Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 66:

Wanda sat across from Eleanor’s couch in the living room of her penthouse. The twins were showing off their improved reading abilities to Eleanor, reading from their first grade learners. Nadeja and Nela took turns, reading passages from the books and the pride on their face was obvious. When they had finished with minimal help from Eleanor, she suggested they go to the guest bedroom where Eleanor had pulled all of Kate’s childhood dolls and other toys from storage and repurposed the room into a playroom.

“It is good to see you here again. I’ve missed seeing you face to face. The phone isn’t the same.” Eleanor told her.

“I missed you too.” Wanda agreed. Wanda had been very careful about visiting Eleanor since Yelena and Kate had separated. The gulf between mother and daughter had been wide and she suspected at times Kate felt a bit jealous of her relationship with Eleanor. Because of that she stayed away, not wanting to be a factor in a reconciliation between Kate and Eleanor. She checked in by phone, both on Eleanor and Kate’s life but physically she kept her self-imposed boundary.

“How was the medical checkup yesterday?” Eleanor asked. “Any progress?”

Wanda smiled brightly. “Nela has grown an inch and Nadeja has grown a half inch and both have gained ten pounds! I am so proud of them. They have been sticking to their nutrition plan with dedication. So long as they get cake once a week and ice cream every other day they are happy. They were beginning to get disheartened about the lack of progress. They were so excited when Oksana gave them the news.”

Eleanor smiled fondly at Wanda. She may give credit to the twins but she and even Bucky deserved so much credit. She still remembered seeing the twins for the first time. Kate had told her about the night they had been rescued and how they had stayed in a corner, practically feral, not allowing anyone near them, even threatening to bite. Kate had told her they were obviously malnourished, abused and terrified, shouting for Wanda.

They were like different children now. They wore cute dresses, their healthy hair shined, their smiles were bright and natural and they were open to others touches, even coming to love many.

Wanda and Bucky would always be the ones they clung to but they were coming into their own. The great increase in the number of widows at the Mansion had set them back, but they were making progress once again.

“You are a good mother, Wanda. You know I still have access to your educational records, correct?”

Wanda blushed. “I didn’t think you were still monitoring it. I haven’t asked you for help and… I wasn’t sure if you had time with everything going on with Kate.”

Eleanor smiled fondly. “I will always watch out for you, Wanda. Were you planning on telling me you finished all your courses?”

Wanda shrugged. “Of course. There has been a lot going on. Space battles, taking care of the twins and all the new widows. I haven’t had time to really think about it.”

Eleanor shook her head and chuckled. “All that going on and you still received a diploma. Amazing. I am so proud of you.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you. I owe you so much.”

Eleanor shook it off quickly. “You owe me nothing. Just keep being you and for god’s sake be careful. You and Yelena, you have been taking crazy risks lately.”

Wanda sighed. She had heard this multiple times lately, recently in a group meeting in Switzerland.

“Necessary, not crazy.” Wanda corrected.

Eleanor wasn’t in the mood to go into an argument she couldn’t win. Danger was an accepted part of Yelena and Wanda’s life. No matter what relationships they had outside of each other, romantic or parental, which would never change. They would never change. A part of Eleanor was always impressed by that characteristic and another part of her had always been terrified of it. Knowing two girls you loved would sacrifice their lives for the greater good without the slightest hesitation was worrisome.

“So what else has been going on?” she asked, deciding to change the subject.

Wanda shrugged. “I made Murdoch blind again. All his loved ones are angry at him for asking me. He would rather be blind and Daredevil than see their faces. That has to sting. Jones and her New York vigilantes were angry with me for healing him in the first place. Most people who heal the blind have religions built round them. All I have is angry vigilantes and a priest that sold me out to publicize my wedding for the Catholic Church.

“Other than that, Just the usual. Preparing to fight Thanos for the fate of the universe. I’m sure after him there will be some other threat. I am… I am going to the United Nations next week with the Sokovian representative. I’m only going to observe but I am sure my presence will cause many people to become very nervous. That may be the point. It is still exciting. I could imagine my mama and papa’s faces if they saw their little girl at the United Nations. It is not something I ever imagined. To be honest, I’m excited. You know I love to make other nations nervous.”

Eleanor chuckled at the exuberance on Wanda’s face. It was not something she had seen often enough but was becoming more common.

“So, Kate told me something interesting.”

Wanda stilled, praying Kate hadn’t told her mother she had gone to Knowhere with the Widows.

“Oh really?” she said, trying to not sound nervous.

“She said she saw you hug Tony Stark when you came back from attacking Thanos’s fleet. She was focused on Yelena but she saw that and thought you had a concussion. What happened up there?”

Wanda shrugged. “When Gabby first joined us, I told you the twins reaction.”

Eleanor nodded. “She had been in the room when they were placed under mind control.”

“I told them about the first time I met Antonia and how she shot me. I told them that wasn’t what I thought of when I saw her. I thought of how protective she is, how much she cares and risks her own life for the girls.

“I told them that maybe Gabby would come to remind them of something different when they saw her.”

“Wise words.” Eleanor agreed.

Wanda continued. “Before we raided the Red Room, Tony asked to speak to me alone. I told him I didn’t blame him for my parents death but I could never be friends with him. His name would always be a reminder of one of the worst moments of my life. His name, even the sight of him would take me back to that scared little girl waiting to die while staring for days at a bomb with his name on it.

“Now, when I think of him, I will remember the crazy billionaire who followed me onto a spaceship with no hesitation when I asked him to. I will think of being in that throne room with Thanos. I had sent everyone away. He had no protection but he stayed plugged in with one arm and used the other to fire blasts at Thanos to help me. When the monsters broke through and rushed into the throne room he never backed away or thought about running.

“When I see him, that is what I will remember now. He’s the guy that never left my side despite knowing we might die. So yes, I hugged him. He deserved it. The past is the past. It was time for me to move on and get over it.”

Eleanor could barely believe what she was hearing.

“You have no idea, do you? You have no idea how much you have changed from the angry young girl I first met into the loving woman you are now.”

Wanda smirked. “I’m still badass. I haven’t gone soft.”

“No, you haven’t gone soft. You have gotten stronger. It has been amazing to see. When we first met you were scared, hurting, grieving and angry. So, so angry. Everything about you screamed angry, from the clothes you wore to your burning suspicious eyes, to the black fingernail paint, even the way you drank your vodka.

“Now you are… happy. Despite everything going on, you are happy. You have let the anger go. Do you have any idea how much growing a person has to do for that to happen? From the way you dress, to the way you look at Bucky and how your eyes are constantly looking towards the direction the twins are playing, always watchful, always loving. It can take most people decades to change. You have become quite the woman, Wanda Maximoff.”

Wanda wasn’t sure what to say. She had been told many times she had changed from the person she had been but she still felt the same. It did hurt less to think about Pietro and when she did, they were happy memories instead of the immediate reminder of how his death had felt. She thought of her parents and how much they would have loved the twins instead of their sudden, horrible deaths.

She had changed and it all came down to Yelena. Yelena staying with her was her first step to leaving the darkness of her old life behind. Everything good she did was because of Yelena. If not for Yelena, Wanda would have never rebuilt Novi Grad. She would never have survived the nightmares that plagued her that Yelena held her through. They got each other through the worst times of their lives and were there for the best times.

As if hearing her thoughts, her phone rang and it was Yelena.

“Yes?”

“Come home. We have a mission. Everett found a lead in the Hand files on Judith’s last handler and Carter has confirmed his location. She hasn’t seen him with Judith but he likely has a clue to her location. It’s time we end this.”

Wanda ended the call and looked at an expectant Eleanor.

“Everything okay?”

Wanda nodded. “We found a lead on Judith’s last handler. We know his location. If he gives us her location, if we can find her…”

Eleanor waited.

“She is the last one.” Wanda said quietly.

“The last one?”

“The last one in Dreykov’s file. The one mind controlled widow we haven’t found yet. She is the last.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened, knowing this was big. The destruction of the Hand had led to many widows being freed. The addition of Everett Ross, Sharon Carter and the Intelligence sources of Silver Sable International helped as well. Some of the rescued joined the Red Widows, some went on to their own lives and some were unfortunately found dead. Many had been killed by the time the Red Widows reached them.

This was the mission of the Red Widows. They took out human traffickers but rescuing the remaining mind controlled widows had always been their main goal. It was what inspired Yelena and Wanda to begin their journey. It gave the girls a purpose greater than themselves. That list kept them focused on why they were doing what they were doing.

“Go. Let me know.”

Wanda hugged her and called the twins to say goodbye. To Eleanor’s shock the twins hugged her also, leaving her feeling very warm inside.

Twenty two miles south of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Mark Espezar was a troubled man. Being responsible for a large drug running corporation was a dangerous game to play. He wasn’t involved with the Cartels, preferring to go his own way. Unfortunately he needed protection from those who didn’t like mavericks in his line of work.

That was how he was introduced to the Hand. They protected him and he allowed them to use his drug pipelines for the purpose of human trafficking. He didn’t consider himself a human trafficker. He reasoned they would do their business regardless of whether he agreed to let them use his methods of transportation. So as long as he wasn’t profiting from it, he was not involved.

The Hand had even given him a wonderful bodyguard. A beautiful young girl named Judith who did whatever she was told and he took advantage. He admitted to himself the power over her had caused him to commit sins he never considered himself capable of.

Then the Hand was gone. He tried every contact and only reached one who was in hiding. The Hand had been defeated. The Fingers were gone and those who would replace them were in hiding. The head, a woman known as the Black Sky, was dead.

The Red Widows had taken down the Hand. The Red Widows who hated human traffickers who tortured them, drove them insane, some say they even skinned their victims alive took down the most feared criminal organization to exist. The Hand had owned many mind controlled black widows and they were being rescued all over the world.

This thought kept him up at night. Not only did he fear the cartels now that he no longer had the Hand’s protection, he also wondered how much information the Hand had on him and if the Red Widows could find him.

So he lay on his back in his very nice bed in his huge house partially hidden in the wild built still close enough the city that was wasn’t’ completely off the grid. He wasn’t completely unprotected. He had a small army of mercs he had hired who he paid well enough to ensure their loyalty.

Yet he couldn’t sleep. Instead he stared at his ceiling.

Until the ceiling was no longer there.

His house was gone. The walls were gone. He lay on his bed but everything around him was gone. His bed was on dirt where the floor had been and he was looking up at the night sky.

This was impossible. Walls didn’t just disappear. Furniture didn’t disappear into thin air. Houses didn’t just disappear.

He heard a gasp and a gurgling sound. He rolled to his right and saw one of his guards on his knees, holding his sliced throat, unable to stem the flow of blood. An Asian woman was behind him wearing a black suit. Her face was visible but…

He felt his bladder release. He was looking at his worst nightmare. They found him.

He slowly sat up and in the bright moonlight saw several of his guards in front of where his house had been, dead on the ground.

With shaking feet he stood up and his bed was gone.

He was surrounded by black wraiths. In front of him was the demon with red glowing eyes the world knew as Wanda Maximoff.

Beside Wanda was Yelena Belova. Circling the man were the original Red Widows. The ones who had been rescued from the Red Room as well as Oksana. Antonia had suited up. The only original Widow not here was Stannic. The rest were present. These were the ones who stayed in the Sokovia base. These were the Red Widows who had started this mission. Now they were all here to set the last mind controlled girl free.

“Espezar.” Yelena said, walking towards him. “You know why we are here. Judging by the smell of urine you know what we can and will do to you. Make this easier on yourself. You will die tonight but how much pain you suffer first is dependent on your cooperation. Where is Judith?”

He shook his head. “I let her go long ago. I swear. I freed her! When I found out… you see… the Hand never told me… she was supposed to be a bodyguard. When I found out she was mind controlled, I let her go! I didn’t want… that’s not who I am! I’m a drug dealer, not a human trafficker!”

Yelena didn’t like what she was hearing. He should have just told her the location. Why was he lying?

She had a sick feeling she knew why he was lying.

“You became a trafficker when you accepted a widow from the Hand in exchange for letting them use your drug pipeline for the transportation of sex slaves.” Yelena told him. “A mind controlled widow would not leave her handler without explicit instructions.”

She stepped closer and put a blade against his crotch.

“Where is she?”

He began crying.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…”

“Wanda.”

Wanda stepped forward and reached for the man. His body lifted into the air paralyzed and his eyes turned red. She dug into his mind and ripped through his thoughts and memories.

He collapsed on the ground.

“Wanda?” Yelena asked.

Wanda face was angry but the answer to Yelena’s unasked question was obvious from the tears in her eyes.

“You monster.” Wanda said, walking closer to the man. “The things you did to her, the things you made her do… then… you killed her. She couldn’t defend herself. She stood there while you placed a gun in her face and pulled the trigger. She knew what was happening. She couldn’t fight back.”

“I had to do it! I didn’t want to be caught with her!”

Wanda reached out again and he screamed. It was only seconds but to him it felt like hours as monsters filled his mind and his worst fears came to life.

When it stopped he was curled on the ground in a fetal position.

“Take us to her.” Yelena told him.

“Please don’t do that again.” he begged.

Yelena kicked him in the crotch and he howled once more.

“Get up and take us to her or Wanda will do much worse.”

He scrambled to his feet, unable to stand straight do to the damage Yelena’s kick had delivered. The man began limping into the trees and walked for twenty minutes while the widows patiently followed him.

The man made path ended into a small clearing. He pointed to the middle with a shaky finger.

“She wouldn’t leave and I didn’t know how to set her free… Damn it!” he finished when Ingrid’s widow bite shocked him at the base of his spine.

“You never gave her the chance to leave. I saw everything. Do not bother lying.” Wanda told him.

“How long ago did he?” Yelena asked.

“Three months.” Wanda told her.

Wanda conjured a coffin in the clearing. She raised her hands and red magic lit up the area. The dirt and grass shifted and rose into the air.

The decomposed body of Judtih, Black Widow 178 was exhumed and gently floated into the coffin Wanda had conjured. The lid closed quietly.

All eyes were on the crying man on his knees. The widows were furious.

“What to do with you.” Yelena said, circling him. “She was 16 if you ever wondered.”

“He knew.” Wanda told Yelena. “He knew exactly how old she was. He requested the youngest Black Widow the Hand had available.”

Yelena looked at the widows surrounding him.

“Do what you will, break his bones but do not kill him. Not yet.” Yelena ordered the girls. “Rachel, do you copy?”

“I’m here Red 1.”

“Clear the bunker of all children and those who are not Red Widows. This is personal for us all. Children do not need to see this.”

“Understood Red 1. The bunker is emptying now.”

When Rachel verified the only ones watching were freed widows, Yelena and the others attacked, taking turns kicking the man, slicing parts of him off, shocking him over and over, just enough to cause severe pain without exploding his heart. The widows had not treated a trafficker to this amount of pain in a very long time. They would not stop. He was the last. They let loose all their pain and anger at their former captors on him, seeking a justice for those who were gone that would never happen.

When they stepped back it was difficult to recognize him as a human being. He looked like roadkill. Helena grabbed the small amount of hair that hadn’t been pulled out and lifted him to his knees then stepped back.

The widows were quiet, waiting on Wanda’s move. She had stood by and watched them torture him but they knew she was not done.

He was slowly dying. No one could survive that beating but he could still feel pain and Wanda planned to take advantage of that. She used her magic to lift him and placed him next to the grave they had just removed Judtih from.

He looked at the grave through swollen eyes and understood.

“Don’t bury me alive.” he wheezed out, his vocal chords all but shattered.

Wanda’s eyes glowed red and with a wave of her hand, his skin was torn from his body.

The man screamed louder than he had all night as every nerve ending was exposed to the air. He looked down over himself then saw his stripped arms, hands, legs, torso.

Wanda kicked him into the grave.

His screams died down and his voice muffled as she slowly filled the grave with dirt, burying him alive.

His screams did not last long after the dirt covered his face. The widows stood in a circle around his buried body until Wanda nodded after she felt his life force disappear.

He was dead.

They had been too late to save another widow. They had been too late to save the last widow. It wasn’t the first widow they had recovered who had been dead. But this one…

They all had dreams of spraying the red dust into the last widow’s face, watching her eyes clear, watching her realize she was free. It would be a dramatic and happy conclusion to their original mission. The last sister had been found. Whether she stayed with them, returned to her family or started a new life, she would be free and their first mission would be complete.

As they all knew too well, life did not come with guaranteed fairy tale endings.

“Wanda, open a door. Girls, take the coffin. All we can do for her is carry her home so that is what we will do.” Yelena told them, her voice breaking. “We know she is free and at peace at least. We lay her with our sisters who have left us too soon.”

Those in the bunker had been monitoring the situation and knew before they arrived what to expect.

The girls walked into the bunker a silent parade with a coffin between the two rows of them. The anguish was obvious on their faces.

The next afternoon one hundred and forty two widows gathered at the Mansion. Wanda had brought many back who were living in new lives but wanted to be present for funerals.

The place that had become a burial ground for widows had grown as more widow bodies were recovered over the past few months. Judith’s file had been opened. She had been sold by her mother as a newborn to a Red Room recruiter, much the way Stannic had been.

Steve and Nat had arrived and Strange and Wong were present. T’Challa and Shuri had arrived that morning, seeing the Mansion for the first time.

Aino’s parents were also there. They held her and Staci tightly, overcome with the emotion of the day as most of the widows were. They knew how close they had come to losing Aino before she ever found them. If not for Wanda they would have gone the rest of their lives, never knowing what had happened to their baby girl.

Eleanor and Kate sat in the front row at several widow’s request. Everyone knew the sacrifice and risks Eleanor Bishop took for the widows. Without her support none of the progress they made would have been possible. Agatha sat next to them. Without her, they would not have gotten where they were today either.

Yelena stood on one side of the coffin and Wanda stood on the other. Yelena looked out over the assembled crowd who were very quiet.

She wiped her eyes.

“We have grown so much.” Yelena started. She looked to Wanda. “It seems like yesterday it was the two of us in stolen cars driving all over Europe. At times it seems like it was long ago. We started a mission to free all the mind controlled widows. We have completed that mission. In our mind we would find the girls alive. We would see the relief on each face as they realized they were free. We would hold them at night while the memories returned and tormented them every night. We would teach them about the world, about movies and music and loving others and being loved.”

Yelena lowered her head.

“We do not always get what we want. Judith and so many others should have been a part of us. If there is anything we can take from this tragedy it is this. She is free. She is at peace. Her fight is over and she will never be anyone’s weapon again.”

Wanda looked at the gathered and spoke.

“Judith Garnder. She was sold by her mother when she was only weeks old. The woman died shortly after. She was never shown love or kindness. She never knew the bonds of sisterhood. She never knew what it was like to be surrounded by people who would die for you with no hesitation. She was robbed of that.” she told the crowd.

“It makes me that much more appreciative of what we have now. Those who are present are Red Widows. We started as a slightly crazy witch and girls freed from mind control. Our numbers slowly grew but in a way not completely expected. Those who had no connection to us, who wanted to help us despite this began to join us.

“Eleanor Bishop gave us the technology and a roof over our heads that was not concrete. Everett Ross came to us with no motive other than keeping the United States off our backs so we could continue what we were doing. He sought us out and became one of us. Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff have fought with us. Agatha Harkness, Aunt Agatha takes care of us. She comforts and reminds us that it is okay to let joy into our lives.”

Wanda looked to Anya and Dima. “You two are special to us all. You are not just Yelena’s parents. You have become parents to us all.”

She then looked towards Strange and Wong.

“Stephen Strange works with our children. He is the Sorcerer Supreme, the leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, but he takes time each week to look in on our girls and work with them. Wong… when we have asked him of something, trivial or great, he has never told us no. Never.”

Wanda looked to the back where T’Challa and Shuri stood with Imi and her fellow doctors.

“What can we say about Wakanda? Where would we be without them? They not only give us technology for free to keep us safe, they provide for our emotional needs. The country owes us nothing, yet they have supported us, fought beside us, give us an ear to talk to and help us work our messed up emotions out. We asked Dr. Zaru to come work with our children and she saved us all instead. She has brought others to help us.

“We are all Red Widows. Everyone here. This is our family. It doesn’t matter if you are living a new life somewhere or reunited with relatives, we are all family. Though we will never have the privilege of getting to know the person Judith could have been, she is one of us. Every girl laid to rest here is one of us. We love her as we love each other.” she concluded.

Yelena took a deep breath and placed a hand on the coffin.

“The list is done. Every mind controlled Widow on the server is free in some way. That does not mean we are done. I am not speaking of the great battle to come but the ones on this planet. There are those who steal women and children still operating despite their fear of us. We will hunt them down and we will stop them. This is what we do. We fight for the ones who cannot fight for themselves like we could not fight for ourselves as children. We will honor our fallen sisters by saving those who can be saved from the fate we suffered. As long as one person lives who thinks they can take another and make them a slave, we will be there. Judith and every sister buried here and elsewhere in the world will be with us in our hearts. Thank you all for coming. Staci.”

Staci stepped up to the front and began singing. It had become a sad tradition at these funerals that they would end with her singing but she had a beautiful voice and the dead deserved to go to rest with beauty on the wind.

After the burial the large gathering moved into one of the newer and larger wings of the Mansion that had a giant dining hall. The gathering was somber but there was a warmth present. Yelena was right. Despite the arguments, the negative feelings, the love, the fights, the battles, everyone here was a part of this thing that had been started when Wanda Maximoff removed a drug from a child assassin’s blood stream.

Two weeks later Sanctum Sanctorum New York

“Why do I have to buy you a sandwich?” Stephen asked Wong. “Its five dollars. How is it possible you never have any money? Your girlfriend is a billionaire and her mother literally owns a small country!”

Wong appeared offended. “I would never ask Ava for money. What kind of man do you think I am?”

“The kind who has no problem asking me for money constantly to buy food.” Strange reminded him.

“You are the Sorcerer Supreme. It is your sacred duty to ensure we are well fed. Now feed me. No pickles. They put pickles on them last time. I hate pickles.”

Strange rolled his eyes. Ava hated pickles. She didn’t like the smell of pickles on his breath so he agreed to stop eating pickles. Stephen knew this because Wong talked about everything to him despite Stephen never asking. At times he missed the Wong he first met who barely spoke.

Before Stephen reached the door, a beam of multicolored lights crashed from the roof into the bottom of the staircase. He and Wong both prepared for battle, suited up in seconds and hands ready to protect but no attack came.

They carefully approached the fresh crater in the floor of the Sanctum.

Inside was a man. Stephen recognized him immediately.

“He’s coming.” the man said in a slightly panicked and unsteady voice. “Thanos is coming!”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “No he isn’t. We are going to him. Wong, help Dr, Banner out of the hole in our floor and fix it.”

“Why do I have to fix it?”

“Why do I have to buy you sandwiches?” Stephen asked then took his phone and called Tony Stark.

“Doctor Wizard! Booked any birthday parties lately?”

“Stark. I have someone who I think belongs to you.”

Stark groaned on the other end. “What did the kid do?”

“I’m speaking of your old lab partner. Dr. Bruce Banner just made a rather dramatic entrance into our Sanctum, speaking of Thanos coming. I understand him and Wanda may not have the most cordial relationship based on past actions between the two, so perhaps you can calm him down before I invite her over.”

“I’m on my way.”

After two hours, Bruce Banner sat in a chair in the parlor drinking tea and having told Tony and the sorcerers of what he remembered happening. He had been in Hulk form but the memories of the beating he received were strong, as were his memories of Loki and the Asgardians being killed and Thor likely dead.

“Tony why haven’t you called the others?” Bruce asked.

“I will. Just wanted to get the story straight before we bring others into this.”

“Others?! Tony he could be on his way now! We need to call Cap and Nat and… what is with the look? What is going on?”

Tony sighed. “A lot has changed since you have been gone, Bruce.”

Tony began speaking and Bruce sat quietly for the next hour trying to digest what he was hearing.

“Okay… okay.” Bruce finally said. “Clint is a farmer, Steve and Nat adopted a 14 year old former assassin and are living on the farm next to Clint, Sam has become a fisherman, Rhodey had his suit turned to dust and Vision got turned to dust because he had a crush on Wanda Maximoff, she ghosted him and he turned evil.”

Tony cringed. “I wouldn’t say that was the only reason he went mental but yeah, she was a part of it.”

Bruce shook his head. “The Avengers have disbanded, the most powerful and popular superhero in the world is Wanda Maximoff, the girl that dug around in all our heads and made me public enemy number one. The best selling merchandise in the world is black widow merchandise.”

“Red Widow. Get it right. They are sensitive about that.” Wong told him.

Bruce took a deep breath.

“Wanda Maximoff? Really? Grunge kid with an attitude who could play nightmarish head games is the most powerful superhero in the world. Thaddeus Ross, these accords… the whole damn world has gone crazy.”

Wong shrugged. “Some would say the Widows made the world see things clearly for the first time.”

Bruce laughed. “Fighting Ultron’s robots will be easy compared to fighting Thanos. He went through me like I was ordinary. He took out Thor. If Wanda Maximoff is the most powerful person on the planet…”

“Universe.” Strange corrected.

“Right, universe, you are going to need more power. You are underestimating Thanos.”

Strange laughed quietly.

“We are not underestimating him at all. We have faced him. We destroyed most of his ships. We fought him and his army in his own throne room. Wanda fought him and matched him blow for blow.”

Bruce’s eyebrows rose. “She… you all… how? He destroyed the other guy and Thor!”

Wong scoffed. “I thought you were a genius. What part of most powerful person in the Universe did you not understand? Of course you can’t beat Thanos in a straight fist fight. The guy is huge but he is no match for Chaos magic. When we attack him and we will, he won’t know what hit him. We have three Infinity Stones. He has one. He cannot overpower her. He cannot stop us all of us.”

Bruce closed his eyes as another memory came to the front. It was foggy but important. He knew it.

“The Tesseract. He has the Tesseract. Does that equal an Infinity Stone?”

The three looked at each other in alarm.

“It does, right?”

“It is a container for the Space Stone.” Strange told him. “He now has two stones. The Space Stone will allow him to portal like Wanda and us, but he won’t. Not now. We still have time to set up the plan on Titan.”

“Titan?” Bruce asked. “Titan? Is that what you are calling wherever he is from? You want to attack him on his own planet?!”

Tony took a sip of his bourbon and calmly explained. “I would rather have this out on a dead planet than on Earth.”

“He has a large army of monsters.” Bruce reminded his friend.

“We have the Scarlet Witch.” Tony countered. “We also have a rather large gathering of special individuals. The armies of Wakanda, Silver Sable International, the former Avengers, Sorcerers, Red Widows, New York superpowered vigilantes, the Master of the Ten Rings and his cosmic magical bracelets as well as his ninjas. You and Thor got blindsided. We told Thor about Thanos but I doubted he expected him to track him down with the remains of Asgard. We aren’t blindsided. We have been preparing for him for months.”

“Having the Space Stone is problematic but could give us an advantage. He may waste time going after the Reality Stone or try to find the Soul Stone.” Strange pointed out.

Tony shook his head. “Okay, this sounds like a conversation that needs to be had with Wanda, Yelena and Wong’s insanely hot future mother in law. You want to call Wanda or should I?”

“You have her number?” Wong asked.

Tony smiled widely. “Yes, I do. We are besties now. We even have a secret handshake. Drives Belova crazy with jealousy.”

Bruce shook his head. “I don’t feel comfortable with this. I know she got into all our heads but the things she made me see… she… you don’t understand. Tony, you saw the Avengers dead but what I saw… what she did. I don’t know if I can ever forgive that.”

Strange crossed his arms. “Good because it is unlikely she will ever ask you for forgiveness. Perhaps if the Avengers hadn’t taken such a volatile asset as yourself into battle zones you would not have been in a position to be used. She was at war with the Avengers and she used her abilities, no differently than you do when you turned into a big green killing machine to help the Avengers.”

Bruce shook his head, annoyed at how he defended her. “Are you her father or something?”

“I should be so lucky. Whatever your personal beliefs about her and her actions, this is the fate of the universe and as one part of the duo who created Ultron and Vision I would expect you to put your feelings aside as she has done to work for the greater good.”

Tony grimaced. “He’s right, Bruce. Wanda isn’t the same person and you barely knew her when her and her brother fought with us. She has changed.”

Bruce thought of that for a moment. “She is close to Nat’s sister, right? Nat must be good with her.”

Wong winced. “Actually Wanda hates Romanoff. Absolutely hates her.”

Tony rubbed his forehead. “She is tight with Cap.” he assured Bruce.

“They haven’t been that tight since Rogers became upset over her, Yelena and Barnes raiding that U.S. Army base, killing most of the soldiers and kidnapping the Director of the C.I.A.” Wong reminded him.

Tony mouthed a silent curse towards him.

Wong shrugged his shoulders. “Honesty is the best policy. I tell Ava that all the time. I stopped asking her many things because of that policy.”

Bruce hadn’t heard that name. “Ava? Who is Ava?”

“Wong’s insanely hot and bad ass Red Widow girlfriend.” Tony explained. “Look her and Clint are tight. I realize you don’t remember much of the battle or any after Nat thanked you for rescuing her by pushing you off a ledge to force you to turn green but her brother died for Clint. They are close.”

“She hardly ever talks to him and has never visited his home or met his family despite him asking her too often. “Wong explained. “Ava thinks every time she sees Clint she wishes he were dead and her brother was alive…”

“Wong would you shut the hell up?!” Tony snapped then looked back at Bruce. “Look, she is still dangerous, she has an attitude when provoked, will kill when necessary and yes, she competes with me in the sarcasm department. Where my sarcasm is more witty and lighthearted, her sarcasm is cutting and deeply demoralizing.

“She has also saved hundreds of children from fates worse than death. She has brought life back to her home country and the girls she rescued from mind control. Despite being twenty years old she took responsibility and became a mother to two twelve year old mind controlled widows she rescued. Not only that, she is a hell of a mother. Those kids adore her. Everyone in her orbit adores her and with good reason. Like her or not, she is the best we have and the best chance the universe has of stopping Thanos. You need to meet her, let tell her what you have told us and trust her. If you can’t trust her then trust me. I trust her enough for both of us.”

Of all the things he had heard since he had been back, this was the one that shocked him to the core. He had never heard Tony Stark defend someone so passionately, much less a girl who had hated him so much she worked with Ultron hoping to kill them all.

“Whatever you need from me. I’ll do it.” Bruce told him.

Fifteen minutes later, Sable, Yelena and Wanda were in the sitting room of the Sanctum with Bruce.

“No! I am not doing it!” he objected loudly.

Wanda rolled her eyes. “When you are in your green rage induced from your memories are hazy. Until Thanos beat you the memory of your time as the Hulk were nonexistent. I need to see what you saw. It won’t hurt and I won’t look any farther than I need to.”

Bruce shook his head. “No. These people may trust you and I trust Tony but I am not letting you into my head.”

“Bruce, she needs to see what happened in case you missed any details. You said you would do what was necessary.”

“I did but I don’t trust her in my head! I am not giving her my permission to look!”

Wanda sighed. “I understand. You understand the fate of the Universe is at stake?”

Bruce nodded. “Of course I do. But that is one boundary I will not cross.”

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit. Bruce just say yes…”

Bruce seized up when Wanda’s eyes turned red and she entered his mind. She watched the events on the ship unfold until the Hulk was sent to Earth and transformed into his human form on the way down.

She backed out of his head.

Bruce was furious and stood. Wanda flicked her finger and he sat back down.

“Sorry, Dr. Banner. We all have to make sacrifices. I don’t have time to build a relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with you. Like you said, time is of the essence and if we don’t move fast, he is likely going to attack Earth before we can find his home world and draw him there. I didn’t look anywhere past your encounter with him.”

“Do you know what happens when you make me angry? Do you have any idea what being close to me when I turn is like?”

Yelena chuckled. “Calm down, Banner. If you turned green she would kick your ass. Of course Dr. Strange can knock your soul out of your body first.”

Wanda shook her head. “Unfortunately he can’t turn. He will be of no use to us in the battle. The beating he took has his alter ego hiding in the deepest part of his subconscious. Look at how angry he is now and yet no sign of the Hulk. Nothing worse than the self esteem of a bully who got taken out by a bigger bully. He is a scientist but once the battle has begun we need fighters.”

Bruce realized she was right. He was furious that she had forced her way into his head without getting permission. He wanted to kill her. At any other time he would have begun transforming but now he showed no signs. He wasn’t sure if he should be frightened or relieved.

Wanda looked a bit apologetic but he didn’t’ believe she felt much true regret. She was still the same girl who would use any means necessary to get what she wanted. Only now her target was Thanos rather than the Avengers. He supposed he should be grateful for that.

“Never do that again.”

Wanda smiled slightly. “I don’t enjoy it but I need all the information I can get on Thanos. This is war, Dr. Banner. Tony, Shuri tells me the three of you are close to finding the location of his planet. Once it is found, we will scout, set up a battlefield and make plans to draw him there. Then we fight for the fate of the Universe. Can you give Dr. Banner lodging in your humble abode?”

Yelena nodded. “Yes, that would be better than sending him to Steve and Nat. That would be awkward. Supposedly there was some sort of flirtation occurring before Natasha decided he was more useful as a monster and forced him to turn then disappear for a couple years. The farmhouse is not big and Stannic tells me she wears earplugs at night so she doesn’t have to hear Steve and Nat having sex. Apparently Steve is a screamer. She tells me even with earplugs she is concerned house may collapse due to shaking walls. The last thing he needs is to hear her rocking another man’s world. Perhaps if he grows some courage and confidence back his green counterpart can help us.”

The room was silent, Wanda and Sable looking away to hold their laughs and four men staring silently at Yelena.

“Belova, do you want some scissors to cut off any part of his manhood that may be remaining after that?” Tony asked. “C’mon, Bruce. Only me and Pep are living in the Tower now. You can have your old room back and maybe help me, Pym and Shuri solve the mysteries of alien languages and cartography.”

Red Widow Compound, three nights later

Wanda was in a deep sleep when her eyes turned red and she hovered over the bed. Bucky didn’t notice at first but the twins and Storm ran into the room.

“Papa we can’t feel Mama!” Nadeja told him as she came through the door but then caught sight of her mama hovering above the bed.

Bucky opened his eyes then glanced at Wanda.

“Oh… okay girls. We have planned for this.”

Nadeja and Nela ran back to their room and grabbed their pillows from their beds. They laid them on Wanda’s floor in a pallet of sorts. Bucky gently grabbed Wanda’s floating body and slowly nudged her floating form over the pillows, lowering her as much as possible so the falls would be short and on soft pillows. He bent her body in a horizontal position and Nela made sure a blanket was placed over her floating form.

“Okay, crawl into bed, girls. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Where do you think she is, Papa?” Nadeja asked.

Bucky knew if Wanda was involuntarily pulled from sleep to astral project it was likely a stone had called her. Wherever she was, it was not a nice place to be. Unfortunately all he could do was wait.

The girls crawled into bed with him. He put an arm around both of them but stayed awake, not taking his eyes off his wife.

Wanda was not sure where she was. It was obviously not Earth. She thought it might be Thanos’s home planet but dismissed that idea quickly.

He was here but so was the Red Skull. Wanda was very familiar with him. She or rather Bucky had fought the bastard by Steve’s side in the war. The idea of him on an alien planet after all these years was baffling but in the grand scheme not any stranger than other things she had seen.

Wanda floated to where Thanos was standing on the edge of a cliff. When she grew closer she saw the very small green woman in front of his body. He held her by the arm and she looked terrified. Thanos took his eyes from the edge of the cliff and looked at Wanda.

The tear in his eye shocked Wanda.

“Scarlet Witch.”

“Thanos.”

“Your body is not here. The Soul Stone called to you, did it not? The Infinity Stones have a connection to you. They consider me the enemy but call out to you for help. If they only knew how weak their champion is. How she lacks conviction.”

Wanda ignored the jibe. “What are you doing?”

Thanos huffed. “I see no reason to not tell you. The Soul Stone is in this planet, protected by strong magic. Protected by a curse. She is the only person I love.”

Gamora was struggling to free herself. Wanda reached out but could not loosen Thanos’s grip on the girl.

“I have become stronger. I have the Space Stone and you have the Reality Stone but it cannot help you now. You would need to be here in physical form. I will wait. I will even give you the first opportunity to take the Soul Stone. Come and claim your fourth stone.”

Wanda looked doubtful. “What are you doing with her?”

“I am grieving her because I am about to throw her from this cliff. You see to receive the Soul Stone a soul must be given. I must sacrifice what I love most. That is what you will have to do. Bring the one you love the most and throw them from this cliff. You will receive the Soul Stone and I cannot stop you. You would have no difficulty defeating me. Shall I wait? Will you bring the one who you love most and throw them to their deaths for the greater good of the Universe?”

The Red Skull spoke.

“Two daughters, two halves of a whole. She loves her twin daughters equally. Both would have to be sacrificed for her to truly give up what she loves the most.”

Wanda growled and raised her hand towards the Red Skull.

Nothing happened. The Space Stone on Thanos’s gauntlet glowed. He was using it against her, blocking her ability to use her powers in astral form across the universe. She always had difficulty but now they were up against an insurmountable wall.

“A truce, Scarlet Witch. Come in your physical form and bring those who you love most. I give you my word I will not attack you. If you throw your daughters from this cliff and receive the Soul Stone then I am wrong. You will have shown great conviction. I will give you the Space and Time Stone as well. Decide now. Should I sacrifice that which I love most or will you make the sacrifice?”

Wanda looked towards the girl and squeezed her fist. Gamora began choking but Wanda’s grip was weak. Thanos shook his head.

“Always thinking of another way. You would kill my daughter to keep me from sacrificing her. Brilliant move and were you here, you could likely do so.”

Thanos raised his gauntlet and Wanda’s grip on Gamora’s throat was gone.

“Kill me!” the green woman shouted to Wanda.

Wanda wished she could.

“Make your decision, Scarlet Witch.”

Wanda laughed bitterly. “You know what my decision will always be.”

Thanos nodded. “And that is why you will lose. You lack conviction in the belief that your mission is righteous. If you truly believed in saving lives, what are two children’s lives in comparison to half the Universe?”

“Everything.” Wanda told him.

Thanos sadly shook his head and pushed Gamora over the edge holding her by only her arm.

“Last chance, Scarlet Witch. Bring those you love the most. Sacrifice them for the stone and I will give you mine. This could be over. No more battles, no more bloodshed. I will watch the Universe decay due to greed and you can watch it decay and comfort yourself with the knowledge that you saved half the life in the universe only to watch it slowly die.”

Wanda looked at Gamora. “I am sorry.”

She then addressed Thanos. “I will contact you soon. You have three stones and I have three stones. I can place my stones in a region of the Dark Dimension no one can access, not even you. I won’t though, should you agree to meet me alone on an uninhabited planet of my choosing. One battle, you and me for all the Stones. Only one of us leaves the planet alive.”

Gamora looked at her in disbelief. “No! He will honor his word! I tried to die before he could bring me here but he stopped me from being killed! I know it is horrible but our lives and the lives of our loved ones compared to trillions of lives is nothing. Take the Soul Stone!”

Wanda shook her head. “Never. My daughters and anyone else I love will always come first. We will speak soon, Thanos. Our battle is coming.”

“I look forward to it little witch.”

Thanos let Gamora go. Wanda stayed and watched the girl fall to the ground fall below.

When she hit bottom energy exploded from the ground. Wanda knew it was the Soul Stone surrendering to Thanos. She did not stay to watch.

When she came back to her body she hit the ground but only a few inches onto soft pillows, causing her no pain. Bucky was knelt over her.

“Hey there, beautiful. You okay?”

Wanda sat up with Bucky’s help.

“Thanos has the Soul Stone.”

Bucky grimaced. “I’m sorry.”

Wanda shook it off and stood, moving to get under the covers with the twins.

“I’m not. I was never going to get that Stone even if I found it first. The price was one I was never going to pay.”

“What price?” Bucky asked.

“It doesn’t matter. I will pry it from his corpse. Soon, Bucky. Soon and this will be over.”

Bucky brought her into his arms while she wrapped her arms around the girls.

“I know Doll. When this is over we are taking the girls on a family vacation.”

A vacation sounded nice. Wanda recognized something in Thanos tonight.

He was right. He was filled with conviction. He would sacrifice anything and anyone to get what he wanted. It was his driving force and all that mattered to him. He fought for a principle, an idea, something intangible. In his mind he wanted to save a universe filled with no one he loved.

He was also wrong. Wanda was filled with conviction.

Wanda fought for love.

She knew at that moment, she would win. She may be hurt, she may even die, but she would not lose. She would not lose anyone else ever again. She didn’t lack conviction. Stones didn’t matter. She felt the warmth of the other bodies in this bed. She felt the love. It was all the conviction she needed.

The Scarlet Witch and Thanos were on a collision course and it would happen very soon.