awake." Doctor Helen Cho enters the room, giving Sonya a quick smile. "That's good."
The healer smiles back, making a move to sit up. She's wearing plain cotton pajamas. Flopping back against her pillows, she rubs her forehead. "My head is killing me. How long was I out?"
"48 hours." Doctor Cho replies, handing Sonya a glass of water and two Advil. "Here."
"Thanks." Sonya mumbles. "Wait. 48 hours?! Like, two days?!"
"Yes."
"Oh, wow. That-that's a long time."
"Your friends were very worried." The doctor says, just as the door flies open and Pietro zips in with a streak of blue, skidding to a stop next to Sonya's bed.
She gives him a once over. He looks healthy, if not exhausted. When she's satisfied with his well-being, she throws her glass of water at his head. He catches it, of course, wincing a little as she starts screaming at him. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! CAN'T YOU EVER THINK?! I TOLD YOU NOT TO DASH IN WITHOUT A PLAN!"
He frowns. "I had a plan."
"WELL, IT OBVIOUSLY WASN'T A VERY GOOD ONE!" She bites her lip. "What if I hadn't been able to bring you back? Do you really want Wanda to lose you again?!"
Doctor Cho sneaks out the door. She has no desire to get involved in this.
Pietro shrugs his shoulders up to his ears and looks away. "I-I'm sorry. I was scared. I was not thinking clearly. I do not like to see you and Wanda in danger."
Sonya sighs, holding her arms out. "C'mere."
He complies, hugging her tightly. "If you had stayed back like I had told you, we would not be in this situation."
"Oh, shut up." She mumbles. "You're incorrigible."
"Thank you."
"That's not a good thing."
Pietro laughs. "I know." He pulls back from her hug, face serious. "Let's plan more carefully in the future, yes?"
"Yeah. Let's."
Pietro smiles at her. "Now that we have that out of the way..." With that, he leans forward and kisses her. Sonya hums in agreement and wraps her arms around his neck.
Of course, the rest of the team has to burst in just then and ruin it. Tony freezes in the doorway, and everyone trips over him. "I knew it." He stage whispers, from underneath two super-soldiers and an angry hawk. "Steve, you owe me ten bucks."
"Damn."
"Language." Nat says, stepping over them. Wanda dashes around her and tackles her brother and Sonya with a hug.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She sobs. Pietro rolls his eyes.
"We already went over this, Wanda. No one blames you."
"Yeah." Sonya agrees. She glares a little at him over Wanda's head. "Although, I wouldn't have said it quite so harshly."
Wanda sniffles a little. "You are not angry?"
The healer raises an eyebrow. "Why would I be?"
"Because I hurt you!"
"If you abandoned someone every time they made a mistake, it would be really lonely." Sonya smiles. "Besides, I know what it's like to to have Vox in your head."
"What happened after I blacked out?" Sonya asks. Wanda frowns, thinking back...
Wanda screams as Pietro falls, Vox's grip on her mind shattering like glass. Energy explodes around her, shaking the air like a pulse. The Witch can feel everything, everyone. Pietro, a flash of silver and adrenaline, the life-force leaking out of his body, held in check by the warm but frantic energy that is Sonya, and the broiling, uncontrollable force that is Vox. Wanda has one goal: Destroy Vox. Her powers swirl through the air, clamping, grabbing, suffocating, stamping the life out of her enemy like one would stamp the life out of a fire. Vox stutters, shivering, sinking, failing. Winking out like a smothered flame.
Wanda doesn't stop there, though. Her power explodes outward, slamming into the minds of her enemies, brushing around her friends. She can feel everything. The jarring in Cap's arm when he catches the shield, the rage coursing through the Hulk, the snap of a bowstring against her arm, the recoil of a gun, the tingle of electricity... Everything...
Astoria is distracted and takes a blow to the head. Her army falters as soon as she hits the ground, some scattering, some collapsing...
"We are still working on clean-up." Wanda continues. "Most of the others are going out on missions, trying to bring in the rest of the army. Vox is dead, Astoria imprisoned in the Raft."
"So Shinigami is gone?" Sonya asks hopefully.
"Yes."
"And the army? How do you identify the soldiers?"
"Tony hacked Shinigami's systems. We have full bios and identification of everyone." Steve assures her, strolling in just then. "Thanks to that, we can track them all down."
"What'll happen to them? They can't all've been wanting what Astoria did, right?" The healer inquires. Cap shrugs.
"Right now, we aren't sure. Some appeared to be under Vox's control, some were just people who wanted something to believe in, and some actually were evil. Our main priority is to find out who is who. SHIELD is interviewing them, trying to find out who is guilty. Those that are will most likely be sent to the Raft."
"I see." Sonya mutters. "What about the innocent ones? The ones being controlled?"
"A whole lot of therapy." He says blithely.
"A lot of them are pretty messed up." Wanda adds. The healer nods.
"I can imagine."
"We're hoping that most of them will be able to go back to living mostly normal lives after this. We're working on getting contact with the X-Men to see if they can lend a hand." Steve continues. "There isn't anything to worry about."
Sonya chuckles. "I wasn't worried. I trust you guys."
"I've been thinking." Tony says.
Sonya glances up from her book. "Always a perilous activity."
The billionaire bites his lip and looks over her head. "There's really no reason for you to stay here anymore. You could leave."
The healer stares at him. Tony slaps himself. "Augh! No! Ignore that, dammit! It came out wrong! What I mean is, you shouldn't stay here anym-! Shit! No! That was EVEN WORSE! Arrggh!" He covers his face with both hands and slides down in his chair. "That's not what I'm trying to say! Dammit! I don't know what I'm trying to say!"
"Are you alright?"
"NO!" Iron Man takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "No. I'm fine. I'm great. It's just that... with Astoria and Vox and the rest of Shinigami gone... I guess you could go back to relative anonymity? Like, I'll get you a new apartment and stuff and get you all moved in if you want. And I won't be mad if you wanna leave. I get it. Who wants to live with us anyway? Two old men, some assassins, two birds... not really great roommates." He jumps up and dashes out of the room, leaving Sonya staring after him. "Just think about it."
She does think about it. Maybe too much. She still isn't sure what Tony was trying to say (blame the ASD) and she's also exhausted (blame the efforts to wrap-up the Shinigami affair). The team has moved from the Tower and taken up residence in the Avenger's Facility with the rest of SHIELD. Sonya's sleep-deprived brain is fluttering all over the place. The most she can glean is that leaving the Avenger's was an option that Tony Stark just gave her.
"But... Why? Why say that all of a sudden?" Sonya muses. "Maybe because all of the people trying to kill me and/or steal my brain are finally behind bars? Maybe he never actually liked me? Maybe he can finally throw me out in (somewhat) good conscience?
"Nah." She mumbles. "That's ridiculous."
"What is ridiculous?" Wanda asks. Sonya nearly jumps out of her skin.
"Holy shit!" She whirls, glaring at the other girl, panting a little. "What the heck, Wanda?!"
Scarlet Witch giggles. "Sorry. I overheard you talking to yourself. What was that about?"
Sonya shrugs and waves her hand dismissively. "Nothing... It's just... Nothing."
"Are you sure?"
The healer shuffles her feet and looks up at the ceiling. "While I was still in the infirmary, Tony said I could leave the Avengers..." Wanda's jaw drops. She's too stunned to say anything, but Sonya is still talking. "I'm not sure what he meant though. Like, is he kicking me out? Why all of the sudden? I don't know! And I don't like that. Do you think he's trying to get rid of me? Is this happening now because Shinigami is gone and I can go back to my old life without being targeted by Astoria or Vox?"
"I...I don't think that is what he meant." Wanda finally says.
"THEN, WHAT DID HE MEAN?!" The healer exclaims, gesticulating wildly.
"I think what he meant was that he noticed how you miss your old life. He was telling you that he was willing to help you regain that life, if you wanted it."
Sonya blinks. "O-oh. Tha-that makes more sense. That makes a lot more sense." She sighs. "Im glad he doesn't hate me."
"Are you going to?" Wanda asks timidly. The other girl has become an important part of her life and seeing her leave would be... horrible.
Sonya shrugs, not really registering the worry on the Witch's face, too lost in her own thoughts. "I don't know." She hurries off, leaving Wanda staring after her.
The Witch does what she always does in times of crisis: She goes to Pietro.
A couple days later finds Sonya better rested and worrying over a field report. She's stowed away in her room with a supply of snacks and a stack of files that need processing, her favorite mixtape blaring over the speakers. Since taking a break from the field, she has found herself slipping in to a more administrative position. She doesn't dislike the change, but kind of misses working with her friends. Just then, a blue blur bursts in the room, shattering the peace.
"Hey." Pietro says, skidding to a stop next to Sonya. "I finally found you."
"Were you looking for me?" She glances up from her laptop, popping an animal cracker in her mouth. The screen displays a half-finished mission report.
"Yeah. You did not tell me you had returned. I only found out because Sam stole some of my dinner." He glares off into the distance, probably mentally cursing the other man.
"Tragic." Sonya says. "Did you come in here for snacks, or was there another reason?"
"Nope." He grins cheekily and plops down on the floor next to her, digging a hand into the tub of animal crackers. "Yum. Theses are the frosted kind." He holds up a pink-frosted blob. "Obviously, this is the majestic lion, king of the jungle, a beast at the top of the food chain." He bites what is probably the head off. "But the lion is not match for me."
Sonya chuckles, saving her work and turning up the music. Pietro grins as Twenty-One Pilot's Lane Boy comes on. "This is the best song on the album." He declares.
"No way! Not Today is much better!"
"No!" Pietro throws a cracker at her. Sonya gasps in indignation as it tangles in her hair. She retaliates by tossing a marshmallow at his face. He dodges it and lunges forward, tackling her. They collapse into laughter as Pietro bowls Sonya over.
The speedster sobers first, which is unusual, rolling off her and shoving a marshmallow in his mouth. Sonya frowns, propping herself up on her elbows and stares at his back
"Are you okay?" She asks.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He replies.
"You're upset about something." The healer tells him, crawling over and plopping down next to him. "What's wrong?"
Pietro shrugs, fidgeting a little. "I just want to know. Wanda said you told her about Tony's offer... Will you take it? Are you going to leave?" He bites his lip, glancing at her nervously.
Sonya gawks at him. "Of course not! Why would you think that?!"
"I DON'T KNOW?!" He flails wildly, flopping on to his back. "I AM VERY CONFUSED!" She grins at him, then dissolves into laughter once again. "STOP LAUGHING!" He splutters. "THIS IS A REAL ISSUE!"
The healer clamps her hands over her mouth. "I'm sor – hehe – sorry! It's just - ! I can't believe you were worried! I don't have anything left to go back to!" She straightens, face serious. "You guys are my life now. I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise?"
Sonya pulls Pietro into a hug. "I promise. Together, remember?"
He sighs with relief. "Together."
THE END
A/N: So! That's that! Fear not! I'm not done with Sonya! Book 2 will happen, so keep an eye out for that and also oneshots featuring her! Thanks for all of your support! Especially the following: Alibird1, PondLake, lifeasjesus, sweet sunset rain, TheLightBehindHerEyes and multiple guest for your kind reviews!