Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 62:

Wanda stood outside the Hand compound four hundred yards away with Staci and Aino at her side. After she had given orders to stay behind and protect the house both girls had approached and reminded her that she herself had cleared them for duty and they had stayed out of the last fight at her request. The kids would be safe with Rachel and Meg in an underground bunker and Wanda could be back in a second if needed.

Wanda hated to admit that they were right. Reluctantly she agreed to let them accompany her so long as they stayed by her side.

She was out for blood tonight. She didn’t wear the garb of the Scarlet Witch. She had dressed as she once did. She wore black leather pants and corset, a short red jacket, combat boots and several bracelets. Her rings stayed behind as they would not fit under her fingerless black gloves.

Wanda was in a dark mood and was back in the mindset of the homeless orphan street kid from Novi Grad who would kill to survive.

On her side, strapped to her belt was one of her most precious possessions.

It was a five inch dagger she had carried on the streets. Pietro had given it to her. She had taken the lives of many predators who thought her weak with this blade. She had killed those who tried to jump her brother over territorial disputes. Even after she was given power, she kept this dagger with her and found it hidden in her old cell after the widows had moved to the Fortress that served as their first base.

It had not drawn blood in a very long time but tonight that would change.

She motioned for Staci and Aino to split up and take out the guards who walked along the perimeters so she would not be disturbed. She didn’t wait to find out if they were successful. They knew how to kill. There was only one guard to either side of her roaming the tree line and their lives ended when the fifteen year old widows made them targets.

Wanda reached out with her mind, finding the location of the widows, the location of the guards but left Elektra alone. She didn’t want to tip off the dark presence sooner than necessary. By the time the Black Sky knew they were there it would be too late.

Staci and Aino came back in minutes with bloody knives and large smiles.

“Staci.” Wanda warned.

“No Disney songs, I promise. I’m not even into Disney any longer.”

“If you so much as start to hum…” Wanda warned her.

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Clean, quick kills for you two. Yelena and I handle the torture of prisoners, got it?”

The girls nodded and activated their helmets. Wanda focused on the underground area and where she wanted to be.

She opened her arms wide and the two black clad little killers wrapped their arms around her waist and held on tightly.

The guard at the control panel for the black widows’ cells was having a normal night. Despite being a member of the Hand and working in close proximity of the Black Sky, it was hard not to be relaxed during the night shift. His only job was to watch thirty mind controlled girls sleep in clear cells. The girls wouldn’t even go to the small toilets in their cells unless it was a scheduled time and those only happened in morning and before bed. They were not going anywhere and neither was he.

Some guards had tried to have fun with the girls after lights out only to find themselves in several pieces courtesy of the Elektra’s blade. The girls were her weapons. They were weapons she never used but they were hers and nobody touched what was hers.

Despite his background in special forces, his keen senses and situational awareness, he never heard her until it was too late. Her hand grabbed his hair and jerked his head back. He was looking at the eyes of Wanda Maximoff above him and felt her cold blade slicing deep into his throat from ear to ear. The last vision he saw was her dark eyes grinning in triumph as the light in his eyes dimmed until he was dead.

Wanda waited until he bled out and dropped his head. She couldn’t see Aino and Staci behind their masks looking at her in awe. Wanda’s face had blood spray on it. It had been a very long time since they saw this version of Wanda. She didn’t look like the mom she was doing her best to be or the symbol of Sokovian strength. She looked like the girl who had grown up killing to survive and wanted Tony Stark dead more than anything in the world. Elektra was in for a very long night when Wanda found her.

The three went to the main floor between the cells. Wanda closed her eyes and raised her hands. The glass walls of the cells disappeared, leaving only the beds on the now spacious floor.

The widows slowly woke despite their orders to sleep. They could not get out of bed but all eyes were on the Scarlet Witch. They knew who she was. Elektra had shown every one of them her picture. Even in their drug addled minds they had heard the guards talking about Wanda Maximoff and the Red Widows. They didn’t understand the concept of freedom any longer but somewhere in their heads they knew Wanda gave freedom to Black Widows and the guards were terrified she may find them one day.

Wanda opened her red glowing eyes and stretched out her hands. Tendrils of red light reached every girl’s head and the girls gasped in surprise but felt no pain.

Then it was gone. The fuzziness, the loss of control of their own bodies, the emotions they had suppressed for so long slammed into them.

“I am sorry it took us so long to find you. Can you all rise from your bed?” they heard her ask.

The widows nervously tested their new ability and then moved with much more certainty until they were standing.

“Do not be alarmed. This place is going to become a war zone in a few minutes. I am letting many Red Widows inside. Some will take you to safety.”

Wanda turned and raised her hand, opening a doorway of red light behind her. The Red Widows walked in with Yelena in front. She had her helmet down and many of the girls recognized her, having worked with her at one point in the past.

The widows steps didn’t make a sound thanks to Shuri’s boots or sneakers as she liked to call them. Bucky walked beside Wanda.

“Team 4 is ready to take the widows to a bunker inside Silver Sable’s compound.” Yelena told Wanda.

It had been decided that with the Red Widows awakening and possibly confused it would not be a good idea to have them immediately walk into their own bunker. In the past it wouldn’t be important but they had children to worry about now, including a baby boy and a ten year old girl who was still trying to understand the world she had been brought into. Only Meg, Rachel and Everett had combat experience at the bunker and Everett could not stand against a Black Widow, much less thirty of them.

“We want to fight.” one of the girls said. She was obviously a team leader since the others looked to her when she spoke. Yelena knew her as an excellent sniper named Roxanne or Rox as she was called by her handlers and in team briefings.

“You are not equipped.” Yelena told them quickly.

“Our weapons are down the hall first door on the right. If you can open the door, we can load up. That is the only equipment we need.”

Yelena and Wanda looked at each other and came to a decision without speaking.

“I’ll open the door…” Wanda paused.

“Elektra can feel my magic but she isn’t sure where I am. She is panicking. Get to the control room before they erase everything. Sonia stay with me and the new girls. Once I open the door to the armory I will find her. She is alerting the other guards!”

Yelena smiled and waved her team forward. Bucky took off ahead of her. They both worked down the narrow halls, killing those who were bottlenecked by the suddenly too close walls. They entered a large room Wanda had described only to find at least forty soldiers behind barricades who open fire. Bucky threw Yelena back before she could take a hit.

“We need to get past them before they destroy the files. Many widows could be under control of the Hand all over the world.”

Bucky took a breath and punched the wall. He continued punching until he had a six by six section of metal. The girls had arrived behind him including the new girls.

“I’m going to cover some of you with this sheet of metal. New girls stay back. Our suits can take a shot, your clothes can’t. We get behind those servers and return fire. Once you lay cover fire I will attack.”

“You aren’t bullet proof. Your eyes and forehead are open.”

Bucky nodded. “I guess you better cover the hell out of me.”

Him, Yelena and Sonia rushed to the nearest desks. The metal chunk of wall Bucky held took round after round but held.

“Don’t hit the computer banks or servers! Maria, Mika are you ready?”

Maria nodded and dove onto the ground while Yelena and Sonia fired. Mika rolled behind her. Mika took a shot in her ankle and though the bullet did not pierce, the force broke the bones. She stayed strong as Yelena stepped into the open and dragged her to cover. Other Widows stepped out of the halls and opened fire, pinning the guards down.

Bucky and Yelena jumped over their cover and rushed towards the barrier the guards had made. Once over, Bucky began stabbing, ripping through the men before they could fire, using some of their bodies as a shield and causing a torrent of blood.

Yelena reached the console and stabbed the man who was desperately typing in the ear, ending his life quickly.

“Maria!”

Maria moved and Antonia picked up Mika. The three made their way through the dead bodies to meet Yelena at the main computer controls. The two girls sat down and began downloading information.

A group of soldiers came in from the opposite direction only to be gunned down from behind by Aino and Staci who had made their way into the room. The newest widows were impressed by the teamwork and skill of their rescuers.

“Where is Wanda? Tell me she didn’t get shot again.” Yelena sked, sort of jokingly but also concerned.

“She went after Elektra. The outside attack has been called in. Planes, drones and Sable and her team are attacking the outside cutting off escape route.”

Yelena looked towards Bucky worried that Wanda had just gone after a ninja who could possibly be defended against her magic.

“Find her!”

Bucky ran off without another word.

“How much did we lose?” she asked Maria.

Maria’s eyes were wide. “They had security on top of security even from their own techs. We lost nothing… Yelena they have been collecting widows worldwide. They have over seventy and we have locations on all of them. We also have the location of fourteen nurseries housing over two hundred children under five and the production facilities of the drugs.”

“Download everything. No wireless. Call Wong or Strange to portal you back to base with the disk. Sonia, you and Antonia’s team watch their backs. New widows, if you won’t leave, follow me. I need flank protection. I’m going after my witch, super soldier and the bitch ninja zombie.”

“She took thirteen of us days ago.” one of the girls spoke up. “We haven’t seen them sense then. Does it say where they are?”

Yelena’s face fell. She looked at the gathered widows and they knew.

“She killed them. She left evidence behind that allowed us to track you all. Let us not waste their lives by losing yours. Stay grouped and watch my back. Antha, Chloe, upfront with me. We move fast. Expect resistance.”

Yelena led her team and the newly freed widows through the complex, killing everyone they came across who hadn’t ran until they made their way to the top. It was a warzone up top but the main house in the middle and the land over the compound was untouched. Vehicles burned and Red Widows rushed the area, slaughtering the soldiers still standing.

“Ava!” Yelena called out. Yelena pointed South.

“I didn’t see Elektra but I saw Wanda running that direction. Bucky was a few minutes behind her. I sent Naomi and Rowan to follow her.”

Yelena nodded and took a look around the chaos then turned back to the newly freed widows. They made a strange sight, wearing black t shirts and shorts and widow bites, an automatic rifle in one hand and a handgun in the other.

“It is time for you to go.”

The leader smirked. “Not on your life. We recognize some of these bastards still alive.” Rox turned to the widows. “Team, spread formation and attack.”

Yelena rolled her eyes. “I am the leader you know.”

Rox nodded. “Let us take revenge and we will follow you and Maximoff through the gates of hell. Give us this now, please.”

Yelena shrugged. “Ava, you have new team members. Good luck commanding them. You are Red 1.”

While this had been going on, Wanda had been cutting open walls with her hands and marching towards Elektra’s room. As she came closer the leader of the Hand panicked and ran. Wanda opened the wall above her and found Elektra up top, running out the back.

Wanda took off after her, falling behind quickly.

At least until the first bomb went off and the vehicle Elektra was running toward exploded, throwing her back ten feet where she landed hard on the ground. She stood quickly and tossed a blade towards Wanda. Wanda froze it in the air and disintegrated it but Elektra was on the move once again. Wanda noted the ground forces led by Ava had entered the perimeter and had everything in hand, as they mowed down guards who had ran outside to mount a useless defense.

She ran then took off into the sky, landing in front of Elektra who stopped.

“You didn’t think warning me off would work, did you?”

Elektra took a few steps back. She reached for her katana but found it turned to dust when she held it in front of her.

“Where is your black magic?” Wanda wondered. “You don’t stink of it as badly as I suspected.”

“How… how did you find us?”

Wanda smirked. “Matt Murdock.”

“Blood magic?” Elektra asked in disbelief. “You killed him?!”

Wanda shook her head. “No, just a drop. You have stunk of demonic energy and it was easy to track you. If I had to kill him I would. You threatened my children. You threatened my sister’s parents, you killed widows we had been searching for. Did you really believe your threats would frighten me?”

Elektra said nothing.

“You did.” Wanda realized. “You are so used to people being frightened of you, you thought I would be as well. Amazing. Were you this stupid before you died or is this part of zombiism?

Elektra shook her head. “You will never stop the Hand. We control this world. We are everywhere. You can never find us all. We will never stop.”

Wanda nodded. “Perhaps. But my sisters are downloading your information now. We will kill all the Fingers and then kill the ones who could replace them over and over until there is no one left but foot soldiers and we will kill those as well. We are very good at killing. You could ask Dreykov and Osborn but one is dead and one wishes he were dead.”

“I ordered those records destroyed the moment I realized you had invaded my base.”

Wanda smirked. “You underestimate us again. Perhaps because you have had mind controlled widows for so long, you have forgotten what freed widows can do.”

Elektra shrugged. “Kill me. I am prepared.”

Wanda shook her head. “Not yet. I must guarantee you are going to the pit. No hell for you. This time what is left of your soul will not recover. Your body will be burned and you will be a lonely barely existing entity with no form trapped in eternal darkness.”

Elektra backed up and began shaking.

“Mephisto owns my soul.”

“Which is exactly what I was counting on.”

Wanda moved supernaturally fast and stuck her hand inside Elektra. There was no blood but Elektra screamed, unable to move as the darkness was ripped from her soul and spread apart. Wanda sent her magic into the hole in her abdomen and threw her back to the ground.

Elektra lay, unable to move as a grotesque monster crawled out from inside her. The monster grew and shifted until Pietro Maximoff stood before her with bullet holes riddling his body.

“This is the best you can do?” Wanda asked Mephisto. “You believe taking my brother’s form will scare me? It only makes me angrier.”

“What have you done?!” he roared in a very different voice than Pietro’s.

“You thought you could skirt the boundary of your realm, interfering in mine. Now you are here, weak and at my mercy. I have no mercy in me. You broke the rules.”

“I did not!”

“My spell says differently. It would have not worked if you had not weakened your walls by reaching through them. A pit has opened in your realm, has it not? I can step into your realm without you inside and have it swallowed whole, then send you into the black void. No aimless formless soul for you. Demons just go away. You sent a vessel with your magic to threaten my family. If it’s all the same to you, I will take a walk in your realm while you stay here.”

Wanda reached for him and red energy wrapped around him, binding him. The form of Pietro gave way to a demonic visage.

“You believe you can fight millions of my servants? Go then, Witch. Let your arrogance be your downfall!”

Wanda widened Elektra’s body into a larger dark hole and stepped towards it. Mephisto was bound and had no power in this realm. She stepped towards the hole.

“Do not do it, Witch!” Mephisto raged, seeing Maximoff not shaken in the slightest with a maniacal look on her face.

Wanda’s eyes blazed and she growled at the demon and made another step. Screams of tortured souls were rising from the black hole that was where Elektra’s midsection had been.

She was so angry and focused she hadn’t even noticed Buck, Naomi and Rowan behind her, watching in fear, unable to do anything but preparing mentally to jump into a very dark hole behind Wanda.

Yelena rushed in at full sprint, wrapped her arm around Wanda from behind and stabbed a needle into her jugular vein, injecting the fast acting sedative.

Wanda became drowsy but stayed awake long enough to see a portal and Dr. Strange step out of it.

Stephen Strange watched Wanda lose consciousness then turned to the demon wrapped in red energy.

“She opened a pit in your realm. The more you interfere, the larger the hole until you and your millions are sucked in.”

Mephisto grimaced. “You and your sorcerers and witches cannot win a battle in my realm. She will not be the last to have chaos magic. I will escape one day and…”

Strange poked the demon’s forehead with his finger.

“You don’t get it, do you? Billions of years old and still so dumb. A twenty year old human could take you down. You underestimate humans and always will. Stay away from them or next time, we will let her destroy your realm and I will bring an army of sorcerers and witches to help her. Do we understand each other, demon?”

“You forget yourself Stephen Strange.” Mephisto growled. “You overestimate your power.”

Strange rolled his eyes. “Doctor Stephen Strange and if you believe I overestimate my power then you should compare notes with Dormammu.”

“Then let her walk my dimension now if you are so certain!”

Strange shook his head. “We have an alien warlord to deal with first. Last and only warning. Stay out of the business of this realm Mephisto, or we will make the pit larger until there is nowhere for you to run.”

The demon growled but nodded.

Agatha’s purple magic released the demon from Wanda’s hold and he stepped back into the dark pit that Elektra’s body had become.

When he was gone the pit closed and Elektra sat up. She noted she was surrounded by Barnes, Yelena, Agatha and Strange. She also noted Wanda was passed out on the ground and smiled.

“He killed her.” she said, satisfied despite her situation.

Wanda rolled over and groaned.

“No, only you are dying tonight.” Yelena said. “Have fun wherever you go. There will be no body to resurrect this time.”

Yelena stepped forwards and shoved her blade in Elektra’s gut then pulled up until it pierced her heart.

The group stood around as Wanda slowly came to, grabbing her head.

“You couldn’t have stopped her?” Yelena asked Bucky and the girls. “She was about to go into hell and fight millions of demons.”

Bucky waved his hands. “What was I supposed to do? She is opening up holes in people, then some monster comes out that looked like her dead brother and she is threatening and has this thing in some energy… I gotta admit I am kind of lost. I just decided to follow her into the hole in the woman’s stomach. Me and the wife have to work on communication. What the hell were you doing here?” he asked Strange.

“I had a feeling she would do something like this.” he admitted. “I was either going to talk her out of it or join her. What were you doing with a tranquilizer?” he asked Yelena.

“We call it Wanda’s crazy juice. She gets carried away with magic sometimes and said if I ever see her about to do something stupid I should use this to knock her out. She would do the same if she ever saw me contemplating a one night stand to try and get over my love. This seemed like a time that met all crazy Wanda qualifications. Red eyes, crazy look, scary smile and about to jump into dark hole she opened that had voices screaming from inside it.”

“Nobody could have told me we could sedate her?” Bucky complained. “I thought our only choice was to go to hell and fight millions of demons. I wasn’t sure what ammo would work on demons.”

Yelena raised an eyebrow then laughed. “You are the perfect husband. You do not question wife. She says lets go to hell, you say okay honey lets go to hell. She is very good in bed, yes? And you girls. Rowan and Naomi. Were you ready to jump into hell as well? You were. I love you all so much. Brave idiots, just like this one.”

Wanda groaned and got to her knees then nearly fell again before Bucky caught her and helped her stand. She leaned into him and her eyes cleared.

“Mephisto?”

“Back in hell.” Strange told her. “He won’t be a problem anymore. I believe the gift you left for him in his realm is enough to keep him busy.”

Wanda shook her head, trying to clear it.

“Crazy Juice?” she asked Yelena.

“You were about to go into hell and fight millions of demons with a pit into the void open around you. It seemed like the time to use it.”

Wanda thought for a moment and nodded. “I did get carried away, didn’t I?”

“Any chance I could have one of those vials?” Bucky asked. “I was at a loss as to what to do. We need to talk about this magic stuff more, wife, life partner, one who I share everything with.”

“Don’t be mad. You left your shoes in the middle of the floor and I almost tripped on them.”

“How does that in anyway correlate to us almost walking into hell to pick a fight?!”

Wanda sighed. “We should probably improve communication when it comes to fights.”

Strange cleared his throat. “If marriage counseling is over, I have to go. In the future, please inform me before you think of starting an interdimensional war, Wanda.”

Wanda gave him a thumbs up.

She tried to stand under her own power and succeeded after a few times, shuffling over to Elektra’s body. She then looked at the gathered widows and saw the new ones, dressed in shorts and t shirt and holding smoking weapons.

“Do any of you want to burn the body?” Wanda conjured a can of gasoline and a lighter.

The newly freed widows gathered around the body and their leader doused gasoline over Elektra’s remains. She then took the lighter and handed it to another girl named Cleo. By the tears in her eyes, it was obvious she had a special hate for Elektra even greater than the others’ hatred.

After the body was nothing but bones, Wanda reached out and disintegrated the bones, leaving no trace of Elektra Natchios on the planet.

“They do not want to go to my compound.” Ava said. “They want to come home with us.”

Wanda and Yelena had a silent conversation quickly, communicating with their eyes.

“The mansion is home to freed widows.” Wanda said. “Leave the weapons behind, ladies. We have much better equipment.”

Wanda slashed into the air and a doorway opened up into the foyer of the mansion.

“Follow me girls. It’s time to go home. We go to the first floor first. We have traumatized children down in bunker and rules must be understood before interacting with them.” Yelena said, leading the way.

The next days were difficult. The newly freed widows had time to decompress and with decompression came the memories, the kills, the torture they underwent and gave out and the suppressed emotions crashing into them. The veteran widows were there, sharing rooms with them. Wanda stayed up all night ensuring they could sleep but the ones with the worst coping skills slept on the floor of her room and the twins room, leaving her up in bed with the irritated twins, Bucky, two cats and a dog.

While she was doing her best to take care of the twins needs and operating on no sleep, Yelena was planning with Sable, Everett and Ava. Teams were gathered and widows began using Wong and Strange’s portals to attack Hand compounds across the world, freeing dozens of widows a day and killing the remaining leader and their lieutenants. They freed babies and alerted the U.N of their locations as well as the media to ensure the children were returned to their homes. They destroyed drug manufacturing sites. They acted quickly before word could get out about Elektra’s death.

At the end of the week, the number of Red Widows had grown to over one hundred and twenty living in the Mansion. Some slept on floors three to a room, sharing beds with other widows wherever there was space and some staying in the bunker, sleeping on cots.

None wanted to leave despite the crowded conditions. As Sasha broke them into small groups and explained the history of the widows they were captivated and had no interest in being anywhere else, even Sable’s enormous compound where Ava spent most nights when she wasn’t running missions. Sable had given squads of soldiers to back up the widows at every attack and Ava was always in the field with her mother, leading a force.

At the end of two weeks, after being forced to sleep when she passed out due to exhaustion, Wanda trusted herself enough to build more extensions on the house and even separate housing units around the Mansion. Red Widow Mansion was becoming more of a paramilitary base and campus than a single headquarters. The gyms were crowded, the living room or the big TV room was filled to the brim. Luckily no fights had broken out as the widows all felt each other out and did their best to support one another. As far as arguments, it was the most peaceful time in the Mansion’s history.

Wanda disguised the land around them with a hex and workers from Silver Sable International worked night and day under Dima’s direction, wiring and fixing the plumbing of the houses and extensions Wanda brought to life. Agatha conjured the furniture and several trips were made to Sokovia to equip the girls with clothes and other personal items. Shuri had ensured the Widows she would be making new suits as their numbers grew and was working around the clock on suits and upgrades.

At two weeks, Wanda was able to sleep enough at night that she became more confident in her abilities. Her and Dima worked together to build the pool. She had erased the memories of the compound work from the workers who had come from Sable International with Sable’s permission.

Despite the success a solemn task awaited them.

Twelve coffins were brought through a portal from Novi Grad to the compound, each carried by several widows to the very outskirts of the property before it began to ascend into the mountain range.

Wanda had prepared twelve graves and the headstones had been placed. Each headstone had the name of the girl, last names when they could be found in records and the date of birth and death. Each had beloved sister written at the bottom of the stones.

It had been decided that Agatha would be the one to preside over the small ceremonies, using an old pagan ritual that involved sending bodies back to mother earth than any religious ceremony. Religion wasn’t something widows had any experience with.

Wanda and Yelena walked to the front when Agatha was done and stood facing the caskets and the gathered widows and household members. Dima and Anya were in tears and baby Erik was crying. Everyone knew this day was coming. Wanda had asked for the bodies to be preserved in Sokovia and prepared for burial two days ago. Yelena had discussed cremating the bodies but Wanda had refused. Perhaps it was some remains of her childhood religion, or that she had buried Pietro and had a place to grieve him. It had given her comfort before she had rebuilt Novi Grad and still gave her comfort when she visited him and her parents graves.

It was important to her that the girls were remembered and their bodies remained near their sisters.

It was also a reminder. These tombstones would be a reminder that any of them could die. Their job was to make sure no one else joined this sacred site.

So far from the Hand records and interrogating slavers and lieutenants who had jumped from the Red Room to the Hand, they knew that fifty widows had been killed since the Red Room fell either in missions, assassinations, or ordered to kill themselves before they got out of control. Those bodies would never be found but a plaque would be placed here with their names.

By their count that left thirty two mind controlled widows in the world that were unaccounted for, but the searches and raids were ongoing. In a strange way, Elektra Natchios’ s actions led to the largest rescue of widows since the Red Room fell.

Yelena cleared her throat and addressed the crowd.

“Many of us…” she paused and cleared her throat once again.

“I see all these new faces. Our large family has grown so much larger. Yet all I can think of is the ones who should be with us. Ashely will be sent to her home, returned to the parents she was stolen from. These twelve had no family but us. This is where they belong. It is not the home they were stolen from but it is our home. This home is all we have. We are building it larger as fast as we can but the buildings are not what make it a home. We do. We all do.”

Yelena looked to Wanda who began to speak.

“This will not be easy. We thought our home was filled before but we truly had no idea what it would feel like when we freed all of you. I only wished we had been quicker. I would love for thirteen more to be with us in the house, playing, laughing, watching television and eating cookies without a training schedule or people watching your every move.

“Fights will occur. Fights occurred before and fights will happen again. Remember that arguments come and go but we remain as one. You have all expressed a desire to be here. Not just the new but the original widows. When we argue, when we fight with one another, look to this sacred place. Bring flowers to the graves and honor those who should be here arguing with us, laughing with us and crying with us. Remember that we are together to ensure no one else needs to be buried. Be thankful we are together and can argue and forgive each other. Remember when we go on missions that no one else should suffer what we are suffering now. Never again.

“I would like to tell you that when we find the remaining widows it is over. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. There are threats beyond the stars but there are also threats in this world. Human trafficking will never stop no matter how many we kill. But we will continue. We will fight because that is what we do. We fight and we keep fighting and we win.”

Yelena placed her hand on the nearest coffin.

“Each of you can leave at any time. There are widows in the world, living new lives, discovering happiness away from violence and at any time if any of you should choose to leave, you will do so with our love and support. That said, I am glad you are here. I am glad because we grew up without family and know we can never have too much.”

Yelena nodded to Wanda. Wanda raised her hands and red energy flowed out, surrounding the coffins and gently floating them into the open graves.

“Caprice, Ellie, Nancy, Ae- Chi, Hannah, Ilina, Shelby, Candace, Ruby, Samantha, Xiu, Nontle, you will never be forgotten.” Yelena finished.

Wanda’s eyes glowed red and her twins walked to her and grabbed onto her waist as she raised her hands and dirt filled the graves. Beautiful carnations grew on both sides of each headstones in planters already there before hand.

In the silence, Staci began singing Fields of Gold by Eva Cassidy. By the time she sang the last word, there wasn’t a dry eye among them.

The house was solemn. The girls had spread out to a degree, many moving into the new extensions and a few to the houses not attached. More generators would be needed and more hot water heaters, but overall, the housing was moving along nicely.

One thing that had regressed slightly were the twins. With so many new faces they refused to leave their rooms without Bucky or Wanda and remained glued to their sides. The other children were coping well with the changes, even Billie, though Meg was nervous to have her sister around so many like her hovering constantly and her shaking increasing.

Wanda had planned on calling Eleanor but didn’t. She knew it wasn’t fair. Eleanor had always been a mother figure for Wanda no matter how much she fought it. Now Eleanor was rebuilding her relationship with Kate and though Wanda desperately wanted to lay all her problems out for the woman and be told she could handle it and to have faith in herself, she didn’t. She needed to handle this herself. She walked with the twins around the compound and met each girl personally, talked to them all, answered their questions and tried to get the twins to talk to them. She made the buildings Dima showed her plans for and she lifted the generators from Sable’s compound to the Widows though doorways she opened. She opened a stable magical door into Ava’s room and a door in the bunker to Sable’s compound. She gave rings to the widows so they could pass but no one else could. The door into Ava’s room was only accessible by Sable and Ava for privacy sake.

It was the next day that Imi asked to speak to her after the twins joint therapy session.

“I need help. I know you are cautious about who knows about this place and stays here but this is getting big, Wanda. Bigger than I can handle. I was stretched with the girls we had. Now…”

Wanda understood. “You need another therapist to help you.”

Imi shook her head. “Wanda, I have had seventy two widows approach me for therapy in the last few days. They all are hurting and the others have told them how good therapy has been for them. I’m breaking them up into eighteen sessions a day every other week but some of these girls… most of these girls need to be seen multiple times a week. The children need a lot of attention. Billie has been abused most of her life. Tanya and Claudia are getting better but you know Nadeja and Nela have slid back on some habits with all the new people.”

Wanda nodded. Nela had wet the bed for the first time in weeks the night before and they refused to even start the night sleeping in their own bed. Nadeja had nightmares and Nela began sucking her thumb again,

“Wanda, I’ve had over a hundred girls ask for help and I can’t give them all what they need. If we want to get them help, stop the house from blowing up… more instances than we have had…”

Wanda closed her eyes, thinking of the early days when even the original crew would fight with each other. Newly freed widows were volatile and those who had been free longest were still traumatized teenagers who had been trained to kill and taught violence is always the answer.

“I didn’t expect us to rescue so many so quickly.” Wanda admitted. “What do you need?”

“I need one of those planned buildings for an office where sessions can be held and I am going to need at least six offices.”

Wanda raised an eyebrow. “You want to bring five other people? Where in the hell are we going to get five therapists from?”

She closed her eyes in frustration. The last thing Wanda wanted was more people who weren’t widows. Every one of the original widows and a few of the new ones who learned to cook for undercover missions were on kitchen duty and Agatha was conjuring as much food as she could manage but the kitchen was not large enough. Yelena was handling logistics along with Anya, while Dima organized construction, Everett continued finding the remaining widows and the rest took turns training in a gym that was suddenly small, a medical room that was understocked, an armory that was not stocked enough and shooting ranges being used day and night.

Saving all the widows had been a dream. Saving so many at once was a logistical nightmare, one that was worth it but still a nightmare.

She thought again of Sable’s offer to build them a giant compound and home in her protected area. She lived in a fortified palace with many empty rooms and had more space than the widows had. The Sokovian President had offered to build the Widows whatever they needed in Novi Grad.

Her and Yelena had talked about it before but there was one problem.

This was home. This was where they celebrated victories, dealt with failure, argued over what movies to watch despite them all having their own televisions. This is where their first Christmas tree was and birthday parties were. This was where she had freed Bucky and fallen in love with him. The hangar was special. She would never forget opening the quinjet door and Nadeja waiting for her, asking her to heal her wrist then letting her heal Nela.

This library was where the twins became hers. She named them and they took her last name by their own decision. Her little girls she thought she would never have. She felt she was too young and maybe she was but they made her so happy.

The idea of sending widows to different compounds as different teams also didn’t sit right with her. All of them were sisters. Wanda had freed many of them and they all looked up to her and Yelena. She couldn’t tell them that some would be reassigned to other bases like they were nothing more than an army. This was home. It was where Red Widows lived. It wasn’t some forwarding base where they launched strikes. It was more than that.

“Okay. Do you have anyone in mind or should we put an ad on LinkedIn?” she asked.

“I have some in mind. I need to make a quick trip to Wakanda, talk to our King and then approach the others.”

Wanda nodded. “All Wakandans, all females?”

“Of course. If one or two turn me down we made need to look elsewhere. Perhaps Sokovia?”

Wanda shrugged. “I would prefer Wakanda first then look at who Sable has on her payroll. I understand she has Ava seeing someone and they are seeing one together. Perhaps she would agree to take more on.”

Wanda sighed and sat down, glancing at the twins in the corner of the room, sitting at a table with Bucky learning to read. So many problems.

Nadeja and Nela were wondering why Oksana was buying Tanya a training bra and they didn’t need one. They also wanted to know why they were so short. Wanda had explained the problems with stunted growth but now they were beginning to understand the reality of it. They felt they were being left behind by Claudia and Tanya and definitely left behind by Sierra who preferred to hang out with Amanda. Claudia and Tanya were their only real friends beside Billie and if they continued to grow while the twins didn’t… Wanda preached patience in both growth and education but it was becoming harder to convince the twins.

“Do what you have to do. I’ll open a gate for you when you are ready.”

“Now.” Imi told her. “I don’t want to start with these girls then hand them off to another therapist. No one knows what these girls have gone through and still go through. I need to give these women some idea of what they will be facing. It could take a couple days.”

Wanda nodded and raised her hand. A door in the air opened up showing the fields of Wakanda that led to the palace.

“Should you call…”

“I called T’Challa. He is expecting me.”

“Go then. Bring back what you can. Yelena and I have a trip to make but call when you are ready to return. I can only bring you to us so take a few days. You deserve the vacation.”

“You have no idea.” Imi said, patting Wanda on the shoulder. “You going to be okay?”

Wanda nodded. “I have to be. I’m a leader, right? They are looking to me. Isn’t that what you tell me?”

“It is the truth. Call me if you need to call any time. I’m here for you, Wanda.”

Wanda hugged the woman. “Thank you, Imi.”

Los Alamos, New Mexico

Wanda and Yelena strolled down the quaint street, dressed to not attract attention. Both had on sweatshirts and jeans and wore their hair in ponytails. Were anyone to give them a close look they would be recognized but no one in this small community would expect Yelena Belova and Wanda Maximoff to be here.

“It’s a lovely city.” Wanda noted. “Hard to believe the worst invention in world history was made not far from where we are.”

Yelena had no comment, taking in the quiet. It had been a long time it seemed since it was just Wanda and her, without the twins or her parents and little brother, or Wanda’s husband or the hundred or so widows back at the Mansion. They had teams going to Bangkok tonight to the suspected operational location of a widow under the Russian Mafia’s control. The man who had control of the widow had been in negotiations with Elektra to buy her. He would be dead in twelve hours and the widow would be coming home. Another one to take care of.

It was what they had always planned. When they looked at the Mansion they imagined it filled with many widows but the destruction and dismantling of the Hand had led to a dam bursting.

“I am enjoying the quiet. No twins glued to your hips, no brother peeing on me when I try to change smelly diaper. I only wish I weren’t so nervous in house. I never felt nervous about new widows but there are so many. I’ve assigned team leaders to take care of groups of four. I had to add some team leaders.”

“Like whom?” Wanda asked.

“Chloe, Madison, Zarola, Ana and a few others. They are more babysitters who can alert us to problems hopefully before they hatch. Are we making a mistake?”

Wanda raised an eyebrow. “Mistake? I think Ana has been drinking less. She seems to be doing better. Putting her in charge of a team to take care of could distract her, maybe ease these nightmares about her parents death she has been plagued with.”

“I am not speaking of Ana. Are we making a mistake having so many in one place? Maybe… I don’t want them to split from us but we were still acclimating Gabby’s crew and now we have Rox leading thirty widows she was imprisoned with… maybe we should have separate cells in separate locations. Maybe we are wrong.”

Wanda shook her head. “We are family. Family stays together. Family is forever. How can we say we are one then split us up into cells? Spies and terrorist organizations use cells. We are not terrorists or spies.”

Yelena stopped walking and tilted her head. “We are spies.”

“Not in the traditional sense.”

“But we work with Sokovian Intelligence and they are definitely spies.”

“You might say that. I consider them state security that doesn’t use children to commit terroristic acts on other nations.”

Yelena grinned. “You will make good president one day. I thought seeing so much of the world you would not be such a nationalist.”

Wanda shrugged. “I am not a nationalist. I just protect my own. Sokovia and the widows are my own.”

“What do you think nationalists are? We live in France. Are we not French? Is poor France not your own or do we just steal their land?” Yelena teased.

Wanda bumped her on the shoulder. “One day soon, Sokovia will have so many natural resources that countries will be begging to trade with us like Wakanda does now. We will have our own international organization, one that takes countries from the United Nation and NATO into our own union as part of trade agreements.”

“So you want to upset the balance of the European Union, the United States, destabilize the United Nations and weaken NATO by withholding Sokovian natural resources you created unless they join you. You are right. You have very mainstream ideas. I cannot believe I called you a nationalist. If you start wanting to be called General Maximoff and declare yourself a dictator I will hit you with Wanda’s crazy juice again.”

Wanda sighed. “I would look adorable with one of those funny red army hats. Maybe a special uniform just for me? You can be Vice President and I will let you wear one that matches the vest of many pockets. Could we have one of those parades where we drive tanks down the street, soldiers marching, and big missiles being pulled by trucks?”

Wanda did not get a laugh from Yelena. Instead she had stopped and Wanda stopped as well.

“Yelena?”

Yelena nodded towards the house. “We are here.”

The humor Wanda had been trying to distract herself with was gone.

They were in front of Miguel and Serina Sanchez’s house. They could hear children inside playing and squealing in joy. They had done their research and knew Ashley had two younger siblings, born after she was taken at the age of five.

“Let’s do this.” Wanda said, grabbing Yelena’s hand.

The two knocked on the door. When a man they recognized by his photo answered, it was obvious he knew them as well.

He began crying.

The woman whose photo they had seen named Serina rushed to the door. She looked at the girls and back at her husband.

Then she looked at the girls again.

“No.” she said, her voice breaking.

Wanda closed her eyes.

“May we come inside?” Yelena asked.

The man calmed down and stepped aside inviting them in. The two girls walked inside. The house was very nice, lived in and homey. They could smell baked goods from the kitchen and two children were running through the halls and rooms.

“Quiet! Go to your rooms!” the woman said loudly.

The two boys stopped what they were doing and came into the living room.

“What did I say?” the mother asked.

“What is wrong?” one of the boys asked.

“We will talk later. Now Daddy and I must talk to these two ladies. We need quiet. To your rooms.”

When the boys had reluctantly left, the four sat down.

“I take it you know who we are.” Yelena asked.

“The world knows who you are. You are heroes who kills those who kidnap children… like my Ashley.” Serina said quietly.

“Was she one of you?” Miguel asked.

“She was not a Red Widow. She was stolen by the Red Room and was a mind controlled Black Widow. She died three weeks ago. We found her… we were too late. She was…” Yelena stopped, unable to come up with the words.

“You find so many, you rescue so many girls and little children but you could not find my baby in time?!” Miguel shouted, standing up from his seat. Wanda and Yelena remained sitting on the couch, unable to look at him. Serina pulled him back to the love seat.

She began whispering in his ear.

He nodded.

“I am sorry. What happened was not your fault. What did happen? Where is my little girl?”

Wanda agreed with him though. “You are right. We were too slow and it cost her life. I will always live with that.”

Serina wiped her eyes. “No you will not. I… I think we held hope that she was alive even when the police told us she was likely dead. We… were right. Three weeks ago. How did she die?”

Yelena closed her eyes. “Quickly. Painlessly.”

“You are lying.” Miguel said angrily. “I have read your stories. You said she was mind controlled. Did she know she was being mind controlled? Did she know what was going on? Did you know what was going on? I read Time Magazine about you. You were controlled. What was it like? Were you constantly afraid or did you not know what was going on? Did she keep her mind? Did she miss us?”

Yelena closed her eyes. She had difficulty breathing and Wanda wrapped an arm around her.

“We knew… yes, some were frightened. Some were confused most of the time. Sometimes we remembered but it hurt too much to think on it long. I remembered my childhood, the few years I spent in Ohio but it hurt too much to dwell on so I did my best to forget and let them ruin me. You want the truth. She was frightened. She knew what was happening and couldn’t stop it. It was quick. She felt no pain. We found her afterward along with others. She was killed… with others.”

Serina moaned, then began wailing. Miguel held her closely and Yelena regretted telling them the truth and wished she were a better liar. Yelena looked to Wanda for answers but for once Wanda had nothing. She was in tears and guilt was gnawing inside her as it was Yelena. It was not unusual for the two of them to feel each other’s emotions. There was so much pain in this room and she knew it must be overwhelming for Wanda.

“I am sorry. We are sorry.” Wanda whispered. “We should have been faster, better. They hid her and others well and we were not good enough.”

Serina shook her head and regained some control. “Where is she?”

“At our home. Her body was been prepared and brought to our home this morning. We have her resting, surrounded by our sisters.” Yelena told her. “If you tell us how you want to put her to rest we will arrange and pay for everything. She was one of us, as horrible as being one of us was. We take care of our own.”

“You can bring my little girl home?” Miguel asked.

“We can bring her wherever you like.” Wanda assured him.

“Can we see her?”

Wanda nodded. She had looked at the body when it arrived last night. The girl was dressed in a beautiful blue dress and the mortician had covered the electrical burn scar on the side of her head.

“Thank you.” he told them.

“You owe us no thanks. We failed.” Wanda told him.

Serina sat by Wanda and grabbed her hand. “You brought her home. That is more than anyone has ever done for her. That is more than anyone has ever done for us. Thank you. Thank you both. You did not fail. You found her.”

The next afternoon, a priest led a procession from the local church to the graveyard behind it while widows served as pallbearers. Every resident of the Widow complex was present. They wore black dresses and black veils to hide their faces but anyone driving by the cemetery knew something unusual was happening.

Family and friends of the Sanchez family intermingled with Red Widows in mourning clothes that hid multiple weapons and they all said goodbye to a girl who never had a chance at life like so many others. They said goodbye to a girl who should have been with them, arguing, laughing, dancing and fighting beside. She should have least been with her parents. Her parents never got the same chance Yelena’s parents did and the thought was crushing both to the widows and the Belovas present.

Bucky held Wanda’s hand as they stood back after the funeral. One of the twins was holding onto Wanda’s skirt while the other held onto Bucky’s belt.

“Too many funerals.” Wanda whispered. “I am so sick of funerals.”

“I know, Doll. I know. You did what you could.”

“How many bodies have we counted that will never be recovered? How many have we not found that are already gone.” she whispered. “Never let anything happen to our girls, Bucky. I’ve lost every member of my first family. I can’t begin to lose this family. I can’t lose anymore, Bucky. I’m scared to let the twins out of the bedroom anymore. I… damn it.” she finished quietly so the twins couldn’t hear her.

Bucky kissed her on her forehead. “No one is taking another family member from you again. No one. We won’t let that happen, Wanda. I won’t.”

“My girls.” Wanda whispered. “I see these widows and I think of my girls and what would have happened if we never found them. I think of what I would become if they were ever taken from me.”

Bucky squeezed her tightly. “No. No one is ever taking our girls. Not ninjas, or governments or demons. Nothing will ever happen to our girls, Wanda. I swear to you.”

Wanda tried to relax in his arms, take comfort in the warm presence of the twins surrounding her but all she could do is watch two devastated parents grieve and pray to whatever gods exist that she never has to go through that. Losing a twin was hell. She couldn’t lose her children like these people had.

She shuddered to think of what she would become without them. She would become a monster.

They still hadn’t figured out how to stop an alien invasion from overrunning them. Thanos was still searching for Infinity Stones. Half those gathered here today could disappear, perhaps more than half, if Wanda didn’t succeed in stopping him.

She couldn’t wait. She couldn’t stand by and react. She needed to end this soon if she would ever know any peace. As long as Thanos existed her daughters, her husband, sisters, friends, were all in danger of being wiped out in a second.

It was time to take the fight to him. It was time to show him the monster she could become when her girls were threatened.

Thanos would face the Scarlet Witch and the Red Widows very soon and he would never see it coming.