Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 52 - Fallout

"This job..." Steve began softly, looking down at the floor. He swallowed, trying to find the right words to comfort the woman beside him. "We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, then the next time... maybe nobody gets saved."

Wanda averted her eyes, sighing as she did so. But instead of replying, her eyes jumped to the wall where Vision suddenly materialized. "Vis! We talked about this." She exclaimed, but Vision didn't seem particularly perturbed.

"Yes, but the door was open, so I assumed..." He innocently trailed off, gesturing to the door. Switching gears, he instead looked to Steve. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving." Ah, so that was why he was here.

"Thank you. We'll be right down." Steve said.

"I'll..." Vision began awkwardly, pointing towards the door. "Use the door." He walked over but stopped just as he was about to cross the threshold. "Oh, and apparently he's brought a guest."

Keira raised an eyebrow at this. Who would Tony have brought with him? "We know who it is?"

"The Secretary of State."

Keira groaned loudly, throwing her head back. "I swear to God, if Ross annoys me, I'll knock him out."

"Please, don't do that." Steve gave her a tired smile before rising from the bed and walking out. But just like Vision, he turned around before exiting the room. "You guys coming?"

"Just give us a minute." Keira smiled and Steve nodded before disappearing around the corner. Turning back to Wanda, she searched for her gaze. "You're gonna be okay. Trust in that."

Wanda somberly shook her head. "You don't know that." She bit down on her lip, averting her eyes, and pulled on her sleeves to cover her hands, already having slipped her hand free from Keira's grasp moments before.

Keira's bottom lip slipped between her teeth, but she was quick to regain her grip on one of Wanda's fiddling hands. "I do know that." She said sternly. "Now, I'm counting on you to hold me back if Ross is asking for a beating." Getting back to her feet, she pulled Wanda with her, and she didn't miss the smile twitching in the corner of Wanda's lips.

At least she had a small success in lifting Wanda's spirits.

The two of them were the last to arrive in the conference room, and judging from the look on Secretary Ross' face, it wasn't a pleasure visit. Wanda took the seat at the front of the table, closest to Ross while Keira took the seat behind her.

Drumming her fingers impatiently against the wooden table, Keira was watching the man with a bored look, waiting for him to get to the point.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing." The man was even demonstrating the movement and Keira had to bite her tongue not to give a snarky remark. Sliding down in her chair slightly, she sighed deeply. This sounded like it would take a while.

"Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass... I found something forty years in the army had never taught me; perspective."

If he was awaiting eager questions about what that perspective was, he was sadly mistaken. And upon noticing this, he continued. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

Keira's jaw clenched, already sensing what was coming. This was when he would blame the Avengers for all the faults in the world, claiming that they were the cause of it.