Chapter 14
Stay with me a little longer
I will wait for you
Shadows creep and want grows stronger
Deeper than the truth
-War of Hearts by Ruelle
Warnings for torture, violence, and death of a child
Wanda cracked open her eyes, quickly shut them again, and groaned.
Her head was pounding and she felt like she was about to be sick. It felt like that time Pietro had stolen a bottle of cheap vodka and they'd both gotten drunk for the first time. The next morning had been hell. She reached out a hand, feeling for her brother, but her fingers brushed only cold stone.
"Pietro?" She mumbled.
In the silence she forced her eyes open again. Dreary gray stones swam in her vision. She blinked and blinked again, but the room didn't change. She was in a stone cell. She clambered to her feet, swaying slightly as the panic set in. It looked similar to the Hydra base in Sokovia. She stumbled over to the small barred window and peered out, but she could see nothing but trees. This couldn't be Sokovia. She had been…she had been an Avenger. She had been on The Raft. She had been in Canada with Steve and Sam and James.
And Pietro was dead.
An image of Sam laying on the floor bleeding flashed through her mind and her breath caught.
"Sam?" She called in a panic. "Steve? James?"
There was no answer. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. She was still wearing the worn jeans, oversized flannel, and hiking boots she'd been wearing in Canada. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember what happened. They had gone to rescue Beatrice. The woman…Agatha, she'd had powers. And Baron Strucker's son.
James.
He'd been so close to punching his fist through Agatha's shield.
Thinking about James made her chest ache so deeply it took her breath away.
She opened her eyes and forced herself to take ten deep breaths. As she did so, she looked around her. The cell was small with rough hewn stone walls and a cold stone floor. There was a pile of straw in the corner that she had been laying on, a bucket that she assumed was the toilet, and a heavy looking wooden door with metal hinges. As she turned her head to look at the door more closely, her hair snagged on something terribly familiar. Her breath caught in her throat and her hands flew up to touch the metal collar around her throat.
"No." She breathed, pulling on it uselessly. "No!"
She tried to summon her powers and felt the familiar burn of the collar. She quickly stopped, moving her shaking hands to cover her mouth in horror. This couldn't be real. This had to be a dream or a flashback. Maybe in her head she had combined The Raft and Hydra into one horrible nightmare.
"Wake up." Her voice cracked. "Please wake up."
Nothing happened and her breath started coming faster. She stumbled back to the pile of straw, falling to her knees, her body curling inward protectively. Her breath came in ragged gasps and that sharp pain started stabbing through her chest. Eventually everything blurred into a dreamlike state where nothing seemed real and she was stuck laying paralyzed and waiting to die.
She wasn't sure how long she lay there hyperventilating, but eventually through her panicked haze she saw someone crouch down next to her. A gentle hand smoothed her hair back and a maternal presence overwhelmed her. Tears pricked in her eyes.
"Mama?" She choked out.
The person laughed lightly. "Guess again!"
The voice made the hair on the back of her neck rise. She scrambled away or at least she tried to. Her limbs felt too heavy to move.
"Oh don't hurt yourself now." Agatha scolded. "I just want to talk."
"No." Wanda wheezed, gasping for air.
"Oh for Merlin's sake." Agatha reached out and tapped Wanda's nose and Wanda's breathing slowed. She could feel her body struggling against the foreign presence. Her lungs ached under the strain of being controlled by someone else, but as she breathed slower her vision cleared.
"The drama." Agatha rolled her eyes, but then she grinned. "So Wanda, dear, tell me about yourself!"
Wanda stared at her.
"Oh come on! I mean, I know the basics right? Wanda Maximoff born February 10, 1989 along with twin brother Pietro Maximoff." Agatha leaned in, moving her hand to one side of her mouth like she was telling a secret. "(sadly deceased) to happy parents Oleg and Iryna Maximoff (also sadly deceased) in Sokovia. You were the first human subjects to survive Baron Strucker's experiments and then there was Ultron and the Avengers blah blah blah." Agatha waved her hand dismissively. "But I want to know about you, Wanda."
"What, did you kidnap me just to learn my favorite color?" Wanda spit out hoarsely.
Agatha cackled. "Is it red? Cause it seems like it'd be red."
"What do you really want?" Wanda glared.
"Ugh, are you gonna be boring?" Agatha sighed. "Look, I've had to deal with a bunch of baby Nazis who can't form a half decent thought beyond 'Heil Hydra!' so forgive me if I'm just a little excited to finally have another witch around here."
Wanda felt her hackles rise. "I'm not a witch."
Agatha raised an eyebrow. "Mmhmm."
"I'm not. People call me that, but I'm just an enhanced."
"Yeah, sure." Agatha said with false sincerity.
Wanda stopped and glared at her. She hated being called a witch. People had thrown it at her like a slur ever since she'd received her powers. She'd heard Tony derogatorily refer to her as "the little witch" when he thought she wasn't in earshot. The media had run with it after Lagos, gleefully referring to her as a witch with all the negative connotations that came with the word.
"So you're just an 'enhanced' who happens to use magic." Agatha examined her fingernails.
"It's not magic." Wanda snapped.
"Uh huh." Agatha twisted her hand and purple tendrils danced at her fingertips. Wanda watched her manipulate the light around her fingers, mesmerized by the familiarity of the movement. How many times had she done the same thing with her own powers? "I'm gonna make this as simple as possible, mkay? This…" Agatha held out her palm and the purple light manifested into a ball of purple energy. "...is magic. I'm a witch. You ever hear the phrase, it takes one to know one?"
Wanda swallowed past the doubt that was suddenly lodged in her throat. "I can't be a witch." She racked her brain for any knowledge she had about witches that didn't come from fairy tales. "I didn't have any powers before the scepter. No one in my family had powers."
"Yes that is interesting." Agatha's eyes lit up as she snapped her hand shut, making the purple energy vanish. "Ooooh I do love a good mystery."
They stared at each other. Wanda with frightened apprehension and Agatha with something like hungry curiosity.
"You didn't answer the question." Wanda said finally. "Why am I here?"
"Oh I'm sure Werner is going to give you the rundown of his whole diabolical plan." Agatha said, looking terribly unimpressed. "I'm sure you've guessed most of it already. Hydra isn't exactly creative. "
Wanda tried to hide the shudder that went through her. "Then why are you here?"
"First lesson of being a witch: you can't be picky about alliances. The people who loved you one decade might try to kill you the next. The bad guys will be good guys and then the bad guys again. You learn not to look a gift horse in the mouth you know?" Agatha huffed a laugh, shaking her head. "Not that long ago people used to burn witches alive. And now you can buy bundles of sage and crystals at the grocery store."
Wanda eyed her. Agatha looked younger here than she had in the church, but she had no idea how old the woman actually was. She was beginning to suspect Agatha was much older than she looked. It felt like the woman talked in circles, but she ran what Agatha had said through her mind again and realized something.
"So what has Hydra promised you?"
A wide smile spread across Agatha's face. "Now you're asking the right questions!"
Wanda waited, but Agatha just silently watched her right back.
"Oh sorry, were you waiting for me to reveal my evil plan?" The witch finally asked, her eyes twinkling. "No, I'm not going to tell you."
Wanda clenched her jaw to keep from snarling in frustration. "Aren't witches usually loyal to a coven? Where's yours?"
The amusement faded from Agatha's face as something dangerous flashed through her eyes. "I outgrew mine."
Wanda tightened her fists until she could feel her nails biting into her palms. "If I'm a witch shouldn't we be on the same side? Shouldn't you take this collar off?"
Agatha chuckled. "Oh hon, I'm not falling for that."
"Where are we?"
"Sorry my lips are sealed." Agatha mimed locking her lips closed and tucking the key into her pocket.
"You know Hydra will just betray you." Wanda tried desperately.
Agatha smiled again, but her eyes were hard and cold. "Wanda, darling, haven't you learned by now that everyone will betray you?"
After Agatha left, Wanda sat on her itchy pile of straw, leaning miserably against the cold stone wall. She didn't know what to make of the witch or the things she was claiming about Wanda's powers. There had been old women in her village that people had called "čarodejnica" [witch] in hushed voices. They were the ones people went to see when they had trouble conceiving a child or needed a talizman [talisman]. She had never seen anyone with powers that looked like hers…or Agatha's for that matter.
She remembered Vision saying that he hoped to understand the stone in his head. The more I do, the less it controls me.
She angrily brushed the memory away. She didn't want to think of Vision. It reminded her too much of sitting in her cell on The Raft, thinking about Vision and desperately hoping he would come and rescue her like a fool.
She wrapped her arms around herself as a hot tear slid down her cheek. At least on The Raft she had Clint and Scott and Sam. Even on the worst days when her body was screaming in pain and her mind felt like it was one push away from shattering, she hadn't been alone. She tried to imagine what they would say if they were here. Scott would probably be looking around with wide eyes asking if this was a castle. Clint would roll his eyes and tell him he needed to get out more and Scott would probably make a quip that whenever he went out with them he just ended up in a cell. Sam would probably kick the straw bed and ask if they'd time traveled to the middle ages and Clint would say something like "if you don't like your straw, I'll take it." And then Scott would ask a ridiculous question like "if each Avenger were a pie what kind of pie would they be?"
She smiled through the tears. She missed them so much.
And James-
The lock on the door suddenly creaked and the door swung open. Wanda was immediately on her feet, her back pressed against the wall. Two Hydra soldiers came in, guns drawn. Their heads were completely covered in black balaclavas and their eyes were covered by black goggles. Black gloves covered their hands. Not a single inch of skin showed anywhere, making them look almost inhuman.
"Baron Strucker möchte Sie sprechen. Komm mit uns. [Baron Strucker wants to see you. Come with us.]" One of them barked in German.
The name Baron Strucker rang painfully through Wanda's head as though someone had struck a bell right next to her ear. Of course, Werner would be Baron now that his father was dead. Still, it made her feel unsteady as though she were walking half in the past and half in the present.
The other guard produced a strange pair of metal shackles and approached her. Wanda debated trying to fight him, but the collar on her neck was a heavy reminder of how helpless she was once again. So she held out her shaking hands and let him snap them onto her wrists. They completely covered her hands, making it look like she had stuck both hands into a metal cylinder. She tried to swallow down the panic that was clawing its way up her throat.
The guards marched her silently down a long hallway, a flight of stairs, and another long hallway. The castle (it did appear to be a castle) was in terrible disrepair. The ornate wallpaper was faded and peeling in places and the wooden floor was covered in a layer of dirt. The large grand rooms were mostly empty, barren even of furniture. It had clearly been a beautiful, even opulent place at one time, but it looked like it had been empty and unused for decades. Finally they came to a newer door. One of the guards rapped his knuckles sharply on the door and Werner's voice called "Eintreten. [Enter]."
The door opened to a room that was slightly more furnished. This room had dark wood paneling on the walls and an incredibly intricate wood coffered ceiling. There was a giant stone fireplace on one wall. A large well worn persian rug had been thrown over the dirty floor. In the middle of the rug there was an ornate wooden desk and two faded velvet wingback wooden chairs. Werner was sitting behind the desk, sifting casually through paperwork. He looked up when they came in and then stood.
"Please, be seated Fräulein." He said in a slight German accent, gesturing to the velvet chairs like she was a guest and not a shackled prisoner.
Wanda sank into the soft chair and tried to keep her expression flat.
Werner stood for a moment longer, scanning her, before gracefully sinking back into his chair. Wanda eyed him back. He was probably in his mid-twenties, long and lanky, with wavy sandy blond hair that was long enough to cover his ears and flow around his face. It looked extremely out of place in a Hydra facility that always seemed to require sharp military style haircuts. It made him look softer, especially compared to the faceless Hydra soldiers. He was dressed stylishly in clothes that looked expensive. He didn't look at all like his father who had always been grimly militaristic.
"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here." He said.
Wanda didn't answer and he smirked slightly.
"I have a colleague named Alexei Karpov. While I have inherited my father's work with the Scepter, he has inherited his father's work with the Winter Soldier Program."
He picked up a piece of paper from his desk and slid it towards Wanda. She glanced down at it. The paper was some sort of report typed in Russian. While Wanda could speak Russian, she had never learned how to read or write the language. But paper clipped to the sheet was a photo of James in the cryo tank. His lips and skin were tinted blue and ice coated his eyelashes. Wanda felt sick.
"Such a complicated project, the Winter Soldier Program." Werner sighed, steepling his fingers together. "It requires so much time and equipment and personnel just to maintain one asset. One of Hydra's greatest shortcomings is clinging to the past, but to truly be great we must always be moving forward. Wouldn't you agree?"
Wanda stayed silent, but nausea swirled in her stomach. She had a feeling she knew where this was going, and she desperately hoped she was wrong. Werner didn't seem bothered by her silence.
"Unfortunately we no longer have the Scepter, but we do have the great gift the Scepter gave us, you. " His eyes glinted. "I believe your mental powers are the key. You can create an army of loyal soldiers for Hydra with only your mind. No long periods of re-programming, no chair. So Alexei and I are combining our two projects. Together we will make the Winter Soldier Program an unstoppable force."
Wanda was trying to keep her face blank, but she could feel herself recoiling in horror. Werner leaned forward, his gaze earnest on her face.
"I would like to offer you the chance to rule Hydra by my side. This is why you were gifted your powers, Wanda. This is your destiny. Help me change the world and create order from the chaos."
"No." She bit out immediately.
Werner blinked, looking almost surprised at her quick response. Then the surprise faded to disappointment.
"I would suggest you reconsider." He said in a soft, dangerous voice. "I am asking as a courtesy. But this will be your destiny regardless of your opinion."
"Let me be clear then. I will never help you." Wanda tilted her chin up defiantly. Her heart was pounding in anger and terror. She knew what sort of pain and torture Hydra could inflict, but she would never willingly help them enslave more people the way James had been enslaved.
To her surprise, Werner smiled. "Ah, I do wish my father could see you now. How disappointed he would be."
Werner stood up and walked around the desk until he stood directly in front of where she sat. He leaned casually on the desk with his arms crossed and looked down at her. Wanda pressed herself into the back of the chair, trying to get as far away as possible.
"I've spent most of my life listening to my father speak of the incredible Maximoff twins, his darlings." He said in a low voice. His eyes glinted. "It's so refreshing to see he was wrong. You're just a girl with powers you don't deserve. "
"And you're just a boy with daddy issues." Wanda snapped back before she could help herself.
Werner's face darkened. He moved quickly, placing his hands on the arms of her chair and leaning into her space.
"I've heard that you scream so beautifully when this collar turns on." He murmured. He was so close to her face that she could feel his warm breath brush her cheek. "Should we try it out?"
Wanda stiffened, trying to brace herself. Her breath caught frantically in her chest. Werner pulled back and she caught a glimpse of the sleek black remote in his hand right before he pushed the button.
If possible, it hurt worse than she remembered. The pain was like fire around her neck that spread through her like lightning. She could feel her entire body convulsing uncontrollably. Her arms jerked up and the metal cuff around her hands slammed into her face. She was trying not to scream, nearly breaking her teeth from clenching them, but eventually she couldn't tell if she was screaming or not. She couldn't breathe.
It finally stopped and she lay gasping on the floor between the chair she'd been sitting in and the desk. Her limbs twitched, small convulses still running through her nerves. She was sobbing and gasping and could taste blood in her mouth. Werner leaned over her, a cruel smile on his face.
"Schöne. [Beautiful]" He looked towards the doors. "Bereite sie vor. [Prepare her]"
The Hydra guards roughly hauled her up and dragged her from the room.
"Umarme dein Schicksal. [Embrace your destiny.]" Werner called.
Wanda tried to pay attention to where they were going, but her vision was going in and out. At one point she vomited up bile, causing the Hydra guards to swear in disgust. She closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them, she was in a completely different room. It was lined in desks with dozens of monitors. She was sitting in a chair. The Hydra guards were strapping her down. Panic exploded in her chest.
"No!" She cried hoarsely, struggling against them. They overpowered her easily, strapping the restraints to her arms and legs. It looked like the chair from The Raft. The one they had restrained her in while injecting her with drugs and taking her blood. She fought against the restraints, feeling almost crazed with panic. "No!"
"You just had to pick the hard way, didn't you?"
Wanda glanced up to see Agatha standing next to her. The witch's arms were crossed and she looked annoyed. Wanda gasped for breath, tears streaming down her face.
"Please, Agatha." She begged. "Please help me."
Agatha gave her an almost pitying smile. "Sorry hon. Hopefully it'll be over soon."
That was all the warning she got before the witch put her glowing purple hands on Wanda's temples and everything went white.
Wanda was walking in the market, holding hands with Mama. On Mama's other side, Pietro skipped, practically dragging them along despite his short legs.
"Spomaľ, Pietro. [Slow down, Pietro]." Mama laughed, tugging him back to her side.
"Nemôžem spomaliť. Som gepard! [I can't slow down. I'm a cheetah!]" Pietro declared, twisting his face into a growl.
"Vidím. [I see.]" Mama smiled. "Wanda, čo si dnes? [Wanda, what are you today?]"
"Som baletka. [I'm a ballerina.]" Wanda said primly, trying to point her toes gracefully as she walked.
"Aké krásne. [How beautiful.]" Mama gracefully spun her in a circle like they were dancing. "Ideš- [Are you going-]"
The explosion knocked them all off their feet. Wanda flew backwards, crashing into the side of a building so hard it took her breath away. Around her screams filled the air. She shook her head, dazed, and slowly managed to crawl to her feet. Something wet was in her eyes. She raised a shaking hand to brush it away and her hand came back covered in bright red blood. The sight of the blood finally cut through the haze of shock.
"Mamička?" She screamed. "Pietro?"
"Wanda, pomôž! [Wanda, help!] "
She looked up to see her brother dangling from the Iron Man's metal hands. The glowing eyes were pointed directly at her and she froze like a terrified rabbit. Pietro was clawing at the metal hand that had him by the arm, tears and snot running down his face as he screamed.
"Pietro!" Her voice was high with fear.
The Iron Man laughed, a cruel mocking sound. Then he placed his free hand palm flat against the side of Pietro's head.
"No!" Wanda screamed, but the repulsor blast exploded out and her brother's head was just gone.
Wanda was screaming endlessly, her eyes fixed on where her brother's body still jerked, blood spurting. The Iron Man tossed him aside like he was a broken doll and moved towards her. Pietro's blood and gore was splattered across one side of his helmet. He reached out and-
Wanda stopped and the world stopped with her. Iron Man was frozen, his arm still suspended in the air reaching for her. Around her people were mid-run or mid-scream as though someone had pushed "pause" on a tv show. She panted, straining to hold it. She stared hard at the Iron Man's helmet and for a brief moment, it wasn't the glowing eyes of Tony Stark's red and gold helmet. It was Agatha's eyes glowing purple.
This isn't real.
Wanda turned and ran. Everything came back to life. Iron Man's metal hand barely missed her arm as he tried to grab her. She didn't dare look back. She ran as fast as she could, her small legs a blur and her two braids flying behind her head. She ran until she found a door, not even bothering to see what door it was before wrenching it open and running through. She slammed it behind her and turned the lock. Then she backed away, watching the door, her chest heaving.
Something slammed into the door and she jumped, letting out a terrified shriek. It slammed into the door again and the wood groaned. It wasn't going to hold. So she ran, her feet pounding through the hallway of her school, pushing past students with faces she couldn't remember. She made it to another door just as she heard the one behind her crash open. She darted through the new door, slamming it and locking it, and then she kept running. The streets of Lagos were crowded with people. She weaved between them as fast as she could, accidentally knocking down a few people who didn't get out of the way fast enough. Someone started yelling. She took a hard left down a narrow alleyway and ripped open the first door she found.
She stumbled out into the New York department store causing a store employee to shriek in surprise. She slammed the emergency exit door shut and used her powers to twist the handle into a mangled ball and-
Fiery pain erupted around her neck and she screamed. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to breathe, trying to claw the damn collar off her neck, anything to get it to stop. Vaguely she realized there was an echo of her scream, like a harmony, but then there was nothing.
"You think I fucking knew that was gonna happen?"
"You are supposed to be the expert, but if you aren't strong enough-"
"Maybe you need to figure out a different way to repress her powers."
"We had a deal, Agatha."
"Our deal didn't account for me getting my brain fried anytime she uses her powers while I'm in there, Werner."
In the silence, Wanda fought the urge to groan. Everything hurt and she felt like she was going to be sick. Her head seemed to pound behind her eyes in tune with her heartbeat. Her eyes were still closed and she wasn't sure she could open them if wanted to. Her mouth tasted metallic and bitter and she could feel blood and who knows what else crusted on her cheek.
"You can stop pretending, Wanda, I know you're awake."
With a monumental effort, Wanda cracked her eyes open. Agatha was standing there looking furious and holding a bloody handkerchief to her nose.
"I don't have much more time to give you-" Werner's voice came from Wanda's other side.
"Then make time!" Agatha interrupted in a shriek. "Or find yourself another witch." A mocking smile curled around her lips. "Oh oops, I forgot, you can't. Wow, better listen to the one you've got then!"
Wanda forced her head to turn towards Werner. He was standing with his arms crossed, glaring at Agatha.
"Fine." He finally said in a low, hard voice. "Meet me in my office in an hour."
"Fine." Agatha shot back.
"Bring sie zurück in ihre Zelle. [Take her back to her cell.]" Werner snapped.
This would be the time to try and escape. Wanda told herself. They won't be expecting it.
The guards removed the restraints and Wanda steeled herself to run. However, when they jerked her upright, the pain that surged in her head made her forget how to breathe and everything went black.
Wanda woke up in her cell. She was laying on her side in the straw which smelled like vomit. Despite the smell, she didn't move for a long time. Her head was spinning as she tried to piece together what had happened.
Agatha had been in her head. She was sure of that much. But that memory of her and Mama and Pietro at the market had been real. She remembered that day. It was one of their last memories with Mama. Of course it hadn't ended with Iron Man attacking the town and murdering her brother though.
So Agatha was trying to what? Manipulate her memories? Rewrite them to fit into some other narrative? Make her want to work for Hydra again?
Whatever had happened, it hadn't gone how Agatha wanted or expected. But which part? The part where she realized it wasn't real? The part where she ran? The part where using her powers to block the door made the collar go off and shock both of them?
God she was so tired.
Wanda moved just her eyes to glance at the small window. It looked like it was getting dark. It had been somewhere between morning and afternoon when she'd met with Werner. So she had been unconscious for at least a couple hours. Her stomach cramped painfully. She hadn't eaten since she'd had dinner with Steve and James and Sam, what? One day ago? Two? She remembered how time had blurred on The Raft. If it hadn't been for Scott and Clint diligently keeping track of the days, she would have had no idea how long she was there.
She hoped Sam was ok.
And Beatrice.
James and Steve would both be blaming themselves for Hydra taking her. They needed Sam and Beatrice right now to help…
…until what?
She shuddered. What was her end game? Escape? Rescue? Death? It seemed like those were the only options. Somehow she seemed to be in Europe. Germany most likely. But she had no idea how she'd traveled from Canada to Germany. It felt instantaneous, but that seemed impossible. Maybe they'd boarded a plane and traveled for an entire day and she'd been drugged for all of it. Her skin crawled.
She wanted James. She wanted him so desperately it hurt.
The lock creaked and she managed to push herself up on her hands before the door swung open. It was the two faceless guards again.
"Steh auf! [Get up!]"
The room was dimly lit when they entered. There were candles in a wide circle around the chair and on the floor written in white chalk were strange markings. What had Agatha called the ones at the church? Runes?
Agatha was standing next to the chair, her eyes devouring an old piece of paper that looked like it had been torn from a book. She looked up when Wanda came in and her smile looked slightly…unhinged. She stared at the witch uneasily. The guards shoved her roughly into the chair and fastened the restraints. She knew she should try to fight them, but she was just so tired.
She tried to brace herself for Agatha's powers, but when the witch touched her forehead with her glowing purple hands, it felt different in a way that snapped her out of her exhausted haze. She tried to jerk away, suddenly instinctively terrified of whatever power was flowing through the witch, but there was nowhere to go. The last thing she saw before the white light blinded her was Agatha's toothy smile.
Wanda was walking in the market, holding hands with Mama. On Mama's other side, Pietro skipped, practically dragging them along despite his short legs.
"Spomaľ, Pietro. [Slow down, Pietro]." Mama laughed, tugging him back to her side.
"Nemôžem spomaliť. Som gepard! [I can't slow down. I'm a cheetah!]" Pietro declared, twisting his face into a growl.
"Vidím. [I see.]" Mama smiled. "Wanda, čo si dnes? [Wanda, what are you today?]"
Wanda came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the square, her heart pounding. Mama and Pietro both turned to look at her.
"Čo je to? [What is it?]" Mama asked.
"I know what's going to happen." She heard her small child voice say in English.
She could picture it. The explosion. Iron Man. Pietro's body falling lifeless and bloody.
How did she know that?
This is a memory.
Right. Of course. That made sense. She was having a flashback.
Or was she?
It's just a memory.
She shook her head, trying to clear it. Pain was throbbing behind her eyes. Mama came and crouched in front of her, those familiar brown eyes soft on her face.
"Čo je to, vtáčik? [What is it, little bird.]" Mama asked gently.
Wanda wanted to scream at her to run, but her mouth wouldn't move. No. She couldn't watch Pietro die again. She couldn't.
Zobudiť sa. [Wake up.]
Niečo nie je v poriadku. [Something is not right.]
"Je Wanda v poriadku? [Is Wanda ok?]" Pietro asked.
This wasn't real. It wasn't….right. This wasn't how it happened, but…
The events about to happen flashed through her mind's eye like a horrifying nightmare. This is a memory. This is how Pietro and Mama died. How the Avengers killed them.
The pain pulsed harder behind her eyes.
She found herself nodding. Yes. This is how the Avengers killed my family.
The explosion knocked her backwards. She crashed into the side of a building so hard it took her breath away. Around her screams filled the air. She shook her head, dazed, and slowly managed to crawl to her feet. Something wet was in her eyes. She raised a shaking hand to brush it away and her hand came back covered in bright red blood.
Tony Stark murdered my family.
Fury burned in her chest. She was so small and helpless and these Avengers thought they could rule the world like gods. They could kill whoever they wanted, destroy entire villages, and walk away with no consequences. Who would stop them? Who could?
She heard Pietro scream for her, and she didn't want to look, but she couldn't seem to help it. She was sobbing unsteadily on her feet as Iron Man blew her six year old brother's head off. She couldn't move as Iron Man stomped towards her. She was next. She knew that. These monsters were going to kill her too.
Bullets suddenly slammed into Iron Man, driving him backwards. She turned to see troops advancing on the metal man. They were all in black with a strange red octopus on their uniforms. The soldiers were yelling to the townspeople, telling them to run towards them. The people obeyed, frantically rushing towards the troops. She watched the soldiers pick up wounded children and quickly usher people to safety behind the line of fire. She knew she should run towards them, but her feet couldn't seem to move. She looked back at the Iron Man. He was moving towards her again, reaching for her. Bullets slammed into the metal suit, but he wasn't stopping. He wasn't going to stop until she was dead, just like Pietro.
A loud sound exploded from somewhere behind her and a small metal disk slammed into the Iron Man's metal chest and seemed to attach to him. He looked down as it beeped faster and faster and Wanda tensed. It was going to explode. Iron Man grabbed at it with a metal hand and at the same time, a body crashed into Wanda, knocking her down and shielding her as the device exploded. She felt the heat from the explosion singe her arm, but the flames didn't touch her. The body covering her moved quickly, snagging her around the waist with one arm and sprinting back to the cover of the advancing troops. Wanda clung to her savior's arm and looked back to where the Iron Man had crashed into the market stalls from the force of the explosion.
In just a few seconds, they were behind the soldiers. The person holding her set her down on her feet and she finally got a glimpse of their face. It was a man with long brown hair and blue grey eyes. He had a black mask covering his nose and mouth, but he pulled it off and crouched down in front of her. He carefully inspected her head and she stared wide eyed at his metal arm glinting in the sunlight.
"Ты в безопасности, Зайчик. [You are safe, little rabbit.] He said in Russian, his voice gravelly but soft.
Wanda felt herself crumple, her small shoulder shaking with the force of her sobs. The man gently pulled her into his arms and picked her up like Papa would when she had a nightmare. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he held her against his chest as she sobbed for Mama and Pietro into his shoulder.
"Мне жаль, Зайчик. Гидра больше никогда никому не позволит причинить тебе боль. [I'm sorry, little rabbit. Hydra will never let anyone hurt you again.]
Wanda woke in a soft bed.
Her head was pounding. She blinked at the dark velvet bed curtains. What happened?
"Wanda?"
She started, her head turning to the side of the bed. A young man with wavy blond hair was sitting in a chair beside her bed. He had a book in his hand, as though he'd been sitting there reading. He leaned forward, his eyes wide with concern. Wanda stared at him, her brow furrowing. She knew him somehow.
"Oh thank God, you're awake." He had a German accent. "How do you feel?"
"My head…" Her voice sounded hoarse.
He reached out towards her and she flinched. He froze, pain flashing across his face. Slowly he retracted his hand, tucking it back into his lap. His eyes studied her face carefully.
"Do you know me?" He asked softly.
Wanda's fingers twisted the luxurious bed sheets anxiously. She knew him. How did she know him?
"It's ok." He must have seen the distress on her face. "Wanda, it's ok. I'm Werner. I'm your friend."
Werner.
Why did she have a pit in her stomach?
"What happened?" She asked.
"The Avengers took you." His face tightened with anger. "They had you in a high security prison. I think they were messing with your memories."
Wanda tried to remember, but it was like her mind had a giant empty place where her memories were supposed to be.
"I can't…I can't remember."
His eyes widened as she gasped for air and he stood up to sit beside her on the bed. "Wanda, breathe." He gently took her hands and squeezed. "It's ok-"
"No. It's not!" Wanda burst out, her voice high with panic. "I can't remember."
"Scheiße." Werner swore quietly in German. "Wanda, I'm sorry. I'm doing this all wrong. I just mean, we'll figure it out, together."
Tears slid down her face. "I don't even remember you."
His face softened. "Liebling [Darling] , it's ok. I will remember for both of us. I can tell you anything you want to know. And I found someone who might be able to help with your other memories, but for now, you need to rest."
He moved to pull his hands back, but Wanda tightened her grip and he paused. His light blue eyes met hers, hesitantly questioning. Wanda stared at him desperately. She didn't remember him, but there was something like an echo in her mind of soft hands on her face, a warm arm around her ribs, a smile like sunshine. And she didn't want to be alone.
"Prosím, neodchádzaj. [Please don't leave.]" She whispered, surprising herself at the Slovak slipping out of her mouth.
He frowned. "I'm sorry, liebling, I don't speak Slovak."
Her brow furrowed again, pain pulsing behind her eyes.
Niečo nie je v poriadku. [Something is not right.]
"You were teaching me." He added softly, looking slightly embarrassed. "But we didn't get very far in our lessons."
"Oh." She said, feeling foolish.
He smiled slightly, squeezing her hands again. "What did you say?"
She felt her cheeks warm. "I said please don't leave."
He smiled brightly at that, and it wasn't quite like sunshine, but it was warm and gentle and it made the pit in her stomach feel smaller. He carefully slid into the bed beside her, laying on his side and tucking his hands under his cheek. He looked almost boyish, his hair falling into his eyes. She reached out without thinking, brushing his wayward curls out of his face. He was handsome, like a golden fairy tale prince, and he was looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered. It made some dark, lonely part of her feel warm.
"Go back to sleep, liebling." He said softly. "I won't leave your side."
Wanda smiled tentatively at him, pretending she didn't feel the chill run down her spine.