Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 20:

Yelena relaxed in the recliner in the living room. They had returned the night before after taking down a human trafficking operation in Istanbul and rescued twenty boys and girls, all younger than twelve. Fortunately they had not been experimented on. This was not a former Red Room supply pipeline, but one they had picked up by investigating disappearances in Turkey. Ross had given them the lead, having traced a large amount of Oscorp’s money to a dummy corporation. The Widows had investigated and determined it was not the site of a lab or base but instead found the group operating the ring.

It wasn’t a fight. The slavers were unprepared for twenty widows, Wanda and Taskmaster to assault them. The widows and Taskmaster put down fifteen armed men in less than ten seconds. None of them had the chance to fire. The sixteenth had been shot in both legs so Wanda could rip into his mind before killing him.

She learned all the routes, contacts, and the pickup points for the children that had been crammed in the moving van they always used.

Yelena had called Ross and given him the information to investigate which bases were operational. She then called the Istanbul authorities to pick up the children.

When they had returned at one AM, Wanda joined Agatha, determined to continue studying. Agatha had been with them for a week. During that time, they only stopped when Yelena had to threaten to chloroform Wanda if she didn’t sleep or force food into her to make her eat.

Wanda was determined to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible. Yelena watched her most of the time and was impressed by her dedication, even if there were certain tasks Wanda still had trouble mastering.

Yelena thought of taking a nap, barely watching the video game match between Ingrid and Naomi until she found herself on her feet once more, standing next to a bar in a denim top, blue skirt and an apron. Her hair was no longer in braids. It hung free but felt as if it had gained a pound and flared out around her with annoying bangs brushing her forehead.

Ingrid and Naomi were no longer in game chairs facing the television. Naomi was dressed in men’s clothing and the other wore a tight black skirt and dark blue top. Ingrid’s long dark hair was now short. Rather than playing video games, the two girls were sitting on a sofa with a small table in front of them that held steaming mugs of coffee. Naomi had a copy of the New York Times and Ingrid was reading a food magazine.

“Why do I always have to be Monica? She couldn’t pick a season where she didn’t butcher her hair?” Ingrid complained.

Naomi sighed, understanding her frustration. They all supported Wanda’s education. It could just be trying at times.

“At least you aren’t Chandler Bing. For someone who hates the United States, she is obsessed with their old sitcoms.” Naomi pointed out.

“Stop complaining.” Yelena told them. “I’m the one who has to serve you all coffee. Wanda’s parents watched these old sitcoms with Wanda and her brother. It was how she learned English. After they were gone whenever she had the chance she watched whatever sitcoms she could find. They make her happy. Now I need to go out in the imaginary street and make sure my real puppy is not hit by an imaginary taxicab. How weird is it that there are no real cars? Taxis as far as you can see but no cars.”

Wanda walked in from the street at that moment with Fanny by her side who rushed to Yelena. Yelena knew Wanda had been upstairs but this was the fourth hex Wanda had attempted and she still wasn’t sure of the logistics of geography inside alternate realities.

Wanda looked around and cringed.

“I was trying for a tropical island.” she admitted.

“Why am I always Monica?!” Ingrid asked her.

More widows came inside the coffee shop. Maria crossed her arms and stood in front of Wanda. “My computer banks are now full of ovens with baked goods inside. I am not a baker.”

“Most of the underground compound looks like a street from New York.” Sonia grumbled.

“My bedroom is now a cheap apartment. I don’t care if it is rent controlled. I’m not sure how I even know it is rent controlled but I do and that is sad.” Michiko complained.

Yelena smirked, enjoying Wanda being scolded by the irritated widows but also feeling sorry for her.

“I’m sorry. It wasn’t supposed to go further than my room. It got away from me. At least we aren’t in black and white. That’s progress, right?”

“It’s snowing outside!” Sonia told Wanda. “This is about creating your own reality. Why did the tropical island not work? I would like a beach. We still haven’t taken that vacation to a private island we talked about. A beach here for a few hours would be nice. Can there be robots to serve us drinks or should we keep letting Yelena play waitress? I’m good either way.”

“I was trying for a beach, I promise! Creating an alternate reality without taking over the minds of everyone inside is not easy! I tried to keep it just in my room but I sneezed and…”

“Hold up.” Yelena stopped her. “You sneezed and now we are living on the set of Friends? How did you go from private beach to nineties sitcom with a sneeze? You are not sleeping enough.”

Wanda closed her eyes and concentrated. The coffee shop was gone in a flash of red and the mansion returned to its former state.

Agatha walked down the stairs, shaking her head. “Sorry girls. I thought she could try a small scale hex. I would have warned you all if I knew it was going to encompass all of France and turn back the clock to 1993.”

Yelena shook her head. “I don’t like the idea of her creating these hexes. She doesn’t need to live in another reality. She has this one to deal with.”

Agatha grinned. One thing the witch had learned since she had been there was Yelena had an opinion on everything, especially Wanda and what she should be learning. She was like a hovering mother watching her kid at little league baseball practice and telling the coach what to do.

“Yelena, a reality hex is more than Wanda making her own reality. When she makes a reality hex, everybody inside is literally living in a different reality than the rest of the universe. That means nuclear war could break out, but it will never affect whoever is inside the hex. When she masters the skill, it could be a lifesaver one day.”

Yelena waved her off. “There is nothing this reality could hold that we cannot survive.”

Agatha shook her head. “Never be sure of anything, kid. We live in a world of magic, sorcerers, witches, Norse gods and aliens falling from the sky. An escape from reality for a while could be the difference between life and death.”

The intercom sounded in the mansion. It was normally reserved for alerts, indicating they had found a mind controlled widow. That wasn’t the case now.

“Will someone in the mansion make Wanda watch Baywatch or something with a beach ?” Oksana’s electronic voice requested.

“I should probably get back to work.” Wanda admitted.

“Or sleep. Do I need to make you sleep?” Yelena asked. “Because I can make you sleep.”

Wanda shook her head. She was tired and the hex had gotten out of control quickly. This was the second time her reality had shifted to an episode of Friends.

“I suppose sleep would do me some good. At least a nap.”

Agatha dropped her head in relief. “Thank you. As fun as watching you ladies killing assholes and saving kids has been, the travel is catching up with me. I’m sleeping for ten hours. If Red wakes up before then I’ll put a sleeping curse on her. Maybe Fanny can give her true love’s kiss. I’ll be curled up with the Book of Vishanti locked in my arms so do not try to take it from me and practice on your own, Wanda. You remember how that turned out last time.”

Yelena nodded. “Fanny is still afraid to look under your bed. Sleep Wanda. Please, for all of our sake, sleep.”

“And please dream of beaches.” Michiko begged.

Wanda did sleep for hours. She slept all day and through the night, only waking for brief periods. Yelena checked on her all night. Agatha had gone to the bunker in a sweat suit, determined to work out. The older witch assured Yelena that Wanda was all right. A combination of effort in performing magic, controlling her powers and a lack of sleep had driven Wanda to exhaustion.

When Wanda woke the next morning, Yelena was sitting in the corner of her room with a thermos of coffee and handed it to her.

“How long was my nap?” Wanda asked.

“Sixteen hours. I was beginning to worry. We have needed you.”

That woke Wanda up immediately. “What happened?”

Yelena jerked her thumb towards the window. “Agatha decided she wanted to meditate and commune with nature in the backyard.”

Wanda didn’t see the problem.

“Naked.”

Wanda’s eyes widened.

“I don’t care if it is a witch thing. No meditating naked for you. Drink your coffee and then eat. I think you should take day off from magic.”

“I need to learn…”

“You are learning. You are doing the spooky thing where you make ghost you travel all over the place and say hello to us. You are making your own reality, poorly, but still doing it. You made ice cream out of nothing.”

“No one will eat it.” Wanda grumbled.

“We don’t know where ice cream came from. You might have frozen milk straight from cow or got the whole mixture wrong if you popped it into existence. You wouldn’t eat it either.”

Wanda shrugged and kept drinking her coffee admitting to herself there was no way in hell she was eating food she made from nothing. Once she was done the two made their way to the kitchen and munched on bagels and cream cheese.

“The Turkish police gave us credit for taking down the human traffickers. The world is talking about us again.” Yelena told her.

Wanda was taken back by that. “I’m surprised they didn’t take credit for saving the kids.”

Yelena shrugged, having thought the same thing. “I believe some civilians saw the scene the bodies and our symbol on wall. Our involvement was leaked to the press. Likely Istanbul authorities did not want blame for massacre and gave us so called credit. We have passed on information to C.I.A. agent man. Him and Helena have split up tracking financial accounts. We should have a new base location soon.”

The news of progress made Wanda happy. Since her partnership with Ross they were hot on the trail of A.I.M. Ross had told Wanda that the financial trail was heating up and branching out to smaller trails. He hoped that Osborn could be arrested soon. They could hang him with the money but needed tech to solidify the evidence. Finding another base was critical now before he began clean up.

“If Agatha is going to sit naked outside all day, you should help me. It’s a shame I missed training this morning, but at least it is over and we are free for the day.”

Yelena snorted. Training was something Wanda hated to do. Nearly every morning except mornings after missions, the widows woke as the sun rose and began their routines. Running, sparring, shooting, weightlifting and knife throwing skills were the norm for every morning. Twice a week they would run to a small cliff and work on climbing and rappelling. Occasionally they ran group exercises. They were usually done by eleven.

Wanda hated it. She wasn’t a runner, had no desire to be a runner and had no interest in becoming stronger. She was horrible with a gun and her balance made it more likely she would stab herself with a knife than ever actually harm someone else. She wasn’t allowed any weapons with electrical charges because she would shock herself.

Every time. Widow bites, shock batons, taser grenades, if it could emit an electrical charge it would wind up striking Wanda.

So rather than train she would mostly run until she found a comfortable tree and sleep for another few hours leaned against it. Now she used magic lessons as an excuse to be lazy.

“What would you like to do?” Yelena asked.

“You should test me.”

Yelena sighed and walked to her room and Wanda and Fanny followed. The blonde pulled a deck of cards out of her drawer and sat on the floor with Wanda across from her.

Yelena showed the first flashcard with a rune.

“Protection.” Wanda answered.

“From?”

“Other magic users. Next.”

Yelena pulled another and another.

“Hailstorm”

The next.

“Cause fear. I don’t need a rune for that.”

“Detect evil forces in my operating space.” she answered the next one immediately.

Yelena nodded. “Protection and detecting creepy ghouls together?”

Wanda wrote the two in the air with red energy and brought them together making a new rune.

“That’s my smart witch.”

Yelena pulled another card.

“Manifest.” then, “Fire.”

Agatha walked in, thankfully clothed and watched for a moment.

“Not bad Sabrina. Soon, you won’t need to draw them in the air. You won’t need symbols or even the Book of Vishanti.” Agatha told her.

“The Book? I thought the Book was mine?” Wanda asked, concerned.

Agatha shook her head. “The Scarlet Witch needs no coven, no spell books and no incantations. Chaos magic does not prescribe to the rules of ordinary magic.”

Yelena groaned. Wanda had difficulty following directions from a book. She couldn’t follow a recipe from a cookbook and relied on Yelena to make most of her meals that weren’t microwavable. Now she needed to remember this without a book.

“Then why is she learning all this?” Yelena asked.

Agatha sat on the floor, her legs crossed under her black flowing dress. “Think of it as driving a car.”

“She is no good at that either.” Yelena pointed out.

Agatha continued on. “When you are learning to drive a car, you do not just sit in the driver’s seat and go. You have much to learn. You need to learn the rules of the road. When to stop, when to go, how to shift and how to park. After you have learned the rules you become comfortable and the rules are second nature. You know to stop on red and go on green for instance. You do not think of what to do. It becomes part of you.

“Most witches are bound to these rules. You can surpass them. You can break them, shatter them. But if you don’t know the rules, you don’t know if you are breaking them or not. You don’t know when to break them or when to go with the flow. Karma will strike back at most witches. You practice too much dark magic and you lose control, your fingers turn black, you nearly get killed by a sorcerer which is the ultimate embarrassment for any self-respecting witch.

“Chaos magic is different. It is bound by nothing. The Scarlet Witch cannot be touched by karma. Your power is fearsome but can also be a lot of fun. No more studying for today. I’m going to relax.”

“How can you possibly be more relaxed than you just were?” Yelena asked to which Agatha winked at her.

“I can always be more relaxed.” She proclaimed as she left

Wanda laid back on the floor. “This is… ugh! I never wanted this, Yelena! It sounds like I can do anything. That is too much power. She explained to me what a nexus being is. Do you know what a nexus being is?”

“I was there.” Yelena remined her. “I am very glad if there has to be someone like that, it is you.”

Wanda sat up, irritated. “You are glad? Do you know how terrified I am?”

Yelena nodded. “That is why I am glad it is you. I would be very afraid of someone with that power who wasn’t scared of it. You will master it. Right now, we fight human enemies. We both know one day it will be more. We will face monsters.”

Wanda frowned and looked to the floor, tears gathering in her eyes. Yelena reached out and placed a finger gently under her chin to make her look up.

“I swear to you, whatever you face, you will never face alone. What do you want to do today? Maybe we can gather the girls for a game of football. Your footwork could use much work.”

Wanda wiped her eyes and smiled. “If my footwork improves can I train with electric batons again?”

“No.”

Wanda expected as much. It was worth a try.

Agatha walked back to their doorway and tossed Wanda’s phone to her.

“Secret Agent man.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow towards Yelena, wondering what this could be about. Ross never called unless he had information and this was soon after the last raid.

“Agent Ross.” She greeted him, putting the phone on speaker.

“Good afternoon, Wanda. Or is it night? Morning? Whatever it is, I have news for you. Two leads, one related to A.I.M. and the other on a separate subject.”

“I’m listening.”

“I believe we have found a base in Warsaw, Poland. I’m sending the coordinates to you now. We believe they are the end destination for the last children of the ring you took down. The base is in an industrial district. I have no way of knowing if they are still there but there is still activity. It’s a typical warehouse. Our people on the ground have seen multiple people go inside who do not come out. It’s probably under the warehouse. The warehouse belongs to a subsidiary of Oscorp. If we can tie the tech to Oscorp along with the money trail, we have a great chance to indict him. We take him into custody and I give you fifteen minutes alone with him, off the books of course. It doesn’t matter if you drive him insane so long as you get all his coconspirators.”

Wanda nodded. “We will suit up and hit the base as soon as possible. Keep the area clear and remove your people a safe distance away. This is ours. I will call when the base is taken down and they can move in when we are gone.

“What else do you have?”

“A big money player in Kazakhstan was assassinated last night in the bedroom of his very secure mansion. A knife to the heart. The staff is keeping it quiet, but we heard from a local barkeep that he took home a lovely young woman. He only said she was blonde, fit and flirty, wearing a dress that almost broke the nonexistent dress code.”

“No one can confirm she is one of ours?” Wanda said. “We can’t chase widows all over the world unless we know we have positive locations.”

Everett cleared his throat. “I thought you might say that. There was a confirmed Black Widow sighting but likely not one of yours. She has been on our radar for years. The name she goes by most often is Ida Emke. She is the same age and was almost as ruthless as the rumored Iron Maiden.”

Yelena’s eyes narrowed, having obviously heard of the woman.

“You suspect her?” Yelena asked.

“No.” Everett clarified. “Not exactly. You told me you save young widows who are still mind controlled. She was seen on camera in a bar five miles away until 2:00 AM. Right before she left, she answered a call and when traffic cams lost her she was headed in the direction of the player’s mansion. What are the odds she had a mind controlled partner at the time of the Red Room’s destruction and is still using her?”

“High, I would say.” Yelena told him. “Give us her last known location. We will do our own searching and find her. “

“Anything else?” Wanda asked.

“Yes. The Avengers have been globe hopping. Some countries are grumbling about them acting within their borders. They are searching for a HYDRA team, led by a survivor of the SHIELD purge. His name is Brock Rumlow, AKA Crossbones. He has supposedly been providing biological weapons to terrorist groups. Captain America has a special interest in this one. If they come in contact, it is going to be a fight. If it is in public, I don’t need to tell you the repercussions if anyone is injured.”

Wanda looked at Yelena who despite the seriousness of the situation had a small grin. Wanda was beginning to realize Yelena had been right. When they first talked so many months ago about their plan for dealing with General Ross and to a lesser degree Tony Stark, Wanda didn’t truly believe it could happen. Yet the pieces were slowly falling into place, just as Yelena had predicted.

“Is Stark with them?” Wanda asked.

“Nope. He is playing at being consultant. The rumor is there was a severing in his relationship with Potts on her end. It must make for an uncomfortable workplace so he has been splitting time between the Pentagon, lobbying for the Avenger to be granted international legal jurisdiction which isn’t going to happen and Avengers Compound, building more suits he hasn’t been wearing. Colonel Rhodes is back with the Airforce conducting missions. From what I understand, the team after Rumlow consists of Vision, Rogers, Romanoff and Sam Wilson.”

Wanda winced at the list of names. She had hoped Stark would be a part of them. Him becoming even closer to General Ross was not a bad development though. It worked in their favor.

“Thank you, Everett. We will let you know when we reach the base. Before we set up, make sure your people are clear. I don’t want collateral damage.”

“Good luck.” He told them and ended the call.

Wanda and Yelena looked at each other, many different thoughts going through their head.

“Ida Emke?”

“Russian. I don’t know much about her. I didn’t even know Melina was the Iron Maiden. Red Room archives report that she is granddaughter of Cold War Soviet Spy and American infiltrator Dottie Underwood. Underwood’s daughter was killed when she was twenty eight and the grandmother gave Ida to the Red Room when she was six. Not very nice woman from what I understand. It will not surprise me if she has a mind controlled widow running hits for her. That makes her an enemy. We should move. I will send a team to her last known location and we can…”

“I can handle the A.I.M. base.” Wanda interrupted. “Ingrid can lead the team in field but they may need my power. You should take a team after this Black Widow.”

Yelena shook her head.

“They need my power dealing with A.I.M. and they need your experience dealing with a Black Widow as deadly as this one. Its time to split up.”

Yelena crossed her arms, not happy with the idea but understanding. They were the leaders, despite not liking the titles.

“Fine.” Yelena begrudgingly told her then changed the subject. “I worry about Rogers and Natasha.”

Wanda nodded. “Should we warn them off?”

Yelena snorted. “They would not listen anymore than we would. I told you this would happen but we are not making it happen. This is the Avengers’ doing. Once something goes wrong and the world turns against them, they will be cracked. The world will want control. Tony Stark has been dumped by his love, is seeking direction from the wrong man and he will turn on them. The plan remains the same. When it is time, we release everything on General Ross. He goes down for war crimes and spends the rest of his life in shame behind bars and he and Tony Stark become the men who destroyed the Avengers. I have studied them. Rogers will not agree to oversight and Natasha is close to Rogers. Wilson will go with Rogers when he quits. That leaves the Avengers in the hands of Rhodes, Stark and the robot. Stark will be disgraced by association with Ross and creation of Ultron, Rhodes will be disgraced by his connection to Stark and all that will be left is the robot who will go off on his own.”

It was a brilliant plan Yelena had devised months ago. She and Wanda had talked about it often but Wanda never truly thought it would work. She had once thought she would lead to the Avengers downfall when she let Stark take the scepter. She had given up on that ambition but in a way, that scepter led to the creation of Ultron and those repercussions were still being felt. They had been gathering concrete evidence against Ross, ready to give it to the world, detailing his orders to bomb civilians in Sokovia.

Wanda would plant seeds in the heads of reporters and television news anchors, subtle suggestions that they question if Ross and Stark were responsible for the decimation of the Avengers.

The beauty of the plan was its simplicity. Wanda had sworn revenge on Ross. That was always the end game. Everett had told her the General was not afraid of death. Driving him insane was a possibility but he would not know what was going on. He would be trapped in fear and his heart would give out but death would be a mercy to him.

Yelena understood how to destroy a person better than Wanda could. It was simple. How do you destroy a man who believes he is right, is full of pride and is not afraid of death?

Make him live in shame, behind bars, hated by the world and especially the country he loved.

Of course he would release information about Wanda, but she didn’t care. Nothing and no one could touch her. She had never associated herself with the Red Widows.

“We should move. All we can do is wait and see if it unfolds as we think it will. If it does, we go for Ross’s heart. If it doesn’t, we will still destroy him. Stark is not my priority. He is a bonus though. Wheels up in an hour.”

Yelena laughed. “Did you just tell me when wheels up is? Wanda, you are so funny when you are not putting us all in episode of Friends!”

Three hours later, Wanda’s team was approaching Warsaw. Wanda needed to stretch her legs so she stood up and walked to the back, surprised to see Antonia with her helmet on. Lerato was holding an electronic pad with a wire attached to the back of Antonia’s helmet. It wasn’t unusual as Antonia was constantly loading new combat skills into her mind but doing so on a trip was an uncommon occurrence.

Wanda approached Lerato to find out what was going on.

“What is going on?”

Lerato smiled. “I showed her a YouTube video and she liked the man’s moves and wants them downloaded. If this is real the kid is enhanced so I’m not sure if it will do her much good, but it cannot hurt. He is very acrobatic.”

Lerato showed the video to Wanda. There was a playlist showing several different sightings. This one appeared to be from a traffic cam. A car was pulling out into an intersection and an out of control truck was moving towards it at high speed. Wanda winced, not wanting to see a deadly collision until a man swung into the frame and grabbed the front of the truck, stopping it in its tracks.

Whoever this was, raised his arm and a rope of some sort was fired from it, almost like Widow Bite grappling lines. He took off out of the frame.

Wanda watched more videos. Most of them were acrobatic tricks and swinging around the city. He appeared to stick to walls as well. Wanda doubted that was a trick of his suit. He wasn’t dressed in Tony Stark’s finest.

He wore a red hooded sleeveless sweatshirt with the hood up over a red ski mask and thick black goggles covering his eyes. He had a long sleeve light blue shirt on under the sweatshirt, light blue pants and some sort of red socks over the pants that rose to his knees.

Antonia took her helmet off. “The videos are legitimate. He is enhanced. The rope is a quick forming chemical compound with high tensile strength that is emitted by the bracelets on his wrists. His strength level and speed could be that of Captain America, perhaps stronger and quicker. His ability to stick to walls is an enhanced skill.”

“Where does he operate?” Wanda asked.

“Queens, New York mostly. He doesn’t stray far from that area.”

“Then he isn’t our problem.” Wanda decided. “How long has he been operating?”

“Four months since first recorded video. I learned nothing from him that I can mimic. How far out are we?”

“Thirty minutes to LZ.” Lerato told her. “Dani has found an area she can land. Less than a mile run. The stealth capability of this jet is amazing. We must send a Christmas card to Stark.”

Soon after Dani landed the quinjet in the large dark parking lot that was covered in weeds and broken bottles. The widows exited and began their trek, the run easy for most of them.

Only Wanda was out of breath, bending over when they reached a nearby warehouse.

Ingrid was not amused. “Breathe louder please. I don’t think all of Warsaw has heard your pain.”

Wanda shot the finger at her while she regained her breath.

“This would not happen if you would take your physical training seriously.”

“I do take it seriously.”

Ingrid looked at her and Wanda looked away, knowing she really didn’t take it seriously.

“It is not easy to run in these boots.” Wanda defended herself.

“I know. It is not easy to fight in corset and tight leather pants and a bright red jacket makes it hard to sneak up on someone. You never dress for battle. You have no body armor on. You don’t even have a full top on. We are not clubbing.”

Wanda looked around and even in the dark she could feel the judgmental eyes of her sisters on her.

“Yelena never complains!” she whispered harshly.

Ingrid shrugged. “Yelena is not here. She babies you too much. I am Red 1. This is my team and I am responsible for my teams’ safety. That means I am responsible for your safety. I need you to read minds of everyone in area, give me an idea of hostiles. We will enter the warehouse, find the entrance. You rip that open and then you return to this roof.”

Wanda crossed her arms. “I will not. I came on this mission because my powers would be needed.”

Ingrid nodded. “I just told you how I need you to use them. Follow orders Red 11.”

Wanda nearly growled. “There are only ten of us!”

Ingrid nodded. “I told you not to dress like that.”

Wanda sighed and sat down on the roof, closed her eyes and reached out with her power, feeling for minds in the area.

There were many underground.

“There are at least twenty guards underground and they are waiting to be attacked.” Wanda realized.

Ingrid motioned for the widows to spread out in two teams and surround the building from sniper distance.

“They know we are coming. How?”

Wanda shook her head. “I’m not sure. They are tense, a jumble of emotions, but ready for a fight.”

Anastasia spoke into the com. “We have unknowns coming from East and West. Two black vans from each direction at high speed. Should we engage when they exit or allow passage?”

Ingrid looked at Wanda curiously. “Reinforcements? Would Ross sell us out?”

Wanda thought for a moment. She doubted Ross would sell them out. The U.N. Counter Terrorism Center would know what base they planned to attack. It was definitely a base below the warehouse full of men waiting to kill whoever walked into the lone corridor leading underground.

“He wouldn’t. That doesn’t mean this isn’t a trap for us.” Wanda decided.

Ingrid spoke. “Widows, ensure you are not flanked, snipers in position 26 on both sides, only engage if you are outflanked. I want infrared on them once they enter the building. If we are engaged, use lethal force and fall back to Reaper 4 LZ.”

Wanda nodded. “I was going to suggest the same thing. Good call.”

Ingrid smirked, despite the situation, enjoying Wanda as always. This was the first time her and Yelena had been on separate missions and she was enjoying the one on one time.

The vans stopped a block away from the warehouse and multiple men and women in black tactical suits filed out of the back, carrying small rifles. Wanda focused on one of them rather than all of them.

“Damn it!” she hissed. “Damn Americans! Its S.W.O.R.D. They have no idea of what they are walking into. There is only one corridor into the base. They are going to line up in the hallway to be shot. They may as well stand before a firing squad. That is assuming the hallway doesn’t have automatic turrets.”

Ingrid watched the agents rush into the warehouse in columns.

“Holds positions.” Ingrid ordered the widows. “On my go, we move back to the LZ. This has gotten too hot.”

Wanda slipped out her cellphone.

“That was fast.” Ross’s voice came through. “I didn’t expect to hear from you until tomorrow.”

“What the hell is S.W.O.R.D. doing here?!” Wanda whispered, her tone making her feelings obvious.

She heard Ross take a sudden breath. “No one is supposed to be there! No one knows. The only ones who know about the base are those on the Osborn team and they are waiting for your word to close in with Polish authorities.”

Wanda huffed. “Someone leaked it to S.W.O.R.D. then someone in S.W.O.R.D. leaked it to A.I.M. because they are waiting for them, guns at the ready.. S.W.O.R.D. is walking into a trap.”

Ross groaned. “Can you save them?”

“Can I what? You expect me to risk my team’s lives to save theirs?! They have blown our element of surprise!”

Ingrid reached out and Wanda handed her the phone, confused but yielding.

“Ross, this is Red 1. How many people on your task force?”

“Only seven. I’m keeping it small, in house.”

“How many with links to S.W.O.R.D.?”

Ingrid could not see a sweating Ross thousands of miles away shaking his head.

“Use your words.”

“S.W.O.R.D is a federal agency like SHIELD was. Our members run across each other. I’ll contact their director and have them back off.”

“Its too late for that. I’m watching through infrared. They have found the hatch down and are opening it. They aren’t even questioning why it isn’t locked.”

“Please! They are just agents following orders. You can save them. Wanda, if you can hear me, please save them.”

Wanda clenched her fists and growled.

“Wanda?” Ingrid asked.

“Stay here. Teams do not engage.”

Wanda took off, flying into the warehouse. Just as the men began swarming into the hole down the stairs.

She reached out her hands, bringing them flying back from the entrance and behind her, tossing them into the men who were still waiting to go down into a shooting gallery. She landed as the men stood, taking her in and raising their weapons.

Wanda’s eyes glowed as did the men’s. She pointed towards the exit, and they ran, under her influence and full of fear. They didn’t stop running until they reached the vans and drove off.

Listening and satisfied they had driven off, she turned back to the underground entrance.

A frustrated woman looked down and listened to the confusion below. No doubt A.I.M. thugs had heard the men descending and did not know why they had retreated.

“Underground lairs. I think its time they learned the dangers of operating underground.”

“Wanda, we don’t know how long it will be before your mojo wears off and they return. Get out of there.” Ingrid told her.

Wanda looked down the dark stairs. She wouldn’t put her team at risk, but this base had information, technology, even the smallest scrap that could be tied to Osborn and the funding for human trafficking dried up with his arrest or would at least be greatly reduced.

“Drop your guns and come out with your hands up.” she shouted into the hole, knowing they wouldn’t but hoping to draw them closer to the surface.

Wanda looked around and saw multiple security cameras moving. What would they do? Did they know her? They had seen her fly inside. Of course they would know her. It was why she wasn’t being rushed right now.

She reached out her hand and sent a tendril of red energy into the tunnel. The noise from the tunnel collapsing was impressive, but the dust from the debris blew into her face. She closed her eyes in frustration. What else could go wrong tonight?

“Red 1?”

“I thought I was until you decided to go rogue.” Ingrid’s irritated voice answered.

“I collapsed the tunnel. They shouldn’t be able to come out this way, but they must have an emergency exit. Watch for movement.”

“What is the play if S.W.O.R.D. comes back?”

“Shoot out their tires and if that doesn’t discourage them, shoot out their kneecaps.”

“Affirmative Red 2.” Ingrid told Wanda, the smile on her face obvious from behind the coms.

Wanda walked out of the warehouse and strolled around the back, keeping an eye and ear out for people running. She searched for thoughts. There were not as many people as before. Some were dead and some were hanging onto life, crushed under the rubble from the collapse of the corridor.

Others were panicked in the large area under her feet. They had expected S.W.O.R.D. The agency had a mole working for A.I.M. They hadn’t expected the Red Widows, thinking S.W.O.R.D. would beat them here. She was nearly to another warehouse when the thoughts below her stopped.

A man was debating if he should burn the tech. He had orders to kill the S.W.O.R.D. team as a message then abandon the base before reinforcements could be sent or worse, the Red Widows followed up on Ross’s tip.

Wanda did not want to lose that tech.

They were panicking though. There truly was no other way out. The only escape was up the very small air vents that a person could barely fit into it. A few wanted to use some of the robots inside to dig the hole out. Others thought it would take too much time. She watched and listened through the minds of others.

“Ladies, who is still in the mood to raid this base?”

“You going to clear the tunnel, Red 2?”

“I was thinking classic Widow takedown, three points from above. Converge on my location.”

The widows had seen Wanda do amazing things, actions that redefined what they knew about the world, what was possible, and what was only thought impossible.

They had never seen the power they were witnessing right now.

Wand hovered over the landscape behind the warehouse, over the main area of the base, her hands raised and body lit by red as if on fire.

Three enormous circles one hundred feet in circumference and sixty feet of pavement, earth and concrete rose into the sky and were hurled onto the warehouse the entrance had been. The Widows fired down into the hole, killing the guards and scientists quickly. They had been to busy gaping at the impenetrable ceiling breaking apart and floating away, then staring at the red eyed beautiful demon in the sky to pay attention to the women in black, aiming with precision, dropping down lines and taking out the base defenses, both human and mechanical.

They were clean, despite their brutal entrance. The technological marvels around them were not touched as Taskmaster in her fearsome armor and helmet led the march through the base, killing the remaining survivors, except for one. He was left for Wanda.

Wanda landed inside, also impressed with her teams ruthless efficiency and clean takedowns.

“We think he is the head.” Ingrid told Wanda, pointing to the man pressing his hand to a bullet hole in his leg.

Wanda walked up to the terrified man. He had been frightened before, first by the tunnel collapsing, turning their ambush into a cave in, then the ceiling of their bunker, covered by six feet of concrete, fifty feet of earth and pavement, being torn from above their heads and then the women in black gunning down his men.

He had received word that a S.W.O.R.D. team had intercepted U.N. intel that told the location of the base. Rather than running as he would have liked to, Osborn in his madness and anger ordered the base to ambush the S.W.O.R.D. team and then leave with the advanced weapons that could be linked to Oscorp to a new base. He had disagreed but it only fueled Osborn’s anger more. The man wasn’t just paying for A.I.M., he was a loose cannon who was a fully functional psychopath.

Then she came. He watched her pull S.W.O.R.D. agents out of the base entrance and then take control of their minds filling them with fear and causing them to run. He knew who she was.

The Witch.

Where she was, the Red Widows were.

He felt sick at the realization and felt terror now that his worst fears were coming true. Wanda Maximoff was walking towards him. Her demonic eyes were glowing red and red energy from her small hand pierced his mind.

He felt like he was being pulled away from his body. All sense of self was gone as it flowed into her. He was unable to even scream.

After he felt as if he were a hollow shell, when he could no longer remember his own name, she released him and he fall unconscious.

Wanda shook her head in disgust.

“He knows much about the operation. The serial numbers and the specially fabricated metals can be linked directly to Norman Osborn. Retrain him for Ross’s team.”

Wanda took her phone and called Ross.

“Wanda, are they…”

“I pulled them out of trouble and sent them on their way. I don’t know how long until the fear wears off and they come back. Send in your taskforce now. We are leaving. The equipment serial numbers and specially fabricated metals will link back to Oscorp. You will have to come in through three large craters. The warehouse where the first entrance was located is buried now. I don’t know who leaked this information on your side but I do know who the A.I.M. mole in S.W.O.R.D. is. Agent Craig Johnson is on Oscorp payroll. That is all the guy knows. We are leaving him bound with a bullet hole in his leg. Enjoy.”

Ross told her to hold on.

“They are on their way, ten minutes out. Thank you, Wanda. Thank you for saving them.”

“Let’s not make a big deal out of it. Repay me by warning S.W.O.R.D. to stay out of our way. Next time I let them die.”

Wanda ended the call and Ingrid called for the Widows to leave.

Before they could make it far down the street, a van pulled up in front of them.

The van was quickly surrounded by masked widows with weapons trained, prepared to fire into the van.

The driver got out with his hands up.

“I come in peace. You are Wanda Maximoff, aren’t you? You are all the Red Widows?”

Wanda walked up to the man. “Craig Johnson sold you out. The U.N. Counterterrorism Center’s team is on its way. I would recommend leaving. I doubt Polish authorities would give you the same leeway as a United Nations task force.”

The man nodded. “I didn’t think Ross would react so fast or you for that matter. Craig Johnson. They were waiting for us, weren’t they?”

“You should have known better.” Wanda told him. “You almost cost the lives of your agents. What is your name?”

The man cleared his throat and stood straight. “Tyler Hayward.”

“You nearly ruined our operation based on intel that didn’t belong to you. Get in my way again and I will let you die. This is your only warning. Leave now and pray we never see each other again.”

A red faced Hayward nodded and drove away.

“Think how much more impressive you could be if you dressed the part.” Ingrid told her.

Wanda looked at her with disbelief. “Impressive? I ripped giant holes in the earth. How could I be more impressive?”

Amanda patted her on the back. “You weren’t bad. You will be a lot cooler when you figure out the beach thing.”

Wanda shook her head and smiled. It had been an intense night, many things could have gone wrong but in the end the bad guys died, the good guys meaning the widows lived and some idiot Americans didn’t die, meaning Ross owed her big time. They had taken the base and provided the U.N. with evidence to close in on Norman Osborn, thanks to Osborn’s own arrogance.

A wonderful night all around, until Yelena called her on the flight back.

“Wanda, where are you?”

“We are flying back. I sent you a text that we were successful.”

“We have a problem. We freed the widow, but Aino had bad experience in past with Ida. We herded Ida to an alley and cornered her. Aino insisted on fighting her alone with knives. Aino won easily. She gutted the woman, but she was cut on her arm. We thought it was minor but ten minutes ago she began running a fever and then had a seizure. Oksana says the blade she was cut with had poison. She is keeping her on anticonvulsants and fluid but it’s a temporary fix until Oksana can study her blood and produce an antidote. We don’t have that much time, Wanda.”

Wanda was shaken not just by the news that one of their own was dying but by the fear in Yelena’s voice. She had never heard Yelena afraid outside of a flashback or a nightmare.

“You have our location. Fly towards us and we will head towards you. We should be… Dani? How far away are we from Reaper 5?”

“Ten minutes if we move to intercept now.”

“Do it. I need to be on that jet. I’m on my way, Yelena. Don’t bother landing. Hover when you reach us and I will fly over.”

“You can save, her, right Wanda?”

Wanda tried to take a breath but her chest was tight.

“I’ll be there soon.”

Wanda ended the call and dialed Agatha.

“Hey there, daughter I never wanted. What’s shaking?”

“Where are you?”

“Paris bar, drinking alone. I’m being scoped out by a hot married couple. Don’t you love the French?”

“Aino has been stabbed with a poison blade. Can you get the Ancient One to teleport you to the jet? She needs to be healed.”

Agatha sighed. “Sorry kid. I know it seems like it, but the Ancient One does not watch you all the time. If she doesn’t know where you are, it is unlikely she can portal me to you in the air. You don’t need me anyway. You will get there quicker than I can. Truthfully Wanda, I’ve used so much black magic since the last time I healed, I’m not sure I can do it.”

“What about a teleportation spell? You said I can make spells in my head. Can I teleport you to me?”

“No.” Agatha told her.

“Agatha, she needs you. I need you.”

Agatha chuckled. “You separated a mind control drug from Yelena’s blood stream and had maybe ten percent of the skills you have now. You are a natural at it kid. You know this.”

Wanda knew she was right, yet it didn’t fill her with confidence.

“Agatha…”

‘Defining moments, Sabrina. You define them or they define you. Get your mind right, get your big girl lingerie on and step up, Wanda Maximoff. A girl’s life is in your hands. Don’t screw it up.”