||"I look at you, and I just love you, and it terrifies me. It terrifies me what I would do for you."||
So much had happened in the last two years that had let up to this moment.
So much destruction and pain and death.
Wanda, sadly, just so happened to be in the middle of it.
The destruction of her home; the pain of her losses; the death of everyone she loved.
How was she supposed to live her life being kind when all the world knew how to do was take and take and take.
There was nothing left of her now, he could see that in her face—in her red eyes—as she ripped Markus' heart out.
No humanity.
But he loved her nonetheless.
He always would.
He loved her so much that he didn't even try and comfort her when she finally broke the iridescent dome, or when she placed her jacket over Nik's dead body or when she told them to split up. Wanda was walking on a very thin line between rage and total chaos. Pushing her toward the latter would only bring more death.
So he agreed to split up and he ran off to the front side of the building and away from the woman he loved because he knew staying would only cause more damage.
But little did Steve know that leaving or staying wouldn't have mattered.
Wanda stepped over to the side of total chaos the moment she walked into the main building.
Him being there with her wouldn't have changed a thing.
Because by the time he and the others finished picking off the rest of Markus' men near the entrance of the compound, Wanda had already peeled off the last part of her sanity.
Steve thought he'd seen her at her lowest after she'd lost Pietro, but he was wrong.
What he saw when he walked into the living room of the main building brought back memories of what he'd seen during the war.
There was blood on the walls and bodies on the floor.
Standing in the middle of the room was Wanda, her arms and hands covered in blood, her eyes red with angry tears, her body shaking slightly.
Natasha was hunched forward near the entrance, her arm behind her back, her hand wrapped tightly around a gun. Was she going to shoot Wanda?
The sound of glass breaking beneath Steve's boots startled Wanda, and her eyes glossed over in that scarlet hue of her magic, and for a moment, he thought she was going to attack him, but she quickly shook her head, rubbing her eyes, only to mask them in the blood of their enemies.
"Where's Pietro?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
Natasha stuck the gun in her belt and looked over at Steve.
"I found him in the woods, but, he's fine. Everyone is fine, just a little bruised up."
Wanda closed her eyes briefly, placing her hand on her stomach.
How could someone do what she did? The rage she must have felt...
"Wanda, you need to sit down, okay? I'm going to get your some water and we're going to take a minute to breathe and clear our heads." Natasha limped over to the kitchen, her own face bloody with cuts to her lips and cheeks. She didn't look like the stealthy assassin he'd known for years. She looked withered and broken and tired. Very, very tired.
"I—" Wanda paused, looking around the room at the mess she'd caused. "I need to go find Nik," she said, straightening her shoulders and putting on a smile. "He's waiting for me."
Wanda proceeded to step over the bodies on the floor, her eyes watery and red.
Steve took a quick look at Natasha, who was staring back at him, her expression mortified. Then he held his arm out, trying to stop Wanda, and luckily, she stopped. Her crooked smile faltered a bit as she struggled to keep it on, and Steve just wanted to wrap his arms around her and comfort her and tell her that it'd be okay, but he just stood there, his eyes growing teary as well.
"Let's go back to the room and get you out of your uniform and into the shower. I'll grab some fresh clothes for you and clean you up."
Wanda shook her head again. "I need to get Nik."
One of the men on the floor who was unconscious began to stir awake, and this only made Wanda more agitated, because she clenched her fists and turned back around. Steve lunged forward, grabbing her arm. "It's done, Wanda," he told her. "Go to your room with Natasha and get cleaned up. You need to rest."
Wanda stared at him, her beautiful eyes so empty. She looked like a completely different person.
"I need to get Nik and tell him about the baby. He fell asleep before I could tell him and he's going to be so happy to know."
There was a second or two where Steve understood, because he wanted to—he needed to—but then it clicked in his mind that there was no baby.
"Nat," he said to his friend, trying to urge her to help Wanda. He needed to get Wanda cleaned up before Rhodey and his men arrived. Once they laid eyes on what Wanda had done, he wasn't sure what they would do to her.
"Steve, there's something you should know," Natasha began, pushing herself forward, though he knew it strained her every time she breathed or walked. Before Natasha could tell him, a few of the others came running in.
Bucky and Emma looked happy to see them, but their delighted expressions quickly went sour once they realized what had happened.
Emma changed back into her normal form and headed straight for Wanda. "Are you okay?" she asked quietly, looking at Wanda's stomach.
"Nik's going to be so happy for me," Wanda said to Emma, her eyes swollen from her tears and her magic. The overuse of her abilities was draining her. "We're all going to be so happy."
Steve looked at Natasha again, and he knew at that moment what Wanda was talking about.
She was pregnant.
"Nik's waiting for me," Wanda said again. How could she not remember? Why was she speaking of him in present tense? How come he didn't know she was pregnant? Who else knew?
Emma glanced back at Steve, and he wanted to ask her if she knew that Wanda was pregnant, but Emma got into his mind before he could ask anything.
We need to get her out of here
The White Queen spoke to him through his thoughts, and he gave a reluctant nod and turned, picking up Natasha in his arms so that she didn't have to walk anymore.
"Let's go," Steve said to everyone. "Rhodey will be here with the cars soon; they'll take care of what's left here."
Emma went to grab Wanda's hand, but Wanda brought her hand up and slapped her.
Everyone in the room grew still.
Steve placed Natasha back on the ground quietly, and he pulled the gun from her belt and handed it to her.
"This is all your fault," Wanda said, staring Emma down. "You brought him here. Nik is dead because of you." Wanda's hands began to glow red, and the thin streams of her magic began to twist around her body, glowing bright with anger. "You killed him."
Wanda grabbed Emma by the throat, and Natasha brought her gun up and so did Bucky.
Emma waved at them to put their weapons down.
"I'm sorry, Wanda," Emma croaked, her feet scraping the floor as Wanda lifted her up. "Please forgive me."
Wanda squeezed her fingers tighter around Emma's neck, and Steve prepared his shield. If there was one thing he could do without hurting the baby it was sending his shield at Wanda's arm. It would hurt her, and it would hurt him to do it, but what choice was left?
"And I'm sorry for this," Emma said, and Steve watched as the White Queen brought her hand to Wanda's temple. The streams of Wanda's magic disappeared immediately, and Wanda dropped her arm and gasped, her eyes bulging with either fear or pain.
Then she let out a horrendous scream.
Steve and the others covered their ears, but Steve kept his eyes on the both of them. Emma's fingers pressed into Wanda's temples, and Wanda's scream grew sharper until finally, her magic released itself.
Steve saw it coming, so he grabbed Natasha and placed the shield in front of himself and her behind him. Bucky jumped over one of the couches and lay his head down. Emma kept her place in front of Wanda.
Then, her powers pushed out of her own body, shooting out like a forcefield.
Steve kept his head down and heard the sound of glass breaking, walls vibrating and Wanda screaming.
Tears spilled from his eyes as he held Natasha close.
Then it all stopped, but Steve waited a few beats before looking over his shield.
What he saw was Emma holding Wanda in her arms.
The White Queen was crying.
___
He dreamt of his parents and he dreamt of Sokovia and he dreamt of Wanda.
It all felt so real.
It was just him and Wanda sitting in the living room, their laughs filling their small home as they played with their toys.
Their mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner and their father was sitting at the table reading one of his old books. That's all the dream was, yet, it brought Pietro an immense amount of comfort. It brought him back to a time when all he had to worry about was getting to school on time and making sure Wanda tied her shoes correctly.
Had he known what was to come in the next few years, he would have begged his family to move away, to a safer town, where the threat of poverty and war didn't loom over their heads.
He would have loved them harder and appreciated them more had he known. He would have listened to his mother when she told him to clean up his room and he would have gone on walks with his father when asked and he would have done so much...had he known.
But he didn't know.
Pietro was jolted awake by a pair of strong hands, and the dream in his mind quickly vanished when he saw Steve's face hovering above him.
Suddenly, he remembered Markus and his words and what he'd said, so Pietro stumbled up off of the ground and looked at the trees surrounding, afraid that he'd see Wanda hanging on one of them, her body charred just like Markus said it'd be.
But the trees were empty, and the sound of gunfire wasn't present and everything felt oddly serene, like the calm before a storm.
"Wanda's fine," Steve assured him, and Pietro turned back to him and clenched his jaw, angry that he'd let Markus do this to him. "But she's going to need you."
"If she's going to need me then she's not fine," Pietro said, running his hands through his hair. Where was Kat?
"Markus got to Nik, and there was nothing we could do to save him. So when I say she's going to need you, I mean you're going to have to keep her stable until we get her to a hospital and far away from this place."
"And Markus?" Pietro asked, somehow already knowing the answer.
Steve just stared at him, silently speaking the words.
"I'm going to make a quick run through the compound and make sure no one ran off, then i'll get to Wanda, but I suggest you head there now. These next few days aren't going to be easy."
Steve looked as though he was going to cry, like the weight of the world was sitting on his shoulders and he just couldn't hold on to it anymore. Pietro understood that feeling.
"Please hurry," Steve told him before running off, and Pietro didn't know why, but he felt as though Steve was afraid of going to Wanda alone, like he wasn't sure what to expect.
Pietro understood that as well.
It took a second for Pietro to shake off the static that was still running through his bones, but once it was gone, he sped through the compound. He ran all the way to the 100 acre mark, then ran back, the sight of gold flames in the distance setting his nerves in place.
Katarina was standing near the main building, and she was working the fire to a soft glow of embers. There was a gash on her arm, but other than that, she looked to be just fine.
"There you are," she said, and her gold eyes beamed at the sight of him. Kat ran up and wrapped her arms around him, her fingertips warming his back as they pressed down on the ripped parts of his shirt. She pulled away and kissed his cheek, brushing his silver hair out of his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, noticing the tightness in his face.
"Markus killed Nik," he said, not yet able to process the words himself. "Wanda was there."
Katarina's eyes welled up, and her pretty face grew sad. "He was a good kid," she said, sniffling.
"Yeah," Pietro said. "He was."
Up on the roof, Pietro saw slight movement, and he stepped away from Kat to get a better look. To his surprise, it was Crystal, and she was rubbing her head as if she'd just woken up from a deep nap. In her confused state, she got up to her feet way too fast, and before she could stop herself, she slipped over the edge, her scream echoing through the compound.
Pietro ran over and caught her in his arms.
Her green eyes were wide with fear, and she stared up at him in disbelief, as if he offended her in some way by saving her life.
"I thought I told you never to catch me," she uttered, her palm flat on his chest, her nails slightly digging into his skin as she held on.
Pietro rolled his eyes, setting her down carefully. "I don't like being told what to do," he said, keeping his eyes on her. Crystal opened her mouth to say something back, but she struggled to form words, and Pietro stared at her interesting face and waited, but she just rolled her eyes back at him and walked away.
He looked back up at the roof, saying, "what exactly happened?"
"What happened?" she scoffed, swiping her long hair out of her face. "I overworked myself and passed out, that's what happened."
He wanted to laugh, or at least taunt her about something, but he thought of Nik, and suddenly, the idea of laughing didn't feel right.
Crystal noticed his odd behavior, because she stopped walking and turned to him. Kat was just a few feet away, her golden hair blowing from the soft breeze that swept through the compound.
"No sassy remark? Nada?"
Kat walked forward, placing her hand on Crystal's arm. "It's Nik," she said, her voice a blanket of comfort. Crystal furrowed her brows as if she didn't understand, but then she looked out at the tree line that was miles away, then she looked up at the sky, where the stars were now visible. Pietro saw tears in her eyes when she finally looked back at him.
"Fuck," she whispered, kicking at the ground. "Was it just him? Is everyone else okay? What about Markus? Is the fight even over?" she turned around, looking to see if there were anymore enemies, but Kat grabbed her arm again and hugged her. Crystal didn't hug her back, she just leaned into her and began to cry.
Seeing Crystal cry...it hurt Pietro.
Pietro turned away to give them privacy, and he looked at the main building and how looked dead now that the fire was out. He knew Wanda was inside, and he tried to prepare himself for what was to come. He would have to be patient with her and loving and strong. Nik meant so much to her.
Nik was the one who took care of Wanda when Pietro was too busy working and grieving over Sharon. He was selfish during those long seven months, and he hated himself for it, but deep down, Pietro was glad she had Nik there to talk with and laugh with and be happy with.
If Pietro had been a better brother, he'd have done all of that with Wanda, and maybe she wouldn't have met Nik, and maybe he would've still been alive.
All of this, in the end, was his fault.
A wretched scream broke Pietro out of his thoughts, and he looked up at the windows to the main building and saw the glow of Wanda's magic from inside. "Get down!" he screamed, turning to Crystal and Kat just as Wanda's magic broke through the windows. Glass flew out, and Katarina turned on her back and shielded them all with her fire.
Wanda's screaming continued, and Pietro stared through Katarina's gold shield, where Wanda's magic was still pushing out from the main building.
The second it was over, he ran inside.
___
Tony stood near the entrance of the compound with Sam, watching as cars began to pull in.
Two vans swerved around, and from the back, men in stealth uniforms rushed out, their guns raised.
Tony and Sam just looked at each other.
Rhodey wasn't anywhere in sight, but Maria stepped out from the second van, a gun in her hand, cuts on her face.
"Spread out through the area and bring in whoever is still alive," she instructed the men, and they all went off to follow her orders. "That Markus Decker is one crafty son-of-a-bitch" she said, pushing her gun into her thigh holster. "We were attacked on our way here, just...completely side-tracked by twenty guys. We lost two, but, we managed to arrest five of them. What about you? Is everyone accounted for? Fury wants an update."
"Where's Rhodey?" Tony asked, feeling a little worried that his friend wasn't there.
"He's already at the new location," she answered, and he relaxed the tension in his shoulders. "Looks like he caught you guys by surprise," she said, looking out toward the main building, where gray smoke now made its way up to the sky. Tony nodded, trying not to think about the time it was going to take to rebuild everything, but also the new improvements he'd have to make the avoid another attack like this.
He was already planning it all in his head.
"We can leave now if you'd like. I'll have my guys stay here and get things cleaned up that way you guys can just get going. I'm sure you're tired."
"You're damn right," Sam said, pulling his goggles off. "I could use a drink."
Maria smiled, pulling out her cellphone, but Tony saw something in the reflection of her eyes. It was red, and he turned around to face the compound to find the source.
It was Wanda magic.
"What the hell," Maria and Sam said in unison.
Then a sharp scream tore through the air, a scream he'd heard before. It was the exact scream that Wanda let out that day with Ultron. It was the scream that split through the sky the moment Pietro died.
Everyone on the team new the scream of Wanda's pain.
Something had happened.
The windows to the main building shattered due to the magic, and Tony brought his hand up to shield his eyes as the force of it sent a strong breeze toward them.
"Please tell me you guys know what's going on," Maria said, pulling out her cellphone.
"Who are you calling?" Tony asked, closing the front part of his mask.
Maria brought the phone up to her ear. "Fury."
Tony turned, looking at Sam, who already had his goggles back on. Without saying a word to each other, they both flew up into the sky toward the main building. As they neared, Tony felt a wave of anxiety rush through him.
He feared for what they would find once they got inside.
*********************************
A/N: Wanda:'(
There is ONE more chapter, and then I'll write an epilogue of course, then it's over:(
Not over over, but over in terms of Chaos:)
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! Let me know what you think!
Talk later xx