Chapter 26
Lian May opened her door, revealing her surprise to see her daughter, face as blank as ever, sweeping into her house in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. “Why are you here, Melinda? You never come.”
“I need your help.”
“I’m retired. You should be thankful the defenses I installed in this house have your ID installed as safe, or you wouldn't have made it to the door.”
“Don’t worry for me, Mother.”
“What do you need?”
“Your agency may have been absorbed into the CIA when you retired, but you still have contacts.” Melinda stated.
“Of course I have contacts.”
“What do you know about the White Witch?”
“A mere ghost story. The perfect operative. Technology decades ahead of what is possible for even the best of the best of intelligence agencies. No known goals, allegiances, sources, or even contacts.”
“And the Winter Soldier?”
“Even more of a legend. Three sightings to survive. One was your fellow agent Romanoff, now an Avenger. The other one was a hint dropped by Stark, and the third one died of wounds after he said he saw the Soldier. MI6.”
“Nothing about them working together?”
“Neither has been said to collaborate with anyone but directing people that seem to be cannon fodder. Of course, it's all ghost stories.”
“You have a copy of the video feed of the Black Widow working with the Winter Soldier.”
“Yes. And you have proof that both exist.”
“Other than the fact that the call sign the White Witch leaves behind is also on the Winter Soldier's arm? The violet, lined in black, line within a circle within a equilateral triangle, with an infinity symbol on top.”
“Why did you come to me, Melinda? You swore not to be one of my agents or rely on me for anything the day you joined SHIELD.”
“Well they say never to trust the word of a professional spy.” Melinda said. “You know more.”
“I know that you’ve been trying to go undercover under them and going about it the wrong way.”
“What do you know?”
“I have contacts everywhere, Melinda.” Lian said. “The question is why do you need to use my network?”
“I need to go in.”
“Fury wants to? It’s been circulated that the network has offered Fury a place as an ally with their top boss but he refused. No wonder he’s grasping at straws.”
“Who told you this?”
“An anonymous note from an anonymous source.”
“You won’t tell.” Melinda said bluntly.
“Of course not. You know how to cultivate contacts. You can’t betray them at first glance or you won’t get anything from them in the future.”
“What if I said I was genuinely interested?”
“You can get in the same way I did.”
“And that would be?” Melinda asked, postponing the fact that her mother was in the network.
“A mission. Going against everything you stand for, to prove your loyalty to the boss is above anything else. Not easy, of course, but you don’t expect it to be.”
“When was this.”
“For me? A year before I retired.”
“What did you do?”
“Statistics. Nothing in the field, but my contacts. My whole web, my own mother’s, and yours.”
“For working for a boss with undefined goals?”
“They’re very similar to SHIELD, except not for the government and therefore without those boundaries or regulations. They don’t waste their people, anyone who dies does so willingly. I manipulate my contacts. Your loyalty is to SHIELD first, but mine is to my family first, which is why I’m telling you this.”
“No mother, thank you. I have all I needed.” Melinda said in a rare moment of sincerity bleeding through her.
When Lilith apparated into the castle, she was met with red magic, flung at her in angry, powerful waves. She flicked her finger, and didn’t let it show just how much the magic was hurting her. She would need to work a little more than usual on magic refilling soon because of this, especially given the magic was both internal and infinity stone, half witch and half infinity stone, it was as close to an opposite of hers as one could get. Her two students were dangerous, she had ensured that herself.
//canon data dump time
Wanda Maximoff remembered the moment that she had first met her teacher. At age 16, fresh out of their sokovian orphanage, they had volunteered for tests, tests to see if they were enhanced. Of course, they said yes. That they were approached by a representative of Baron Zemo was even better. They had gotten to meet the Baron himself and his wife, a year later.
But they remembered the moment they had found that they were, in fact, enhanced. They were two of three Sokovians found to be so, them and Eugenia Zemo, the Baron’s daughter. And then there was that moment, more so than volunteering or even finding out for certain about the enhancements, that their lives changed completely and irreversibly.
“Today is very important for you, so be on your best behavior. You too, Eugenia.” Baron Zemo told the three young adults.
“What’s today, a press conference?” Pietro asked in his usual manner.
“No, you’re meeting the one who allowed your enhancements to be discovered, and the fender of this all.”
“Aren’t you just Hydra, endless heads each of whom directs itself?” Wanda asked.
“No. Not in truth. Hydra was disorganized. Aimless.” Baron Zemo started.
A newcomer sent disguised as a servant interjected, stating simply, “Hydra is dead, but you’d best be perfect in front of the boss.”
“The boss? Papa, I thought you were the boss.” Eugenia Zemo said.
“No. I direct this branch , but I am not the boss.” He said, still nevertheless proud of his daughter. He had never expected to find out she was a teleporter, but even then he had known that she was never going to be on the level of the Boss. It was, however, a large honor and something particularly good for Eugenia that the Boss had even agreed to teach her to master and hone her power.
The portal key landed in the grand hall of Baron Zemo’s mansion, bringing with it the legendary Boss.
“Duchess Black?!” The Baron exclaimed surprised.
“Baron Zemo.” She greeted.
“You’re the Boss.”
“I’m the Boss. Or did you expect my husband to be leading this endeavor, Helmut?” She asked. “These are the three you spoke of?”
“The only three enhanced in Sokovia.”
“I doubt that, they’re just the only ones whose abilities have been activated. But that is good, there’s no point in creating enemies.”
“My daughter, Eugenia Zemo, and they twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.”
“Well, let’s see just what they can do. Miss Zemo?”
“I’m a teleporter, Ma’am.” She said, showing off by popping around the room. The Duchess e a little hum and then traced the same exact route, replicating the path Arne the hall. “Good, but a lot more potential. Don’t limit yourself by what your abilities are defined as. You belong outside our currently known laws of physics, space time, and every other discipline of science. Act like it, train like it, and live like it. Your abilities don’t define you, but they do influence every aspect of your life. Control it before it controls you.” She said, giving that advice before moving on.
Pietro sped and the room, taking the Barons advice and keeping his smartass mouth shut.
“Hyper aware view of the world, enhanced metabolism, enhanced reflexes and instincts, enhanced senses, heavily enhanced body, and you use it for super speed? Well, that’s a start.”
Wanda, she looked at, and her green eyes seemed to see straight through her. “Well, you’re interesting, Miss Maximoff. You’re a little like me in that regard.”
“Truly?” Wanda asked. This woman controlled all the hidden back ways of the world.
“Quite.” The Duchess assured confidently, then closed her eyes, smiled serenely and a ball of condensed emerald magic, tinged with black, appeared, floating over her left hand. Tendrils of it reached out, growing, wrapping themselves around Wanda until she was fully covered, head to toe in the magic. And then the Boss hissed, as she took a two back, her eyes flying open, her eye glowing the same color as her magic. “Miss Maximoff, you have potential to be the greatest sorceress this world has ever seen, potentially even reach the level of the greats such as Hermione Stark herself.”
“She was a sorceress? What you called me?”
“Hermione was called the greatest witch of her age, and one of the greatest mages to ever lived. I don’t know if you reach the level of a mage, but given the nature of your magic, I would stay a master sorceress is well within your grasp, and a good one at that.”
“Are they good?” Baron Zemo asked.
“I won’t kill you, or them if they weren’t. I don’t condone senseless murder. But you will get a bit of a raise for this.”
“I don’t get paid, I have no need of it.”
“Who said anything about money? No, I think a reusable port key should be more than enough.” She said. “They’re very valuable, I’ll even set it up for you.”
“They are impossible to get. Who is the supplier?”
“Why, I am. The one and only. The information will die with me so I suggest you don’t give it away or break it. Invest in a DNA lock.”
And that was the moment Duchess Black chose Wanda as her personal protege, not to mention teaching Pietro and Eugenia as well.
They were all dangerous. They were taught that way.
Lilith hissed as her shield flickered, impossible to spot for anyone who didn’t have a connection to her own magic. “Wanda Maximoff, you will cut that out this instant.”
“No. I’m breaking free of your gilded cage. You made me a dangerous monster, I’m better than that.”
“I had your full consent for anything we did, and you were never a child during the process, always a full legal adult. What is you problem, Wanda?”
“You killed my parents.”
Lilith pushed back against Wanda’s magic and wrapped everything except the girls face in her own magic, cocooning her. “Wanda Maximoff, you think I had nothing better to do than kill two random sokovian civilians?”
“My parents were more than that.” Wanda seethed.
“Well I don’t give a damn. We all have mommy and daddy issues. Deal with it. I don’t know who killed your parents became I never cared to find out. They’re dead and I won’t do necromancy for you, especially when you’re like this.”
“Necromancy is possible?!”
“To talk. There’s no bringing them back but on the anniversary you can talk. Attack me, the only person who can help you do that, won’t help. Now, what happened?”
“A Stark missile killed them. It landed on our building, and nearly killed Pietro and I as well. I think our abilities saved us.”
“Likely. Now, why blame me?”
“Everyone knows you’re the mastermind of everything and your husband is Tony Stark, the engineer behind that bomb. Your bomb killed my parents, then you conveniently swooped in to train me at jet the right moment. No more.”
“Wanda, you think Tony tracked where his bombs went after he sold them? You think I did until Stane? Wanda, get used to it. Until you do something, things will happen to you and nobody will give shit. That’s the way the world works, Wanda, and you’re not nowhere near strong enough to change it, not wise enough to know what to change it to. Now pull back your magic or I’ll stop holding back.” Lilith said, the threat evident in her cold voice. Wanda was starting to see why the Baron both admired and defeated her teacher.
“I’m stronger than you.” Wanda stated confidently.
“Oh?” Lilith asked simply curious, looking at Wanda as the latter pulled back her magic.
“Your ability is that you’re a simulator. The last person whose actions you focused on, you can replicate their talents. It’s why you seem so powerful, you have nothing of your own.” A shot was fired at her from the ceiling.
“Now your only good abilities will be that of a sniper, yet you have no guns on you.”
“Wanda, dear.” Lilith started kindly.
“Don’t try and beg me to let you copy me again.”
“I won’t.” She said kindly. “I appreciate your initiative, but you should know by now, things are not always as they seem. You’re a sorceress, Wanda, with the potential to reach the level of a witch. But you will never, ever, be a true mage. Not the way you’re going about things now.”
“I won’t let you put me down anymore.”
“Of course not, Wanda. But thus world has only has ever seen three true mages. Me. The war criminal who led the first publicized alien invasion. And my last student. The White Witch. You have the potential to become the fourth, Wanda, and if Pierre wasn’t such an adrenaline junkie, if he wanted to advance himself beyond what he could already do, so could he.”
“And Eugenia?”
“Eugenia Zemo will stay a teleported. She is powerful, but that is as far as she could get.”
“Or as far as you’d let her go?”
“Eugenia is meant to be Baroness Zemo after her father decides she had enough, and she is powerful, but her powers are a talent, they will not define her life and she will advance so she can control them before they can seize control of her.”
“You taught me and I thank you, but some secrets cannot be forgiven. I’m done.” Wanda stated.
“You won’t leave.” She said. “You want to know why?”
“Because you think I need you?”
“No. Because you’re so much like me. You don’t need someone to understand you, you have Pietro, and I suggest you apply as much warding on him as you can. Losing a person like that isn’t something you get over.”
“You lost one like that.”
“Hermione.”
“Hermione Stark.”
“Why did you even teach me?” Wanda asked suddenly.
“I’m not going to give you the bullshit that I saw in you, myself. You were born gifted, talented, and people like us, we’re born, and then we’re made. We’re made to be dangerous. We’re made to be feared, respected , beloved and worshipped in equal parts. We’re people made for power, whether we like it or not. We’re not made to rule, or even to lead unless necessary. We’re born as catalysts. To change. To move. And I taught you to improve you, so instead of the world sculpting you, so you could sculpt yourself, so you didn’t need to nearly destroy the world before you realized you should save it.”
“The Avengers saved the world. Whatever their flaws, they did.”
“There is public one-battle world saving. But no army quits after they lose the first battle.”
“The chitauri were destroyed by the nuke.”
“You think the chitauri were the end of it?” Lilith face a hollow pained chuckle. “Wanda Maximoff, why do you think I keep my network instead of just ruling the world? The world isn’t ready for many things, but that won’t stop them coming anyways. The Mayans and the Aztecs predicted the world would end in 2012. It did. But our new world still is far from what it needs to be. Wanda, there’s the Avengers. They’re warriors, and good ones, yes. But they’re mostly only necessary for keeping the public believing they’re safe. The real work? Few will ever know, and those that do, they all fear me. Will fear you. Us. But it’s not about what they know.”
“Necessary evils.”
“There was a very wise mage named Albus Dumbledore. When he was my mentor, he told me that the best of evils serve the greater good at the sacrifice of those who enact them.”
“Secret martyrs.”
“No Wanda. Those ones who die have it easy. It’s the ones who keep living who shoulder the burdens of the world.”
“Why you?”
“Because I’ve already been there once. There won’t be any more.”
“And me? You’re omnipotent.”
“I’m one person, Wanda. So are you. We’re equal and opposite. Don’t put enemies on the list.”
“Did you kill my parents?”
“In 1995 I was busier stopping an apocalypse than killing two sokovian civilians.”
“I believe you.”
“Good. Because you have a lot to learn.”
***
“Director Fury? I got all I could.”
“What did you get, Agent May?”
“Not much. They call themselves the Order of the Phoenix, and their leader is called simply either The Boss or the Dragoness. They’re very heavy on magic mythology.”
“When more and more of it seems to be proven true…” Fury started. “That assignments done. I want a full dossier on Dudley Dursley. Before he leaves for Asgard next week.”