As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed or favorite. You all know the tune at this point. ;)

Her body didn't want to wake up, and her eyes didn't want to open. For a moment, she was a little girl again. She would be late for school if she didn't get up soon, but her bed was so invitingly warm, especially compared to how cold it was outside.

Her mother would scold her for not getting up sooner, like her brother did. Her father would look over the morning paper and wink at her. Pesky Pietro would probably brag about how fast he was, and how she was a slowpoke in comparison. She would probably chase him around, as usual, to prove that she was just as fast.

But she wasn't a child anymore, and she wasn't in her home country anymore, and her parents were no longer alive. As her consciousness level began to rise, the first thing she heard was a steady beeping noise that began to sound off faster.

She forced her eyes open, ignoring the pain in her head. For a moment, she was sure that she was in a hospital; the room smelled very sterile, the walls were all white, and there was a black-leathery object attached to her wrist, connected to a tube that led to a machine that seemed to be measuring her heart rate. The beeps were coming from that very machine.

No, if this was a hospital, I would be wearing a white gown. She still had on the red and black clothing (Pietro always called them Goth) that she had been wearing when she –

Her brother! "Pietro!" Her voice echoed in the room. She was alone.

Frantic, she tried to get up from the green bed she was lying on, but her arms and legs were strapped down. She struggled, but the metal wouldn't budge. Gritting her teeth, she tried to summon any energy she could, but her powers seemed distant somehow, closed off.

"Oh, you're awake!" A cheerful voice interrupted her panicked thoughts, but it somehow didn't seem to echo like hers had – rather, it appeared to be all around, somehow. The voice was very familiar…

"Show yourself!" Wanda was scared, but she wouldn't show it. She had been through worse, and as long as her brother was out there somewhere, she would have to stay strong for the both of them.

The voice turned apologetic. "Sorry, I really can't. You see, I'm not really here; I'm just speaking through the speakers on the cameras in the room." To prove his point, the disembodied voice caused a green light on one of the ceiling cameras to blink.

"However, I have informed Mr. Stark that you are awake, and the two of us will be down shortly. But, uh, in case you get bored, how about I play some music from the radio? I'm actually kinda new at this, so I don't know what station would be best, but…well, anything will do, right?"

As soon as he stopped speaking, a loud blast of modern American pop music began to play, a vapid tune about break ups and such things. Wanda would have preferred the silence.

Fortunately, the music shut off as soon as the doors to the room slid open only a few minutes later. Mr. Stark pranced in, his large robot lackey who she now remembered as the one who knocked her unconscious following close behind.

"What do you want from me?" She glared at Stark, making sure to hold his gaze. He didn't seem interested in a staring contest, though; he shrugged, before glancing over at her heart rate. Satisfied with the result, he sat down on a small chair, the kind with wheels at the bottom. She had never used one of those before; what was the point of a chair that could move?

"To be honest, that's sort of the question I wanted to ask you." He held his hand up as she opened her mouth to respond. "Yes, yes, I know that I already asked you that back before our skirmish. You're not a big fan of my work – or at least, what used to be my work. I get that. But you have to understand, I don't do war anymore. That's a game I left a long time ago, you know? Hate the game, not the player."

She didn't know how a man could speak so many words. The only other man she knew who could do that was her own brother, and he had the excuse of being able to speak whole conversations in seconds. Fortunately, she liked Pietro's voice. Stark was another matter.

"OK, look, to prove to you that I mean you no harm, I'll even undo your restraints." He had barely uttered the words when the metal restraints retracted. Immediately, Wanda leapt of the bed, thrusting her hands at her two captors. Seconds passed with nothing happening.

"What have you done to me?" She couldn't access her powers! She had assumed it was the bindings, but even free from the green bed, she couldn't seem to dig into her reservoir of power.

"Like I said, we have no intention of hurting you, but I also don't intend to let you blast us to pieces," Stark patiently explained. "I took the liberty of fastening a power dampener around your neck." Wanda immediately scratched at the tight metallic object around her neck. How had she not noticed it before?

It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to defeat them in her current state. It was time to change tactics.

"Where is my brother? I demand to see him!" The robot, Ultron, sheepishly rubbed the back of its head.

"Yeah….he kinda ran off with some of our stuff, the little thief." Wanda's heart soared; her brother had escaped! No doubt he was planning a way to rescue her! She would only need to be patient.

Wanda squared her shoulders. "So now what? Do you plan to press me for info? Do you want me to betray my brother? If so, do not waste your time. I would never do anything to help you find Pietro."

Tony laughed. "Geez, does Hydra tell its followers spooky bedtime stories about the big bad Avengers? We're not going to ask you to betray your brother, and we're sure as heck not going to torture you. Let me tell you, torture isn't fun, and I wouldn't want anyone to go through it."

For a moment, he had sounded sincere, as if perhaps that had been something he had gone through himself. Even the robot winced in sympathy.

"But! We also can't just let you up and leave, hence the collar." Any empathy he may have gotten from her vanished, as she balled her hands into fists.

"So I am to be your prisoner, is all." She should have known that Stark would keep her locked up. Even if he wasn't willing to murder her (which was a very absurd prospect) his teammates might not feel the same way.

"Prisoner is such an ugly word," Tony groaned, tapping his chin. "I prefer the term, 'Esteemed guest'. Doesn't that sound much better?"

She was still searching for a suitable reply when Tony quickly asked, "Not saying that I'm having any trouble with them, because of course I'm not, but if I were still suffering from the same nightmare that you gave me earlier – by the way, thanks a lot for that – would you be able to, you know, make them stop?"

Wanda wanted to laugh. The nightmare she gave him earlier was still in effect? The truth was, she didn't know how to "remove" one of her dark illusions, but he didn't need to know that.

"Of course, but first you'll have to remove the collar." She forced her face to resemble an innocent young lady, one who was scared and would do anything to ease the fear. Internally, she planned to blow up Stark once she was free.

"Yeah, you didn't actually think that would work, did you?" an exasperated Ultron asked. Tony gave the robot a blank look before scrambling for the life-line thrown at him.

"Yeah, of course. We both knew that you just wanted me to remove the collar. You can't fool me so easily." Ultron sighed, possibly embarrassed by its gullible inventor. Wanda had to admit that the robot's mannerisms were shockingly natural. She supposed Stark was every bit the genius she had heard. It was only too bad he didn't have a heart to go with his brain.

"Whatever, I'll just have to use some strong sleeping pills," Stark grumbled, seemingly frustrated by the fact that he would have to use something as pedestrian as pills to get to sleep.

After that, the only thing keeping the room from drowning in an awkward silence was the hum of the machinery.

"So, now what?" Wanda asked warily. Despite Stark's claims, she didn't feel safe near him. She was sure that he had made many such promises to people he had eventually betrayed.

"Um….I guess you're free to walk around. Or not, if you don't feel up to it. I don't know, it's not very often I have a guest like you. I don't really have a protocol for it…or if I did, only JARVIS would remember." Tony closed his eyes sharply as he finished his sentence, as if he had said something wrong. The robot, Ultron, had also stiffened.

"Anyway, I'm afraid I'll have to leave the collar on for a bit, but if I may say so, it compliments you." She glared daggers at him.

"If you think flattery will make my hatred for you lessen, you aren't the genius I figured you for." Stark spread his arms in a very American "What can you do?" way.

"But seriously, who wants to stay cooped up in this tiny lab? Walk around, check out the kitchen, go look at the sweet view of New York." Tony gestured at Ultron. "Ultron is connected to every camera and sensor in the tower. If you need something, just ask, because he'll probably hear."

Ultron kept its face neutral, but graciously nodded. "Of course, the other Avengers should also be around in the unlikely event that an emergency happens."

Hmm. He is a fool to let me have access to the tower.

"That is very generous of you, Mr. Stark. Perhaps I had the wrong idea about you." There was a trick to these things, to make sure that one sounded authentic. Wanda was no actress, but as a child, there had been plenty of times she had to lie in order to obtain food. This was no different. Lay on the charm, and most people succumbed.

"See? It won't be so bad here! It'll be like having a slumber party – just don't ask Natasha to braid your hair or something." Tony walked away, Ultron trailing behind him. The red-eyed robot glanced back at her for but a moment as it exited.

Wanda knew that the robot was suspicious of her, or at least trained to watch her every move. She would have to be careful – but she would find a way to contact Pietro! She had to!

Author's Notes:

See? To make up for Wanda being unconscious the last two chapters, I gave her one for herself! I hope this makes up for that!

Meanwhile, I saw Ant-Man. It was great, and so much better than I had been expecting! Very fun and imaginative, likable characters, and unique action scenes! If you like the MCU, go watch!