||"There will come a time when life won't wait for you, and you'll be left with nothing but your sorrows and tears."||
The trees withered around her, disintegrating into the air, and the world began to change. The sky turned to metal, and the ground turned black, making Wanda's stomach drop. The moon was replaced with a luminous light above her, and the view in front of her transformed into a glass wall. She could see her reflection coming off from the glass, and she brought her hand up to feel the smooth texture.
The glass was thicker than it looked, but she was still able to see the other side clearly.
When she turned, she noticed a bed in the corner, and a food tray sitting empty on the floor. She heard noise coming from behind a door across from her, and Wanda stepped back, patiently waiting for whoever was going to emerge from the other side.
The door knob turned, and Wanda held in her breath. But when she saw who walked out, she felt her heart shatter.
Pietro walked out of the bathroom, shaking his wet hair through his fingers. The t-shirt that hugged his torso was splotched with water, and his freshly washed body quickly filled the room with the scent of vanilla. Wanda's knees began to shake, and she pushed herself against the glass to keep herself from falling.
"Pietro!" Wanda called out, but her voice was silent, and he walked around the room as if she wasn't even there. She watched her brother, her eyes searching his face, trying desperately to figure out if she was dreaming or if she was actually there. He turned to face her, but his eyes stayed empty, and she knew he couldn't see her.
He stepped forward, almost touching her, but he didn't even glance down to meet her eyes. He just stared over her head at the spotless glass. Wanda reached up to touch his face, but her fingers ran through him like nothing. She was a ghost. Pietro sighed, then walked back over to his bed to rest. All Wanda could do was watch in disbelief.
Her heart felt heavy, and as Wanda slipped back into reality, she found herself desperately trying to catch her breath. Her sight blurred for a few seconds before coming back into focus, and she realized she was outside. The moon was high above her, and the stars gleamed brightly above like little diamonds.
The Barton farmhouse stood quietly behind her, and she didn't know how she even got outside.
With sleep far from her mind, Wanda began walking through the woods. She was barefoot, but the grass was thick enough to give her feet enough cushion to walk on. The night was cool and calm, and as Wanda weaved through the trees, she thought of herself as a little girl, roaming the dark woods of Sokovia.
The memory was still so clear in her mind, that she could almost close her eyes and imagine her world before it was taken away. Everything before could have been labeled as a normal way of living. They didn't have much growing up, but they had each other, and that was always enough. Pietro always managed to put up with all of the crazy fantasy creatures Wanda would make up; the giant monsters that lived up in the trees, or the small trolls that hid away in the shadows, he always played along.
Wanda wondered what would have happened if he had survived. What then? Where would they have gone? She was sure that the Avengers would have taken them in, but part of herself wondered if they would have been left completely alone.
A chill pushed Wanda back, and she held herself tightly and started walking back to the farmhouse. Tomorrow, her and Laura were going into town to do grocery shopping, and it wouldn't be too great if she was half asleep the entire time.
So she headed back inside and crawled back into bed, resting her head on Steve's arm, and falling into a quiet sleep.
___
Natasha made her way into Fury's office and pulled a chair out. Fury was looking out of his window, his arms held behind his back. The S.H.I.E.L.D logo on the wall glistened as the sun began to set over the S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters of Virginia.
"Agent Romanoff, it's good to see you." Fury turned, looking down at Natasha. He took a seat at his desk and pushed a button near his computer, which shut the blinds completely and lit the room with bright florescent lights. "What can I do for you?"
"What do you know about The Sentinels?" she asked him, and he raised an eyebrow, but kept his expression still.
"What do you need to know?"
"Everything." Natasha pulled out a hard-drive from her pocket and placed it down in front of Fury. "And I'd like it on file."
"The Sentinels haven't been around for decades. What makes you think I even know where they are?"
"I'm not asking you to tell me where they are, I'm asking you to give me all of your information on them. What I know so far is that they kill those who have the potential to wipe them out. From what I've read, most of them are self-aware, which makes me wonder if the others are being controlled by a greater power."
Fury picked up the hard-drive from his desk and plugged it into his computer.
"Many of them are self-aware, and they're dangerous. They're incredibly strong and have proven to learn quickly as they fight, picking up tricks as they go. You're my greatest agent, Romanoff, but they'd kill you in minutes."
Natasha's skin crawled, and she looked down at the floor with worry.
"How would you kill them?" Fury began typing something into his computer, and minutes later he pulled the hard-drive out of the computer and handed it back to Natasha.
"Because they have the power to adapt to any situation, something stronger than them is your best bet."
"Say like, a God of thunder?"
"Exactly." Natasha let out a cool breath, then walked over to the door. "Natasha," Fury's voice made her stop, and she looked over her shoulder at him. "What's going on?"
"Nothing we can't handle." She gave him a gentle smile, then walked out of his office.
___
"I'm sorry, say that again. I wasn't listening," Tony rubbed his eyes and stood up from his chair, motioning Thor to continue talking.
"I said that we may have found the location on The Sentinels."
"And where are those bastards hiding?" Tony stood beside Vision and ran his finger down Vision's sleek metal arm. "Truly incredible," he whispered to himself.
"We found a location off the coast of Connecticut. The state is known for being populated with trees, and it would be a perfect place for them to stay hidden." Thor spun his hammer around and paced Tony's apartment floor. "Vision and I will be heading out there tomorrow to see if we find anything. Would you like to join us?"
"Yeah, no can do. I've got this thing with Pepper and if I don't go she'll make me sleep outside." Thor chuckled, but told Tony it was fine. "But, if you do find them, what then? We can't just storm up to them and assume we're going to win whatever battle this is. They're robots. I've had enough of robots for a while."
"We are just scoping the area."
"Yes, no harm shall come to them unless provoked." Tony looked up to Vision, then breathed out with laughter.
"Alright. Well, keep me updated."
"We will," Thor clutched his hammer and stepped out onto the balcony. Vision joined him, and in unison, they both flew off. Tony picked at his fingers for a moment, then proceeded to pour himself a drink. For the time being, he was alone, which meant he was alone with his thoughts. And for some reason, all his mind could think of was the battle of New York, and the battle with Ultron.
How dangerous were The Sentinels? Why hadn't he heard of them prior to any of this?
Whatever they were, whoever was controlling them, he knew they were people who needed to be stopped.
___
It was like a breeze fluttering over his cheek, and Pietro knew that the ventilation system in his room didn't let out excess air, so whatever he felt on his face must have been Wanda.
He already knew the complexity of their situation. She felt what he felt, and he sometimes felt what she felt. They were bound together spiritually, and it showed most of the time. Most of the time he felt her mind spiraling, and it gave him headaches. Wanda was always thinking, always speculating and processing something.
Her mind, in some ways, was a labyrinth. Her thoughts alone would break a normal mind to pieces. She had the whole universe in her head, and if used properly, she could damage everything at her order.
But he hadn't felt that surge of power from her in a while, and he worried that she'd stopped thinking as cleverly as she used to. What was her life like now? Did she smile as much as she used to? Was she getting enough rest? Was she training?
Pietro's unanswered questions loomed over him like a stormy cloud, and as he attempted to get comfortable for bed, he couldn't help but picture his sister sitting alone somewhere, crying.
He needed the next few weeks to go by as fast as they could go. He hated being apart from his sister, especially with The Sentinels still out there somewhere.
The door down the hall opened, and Pietro sat up in his bed and waited for whoever was there to show up. To his surprise, he saw Katarina, the young nurse who had started doing his nightly check up's. He first met her a week before, when Bruce had introduced her to him.
"Hello," she said in a quiet voice, and Pietro sat there looking over at her through the glass. Her lab coat cut off at her shins, and it split open through the middle, showing off the black dress she wore underneath. She held a tablet in her hands and was scribbling something onto the screen. "Any pain today?" she asked him through the intercom.
Pietro shook his head and stood up from his bed, walking over to her. She immediately stepped back, and Pietro stopped walking, feeling a bit defeated. He didn't see himself as dangerous, but he can only imagine what she thought of him.
Her hair was curled up into a low bun, but some thick strands fell over her forehead, cascading over her lashes. The gentle tone of her brown eyes made her sandy complexion look smooth, and she averted her eyes to the ceiling to avoid his gaze. Katarina held the tablet at her side and bit down on her bottom lip. She wasn't much of a talker, but Pietro felt like she was dying to say something.
"Is something wrong?" he asked her, and her head shot up, and she shook her head.
"No, I...I just, I'm wondering why you're down here all alone." When she spoke up, he caught the roughness of her voice.
"Nothing serious," he answered, and she laughed awkwardly before turning away. "Goodnight," he added, and she glanced at him for a solid second before walking down the hall. He watched her disappear, and before she turned the corner, she looked back at him; the sharpness of her eyes catching him off guard. Then she was gone.