Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 22

"You didn't have to," he told her, and she shook her head, stopping him from continuing.

"But I need to. I need to say thank you for saving my life because if it wasn't for you, I would be dead right now along with Pietro." Her words were rushed and she was sure her accent made it hard for Vision to understand, but he didn't need proper pronunciation to see that she felt incredibly guilty.

"Of course I saved you, Wanda. You are gold in this world full of dull colors. You are someone who should never be left behind." Wanda dug her nails into her palm to prevent herself from crying, and she forced herself to turn away from Vision in order to gather her thoughts. He always said such wonderful things to her, and she didn't understand why.

For months she had attempted to dispel the darkness inside of her body, and it never worked. But it only took Vision a few words to make her feel so alive.

"Do you feel that?" he asked her, and she turned back to him, confused. "The wind is picking up. In thirty seconds, a breeze will blow by, making you stumble to the side. Use your hex to prevent it." She was so taken back by his request, that by the time she processed what he had said, the wind had hit her hard. She threw her hands up, but her red rings faulted.

She tried again, but her magic burned out at the tip of her fingers.

"I--I..." she couldn't speak, and she brought her hands up and leveled them in front of her. She was tired, evidently so, and she wasn't strong enough to use her abilities.

"You need rest, Wanda," he said to her.

"I am resting," she retorted.

"Not your body. Rest your mind. Let this breathe," he rested his cool finger on her forehead, and she shut her eyes, feeling herself doze off. For a slight moment, she thought she saw Pietro, but when she opened her eyes again, she realized it was nothing more than her imagination.

___

Natasha threw the hard-drive onto Tony's desk, which startled him enough to send him falling off of his chair. She held her smile, and shook off her jacket before sitting down in the seat adjacent to his.

"Sleeping on the job?" she asked mockingly, and Tony lifted himself off of the floor and held his arm. He glared at her before sitting back down on his chair. "Fury filled this with all of the information he has on The Sentinels. I haven't checked it yet, but, I'm hoping we find something." She stretched her neck and got herself comfortable in her seat before turning on the screen in front of her.

"Well, I've got bad news and good news." Natasha stopped typing and looked over at Tony. His hair was a mess, and he smelled three days old. He probably hadn't slept or showered since she'd left.

"Good news?"

"Vision and Thor found them. They're hiding out in Connecticut, in an underground sanctuary under a large land of woods."

"Bad?"

"Vision counted at least a hundred of them who seemed to have a controlling panel on their back, and at least twelve who seemed conscious and aware of themselves." Natasha clenched her fists and muttered something under her breath. "But they weren't able to find whoever was controlling the rest of them."

"Do you have any ideas as to who it might be?" she asked him out of desperation. Tony huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be sitting here right now."

"Did Thor and Vision go back home?" she pointed up, and Tony shook his head.

"Thor went to see Jane in Sokovia, and who the hell knows where Vision went. I've been trying to figure out what a 4-month old A.I does on his free time." Natasha grinned, and then inserted the hard-drive into the screen.