Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 32:

Ava paced in her room staring at her phone as it rang. She had received constant calls the past two days from Wong and ignored each one.

She missed him but their last encounter had left her feeling sick. She had lied to him, but he also knew her background. It wasn’t as if she were a typical seventeen year old girl. She could be eighteen for all she knew. She thought he understood who she was but him telling her he felt creepy bothered her more and more.

She missed him though. Ava really missed him. She pressed the green icon on her phone answering the call but said nothing.

“Ava?”

Ava cleared her throat.

“What do you want? Why do you keep calling?”

She heard a relieved breath on the other end. “I had hoped if I called enough you would at least answer to tell me to stop calling so maybe I could hear your voice. I know that probably sounds stalkerish now that I have said it out loud. I just thought at the time that persistence might be rewarded. I wanted to talk to you maybe if you were up for it.”

Ava said nothing for a moment, debating if she was up for this and finally decided she was. “So talk.”

“In person.”

“I’m busy.” she answered immediately. It wasn’t exactly a lie. There was a Mario Cart tournament starting in thirty minutes and she was the number three seed behind Yelena and Amanda. Afterword Natasha was supposed to make enchiladas and then she would wash and dry her hair before going to bed.

Wong sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Ava waited for the but that would follow. He would point out that she lied to him. She had apologized already and wasn’t going to do so again.

He said nothing else.

“That’s it? You are sorry for saying I made you feel creepy? Or for ghosting me for a week before blowing up my phone nobody is supposed to even have the number to? Do you know how many times I have been shot at in the last week alone? You saw me at the airport. I was close to death over a dozen times in that hellhole fighting Iron Man’s babies! I invaded an Iranian prison last night. I wake up every morning knowing every day could be my last. I may only have a short amount of time on this Earth and I want it to be with someone who doesn’t feel guilty about being with me. If that’s not you then don’t string me along.”

Wong was silent for a moment.

“So that mass prison escape on the news was you?”

“Wong!”

“Sorry, not the point! I don’t want to string you along. Maybe I freaked out because I am intimidated by you and learning you were seventeen and had done so much and survived so much was kind of shocking. I lived with my parents until I was twenty five. My goal in life is to be a librarian over some magic books and you are a real life superhero.”

Ava was speechless for a moment. “You… you think I’m a superhero?”

“Of course you are! You are beautiful and so strong and you can fight evil robots and evil scientists. You save children. You go headfirst into battle and never think about the odds. You were freed from mind control and decided to keep being badass and help people. Yes, I think you are a superhero. You were right. I hide in libraries and practice magic in pajamas but I don’t really do anything for the world.”

Ava’s heart warmed listening to his opinion of her but she hated to hear him insulting himself.

“Hey, don’t do that. You are a sorcerer. I could never do what you do. I was angry when I said those things. You do a lot and you are going to do so much more. I know it. Don’t put yourself down, Wong. You are a special guy. I knew it when I met you.”

“When you put a gun in my face?” he asked, chuckling.

“Yes, I put a gun in your face. Instead of freaking out or becoming angry you told me to drink my coffee. Then you took me to a magic cauldron and showed me beautiful stars and planets and whole galaxies that no human has ever seen. Most guys would have had a much different response. I knew you were different and that’s why I lied. I didn’t want anything to screw up our chance.”

“Would you have ever told me the truth?” he asked.

“No! No way.” Ava responded immediately.

Wong laughed. “At least you are honest about lying.”

Ava grinned. “That is the only thing I ever lied to you about. Besides I really don’t know how old I am. I may be eighteen. Maybe someday I will work up the courage to open my file and learn everything. I will learn my birthday and if my parents gave me up or were dead and I was taken from an orphanage. Maybe I was taken and they never stopped looking for me. Maybe they are still looking for me. The truth is, no matter how much of a badass you think I am, I’m scared to find out the one thing that matters most.”

Wong said nothing but she could imagine the understanding look on his face.

“Maybe one day we can open that file together.” he suggested nervously.

Ava smiled. “Yeah, that would be nice. I… look, I’m new at… everything. I’m new at life. You can’t expect me to be this perfect person. My morals are questionable. I have tortured people and liked it. I’m not sure if there is a better feeling in the world than my knife cutting the throat of some evil asshole and listening to his last breath as he chokes on his own blood. Some things about me are never going to change. If you are cool with that then we can give this a shot.”

“I’m cool with you. I know who you are, Ava. I can accept that.”

---

“Then I guess we can talk in person. Portal to the front yard of the mansion. I’ll be waiting and we can go for a walk.”

“I’ll be there in ten seconds.”

“Wong?”

“Yes?”

“If you ever break up with me again, I will cut a part of your body off that guarantees you will never have another girlfriend.”

Ava opened her door and found six widows outside with two pressing their ears to the door. Mika nearly tumbled inside.

Ava raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, looking at them.

“What?” Lerato asked. “We are spies. It is in our nature. So it’s back on?”

“Yes!” Mika hollered without waiting for an answer then ran to the staircase. “Ava and Buddha are back together!” she shouted down the stairs.

Ava’s face turned red and she took off after Mika who was taking stairs three at a time to get away.

When they reached the bottom, they nearly ran into Bucky Barnes and Wanda.

“I’m sensing a different magic than Agatha’s. Wong is outside?” Wanda asked, smirking when Mika hid behind her and stuck her tongue out towards Ava.

Ava smiled and nodded, then gave Mika a dirty look and walked outside.

Bucky was confused. “Wong?”

“Ava’s ex-boyfriend, or current boyfriend. I guess they made up.” Wanda told him when Mika let go.

Bucky looked to where Ava had ran off outside. Several other widows had converged in the room and were looking out onto the front lawn, watching the couple.

“He is here?” Bucky asked.

Wanda nodded. “He knows where we are. He is a sorcerer and can portal anywhere in the world.”

Bucky’s eyes widened in understanding. “He’s the guy who stepped out of the circle of light with the bald woman. Makes sense. Sorcerers, huh? Crazy world.”

Wanda shrugged. “You have no idea.” she told him, thinking about the potentially devastating power she possessed.

“And him and her? She seems a little…”

Bucky stopped talking and shook his head. He began to walk away when Wanda stopped him by grabbing his right arm.

“She is what?” Wanda asked, a bit defensively.

Bucky shrugged. “She seems a little out of his league, but I get it. When I was in high school, I took a date to this traveling carnival. There was a magician there. Tubby little asshole. My gal thought he was so hot because he could make a rabbit pop out of a hat. Some dames love magic.” Bucky told her with an exaggerated Brooklyn accent.

Wanda laughed, not expecting Bucky to have much of a sense of humor. He had been very quiet and barely made eye contact with anyone since he had been at the mansion. Wanda had thought he looked at her at times but guessed she was imagining it, despite Yelena’s claims.

The two made their way to her room. Wanda felt a bit nervous when she invited him in. She had dressed in her black tights and a red top that covered all but her arms. She had almost worn high heel boots but decided against it at last moment, knowing sitting on the floor in those boots would not be easy.

Bucky was in a simple white t shirt and grey jogging pants. Wanda couldn’t help but admire his form. Even the metal arm looked hot on him.

Standing outside her door in the hallway were Yelena and Steve.

“Hello.” Wanda greeted them, wondering why they were there. Both were aware Wanda would be working with Bucky today.

“Are we ready to begin?” Yelena asked.

Wanda noted that despite the casual shirt and torn jeans Yelena wore, her widow bites were charged.

“Yes, we are.” Wanda told her. “Bucky and I are going into my room to begin. We need to be alone.”

Yelena laughed. “You thought that was an option? What if you accidentally trigger him while you play in his mind? He still has very metal arm on. One squeeze and my Ride or Die is just Dead. Steve will stand behind him and I will be next to him while you work.”

Wanda shook her head. “I’ve never done this before but it could get intense. We need to be alone. If things get out of hand, I can handle it.”

Yelena huffed. “How does that make sense? If things get out of hand, I can handle it. How do you handle if you just said things got out of hand?”

“The same way I open doors without using knobs.” Wanda told her. “We will be fine. It could be intense. Do not come inside no matter what you hear.”

“So if I hear help, help he is killing me, do not come inside?” Yelena asked.

Wanda paused for a moment and Bucky grinned. “Yes, in that case, please come in.” he told Yelena then looked at Wanda. “She is right. Maybe we should wait until Oksana and Antonia finish the equipment to take my arm off.”

Wanda waved his concern off. “You won’t hurt me. I’ll be in your head. I wouldn’t let you. Let’s get started.”

“We are staying out here.” Yelena told her. “If you don’t like it, that is not my problem. You need a less hostile outlook on world.”

“I need a less hostile…” Wanda sighed. “Got it. Wait out here. My safe word is apples.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Wanda shrugged. “I don’t know. A man said it on television show. It sounded cool. We must start now. Please do not interfere, no matter what. You must trust me.”

Wanda and Bucky walked into her room and closed the door behind them, leaving Steve and Yelena alone.

The two looked at each other, seeming to realize neither had been alone together before and having no idea what to say.

Yelena leaned against the wall and looked around, not meeting his eyes. It didn’t take long before the silence became uncomfortable.

“Are you sure your bracelets can take him down if it goes wrong?” Steve asked.

Yelena looked at her wrists and shook her head then pulled a long blade from her back.

“Helena and Michiko already gave him full blast from both bracelets into his head at fatal level. He shrugged it off. No, if things go bad, you hold him and I will stick this blade through his ear and into his brain. Its easiest way to kill super soldier.”

Steve tried to swallow but found his throat dry and decided to say nothing else.

“How is it you and my sister have never screwed each other?”

Steve’s eyes widened. He shook his head slightly, thinking he must have imagined that but then he quickly looked at Yelena and saw she expected an answer.

“We… are… friends?”

“Ha!” Yelena laughed sharply and Steve jumped a bit at the unexpected sound. “You are just friends, right. So much sexual tension between the two of you. I get it though. It can probably be intimidating having sex with a black widow. Natasha knows every way to please a person. She has seduced many. She is very beautiful and flexible. You should talk to Wong. He knows what it is like to know absolutely nothing about sex at your age and then get rocked by a widow. I can see how you could be intimidated. You shouldn’t wait too long.”

Steve shook his head and hoped the burning of his cheeks was just in his mind and not an actual blush.

“I’m not… I don’t think Natasha thinks of me… that way?”

“All you have to do is ask. You could say, Natasha we have been in many Avengers fights and fought HYDRA while making mess in Washington and then on run with brainwashed friend in Europe. Maybe we have sex now? It is that simple. I can tell these things. She would give you religion.”

Steve cringed. “I have religion.”

“You would convert to a new one when she was done. I can tell this about people. You should ask.”

Steve nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. How is Yasmine doing?”

“Agatha healed her wounds on way back but memories will be coming to her over the next few days. The first days are the worst. All the fog is lifted and you remember every detail of the things you did and what was done to you. Have you gotten used to the screaming during the night?”

Steve shook his head. It was a common occurrence, especially with his enhanced hearing to wake up in the night and hear crying or screaming. It was not all of them but a night didn’t go by with at least two or three waking up from a nightmare. That was usually followed by other footsteps as widows ran to them and some were taken to Wanda’s room to finish their nights rest.

“I don’t believe I will ever get used to it.”

“Me neither. I hope you know if I hear anything I don’t like, I will kill your friend. It’s nothing personal to either of you. I won’t let her be hurt.”

Steve nodded, understanding perfectly. “I won’t either.”

Inside the room, Wanda and Bucky had made themselves as comfortable as possible on a blanket she had laid on the floor.

“It’s easiest if we are comfortable and facing one another. If I can touch your head… I mean if you wouldn’t mind, it can be easier.”

Bucky sat cross legged across from her. “Whatever you need. We really haven’t had a chance to talk, with you dealing with all your magic stuff and then Iran and I’ve been trying to catch my bearings but I owe you some pretty big thanks.”

Wanda shook her head. “They know what being mind controlled is like. I know what it is like. I felt it in Yelena’s head when I freed her. No one should live like that.”

Bucky nodded. “Yeah, but I still owe you, Wanda. This isn’t going to be easy for you. There is a lot of crap in my mind, some horrible things. You are going to see all that, aren’t you?”

Wanda nodded. “I’m afraid I can’t avoid it. I don’t want to invade your privacy but being inside your mind it is inevitable.”

Bucky shook his head and met her eyes. “It’s not that I am worried about my privacy. I just wish you didn’t have to see those things. I also gotta thank you for bringing me here. You told Stark that I was coming with you and nothing was going to stop it from happening. I’d never met you before but you went out on a limb for me.”

Wanda blushed. “Like I said, I know what it is like. I also saw in HYDRA agents heads what they did to you. It made me angry. I hoped we would have met much sooner. You beat me to some HYDRA bases and didn’t leave anybody for me to kill.”

“Yeah, and I heard some of them begging me to kill them before you got a hold of them. I guess the two of us made quite a pair and we didn’t even know it. Anyway I know you got a lot going on, working on yourself and some new powers but you are taking time to help me. I owe you.”

Wanda took a deep breath and smiled. “You can cook me breakfast one morning and we can call it even.”

“Breakfast?” he asked humorously.

Wanda immediately turned red from embarrassment. “Or lunch! Dinner. Not sure why I said breakfast. It’s the most important meal and its… the first meal so it came to my mind first. That’s all I meant. No other reason I said breakfast.”

Bucky fought to hide a smile. “I guess we should get started. You need me to do anything besides sit here? Maybe they should be in here. If I get triggered…”

“You are fine. Nothing is going to be triggered. I just need you to relax and trust me. I know it’s hard to trust someone you don’t know being inside your mind.”

“It isn’t. I trust you, Wanda.”

Bucky took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Wanda slowly lifted her hands and placed her fingers on the sides of his head. Red light from her fingertips massaged his scalp and then entered his head. He opened his eyes that had turned bright red.

Inside his head Wanda was falling in a tunnel. She guided herself as best as possible but was careful not to grab onto a memory and rip anything out. She focused on the end of the tunnel, avoiding looking at the horrible things that had been done to him as they raced by her.

Wanda found herself at his earliest memory, bouncing his baby sister on his leg while she giggled.

“Another mouth to feed. Aren’t you Rebecca?” Bucky told her with a fond smile. “I think I’ll keep you though.”

Wanda felt the innocent happiness he felt. She felt his love for not only his sister but his other two siblings and his parents. He was happy.

He longed for that now and always would.

Longing.

Grief filled Wanda. It was a grief she was familiar with. The pain that comes from losing a family member.

She stood beside a young Bucky Barnes at the graveside of Rebecca Barnes. She had only been five years old.

His pain was her pain. She felt it all.

A New York street. A skinny kid being kicked on the ground by bigger kids. A righteous fury filling him.

Bucky attacked. The scrawny kid took a trashcan lid and fought back as well. Bucky was the one who made the most difference. He hated bullies. He had younger siblings. He was a protector. In his mind he had failed to protect Rebecca. The illness wasn’t his fault but he still felt like a failure. At that moment he felt strong. He had a busted lip and would probably have a shiner but hadn’t felt so good in a very long time.

“You okay, kid?”

“Yeah. I had them. I was just tiring them out. I appreciate the assist.”

Bucky smiled at the boy’s spirit. On further inspection, the kid was probably the same age as Bucky. He was just very thin, maybe malnourished or maybe just sickly. Either way, he had fight.

“James Buchanan Barnes. You can call me Bucky. All my friends do.”

“Steve Rogers.” The two shook hands and a friendship was forged.

Steve’s mom was dead. Steve was an orphan. The kid who had become his brother had lost his only remaining parent.

“Come live with us. We can lay out the couch cushions on the floor like we did when we were kids. You can shine my shoes and take out the trash now and then. What do you say?”

Steve shook his head. “Thank you, Buck, but I can get by on my own.”

Steve fumbled around looking for the hidden key to the apartment. Bucky picked it up and handed it to him.

“That’s the thing. You don’t have to. I’m with you till the end of the line, pal.”

Memory after memory flooded Wanda. She saw his every thought, felt his every emotion and experienced his pain.

The war. The war was like nothing she had ever experienced, even in Sokovia.

All he wanted was to go back home.

He fell from the box car. The rusted freight car. The numbers on the freight car caught his eye as he fell. 1791.

He thought he was dead. He should have been dead. Maybe he was. The sun was rising. It was daybreak.

His thoughts were disjointed, out of order but she tried to make sense of them. He woke without an arm, feeling phantom pains. Then he was locked in a chair while Zola hypnotized him. Bucky began talking about his life and Zola turned his memories against him.

Zola began feeding him trigger words over and over. A homecoming from the war he never received. A longing for home and to hold his little sister one more time. A rusted freight car.

She felt the pain of the super soldier serum, the electric shocks and the fear of being frozen. She felt the horrifying clean slate that he became, following orders given to him while some part of his mind tried desperately to remember who he was. He never received clear messages but he thought he recognized random images. He remembered a skinny kid who refused to stay down no matter the odds. He remembered a red and blue clad man, fighting beside him with a shield. He remembered screams and moans of agony from the war. He remembered friends dying, some being shot next to him.

It was never a clear picture. He could never remember his name. He had no context for the war. He only had orders. He was told to fight and he fought. He became deadlier and deadlier until he was the ultimate weapon.

The years passed. Every time he was awoken, he had new masters and he woke to a new world. Time went by but he stayed on ice, only waking to kill someone then returned to his frozen state as the world moved on.

Wanda felt all this and more. She felt a life of pain and love and loss and joy. She had done this before. When she first met Yelena, she saw and felt the girl’s entire life.

She dug deeper and began moving behind the memories. She found what she knew would be there.

Dreykov was decades behind Zola. The Black Widows were controlled by hacking brain waves and electrical impulses and sending commands to them anywhere in the world. Zola did it much farther back. He did not have the ability to control Bucky all over the world and change his orders at a moments notice but he had built a mental trap for him that he could not resist.

When she first encountered Yelena, Wanda had felt a self-destruct command and blocked it. She purged the drug that made her mind succumb to those commands from her body. In this case, rather than using a single drug, Zola used hypnosis and a cocktail of drugs designed to make the mind more suggestable until the brain could no longer resist. When the Winter Soldier was activated, he was given an order and only returned when it was complete.

Zola had hacked Bucky’s brainwaves but he underestimated Steve’s bond with Bucky and he never imagined someone like Wanda Maximoff existing.

She shifted her perception and saw his mind differently. She saw it in waves of lights, threads weaving in and out of the world around her.

She found the black chords that Zola had managed to plant.

Wanda began cutting. Just as she did in the physical world when she used her powers, in the mental landscape she began working, the innerworkings of his mind hers to command with her fingers. It was natural to her. It felt so easy.

She severed the remaining chord that led to the word that guaranteed he would never attack HYDRA when his mission had been complete. Benign. Bucky was no longer benign.

She saw Bucky at the airport and felt his awe as he watched her fly in with a red storm cloud behind her.

She felt what he felt the first time he looked at her.

He had never seen anything so beautiful and the knowledge shocked her. She didn’t think anyone was capable of looking at her like he did.

A light engulfed her so suddenly she lost her perspective and began tumbling. She fell through his life again and couldn’t stop herself. She needed to find an anchor before she lost herself in his mind permanently.

She stopped and pulled away and Bucky came with her.

Into her mind.

Wanda panicked, seeing where they were. She tried to stop it but the tidal wave was coming. It had taken more of her power than she expected to snap the threads. It had felt easy but it had apparently taken its toll.

Bucky’s eyes were wide as he took in his surroundings.

“No!” Wanda shouted. “I’m sorry! I’ll stop this. Give me…”

It was too late.

Wanda’s life streamed through both their bodies and Bucky saw it all. She could keep nothing from him. They were too linked.

He felt her emotions. He saw her debating suicide after Pietro died. He saw and felt her anger and grief. He felt the unconditional love she had for Yelena and the unbreakable bond that reminded him of him and Steve. He felt her absolute fear that she would lose the new family she had built.

He felt what she felt the first time she had looked at him. She thought she had never seen anyone so beautiful as him.

“It’s okay.” Bucky told her, taking her in his arms.

They were in the orphanage at night.

“Not this.” Wanda begged quietly, as the dark figures closed in on her.

“You can stop this, Wanda. Can you feel me?”

Wanda did feel him. She felt him holding her with both arms, both made of flesh, bone, and muscle. His hair wasn’t wild. He was in a soldiers uniform. It was too late though. He was feeling her fear, her surrender, her disgust with herself and the pain the boys caused her as they took her.

“Look at me, Doll. Calm down. That’s never going to happen to you again.”

“You’ve seen.” Wanda whispered. “You have seen the monster I am.”

Bucky shook his head. “I’ve haven’t seen a monster. I’ve seen one hell of a fighter though. I’ve seen a lot of people alive because you killed a lot of scum. You’re not a monster. You are a survivor and a hero.”

“I’m the Scarlet Witch.” Wanda told him. “You can feel my power.”

“I’m the Winter Soldier. We got our crosses to bear. Wanda, are you okay?”

Wanda nodded feeling more grounded. “I think so. We need to leave.”

Bucky nodded. “I’m ready.”

“I’m sorry you had to see this.”

“I’m only sorry because I know you didn’t want me to. I think we are okay. It’s probably time for us to wake up. Yelena might stab me in the ear with that knife she thought she was hiding.”

Wanda laughed quietly and leaned into him. She felt herself grounded and opened her eyes.

They both holding each other’s heads, foreheads pressed together, tears streaming down both their faces. Bucky was looking at her, gently caressing the sides of her scalp. She had no idea he could be that gentle with his metal arm.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

Wanda smiled reassuringly but wasn’t sure. She had only experienced this once before. Yelena was the only one she knew everything about by living her experiences. Yelena knew Wanda’s darkest secrets but Wanda had told her. Bucky Barnes knew her entire life now without her telling him. He had seen it, felt it. She wasn’t sure if she should have felt horrified, humiliated, or happy that someone else understood what it was like to hold this much power. She didn’t know what she felt most strongly.

“If you won’t be ashamed, I won’t either. Deal?” he asked her.

Wanda nodded, not sure if it would be that easy.

Then without thinking, she leaned in and kissed him. It was not a quick kiss and he gave into it willingly.

They were broken up by a cough. Yelena was in the room behind Wanda. Steve was next to her. Neither had noticed them.

Wanda’s eyes opened wide as she realized what she had just done and she shuffled back from him.

“I am so sorry! I’m… that was just… you see… it happens when I enter someone’s mind to that degree. It’s a side effect.” Wanda explained hurriedly.

“I do not remember you kissing me.” Yelena pointed out.

Wanda continued shuffling away from Bucky and stood up shakily then turned to Yelena. “Pokojný! Jednoducho sa to stalo! Jeho zvyškové emócie.” She shouted.

“All I understood was he is good kisser and needed more tongue.” Yelena told her. “Did it work? Is Bucky Barnes no longer susceptible?”

“I hate you.” Wanda whispered to her then looked back at Bucky. “There is only one way to find out.”

The sun was setting when Bucky Barnes sat down on the ground outside the Mansion. The Widows had stayed inside. Only Steve, Wanda, and Agatha were present.

Wanda sat down in front of Bucky, a red glow surrounding herself.

“You should let Steve do this.” he told her.

Wanda shook her head, knowing she was absolutely protected by the energy shield surrounding her. If this went wrong, Bucky could not escape Wanda and Agatha’s combined powers.

“Are you ready?”

Bucky shook his head. “No, but it has to happen. If this doesn’t work you need to find somewhere I can be contained.”

“It will work.” Wanda told him. “Look at me.”

Bucky met her eyes and Wanda began speaking. She spoke each trigger word and number clearly, firmly with no trepidation. Bucky’s terror increased with each word. It wasn’t long ago that Zemo had uttered these same words and took over his very self.

Then Wanda stopped speaking.

He waited for the last word then realized there was no last word. It was done. Every word was spoken.

He was still himself.

Bucky broke down crying.

Steve knelt next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“It’s over.” Bucky whispered.

Steve patted him on the back. “I told you it would be. The Winter Soldier is dead, Buck. Welcome back.”

Bucky met Wanda’s eyes and smiled gratefully.

Wanda smiled back then stood and walked to the mansion with Agatha, leaving the two brothers alone.

“So…”

“Yes?” Wanda asked Agatha.

“I am impressed.”

“Thank you.” she replied, a hint of pride in her voice.

“I mean that was commitment. I knew you were going to take a deep dive into his mind but a deep dive past his tonsils… that is going the extra mile. Good for you, kid. Imagine what you could have done to his mind if you let him get to second base.”

Wanda stood frozen at the door, her hand on the doorknob.

“Yelena said she wouldn’t tell anyone.”

“Ava told Wong she was nineteen. Yelena told you she found Fanny in the wild. Sasha tells herself that the hideous yellow sweatshirt she wears to training is fashionable and not an eyesore to look at. We all lie, kid. So, how was he? Good, bad, great? You gonna rent it, take him down the road a few miles, buy the car or just lease it?”

Wanda shook her head.

“I hate you all.”

Agatha’s loud laugh followed her into the house. Every widow in the Mansion was relaxing in the foyer, living room and dining room, acting as if they had not been watching the entire thing.

Yelena sat on the staircase, appearing way too pleased with herself.

Wanda stood in front of her and looked down at the smirking girl.

“Everything went okay?”

Wanda continued to glare.

“Don’t be like that. Considering what Ava did to Wong this afternoon a little smooch was tame.”

Wanda remained silent.

“I am not telepath like you but I sense you are not happy with me.”

“You have an amazing gift. You had to tell everyone?”

Yelena looked around the room. “I only told Sasha.”

“That is telling everyone!”

Yelena shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I am sure he has already forgotten about slow, wet kiss. It won’t be awkward at all between you. The rest of us promise not to watch every move you two make.”

Dani raised her hand. “Can you put a sock on your door or something so we know not to come into your room at night if you are making cyborg babies.”

Wanda flew to the third floor, leaving behind much laughter.

Ten minutes later, Yelena walked into her room without knocking.

“You know we only kid because we love. Why are you upset?”

Wanda had been leaned back on her bed with her knees pulled up, holding a pillow.

“I saw his life, Yelena.” Wanda said shakily.

Yelena nodded. “This was to be expected, no?”

Wanda nodded. “I made a mistake. When I broke him free, I lost control. I was in danger of being lost in his mind so I retreated to my mind. Only I brought him with me. I couldn’t control my head because I panicked and he saw everything. He saw my entire life. He saw the orphanage. He saw me give up.”

Yelena sighed and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Сестра, I’m sorry. I should not have joked with you. I will make sure it is never spoken of again.”

Wanda shook her head. “I’m not… it’s not that.”

“Then what?”

“I know everything about him. It’s like I have known him his whole life and in a way I have. But now…”

Yelena waited, knowing to give time to Wanda to convey her feelings into words. It was not always easy for her.

“Now, I think at some point in his life or my life, I fell in love with him. That’s crazy, right?”

Yelena sighed. “I fell in love with Kate the first moment I saw her take down that goon on the dancefloor. I didn’t know her mind like you know his. What are you going to do?”

Wanda shook her head. “Nothing. I’m going to do nothing. It’s easier that way. I will ignore it. It will go away. He has seen the worst of me. Why would he want that? I will say nothing.”

Yelena snorted. “Good luck with that, my sweet witch. Go to bed. You have had long day and we don’t want you brain damaged. You want me to sleep with you?”

Wanda shook her head. “I recognize the look in Yasmine’s eyes. She will want to sleep in here tonight. I could feel her longing. She will be afraid to ask to sleep in here tonight so I will ask her if we can have a girls night. I can calm her when the nightmares get too bad. She needs a few nights of uninterrupted sleep.

“It’s probably time for Agatha to take her own room. I’m thinking maybe new widows should sleep in here with me until they become accustomed to our life.”

Yelena kissed her forehead. “You are too good, Wanda. You need sleep too. Let us rest and we can wake in the morning and face new challenges with fresh eyes and less extreme emotions. Good night, my little witch. I must call Kate and then I will sleep as well.”

Before Yelena reached the door, Wanda called out to her.

“I understand now. I understand why Steve would have done anything to get him back, even if it meant dying. I get it. I want you to know…”

“Yes?”

“I’m with you until the end of the line, Yelena.”

Yelena smiled and wiped her eye. “Same here, Wanda. Till the end of the line.”

Yelena walked next door to her room and called Kate.

“You are late.” Kate answered.

Yelena saw she was only ten minutes later than she had promised to call her but said nothing. Kate had been and was understandably still edgy. She would likely be for a very long time and Yelena was one of the few constants she had in her life.

“I am sorry beloved. Wanda was having a crisis and needed comfort.”

“Is she okay?” Kate asked.

“Yes, she will be.”

“Put me on video. I need to see your face.”

Yelena did as told and was shocked at Kate’s appearance. Her normally bright eyes that radiated joy looked exhausted. Her hair was unkept and wild. It was obvious her sleeping problems were much worse than she had known.

“I look that bad?” Kate asked, seeing Yelena’s expression.

Yelena shook her head. “You will always be beautiful to me. You look like a beautiful woman who is not sleeping. I will talk to Oksana about the dosage of your sleeping pills and have her send another prescription in for higher dose maybe.”

Kate shook her head. “That only makes the nightmares harder to wake from. Mom has started sleeping with me but it doesn’t help. I keep seeing him. I keep feeling it, all of it. How do you do it? How do you live with the pain?”

Yelena sighed. “Having Wanda and you help.”

“But you aren’t here.” Kate said with a bitter edge. Yelena was surprised but didn’t show it. Kate had always supported her work and even pushed her to go to Europe to help Natasha and Steve. Was that a façade she put on for Yelena’s sake or had she changed her mind?

“I am sorry, Kate. I wish I could be.”

“You can.”

Yelena nodded. “I will be on flight tonight. You will see me soon. I must drive to Paris and hopefully catch a late flight.”

“No!” Kate snapped. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I didn’t mean it, Yelena. What you are doing is important.”

Yelena shook her head. “Not as important as you, Kate. If being with you can help you sleep then I will be with you.”

Kate cringed and shook her head. “Please don’t. I want to see you soon but not tonight. Mom is thinking maybe I should get a dog. Fanny helps you sleep. Maybe a dog will make me feel… safer. I’m weak right now, Yelena. I am weak and it is making me sick of myself! I should be strong! I have worked most of my life to be strong and here I am, begging my girlfriend to come to me so I can sleep. It is pathetic.”

“Do not say that, Kate. You are not pathetic. You are never that. You have been through something horrible and…”

“So have you and you fight! You never stopped! You hold it together and keep fighting! Why can’t I?”

Yelena was quiet, not knowing if she was expecting an answer or not. At times Kate talked enough for both of them and worked out her problems on her own, just needing Yelena to be a sounding board.

“Maybe you need to visit us.”

“What?”

“Maybe I talk to your Mom and see if we can sneak you here. You know we can be very sneaky. Would you like that?”

Kate shook her head. “I can’t face them.”

Yelena sighed, knowing what she meant. Kate was ashamed. She had no reason to be. She had saved a girl from being raped. Yet the idea of being around women who had been through so much and were handling it better than she thought she had intimidated her. Kate would have to get over it. Kate needed something Yelena could not give her. She needed something only the Red Widows could give her.

She needed her confidence back. She needed to feel strong. She was close to rock bottom. Only she could pull herself back up but she needed a mountain to climb before she could do so.

“Try to rest, my love. Perhaps getting a puppy may help. Puppies are almost as good of companions as witches are. They cannot do the cool tricks but are better cuddlers.”

Kate huffed. “I can’t leave the house. If any of my few friends came to see me I would have to put these fake casts on and lie on that damn bed. I have had so many people wanting to see me. They don’t even like me. They just want to see for themselves so they can tell everyone at school how beaten I am. Mom tells them all no. I don’t even want to speak to them. They are so fake.”

Yelena’s heart broke listening to the sadness and desperation in her girlfriend’s voice. Wanda only told Yelena and Eleanor that Kate was not unconscious until the final blow to her head. It wasn’t the pain that caused her to feel this way. It was the utter terror and feeling of helplessness that had brought her to this state.

“I will be there soon, my love. I will see you. I will stay on the phone and we can try to get some sleep. When you wake, take a shower, wash your beautiful hair and exercise. You need to remain strong.”

“He beat me.” Kate said.

Yelena knew Kate wasn’t just talking about the physical beating. “He is dead and you are alive. You win.” Yelena told her. “He wasn’t able to ruin another girl’s life because of you. You win. You sacrificed yourself to save another. That is something he could never do. Most people could never do that. You win. He didn’t beat you, Kate Bishop. You won. Lay back on your bed and close your eyes. Keep your phone on video and place it on front of your face. We go to sleep together.”

The next day, an alarm went off early in the Mansion interrupting training. The widows gathered to find Wanda on the phone and the screen showing a photo of a young woman.

“What is going on?” Yelena asked Maria and Wanda. Wanda held up a finger and said goodbye to Everett before hanging up the phone.

Natasha, Steve and Bucky had joined the group. No one said anything about Bucky or Steve but no one acknowledged them either.

“Everett has been tracking a suspected A.I.M. human trafficking pipeline in Boston.” Wanda told them. “He sent one of his agents, Sharon Carter, to investigate and she found key players at bus stations taking young girls who are likely runaways. She has lost track of them four times now. They are very good, know the streets and have multiple vans of same make and model to hide their path. She requested help but Ross believes we should handle this and I agree. He said Carter is one of the few on the A.I.M. team he absolutely trusts and doesn’t want word getting to S.W.O.R.D. about this.

Wanda paused for a moment. “At one of the drops Carter was close enough to listen in. She heard the name Ophelia Sarkissian. She is in our database but we have no photo. No organization has. I’ve seen her face in the minds of high ranking HYDRA operatives before I killed them. She calls herself Madame Hydra. She is extremely deadly and if we capture her she would be a gold mine of information. It is possible she was involved with A.I.M. in its earliest HYDRA days before they split off and has rejoined or never left. Why else would HYDRA be interested in children again?”

No one said anything, knowing she was right.

“Carter will meet us outside of Boston. We infiltrate the pipeline, shut it down, capture Sarkissian and do what we do. Maria?”

Maria pointed to the screen that showed a short cute girl with curly brown locks and beautiful eyes that squinted as she smiled. She looked like she could be an all American cheerleader or the leader of the chess team if she wore glasses. She was a chameleon. “Rachel. She has had dozens of last names over the years. She is sixteen and lives in Los Angeles. She has been attending high school faithfully and makes good grades. She may have a handler that needs to be put down, or she was left and is in a holding pattern, still in deep cover and perhaps not knowing. She needs to be set free and retrieved. If she has a handler, then we kill him or her or them.”

Yelena stepped in front of the group and looked them over.

“Yasmine, you have not worked with us before. You need training in military operations. You must stay behind and study our videos of previous missions. Mika, I am sorry but with two teams on two parts of a large continent, you and Maria’s expertise at computer stuff and communications are needed here. Ingrid, take your team and Ava’s team to California and bring our sister home. Natasha can join you. She has proven herself good with following orders. Agatha will you accompany them?”

“Of course, Short Stack.”

“I would rather accompany you to face off with this Madame Hydra and the human trafficking operation.” Natasha spoke.

Yelena shook her head and smiled. “I would have rather had pizza last night but you wanted to make enchiladas. You are not ready to see the things we will do to these men and that woman. You may never be ready. Follow orders or stay here.”

Natasha cringed, regretting having spoken up without thinking. It was natural to her but if she wanted to be fully accepted she had to follow orders. Yelena obviously thought Natasha could not handle the torture they would no doubt inflict on these men. Natasha could handle it and would gladly join in but hadn’t proven that to them yet.

“I understand.” she said.

Yelena nodded.

“What about us?” Steve asked, indicating him and Bucky.

The Widows all smiled and Agatha spoke up.

“I conjured up wood, nails, hammers, saws and concrete. When Wanda returns she will make a large hole. Look over potential pool designs and draw up plans for the pool house. Make a list of other items you need me to conjure up. Also we were thinking of a large fenced in area that Fanny could enjoy without worrying about predators. You may want to scout some trees that can be cut for firewood this winter. Good luck boys. We have faith in you. Don’t let us down.”