A gift for my gifts. Seriously, I love my readers and I love this character, so give her some love. Reviews definitely help me post faster, so let's do the math real quick. :)

Something was wrong and it wasn't the overly ripe fruit Wanda and I feigned interest in. Our distress message should have hit the airwaves over 24 hours ago, which means the Avengers should be beating down our back door if not whisking us away to safety by now.

Hugh had harassed just about every man, woman, humanoid that looked like they had access to a boating vessel. The closest he got was a cute, pudgy old woman slipping him her phone number. I gently tried to explain the true purposes of the paper and he hastily called an end to our day's quest.

Of the food Wanda and I managed to acquire from the fresh market, the fresh fish tasted the best. The coffee beans we purchased were so caffeinated, she actually choked on it. I tried to warn her before the purchase, but she claimed she didn't care at the time. Now, she thrust the steaming mug at me, poking at her scalded tongue miserably.

"It's stronger in Costa Rica," I told her. "You should go to Guatemala one day. I swear my taste buds died and visited heaven there." I finished off the coffee quickly.

Hugh laid back on the bed, headphones turned up so loud, the soothing music filled the rest of the room too.

"How's your shoulder?" Wanda asked.

"Not in the mood to revisit the doctor. They'll come. There was probably just a complication. Like Sam had to stop and fix his hair or Natasha had to kill someone who looked at her wrong."

Wanda ran her hands through her hair, pushing it off her face and hanging her head. "Or we're on our own. We need a backup plan. In case they don't come."

"Mezel created him. She's the only one that knows how to undo it."

"So, maybe we take him to her," Wanda suggested.

I blinked at her and swallowed a bewildered laugh. "You're not serious."

"No. That's insane. They would just off us both and run away with each other. So we get our own boat, get him in the middle of nowhere, throw him overboard."

"Hurricanes on every coast surrounding that ocean."

"We could play dead. Get some poison that slows heartbeats."

"Like Romeo and Juliet? That's so romantic Wanda. I didn't know you felt that way," I cooed.

A light flashed in the window. Wanda shot to her feet, eyes flying wide with hope. Hugh was already at the door, shaggy hair hanging in his face, only one earbud removed as if the threat of discovery was only a mild disturbance to his nightly routine. Wanda and I slid behind him, ready to back up our friends who took their sweet ass time.

Hugh pulled back the door and two uniformed officers moved the flashlight to shine in his face.

"Policía. Nombres, por favor. Identificación y el propósito." Definitely not the Avengers.

When all Hugh did was stare them down, I stepped in the middle, knowing full well my only identification was the rough sketch Wanda did of me posing while bored one morning.

Unfortunately, the night I visited the dead realm and gained my powers, I wasn't given time to grab my passport from my lingerie drawer.

"Que pasa? Turistas," I pointed between us.

A paper was being thrust into my hands. An email. An intercepted email intended for Tony Stark. I glanced up at Wanda sadly, resolving myself for the hell that was about to break out.

The taller woman, the one with the higher ranking and pristine uniform pointed to Wanda accusingly. "Avenger," she said clearly. "Criminal."

I sighed and Hugh's eyes flashed. That was when my eardrums felt like they imploded. The burst of pressure was like squeezing a water bottle too tight. It sent the police officers flying out the door, flipping over the balcony railing and down onto the car parked beneath. The car alarm joined the sirens already cutting through the night. At least ten police cars blocked off the exit and filled the parking lot. Twice as many armed officers were positioned below, their guns aimed and their jaws slack as they looked at their dead co-workers.

"Hugh," I snatched his arm, feeling the jolt of power emanating from his rage snatch my breath away. Breath I didn't need. "Let Wanda compel them to leave. She can…"

"She is the reason we were discovered," Hugh growled darkly. The dopey, almost kind man had vanished in the vortex of his power. The serum ate the man up and spat out only the effects it desired, things that I had to fight against every day: no control, rampant emotions, and loneliness. That last one threatened to swallow me whole more frequently than its counterparts.

"Ok. Ok. So Wanda stays here. But let me convince them to leave then. They're already scared. It won't take much," I pleaded.

His head dipped in hesitation, his eyes zeroing in on my hand and where it touched his forearm. "Go," he barked.

Pants would be an optimal thing to have right now, especially with what appeared to be the entire San Juan police force staring up at me-straight up my t shirt. They did not let me get a word out before orders to put my hands on my head and get to my knees were shouted out. I raised my right arm, palm flat to show some semblance of peace while the wind whipped between my legs like a coiling snake ready to lash out once again. My left arm followed suit slower, the stitches in my shoulder singing out complaints as I dared to move it.

"Please. If you leave us alone, no one will be harmed," I called in their native tongue. Lost in translation was the last thing we had time for.

"Bring out the others!" a voice clipped in clear English. Apparently that was their plan too.

"You've seen what they can do. Just leave!" I pleaded.

My vision was wobbling, my body swaying in a breeze that normally would not touch it. My left arm dropped unceremoniously, numbing pain spiking in clusters all around the wound. My right arm moved to cradle it. That's when the gunshot exploded, my eardrums too probably. There was no adrenaline to keep the bullet hole from registering, no moment where I just watched the blood trickle in disbelief.

I was slammed with the force of it against the wall, screaming as my injury was ripped clean open. Was there seriously no other place I could have been shot?

Hugh exploded from inside then. Bullets cut through the air, meandering to slow stops and dropping to the ground when they neared him. He knelt across from me, face stricken, entire body slumped inward like I was his favorite Lego construction and they had just knocked me to pieces.

"Mercy?" He whispered.

I might have thought it a true question, but he said it with the same conviction with which he uttered his wife's name.

"Oh, my sweet, Mercy. What have they done to you?" His hands were pressing over the blood flow, stealing the white hot heat away, and leaving behind only a dull throbbing.

I gaped at the newly healed shoulder. Blood stained half of my body, but there was no longer a source. Somehow, his ability to selfheal had been extended to me. And now, he swayed like I had earlier, weakened from the exertion.

Red encased us, a glass shell cutting out the entire outside world. Wanda clasped her hands around Hugh's head, taking advantage of his powerless state to render him unconscious. He hit the ground like a bag of cement and let out a pathetic whimper. Wanda raced to me next, searching for any potential threat. Finally, hands as red as the rest of me, she cupped my face and let a relieved smile cross her lips.

"I'm going to turn us in," she said.

"Can you request prison cells with Wi-Fi?" I mumbled.

"Somehow, I think this will draw the attention of our friends."

She turned, hands high, surrender on her tongue.

PS-I'm as anxious as y'all to see how this story ends. :D