Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 63:

Wanda received the call and opened the door immediately. Stephen never asked her to come to the New York Sanctum and his call was short and to the point. She thought of calling Wong who was with Ava somewhere but assumed if he were needed Strange would have called him. She said a quick goodbye to the girls and Bucky who were studying in the library with her and left.

To her irritation and admiration the doorway opened up outside the Sanctum rather than inside. The place was well warded against visitors just dropping by inside.

The door opened and he was waiting for her.

“Thor is on Earth.” he said in lieu of a greeting.

Wanda took his abrupt greeting in then shrugged. “This is a good thing. We can warn him about the Tesseract holding the Space Stone.”

Strange cringed, waiting for the blow up.

“He has Loki with him.”

Wanda’s eyes glowed. Strange knew she not only recognized him as a threat but had a special hatred for him. She had been in Kate Bishop’s head and lived the destruction and loss he had wrought firsthand.

“He is supposed to be rotting away in an Asgardian prison. Why is he here?” Wanda asked quietly.

Strange wasn’t sure and it showed on his face. “I don’t know but we won’t find out if you kill him right away. I want to speak to Thor. We need to speak to Thor. I can trap Loki until we find out what is going on. Can you stay calm?”

A flash of red energy engulfed her and it was obvious she was not calm. “Where are they?”

It didn’t escape Strange’s attention that she said they or the head tilt Wong told him she was famous for. According to Wong, Wanda had certain tells when murderously angry. The red eyes, the half snarl, the quiet voice, glowing hands, the costume change and her head tilted slightly to the side.

All were present now.

“This is why I wanted to speak to you first. We need to speak to Thor. If you attack his brother a fight is going to break out over New York. We need that stone, Wanda. We talked about being more proactive and searching for Stones ourselves to keep them out of Thanos’s hands. Now we have a chance at the Space Stone that is stored in Asgard, the one place we cannot reach. I suspect he also knows the location of the Reality Stone. We have to play nice. After this is over, do what you will with him and his brother, but not now. Fate of the Universe, remember?”

Wanda’s eyes stopped glowing but the red energy still crackled around her clenched fists.

“Thor is the one who had a very incorrect vision that resulted in powering another death bot and giving him control over the Mind Stone. The idiot said the stone would be safe with Vision.”

Stephen had expected that point to be brought up. “Technically it is safe in Vision’s head… in the mines of Wakanda inside a vibranium box.”

Wanda was not impressed with his logic but did calm somewhat. She still wore the garb of the Scarlett Witch but the red chaos magic around her fists were now gone.

“What is your plan?”

“Trap Loki, bring Thor here, convince him to bring us the Space Stone and Reality Stone then we can deal with Loki once he does.”

“How? We can’t get into Asgard.”

Stephen smiled. “With a strand of his hair I can create a spell that will allow the two of us access. If he won’t bring the Space Stone, we take it ourselves. The same with Loki. If he doesn’t bring Loki here to answer for his crimes, we take him or you give him a fitting punishment for the suffering he has caused.”

Wanda was curious. “You think he will give us a strand of his hair. That he would sit by while a sorcerer and a witch take a strand of his hair.”

Strange nodded. “You’ve met him. Did he seem that smart to you?”

Wanda thought for a moment then admitted to herself that Strange was likely right. Thor never struck her as a genius.

Wanda took a deep breath to calm herself and motioned to Strange to lead the way.

They sat for the next thirty minutes. Wanda had made an astral visit to Bucky and the twins, letting them know she was the New York sanctum and waiting to speak to Thor. She wasn’t sure he knew how to find the address or even use a GPS map of New York so it could take a while.

Finally he knocked on the door. Wanda waited in the parlor and both were surprised to see each other. While she had donned her Scarlet Witch outfit he was dressed as a normal human might dress but she knew the umbrella in his hand was his hammer in disguise.

“Who are you and what is she doing here?” Thor asked. “And what is she wearing?”

Wanda stood and faced the large man.

“My name is Dr. Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Wanda Maximoff is here because she is the greatest hope the universe has of defeating a monster called Thanos from wiping out half of all life in the universe. She is also the most powerful being in the universe and Earth’s greatest defender.” Strange told him.

Thor looked doubtfully at her.

“Earth’s greatest defender? What has happened to the Avengers?”

“I killed them all.” Wanda told him.

“Wanda!” Stephen chastised her, rolling his eyes. “She did not kill any of them… except Vision but he deserved it. Not a great call bringing him to life. You have been gone a long time. The Avengers broke up. They are no more. Captain America and the Black Widow are farmers in Iowa raising a formerly mind controlled teenage assassin, Stark is doing whatever Stark does, Banner is still missing, Clint is retired, Wilson is a fisherman, Rhodey is lucky to be alive and no longer has an iron suit… am I missing anyone?”

Wanda gave it some thought. “I don’t believe so.”

Thor let out a frustrated breath then had a seat when a chair slid behind him and bumped his knees. He then had a mug of beer in his hand, courtesy of Strange.

“We have much to catch you up on.” Strange told him, not trusting Wanda to talk directly to him and calmly explain the situation. “First can you tell us why you brought a prisoner of Asgard to Earth?”

Wanda shook her head in disgust. “Loki faked his death over a year ago. He has been posing as Odin and living a king’s life since that time. He trapped Odin on Earth. Thor only recently returned to Asgard and discovered his brother’s charade. Now he is here with Loki looking for his father. Also Jane dumped him.”

“She did not dump me… wait, how do you know this? Did you read my mind?!”

“Yes. Despite the death and carnage Loki left behind he has not suffered for it. Even before Thor broke him out of prison, Loki was left in a glass cell, fed like a king, played with a ball and was mothered every day. A truly horrible fate for one who caused so much misery and death.”

Strange held up a hand. “Perhaps I can explain what is going on before we discuss Loki.”

Wanda waved her hands towards Thor. “Try to keep up.”

“First, is the Tesseract safe and where is the Reality Stone?” Strange asked.

“The Tesseract is an Asgardian vault and the idiot gave the Reality Stone to some Space junk collector who lives on a mining colony called Knowhere.” Wanda said. “Celestial heads… interesting. He knew the Tesseract held the Space Stone and decided he didn’t want two Infinity Stones together on Asgard… You gave one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe to a creepy man that collects weird things including a living being that is a talking duck! You truly are an idiot.” Wanda finished.

Thor stood. “Watch how you talk to me little witch and stay out of my head! We were allies once but I have not forgotten what you did to me!”

Wanda flicked her finger and a red ball of light hit Thor in the chest, knocking him back into his chair.

Strange rolled his eyes and groaned. This was going exactly how he thought it would and Wanda’s famous temper and Thor’s arrogance were on full display “Wanda! Please calm down.” he all but begged.

Wanda chuckled at the surprised look on Thor’s face and gave Strange an innocent look. “By all means, the floor is yours. I was just helping the so called Norse god regain his seat.”

Strange talked for the next twenty minutes while Wanda sat quietly, glaring at Thor and wanting to get her hands on Loki. She wondered how long this would take and when Stephen would bring the so called god here. She had gotten into Thor’s head before she had come fully into her powers. She knew could trap that bastard into a never ending loop of his own nightmares. He would pay for what he did to Kate’s father and all the others who died by his hand.

Stephen finally stopped speaking and waited for Thor to respond.

“You want me to bring the Space Stone here to Earth, in her reach and retrieve the Reality Stone as well to give to her. Wanda Maximoff, an all-powerful, temperamental child. This is your idea of a plan.”

“Wanda can fight Thanos if he has four of the Infinity Stones, but she is guaranteed victory if she has more than him. We have the Mind Stone and the Time Stone. With the Space Stone and the Reality Stone he would have no chance against her. At this time he only has the Power Stone.

“And the Soul Stone?”

Wanda sighed. “The one stone that does not talk to me often. It sometimes cried out but I only see it surrounded by darkness. It is well hidden. I doubt Thanos knows its location if I don’t. He will find it with enough time though. He can do something I cannot. He can search space and follow clues left by other civilizations.”

Thor looked at her for a moment then back at Strange.

“I am here to retrieve my father as the witch has already gleamed from my mind. I will find my father and the three of us, my brother included will go back to Asgard. Once he is there, Loki will be locked away once again. This time his cell won’t be as comfortable. What he has done to my father is unforgivable and he will be punished harshly. Once he is locked away I will return to Midgard with the Stones but they will be in my possession until Thanos arrives.”

Strange nodded.

“She will not kill my brother or cause him any further harm. I can feel the power radiating from you, Witch. You are not the same girl who turned down the Avengers’ offer in Sokovia. You are more and I know it. Stay away from Loki, leave his punishment to me and I will assist you, rather than killing Thanos on my own.”

Strange looked at Wanda who shrugged.

“Fine.” Strange agreed.

Thor recognized the sincerity in his words even if he did not trust Wanda.

“You speak for her?”

Strange kept his face neutral but knew that was a trap. Luckily Wanda answered.

“You bring me the stones and I will not attack Loki now. I will give you a chance to lock him away in the deepest cell you can find.”

Despite Wanda no doubt underestimating his intelligence Thor knew that was not what he had asked for. He also knew if the Sorcerer were correct and the power he felt from her was as strong as he thought, it would be the best he could get. If she came after Loki later he would deal with her.

“Do you have any idea where my father might be?” the Asgardian asked.

Strange stood up and pulled a strand of Thor’s hair.

“What did you do?! Do not touch my hair!”

Strange sighed. “I need a strand to find your father. Isn’t that what you want?”

Wanda barely held back a smile, knowing Stephen did not need a strand of Thor’s hair.

“I would like my brother and I would like her gone before he arrives.”

Wanda rolled her eyes but walked out of the Sanctum, opening a door as soon as she was free from its confines and entering the library where the twins looked up from their books and rushed to her.

“Did you kill the bad man?” Nadeja asked.

Wanda shook her head. “No, Mama will deal with him later. Right now we need his brother, the body building surfer, to help us. How are your studies going?”

Nadeja shrugged. “Nela is good at math. She knows how to divide. Papa is trying to show me but I don’t get it. Could you show me Mama? I want to be as good as Nela.”

Wanda hugged her tightly. “You will be.”

“You can spell four letter words, Nadeja. I can’t yet.” Nela told her, obviously trying to comfort her sister.

“Billie can spell and read many words.” Nadeja mumbled.

Wanda looked to Bucky who was trying to hide his emotions. She knew he wanted to tell the twins it would be okay but they wouldn’t want pity. They wanted to learn.

“You will get it, my love.” she whispered to Nadeja. “You work hard and that is all that matters. It doesn’t matter how fast you are or what else the others are doing. You are smart, strong, and loving and we will get there.”

She kissed her on the cheek and held her tightly then felt something, a pressure wave of some sort. She checked the others and saw they didn’t feel it. It was magical in nature. Agatha teleported inside the library confirming her theory.

“Did you feel that?” she asked.

Wanda nodded. “A strange burst of magic. I felt it from Thor’s hammer but not to this degree. Asgardian magic. Thor was on Earth and about to retrieve Odin. Something powerful happened.”

Agatha sighed. “Whatever it was, it is gone now. I felt it once before, just before the Asgardian first came to Earth in New Mexico. Some sort of magical bridge mixed with physical properties, like your magic mixed with the Mind Stone. I have heard stories of an intergalactic bridge Asgardians use to move around the universe. It may have just opened.”

Wanda nodded. “Then he is gone. Now we need Thor to keep his end of the bargain.”

“A bargain?” Agatha said, intrigued. “What sort of bargain?”

“He agreed to bring the Space Stone and Reality Stone to Earth.”

Agatha doubted he would. “If he doesn’t?”

Wanda smirked. “Stephen can now portal to Asgard now and I know where the Reality Stone is or at least what the place is called. When we reach Asgard we can hone in on the location. If he doesn’t, we take them ourselves. No one is standing in our way of getting those stones.”

Two weeks later, Wanda stood in the Sanctum with Bucky, Agatha, Yelena, Ava, Strange and Wong. Thor had not returned and Wanda would wait no longer. They all agreed it was unlikely Thor would hold his end of the deal by this time.

Stephen opened the portal and gasped. The others stared inside the portal, not sure they believed what they saw.

“That isn’t Asgard.” Wong pointed out. “It’s a meteor field.”

Strange closed the portal quickly and rushed to the Cauldron of the Cosmos.

“You can’t control the cauldron.” Wong reminded him. “It only shows… how are you doing that?”

Strange didn’t answer, connecting with the Cauldron and commanding it to show him Asgard.

He saw the same meteor field that they had seen in the portal.

“Asgard has been destroyed.” he whispered in disbelief.

Wanda sighed. “Thanos.”

Stephen shook his head. “Thanos kills half a population. Has he ever shown the power or inclination to destroy a whole… realm or planet? It would be impossible, even for him. This is something else. This is a destructive magic that… has the Space Stone spoken to you in your dreams?”

Wanda shook her head. “Not for months. I think we need to assume Thor is dead and we won’t be getting our hands on it. Whether it is floating in space or was destroyed with Asgard… damn it!”

“Knowhere?” Strange asked, thinking they could focus on the Reality Stone. If Thanos had managed to destroy all of Asgard, ripping the land into pieces, he likely had the Space Stone.

“I don’t have the… I know vaguely where it is but I was hoping with the Space Stone I could find its exact location and maybe knowledge from Asgard if we had to take it from there. Unless you know some deep space astronauts who can give me a better clue where a severed head of a celestial might be floating around.”

Wanda took a deep breath, calming herself before she lost it.

“We will… I will try to commune with the stones. If he shows up… if he shows up with four stones and army numbering in the hundreds of thousands… then we fight regardless.”

Yelena wasn’t crazy about the idea. “We haven’t been able to hold off your hex army. We also don’t know if he would bring his entire force against us. Sable and I have been discussing this. He could easily attack the entire planet while a portion fights us. Stephen, you can tell the future. Put that stone to use.”

Strange’s face told the story. He couldn’t. “I have looked at so many possible futures but Wanda is the personification of chaos. It is impossible to tell what can happen in such a battle where she is involved. The Reality Stone against the one who can alter reality. The power of the stones versus the power of Chaos Magic. I simply can’t tell.”

The room was silent taking that in before a crazy idea was brought forward.

“What if we didn’t wait for him to come to us?” Yelena asked.

Wanda raised an eyebrow, intrigued as Bucky was.

“You have projected onto Thanos ship before. You can find him if you wish.” Yelena pointed out.

“Possibly. I can track the Infinity Stones with the exception of the Reality Stone. Maybe I could track it to Knowhere and open a doorway.”

“Or maybe you can track Thanos’s ships.” Yelena pointed out. “Maybe you can get us onto one of those ships.”

Strange laughed. “I think I would rather go into hell and fight Mephisto. You want to start a war with Thanos in his own ship? He can survive in space. We cannot. He would simply destroy his own ship.”

Yelena shook her head. “I don’t want on his own ship. I want on all the others. Wanda, could you control the minds of the Chitauri and possibly those beasts?”

Bucky couldn’t believe what he was hearing but it made sense.

“If we could do it… you are suggesting turning their own ships against each other?” Bucky asked for clarification.

Yelena nodded. “What better way to thin out an army? We make Thanos’s fleet turn on each other. We go in small. That way we can move in and out of the doorways quickly from ship to ship. We stay quiet and cover her while she takes over the minds of the crew. Then we leave and go to the next ship.”

Wanda shook her head. “This is crazy. You are asking me to open doorways into moving objects and then bouncing from one to another, finding a place we can enter without being seen, and then controlling the minds of thousands of semi sentient beings as well as pilots and those handling weapons.”

“Yes, that is essentially what I am telling you we should do. Take the fight to him. We take Wenwu with us. We take a team of the fastest and most efficient Red Widows and we take the fight to him.”

Wanda shook her head. “I can’t control that many minds.”

They were all quiet, giving this some thought.

“You could with the Mind Stone. You absorbed a great amount of power from the Mind Stone but what if you had it all?” Stephen asked. “Perhaps that red crown is more than an accessory to your costume.”

“I don’t like this.” Bucky finally said. “But it makes the most sense.”

“You are putting a lot of faith in my abilities.” Wanda pointed out to them all.

Yelena disagreed. “I’m putting my faith in you, not your abilities. I will always put my faith in you, Wanda. We can do this. We can turn his army against each other, have his fleet wipe each other out. Perhaps not all but we can force him to return to his base. He must have a home planet of some sort. If we can find it… if we can find it, you can track the Power Stone to it. I know you can. We can fight him on his home turf if the atmosphere is breathable. He will never expect it.”

“We would need both the stones we have.” Wanda pointed out. “We would have both stones within his reach.”

Yelena nodded. “Yes, it is a risk. But both stones will be within his reach on Earth. We would be playing defense then. Many would lose their lives. Many of us and many of the world. Children, innocents, all slaughtered while we make a defensive stand in Europe.”

Wanda met Yelena’s eyes and saw nothing but confidence.

“Not all of us would make it back.”

“Yes we will.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I know none of us survive if we wait for him to come to Earth.” Yelena pointed out.

Wanda met Bucky’s eyes, He had faith in her. So did Stephen. Ava was smiling, obviously liking the idea. Wong nodded slightly to her. Agatha winked at her.

“I need to practice opening multiple doorways quickly.” Wanda pointed out.

“Then you practice. Time is of the essence.” Yelena reminded her. “If he has the Space Stone… we have to assume he knows where the Reality Stone is. We need to stop him before he reaches it. We need to make the first blow.”

“We need someone who can understand alien tech or at least have a shot. We need the coordinates of his home base.” Wanda pointed out. “It would help track it.”

“Shuri?” Ava suggested.

Wanda shook her head quickly. “I’m not risking the princess of Wakanda.”

Yelena shrugged. “Tony Stark is expendable.”

Wanda laughed but then realized Yelena was serious.

She supposed she had a stop to make before she began practicing for the most important operation of her life.

Wanda, Yelena and Stephen stepped through a portal into the second highest floor of Stark Tower where Tony was working in his personal lab on what appeared to be another variation of a spider suit.

“You know, Agent Coulson used to come inside without an invitation. He at least had the courtesy to call first and let me know he was breaking my security protocols.” he mentioned casually. “Something tells me you three aren’t here for tea.”

“No, we want to know if you could possibly enter a spaceship, download the information, try to make sense of it and then move from ship to ship as we turn them against each other, hopefully killing thousands of mostly sentient life forms.” Yelena told him bluntly.

Tony snorted. “You are much more direct than your older sister and that is saying something. So, that sounds like a crazy plan. I assume we want to jump on board when he enters the atmosphere or lands?”

“Not exactly.” Wanda told him.

Tony looked up and crossed his arms then smiled.

“While the ships are going through space at unknowable speeds? That is crazy.”

“Yes.” Wanda agreed.

“You want to attack his ships while in space with his own monsters.”

“Yes.”

“And while you are doing this you need me to download alien information while helping defend you as you take over the minds of the pilots.”

“Yes.” Wanda confirmed. “Any information about his home planet, where a place called Nowhere might be, and any other important information. He speaks English. He probably won’t be nice enough to keep his records in English but I suspect Shuri can figure it out when we give the information to her. I mean the two of you can figure it out.”

“You can’t risk Shuri, right?”

“There is only one princess of Wakanda. There are many billionaires.” Wanda pointed out.

“But not billionaires like me. Not ones with heavily weaponized suits who would be dumb enough to take this risk with you. You know how crazy this sounds, right?”

Wanda shrugged. “You have a better idea?”

He shook his head. “I’m jealous I didn’t think of it first. Attacking him with his own weapons. Its genius.”

“So you are in?” Wanda asked.

Tony walked closer to her and stuck out his hand.

“If I do this will you admit we are friends?” he asked Wanda.

Wanda gritted her teeth.

“Does it matter? Fate of the universe, remember?”

“Nu uh. If I’m going to likely certain death I want you to admit you consider me a little bit of a friend. Just a little. Wanda, am I your friend?”

“Ye… yes.” she hissed in between clenched teeth.

“Say it like you mean it.”

Wanda glared at him “Yes, we are friends.”

“Shake on it?”

Wanda reached out and took his hand, shaking it firmly.

“Can we take a selfie together?”

“Stark…”

“One selfie. My friends will never believe I know you.”

“You don’t have friends.”

“Nope, you just said we are friends. No take backsies.”

Wanda’s shoulders dropped and Tony stepped up to her. She growled at the phone while he smiled widely and flashed a peace sign.

“That’s going to CNN. Can I have a hug?”

“Do you want to die?”

Tony stepped back. “I’m not a hugger either. Just testing the waters. Okay bestie. When are we doing this?”

Wanda glanced at Stephen and Yelena.

“I need practice. How long will it take you to make something you think will have a chance of downloading information from his alien server?”

“Couple of days. How long is it going to take you to practice doing these death defying jumps?”

Wanda wasn’t sure but she wanted to sound confident. “I’ll need to work on it with my team but it shouldn’t take long. The fact is we don’t stand a chance when he comes to Earth with his army. Earth doesn’t stand a chance if he unleashes his hoards while we make a defensive stand in Europe. We need to find where he goes when he is wounded.”

“What then? If the atmosphere is breathable are we talking sabotage, you and him going fist to fist? Or,” he raised an eyebrow, “you want our little coalition to attack him where he lives. All of us, one final attack when his army is thinned out and his fleet is gone.”

Wanda nodded.

“This was your idea, wasn’t it?” he asked Yelena.

“Of course.”

Tony nodded. “I suppose we should get to work. Let me know when you are ready. How many of us are going on this excursion?”

He could tell he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“Myself, Stephen and Yelena. Wenwu… and a team of five or six Red Widows.”

Tony smiled widely. “This should be fun. Can we call ourselves the New Avengers?”

“I’m going to leave you on the last spaceship.” Wanda told him.

“We can work on the name. Just a start, throwing it out there.” he yelled but the group had already walked into a doorway into the air, closing it quickly behind them.

That night, Yelena called all the occupants of the house minus the children, into the bunker’s gym. It was the largest room and the multitude of people would not fit into the briefing room any longer.

She explained what was going on and the plan. There was not a word spoken when she was done.

Then Anya spoke. “Are you out of your mind?!”

Yelena thought she would speak to her parents after this was over and give them reassurances that she knew what she was doing. Apparently her mama had no plans to wait.

“Mama, I was hoping we could talk about this after the briefing.”

“We will talk about it now! Everyone in this room knows this is a reckless idea! A bad idea! You are not going to jungle to fight Warlock and step on landmines! You are not going to Himalayas to fight ninja zombies and demons! You are talking about going to space! To spaceships! Hopping around like little troublemakers, starting a fight with many other ships! Then your big idea is to go to another planet to fight a monster! No! This will not happen. I forbid it! Tell her Dima! Tell her no!”

Dima sighed.

“Yelena…”

Yelena shook her head. “It is best idea we have.”

“It’s gutsy.” One of the newer widows named Eileen spoke up. “It’s a crazy idea. I guess the stories we heard about you two are true. You and Wanda are crazy.”

Wanda gave her a thumbs up.

“I want to come.” She continued. “I heard the stories, I know you two started this. I know what led us to freedom and I pledged myself to the Red Widows. I would follow you through hell. I understand that may be a job requirement at times. I volunteer.”

Anya looked at the young girl and then stormed out with Erik in her arms.

“Anyone else want to go along?” Agatha asked when Anya and Dima had left and the room quieted.

Every hand in the gym rose.

As upset as she was by her mother’s reaction and her own bad decision not to speak to her parents first, she was bolstered by the belief of not only the original Red Widows but the newer girls having so much faith in them.

“Thank you.” Yelena told them. “But we are going to need a small team. We need a team that can jump into and out of doorways and portals in a seconds. A small team with girls that have worked together. We need the rest of you prepared to battle for Earth if we fail.”

“There won’t be a battle if you fail.” Gabby pointed out. “If you fail, that means Wanda and Strange are dead and Thanos won’t even need to come to Earth to take the final two stones.”

“What team are you taking?” Staci asked.

Yelena looked towards Wanda who nodded her approval. The two of them had discussed this earlier before but not discussed it with the others, knowing they would all want to come along.

“Bucky Barnes. We need his superstrength and he is the best killer among us. Stephen Strange and Wenwu.”

Yelena paused. “Tony Stark.”

A rumble was building of disgruntled voices.

“Stop.” Wanda said and though her voice was not loud, everyone quieted.

“We have given this great thought. If we fail, Agatha will still be here to provide magical support to the Red Widows. The coalition will need Rogers super soldier strength. Shuri is the most intelligent human on the planet. That is why we are taking Stark. He has the firepower and combat experience as well as the intelligence to pull this off. We can’t risk Shuri. Others will be left behind. I know you all want to be involved. It means much to me. However, we are taking a team of five Red widows in addition those we have already named.”

Yelena cleared her throat. “While we are gone, Ava is Red 1.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute…” she blurted out, then quieted at Yelena’s look. She had never questioned an order before and couldn’t believe she had done so in front of over a hundred widows but the idea of being left behind was a sucker punch. It hurt and filled her with an anger that was growing by the second. She kept her face neutral though.

“Ava is Red 1 when we go until we come back.” Yelena said once again. “I am sorry, Ava but Wanda and I agreed, you are needed here. There are still Widows in captivity and you need to organize their rescue. Teams need assignments, intelligence sources must be aligned and you have a close relationship with our primary back up, your mother’s company. You are the only logical choice.”

Ava said nothing and made no move.

“The team will be Ingrid, Antonia, Sonia, Bea and Michiko.” Wanda announced. “I know you all want to be involved. This has nothing to do with your abilities. Some of you won’t believe me.”

She looked at a crest fallen Aino and Staci. Then she looked over the crowd.

“They have worked together on a team the most since we formed. They have all worked under Yelena and have the most experience with her and me for that matter. You are all skilled, you all have huge hearts and just being here means you are heroes whether you feel this way or not. Prepare yourself. Save more of our sisters. When we return if all goes well, we will be preparing for a possible fight on an alien planet. It will take us all. We will be battling for not only Earth but the entire Universe. I can’t think of anything more heroic than that.”

“I must talk to Mama.” Yelena said. “I only want you all to remember this. If you look at your file, have someone nearby. If there is some part of your history you wish to visit or explore, memories and such or maybe family, then do so. If you find you have family and don’t want to leave the Red Widows… bring them here if they wish. This place is our home. It belongs to all of us. If all goes well, this operation should only take a few hours, maybe less. If you believe in a higher power of some sort, pray for us.”

The bunker emptied for the most part. Wanda checked her phone and saw a missed text from Bucky but she already knew what it would say. It had been too late by the time they started. Wanda could feel them anywhere.

She raised her hand an air vent cover came loose and three little girls floated from the air vent to the floor.

The twins and Billie were standing in front of her.

“Snuck off from your Papa, did you?”

The twins looked sheepishly at the floor.

“Billie? What are you doing down here?!” Meg asked, noting her little sister’s presence. “You know you can only come down with… there are weapons in here! How did you even… you’ve been climbing the vents, haven’t you?”

Billie shrugged. “It’s important to know escape routes and hiding places. Nadeja and Nela wanted to know what was going on so I showed them how to get here. I’m sorry.”

Wanda sighed and looked at Meg. “You handle yours and I’ll handle mine.”

She took the twins to their rooms and found Bucky checking the library and asking returning widows if they had seen the twins in the bunker.

Neither were very happy with the girls when they reached the rooms where two cats and a dog ran to the girls for attention.

They sat on the bed, not meeting their parents eyes.

“Girls, when I tell you to stay out of the bunker when we have meetings…” Wanda began until Nadeja interrupted.

“Who is going to take care of us if you both don’t come back?” Nela asked.

Both twins held each other’s hand and began silently crying.

Bucky and Wanda looked at each other and their annoyance melted away. Now they felt only guilt.

Wanda sat next to them on the bed, not sure what to say.

She took a deep breath.

“Girls…”

“Aunt Yelena is going with you.” Nela mumble.

“Yes, I know…”

“I don’t want another Mama and Papa!” Nadeja shouted. “We don’t want Aunt Yelena or Dima and Anya! We only want you! You are our only mama and papa!”

Wanda closed her eyes, the guilt beginning to overwhelm her.

“You will have me. You will have both of us. I promise you, I will be back. If it seems like we can’t do it, then I can be right back here. I promise, I don’t want to risk anyone’s lives. We will come right back if I see anything bad. It will only take a step through one of Mama’s magic doorways.”

Nadeja met her eyes. “If it is so safe, why was Anya so upset?”

“Anya doesn’t like Yelena being in danger. She never has. I won’t lie to you. Nothing we do is ever safe. Rescuing widows is not safe. Fighting some of the monsters we have fought is not safe. But we have to fight. No one else can.”

“Why not?” Nela asked quietly.

“Because most people aren’t strong enough. If we don’t stop this bad man from coming to Earth, there is a chance I could lose one or both of you, and you could lose us. I can’t let that happen. That means I have to fight him now. I can’t wait for him to come to us. It is dangerous but I need you to have faith in me. Faith in us. Papa will protect me and I will protect him. Aunt Yelena will be okay. All of us will be okay. I wish I could prove it to you but I can’t. I just need you to have faith in me.”

Neither girl said anything but the tears continued running down their cheeks.

“Claudia’s mama isn’t in danger. Tanya’s mama isn’t in danger. Billie’s sister always stays at home. Why does it have to be you?” Nadeja asked. “Why can’t they be in danger? We need parents too. I don’t want to be orphans. It is not safe. I can’t read or count very good but I am not stupid. You want to go to a spaceship and fight aliens way out in space. You don’t know if you can come back. You might be stuck there. What then?”

Wanda closed her eyes and brought the twins into a hug.

“You must have faith in us. I’ll let you in on a secret. I’m scared too and I bet your papa is. That’s okay. It’s part of life. You are both in danger though and I would go anywhere, do anything, to keep you safe and not lose you. I love you two more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. I will come back to you. Aunt Yelena came up with this plan and your papa is going along with it because they believe in me. I can’t do this unless you believe in me too. Can you do that for me? Can you believe in me?”

Nadeja wiped her eyes. “We love you too, mama. We can fight. I can fight and Nela can shoot a gun. Why can you never let us come with you? We are family. Family sticks together forever, right?”

Wanda held her closely and kissed her forehead. “Family is forever. I need you here where I know you safe. Where I don’t have to worry about you getting hurt. If I am worrying about you I can’t focus on what I need to do and you are not meant to fight. You are my angels. I know you are so strong. I get my strength from you. Knowing you are safe and waiting for me, makes me stronger.”

Bucky knelt down.

“I swear to you, I will never let your mama get hurt. I will bring her back, no matter what. Me and your mama, we can’t be beat. We are going to beat this monster up and then we will be back home.”

“Until you all attack the monster and his army on the planet he lives on.” Nadeja pointed out.

“This is why I don’t want you listening to briefings. You worry about things that you do not need to. I am going to fight on an alien planet if I can. Far away from you. You are not meant to fight. You are my little girls, my smart, beautiful little girls who are so special and I would rather fight him as far away from you as possible. I don’t want him near you. Please, believe in me. Believe in us. We need your belief or we cannot do this.” Bucky told them.

Nadeja nodded and Nela laid back on the bed then shuffled to her normal spot. Her kittens joined her and Nadeja followed her example. Storm lay on the foot of the bed and Bucky and Wanda knew it was time for bed. They would not be sleeping alone for a very long time.

It was okay. Whatever it took to make her girls feel safe and happy she would do if she could but she knew this mission was important. A battle on Earth would be catastrophic. A battle against a hundred thousand or more aliens would be suicide. Their practices had proven that.

They changed clothes and got into bed on either side of the girls. They placed an arm around their waists and held hands, looking at each other as the twins fell into an uneasy sleep.

Neither Bucky nor Wanda could sleep that night.

While Wanda had been talking to the twins, Yelena had been trying to calm her mother.

“You thought I would be okay with this?”

“I… should have told you beforehand but I thought if I told the others maybe you wouldn’t react so badly in front of the girls who look to me to lead and we could talk about it later. It was obviously bad call.”

Anya turned red. “Maybe you are the one they look to lead but that is not who you are! You are my little girl! You were stolen from me and I have you but every day it seems you come up with new ways to kill yourself! You step on landmines then jump off, or you get stabbed with swords and nearly drown on blood. You are my little girl! You should not be doing these things! You were taken from me but now you are mine! You are not eighteen yet. I have not been a mother. I love you and I hug you but now it is time for me to be a mother. I forbid you from doing this! You will not do this! Do you understand me?!”

Yelena looked to her father who said nothing.

“Don’t look at him! He wouldn’t speak but if he agrees with this then he is no father to you! Tell her Dima! Tell her she is not doing this or don’t call yourself a father!”

Dima met Yelena’s eyes and an understanding passed between them. He knew he couldn’t stop her.

“She is my daughter. She is your daughter. Where do you think she gets this?”

Anya turned on him in a rage.

“How dare you! You know what? Wanda is just as bad! This is her idea and it is dangerous! If she wants to do it so bad, if she wants to neglect her daughters then she can. She is a bad mother for doing this and I will tell her so! She will not drag you into this! I will tell her!”

Yelena shook her head. “It was my idea. It is the only way and Wanda knows this. She is going along with it because this is our chance to stop him and keep him from hurting the ones we love on this planet. If it means I must go to another planet to do so, then I will and she will come with me. That is what is required of me. I wish I could step back and tell others to go but I can’t.”

“Why? Why can’t you? You were supposed to free others like you. You have. Look at them all. Such nice girls but I hear screaming all night. They are scared and they need you. It doesn’t always have to be you and Wanda. Wanda has powers. Those others you tell me about have powers. Let them go.”

Yelena met her mother’s eyes. They no longer radiated anger. Instead they told a story of sadness and resignation.

“Mama, when I woke up, free for the first time I could remember, I was on a bed in this strange cabin. I had the worst stitch job I had ever seen but I was clean. You see after Wanda pulled all that poison from me I was covered in that drug. She pulled the tracking chip out, bandaged and stitched my wound, and bathed me over and over to make sure I didn’t get any of the drug back in my body. I slept for longer than I had in my life. I was exposed and weak but she took care of me. Do you know what she got out of it? Nothing. She never asked for a thing.”

Yelena paused.

“Then she offers me a way out. She says she can help me find Natasha, give me money, but she wouldn’t come. She was going back after the others. This girl with all these powers could do whatever she wanted but she saved me and she swore she would rescue the others. I made an oath to myself. I promised myself I would follow her anywhere. I would always be at her side, taking care of her the way she took care of me. Showing her the love she showed me. Giving the loyalty she gave to me. There are times I forgot that. There are times I failed her. Times I placed other opinions over hers. Times I placed others before her. I have not always been the best friend, the best sister I could be. But I try.

“I don’t have powers like these others. I am not the fastest widow. Every widow has one skill they can probably do better than me. But that does not matter. I will be there with her until I die or she does or more likely we both do. I know that hurts you. I am sorry it hurts you. But this must be done and I will do it. If I didn’t I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror every morning. I am a warrior and this is war. Be mad at Papa all you wish but he understands and I think you do too. I need to go to bed. I am tired. It has been a long day. Maybe I can even sleep a couple hours.”

Yelena kissed her mother on her cheek, hugged her father and walked to the cradle. She picked her awake brother up and kissed him on top of his head then left. She needed sleep. She had a war to prepare for.

First she had to calm one of her closest friends.

She knocked on Ava’s door, hoping the girl was still there and hadn’t taken the magical door back to her room in Sable’s compound.

Ava opened the door and walked back inside. There was a look of rage on her face but Yelena walked in behind her and stilled at what she saw.

Yelena closed the door behind her and took in the overturned bookshelf, the cracked closet door, the shattered window and the torn pillows.

“What the fuck do you want?” Ava asked her.

Yelena was very nervous. Ava had always been the picture of cool. It seemed nothing could faze her. She rarely became angry. Yelena wasn’t certain outside of missions and killing scum she had ever seen a look of anger on Ava’s face like she was seeing now.

“I wanted to talk. I know you are upset…”

“Go to hell, Yelena. I should have expected it. The most important fight in Red Widow history and I am sidelined. Of course I am. The way you kiss Mom’s ass I shouldn’t be surprised. You have a thing for pleasing older women, don’t you?”

Yelena shook her head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Eleanor Bishop, Natasha Romanoff, now the great Silver Sable. Do you know who has always had your back, even when you were an idiot? Me! I became friendly with Romanoff even though the girls didn’t like it and let me know about it. I did it because I wanted you happy! I soothed things over as best I could. I watched her integrate herself into Stannic’s life and you stood by and did nothing and we lost Stannic! I watched you ignore Wanda while she was going through her darkest times to make Kate and her Mommy and your big sister happy! I worked under Natasha, an Avenger! When other girls lost faith in your ability to lead, I stepped up and stood up for you! The young ones would have left long before that night if I hadn’t held it together! I did it for you! Now you want me to be some liaison to my Mom and take care of over a hundred and thirty Red Widows while you go be a big damn hero! You should be the one staying here. I should be there, leading this op!”

Yelena took a moment and looked at the floor.

“I can’t leave Wanda to…”

“To what?” Ava cut in. “You left her before! When she needed you it was Natasha and Eleanor you tried to impress. You should be here. The Red Widows was your idea! Who is going to calm down Nadeja when she goes bat shit crazy like you know she will! You put Bea over me? Michiko? Ingrid? Even Antonia has lost a step since she had that surgery and shouldn’t even be in combat. She had brain surgery in the last year! Think about that! You didn’t even want Sonia into the field until she threatened to leave with half the team with her. Then there is you. The great Yelena Belova. I’m better than you. I’m a better fighter, a better shot, better with knives, I’m twice the widow you have ever been. I’m also loyal to my friends. My days of blindly following you are over. You leave me behind I won’t be a part of this when you get back. I’m done covering for your weakness while you take it for granted!”

Yelena took a deep breath and began trembling, fighting back tears and tried to explain. She knew Ava would be upset but the girl was hitting her where it hurt the most.

“I love these girls. I love you and every single one of them. You think I would trust their well being with just anyone? I know you are better than…”

Ava struck quickly, hitting Yelena in the jaw before the blonde could block.

“You’re not talking your way out of this one, Belova. Your whole damn act about how you do things for the greater good. I’m sick of hearing it. You love them? Stay with them. Give Wanda her best shot at getting back safely. Step out of the way and let me lead the team and you stay here with the girls you love so much and put first above all others.”

Yelena wiped the blood from her busted lip. “I can’t do that. I can’t leave Wanda. I know I haven’t been there in the past but that is the past. I am not leaving you here to make your mother happy. I am not giving you a speech. You are the most qualified to lead them. You are a better widow than me and you admitted that you are the one who kept things calm when I was focused on the wrong things. What would you have me do?”

“Get your shit together and put the best people in the best places to succeed like a leader should. Why don’t we settle this now? You can’t very well lead a mission if you have a broken bone, can you?”

Yelena shook her head and stretched her arms out. “If you want to hurt me then hurt me. I’m not going to fight you. I love you, Ava. I would never fight you. Break my bones, stab me, electrocute me, shoot me. You want to lead the mission so bad, then hurt me. I’m not going to fight back. I know you are angry, I know I have taken you for granted. I didn’t know you were this angry. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going.” Ava told her.

“Then take me out. If you won’t then stay here and lead these girls. Be what they…”

Yelena lost her breath when Ava kicked her in the ribs. She struck her across the jaw, spinning Yelena around and to the ground.

“Fight me! Get up and fight!”

Yelena stayed on the ground. “I won’t.”

Ava stepped back as her mother walked out of the closet where Wanda’s permanent magical doorway between Sable’s compound and Ava’s room was connected.

“Ava, what is going on?” Sable asked, putting her hands on Ava’s shoulders. Ava shrugged them off.

“Make her do it right this time.” Ava muttered.

“Do what?”

Ava shrugged the hands off her. “Kiss your ass. Instead of giving you pretty words and wide eyed admiration, make Yelena get on her knees and literally kiss your ass. Or keep doing what you always do. You can give her more weapons and she can tell you how great you are and how she kept me from being where I belong because she didn’t want to upset you. You two deserve each other.”

Ava opened her door and ten widows jumped back.

“What is wrong with you people! Do none of you know how to mind your own damn business?! The next time I find anyone listening at my door I am shotting through it! Do you understand me?!”

Ava pushed through them and called Wong. He met her when she reached the bottom of the stairs. His eyes widened seeing the rage on her face. He opened a portal quickly and she stepped through, leaving the mansion.

Yelena sat on the floor with her arms around her knees. She looked at the widows who had gathered outside and were taking in the wrecked room.

“She is right. Mind your own damn business. There are over a hundred widows that need looking after. Please go look after them and leave me.”

The group scattered quickly.

Sable knelt by Yelena.

“You want to tell me what that is about? I have never seen Ava angry, at least to that degree.”

Yelena shrugged.

“I told you we have decided on a dangerous course of action. We are going to turn Thanos’s ships against each other to think out his army. We are taking a small team, using Wanda to rely on gateways to jump us from ship to ship while she controls minds and has them fire on each other.”

Sable saw the wisdom in the plan, even if it was incredibly dangerous.

“I wish we could have spoken more beforehand. I didn’t realize the plan was a go.”

Yelena shook her head. “I was going to speak to you tomorrow but this is a Red Widow mission. I chose a team and did not include Ava. She thinks she should have been on the team and even leading it. She believes I did not put her on the team because you would be upset. I told her that wasn’t true.

“I lied to her and she knew it. I knew you wouldn’t be happy so I left her out. I let your opinion influence my decision. Ava has always covered for me. She has always supported every decision I made. She went out of her way to make Nat welcome even though the others hated her. She was right though. Everything she said was true. Ava is the best of us. She should lead this mission. But I won’t let her.”

“You made the right decision.” Sable told her.

Yelena looked at her. “I made the right decision for you and me, not for the mission. If someone dies because I was there and Ava wasn’t, that death is on me. I am going to bed. You should as well. I doubt Ava will be coming to either home tonight. It is probably best to leave her alone but you are her mother so do what you want. What do I know?”

Yelena stood and walked out of Ava’s room, holding her midsection and bleeding from the mouth. It had been a difficult night, a difficult month, year and a difficult life. She would do what she continued to do. She would keep fighting while trying to protect the ones she loved, whether they liked it or not. It was what she was forged into. She was a weapon. If she had to take Ava’s hate and carry it then she would. If she had to carry her parents fear and the hell she put them through she would. If she had to die to protect every last one of them she would, even if it hurt. Many of the ideas she had learned growing up were wrong. Love was not for children.

Sometimes a widow had to be made of marble though. If that is what was required of her, then she would do it.