Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 14:

Trigger warning. Mentions of children being harmed.

Chapter 14:

“Natasha Romanoff was waiting for me in the front of school today.” Kate told Yelena.

Yelena grimaced, not thinking Natasha would go that far.

“She wanted to know where you were. Apparently her and Hawkeye knew you and the widows had been in Sokovia but didn’t know you were gone until yesterday. They had been tracking you.”

Yelena wasn’t surprised. Sokovia wasn’t a secret base for anyone truly wanting to find them. Yelena wondered is Natasha had been watching or if the Avengers had. That paranoia is what caused them to move during the night to their new base. If Nat was approaching Kate she had no clue where they were.

She never thought Natasha would go that far, which is why she never gave Kate the location of the base.

“I’ll handle it.”

“You don’t want her to know, do you? I thought you two were getting along.” Kate said, pushing a bit. Yelena never talked about Natasha much. She had mentioned that they had dinner together when they were in New York, and she knew Natasha and the Avengers helped them take down the Red Room. Other than that, Yelena never spoke of her. Kate had never pushed but was always curious about the relationship between the two sisters.

“We have been getting along. We do get along. But it isn’t my decision. I am only one person in a base of twenty four women. The others do not want her to know.”

“Even Wanda?”

Yelena shrugged. “Wanda would tell me it is my choice, but I don’t believe she wants anything to do with them. The other widows… they do not want her here. This is not a good time to… how do you say, shake the boat. We are making headway. We set up a meet using bad man’s phone and voice and killed kidnappers, left children to be found by police. Now we are waiting for big bad guys to contact us, so we can pretend to be medium bad guy and meet. We follow to their hideout, we attack, bang, Red Widows get win, big bad guys go in ground.”

“I love it when you talk strategy. It’s hot.” Kate told her teasingly.

Yelena ignored her teasing and moved on to more pressing issues. “She was not mean to you, was she?”

Kate shrugged. “No, but she kept digging and didn’t believe me when I said I had no idea where you were. She wanted my phone, and I told her I would call my mom. Low blow I know but she isn’t getting my phone. I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s not like you two have a history of talking all the time.”

Yelena chuckled. “Keep your phone close, Kate. She can be stubborn. I will contact her and stress the importance of leaving you alone. I am not sure what the problem is. Beside the Black Widow interrogating you after school, how was your day?”

Kate went on to tell Yelena every detail of her day. Yelena smiled throughout, enjoying the excitement on Kate’s face and was very thankful for video calls. She also had to keep the sadness out of her expression. She wished she could be there so badly. She could still remember the feel of Kate’s lips on hers.

After they reluctantly hung up, Yelena called Fanny over to the bed and made a second call, knowing her number was blocked and the phone untraceable. The only way Natasha could contact Yelena was to have Kate Bishop’s phone.

Natasha answered on the first ring. “Where are you?”

“At my secret base.” Yelena answered as if it should be obvious. “Meet my new friend, Fanny.”

Yelena put the phone in front of the dog’s face, and Fanny proceeded to lick the screen.

“She likes you!” Yelena told her happily.

“Where are you?”

“At my secret base.” Yelena said again.

“Why did you leave Sokovia?”

Yelena rolled her eyes. “Because we all live in a secret base. If you know where it is, then it is what is known in my field as compromised. When a base is compromised, spies typically move to a new secret base and do our best to keep this one secret. Just because you live in big fancy compound in upstate New York and the entire world knows where to find you, doesn’t mean we do.”

Natasha sighed, irritated. “Tell me. I need to know in case something happens to you.”

“Things have happened to me my entire life, Natasha. Knowing where I am is not going to stop them. The majority of us want to keep location of base secret. I must abide by my sisters’ wishes.”

“The majority?”

“Everyone.” Yelena admitted. “I am calling because I have something important to tell you. Stay away from Kate Bishop. Showing up at her school unannounced and trying to interrogate her when she is unsuspecting is not cool. Do not take her phone either. I will know.”

Natasha shook her head. “You know, Vision could find Wanda.”

Yelena held back a laugh. “If he could, you would not bother my girlfriend. Do you think Wanda wouldn’t know how to hide her location? I would recommend he doesn’t try regardless. Wanda had gotten very strong. It would be a shame for her to pull that pretty stone out of his head. Something tells me that is his off switch.”

Natasha forced herself to calm down. Antagonizing Yelena would get her nowhere. “I’m sorry. I just worry about you. The Red Widows are causing a stir in Europe and news is reaching the States. Leaving a black widow symbol in red at the sight of every mass killing isn’t helping.”

“Hence, the secret base.” Yelena told her. “We haven’t found a method for peacefully killing the ones who steal children. We are still experimenting though. It is important that those in this business know who we are. They need to know if they continue, they will end up in pieces as well. We are not Avengers, Nat. You know this. Not telling you where I am, gives you plausible deniability. The day is coming the Avengers will be forced to be a global police force under the orders of a governing body. They may be sent after us. When that time comes they will ask you what you know. It is better you know nothing.”

Natasha shook her head. “The Avengers are never coming after you, Yelena. Stop being paranoid.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow and said nothing, staring at Natasha’s face on the screen.

Natasha sighed. “I can handle them. I don’t need plausible deniability. I just want to know where you are in case an emergency happens.”

“I’m sorry, Natasha. My sisters say no.”

“Did you ask them about me specifically?”

Yelena cringed, not wanting to let Natasha know the opinions of the widows about every widow who wasn’t one of the mind controlled and especially Natasha and her superhero status. Things had calmed down after the incident between Stannic and Oksana. Oksana was a different story. She lived with them, never tried to be a superhero, made the antidote that cured them, and it took an emotional breakdown of a fourteen year old girl holding a gun on her to put the matter to rest. Yelena’s silence told Natasha all she needed to know.

“I was right, wasn’t I? They don’t see me as one of them.”

“They see you as an Avenger. They know the Avengers are compromised, just as you know it. Despite their help with the Red Room, they do not trust easily and suspect the Avengers will want something from them one day, something they are not prepared to give.”

“We would… no matter what I say, they will never believe me, will they?”

“I believe you, sister. Those two different worlds you speak of were true. Our world is a lot bloodier than yours now. We each have our own missions. We are no heroes and never will be. We are not you.”

“Then what are you if you aren’t heroes, taking out human traffickers?” she asked.

“Vengeance and rage, the things superheroes are supposed to be above. We do the things Captain America can’t do or his public image would be scarred. We do the things you can’t do either. Not anymore. It would mean less magazine covers.”

Natasha had heard this remark several times from Yelena. “Do you think I want fame? I was thrown into this.”

Yelena nodded. “I know. No, I don’t think you want fame, but you have it. I do not care and neither does Wanda. The others though… let me just say it has been mentioned. That is why it is dangerous for you to know where we are. Nothing good can come from it. I don’t need you to come for me in an emergency. I have my team, my family, as you have yours. I will call when I can, but do not talk to Kate again. I won’t have her bothered. I keep details of this life from her for a reason. Do you understand?”

Natasha nodded. “I don’t have a choice. Be careful.”

“You know I can’t be careful. Goodbye, sister. Watch your back. You may call me paranoid but that doesn’t mean I am wrong.”

The call ended just as the intercom in the mansion came alive. Dani was asking all the widows to report to the bunker.

Eventually they all made it down. The elevator wasn’t that large, and the stairway was narrow and blocked by heavy steel doors that took time to open.

Wanda was waiting for them all. She was wearing a standard outfit for her. Her red leather pants and black bustier, along with her black combat boots and her short red jacket. Judging by the look on her face, she was gearing up for a mission.

“A.I.M. contacted Teller’s phone. We have a location for pickup.” Naomi explained. “It’s in a port in Greece and the meet is in sixteen hours. We are doing surveillance only, while Wanda does her thing.”

Yelena looked at her friend. “I thought one of us would dive and swim from behind vessel and plant tracker on back of boat. What red wiggly woo are you doing?”

Wanda winced, knowing Yelena wouldn’t like this. “We can’t take the chance of the tracker falling off or losing signal in case they have a jammer. I’ll be on the ship. They won’t see me. I’ll travel to their base and text. If the signal is there, you can converge on my location. If it isn’t, I will fly away from the island and let you know my location. It’s the best way to be sure.”

“I’ll go with you.” Yelena said immediately.

Wanda shook her head. “I can turn myself invisible. I’ve been working on it.”

“When?” Yelena asked.

“All the time.”

“I’ve never seen you work on it.”

“Yes, that is the point of being invisible.” Wanda agreed. “A small team should do for recon. The rest should be at a hidden LZ ready to move when my signal is received. Three jets, both teams. A few need to stay back to watch the base and be our eyes in the field.”

“Can I fight?” Stannic asked. “I’ve been watching videos of our strikes all week.”

Wanda looked to Yelena.

“You stay by Antonia’s side, you do exactly what she tells you to do.” Yelena told her. “This is different than assassination. Do not disagree or disobey Antonia.”

“She won’t.” Antonia promised.

Yelena followed Wanda to her room. Once there Yelena slammed the door behind her. “What was that?”

“The logical play.” Wanda told her.

“What if you are found out? What if you have to destroy the ship or there are too many and you get shot again? What if you can’t fly far enough back? You have no idea how far you can fly. This is dangerous. Widows travel in pairs! We never travel alone!”

“This isn’t travel.” Wanda argued. “This is an operation. It makes the most sense to be on that ship and you know it.”

“Then I go as well. You can keep me invisible. You kept your house invisible. You keep me the same.”

Wanda shook her head. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No… are we really going to do this again?”

“No because I am right. I go with you. If you don’t want me to walk on board with you then I will swim and grapple myself up, sneak on in that manner.”

“If they see you the mission is off!” Wanda exclaimed.

“Then you best make sure that they don’t see me. There are many uninhabited islands in the Mediterranean Seas. Do you even know how many?”

Wanda shrugged. “No, do you?”

Yelena shook her head. “No. That means unknown situation. That means we stick together.”

“I can handle this, Yelena.”

Yelena threw her hands into the air. “You get overconfident with your powers! Did bullet hole in gut not teach you anything?! Самоуверенная идиотка, думает, что она непобедима!”

Wanda sighed, knowing Yelena was truly angry whenever she began speaking in Russian, using words she knew Wanda would not understand. Wanda still got a general idea of what she said, and it wasn’t flattering.

“Fine.”

“I won’t argue about this! I am coming… fine?”

Wanda nodded. “I’d rather keep you close than you sneaking onboard by scaling hulls.”

Yelena nodded. “I am glad you see reason. Maybe you not so stupid after all.”

“Thank you. That is a high compliment coming from you.” Wanda told her.

“Are you going to wear that outfit?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If we are discovered the men will have something to look at while I am slitting their throats.”

“I just changed my mind.” Wanda said. “I don’t want you there.”

“Too late.”

Sixteen hours later, Port of Rio, Greece

Yelena looked over the small freighter for fifteen minutes. Her and the widows examined from the shadows, using infrared and X Ray scanners on the ship, to analyze every possible entry point.

“I’m going up the gangplank.” Wanda decided.

“That’s it?” Yelena asked.

“Trust me.”

“Always.”

Wanda reached out of the shadows. The eyes of the men standing guard at the gangplank turned red and they walked away, one to each side, moving away from the ship. Two who were on board walked around to the back of the ship.

Wanda and Yelena walked up the plank and entered the ship. Yelena saw no cameras thankfully. She looked up to the bridge and saw a man sitting in the captain’s seat. His head was tilted back, and he looked like he was snoring.

“You’ve gotten very good.” Yelena commented.

“Let’s go to the hold.”

Wanda reached out and turned the wheel locking the door with her power.

Yelena and Wanda walked into the room and were struck by the smell.

“No.” Wanda whispered, looking around, her imagination filling in the blanks of what would have happened if girls had shown up.

Chains with wrist cuffs were attached to the walls, high enough for someone to sit on the floor with their arms above their head. The room smelled horrible, a combination of odors in an unventilated room that had never been washed.

“I shall enjoy killing them.” Yelena muttered.

Wanda flicked her hand and the door closed and locked behind them, keeping them in the room. The redhead sat down cross-legged and closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?” Yelena asked.

“I am going to enter all their minds quietly, read their thoughts and if any come down here, make them unable to see us.”

“You can do that?”

“I’m going to try.”

Yelena groaned. “This is a hell of a time to experiment.”

Wanda smirked, then forced herself to relax in the horrid environment.

She reached out with her senses, searching for each life form. She could feel so many from the city and had to narrow herself. Unlike the times she reached out to Vision where she expanded her scope, now she had to limit it.

Wanda sensed the confusion of the men she had sent for a walk away from the plank. The ones that had walked to the back were not sure why they were there but neither wanted to admit it to the other. There were two in the galley and one in the bathroom. The captain was waking up.

“They are starting to realize they have been stood up and aren’t sure what to do. The captain is going to call their home base.”

Yelena tapped the com on her ear. “Come in Recon team.”

She heard nothing so she tried again. A feint voice came through.

“Having trouble picking up tracker, forward team.” Mika’s voice came through. “Do you copy?”

“We are in hold. Look for tracker to reappear when we arrive at destination. We will check in once we reach the top. We should be setting sail soon.”

Yelena thought she heard a copy followed by other words lost in static.

“They are leaving. The men are relieved they do not have to deal with children tonight.” Wanda said bitterly. “They hit them to keep them quiet.”

Yelena shook her head. The more of the slavers they took out the less surprised she was by their actions. Every time she thought she saw the depth of humanity’s depravity she was proven wrong.

Now she was about to see the end of the road, the place these children ended up and she had a feeling she would see worse depravity than she had yet seen. Scientists buying children. As a child subjected to scientists’ whims, Yelena knew nothing good came from that. She doubted this A.I.M. was building an army of child assassins. She tried not to think of what sort of experimentation they would find until they had to face it.

Wanda was in a relaxed state, listening to their thoughts, doing her best to not drive them insane yet. The plan was working and for it to continue to work, they needed everything to go smoothly.

She was rocked from her relaxed state by a sudden blinding light. She opened her eyes and stood but Yelena wasn’t there.

She was back in Sokovia. She was standing among the rubble of a city at night. She knew this wasn’t real, but it felt real. Someone had pulled her to this mental landscape. Another telepath?

A small circle of light began forming then it widened, the circle expanding until it was a large glittery doorway.

A thin middle aged bald woman wearing white robes and a necklace with a weird, eye shaped, large pendant stepped out of the circle.

“So this is where you have brought me. The place the Scarlett Witch began to be forged.”

“What have you done? How did you do this? Why am I here?”

The woman smiled at Wanda and walked closer. Her smile was warm and expression kind, but Wanda did not let her guard down.

“I reached out and asked for an audience. You sent me to this location. I suppose it was unconsciously. I am here and you are not.”

Wanda looked around, smelt the city, heard the dogs barking, the people scavenging through the wreckage.

“Of course I am here. I do not have time for this. Send me back.”

The woman chuckled. “Only you can send you back. You are the one who is astral projecting herself here. I simply did a spell to search for you. When I thought I found your physical location, I opened an interdimensional portal and found myself here, facing your astral projection.”

Wanda did not believe her. Whoever this woman was had somehow done this. Wanda was beginning to sense the power radiating off of her. It set her senses on edge.

“Who are you?”

The woman’s eyes widened. “Of course. I apologize. I was so impressed with your deed, I have forgotten to introduce myself. I am more impressed that you did it without realizing it. You have much to learn young one. I am called the Ancient One. I am the Master of Mystic Arts and Sorcerer Supreme. It is my duty to protect the planet from attacks of a mystical nature.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow. “Mystical? I would ask you to elaborate but I don’t have time. My friend and I are in a dangerous situation and the fate of many children rely on our actions. Since apparently I did this, I must learn to undo it. If you would leave me.”

The Ancient One laughed. “Time. It is always about time. We are here in one moment, no longer than a minute. Surely your widow is well armed and can protect you, while you are out of your body for one minute.”

Wanda tensed, wondering how the woman knew her friend was a widow. Her suspicion must have been on her face because the woman shook her head, amused.

“I assumed. You are Wanda Maximoff after all. The entire supernatural world has been watching your escapades. You have formed the Red Widows with your close friend Yelena Belova. I can only hope the trail of blood you are leaving behind is the blood of very bad people. I don’t care. None of us do. Your future is what concerns me. There are many prophecies about you, Scarlett Witch.”

Wanda stared at her suspiciously, wanting to form balls of energy, to reach into her mind but she had nothing.

“You don’t have access to your powers in your astral form.”

“Why do you call me Scarlett Witch? What prophecies do you speak of?”

The Ancient One nodded. “Finally, the right questions. You believe your power comes from the Mind Stone, don’t you?”

“It does.”

“No, child. You were born a witch. The Mind Stone made you stronger. The prophecies all say the Scarlett Witch would be forged. I first sensed your power when you were a young child. You stopped a bomb from exploding and killing your brother and yourself. I couldn’t find you but saw you under the rubble. After that, I began seeing flashes of your future. Your future was clouded, until you encountered the Mind Stone. That was when the clouds began lifting and I saw what you could, one day, become. The Scarlett Witch, the wielder of Chaos Magic, the witch who can destroy the universe or save it, depending on what prophecy you choose to believe.”

Wanda shook her head. “This… I don’t… none of this makes sense. Scarlett… I am not a witch. I am an experiment gone right or wrong, depending on your point of view.”

The Ancient One laughed softly. “Oh, Wanda, you are so much more than the powers that stone gave you. You don’t know what is inside you yet, what is clawing, trying to get out. When it gets out, it will be up to you to decide if it’s a monster or a savior. I understand this can be much, so I would like to speak to you, in person. Anywhere you want to meet. I don’t suppose you would invite me to wherever you are, and I have no desire to have a conversation while numerous Black Widows attempt to kill me. Pardon me, I meant Red Widows.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow. “You just told me you think I could potentially destroy the… not just world… you said the universe. Why would I meet you in person? You must want me dead, and you are obviously very powerful. I can feel it.”

“Witches and sorcerers are different branches of the same tree, you could say. Like recognizes like. I would be cautious as well. Keep in mind though, I said you may destroy the universe, or you may save it. Make no mistake, this universe will need saving. What you do with your magic, can mean salvation for countless.”

“You have seen this? You know what threat I am supposed to save these countless from?”

The Ancient One shook her head. “It is cloudy. There are many paths but at the end of each one, you are there. Reach out to me when you are ready. I have an old friend, a witch like you, who can train you to use your true power. She doesn’t possess it, but she understands chaos magic and can help you. You will need help.”

Wanda never took her eyes off the woman, trying to read every facial tick, hoping to get a clue to her true motivations. Not being able to feel her emotions or even touch her thoughts, was disconcerting. She hadn’t realized how much she had come to rely on it, rather than her own judgement of people.

“After your brother died, I believed in the prophecy of the Darkhold. The prophecy said, you were destined to destroy the universe. Then, I saw multiple paths soon after and the Book of Vishanti’s prophecy became more likely. I would have never believed a Russian child assassin would be the reason you keep your heart and save the world. When you are ready to accept your destiny call me. Oh, and do try not to get shot again. The future is never set in stone. To save the world you have to be alive.”

Another portal opened and Wanda watched the Ancient One step inside it and close behind her.

“What the hell was that?” she asked herself.

The slap to her face stunned her. She saw darkness then felt another and another. She finally opened her eyes and nearly screamed, finding Yelena inches from her face, looking in her eyes.

“Were you slapping me?”

“I needed to make sure you didn’t give yourself a brain injury. Your eyeballs started moving behind your lids and you started talking to yourself. Scarlett Witch? Is that what you want to be called? I always thought Red Witch. Scarlett Witch sounds dramatic, but you always have been somewhat diva.”

Wanda shook her head. “No, I was just in Sokovia. I mean, spirit me or astral me was in Sokovia and some woman came through this hole in the air that sparkled…”

Yelena slapped her again.

“Stop it!”

“Sorry. I thought, maybe you were still brain damaged. This is a bad time for your imagination to go crazy. I need you at top witch power.”

Yelena pulled a fruit rollup from her vest pocket. “Take this. Sugar will snap you out of whatever bad juju got into your head.”

Wanda rolled her eyes. “I’m not imagining it. I astral projected myself to Sokovia and I don’t even know how!”

Yelena sat back and nodded. “Okay. Let’s take it step by step. Eat your fruit roll up first, then we talk when you are done. We probably should have brought water. You might have to mind control one of those scum to bring us dinner, if trip is too long. So you close your eyes, you are reading the minds and then what?”

“I saw this bright light and when I opened my eyes, I was in Sokovia. I could feel it, but I had none of my powers.”

“How did you open doors?”

Wanda scowled.

“I’m just saying, you do tend to show out at times. Why can’t you just turn a doorknob like the rest of us? Kate says, you are being extra and flex all the time.”

“What does that mean? I don’t flex. I don’t like to do pushups. Why would I flex?”

Yelena shrugged. “I just agree with her when she says things I don’t understand because she is very beautiful. So, you saw a bright light and then you were in Sokovia, and it felt real, but you had no powers. What happened next?”

“This light was in front of me and then it started turning and expanding and a woman walked out of it. She called it an interdimensional portal.”

“No more pizza for you right before bed.” Yelena told her.

“She was bald and wearing robes. She seemed nice and creepy at the same time. She said she was some kind of sorcerer supreme and protected earth from mystical attacks.”

Yelena nodded. “Okay, it’s starting to make sense now.”

“How does that make sense?”

Yelena scoffed. “I’ve heard of a god from space, who looks like a bodybuilding surfer. I met a man, who was frozen for decades and is still alive with superstrength. Your brother could run faster than people could see. That big green man was a tiny man most of the time. Tony Stark made a robot that planned to end humans by lifting a city into the sky and turning it into an asteroid. He also made a robot that can somehow go through solid objects, even though he is made of metal. Then there is you, flexing your wiggly woo powers all the time. A bald headed sorcerer in robes, walking through little portals of light isn’t a stretch for me to believe.”

Wanda thought of that for a moment. “You have a point. So she starts talking to me about my being a witch and she felt my power when I was a child. She thinks I did something to stop the bomb from killing me and Pietro.”

“Okay.” Yelena said. “I can buy that. You have always been a little witch. Plausible.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow.

“Tiny man to big, green man.” Yelena reminded her.

Wanda sighed.

“So she started calling me the Scarlett Witch and spouting a bunch of crap about prophecies of me destroying the universe or saving it.”

“The Universe?”

“Yeah.”

“Not the planet but the entire universe?”

“Yeah! That’s what I was thinking!”

“Over dramatic but she is a bald sorcerer in robes, so who are we to judge? She called you the Scarlett Witch. I’m not calling you that. Its dumb.”

“I didn’t ask you to. Anyway this Scarlett Witch has something to do with something called Chaos Magic.”

Yelena’s eyes widened. “Chaos Magic? She said chaos magic?”

Wanda paused for a moment, confused at her excitement. “Yes… have you heard of it?”

“No, but it is the first cool thing you have said. Chaos magic. I like that. Maybe Chaos Witch. No, that is worse than Scarlett Witch. We will have to think more on this. Tell bald headed sorcery lady that Scarlett Witch is dumb name.”

Despite the confused state of her mind, Wanda did take some offense to that. “What is wrong with Scarlett Witch?”

“It’s not intimidating or fearsome. Red Widow is a poisonous spider. You get bit by one and bad things happen. A Scarlett Witch is just a witch who doesn’t know she is supposed to wear black to be spooky. I like Red Witch better. Red is strong color. Scarlett is for tablecloths or curtains.”

Wanda admitted to herself that it wasn’t the most badass name in existence.

“She knew I got shot.”

Yelena shrugged, not surprised. “If she is sorcerer, she probably knows Avengers or she spies on them with sorcery stuff. That isn’t that hard to find out. Did she say what she wanted, beside letting you know you may or may not destroy the entire universe?”

“She said something about two books. One was called the Darkhold.”

“Cool name.”

“And the other was the Book of Vishanti.”

“Very much less cool name.” Yelena said shaking her head.

“She also said something about you being the reason I kept my heart.”

“No surprise. I’m your brain most of the time too. I suppose you will hear from her again.”

Wanda nodded. “She said she knew a witch that could train me but to call out to her when I was ready.”

“I suppose she is busy with all these mystic attacks, we will have to handle the actual problems of the world. Try to relax and not get sidetracked by bald head sorcerers or witches anymore. We have actual job to do. It’s not saving the universe but to those little girls, it is.”

Yelena’s watch told them they had been on the water for seven hours. It should have been daytime, but they couldn’t tell in the cargo hold or dungeon as it was.

When they reached harbor, Wanda entered their minds once again, holding still until they had left the ship.

Yelena checked her guns, adjusted her knives, and checked her batons and widow bites.

“It’s not good we are here during daylight. Let us see what we are dealing with.”

The two made their way through the old ship. Yelena and her both had a fruit rollup then peered out the bridge window, keeping their heads down.

“Are you getting a signal out?” Wanda asked.

Yelena shook her head, frustrated. “They must have signal jammers. I can’t even pull up our location. We will have to find what is blocking our transmissions and if it is what I think it is, then you can blow it up.”

Wanda looked at her, confused at her tone of voice and wondering why Yelena would let her blow something up as first option. She followed Yelena’s line of sight to the middle of the heavily wooded area and saw a single radio antennae. The antennae tower was about three hundred meters high.

“Damn.” Wanda muttered.

“Yes. Perhaps you can take it apart from here, without blowing anything up. This should be a safe place to stay until sundown. No one would believe we were stupid enough to catch a ride and hide in the cargo hold.”

“That was the genius of my plan.”

“Take a look around. You said the bald headed, magic lady told you that you did your ghost travel thing. Do it now.”

“I don’t know how I did it.”

“We have nothing else to do but sit here and practice. Maybe you ghost walk all over island. You close your eyes and grunt in concentration or something. I’m going to the galley and see what they have to eat. Do you want something? I bet they have macaroni.”

“You are going to cook their macaroni?” Wanda asked not liking the idea of eating anything they had.

“If they have box mac and cheese, yes. You would blame the mac and cheese because it got bought by swine?”

Wanda thought about it and admitted she had a good point. Wanda sat on the bridge floor, so her head wouldn’t be seen, and stretched her senses out. She could feel the men they traveled with, but they were going farther and farther away until they were out of reach.

Then nothing.

She skimmed the entire surface of the island and found not one mental signature. She decided to take Yelena’s suggestion and focus on astral projection, despite having done it once by accident and as a reflex to keep a strange magician from finding her physical form.

She heard a pot being stirred and Yelena sat beside her, placing the pot between them. She handed Wanda a spoon and the two went to work on the mac and cheese.

“So, what have we found?”

“We?”

“One of us had to cook and one of us had to travel all over the island for people’s brains. Would you prefer to switch places next time?”

“Do you have hot sauce?” Wanda asked.

Yelena pulled two packets out of one of her vest pockets. “Only these two small packets. We will have to make do. What have we found?”

“There is no one here.”

Yelena was unable to hide her surprise. No one ever escaped Wanda.

“No one?”

“I’ve searched the entire island. Even the men who were on the boat disappeared. They may have taken another boat on the other side. This could just be another drop off point.”

Yelena took a bite and eyed the tower in the sky. “If this were a drop off point and they had a radio tower that large, we would be getting signals out strongly, not keeping them in. You say you searched the island. What about under the island?”

“Under?”

Yelena sighed. “We live under a mansion in isolated woods in France. Is there something down there that can make your powers go cray cray?”

“Cray cray?”

“It’s something Kate Bishop taught me. She is helping me with learning American slang.”

Wanda sighed, not sure. “I wish I knew more about how my powers work.”

Yelena agreed. “Bald lady said she will send witch to teach you. I hope she has more success showing you to be good witch than I did at making you good shot.”

Wanda shook her head and ignored the remark. That encounter was likely the reason she couldn’t concentrate on the here and now. She stood up on the bridge, reached her hands forward and let magic flow from her fingertips, covering the island in red strands and then sinking under water.

“I feel the men who brought us. They are underground. Under the water. There must be an underground entrance on the island. Hold on.” She let more energy flow, pushing herself to the limit, pushing under gravel, dirt, roots and then saltwater.

“I can feel children, Yelena. They are being kept under ground and they are so frightened.” Wanda told her, holding in a whimper. “But I only feel one other mind.”

“One mind beside our tour guides?”

“It’s a female but I’m having a hard time hearing her. The children’s pleas are drowning my mind.”

Wanda broke free from her power and began hyperventilating.

“Calm down, Wanda. I’m here. We are going to get the children out. Listen, if there are only those men and a woman, we should take the signal blocker down, send out our position and the two of us can search for the entrance. We kill them when they come out to stop us or they stay in, and we break in when our sisters arrive.”

“She could hold the children hostage. We break the signal, but we find that entrance and break it, get to her before she can harm the children.”

Yelena nodded.

Wanda wore a determined look as she stepped out of the bridge and launched a red blast of deadly energy towards the top of the tower, disintegrating the structure.

“Hah.” Yelena said, smiling. “I bet they weren’t expecting that. I’m getting signal, my transponder is on. Our sisters are only two hours by flight from us. They have been tracking general vicinities, I bet. We, Red Widows, are very bad at following orders. Too emotional.”

“Let’s do what we do best.” Wanda told her, stepping off the ship with Yelena at her side. They followed the path the sailors had walked and were about to enter the woods when Yelena held Wanda back.

“You hear that?” Yelena whispered.

Wanda listened and could hear some sort of buzz in the winds. It might have been a hummingbird.

Before she asked Yelena what the problem was, she saw her and Yelena both had laser dots on them. Yelena knocked them down and Wanda threw up a shield around them a second before bullets slammed into the energy field.

Wanda dropped the shield and they both opened fire, Yelena with armor piercing rounds and Wanda with her red energy.

The few they destroyed were not enough. More kept swarming out of the forest.

“I should have known.” Wanda sighed. “More damn robots. Always robots.”

Yelena pulled her other handgun, so she had two ready. She already counted twenty two of the small robots that were more torsos with rifles for arms, rockets for mobility and visual scopes. They were created for the purpose of killing, but she had already taken a few out. She knew their weak points. Yelena knew exactly where to shoot them.

“They don’t bleed as pretty as bad guys, but they die the same. I have eighty rounds total on me and then I am reduced to electric staffs and widow bites. You ready?”

A red storm swirled around the two, as Wanda growled and launched into the sky, exploding in power.

Yelena shook her head. “Always flexing, Kate, she is always flexing.”