Philophobia ➤ W.M.

| 08 |

  "You are interested, no?" Pietro's accented voice sounded behind her. She jumped, even though she was well aware that the twins had been present the whole time. She could hear the smirk in his voice, even without glancing at him.

  "I think she is," Wanda responded in an equally mocking voice, clearly humored by the whole ordeal. The woman still freaked out Astrilde, even if her voice sounded nice. After all, just because a person sounded nice didn't mean they were nice. Just look at what Loki became. The thought of her deceased brother cause Astrilde to automatically build stronger walls around her mind to deter Wanda from trying to enter it. This had become a habit, just like it had been when her mischievous older brother was alive.

  "It seems that I have caught your attention," Ultron observed. He spoke as if the twins hadn't said the exact same thing merely moments before. That showed the imbalance of power between the allies quite easily. Ultron claimed that the twins and himself were partners, that there was nobody in charge. That didn't make his claims true. "What if I were to offer you a chance out of those cuffs, permanently, and brief contact with the Asgardian, your brother." Astrilde's heart jolted at his words, hope blooming in her chest despite her attempts to stifle it.

  "How do I know you speak only the truth?" Though posed as a question, and not even closely relating to the word "yes", it was clear that Astrilde had already made up her mind. Desperation and hope had outweighed any coherent thought. All she was doing now was stalling, as to not be seen as "easily manipulated".

  "You will have to trust my word."

  "Your word is not enough." Ultron sighed in annoyance at her words, grabbing an extremely high-tech tablet off a table near him. He tapped the screen a few times, before turning it to Astrilde. A live video of her brother sitting on the side of Avengers tower was enough to make her nearly cry.

  "All I have to do is click a button, and you'll be able to talk to him." Ultron's words were not to be trusted, but all rational thought had left her brain the moment she saw her brother. She was desperate to speak to him, she needed him to comfort her after what she had been through for the couple of days she had been with Ultron.

  "Ok," Astrilde uttered, too busy focusing on the screen to notice Ultron's evil smirk.

---

  Astrilde sat next to the twins in the heavily armored vehicle, ankles free of the power dampening cuffs. She hadn't attempted to escape, she didn't need to hope of escape and then captured seconds later. Also, she was sure that Wanda read nearly everyone's minds constantly, albeit accidentally. That would most definitely give away any of Astrilde's plans in an instant.

  The fire of fear ran through her body, her heart rate increasing as the car's speed decreased. They had finally arrived at their destination, which meant the danger of accidentally harming innocent people. Sure, being a worker at a weapon facility isn't necessarily seen as "innocent", but the workers were still living people, and they were simply doing what they were employed to do. The sound of metal doors being open alerted Astrilde, causing her to glance to her right. Outside the vehicle, one of Ultron's metal suits glared menacingly at her.

  "Time to do this!" Pietro said, excitement creeping into his voice. Despite his outward appearance, Pietro was incredibly child-like and excitable. Wanda, on the other hand, was secretive and quiet. They were polar opposites, yet the siblings loved each other. Astrilde didn't pay attention to the love connections between families and friends quite often, as they weren't normally very strong, but Pietro and Wanda had a strong connection. Astrilde wasn't negatively affected by that kind of love, probably because it didn't cause as much as an issue as romantic love. Plus, platonic love was everywhere, it was something you couldn't escape. So, she learned to deal with it.

  Pietro jumped out of the vehicle, and Astrilde followed, getting in front of Wanda. She bristled when Wanda came up next to her, the enhanced looked at her in understanding, but didn't speak.

  Green, tropical trees surrounded them. They stood on a dirt road in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere. The only sounds that filled the air was the wind swaying the leaves gently, and the sound of wildlife around them. Astrilde tugged at one of her sleeves, incredibly hot due to the unforgiving rainforest humidity

  "I need you to get in and out quickly. I'll send a few of my men in to help get the weapons after you take down the base," Ultron stated, his clone speaking for him.

  "We understand. It will be no problem," Wanda acknowledged. Astrilde nodded as well, taking a deep breath.

  She then begun walking in the direction of the facility, which was just barely in her sight. She could feel the gaze of the twins on her back, probably confused looks. Mortals were challenged when it came to sight, however Asgardians were not so. Therefore, while the twins only saw trees, Astrilde could see much more. In hindsight, is was a wonder how Mortals managed to survive so long without such dialled senses.

  "If you do not help, we will never reach the facility," Astrilde grumbled irritably. She was sick of the job, sick of Ultron, sick of the twins, so nobody could blame her for her sour attitude.

  She nearly yelped when she suddenly appeared feet away from the entrance of the weapons facility. Holding off the nausea that came with being transported at unnatural speeds, she scowled at Pietro. He simply smirked in response, while Wanda stood next to him, unfazed by the speed.

  "Warn someone before you do something like that!" Astrilde cursed, not even quietly.

  "But then it is not as fun."

  "You are a child."

  "I am not much younger than you," Pietro defended.

"Maybe physically you are not, but I am hundreds of years old," Astrilde responded flippantly. She didn't care to mention her technical mental age compared to him.

  "We have a job to do, do not get distracted," Wanda hissed at the two. Astrilde glared at the woman, before averting her gaze. Fine, but don't think it was I who started it. Wanda looked at Astrilde with doubt filled eyes, and Astrilde cursed her mind reading abilities.   

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