Vanished {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 16

"This is deadly serious, Alessandra. It's the mind stone. One of six infinity stones from before the beginning of the universe. Even one will give you immense power, power beyond your wildest dreams."

"And you wanted to put that in a robot?"

"No." Tony had slowly been moving backwards, keeping his eyes and hands trained on Thor, "He wanted to put it in Alex."

Steve moved instantly, forcing his shield onto Alex's left arm and jumping into place next to Tony. Thor shook his head, lowering Mjolnir to the ground. "I have no say in the matter. I love Alex, I wouldn't do this to her willingly."

"In his visions, there were two paths. One, if the stone chose this thing I created and the other being if it chose Alex." Tony directed his next words to Thor, "You told me I could save Alex, that if I made a safe carrier for the stone then she wouldn't be chosen."

"The mind stone's already made its choice. It has deemed Alex worthy, giving her the ability to wield Mjolnir only once to prove she is chosen one. We are dealing with things more powerful than gods here, I don't have the power to convince the mind stone to go the other path."

"You can't give a super-powerful weapon to a seventeen-year-old."

Alex lowered the shield, making Steve gesture for her to hold it back up, "Eighteen now. Actually."

Tony dismissed Alex with a wave of his hand, "My point still stands. How can we trust this, any of this? Alex is young, the only thing all of us in this room want is to protect her."

"Maybe that's why she was chosen." There was a crack due to the speed at which Tony twisted his neck to look at Steve. "You've said it yourself, Tony; you would be long gone if it wasn't for her. If we're the one group protecting Earth from everything and the thing keeping us together is Alex, it makes sense for her to be chosen."

"Why can't one of us have it, I would take it if it meant Alex was safe. If a child is capable of handling it, surely two grown men are"

"It doesn't work that way." Bruce interrupted, "Whatever happens, Alex has been chosen and that stone will not stop until it is with her. Look at it now, shaking to get to her."

It was true. Alex forced her right hand down to her side, realising that it was twitching from wanting to hold the stone. The stone seemed to glow as Alex looked at it, and she could hear faint whispers in her head.

"No. She's not having it."

"Tony." Angrily, Tony tried to shrug off Steve's hand but he refused to let go. "Tony, it's alright."

"Can I ask something ?" Alex asked, feeling lightheaded from everything going on. "Don't I get a say?"

"No Alex, let us handle this." Steve turned to face her, Tony covering his back with all focus on Thor, "This needs to be a family discussion. Once we have Barton and Romanoff back, then we can discuss the possibility of you being in charge of this stone."

"If you're going to do that, can you at least tell me where the hell Mama and Dad are?"

"Natasha and Clint went missing the day we rescued you. They were caught by Ultron, never stood a chance." Tony snapped.

"That long?" Alex wilted, feeling as betrayed as Tony looked, "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"We didn't want you to worry."

"Well that worked great, didn't it." Looking away from the three men, Alex could see Pietro clutching Wanda to him, as though preparing to take her away. Alex blinked once, then looked back, "So, when are we getting them?"