Agony (Wanda Maximoff)

Chapter 52

Her eyes stayed focused on his face, and after minutes of not saying a word, he spoke. "I thought he was dead." A familiar feeling welled up inside of Wanda; a feeling of agony and despair twisted together, making a home inside of her heart. She had begun to forget the feeling, but his words reminded her of the soul she thought was taken away from her--Pietro. 

"Hydra ruined him, and things just haven't been the same since." He finally looked at her, and she felt the air in her throat slip through her lips as his eyes stared deeply into hers. "I'll tell you all about it when this is all over." 

"Only if you want to," she said, reassuring him that he didn't owe her any sort of explanation. 

"I want to." 

Without saying anything more, Steve moved Wanda so that she was sitting on his lap, and he cupped her face, kissing her. 

___

The lab had grown quiet over the hours, but Tony proceeded to work. He read through the files that he downloaded from Trask's computer, trying to find what he was using on Katarina to suppress her mutant abilities. From the top of his head, he couldn't think of any drug or medication that would hold back such powerful gifts. In the files that he had, Trask didn't name the medication he was giving her, he just called them pills. 

With a groan, Tony stood from the computer and walked over to the coffee machine in the corner. It was four in the morning, but he wasn't going to sleep. With any luck, he'd finish reading through Trask's files  by morning, and then maybe he'd get some sleep. But for the time being, he was going to need some energy to finish. 

The lab doors opened, and in walked Thor. Tony was surprised, but glad someone was around to talk to. 

"It's the god!," he exclaimed, and Thor placed his hammer gently on one of the tables. "The god doesn't look happy." 

"Trask is getting curious about his men and where they might be. I know they are here, but if we keep stalling, he is going to figure out that they are here as well. You are basically leading him straight to you." 

"Well that doesn't sound good," Tony swallowed down some coffee and walked back over to the desk lined with computers. "We can't let those men go, because once we do, they're going to start spilling their guts out."

"Why would they do such a thing?" Thor asked, utterly confused. 

"No, not literally. It's an idiom... look, we can't let them go." 

Tony grabbed his phone out of his pocket and sent a message for the team to meet up in the lab. Tony had hoped that Katarina would return home with Trask for the weekend, buying them more time, but now that she was staying, he worried that Trask would move forward with his Sentinels. 

Thor and Tony waited five minutes, then, one by one, the team began to pile into the lab. They all looked exhausted, but this couldn't wait until morning. They needed to know now. 

"We have a bit of a problem," Tony said. 

"What is it?" Steve asked, taking a seat next to the twins. "Trask?"

"Yup, and he's starting to wonder where his men are. What are we going to do?" 

No one spoke up, and Tony fiddled with his phone, hoping Steve would stand up to sort out some game plan. "We release them," Wanda said, and Tony scrunched up his face in confusion. 

"Um, yeah, no. That is a terrible idea," he commented, and she looked over at Steve for some reason. "Okay listen, if we let them go, they will tell Trask where we are, and it's useless to pick up and leave. If we keep them here and stay under the radar, then we can squeeze in a little time to figure out what the hell we're going to do."