Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 22:

This is a dark chapter. It has almost every kind of trigger warning but if you have read this far it is nothing new. It is heavy on violence.

Chapter 22:

Hell’s Kitchen, Josie’s Bar

Amato Augusto was having a horrible few days. The thirty three year old, Italian Irish construction worker, sat in his dingy neighborhood bar he had been frequenting for years to get away from his problems, but there was his big problem on the television over the bar.

Kate Bishop, daughter of Bishop Security Owner and CEO Eleanor Bishop, brutally beaten in Central Park near death, was the headline behind the newscaster, who gave the public the gory details.

It wasn’t supposed to happen and it sure wasn’t supposed to happen to someone as high profile as her. If she died, the cops would never stop looking for him. Nobody cared about a guy giving a couple of teases what they wanted. The world noticed when a rich girl gets killed, though.

He didn’t even know who she was, until he had seen the news. It wasn’t fair in his mind. She shouldn’t have gotten involved in his business. She attacked him! What was he supposed to do? Run?

Amato was just showing a girl the good time she had obviously dressed for. Grabbing her from the streets and taking her into Central Park was easy. When she saw the lead pipe hidden in his jacket and he threatened her with it, she was so scared she didn’t even fight back. The two looked like a couple out on a date. It was just getting dark and she would never get a good look at his face. Neither had the others. There was only a vague police sketch of him in a city of millions, overran by crime.

Then, the girl had to scream for help when he got her where he wanted her. He covered her mouth but it was too late. The damn girl had kicked him in the back of the head.

When he looked up the teenager was helping the whore up, telling her to run away.

He saw red.

The girl turned back towards him, maybe ready to fight, but she never saw him swing the pipe. He knew her jaw broke when it made contact. The sound was hard to mistake. She hit the ground and that was it.

It should have been it.

Amato was furious at her interference. He hit her again with the pipe. He kicked and swung over and over in a rage. The more she broke, the more he was driven. She never screamed though. It infuriated him that she never screamed.

When he was done, the lead pipe he was carrying was wet with blood and she had been beaten beyond repair. He dropped the pipe next to her dead body and stared at his own blood drenched hands.

He had done many things in his life. He had beaten unnatural sex freaks who deserved it. He had taken women who dressed like whores and given them what they wanted. He had even robbed stores owned by terrorists who didn’t belong in this country.

Amato had never killed someone.

It wasn’t his fault though. She didn’t give him a choice. What kind of parent lets their kid do that kind of thing?

She shouldn’t have interfered!

He looked around and couldn’t see the girl he had brought out here. How long had she been gone?

The cops would be looking so he picked the girl off the ground and took her deeper into the park. He threw her down between a huge tree and some bushes and took off. He thought he heard a grunt but he must have been mistaken. She didn’t even look human. No way she was alive.

It wasn’t until he had reached his apartment, that he realized what would seal his doom.

There were fingernail marks on his forearm. At some point, one of the girls had grabbed his arm, pushed his sleeve up and scratched him just above his gloves. The wounds were fresh. They weren’t bleeding but they were enough. His DNA was under one of their fingernails.

He was in the system. A few years ago he had beaten some Chinese punk who tried to screw him on the price of a stereo and the cops took him in. They had taken his DNA in jail.

He couldn’t sleep that night and called into work the next day. After he called in, he walked cautiously outside and down the block to find a newspaper.

Nothing was written on the front page.

He went back upstairs, opened a beer and turned on the television.

A breaking news alert told him just how screwed he was. The girl hadn’t died yet but they would be coming for him regardless.

She was the daughter of a very rich, powerful woman in New York City. The police were linking the perpetrator to a series of sexual assaults and this girl had interrupted him in the act. Now she was a tragic hero and he was a psychotic villain. The cops would never stop looking until he was caught.

He stayed in his apartment all day drinking beer and searching online to find out how long DNA tests take. The results were confusing. Sometimes it took months but in high profile cases, it could take hours.

He packed a bag, got into his old car and left. He knew he could never come back. The girl could still die but even if she didn’t, he would go down for life. They would call him a rapist. Amato’s name and photo hadn’t been released, so he decided to make one last stop at his favorite bar as the sun set. All anyone could talk about in the bar was the heroic little rich girl who was hanging onto life after saving the bitch from getting what she deserved.

“Crazy people out there, yeah?” A girl asked as she sat by him at the bar. “He is probably some guy that can’t get it up unless he’s got someone screaming for him. Pathetic, right? Must have been a big tough guy to beat a kid like that.”

Amato started to tell her to shut up but then he saw her. This wasn’t the type of girl who frequented Josie’s Bar or Hell’s Kitchen for that matter.

She was tall, nearly his height in those heels. She wore a short tight, little black dress that barely covered her midthigh and those green eyes and long blonde hair almost made him forget how to speak. She was gorgeous.

She was also dressed like a whore in a neighborhood bar. She was probably money, just like that Bishop girl.

“Kinda strange place to see a girl like you, dressed like that.” he told her.

She winked at him. “I like to slum it every now and then. My name is Antha. Who might you be?”

“Frank.” Amato answered, giving his father’s name.

“Frank? Oh that’s great. I couldn’t have made a better name for a guy like you in a place like this! Perfect name for an average guy living in a rundown neighborhood. What do you do for a living, Frank? Let me guess. Plumber? No, maybe a garbage truck worker. I know! Construction worker! Right? You have too much muscle to sit in a truck all day and you don’t smell like shit, so I’m guessing you aren’t a plumber. Definitely a construction worker.”

Amato’s blood began to boil. This tall, mouthy blonde was coming into his bar and talking about his trade as if it were beneath her.

Antha stood and looked around.

“Unfortunately, you are the hottest guy in this place and I’m not really in the mood to lower my standards that far. I was hoping there might be a couple down to earth lawyers or doctors here. I would even take a semi in shape fireman. Oh well. See you around, Frank. Good luck with construction. Maybe I’ll hire you to remodel my two million dollar condo someday.”

Antha stood up and walked out, hips swaying as if she were walking down a modeling runway.

Amato stepped outside a few seconds behind her and went to his car, keeping her in sight. He pulled a tire iron from the trunk and followed her. She didn’t have a car that he could see. The blonde was just walking down the sidewalk without a care in the world, not even trying to hail a taxi.

One more before he left the city. Just one more. It wasn’t Central Park, it was too close to his actual home, but he was leaving regardless. He could never come back, so what did it matter if he left her in the neighborhood. When that Bishop girl decided to give up, he was wanted for murder. Maybe he could really give her what she deserved. He could kill another who deserved it. It didn’t matter anymore. He had nothing to lose.

She turned and saw him when he closed in on her. Her eyes widened in fear and she knew he was coming after her.

She ran but those heels were slowing her down. Catching her would be easy. Seeing no one on the streets to help her she took off down an alley. It was a dumb move on her part but a gift for him. He could practically feel her struggles.

She was waiting for him when he ran into the alley. There was Antha, leaned back against a fence, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. Amato was speechless for a moment. She wasn’t afraid. The look of fear had been an act.

Now she looked positively evil.

“That was easier than expected.” she told him, stepping closer.

“What was?” he answered warily, the tire iron in his hand ready to take her out when she was within reach.

“Getting you alone. When we saw you leave we thought we would have to catch you on the open road and disable your vehicle. You thought it was a good idea to stop at a local bar though. You’ve been drinking all day, cowering behind your curtains but you had to get one more brew from the local rat hole. Some habits are hard to break, aren’t they, Amato?”

Amato was almost hypnotized by her voice and the fear it was causing. Who was she? How did she know… who was watching him?

He was frightened. She knew his name and had been watching him. She baited him into following her. This was a trap. This was no rich girl. He could see it in her eyes. She was a killer.

Amato began to back up until he bumped into someone. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see but he knew, if he was going to escape, he would have to go through whatever he bumped into.

He turned slowly and looked into the face of death. Taskmaster was unmoving, a slasher out of a horror film.

He swung the iron but she caught it in the air and then twisted his wrist, until he knelt to the ground and cried out. Antha injected him with a sedative. Within seconds, Amato slipped off into oblivion.

Antonia moved to pick him up but a voice stopped her.

“Thank you for the assistance but I can take it from here.”

A man in red had jumped over the fence that closed off the alley. He wore a matching mask, that covered his head with small horns on top.

Antha laughed.

“Everybody thinks they are an Avenger in New York. It’s cute.” she told him. “I like the costume but not enough to let him go. He is coming with us. Run along now, cupid.”

The man stepped forward. “The police identified him earlier. They found his apartment empty. I’ve been searching the Kitchen for him. I will contact the police and watch him until they arrive. I wondered why you would be stupid enough to prod him on like you did. I suppose it makes sense now. Who is your friend?”

Antha smirked. “You mean Taskmaster? You really don’t want to be introduced to Taskmaster.”

“And your other friends? The four surrounding me right now with guns? Their heart rates are very slow, considering the situation we all find ourselves in. You are all likely highly trained but you are not special forces unless the military has been forming all female squads. You are definitely not Avengers. Why would an all female group of very calm, heavily armed women be in Hell’s Kitchen? Human trafficking probably. It’s been big around here lately. Maybe these women find a rapist and decide to make him a special case. You are the Red Widows, right? I’m a big fan of everything you do except the bloody carnage you leave behind.”

Antha was impressed. “But the bloody carnage is our best work. We like to think of it as more of a performance art. Clever deduction. You must be the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. We do our homework too. There is no need for you to be involved in this. Be on your way and this doesn’t have to get ugly for you.”

The man stepped forward and Taskmaster pulled a firearm quickly. Daredevil raised his hands in the air.

“I don’t want trouble. Call the cops and let him be taken in. The evidence they have is solid. He will be going away for the rest of his life. There is no need to kill him.”

“And if we don’t?” Antha asked. “Are you going to fight us, lose your life to try to save the life of this piece of trash? Fair warning, Devil. We don’t fight to wound.”

Daredevil shook his head. “I have no wish to fight you and your friends but I cannot stand by and let you kill him.”

“That’s a shame. I was really starting to dig the costume. Red 1, permission to proceed with hostile extraction?”

Daredevil prepared to jump to cover from the barrage of gunshots sure to come down on him. If he attacked the widow and the one she called Taskmaster, he could protect himself from overhead fire, but his chances of getting out of this without harm were nonexistent.

Then he heard a whisper so close it was practically in his ear. It was impossible. No one should have gotten that close without him knowing.

“Sleep .”

Daredevil couldn’t help but obey. His mind was overcome with the desire to do as she told him.

Taskmaster caught him before he hit the ground.

Yelena and Wanda stepped into the alley and walked up to the body of the fallen vigilante.

“Take Augusto to the van. The others have prepared the subway station.” Yelena ordered. “Good job, Antha.”

Taskmaster and Antha did as told, leaving the two founding Red Widows alone, looking at the man in the red costume on the ground.

“What is his problem?” Yelena asked. “What did you see in his head?”

“His name is Matt Murdock.” Wanda told her. “He is the lawyer and the vigilante that first took Fisk down.”

“The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen who doesn’t kill.” Yelena understood. “How did he know we were there?”

“He is blind.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “Blind? That is a dumb answer to my question.”

Wanda shook her head. “His other senses are dialed to a superhuman level. It gives him a radar, to see the world around him. He heard our heartbeats, smelt us, probably heard the air move around us. Reading his mind is fascinating. His reflexes are off the chart and he is highly trained in combat. He means well but he takes half measures. Let him sleep it off. He won’t interfere with our mission.”

Yelena shook her head. “He knows we are involved. If he decided this isn’t a random involvement on our part, he could wonder why we became involved when Kate was attacked. That would lead him to Eleanor, possibly her involvement with us and her involvement with Fisk. We can’t let that happen. Nothing against this blind devil but we must protect our own.”

Wanda could see her point. “You want me to remove the memory of tonight from his mind.”

“You do it with your power or I do it with my gun. Whatever you think is best.” Yelena told her.

Wanda knelt down and placed her hand on his head. Her eyes glowed red and the memory of the night was gone. He would only remember leaving work and waking up in a dumpster in an alley in a few hours. Wanda lifted him in the air and laid him gently into the dumpster and closed it on top of him.

“What?” Wanda asked, seeing the look on Yelena’s face.

“Harsh.” Yelena told her.

“I can’t just leave him in the open where anyone can stumble on him. At least there he is hidden. You wanted to shoot him in the head!”

“I did not want to. I just said it was option. It is good to always have options on table, yes? Now, let us go. I have business to take care of and I have waited long enough.”

Amato Augusto woke up pressed against a concrete column, with his arms over his head and wrists chained to the immovable pillar. His bare feet barely touched the ground and his torso was bare.

There was a wide circle of candles that he could see, illuminating multiple girls in black suits and some teenager in a red jacket with glowing red eyes.

“Welcome back.” A woman said to him. She was directly in front of him but he hadn’t seen her at first. Her thick long hair was black and she wore a purple dress that belonged to another era.

“Who are you?” he asked, trying to be brave.

Agatha laughed and the sound made him feel colder than he already was.

“I am so glad you asked. I love to introduce myself. I am Agatha Harkness! In case the creepy dress and the weird jewelry didn’t give it away, I am a witch. I am 377 years old. I lost count of the number of people I killed centuries ago. I have burned villages and slaughtered innocents because I had a bad case of the Mondays. I have had orgies with demons, had a threesome with Marilyn Monroe and a Kennedy. No, I’m not saying which one, but you probably guessed right. I have practiced dark magic so foul, it turned the end of my fingers black.”

Agatha patted him on the cheek.

“Despite my colorful and quirky history, I am not the woman you should be terrified of. Would you like to meet Kate Bishop’s girlfriend? You can tell her what you think of homosexuals. She is very interested in hearing what you have to say for yourself.”

Agatha gave him a dazzling smile and melted back into the shadows. A short blonde girl in black with her hair in a single long braid, approached him.

“Did you never think there would be a reckoning?” Yelena asked him.

Amato said nothing, trying to work up some bravado and failing miserably.

“You didn’t, did you? You feel no guilt over what you have done. You think you are a victim. You will see what a true victim feels like. Wanda, can you show him what he has done through the eyes of his victims?”

The terrifying redhead with glowing eyes stepped up. She titled her head and smiled then raised her hand and waves of red light flowed from her hand to his head.

He was no longer hanging by his arms. Now he was pressed to the ground and someone was on top of him! Someone was hurting him! He felt it over and over and no matter how hard he tried to escape, the person on top of him was too strong. He couldn’t move and even the parts of him not violated were screaming in agony. He finally saw the man on top of him. It was himself.

“No!”

The doppelganger laughed and stood up. He had a familiar iron bar in his hand and swung down. Amato felt his bones breaking with every strike.

He was a demon. He begged his own demonic visage to stop, but it wouldn’t. The assault continued as he was completely at someone else’s mercy. He let loose one final scream when the bar swung down on his head.

He was chained to the pillar again. The pain was gone but he was still screaming, still terrified, begging for it to stop.

Then a hand struck his face. The blonde’s face was no longer cold. She was furious.

“Pull yourself together. We are going to start now.” Yelena told him.

One of the girls from behind the half circle of candles, stepped forward and handed her something.

Yelena lifted it up and he shivered trying to jerk away. She opened and closed the pliers a few times.

“Does this bother you? Does it frighten you? I haven’t even shown you the hammer. Being in construction, I thought you would appreciate tools. Wait until you see my handsaw and blow torch. You and I have a reckoning to settle.

“I think I will start with your toes and then we can work our way up and see what else can be pulled out of place or maybe just removed.”

An hour later, Yelena stopped and was handed a water bottle by Ava. She had worked hard for the past hour. She would never be satisfied but she had done as she had promised Kate. She hurt him worse than anyone she had hurt in her life.

There wasn’t a part of him that had not been mutilated. Even the shoulders he hung from had become dislocated. Despite the damage she was careful. His eyes were untouched, so he could see. She had left his head alone, so he would not fall unconscious from a head injury. Twice, Stannic had given him stimulant injections to stop him from going into shock.

He no longer spoke clearly. His voice was ragged from screaming. If left like this, he would die slowly of the massive wounds Yelena had inflicted along with the cauterizing burns. He had stopped begging for the pain to stop. He accepted it and wailed when a new torture was coming but no longer begged for mercy.

Yelena spit in his face then backed away.

Eleanor Bishop stepped from the shadows.

“Do you know me?”

Amato nodded. He had seen her face on television. He knew she would be the one who would kill him. Despite death meaning an end to the pain, he was still frightened. The demon girl with glowing red eyes had shown him he was going to hell. He didn’t want to go. He was still afraid of death.

“You are… you are… Eleanor Bishop.” he whispered. “I’m sorry. Please, make them stop.”

“You raped women and you tried to kill my daughter. You crushed my baby.” Eleanor told him. “I consider these girls my family. They have made me very proud. Have you heard of the Red Widows?”

Amato glanced around the room and for the first time noticed their belt buckles that had the famous red hourglass symbols. He had seen that symbol on merchandise and people at the bar and at the sites talked about the massacres they left behind and the kids they saved. His idiot friends thought they were some badass heroes. He just saw a bunch of teenage girls with guns trying to be men.

“Yeah.” he told her. “I heard of them.”

“Their bracelets are called widow bites. They deliver a shock ranging from a short jolt to one that can blow half your face off. Yelena is done with you for now. Wanda has shown you the demon you are. Kate is precious to all Red Widows and they save a special hatred for rapists. When they are done with you, I will send you to hell.”

Eleanor stepped back and Amato saw the widows step forward with glowing bracelets.

The pain he thought was over had just begun. He had thought his body was too exhausted to feel much more pain but of all the hellish things that had been done to him, he had not been electrocuted. The shocks were causing him a different kind of pain and his sluggishness was gone.

When it was over, Eleanor Bishop was in front of him with a very shiny handgun. He met her eyes but didn’t bother to beg. He wished he had never been born. He wished he had turned himself in. Even if she would have had him killed in prison, he wouldn’t be half of what used to be a man, dying as undignified a death as possible.

She shot him four times in the stomach. His body jumped with each shot and they felt harder than the hammer blows Yelena had struck his legs with. He thought of closing his eyes and accepting death but he couldn’t look away from her. His eyes were locked on hers. He could only hope that death would be quick but another of those girls injected him in the heart with adrenalin.

It took Amato over ten minutes to finally die. His last sight before the darkness closed in on him, was Eleanor Bishop’s cold smile.

The satisfaction Eleanor felt from seeing him dying, vanished quickly. Her cold smile, born from the knowledge of what this man had suffered, was gone and the cold reality crashed back in. He had gotten the most punishment this physical world could give him.

Yet, Kate was still asleep. She was still broken.

As soon as she stepped away, Wanda struck him with red magic from her hands, burning his remains and the chains that had bolted into the concrete to restrain him. With a wave of her hand, the concrete in front of the pillar opened and his ashes were sucked inside. Then the concrete closed as if it had never been broken.

Eleanor hugged Yelena and Wanda and then made her way to each of the girls, hugging and thanking them. Despite Antonia’s size and frightening armor, Eleanor hugged her as well, shocking the girl who awkwardly hugged her back.

Yelena shined a flashlight and escorted Eleanor out of the dark abandoned station.

“What is next?” Staci asked.

“I’m going to make a bit of home brew, to reduce Kate’s swelling. We can’t heal her until she is released and as much as I hate to say this, no one is going to release her even to Eleanor Bishop without causing a scene, while she is in the shape she is in. She is gonna have a few days of tests ran after she wakes up, before we can logically get her home even under a fake doctor’s care. That means she is going to be in a lot of pain. Anyone who wants to learn to make a better and safer painkiller than morphine, can help me cook at the safehouse. The rest of you should drink or dance, maybe be teenagers for a night. Have any of you ever sat in a theater and watched a movie?

“I don’t think any of us are in the mood for a movie. Only a few of us have met her, but she is Yelena’s and that makes her one of us.” Ava told her. “Tell us what ingredients you need and we can gather them for you. We should get hotel rooms for a week at least. Yelena will no doubt be with Kate but the rest of us need to be close and sleeping in that small apartment will not be comfortable.”

“I’ll be staying with Yelena. I’ll just make sure the nurses don’t notice me at the end of visiting hours and maybe I can lessen some of Kate’s pain if she does wake unexpectedly.” Wanda told the girls.

Agatha crossed her arms and shook her head.

“You are good girls.” she whispered to herself, wondering how it was possible after everything they had been through.

“What Eleanor Bishop did, is that what having a mother is like?” Stannic asked.

“Yes.” Wanda answered. “That is what I lost and all of you should have had.” she told the widows.

“We have each other though.” Wanda said, her voice firmer. “We have each other. All of us have each other.” she finished taking Agatha’s hand.

The Red Widows left to change and then carry out their tasks.

After changing and donning her disguise, Wanda made her way to the hospital and found Yelena in the waiting room. She almost forgot what Yelena looked like in the veil. Despite the unfamiliar face, Yelena seemed happier.

“The swelling has gone down. Eleanor is with her now. She hasn’t woken up yet but they are taking her to a private room where we can stay with her all the time. Has Agatha found anything?”

“She had been researching potions to make the swelling go down. Since it has already, I will text her to work on the painkiller.”

“Good. Eleanor says she cannot demand her release without notice from media and possibly child services, even for someone like her. Kate will need to be here for a few days, maybe week so painkillers are a must.

“Oksana is being flown here as we speak. Maria and Mika worked on her history and fake life. Doctor Oksana Cheng will take over her care at home. We can heal her there.” Yelena decided.

“Kate will have to stay inside for months, out of public spotlight, until enough time has passed that her wounds have been believed healed. The problem is the police.” Yelena finished. “They will want to speak to her eventually, with Eleanor present. Not even Eleanor’s lawyers can keep that from happening. Without Augusto being found, it will be an open case that will not go away.”

Wanda cringed, not having though of that. “I can open up the ground and try to magically glue his ashes back together.”

Yelena looked at her doubtfully.

“I’ll ask Agatha for some ideas.” Wanda conceded.

“I would like to ask the girls for volunteers. I would like two girls to go to school with her during the year and two to rotate each month in the summer, to watch over her. Do you think they would?”

Wanda knew they would. The question would be if they should. Black widows in the past were used to long term undercover missions and playing roles, but the Red Room had a massive infrastructure in place. They had connections and older agents to play as parents, not only from the Red Room but from other agencies that hired them. The Red Widows had none of those things. Questions would be asked about two teenage girls showing up at a private school in New York with no parents.

“We can talk about it when she is healed. I promise we will find a way to keep her safe. She won’t be alone again.” Wanda told her.

Yelena shook her head in frustration. “Eleanor was so convinced no criminal would hurt Kate in the city because of Fisk. She never thought of some random psycho who didn’t know who Fisk was. She owns a security company, Kate has already been almost kidnapped and Eleanor still doesn’t have bodyguards following her.”

“Kate is stubborn. You know that, Yelena. She would have ditched any security guards assigned to her. She would have seen it as a challenge.” Wanda pointed out.

Eleanor walked out and told the girls that Kate was being moved upstairs to a private room.

An hour later, all three were sitting by her bedside. Wanda was in shock, not having seen the shape Kate had been in. She was unrecognizable and the witch was beginning to understand the magnitude of healing these injuries.

The trio slept off and on in their chairs until morning. A nurse came in at night and told the two girls they would have to leave. With a simple illusion, the nurse thought she accompanied them out while Yelena and Wanda remained in the room invisible to her eye. A little after the sun had risen, Wanda and Yelena received a text from Maria with a video file marked urgent.

The file was a news feed and the headline at the bottom of the feed read, Tragedy in Lagos . Hundreds dead after Avengers mission goes wrong. Death toll rising.

Wanda looked at a worried Yelena and sighed. “We knew this day would come. You should call her.”

In the background of the headline photo, Yelena and Wanda could see the Natasha, Sam Wilson and Vision standing next to Captain America who was on one knee. The group had anguished looked on their faces as they took in the destruction around them.

Lagos

It was only because chance, quick reflexes, a Vibranium shield and the serum running through his veins that Steve Rogers was still alive. He had survived a massive explosion at ground zero. His shield was all that separated him from Rumlow and the bomb strapped to his body. He was thrown thirty feet away by the blast but unlike others, he was alive and relatively unharmed.

They had all made a mistake. They wanted to catch Rumlow and his buyers. They didn’t think of possible casualties involved in a daytime operation. The Avengers had conducted daylight take downs before. The crowded area was likely the reason it was chosen for the swap.

When it happened it happened quickly. Everyone was moving in different directions. Rumlow had led them on a chase through the city. The building he stole the weapon from was full of the dead as the poison gas still lingered inside. There had been car chases, fights on top of armored cars and citizens in danger on the roads and on the sidewalks. Nat had been thrown into an armored van with a grenade. Vision landed on it just in time to save her but the van swerved and struck the side of the road likely injuring bystanders.

Steve caught Rumlow in a plaza full of people. Rumlow had decided he was done running and it was time to settle the feud between them. Rumlow put up a good fight with his advanced combat suit but Steve eventually gained the upper hand and had the man on his knees. Steve was so focused on the fight he didn’t realize that instead of running, hundreds had crowded the plaza to watch the fight.

Rumlow got what he wanted. He didn’t want an audience. He wanted victims. Rumlow talked about Bucky, distracting Steve from noticing him opening his vest. When Steve saw the bomb on his chest under his opened armor, he had just enough time to throw his shield up and make himself as small as possible to ride out the blast.

Then he rose to one knee and saw the carnage around him. It had been a massacre. The area was littered with burned bodies of the dead. It looked like no one survived. The buildings surrounding the plaza had windows blown out and the bases of the buildings sustained damage. Some in the lobbies of the buildings were crawling out in pain, most severely wounded from shrapnel or burns.

All Steve could do was watch and pray that it was a nightmare he would soon wake from.

It wasn’t and no matter how long he waited, the sights and sounds would not go away.

Vision and Falcon landed next to Steve just as Nat rushed into the scene horrified by the sight then relieved when she saw Steve alive. A bystander who had ran towards the destruction took a picture of the four that would be on the front page of every newspaper in the world.

“We have to help these people.” Steve said, not knowing where to start.

Nat and Sam went into action first and rushed into the destroyed lobbies looking for survivors and to help those injured make their way out.

Vision remained by Steve who was having difficulty standing to full height and stayed on one knee. Vision was shocked by the violence he was witnessing. He had never seen this much death before. Even in Sokovia, much of the death had been in other areas while he was fighting Ultron with the others.

This was madness.

First responders were filling the area. Civilians rushed into the area before police could stop them. Many from the buildings around the plaza were looking for loved ones that had been in the plaza below and screaming when they saw the scene that awaited them.

Steve saw a news van had arrived and they were being filmed. He was certain hundreds of photos had already been taken.

War Machine had arrived thirty minutes later to help with the recovery efforts but is was too late. Steve had finally been able to stand only to find nothing could be done.

The injured were transported to hospitals and police converged on the area, removing gawkers and questioning the Avengers while others covered the many dead bodies on the ground. Steve was told by a reporter that the death toll was over two hundred and climbing with hospitals being flooded with injuries. He was asked for a comment and could not give one. He was beyond words so he walked away from the area, planning to return to the jet.

Vision walked beside him.

“This should not have happened.” the synthezoid said quietly.

Steve nodded. “We should have been better. I should have been better. I’m the leader. This is my fault. All of this is my fault.”

Vision shook his head. “This is everyone’s fault. It is the fault of the system we operate in. We should have been one team. There was one woman in the world who could have stopped this today. Only Wanda could have prevented this loss of life. I saw the report of her power in Warsaw. She controlled an entire squadron of S.W.O.R.D. agents. She could have prevented Rumlow from moving. Her power has grown exponentially, greater than I had theorized. We could do so much together yet we are separate.”

Steve had never heard Vision speak like that before. “Are you saying this is Wanda’s fault for not being here with us?”

Vision stilled for a moment. “Of course not. I have misspoken my intent. I am simply saying, that if we were all together, the world would be safer. There would be much less loss of life. The Avengers need her.”

“You said once she made the right call in not joining us.” Steve reminded him.

Vision stopped and looked to the sky. “Part of evolving is admitting mistakes and changing opinions. I was wrong. Wanda has decided what missions are important to her. She hasn’t given thought to the world at large. Take her work with Everett Ross for example. When she works with others she does something as extraordinary as taking down A.I.M. and Norman Osborn in months instead of years. Without Ross, she was simply leading child soldiers in massacring human traffickers as brutally as possible.”

Steve watched Vision for a few moments, never having heard him speak like this.

“Vision, Wanda has done good work and was doing it before Ross. She and the widows save children.”

“They could be saving the world. Ultron thought humanity was the biggest threat to the world. He was wrong. There are those among humanity who are the planets best chance at protection from outside forces and from itself. Yet these people are divided, each carrying out their own agendas. We all owe it to the world to be on the same page as you would say.”

Steve sighed. Vision was distraught right now and doing what he usually did in situations he could not understand. He was running over thousands of scenarios that may have stopped this from happening. He had always been fixated on Wanda. Now it sounded like he was blaming her for not being involved.

“Vision, Wanda doesn’t owe anything to anyone. What she chooses to do with her power is exactly that, her choice.”

“I wonder if Wanda were here if she would feel she owes nothing to humanity.”

Steve shook his head. “Vision, you should think more on the nature of humanity. Humans have the right to make their own choices. You can’t force the choices on them. If you think so then you are no better than General Ross. He believes everyone with power should be under his control. Whose control should Wanda be under? Ross? Yours?”

Vision blinked then shook his head and smiled sadly at Steve.

“Of course not. You are correct, Captain. I am afraid I am not coping well with what I saw. I can only find two scenarios that would have prevented this loss of life. The first is we never became involved, leading to Rumlow stealing and the selling a biological weapon to a terrorist organization which would use it to kill hundreds and perhaps thousands. This is not acceptable. The other scenario is Wanda being here. You know this will have far reaching implications.”

“Yeah.” Steve admitted. “That’s a problem for another day.”

While Vision and Steve were speaking, Natasha had already made her way back to the quinjet. She sat on the bench seat and checked her phone. She had several missed calls from a blocked number. She listened to the voice mail and was surprised Yelena had finally left her number, so she called her back immediately.

“Are you okay?” Yelena answered. “I saw you standing by Captain America but he didn’t look so good. Are you hurt?”

“I am good. I wasn’t in the plaza when it exploded.”

She heard Yelena let out a breath. “These has been stressful days. I have gotten bad heart. What is happening? It looks like real shit show over there.”

Despite the horrors of the day, Nat laughed at Yelena’s description and the accuracy of it.

“Rumlow had a suicide bomb attached to him, just to take Steve with him. Steve survived but from what I understand, the body count is over two hundred now.”

“Some just died at hospital too.” Yelena told her. “I’m watching news. Kate is in private room now.”

Nat didn’t want to think about the growing body count.

“How is Kate?”

Yelena sighed. “The swelling is gone yet she remains in coma. She will not wake up. I have watched her all night. I am afraid if I look away she will stop breathing.”

“Eleanor Bishop is okay with you being there all night?”

Yelena was silent for a moment. “Eleanor does not know we are in room. Wanda has us invisible to her sight.”

Nat should have been surprised but wasn’t. Yelena needed something so Wanda pulled off the impossible to make it happen.

“I want to be there for you. I will come to hospital when I return. I can meet you in waiting room or cafeteria. I can disguise myself.” Nat told her.

“No, Natasha. Take care of yourself. I am okay. I have Wanda with me and the girls are nearby at your safehouse. Ava told me they are getting hotel rooms and buying clothes for all of us to change. The media will be watching you very closely. We do not need more attention on Kate than is already there.”

Nat sighed, knowing Yelena was right but it didn’t make it easier.

“Did you find her attacker?”

“Yes.”

“Is he… taken care of?”

Yelena cleared her throat. “It is… it is better if you do not know these things, Natasha.”

Despite her kind tone, that stung. It was another reminder that Natasha was an Avenger and her sister wasn’t. Of course Yelena found the man. She had the Red Widows with her. She had Wanda. They tortured and killed him. Why did she even ask?

A part of her hoped they hadn’t found him yet so Nat could be part of the hunt.

“Could you meet me somewhere outside of the hospital?”

Yelena was quiet for a moment. “I am sorry, Nat. I am afraid to leave her. I will meet you when she is okay. Be careful.”

“I love you, Yelena.”

“You too. Bye now.”

Nat ended the call and sat back, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. She finally let out a scream of rage.

“That feel better?” Sam asked, stepping into the jet.

Nat put her head in her hands. “No. How can anything make this better? It’s all going bad. Everything is going bad. Those people are dead because we decided to attack Rumlow in a situation with high potential collateral damage. I could do nothing for them! Now my own sister doesn’t want my help or even need me!”

Sam sat next to Nat on the bench. “Yelena?”

“Her girlfriend was nearly killed yesterday after saving a girl from being raped.”

“Her girlfriend? You mean Kate Bishop? Its serious? I knew Kate had her number and you didn’t but I thought maybe they were just close friends who kept in touch.”

Nat couldn’t believe how clueless he could be at times. Sam read her look correctly.

“Sorry. So Kate Bishop is in the hospital. Not surprised she almost got herself killed. She is doing alright now, right?”

Nat shook her head. “You didn’t check the news on the flight over. It’s the biggest story in New York. She was beaten and left for dead in Central Park. She is in a coma. She still hasn’t woken up. Yelena called me when we were four hours away from landing. She wanted me to come to the hospital. I told her I couldn’t. She told me she understood.”

Sam nodded. “Okay, so she understood. She knows what you are doing is important. Its not like you were around the block.”

“How many times will she understand before she just stops asking me? Wanda is with her now. Wanda saved her life, Sam. She saved her life twice when you take into consideration the bullet she took for her. Wanda holds Yelena at night when she has nightmares. They have always shared the same room or had rooms next to each other. Wanda and Yelena have no secrets from each other. Even Kate Bishop knows more about Yelena than I do!”

Sam understood where she was coming from. Sam knew Nat loved her sister and it was natural to be jealous of Wanda and Yelena’s relationship. He had no idea Yelena and Kate were so close and that didn’t help Nat’s feelings of insecurity.

“She asked me to join them. I should have. I should have left the Avengers and joined them. Maybe I wouldn’t have been accepted at first but I would have been. It wouldn’t be easy but I would be with her. I screwed up, Sam. I made the wrong call.”

Sam shook his head.

“Nat, I know you love your sister but they didn’t need you like this team does. Yelena and Wanda are the heart of that team, just like you are the heart of this team.”

Nat snorted. “What team, Sam? Where was Rhodey? Clint quit and Tony spends more time behind a desk than in a suit of armor. Thor got bored and took off and Bruce is either dead because of me or hiding. This isn’t a team anymore, Sam. The Red Widows are a team. They operate as one. They are loyal to each other without question. They are a family. The Avengers aren’t a family anymore, Sam. We haven’t been in a very long time.”

Sam understood where she was coming from. He, Nat and Cap had always worked well together but he didn’t really know Vision. Rhodey was Stark’s best friend. His loyalty wasn’t to the team but to the government and Tony. He also felt Tony was more loyal to General Ross than the ones he called his teammates.

It wasn’t a surprise that Nat would have a bad opinion of them. When Clint left and Banner disappeared, they took a huge chunk of the soul of the Avengers with them. Nat was the heart and Steve was the moral compass. Sam was still trying to find where he fit. He didn’t know if he was truly an Avenger any more than Rhodey was. His loyalty was to Cap and Rhode’s loyalty was to Tony and Sam still felt Vision was a wild card even though he had never been anything but kind. Vision never felt part of the team. He felt like an observer who helped out. In his social interactions he seemed to study their behavior and constantly questioned their thoughts on random subjects and their logic behind those thoughts.

The idea of the Avengers was sound. They did not have secret identities. They had a large compound in the open. All of it was designed to engender trust with the public. The Avengers were not hiding anything. They were only here to help mankind.

Despite the openness of the Avengers, the Red Widows were much more popular in the public eye. Red Widow symbols graced every type of merchandise and it was selling ten times faster than the Avengers merchandise. The Avengers had been criticized constantly for working with no oversight, yet the Red Widows answered to no one. They even had a lackey at the C.I.A. to do the paperwork for them. They didn’t just kill bad guys. They made bloody examples of them. They were black suits adorned with weapons and black masks to hide their faces but rescued children clung to them.

There was never any collateral damage in their missions. They operated with military precision. They came in, did their job and left. The media never found out they had been there until the mission was long over. Innocents were rescued. They never died.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave the Avengers, Nat.” Sam told her. “Days like this make me question everything, but you have to remember the good we have done.”

Nat shook her head. “All I am thinking about is what I am losing, Sam. Its all I can think about. Go find Steve. I need to get back to New York. Maybe it’s not too late.”