Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 53

||Take me by the hand while we do what lovers do.||

Wanda followed Steve and Bucky downstairs to where Trask's men were being held. Her fingers picked at her rings nervously as she kept a good distance behind them, aware of how tense they looked beside each other, but how in tune they were to each other's movements as well.

The last room down the long corridor held all of the men who attacked a few weeks ago, including Markus. Wanda knew he was the one who shot her, and she found herself rubbing her scar through her shirt as they neared the door. 

"Follow my lead," Steve said to Bucky, and he stepped back and clenched his metal fist. Steve opened the door, and all of the men scattered to the corner of the room, except for Markus, who sat comfortably on the floor. Wanda expected the room to smell horrid, but she was surprised to see that they had a bathroom in the room. 

"Here to finally kill us, Captain?" Markus asked, and Wanda stepped inside, her fingers curling as she prepared herself to do whatever was necessary. "Oh look at this," he pointed to Wanda, and she stared at him as he stood from the floor. "You brought us a little snack," he brought his hand up to touch her, but Wanda shot a hex ball at him, sending him flying towards the men in the corner. He landed roughly against the steel wall, and his men helped him up after a few seconds of shock had passed. "You little bitch," he spat, and she winked at him. 

"Step back," Bucky said, putting himself between Wanda and Markus. She was a bit taken back, but when he turned to look at her, she gave him a soft smile. 

"Markus, we're having all of you transferred over to the government, where they will deal with you. And they won't be as merciful as us." Wanda took notice of how the men looked at each other, not sure whether or not to believe Steve. "But you do have a chance to tell us what you know about Trask and his Sentinels." 

Markus laughed, and Wanda stepped to the side, moving over so she could see the rest of the men. "I've told you this, Captain, I'm not speaking. You're gonna have to deal with that man on your own. I won't take him down with me." Steve looked at Wanda, and nodded his head, and she gave Markus a dark smile before moving up to him. He stumbled back, and the other men scrambled to the other corner of the room to get away from her. 

Wanda's eyes glowed as the anticipation grew thicker, and when he was cornered in--no where to go--she brought her hands up to his head. Her magic seeped out of her fingers and into his mind in a slow and painful manner, and only seconds passed before he began screaming. She saw his worst fear: a young girl being taken away by death and destruction. Wanda could feel his pain and anguish as if it were her own, and she forced herself out of his head as a result. 

Markus fell to the floor, punching himself in the head as if it were the only way to get rid of the nightmare unravelling in his mind. 

"What does he see?" Steve asked her, and she shook her head, dismissing the face of the girl she saw in his head. 

"His daughter," she answered. 

"Can you get into his head and find information that we don't know?" Bucky asked her, and she shrugged her shoulders. 

"I could try, but it will take time. I will need to be alone with him," she said directly to Steve, who she knew would have a slight issue with her being alone with Markus. She hadn't yet mastered her ability to gain memories from people, but she was getting there. It took deep mental concentration to use her telepathy, and she would only succeed if she was alone with him. Having Steve and Bucky hovering behind her would only make her anxious. 

"We'll be in the next room with these guys. Maybe they'll give us something to work with when their leader isn't around," Steve said, and he looked over to Bucky, who was, at the moment, staring intensely at the terrified men in the corner. With his long hair and fierce eyes, Bucky was intimidating, and with a weapon like his metal arm, it only made him scarier. "Buck," Steve said, startling the man. "Let's take them to the next room."