Nat unclipped her seat belt. After a quick flight to New Mexico, Tony landed the Quinjet about a kilometer from where Rhodey and Sam were hiding. They were supposed to run the rest of the way.
"Alright, Tony. What's the plan? What are we supposed to do when we get to the warehouse?"
Tony tossed her, Steve, and Clint their earpieces. He put his in too.
"We meet up with Rhodey and Sam first. Then we decide. They probably at least have an idea on the best entrance we can take."
Nat nodded. They grabbed their weapons and exited the jet.
At the fastest pace they could run while fully armed, it took them fifteen minutes to find Rhodey and Sam. They were situated behind a grove of trees, which was up on a hill that overlooked the warehouse.
Well, Nat would say that Rhodey and Sam were half-right. It was definitely a HYDRA base, but Nat wouldn't call it secret. With a quick look through Sam's binoculars, she could tell that all the people entering and exiting the building were wearing a lab coat with the HYDRA logo on it. It also seemed like a lot more people were exiting than entering. They carried huge steel boxes. Nat guessed the mystery weapons were inside.
"Where do you think they're all going?" Steve asked, taking a peek with his binoculars as well.
"The real question is, what are they taking with them?" Rhodey mumbled.
He sighed. "Okay, here's the plan, well, half-plan that Sam and I came up with."
Sam interrupted. "There are two entrances. I say we split up; me, Clint, and Tony will go through the east doors," He pointed to the doors on the east side of the building. A man was driving a truck rather fast through the huge entryway.
"We have to hurry up if we're going to catch any of them," Tony said.
"Okay," Rhodey agreed. "Steve, Nat, and me, we'll go through the south doors. Take out any people you see, and make sure no one gets away with those boxes. God only knows what's in there." He turned to Clint, Sam and Steve. "That goes for you guys, too."
"Alright," Tony nodded.
"Remember to use the comms if you need anything. Good luck, Team. Let's head out."
They split up, and Nat, Steve, and Rhodey made it to the doors without being spotted. She assumed the same for the other three, as she didn't hear anything through her earpiece.
"This is weird," Tony eventually commented on the unusual lack of HYDRA members.
"Where is everyone? I would've thought we would've had to beat someone up by now."
Steve and Rhodey shrugged. This did seem a little uncommon.
They made it all the way down the hall. It looked like everything had been abandoned quickly. Lights were still on, machines were still whirring, and one of the sinks in the lab was still running.
They came across one of the steel boxes that they'd seen earlier. It had the Hydra Logo engraved into it, and a padlock kept in shut. Steve broke it off easily.
"That's weird. There's nothing in it." He said, confused.
Nat's heart dropped. Rhodey looked to her, startled. Clearly, he was thinking what she was. He flicked on his comms. "Guys, code red. We have to get out of here immediately. It's not safe. I repeat, abort the mission. It's a set-"
Rhodey didn't get to finish his sentence. Nat watched the whole building cave in on them with a deafening blast, before everything went dark.
---
Wanda sat at the table by herself. Yesterday had been awful. She was so glad Nat was coming back today.
Pepper was at the table with her. She had her laptop open, typing away briskly on some important document. Wanda was supposed to be reading aloud to Pepper, practicing her English. It was something she always did with Nat to prepare her for school in the fall, but she just wasn't in the right frame of mind.
All Wanda wanted to do was go up to her bedroom and be by herself. It scared her that she was feeling this way; usually, she never wanted to be alone. But Nat wasn't there to keep her company.
She ended up staying with Pepper. Wanda sat at the table silently. Pepper was on the phone now, for the first time in the twenty-four hours she stayed with her. She had promised to give her full attention to her, and she did. They had attempted to play games and watch sitcoms, but Pepper could tell Wanda just didn't want to. She had tried to comfort the girl, telling her she worries about Tony, too. But it offered Wanda very little reassurance. She hadn't slept more than an hour the night before, and they ended up staying up together out in the living room.
When she realised Pepper wasn't looking, Wanda lifted a glowing finger and moved the plastic horse that was sitting on the table. She attempted to make it look like it was running, but instead, it just slid across the table and landed on the floor.
Pepper turned around, picked it up, put it back on the table, and nodded encouragingly at Wanda. All while continuing her conversation with the businessperson on the other side of the phone line.
Wanda didn't try again. Instead, she drew a small horse in the corner of Pepper's notepad. Anything to keep her mind busy.
It looked more like a demented cat more than anything.
Her eyes snapped up from the notepad when the door to the compound opened. Peter walked in, took his shoes off, and plopped a seat on the table across from Wanda.
Pepper gave a small wave to him and went back to her phone call.
Peter had helped her a lot to keep her mind off of Nat being gone yesterday. Sure, he tried way too hard, but his chaotic energy and comedy actually made her feel a little better. She was glad that he felt so at home here, she hoped she would see him more often.
"What are you drawing, Wanda?"
He picked up a pen and drew a huge smiley face, taking up the whole page. It accidentally covered some of Pepper's important notes.
Pepper scowled at him. She ripped off the first few pages with her handwriting on them and handed the blank notepad back to them.
Wanda shrugged. She enjoyed Peter's presence, but she wasn't really in the mood to engage in conversation with him.
Pepper hung up the phone and sighed.
"Those business guys, all they do is chat your ear off. Hi, Peter."
"Hi, Miss Potts."
Peter dropped his pen and leaned back in the chair, stretching his arms above his head.
"When is everybody coming back?" He asked.
Pepper looked at the clock. "Well, it's almost one o'clock. They'd said they'll be back by around this time. So, it should be any time. They're probably running a little late."
Wanda gave a worried look, one that she didn't intend anyone to see, but Pepper noticed.
"Don't worry, sweetie., Nat is fine. They'll be back soon."
She squeezed her shoulder.
---
But two, three, then four hours passed.
Pepper bit one of her fingernails. She didn't want to cause Wanda any unnecessary panic, but Tony had told them that they'd be home by noon at the latest, and if not, they'd be in contact. It was almost six o'clock, and nobody had heard from any of them.
"They should be back by now," Pepper got up off the couch and paced back and forth. Wanda sat cross-legged, staring at her hands in her lap. Pepper could tell she had a lot on her mind.
"I'm going to go and try to contact them again. Peter, Wanda. Stay here." She put on a fake smile. "I'm sure everything is okay. They probably just got held up and didn't have time to tell us. It happens all the time." She lied. Wanda could tell.
She and Peter sat on the couch in silence, a cartoon playing at low volume in the background. Peter had his phone open, and he was calling Tony for the fifth time in the past ten minutes with no answer.
Wanda's mind was going a mile a minute. They could've been captured, hurt, or even worse.
She had an idea that kept creeping its way back into her head. She was trying to get rid of it, but it seemed like an emergency. Something that could really help.
She turned to Peter.
"I think I can do something that might help us find out what has happened. But if there's nothing to worry about, you have to promise not to tell Pepper or Nat. Or anyone actually. Please."
Peter nodded. "What are you going to do, Wanda? Don't do it if it will hurt you. Please, Miss Romanoff would kill me."
"You can't tell her. And no, it won't hurt me, but I haven't done it in a really long time. So maybe leave the room or something, I don't know."
Peter shifted in his seat.
"Tell me what it is, first. Miss Potts left me to watch after you while she was gone. She probably doesn't want you casting witchy spells or something under my watch."
Wanda glared at him. She knew he was trying to make light of the scary situation, but she didn't cast spells.
"I remember in HYDRA," she took a deep breath. She hated talking about her time there. But Nat and the rest of the Avengers could be in danger, and this could maybe prove that she was strong enough to be a part of the team for real.
"I used to have to practice going into someone's head."
Peter was confused, and as soon as it came out, she realised it did sound kind of confusing, but with her limited English, she really had no other way of explaining it.
"If I touch someone's head, I can easily read their mind, see what they are thinking," She said quietly. "But I also used to have to practice entering someone's mind from far away, without actually seeing them. The...doctor...he used to tell me to picture the person, it was usually another scientist, and I could sometimes do it. See what they see, I mean. I don't know if Nat could tell that I entered her head though. When I used to do it at HYDRA, that was only from across the building. I don't know how it would be when they're in..." She forgot the name.
"New Mexico?" Peter interrupted.
"But I could try. There could be something wrong."
Peter nodded. "Okay, I'll be in the kitchen. Please stop if something doesn't feel right, or if you get hurt or something."
She nodded and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table. Peter left the room.
She concentrated, and a mix of Nat and Strucker's words filled her head.
Concentrate, milaya. You can do this.
Come on, witch. If you show no progress tonight, I'll take it out on your brother. You better get this right, or else little Pietro will suffer.
Take your time, Wanda. You won't get anywhere if you rush, sweetie.
Hurry it up, никчемный. We don't have all day.
She blocked off Strucker's cruel words and focused on picturing Nat. Smiling when she praised her on her reading skills. Kissing her cheek before bed. Holding her hand as they walked down the street. Playing in the rain. Helping her with her training. Being someone who loved and cared about her. Being her mother.
She could feel the red magic slowly encase her body, light up her eyes, and wrap around her head, forming a crown. Wanda missed it. It made her feel powerful, brave. Like she meant something.
She'd never done anything this complicated with her powers before, but it was surprisingly easier than doing it at HYDRA. She felt motivated, driven. Using her magic actually had a purpose now other than to train to be HYDRA's deadliest weapon.
She slowly felt less conscious of where she was, and felt herself be taken over by Nat, until she was completely unaware that she was sitting in the living room, perfectly free of harm.
Nat looked around. It was dark and dusty. Chunks of concrete and building were surrounding her, and she was trapped. A few feet away, Steve was unconscious. A wall of concrete was on his stomach, and his shield lay limply beside him.
She tried to yell for him, but all that came out was a fit of coughing.
When she regained her voice, she clicked on her earpiece to answer the yelling from Clint, Sam, and Tony. They seemed to be okay.
'Yeah, I'm fine.' She managed to cough out. She could feel a trickle of blood seep down her face.
A piece of drywall and stone flipped over, and Rhodey sat up, coughing and sputtering. His leg was demented, and he yelled out in pain as he moved a piece of concrete off of it.
Everyone seemed to be okay except Steve. Nat wiggled her way out of the wreckage. She quickly examined herself for any injuries, found some minor ones, and ignored them as she crawled her way over to Steve. She winced in pain, most of her ribs probably broken, but Steve wasn't even conscious.
'Rhodey! Get your ass over here!' She yelled, her voice cracking. She could smell smoke through her adrenaline rush. The building was on fire.
Rhodey crawled his way over, and together they managed to pull the heavy wall off of Steve.
He didn't move. His face was pale and bloodied, and his shoulder was twisted. There was a pool of blood coming from the back of his head. He had landed on another piece of stone from the building.
She flicked her earpiece again.
'Guys, we need your help. We have to find a way out of here. Is there any way you can clear the exit?'
She heard Tony's voice.
'I think so. Is everyone okay? No major injuries?'
'Rhodey's leg is crushed, and I'm fine,' She lied.
'But Steve's unconscious. We have to get back to the compound immediately. Can we fly the Quinjet?'
'Yeah,' Tony said. 'Clint, Sam, and I will work on clearing the south entrance and taking out the bastards in our way. Do you think you and Rhodey can manage?'
'Yeah. We'll try.'
'Okay, be careful.'
Rhodey couldn't do it through. His leg was completely crushed, Nat ended up carrying Steve in a fireman hold, and she leaned on Rhodey for support. They made it half-way before they crashed.
Nat heard Rhodey's voice ringing in her head, but she couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.
Her head was spinning. She thought about Wanda, and how she wasn't going to fulfill her promise to her. She definitely wouldn't be back by today. Hopefully, she would understand...
Wanda's eye's snapped open. She fell back to the ground and realized she was floating slightly in the air. She did it.
It took a second to click. That meant everything she saw was true.
Peter came running in when he heard her drop to the ground. He saw the look on Wanda's face. She was hyperventilating, panic running through her mind.
"Wanda? Wanda! What's wrong? What did you see?"
Wanda sobbed. "They're in trouble. We have to help them. S-Steve. He's hurt. Really bad. Nat and Rhodey are too. But Steve isn't awake. They were surrounded by concrete. It looked like..."
She didn't finish her sentence. But she was going to say it looked like their apartment when Mama and Papa died, but Peter didn't need to know that.
"...an explosion." She finished.
"We have to tell Pepper," He reached for her hand. "Come on, maybe she'll know what to do."
They found Pepper in her office. She was on the phone with Maria Hill, an agent from S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Pepper!" Wanda yelled. She was crying, Panic filled her eyes. Peter's face held a worried expression as well.
"They're in trouble. Steve is hurt really bad. Nat and Rhodey are too, but Steve was un, un-"
"Unconscious." Peter finished.
Wanda nodded aggressively.
"Wanda, how do you know this?" Pepper asked calmly. Maria was on the other line of the phone, asking a bunch of questions. Pepper turned her off speakerphone.
"I-I just do, okay? You have to believe me!"
She lied, but Peter filled Pepper in on what happened. Wanda was too scared and worried to care.
"Wanda used her powers to enter Nat's mind.
"Please don't be mad, Pepper. I'm sorry, I-"
Pepper interrupted her. "Wanda don't be sorry. You may have just saved Steve's life if he was unconscious. It was very brave."
Wanda nodded, tears refilling her eyes. She didn't really know that unconscious meant that bad. She and Pietro were unconscious many times at HYDRA, and they didn't die.
Pepper got her to explain what she saw, and as detailed as possible, she searched through all of Nat's thoughts from before the explosion. She explained the outside, the warehouse, everything she could.
Pepper nodded, thanked Maria, and hung up.
"Agent Hill sent a team to the warehouse. They found it, and they're going to get them out."
"Wanda," She put a hand on Wanda's shaking shoulder.
"I want you to know that you just saved them. Without you, sweetie, we still wouldn't know what was wrong, and where they were."
Wanda felt guilty, but at this moment, she was thankful for Strucker and her time at HYDRA. In a sad, weird, twisted way, she wouldn't have been able to do this without him.
Pepper headed to the door.
"I have to contact Dr. Cho and Bruce. They're going to meet the S.H.I.E.L.D plane on the runway with stretchers. I think you and Peter should stay inside until they go to the medical wing."
"No!" Wanda protested. "I have to be there."
Pepper nodded. She didn't want to argue, regardless of how traumatic it could be to see everyone she loved injured. But the poor girl had already been through so much.
They waited for what felt like days. But in less than an hour, the Quinjet landed, followed by another, smaller S.H.I.E.L.D. jet. Wanda stood up. Peter tried to hold her back, but as soon as Nat came stumbling out of the plane, Wanda left their grip and ran towards her.
"Mama!" She couldn't help it. It just slipped out, but Wanda didn't care. She was so glad Nat was okay.
Nat noticed her running, and she held her arms open to accept the oncoming embrace.
Despite the intense pain, Nat was so thankful for it.
Wanda sobbed. "I was so scared. I thought you were never coming back."
Nat's eyes teared up. She couldn't tell if it was from the pain or her emotions. She suspected it was the latter.
"A promise is a promise, milaya."
Wanda hugged tighter. "I'm so sorry," She mumbled. "I promised myself I would never go into your mind again, but I had to. I was so worried something was wrong, and something was wrong."
Nat comforted her. "Shh, milaya. It's okay. You did the right thing. Maria told me, it was so brave of you, I promise."
Wanda pulled away from the hug to look at Nat. She had a bad cut on her forehead that had been temporarily patched up on the ride over. Her face was twisted in pain, but also sadness and worry.
Wanda had completely forgotten about Steve.
"How is Steve, will he be okay?" She wiped her tears off of her face.
Nat looked over. Two S.H.I.E.LD. agents wheeled the stretcher towards Dr. Cho, who took it from them.
"I don't know. He was thrown back pretty hard in the blast. Some of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents think he has pretty bad internal bleeding."
Wanda swallowed. She didn't know what that was, but judging by Nat's tone of voice, it sounded bad.
Maria and a male agent came out of the plane with a hobbling Rhodey. They motioned Nat over, too. Wanda followed beside her.
Bruce walked over, embracing Nat. "I'm glad you're okay, Widow. I was really worried. I came home immediately after Pepper called me to be ready."
Nat hugged her friend back. "We could've used you out there, Banner."
"Come on, Doctor Cho wants to examine you. She thinks that by the way you're walking, at least four of your ribs are cracked, even though you're pretty good at hiding it."
Nat wasn't listening. Her eyes were fixed on Steve's stretcher being wheeled away a few feet in front of her."
"He'll be okay, Nat. He's strong."
Nat nodded. She hoped Bruce was right. She needed him to be right.
---
Wanda sat on the end of the hospital bed. She hadn't left Nat's side since they'd exited the plane, over an hour ago. She was stiff, the events of the past day echoing through her mind. Despite the fact that everyone convinced her that she saved Steve's life, she didn't believe it. She felt like a monster, like she violated Nat's privacy, entering her mind like that. She understood that it needed to be done, but she wished she could've done it a different way. It brought back too many unsettling memories of HYDRA.
Her eyes landed on Steve, who was still unconscious in the bed a few feet away. He was pale, bruised, and in general, looked awful.
Nat caught her staring. "He's going to be alright, milaya." Nat realised she wasn't only trying to convince Wanda, but herself, too.
Wanda looked at the clock above Steve's head. She gave a sad smile.
"It's 11:58."
"So?" Nat asked, her face scrunched in visible pain as she adjusted her position on the bed.
"You still fulfilled your promise of being back today."
Nat smiled, and despite her pain, wrapped her arms around Wanda.
"I love you, you know that Wanda? You are so brave. It couldn't have been easy to do what you did."
Wanda relaxed in her embrace.
"I love you too, Mama."
She looked up at Nat, silently apologizing for her mistake. It was the most she had energy for.
Nat just kissed her forehead, smiling.
She was glad to be the mother of such a strong child. It made her proud.