NOT even Steve could bring himself to argue with you after that, so they let you stay with the core, though Clint mutters that if anything happens to you, he’s pinning all the blame on you so Tony can’t get mad at them.
“So. You’re Stark’s daughter,” Wanda says once the two of you are alone.
You think back to the icy glare she gave you back at the tower, and wonder if the only reason you got that look is because you’re related to Tony. But she didn’t voice it as a question, so it’s obvious she already knows the answer. Since there’s no point in lying, you tell the truth.
“Um… yeah. I guess the reveal is pretty disappointing. Sorry.”
Wanda doesn’t answer immediately. She stares at a random point in the distance and seems to be having a silent debate with herself.
Eventually, she says, “I lived here when I was a kid, you know. And then… when I was 10, my house was bombed.”
“Oh.” You remember Hill mentioning that what feels like a million years ago, but it seems so much more real when it’s coming out of Wanda’s mouth than a fact sheet S.H.I.E.L.D. complied. “I… I’m sorry.”
“Our entire home was destroyed in the explosion. Both our parents died. Pietro and I were left stranded in the rubble for two days with a bomb we thought could go off at any second. And do you know what that bomb said on the side?”
There’s a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You know what’s coming. Who made that bomb — or, rather, whose company made that bomb.
“It said Stark Industries,” you say quietly.
She nods, a scowl forming on her face from the mere memory of it.
“But it wasn’t my dad,” you continue. “Obadiah Stane was selling weapons behind his back to terrorists. I understand you think it’s his fault, and I get why you would, but it’s not. He didn’t even know.”
“I know.”
“You– what?”
“I spent so much time blaming Stark for destroying my life. But…” she sighs. “I don’t think I can anymore. How can I, when we’re so similar?”
The conversation is going in a completely different direction from what you expected, and you’re not really sure how to react. “You… are?”
“We both did bad things, but we didn’t know they were bad, so we just kept doing them. Now we’re both trying to take back those actions by doing the right thing.
“I used to think Starks were nothing but selfish, self-involved rich people. But both of you are here, risking your lives to save people you’ve never even met, like you said. Sokovia is my home, not yours, but you’re here anyway. That should count for something.”
“Thank you for giving us another chance. I know that’s probably hard to do.”
She nods again, but doesn’t say anything.
“Miss Stark,” AVIS suggests after a beat of silence. “I recommend putting your mask back on. It will help you breathe a bit easier.”
You take her advice and pull it on. A moment later, a silver blur announces Pietro’s arrival in the church.
“Get the people on the boats,” Wanda tells him. “We’ll protect the core.”
“I’m not going to leave you here,” he argues.
“We can handle this.”
He looks between the two of you doubtfully. As if on cue, two robots come flying into the church. Wanda immediately blows one to pieces with her powers. You pull out a gun, shooting the other one a few times. The second it’s fallen to the ground, you pull out your dagger and slice its head clean off. Pietro looks at the damaged robots, impressed.
“Come back for us when everyone else is off. Not before,” Wanda orders.
Pietro just grunts in annoyance as he prepares to run off.
“Do you understand?” she presses.
He smiles as he turns around. “You know, I’m 12 minutes older than you.”
“Go.” She laughs.
He shakes his head like he’s about to protest, but he does as Wanda said, dashing away just as quickly as he came. As you and Wanda guard the core, you can see Peter, Steve, Thor, and Clint rounding up the last of the civilians. Clint boards a lifeboat, and his gaze falls on a woman crying, her arms outstretched. You and Clint both follow the direction her arms are reaching towards. In the distance, you see an outdoor market. A little boy is cradled in a depression probably created by a market stall being violently ripped out of the ground. Clint takes a deep breath, then runs over to the little boy.
“Thor, I’m gonna need you back in the church,” Tony orders over comms.
“Everyone else is on the carrier,” Steve reports.
“You know,” Tony begins hesitantly, “this works, we maybe don’t walk away.”
“Maybe not,” Thor agrees.
Clint makes it over to the little boy, then bends over to help him up. You hear a rumbling noise, and see Ultron flying a fighter jet straight towards the two. Clint looks up to see bullets piercing the ground as Ultron rapidly approaches them. A determined stare grows on his face as he turns around, preparing to use his body as a shield to save the boy.
“Clint!”
You run to save them, even though you know there’s no way you’ll be able to reach them in time.
Just as the bullets are about to hit Clint, a silver streak dashes in front of him. You freeze mid-run, a suspicion of what just happened forming in the back of your head. The sound of the bullets quiets to nothing. When the dust clears, Pietro is standing in front of Clint, his body covered in bloody wounds where the bullets hit him.
“You didn’t see that coming,” he tells Clint hoarsely.
He drops to the ground.
A scream pierces your ears. You turn to see Wanda sinking to her knees. Robots take advantage of her focusing on her dead brother rather than the core, and they zoom over to it. Red waves of power radiate off of Wanda as she disintegrates the robots into nothing, but she doesn’t even notice as she cries out in pain.
“Wanda….” Tears sting your eyes as you run to her.
When you reach her, you crouch down and pull her into a hug before you remember you’re a Stark, and despite what she said, she still probably wouldn’t want you comforting her. You’re about to pull away, but Wanda’s arms loosely wrap around you as she sobs into your shoulder, so you stay put.
“I’m so, so sorry,” you tell her softly, wishing you could do more than say empty words.
There’s a loud bang next to the two of you, and you look up to find Ultron has been thrown into a derailed train — most likely Hulk’s handiwork. Wanda slowly sits up, wiping her eyes. She looks at you, her eyes asking the question her voice doesn’t.
“Go ahead. I’ll protect it.”
Wanda stands up, hands glowing a brilliant red as she walks to the train. With every step she takes, her sadness morphs into anger, so by the time she reaches the train, her sobs have been swapped out with a black-hearted scowl. She kneels down next to Ultron, eyeing him with pure contempt.
“Wanda,” he starts. “If you stay here, you’ll die.”
“I just did. Do you know how it felt?”
A cry of shock comes from Ultron as Wanda raises her hand. The red glow around it appears around Ultron’s chest as well. Her eyes also begin to glow as she pulls his core processor from his chest. It flies right into her hand, and she gazes at it before looking back down at him.
“It felt like that.”
YOU ARE READING
Black Star: The Legend Begins
Fanfiction❝ί︎ Ć︎𝔥๏ｓ𝓔︎ 𝐓︎๏ Ⓟ︎я︎๏𝐓︎𝓔︎Ć︎𝐓︎ 𝐓︎𝔥เ︎ｓĆ︎๏υ𝓷𝐓︎я︎ⓨ︎. Δ𝓷ᵈ 𝐓︎𝔥Ⓐ︎𝐓︎'ｓ w𝔥Ⓐ︎𝐓︎ ί︎'ϻ ģ๏เ︎𝓷ģ 𝐓︎๏ ᵈ๏, 𝓷๏ ϻⒶ︎𝐓︎𝐓︎𝓔︎я︎ 𝐓︎𝔥𝓔︎ Ć︎๏ｓ𝐓︎.❞ ★★★★★ Lexi Stark has always wanted to be an Avenger - but she never expected it would become a reality...
