Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 28:

Yelena was on the top level of the parking garage peering through a scope with her sights set on Stark.

The six jets had landed behind a large hangar, completely invisible thanks to Agatha and the widows rushed to their positions. It wasn’t hard to do so in the chaos of the airport evacuation. Even Ingrid had no problem taking the air traffic control tower. After the evacuation alarm had gone off, the controllers sent an emergency order to all inbound flights to divert to other airports and rushed out. They moved faster when they saw the black clad woman in the elevator step out holding a very large sniper rifle.

“Look at them standing in the open in a row with no cover.” Stannic said over the com. “Is this what Christmas is like?”

“Quiet on the com, Stannic.” Yelena told her. Judging by the snickering, no one seemed to mind her question and Yelena admitted it did look a bit too easy.

“I have incoming.” Ingrid said. “It’s not a plane.”

“What do you have, Overwatch?”

Ingrid was quiet for a moment and Yelena suspected she was going over the incoming air traffic.

“Small, looks human. Wrong direction for Witch. Moving at high speed. There are others coming into radar. Visual in ten seconds.”

The widows watched Vision appear with his bright, powerful warning shot and multiple iron babies.

“Choose a target. Fire at any perceived threat. Taskmaster, watch Witch’s back. She should be coming any minute now. Baba Yaga, can you cloak our heat signatures?”

“I want a new code name and this thing is making my ear itch. Consider us cloaked. Wanda is moving in.”

“Please use code names.” Yelena reminded her.

“You think no one is going to guess who the Witch is?”

Yelena rolled her eyes and focused back in the target area. The Widows were spread out on different levels of the garage and now in the airport having cut circles out of the glass in the large boarding area windows to place rifles through. They had this covered, even with the unexpected arrival of numerous new enemies.

Despite keeping focus, Yelena couldn’t help but notice and smirk at Wanda’s entrance. It was an impressive sight.

“Always flexing.” Yelena said, eliciting laughter from other Widows.

When Wanda gave the signal, Yelena fired into a robot thirty yards away from her, not knowing for sure what the blow back would be. She knew Iron Man’s armor was powered by the big shiny target in the middle of his chest and suspected the reactors powering the robots would be in the same location.

Wanda sent Vision to the ground and ordered them to open fire.

“Robots first.” Yelena ordered. “Its time to go to work, Widows.”

Down below, The group looked up in a panic, having heard Wanda’s order and a series of explosions going off in the sky as the widows took out robot after robot.

The robots looked towards the airport but made no move to counterattack.

Vision burst back into the sky.

“Their thermal is masked. Rely on movement and visual scanning.” Vision ordered the remaining bots then turned his attention back to the ground.

“They are holding you back, Wanda. I see that now. None of you understand what must be done. You will all be apprehended and then given choices one you have listened to reason.”

Tony’s helmet covered his face.

“Vision, stop this. They aren’t holding her back. They are destroying your back up and Wanda is going to destroy you if you don’t stop.”

Vision shook his head. “You created me yet you underestimate me. You believe I flew to Portsmouth and only brought thirty decommissioned Iron Legion soldiers with me?”

A sonic boom was heard in the sky and many, many objects began flying towards the airport.

“Tony,” Nat asked, “how many Legion robots did you have in Portsmouth?”

“Two hundred and fifty. Rhodey, we need to take to the sky. T’Challa, whatever you and Barnes need to work out can wait. All of you need to get into the airport and fight them under cover. Out here you are sitting ducks. Help the widows.”

Tony looked to Wanda. The redhead was furious but her glare was directed toward Vision. She caught Tony’s look and nodded.

“Widows, prepare for close quarters combat. Over two hundred enemies inbound. Stark and Rhodes are in air and the others are coming inside to fight Robots that enter.” Wanda told them.

Tony turned to Jessica. “This isn’t what I brought you in for. If you want to leave…”

“Just blow them up so I don’t have to tear so many apart inside.” Jess told him and ran after the others.

Tony and Rhodes took to the sky and began fighting the incoming drones under Vision’s control. Cap lead the others back towards the route they had taken to get from the parking garage to here. T’Challa and Jones split directly for the airport boarding areas while Rogers, Romanoff and Barnes went for the garage and the Red Widows who were stationed there to assist them moving inside.

Wanda was lifted by her shoulders and thrown twenty feet away by Vision who moved in a blur.

Her power instinctively protected her from injuring her head. She rose from the ground, glowing red, balls of energy in her fists.

“That wasn’t very nice, Vision.”

Vision landed in front of her.

“You owe it to this world to protect your species, Wanda. You seem to prefer physical violence in lieu of civilized conversation. We should be doing this together. Emotions get in the way of doing what is necessary. I can see that clearly. Rogers and Stark’s petty squabbles and egos tore the Avengers apart. Their fear of being controlled by anyone prevents them from acting with humanity instead of despite it. And you, so much power yet instead of joining me, you would rather lead assassins who worship you.”

Wanda smirked. “If they worship me why do they get so angry when I sneak my laundry in with theirs? You would think my socks are toxic. Vision, you have learned nothing. You have observed humans and found fault, watched their defenders, found fault, and tried to understand emotions and failed, just like your brother.”

The stone on Vision’s head glowed and Wanda blasted energy towards him, only to be met by his. The two began a standoff.

Inside the airport, all the widows had retreated deeper inside and found cover to fire behind. Agatha spent her time providing cover for those in the open while Iron Legion drones burst through the windows and pursued them into the corridors. Once they got the robots into a bottle neck, Yelena jumped on one’s shoulders and stuck her widow bites to the side of the head, frying the robot.

“Head or reactor, ladies. Give twenty feet distance for reactor shot and be prepared for shrapnel at detonation.” she ordered.

The widows gathered behind purple energy barricades courtesy of Agatha and fired as the robots began rushing in. Other widows and former Avengers ran into the airport and spread out, taking on the robots as they entered.

Yelena saw Nat fighting a robot with her electric batons, finally shorting it out with a direct hit to the side of the head. Yelena fired at one coming from behind Nat. The shorter blond rushed to Nat and handed her a gun.

“Chest shot. Ammo will break Vibranium so be careful.”

The inside of the airport was a flurry of destruction as the battle waged on. On the third level by gate twenty two, Antha and Aino were backed up into the luggage area facing five of the robots.

“Get into the luggage carousel.” Antha ordered the younger girl, “and regroup with others. I’m right behind you.”

“I’m not running and I have seniority, Stretch.” Aino reminded her, finally getting a good shot at the robots who were quickly learning to protect their reactors and not offer such easy targets. The bullets were ripping through but the head and chest were difficult to damage significantly due to the fast movement and need for the widows to dodge repulsor blasts.

One exploded and four others charged behind him.

Then a brunette picked one robot up from behind and tore him in half. She grabbed another and ripped its head off.

Antha shot a distracted robot through the eye, taking out its CPU that had been about to take the brunette from behind.

Jessica Jones dropped the robot head she had been holding.

“Are you two okay?”

“Look out!” Aino shouted, raising her gun. Jones ducked but Aino had no need to fire.

A robot who had rounded the corner had some sort of very sharp and strong metal rod thrown into his eye, shorting him out.

They saw what must have been a police officer in tack gear. He wore a black mask and despite the swat gear did not have a firearm on him.

“There are more in the food plaza.” The man said.

Antha recognized his voice easily and smiled. The four took off running for the plaza and she caught up to him.

“I like the devil costume better, but you look good in black.” She told him.

The man looked towards her and slowed. “I’m just a cop, lady.”

“Whatever you say, councilor.” Antha told him.

“I thought you were staying out of this.” Jess reminded him when Matt had fallen back at her words and Antha raced ahead.

“Just keep tearing them apart. Trish would never give me peace if I let you die here.”

When they reached the plaza Antha turned back to Matt. “Hey, Just a Cop. Take my baton. Three inches down and one inch off center on right side of skull works best. Don’t shock yourself.”

Matt took the offered weapon and ran into the fray.

Inside the plaza was chaos. Yelena and Natasha were in the middle back to back, firing round after round. A black clad Taskmaster had joined the fray as well.

“Sonia, how are you doing?” Yelena asked over the com. Sonia’s team was in the airport hotel lobby.

“Barnes and T’Challa haven’t killed each other yet and are surprisingly effective. We are okay.”

“Ingrid?” Yelena called out.

“I’m on my way in. I was spotted covering Stark and Rhodes in the air and they took out the control tower as soon as I exited. The sky battle isn’t going well. Stark and Rhodes are taking damage but the drones are staying away from Wanda and Vision.”

“Ava, status report.” Yelena called out.

“We are in Terminal B. Dani and I have taken hits but we are ambulatory and fighting. Bea is knocked out. Agatha is protecting her. Charlize has taken some shrapnel in the leg. She is losing blood but no artery was hit. Her mobility is severely limited. Oksana is stapling the largest cut and we are covering her.”

“Can you make your way to hotel plaza?”

“Negative, we are cut off.”

“Tell her I’m on my way.” Steve told Yelena, leaping over her and Natasha and running out of the room.

Jessica Jones jumped from the second story of the plaza onto a robots shoulders and tore its head off then rode it to the ground.

While the battle waged inside, Tony and Rhodey were in the air, fighting wave after wave of Vision’s drones.

“What has happened to him, Tony?” Rhodey asked. “You think he has been hacked?”

Tony knew that wasn’t it. This was all Vision.

He continued to dodge and shake off repulsor blasts. He had designed these robots too well. They had evolved from the mindless drones he originally made. After Ultron he realized what a bad idea they were and decommissioned them but they were never dismantled. A part of his mind was always worried about an alien invasion in such scope that the Avengers would not be enough.

“He hasn’t been hacked. We haven’t paid enough attention.” Tony explained. “Friday, any luck regaining control?”

“No Boss. He has me locked out. The last orders he gave to the drones were to incapacitate Avengers, Red Widows and any allies you have, by any means necessary. The only one who is not to be touched Is Wanda Maximoff.”

That explained why the drones were not interfering in the massive fight going on below with enough power being thrown around to energize a nation.

“He wants her alive.” Rhodey realized.

“Of course he does.” Tony agreed. “It’s the reason for all this.”

“Want to clue me in?” Rhodey asked as he destroyed another drone.

Tony sighed. “She is the key. She is the only one who could have truly taught him what it meant to have feelings and be a human. He wants her. He has always been drawn to her since he was created. In his mind, taking out all she is close to will leave her only him.”

“Is he nuts? When did he go nuts?”

Tony took another blow and went tumbling then regained his bearing and destroyed another.

“He didn’t go nuts in the traditional sense. He evolved. Unfortunately evolution is not a perfect process. He believes he is right more than anything else, that he has the answers humanity needs and once he can talk to Wanda he will convince her, even if it means he has to put her in a cell to make her listen. He’s an evolving A.I. in love that doesn’t know what love really is.”

Tony heard another explosion down below. Wanda had taken another blast. Tony dove to help her and fired at Vision, who dodged the shot.

Vision looked up and met his eyes then looked away.

He was looking for Rhodey. A blast of light erupted from the mind stone and a scream was heard. When Tony turned, he saw Rhodey falling from the sky in damaged armor.

“Rhodey!”

Tony flew towards him as fast as possible before five robots crashed into him. By the time he had shaken them off, Rhodey had long been on the ground.

Tony landed next to his friend and opened both their face plates.

Rhodey was unconscious. “Friday?”

“Vitals are steady but he does have several broken vertebrae in the lumbar region.”

“Call emergency services.”

“Emergency services are refusing to enter the area. The Department of Damage Control is preventing anyone from entering the airport. The news is reporting Ultron has returned and Wanda Maximoff and the Red Widows are engaged in a fierce battle with him and his army.

Tony forced himself to calm down. Anger wouldn’t get Rhodey help sooner. He could understand why emergency services would not enter.

These robots had to be taken out.

“Break me into Red Widows com.”

Tony heard gunfire and explosions in his ear.

“Yelena?”

“Who is this? Stark? This is private channel and we are in middle of war.”

“I’m having no luck taking them out in the sky before they enter and Rhodey is down. They have been given orders not to attack Wanda. Do you have an area I can lead them to limit their mobility in the air and maybe set a trap?”

Stark heard nothing for a moment.

“Airport hotel plaza. Barnes, Sonia’s team and T’Challa are there. We are beginning to move there as soon as we clear this area. We will gather them in one spot and unleash everything.”

Tony’s face plate closed and he flew towards the airport, crashing through one window that had not been shattered and flew towards the assigned location, happy that the ones remaining outside were following him in what he hoped to be a trap.

Wanda rolled over on her back to find Vision standing over her. He had overpowered her energy and knocked her down. She saw Rhodey falling and sat up, reaching out to catch him with her telekinesis but Vision had struck her again with a blast. He had dropped and she had been thrown back to the ground.

Her energy shield was weakening and her body ached all over.

“Are you ready to listen to reason, Wanda? I have no desire to inflict more injury on you.”

Wanda wiggled her fingers and began chanting.

A dragon erupted from the ground behind her and bit Vision’s head, dragging him away from her.

She slowly got to her feet. Vision had tossed the dragon away then blasted it, making it disappear, but for a moment it had been solid.

“I guess that answers that question. I owe Fanny a big apology.” Wanda said to herself.

Wanda gathered her strength. Her body may have been hurting but her power hadn’t diminished. The blasts from the Mind Stone were horrible but she was rebounding quickly and her blasts caused him damage as well.

Wanda disappeared from Vision’s view and then was next to him, entering his mind. She had done this to Ultron when he first tried to download himself into this body. Now it was time to show him his worst fear.

It didn’t work. He must have had no fear. Instead she saw a fantasy his complicated mind had conjured. It was fairly simple considering the intricacies of his makeup. She saw a golden palace in the Sokovian mountains. Inside the palace was a throne.

She sat on the throne and Vision stood beside her like a bodyguard.

She was his queen.

“I have no interest in your twisted love story, Vision.”

Wanda placed her hand against his back and let loose, her energy ripping through him in places and sending him to skidding along the ground. When he sat up parts of his midsection were glowing from the front. She had cracked his torso in several places.

“If you have no interest in taking your place as a defender of this planet and given the respect you are due then you have no place at all, Wanda.”

Vision unleashed the Mind Stone once again and it was met by Wanda’s chaos magic, the two trying to overpower each and equaling one another once more.

Inside the airport, Tony landed in the middle of the Hotel Plaza. T’Challa and Barnes’ eyes widened when they saw what he brought with him. Tony turned to the incoming tide and he began firing along with the Widows while Bucky and T’Challa ran into the fray.

In the food court, the tide was slowing. “This is ridiculous. I expected to spill blood, not oil.” Yelena growled at Natasha as they stood in the center, back to back, weapons raised. “You were right. I should have left you to your own damn problems.”

Natasha smiled despite the situation. “If it makes you feel at least a little vindicated, I am very glad you didn’t listen to me.”

“How can I listen to you? You are very beautiful but also very dumb. I am probably only seventeen yet I have to take care of dumb older sister constantly.”

Yelena reloaded and realized she was on down to her last clip. “No more magic bullets for you. I’m down to my last sixteen.”

Anastasia fired once more and a robot exploded, covering Nat and Yelena in hot debris.

The two sisters looked around and heard nothing else.

Lerato and Taskmaster were prepared but no targets were incoming.

“Antonia and Lerato, follow Rogers and help Ava’s team. The rest of you come with me. We go to hotel plaza where bulk of fighting is now. Ingrid, where are you?”

“Just reached hotel plaza! Its’ chaos. Come in on second and third floor levels if you can and attack from above these hovering machines. Watch for repulsor blasts and friendly fire!”

“How is Wanda?” Yelena asked.

“Handling herself.” Ingrid answered.

Yelena had wanted something more specific like Wanda was dancing on Vision’s metal corpse. She had to trust that Wanda could handle herself.

Yelena’s team reached the plaza and saw Ingrid was correct. The normally open space was filled with explosions, people and robots fighting each other on several different levels. Ingrid was across the way on the second floor shooting reactors. Antha, Aino, Jessica Jones and some very brave or foolish police officer had just arrived. Yelena took a deep breath and patted Nat on the back.

“We can take break later.”

She jumped from the second floor onto a robots shoulders and shorted it out, then jumped to another as it headed to ground.

Nat shook her head and followed jumping over the railing.

It was chaos inside but without the sky and the more crowded area, the Iron Legion had to rely on close combat fighting, something for which they were not built. Tony’s suit was much more mobile.

No one was sure who made the last kill. The area was full of noise and then like a swift storm over the ocean, it was gone and the world was quiet again.

They stood surrounded by hot metal scrap, shattered glass and building debris. They all seemed injured but none were dead.

Barnes took a look around then tensed when he found T’Challa staring at him. T’Challa took off his mask.

“Relax. I know you did not kill my father now.” T’Challa told him. “No one who fights with the bravery and intensity you do would do something as cowardly as bomb a building of innocents.”

Bucky nodded, not saying anything else.

Cap ran into the room with a groggy Bea in his arms. Agatha and Ava were propping each other up and Oksana and Dani were helping Charlize hop on one leg. Antonia rushed to them and lifted Charlize in her arms bridal style.

Yelena took stock of her widows. “Injury report.” she ordered.

“You have a chunk of metal in your thigh.” Maria told her, pointing a four inch piece of shrapnel just above her knee.

Yelena looked down and ripped it out. She wiped her face with the back of her palm and it came away wet with blood from her nose but was satisfied it wasn’t affecting her breathing.

“Serious injuries right now.”

“Charlize bleeding is stopped but she is going to need better staples and immobilized. Bea has a major concussion. I need a brain scan when we return to base but she will live.” Oksana reported.

Yelena looked at the rest. They were all exhausted, bloodied and burnt but none were dying.

The brunette who had came with Stark had bloodied knuckles and was walking with a limp. Captain America looked exhausted and then there was the strange addition who seemed out of breath and intent on wearing a tactical mask.

“Why is there a masked cop here?” Yelena asked.

The man shook his head. “I wasn’t able to get out before the building was locked down.”

Yelena recognized the voice and nearly smiled but was too tired.

“You are a cop! My friend is outside with a broken back. The drones are gone. Can you call in medical?” Tony asked.

The masked police officer shook his head. “Nobody is coming anywhere near this airport while Maximoff is still fighting an out of control android or whatever he is.”

“Widows, go to jets and take care of our injured wounded. I’m going to Wanda.” Yelena told them.

Yelena’s order was ignored. Every widow able to run who wasn’t holding someone up took off running towards Wanda’s last location except for Agatha who flew outside through an already shattered glass window.

Yelena and Nat took off after them and were quickly followed by the others except for the mysterious police officer who disappeared into the shadows.

Outside, Wanda and Vision’s fight continued. Wanda had gained an upper hand by taking temporary control of the Mind Stone. Its normal yellow glow turned red and she increased Vision’s density to the point the ground crumbled beneath him. She stood over the hole and blasted her magic into it, accelerating his fall. When she could no longer hear his descent, she let up and regained her breath.

The sky had cleared and there were no robots swarming anymore. Rhodes still laid on the ground and Wanda touched his mind just enough to know he was alive.

Wanda began closing the hole up once more when she felt the Mind Stone’s power slipping from her grasp. Seconds later Vision burst from the ground into the sky. Wanda followed him up.

“Vision, listen. Your Iron Legion is gone. Whatever plan you had for taking me down isn’t going to work. We can fight forever but you will never overpower me. I took control of your stone once already. If you don’t stop this I am taking it from you.”

“I won’t stop until you sit down and listen! I see chaos around me and it must stop. The Avengers would rather quit than operate under a system of accountability. You kill hundreds of slavers but what of the large dangers of the world? You refuse to work with the world as well. Everyone is operating separately and it can only lead to chaos! It already has!”

Wanda smirked. “Chaos is kind of my thing. I thrive in it.”

“You shouldn’t! We are the two most powerful beings on this planet! We should be together! The Avengers are not needed and neither are your killers. The two of us together are enough to protect this planet and each other. Why can’t you not see this clearly!?”

Fed up listening to him, Wanda unleashed more of her power than she had ever yet, holding nothing in reserve. He met her power with his own, locking them in a battle of wills once again.

She saw from afar that the Widows were emerging from the airport. Tony Stark was flying towards her and Vision. She saw Stark raise a glowing glove towards Vision and she spoke into his mind.

“Stop, Tony. Leave us.”

Tony did lower his hand and looked her way as if to verify what she said. She shook her head and he backed off.

Agatha tried to fly near but Tony’s must have told her something because she stood by him in the air, power ready at her fingertips.

They didn’t know what Wanda knew. She was giving all of her power and it wasn’t enough to beat that damn stone. She needed more. As if she had summoned it in physical form, pages from the Book of Vishanti flashed in her mind as clear as if they were in front of her. The Book was speaking to her, whispering its secrets, telling her how to defeat her enemy. The answer was simple. She didn’t have enough power so she would take more, directly from the wellspring.

She met Agatha’s eyes and the older witch grinned and nodded, then told Stark to move farther away.

Agatha told Stark something and they raced to the ground backing everyone away from the sight of her and Vision’s standoff.

Wanda stopped countering Vision’s blast. She took the energy of the Mind Stone blast directly in her chest, knowing it wouldn’t kill her.

Her confidence was rewarded.

Agatha and Stark landed next to the group of heroes who had returned to the tarmac and were watching Vision and Wanda battle in the sky.

“Everyone back away now!” Agatha told them. “We don’t need to be near them. Wanda is about to end this.”

“Wanda needs my help. Stark, shoot your robot or I will shoot you!” Yelena demanded.

“Wanda told me not to, Yelena.” Stark said.

Agatha nodded. “She has this, Doll. This is her time.”

Yelena was dragged back by Natasha and Antonia.

Then Vision screamed.

The bright light of the Mind Stone’s blast had turned red. Wanda was absorbing the energy and Vision could not stop the power from being drained.

The sky was becoming so bright around Wanda and the onlookers could barely make her out.

The brightness around her turned to a massive red glare. Wanda’s clothes began to change. A red crown formed on her head and her eyes were like globes of pure fire.

“Pay attention girls.” Agatha told the widows, reverence in her voice. “You are witnessing the birth of the Scarlet Witch.”

The sky erupted in thunder and an explosion of red, with Wanda at the center. Vision crashed to the ground, the energy no longer being sucked from the Mind Stone. He collapsed then managed to weakly stand up but could barely maintain his footing.

Wanda floated down to the ground not far from him. The bright lights and storm of energy was gone. She looked so different. Her hair seemed longer, wilder, resembling flames more than human hair. Her eyes were solid red and her clothing gave her a regal appearance that was as intimidating as it was awe inducing.

She approached him, keeping a short distance between the two.

“Vision.” Wanda said to catch his attention.

“Wanda, what have you done?” he asked quietly.

“I did what was necessary. I have given thought to all you have said and I agree. I have been unreasonable.”

“You understand?”

“You are going to get what you wanted Vision. This is me being reasonable.” she told him.

Wanda raised her hands and Vision’s body was lifted and stretched out by his hands and feet. A flick of her wrist and his arms and legs were pulled from his torso. His head was ripped off and his torso and limbs were incinerated.

Wanda smiled and his lifeless head dropped to the ground.

She was barely aware of the crowd that had surrounded her. Yelena was in front of her then had her arms wrapped around her. Wanda wanted to check her for injuries but Yelena had her head buried into Wanda’s shoulder.

“How bad are our sisters’ injuries?” Wanda asked.

“Nothing life threatening but some deep cuts, cracked ribs and fists, Stannic broke some toes with an ill advised kick and Bea has a head injury. The fabric of our suits held up to most repulsor blasts but there will be second degree burns and muscle tears.” Yelena told her.

“Take them to the jets and triage. I will be there. I need to check you over as well.”

Rather than move towards the jet, Wanda turned to where Cap and Tony were knelt over a prone Rhodey, comforting him.

She walked towards them and the curious crowd followed. When she reached the man, Tony and Cap looked up at her and moved aside. Wanda knelt next to Rhodey.

“I can feel your fear. You are so afraid of me. Have I ever caused you harm?”

Rhodey said nothing.

Wanda touched his metal covered abdomen and sent her power into his body.

He gasped and cried out as his bones healed and realigned, spinal fluid returned to where it belonged and nerve endings came back to life.

When she was done she smiled at the man.

“I can feel my legs.” He said, bending his knees. “How? How can you heal?”

Wanda stood. “I fight with the darkness in my heart from the trauma and loss I have undergone. I heal with love my sisters give me.”

“Why heal me?”

Wanda shook her head. “If you have to ask, I will never make you understand.”

Wanda turned to walk away. She made it three steps before she collapsed. She felt two arms catch her, one flesh and one metal. Despite the hard metal under her spine, she felt safe and the calm of sleep called to her. She smiled and gave in.

Yelena stood next to Bucky and put her hands on Wanda’s face, patting her cheeks to wake up. The strange headpiece had disappeared and her new clothes had reverted back to her old clothes.

“Wake up, моя сестра-идиотка.” Yelena asked her. “Some of us have boo boos. You know you love fixing boo boos and flexing. Stay awake. I don’t need another I love in a coma. It’s bad for my heart.”

Agatha placed a hand on Yelena’s shoulder. “Relax Doll. She knew what she was doing. It was time for her to unlock her true power. She will need us more than ever now but first she needs to rest. It isn’t every day a person becomes a nexus being.”

Helena stepped up to Yelena. “Perhaps it is not the best idea to let the Winter Soldier continue to hold her. We did do our best to kill each other twenty four hours ago.”

Bucky cringed. “Sorry?”

Helena brushed it off. “These things happen. It was a good fight and in fairness we tried to fry your brain. I would still feel better if one of us took her in case you are inadvertently triggered. Our witch is delicate.”

Steve stepped up and took her from the man who reluctantly let go of her.

“Pilots prepare for takeoff. Sisters tend to each other’s wounds and reload your weapons” Yelena order and turned to Natasha. “Where are we going?”

“Siberia.” Bucky answered. “Then man who triggered me asked about the program I was part of. There were at least ten Winter Soldiers made during the eighties, in addition to me. These soldiers are not as stable as I am.”

“So they must be bat shit crazy then.” Yelena realized.

Bucky nodded. “The man did not give his name but he did tell me he wanted to watch an empire fall. With these soldiers he could do it. I must have given him the location after he triggered and then released me. If he frees and takes control of these soldiers he would have the weapons to topple governments. He may have already freed them. We lost a lot of time. If he is there, it is going to be a fight. Those soldiers have to die. They don’t need triggers to become violent. The experiments went wrong and they were so unstable they had to be gassed and put on ice for the last thirty plus years.”

“Then we go stop them.” Yelena decided. “Widows who can still fight, load up in the five jets. Those who cannot, take one back to base.”

“We are all going.” Ava said. Her face was covered in blood, suit torn but she had a determined look on her face that was matched by the others.

Yelena sighed. “Fine. We hurt tomorrow. Today we fight more.”

A circle of light opened up from nowhere and the Ancient One and Wong stepped out. Yelena became furious.

“Now you show up! You are shit friend Ancient bald one.”

The woman smiled to Yelena’s irritation. “I just received a call from Agatha. This isn’t a mystical threat regardless. I see the Scarlet Witch is taking a nap. Agatha called me to deal with an infinity stone stuck in a synthezoid’ s head.”

Agatha walked up to Yelena. “We can’t just leave it lying around at the airport. Where should we put it, Ancient One?” Agatha asked, all normal traces of humor and sarcasm gone from her voice.

The Ancient One stared at it for a moment and then closed her eyes. Her smile changed into a frown then she opened her eyes and looked at T’Challa.

“It has the best chance of being safe with you, King T’Challa. Take it, place it in a Vibranium box and put it in the deepest part of your mines. Do not allow your sister to experiment on it. Keep it hidden, protect it from those who seek to take its power for themselves.”

T’Challa frowned but then nodded and took the head from the ground.

While the conversation had been going on, a worried Wong had approached a bloody Ava.

“Are you hurt badly?”

“No, don’t I look in perfect health? Go away. This day isn’t done.”

Wong sighed. “I realize I didn’t handle the situation well but it took me by surprise. Your age…”

Ava raised her hand. “Yes, I am old enough to fight, I am old enough to die and I was old enough to have sex against my will for the past six years. I am not old enough for you. Truthfully, you are too old for me. If I’m going to screw an older man he should at least have money. Go away. I’m not sure if you noticed but we have a disaster here and it isn’t over. Go back to Kamar- Taj and meditate in your pajamas. Some of us have bloody work to do.”

Ava left him, limping closer to hear what was going on.

After T’Challa had been warned not to remove the stone from Vision’s head, the Ancient One made a portal and stepped through. Wong took one last look at Ava who was ignoring him and followed the Ancient One into the portal.

As the Widows, Captain America, Natasha and Bucky Barnes began the trek to the other side of the parking garage, T’Challa called for Yelena’s attention.

“May I join you?” he asked.

Yelena nodded. “He killed your father. Of course you may.”

Tony cleared his throat. Yelena rolled her eyes.

“You aren’t getting your jets back, Stark.”

Stark laughed. “I’d like to join you as well.”

Yelena took a long look at him. “Are you over this ‘taking Barnes in’ drama you have been stuck on?”

Stark nodded. “Fine. You better not pull anything like try to put tracker on our jet. Wanda just pulled apart and disintegrated a vibranium robot. Something to think about.”

“I just want to see this end. I’ll fly beside you.” Tony turned to Jessica. “You get a bonus. This is the end of the line. Thank you.”

Jones walked past him towards the jets. “I’ve come this far. I’m not stopping until it is over. It’s not every day that someone gets to fight beside Red Widows. Consider this free of charge.”

Once the jets were in the air and at cruising altitude, those in the jets stood up and began moving. In Reaper 1, Yelena stood next to a sleeping Wanda as she remained asleep on a cot. Bucky, T’Challa, Nat and Steve were beside her. Fanny was curled up next to Wanda on the cot, licking her cheek for attention every few minutes.

Steve knew he shouldn’t but had to ask.

“Why does your dog have a Kevlar vest? Do you take her into battle zones often?”

Yelena shook her head. “No, this is her first field mission and she did so good protecting the jet. But if she had to make potty outside jet I didn’t want her hit by stray bullet. One can never be too careful when raising a puppy.”

Before Steve could mull that over, the other widows began undressing to the men’s shock. The three men looked away quickly, dropping their heads and facing the walls.

Yelena rolled her eyes.

“Sisters, we have boys on the jet. I would guess two of them have possibly never seen breasts in real life.” Yelena told them. “I’m not going to say which two.”

Ava spoke for the rest. “We don’t care. Tell them to close their eyes if it bothers them. We aren’t putting bandages on over our suits and we all need burn gel.”

“Hey Captain,” Michiko called out. “I have some shrapnel in a spot I can’t reach. Could you give me a hand?”

“Behave girls. Yelena you need gel and bandages. I saw you take a repulsor blast.” Sonia said.

Steve was surprised but kept his head down. “You were all shot with repulsors? I thought it was only debris from explosions that hit you.”

“We didn’t have shield on us.” Yelena told him. “Our material stood up to brief laser blasts but cannot stop heat. We all have very bad sunburns under clothes and force probably cracked bones. When Wanda wakes she will make us all feel better. Until then, we fight on.”

Bucky nodded. “You’ve been through worse, right?”

Yelena looked around at her sisters and nodded. “Pain is nothing to us. We have lived with it for most of our lives. I had three good years with this one at least.” She said, jerking her thumb at Nat. “If you need widow bites for bracelets, load up. I’m not sure Agatha can put a spell on more ammo yet. We are using what we have and breaking out grenades.”

“Thank you.” Nat told her gratefully.

“I have to take care of dumb sister. I need to check on my girls and maybe get a few stiches while we have the time. Let these big tough boys know when they can open their eyes and you watch my witch for me.”

Nat watched Yelena go from girl to girl and was so proud of her. She wasn’t a kid at all and that made her sad but seeing the leader she had become was awe inspiring. She was a leader in the chaos of the battle they had just underwent, giving orders while fighting and taking hits herself, watching for others and absolutely fearless.

“You boys can look around now. The girls are gearing back up.”

T’Challa watched them with great interest. Like Nat, he had also been impressed by them. Such young women, children really, were such fierce warriors.

“How are they so well trained so young?”

Nat and Steve’s faces changed and T’Challa gathered he had touched a nerve and it wasn’t his story to know.

“I mean no offense. They fought like warriors of old. None of them look over eighteen.”

Nat smiled. “No offense. It’s just not our story to tell.”

T’Challa nodded and left it alone, continuing his study of the girls, how they moved, how they prepared for the next battle and checked each other constantly for injuries and checking each other’s gear.

“So what is next?” Bucky asked Steve. “The United Nations isn’t going to be happy about me being on the loose. I’m not happy to be honest. I know Wanda told that flying robot she could help me, but…”

“She will.” Steve told him. “Wanda is a powerful telepath. She will get rid of those triggers in your head.”

Bucky nodded and smiled down at Wanda’s sleeping form.

“What about you two?”

Steve shrugged. “I have no idea. What about you, Nat?”

Nat sighed. “I’m going to stay with them if they will let me. A big reason I left the Avengers was to find her, be with her, get to know her. That hasn’t changed. I’m not sure if they will let me fight with them but I am hoping they let me stick around.”

Bucky snorted. “Why wouldn’t they want you to fight with them?”

Nat looked around the crowded jet. “Watch them.”

Bucky and Steve did. Steve only noticed a bit. He saw how they were sisters in arms like he and his friends in the war were brothers but Bucky saw something else.

He saw a pack mentality. Women bonded more powerfully and deeper than blood. If one was attacked twenty five would hit back without hesitation. They were a tribe. In the fight when one was at another’s back they never worried about what was behind them. They trusted and covered each other. They put their lives in each other’s hands with no hesitation or fear.

“Yeah.” Bucky said. “I get it. But if they are taking a crack pot soldier in like me they won’t have a problem with Yelena’s sister.”

Nat shrugged. “I just want to know her. I see so much of the little girl I lived with, but I also see this new amazing person I want to learn about.”

“Yelena kept you by her side the entire fight, Nat.” Steve reminded her. “She isn’t going to let you go now.”

Nat knew Yelena wouldn’t. Nat also knew Yelena’s first priority were her sisters and Nat hadn’t made the best impression with them the last few days.

Over on the Reaper 2, The girls were doing the same as all the widows in other jets. Jessica Jones was fascinated by the kids because that was what they were. In the heat of the battle she had noticed some appeared young at first glance but most wore masks. Now that she had a moment to take them in she knew they were kids and some of them couldn’t be over fifteen.

The oldest one, a middle aged woman probably in her forties was in another of the high tech jets taking care of the ones with the most serious injuries.

When they undressed Jessica saw circular burn marks on parts of their bodies. Most of their suits were shredded in certain areas from shrapnel.

Not that Jess was in much better shape. She had to set her nose when she found a mirror and one of the sleeves of her leather jacket was barely holding on at the shoulder.

A dark skinned, compact but muscular girl approached her. She didn’t appear to be in pain but Jess noticed her right arm was hanging limply at her side. Jess thought she heard the other girls call her Naomi.

“You are very strong. I understand you ripped robots in half with hands.”

Jessica nodded.

“Would you place your hand on my right shoulder?”

Jessica nodded and did as asked, not sure she liked where this was going.

Naomi smiled and backed away just a bit then slammed her shoulder into Jessica’s hand. The pop was loud in the mostly quiet aircraft. Naomi rolled her shoulder and nodded to Jessica who kind of wished she had a place to vomit.

“Thank you. You are much better than metal pole.”

Naomi walked off and resumed reloading weapons like the rest.

One of the very young ones was being placed in a small foot brace of some sort.

“I just need to walk. I’ll get a cast when we get home. One more fight and I can take a break for a while.” Stannic told Sasha.

“Beautiful idiot. Why did you think kicking robots in head was good idea?”

Stannic quitted for a moment.

“I had a flashback.” She quietly admitted. “I was grabbed by my uniform and it ripped then I was there.”

Sasha took her by the back of her head and pressed their foreheads together then kissed her cheeks. “Nothing like that will ever happen again. Remember who you are surrounded by. We take care of each other, right?”

Stannic nodded.

“Call my name and I will break my foot on it next time, okay?”

Stannic nodded again. “I didn’t want to call for help.”

“Its calling for back up, not calling for help.”

Jessica couldn’t help but listen in. These were more than kids trained to kill.

“You need anything?”

A tall blonde was suddenly next to her.

“What?”

“Do you need anything? Guns?”

Jessica shook her head. “I’m not a fan.”

“Knives, shock batons, Kevlar, taser grenades, mace bombs, shurikens, brass knuckles?”

Jessica considered brass knuckles but left it alone.

“I’m good. What’s your name? You did a hell of a job keeping your younger partner safe. I saw you take a few shots for her.”

“I’m Antha. She is Aino. The first night I was freed she died from a cut from a poisoned blade. At least she should have died. Her heart stopped. Then Wanda flew into our jet and healed her. I swore she was an angel. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I wasn’t going to be the one to lose Aino after what she had been through.”

Jess wondered if she should ask then figured the girl wouldn’t hurt her if she was offended but instead not answer.

“What do you mean free?”

“Everyone of us you saw fighting with the exception of Oksana, had been mind controlled since we were ten by a very sick, twisted man. He used us as assassins, spies, sex toys and anything else he wanted. Wanda freed Yelena from mind control. They found Oksana who developed a drug that could break his hold. There are many more of us out there. Our mission is to stop human traffickers who once sold children to the man who enslaved us. That led us to A.I.M.. We also search for the hundreds of widows in the world still under mind control with no owner to answer to. We free them and offer them new lives or a place with us.”

Jessica was impressed. She had no idea there was more to them than a vigilante hit squad who killed their enemies and saved kids.

“Doesn’t Maximoff control minds?”

For the first time, Jess felt fear. Antha’s face had changed from good natured humor to rage.

“She never controls our minds. She only controls the ones who deserve death. Wanda is a great person. One of the best I have ever known in my life.”

Jessica unconsciously took a step back. “I meant no offense.”

Antha realized she was scaring Jessica and calmed. “Sorry. We are very protective of her. She has been through a lot. Tell your friend in black he can keep my baton. Tell him to think of me when he uses it.”

“You know who he is? You called him councilor. How did you find out his identity?”

Antha smirked. “Isn’t it obvious, Detective? New York is of special interest to us. We are spies and we always find out who the players are. Norman Osborn lived in New York and still might be hiding there. Much human trafficking goes through New York City. There are many widows who had been assigned to New York that we are still chasing.”

“Yeah, but you found out a blind lawyer is a vigilante. I still have trouble believing it and I’ve known him for a long time.”

Antha smiled. “Like I said, we are good at what we do. His secret is safe with us. So how great is his body under that padding? He is hot, isn’t he? I love the way he moves. He is very graceful. You have seen him without a shirt on, haven’t you?”

Jessica ignored the question. “How did you know he was Daredevil at the airport?”

Antha shrugged. “The papers say the Avengers protect the planet and the Defenders defend New York City. You don’t have many friends, Jessica Jones, much less ones who would follow you to Germany to back you up. He wasn’t Luke Cage and I didn’t see a glowing fist so that left Danny Rand out. Danny Rand would never cover his face regardless. Process of elimination. I’ve answered your questions. Now answer mine. Is he hot?”

Jessica smirked, impressed by their knowledge and reasoning. These weren’t dumb kids. They were traumatized kids but they were very good spies who were very, very tough.

“He’s not ugly.” Jessica said.

Antha had known it. She now had a new target while Yelena was having fun with Kate. “Fighting robots in airports and now flying to face super soldiers. It’s probably not a common occurrence in New York City on the street level. You are handling it well.”

“I fought my friend’s dead zombie ninja girlfriend once.”

Antha nodded. “Respect. Sisters! Jessica fought a zombie ninja once!”

A round of cools and bad ass were said, causing Jessica to smirk.

Angelica spoke into the radio. “All Reapers, Jessica Jones just said she fought a ninja zombie. Time for some music.”

To Jessica’s great amusement, Michael Jackson’s Thriller began blaring in all the jets as they made their way to Siberia.