Chapter 5
Stannic ran from her room out into the yard, not staying put as she had been told. She looked around and saw widows dragging bodies into a pile, no doubt for Wanda to disintegrate later.
“Stannic!” Ava called out.
Stannic paid her no mind, sprinting across the fields towards the Barton’s farm. When she reached it, she burst in and saw Steve waking up.
“Dad!” Stannic threw herself into his arms and he piked her up quickly, holding her tightly.
“God, I thought I lost you and your mom, baby. Yelena says Nat is all right?”
Stanic nodded, in Steve’s arms her head buried in his chest.
Yelena was surprised. She had never expected to see Stannic ever willingly jump into the arms of another man no matter how much she loved him. She wiped a tear from her eye.
“Where is Natasha?” she asked.
Stannic turned to her with a scowl. “Giving that bitch exactly what she deserves. It’s my fault.”
She looked at all the Bartons. “She had been watching me for a week, and I never noticed her. I should have noticed her. I’m so sorry.”
Laura hugged her tightly, taking her from Steve’s arms. “Don’t you dare apologize. This was not your fault. You aren’t supposed to notice things like that. It will be okay. Let’s wait until Nat gets back and we can find out more. We will handle this. You will be safe. This will never happen again.”
“Wanda said she can fix it. She will fix it. She always does.” Stannic told them. “Dad, she injected me with…”
Steve held her tightly, anger and concern warring, knowing how terrified Stannic was of needles.
“Yelena call Nat or Wanda. I want to be where they are now.”
“It’s too late. Wanda has them. You know what Wanda does to those who hurt Widows.”
The room quieted, even the Barton kids knew what Wanda did when a Widow was threatened.
Siberia
“I’m just saying maybe you have partaken in one too many apple pies, Natasha. Even Yelena has noticed. Do you bother training anymore?”
Natasha turned on her. “Speaking of training, any plan on what you plan to do? Your nutrition is horrible, and you hate exercise. Losing baby weight should be fun.”
Sheoka screamed from the ground.
“Please, stop arguing! Heal my leg! ‘m begging!”
Both women looked at the assassin on the ground with the snapped arm and leg bones and skin missing from below her left knee.
“We are having a conversation.” Wanda told her and snapped her fingers. The woman’s mouth went away, and she tried to scream louder, horrified.
“Go to Stannic. I’ll handle this.”
Nat shook her head. “I need to check his system. I want to know why he is here. He is paranoid but building a place here buried in a mountain is extravagant even for him. This place is too high tech, and he obviously had links to Russian for them not to notice.”
“I read his mind. He really was that paranoid, and Siberia is isolated enough that the Russian government did not notice. This place wasn’t even built by him. It was an old cold war fallout shelter he upgraded. Go to Stannic.”
“You can’t know everything. You didn’t spend that much time in his head. I need to check. You know nothing about computers.”
Wanda raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Do you think I can’t download an enemies data? I’m a Red Widow. What do you think we do?”
“I think you ask Yelena or Maria, or Mika or Rachel…I can go on.”
Wanda sighed, knowing what was going on. “Nat, Stannic needs you. Go be with your daughter.”
Nat began to silently cry as her tough façade dropped. “I failed her.”
Wanda shook her head. “No, you didn’t. It happened and I’ll fix it.”
“I should have worn a veil! I always go out of town wearing a veil to keep bitches like this from picking me up on facial recognition.”
Wanda nodded. “Yes, that was stupid. Probably as dumb as me walking around Sokovia with my daughters in the open. But we have to live lives. I would love to keep them hidden at the Mansion at all times, never take them out into the world. They would be okay with it, but I wouldn’t be doing my job as a mother. You aren’t doing your job by staying here. Go to your daughter.”
Nat pointed to the woman on the ground. “Not until she is…”
Wanda snapped her fingers, and red flames began dancing up the assassin’s body. Her mouth returned and she shrieked, rolling on the ground, trying to extinguish them to no avail. The red flames resembling Wanda’s magic continued to slowly dance over her while she writhed and moaned. Natasha watched satisfied as the woman slowly and deliberately burned to death.
Her screams did not stop until her face was blackened by fire.
Wanda opened a door into the Barton’s house and floated Nat through it before she could protest.
“’I don’t know anything about computers’ she says. She is so damn arrogant. She thinks she is the only one who can download information. Such a superiority complex. I’ve seen it done hundreds of times. It isn’t that hard.” Wanda mumbled to herself.
She wandered the fallout shelter, slightly impressed by how much work had been done. She hadn’t seen much in his head. Her main concern was ensuring Stannic was still hidden. She agreed with Nat but would never admit it. There was likely some connection to him and the Russian government and Wanda had probably let Nat kill him a bit too soon, but she was angry.
She found a computer and pressed a few buttons, moved the mouse and it finally turned the monitor on.
“See? Easy.” She whispered to herself. “Now to learn all your secrets.”
Her grin went away quickly.
“Password. Okay, that makes sense. What is Mika always doing? She types…something. The screen goes black and there are green dots and letters and a lot of colons and semi-colons. Back slashes also. Always so many back slashes. Yes…control alt delete. That should do the trick…what is task manager? Guess I should click on it…nothing…solitaire…windows edge…ugh. This is frustrating. Where are the files… it must be Excel spreadsheets. I did many of those for lessons. I know Excel. If he is keeping his records on a spreadsheet…no that isn’t it.”
Wanda let magic flow gently from her fingers. The red energy caressed the keyboard and did…nothing.
“Tento zasraný počítač! Nepriznávam tej arogantnej žene, že to nemôžem urobiť!” Wanda shouted.
She took a breath and rather than using the communicator, used her phone. She called Nadeja.
“Hey Angel. Could you go to the Bunker and hand your phone to Mika?
Nadeja was silent for a moment. “Why don’t you just call her on the com?”
“I have something private I would like to speak to her about.”
“Then call her phone.”
“I don’t want there to be a record of this call. It will be just between the three of us. Ask her to step away from the others and hand her your phone. Do it casually. Don’t say it’s me.”
Nadeja began walking. “Where are you at?”
“Russia.”
“What are you doing?” she asked her Mama.
“Some computer stuff.”
“Doesn’t Mika or Maria or Rachel or Aunt Yelena or Ingrid, or Uncle Everett do that kind of thing? I heard Sasha say once that technology wasn’t really your thing. Magic is your thing and that is a lot cooler.”
“Baby, just let me know when you are in the bunker, okay?”
Wanda heard the elevator ring.
“Is Becca okay? Did she go back to sleep for Megs?”
“Mama, I want to challenge Denise to the mat.”
Wanda sighed. “Not this again. You are not allowed to challenge Widows on the mat, Nadeja. You know I don’t like you fighting and you aren’t trained to even spar and you never will be if I have anything to say about it.”
Nadeja huffed. “Then make that idiot dog Mitsy go away! She attacked Storm and Fanny again today! They both had to hide in our room! Nela’s cats had to scare her off! Denise brought that monster into our home, Mama!”
Wanda sighed. “She has as much right to a pet as anyone else, Nadeja. Maybe Storm and Fanny need to show a bit of bravery. Mitsy is a toy poodle who just wants to play and likes to bark.”
Wanda heard the elevator stop.
“Mitsy is a danger to this compound and all who reside in it. I heard from Claudia that Gabby told her Penny almost tripped over the beast because she was lying on one of the stairs! We have many stairs. Who knows how many Widows she wants to take out? A wrong fall and necks can be broken, Mama.”
Wanda sighed. “Baby?”
“Give Mika the phone.” Nadeja guessed.
“Yes please angel.
After a few moments of whispered conversation, Mika answered.
“Nat and Stannic are having a tearful reunion.” Mika told her. “I heard you are still in Siberia learning all of Dran’s secrets you didn’t take from his head before Romanoff finally did the job right. You have no idea what you are doing, do you?”
Wanda thought for a moment. “I was able to open up Window’s Task Manager.”
“My, you are a regular Black Hat Hacker. Have you tried a DDoS attack? What about a brute force attack?”
“I can hit it?” Wanda asked, liking the sound of that.
Mika burst out in laughter. “I’m alone in the sleeping area of the bunker. Open up a door for me, all powerful Nexus Being.”
Moments later, Mika was standing in Siberia next to Wanda who was staring at the offending machine.
“Did anybody see you leave?” Wanda asked.
Mika shook her head. “Rachel is on the coms but stealing this guys money is more Maria’s thing.”
“Help me get information and then I’ll call Maria to come in.”
“Why didn’t you just ask one of us?’
“Romanoff was here. I wasn’t going to admit I couldn’t do something in front of her. Besides, it doesn’t look that hard when you and Maria do it. You hit some keys, go to a black screen with green letters and backslashes, type in a few, the green letters start blurring like that Keanu Reeves movie where reality was a computer program, and everyone was being used as batteries. Do you remember?”
Mika nodded. “Great movie. Too bad the sequels sucked. Move aside, let’s see what the Scarlet Witch can find out.”
Mika began working.
“Ha! There is the black screen and green letters! I was right.” Wanda practically shouted.
Mika stopped typing and stared at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Act as if I’m not here.” Wanda mumbled.
Mika worked for the next ten minutes while Wanda wandered the room, taking in the improvements to the old cold war bunker. She was impressed. Dran must have been incredibly paranoid to voluntarily live in a place like this.
“Oh shit.” Mika said. Wanda turned to her and saw Mika’s face was pale as if the color had drained out of it.
“What is wrong?” she asked.
Mika pulled a chair up to the desk and began typing, not saying anything.
“Mika?”
“Dran was funding secret projects for the Russian government, off the book’s black projects. In return they agreed to give him enhancements. Mechanical enhancements.”
“Okay. He wanted to be superhuman. So did Osborne.”
Mika nodded. “Yes but imagine if Bucky volunteered to have his arm removed and replaced with vibranium. Some of those stolen vibranium shipments that have been hijacked are being taken to Russia. They were working on enhancing people, not with serum but turning them into cyborgs. Dran was promised indestructibility. Apparently that bullet to the head Romanoff gave him scared the hell out of him. He was funding the project to turn him into a cyborg. The project was under the purview of a Professor Phobos. Piotr Phobos is his full name, so it isn’t a code name like we thought. This Phobos as been using different mixtures of chemicals, radiation and even elements of vibranium to make…enhanced beings.”
Wanda nodded. “Do you have a list of these people and their powers?”
Mika nodded. “Yes.”
“Then why do you look so frightened? Of everything and everyone we have faced, is one of them so terrifying?”
Mika looked at Wanda for a moment sadly. “They are using stolen vibranium to make cyborgs and enhanced beings, but only Wakanda should know how to use vibranium in that way. They have something that cracked it for them. A program they recovered and believe they control. A program that knows exactly how to manipulate vibranium.”
Wanda stumbled back and shook her head. “No…he was destroyed. Vision destroyed the last of him. That…I tore his only vibranium body to pieces.”
Mika sighed. “Wanda according to this report from Phobos, the Russian Government found pieces of a rogue program attempting to infiltrate their nuclear codes after the battle of Sokovia. They recognized it as different from a virus, isolated it on an unconnected mainframe and realized it was A.I. They began speaking to it and discovered it was Ultron. They compared codes from Ultron’s activities between his creation and the final battle and confirmed it was him…it. They think they have it controlled. In exchange for not destroying it, he has been helping Phobos create these enhanced beings to protect the Motherland.”
Wanda ran to a trashcan and vomited. Mika began patting her on the back. Wanda met her eyes, and a look of rage covered her face then surprisingly, sadness.
“Download everything. I’m sending you back to the compound. Do not upload whatever you download into any system, even unconnected systems. Just hold on to it. We will have a Widow meeting when we all return. I need to go protect Stannic, make sure she is never targeted again. Don’t worry about getting Maria to take his money. We aren’t touching anything Dran had a hand in.”
“Got it boss. Are you okay?”
Wanda shook her head. “No, I’m not. But that is okay. We don’t always have to be okay, right? That’s what Imi says.”
Mika nodded. “I’m guessing you don’t care if the others know you didn’t get this information?”
Wanda shook her head. “No. Everyone needs to know everything. We are having a meeting, and I want Shuri there. Everyone needs to know. Secrets are what he thrives on. It’s why Ultron wanted me to play mind games with the Avengers. It’s why Zemo was so successful against the Avengers. We aren’t them though. We are going to tell everyone.”
Iowa, Roger’s Farm
Wanda walked into the living room through a red door. She was wearing the garb of the Scarlet Witch. Steve was on the couch holding Nat who had her arms wrapped around Stannic. Both women were crying. She saw Clint as well.
“What is it?” Yelena asked, knowing something was terribly wrong by the look on Wanda’s face. Wanda looked at her and she understood. Not here.
“Clint is your family okay?”
“Yeah. I think we are. Stephen came and checked out the kids. The gas… damn it, Wanda.”
“It’s our fault. Me and Steve. We should have moved somewhere else.” Nat said in a broken voice. “We will…”
“No, you won’t, Nat.” Clint argued.
“We can’t put your…”
“Enough!” Wanda snapped, catching everyone off guard.
She saw she had surprised everyone but Yelena. The other widows, Clint, even Stannic was looking at her in surprise.
She shook her head slightly. “Sorry. No one has to move anywhere. I’m going to do something I should have done when you first moved but I never thought of it. I’m going to make this town and your land as safe as Sokovia is from spies.”
Wanda walked outside. The house had quieted at her words, but they followed to the porch and watched as she stood in front of the pile of bodies. A flash of red and the bodies were gone.
She looked to the sky and raised her arms.
The sky turned red, and walls of red chaos magic began spreading over the county as quickly as possible. The citizens looked up in the sky and thought they were looking at a fast-forming lightning storm.
The it was over.
“The county is under my protection, just as Sokovia is. If anyone enters meaning you harm, to spy or attack, they will glow red. Even if they are standing in front of your property they will not see you anywhere in this county. You will be invisible to all who wish to harm you but you will see them.” Wanda explained.
“You did this over all of Sokovia?” Clint asked.
“Yes, as well as Widow Compound. This spell protects my two homes, and it protects your home now. When you leave the county, wear a disguise. It will work. I will also be placing permanent doorways into your homes that leads into Red Widow Compound Bunker.”
“Our home?”
“Yes, Clint.”
Clint nodded gratefully, knowing it was a big deal to give them to give anyone access to their compound. “Thank you.”
Wanda took a breath and knelt in front of Stannic.
She placed the tip of her finger up and Stannic smiled sadly and touched Wanda’s fingertip with her own. It was something they did when Stannic had first been free and Stannic would have panic attacks often. Wanda would offer her calmness through touch. It had been their thing.
Wanda’s finger glowed red, and she hooked Stannic’s finger with her own.
“Repeat after me. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Wanda told her, knowing how much Stannic loved those movies. Stannic genuinely smiled.
“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
The red magic covered both their bodies.
“Are we going to go into a Harry Potter Hex now?” Stannic asked. “I don’t think I am up for one right now.”
“I just did something I should have done but never thought of before. I will do it for all of you, even your children if you will allow Clint. When you say I solemnly swear that I am up to no good, I will hear you and know where you are at all times. It is a way to summon me. Say that phrase and I will be there, any time, no matter what I am doing, even if I am sleeping it will wake me.”
Wanda stood and turned to Yelena. “This is going to take a while. Why don’t you all go back, and Mika can give you the rundown on what we found in Dran’s system.”
Bucky stepped up and touched her shoulder, giving her a questioning look. Wanda subtly shook her head, and he nodded. Yelena led the girls out and he followed. Wanda opened a door and the Widows were gone.
Nat held onto Stannic tighter and the two began crying again.
“You want me to ask Imi to come here or bring her to the Mansion?” Wanda asked.
Nat shook her head and handed Stannic over to Steve. She rose and Clint and Wanda followed.
“Thank you.” Nat said and hugged Wanda. A surprised Wanda stood stiff as a board, not having expected this. Clint had an amused smirk on his face. Wanda awkwardly patted Nat on the back.
Nat backed away and smiled at her. “What did you find?”
“Enough. Nothing for you to worry about. Some interesting things and if anything becomes of it I will let you know. You should be safe now. Your…internet is under assumed names, right?”
Nat and Clint looked at each other, taken back by the question.
“Uhm…ours is under Rogers but since World War 2 there have been a lot of Rogers males named Steve. Thousands in the U.S. alone. Why are you asking?” Nat asked.
Wanda sighed.
“If I tell you, then you cannot become involved. Nothing changes. Stannic comes first.”
Nat nodded.
“We have reason to believe Ultron, a piece of Ultron, however it works, is working with the Russian Government. Just… watch whatever you have that is digital. I’m not sure what is going on, but you do not need to be involved.”
“Oh shit.” Nat whispered.
“I am telling you because there should be no secrets between us when it comes to something like this, but I am trusting you to stay out of it. Stannic first, all right?”
Nat nodded. “Are you alright?”
Wanda shrugged. “I always am. Let’s get these magical chores done. I want to get back into my mom jeans, Becca will need feeding soon and I have to ensure Nadeja isn’t planning to assassinate a toy poodle.”
32 hours later, Silver Sable forwarding base, Switzerland
Coulson and Carol Danvers sat across from Wanda, Yelena, Mika and Maria. At the end of the table was Tony Stark and Sable. At the other end was T’Challa and his sister Shuri.
“I was surprised to be invited here, Wanda. The last time we gathered here we were preparing to battle Thanos. I hope this is for something less drastic.” Phil opened.
Yelena slid the memory stick across the table.
“What is this?”
“There is a laptop in front of you. It is not connected to any network. Read.” Yelena told him.
They sat in silence as Coulson and Danvers went over the data. He smiled.
“You found out about the Russian enhanced? And you are giving it to us?’ he asked, pleasantly surprised. Perhaps they could have a working relationship with the widows.
“Keep reading. If you are still smiling you aren’t done.” Yelena told him.
Coulson kept reading and the smile was defintely gone from his face.
“How is this possible? Ultron is supposed to be destroyed, all traces, right?” he asked Tony.
Wanda cleared her throat. “Before we went to Sokovia to battle Ultron…Vision had just been created. I remember something he had said.”
“He didn’t want to kill Ultron.” Tony joined in. “He said Ultron was in pain but since he wanted to end all life Vision had no choice but to kill him. Vision often did what he thought was best. He always did what he thought was best, even before he went rogue.
“There is also the possibility Vision was wrong. When Ultron first awoke he had thought he killed Jarvis. He had hurt him but enough of Jarvis stayed alive enough that he was assisting us from the shadows of the net.” Tony finished. I’ve looked at the data and so has Shuri.”
Shuri nodded. “It’s Ultron. He is the only entity…the Russians are doing things with vibranium I have only theorized but never attempted and never would. Ultron always wanted an organic body. Since the cradle didn’t work for him, perhaps this cyborg program is his next attempt. Why build an organic body when you can just take control of an improved one?”
Coulson sighed and sat back then looked at Carol.
“This says the Russians have him trapped, right?”
Tony snorted. “Then they are fools. Ultron is there because he wants to be. He has gotten more patient. He isn’t jumping into action. I guarantee he can leave anytime he wants. They may think they have him contained but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Coulson looked to Sable and then to Yelena. “Why now? The Russians had to know announcing their enhanced to the world would have every country in the world wanting to know how they did it and putting Ultron at risk of exposure.”
“They panicked.” Wanda said. “They feared us, feared me, but didn’t think I would make a move towards them. They assumed I already would have if I were going to, and they were right. Your Avengers are what caused them to react like this.”
Coulson frowned. “What did you expect us to do?!”
Wanda tilted her head but didn’t appear angry. “I don’t care what you do. You asked a question, and I am giving my opinion. The United States had nuclear bombs; Russia made nuclear bombs. The United States had Avengers and Russia began trying to make their own Avengers. It is simply an arms race that goes back to the beginning of the Cold War. Russia knew how to make a super soldier but didn’t know how to make enhanced.”
“Not until Ultron fell into their lap.” Tony continued. “He says, hey, why not use vibranium? Keep me safe and hidden and I will show you how. This Phobos guy gets excited, starts playing mad scientist, Ultron convinces him cyborgs are the next big thing and there you go. He can pit two Avengers squads against each other while he runs over the world as a cyborg.”
Coulson winced and looked at Wanda. “Sorry. I didn’t meant to jump to conclusions. You are right.”
Wanda waved away his concern. “No worries. It is stressful information.”
“What now?” Coulson asked the room, thrown off by Wanda’s non hostile response.
T’Challa spoke up. “We now know who the hijackers are of the Vibranium shipments between Wakanda, Symkaria, Romania and Sokovia. We and the Red Widows will stop Russia from gathering more Vibranium. As far as Ultron…”
He looked at Tony.
Tony raised his hands. “I’m out.”
“You created this mess.” Danvers pointed out.
“Yeah and my solution was Vision, and we saw how that turned out. I’m retired for a reason, and it isn’t just my mental and emotional health. You have people qualified to handle this. You have Banner. Banner knows as much as I do about Ultron. He was a part of building it, something that conveniently is not spoken of when Ultron is brought up. Shuri?”
The princess shrugged. “I will answer if you have any questions about technology they are using to create enhanced, but I will not share anything that is not already on that memory stick. I have redacted some of the information to ensure the processes are never used again on another human and no one knows what they are. You have everything else.”
Coulson nodded. “Thank you.”
“Thank you? No, thank you. It is your mess now. We wipe our hands of it.” Yelena told him.
Carol was surprised, already wondering how a joint team up with the Red Widows would work and who would be in charge. “You want to stay out of this?”
“Not just want to.” Yelena said. “We are staying out of it. Sokovia is protected. Wakanda, Symkaria, all our girls are giving protection packages to national defense and private networks that Tony developed to our allies. That is as far as our involvement goes.”
Coulson sat back and met Yelena’s eyes.
“Yelena, we could use all hands-on deck…no, that is a bad terminology…we could use…”
Yelena raised her hand. “What do you want us to do Coulson? Do you want Wanda to use magic on computer screens? She just learned how to work Windows Task Manager. Maybe you want us to shoot up some servers? We are not going to invade Russia in some attempt to find a server Ultron is supposedly trapped in only to find he isn’t really trapped. The Russian Avengers or whatever they are called are your problem not ours. Let the so-called superpower nations fight among yourselves. We gave you the information. Avengers fight the battles others cannot. Do you still use that line? Here is your battle. Now go fight.”
Danvers looked across at Maximoff who was surprisingly quiet. Everything she had ever read or studied about the woman was not on display. She expected Maximoff to be defensive, quick to temper, sarcastic, wishing to charge in and blow everything up.
Instead, she just looked tired. Of course, having a baby would do that but this seemed different.
“You okay with sitting this one out, Wanda?” Carol asked her curiously and quietly, not wanting to challenge but to get a read on her mood.
Wanda nodded. “I lost my brother to that monster. A lot of Sokovians died because of that monster and my role in his existence. I’m not losing another family member to him. I won’t lose a single sister or child to him. Yelena is right. You are the Avengers. This is your problem. You have everything we have on this situation. We haven’t downloaded it into our system. I would suggest you be very careful. That memory stick came from straight from Dran’s computer. Ultron could have had bots on it. Is that right, Mika?”
“Bots. Good job, Wanda.”
Wanda and the Widows stood. She opened a doorway for Tony who gave her a wink and walked into thin red glowing air and disappeared. She did the same for Sable.
“We will meet later to discuss the hijackers, T’Challa?” Yelena asked.
“Yes, please come for dinner and bring your parents. We are serving the pie your mother loves so much, Yelena. Wanda, my mother is becoming impatient. She wants to hold Becca.”
Wanda gave him a small smile. “We will be there tonight.”
Wanda opened two doorways for T’Challa and themselves and Coulson and Danvers were left alone.
“I suppose we will be taking the long way home.” Coulson said. “Unless you are going to fly on your own and leave me alone in the Quinjet.”
Danvers shook her head. “Explain that to me, Phil. I’ve studied every detail known about her. I’ve watched all the video footage, the rare interviews, talked to everyone that has known her that will talk. She has been described as cocky, arrogant, vengeful and a true psychopath. She has also been described as a hero, a leader, a good mother, protective sister, dedicated and loyal friend and a messianic figure who inspires loyalty in everyone who gets close to her, apparently even the king of Wakanda.”
Phil wasn’t sure what to say. He had been taken back by Wanda’s demeanor. When he had challenged her he had prepared to get into a verbal war with her and Yelena, feeling them out and analyzing their responses.
Instead Maximoff brushed his aggression aside. “I read the reports what Monica sent to the SWORD before the Widows got her and Maximoff messed with her mind. You read those reports. Sexually abused, emotionally traumatized. Killer from an early age. She probably has the trademark on every mental health condition defined by medicine. Just because we haven’t seen her depressed doesn’t mean she often isn’t. Perhaps postpartum depression?” Phil pondered.
Carol shook her head.
“That wasn’t depression I caught in her eyes.”
“What was it?”
“Fear. She is scared.”
Phil had a hard time digesting that. He had seen Wanda Maximoff go toe to toe with Thanos, knew she went after Vision, and he had never seen a sliver of fear. Rage, despair, savage glee, pain, but never fear in her eyes.
The more he thought on it the more he realized Carol was right. Wanda was afraid.
“This isn’t good.” Carol told him. “A creature…entity…I mean I get it. Wanda thought she had killed it. She had gotten revenge for her dead brother, now she finds out that it lived regardless. Belova is right. What good could the Widows and a witch do against a super artificial intelligence with no permanent physical form. If she takes her girls against Ultron there is a good chance many of them could end up like her brother. She isn’t afraid for herself. She is afraid for her Widows.”
Carol paused. “What are we supposed to do, Phil? I agree with Stark. I think it’s best if he stays uninvolved but what about the rest of us? How do we fight an incorporeal villain? We can’t get to Russia to delete it.”
“We might have to. Let’s say Stark is wrong and the Russians really do have Ultron trapped and are using him instead of him using the Russians. Taking out the mainframe his reassembled remains are stored on may be our only chance at ending him permanently. If he isn’t trapped, then we at least force the conflict in the open before he is ready, and the Russians no longer have him.
Carol took a moment, knowing Phil was making sense. They had to take the chance, but there was one large problem.
“We can’t go onto Russian soil and attack them clandestinely. We invite not only open conflict with their enhanced but we as in SHIELD, the Avengers, are basically declaring war on a Superpower that has an economy on the brink of collapse and is very desperate to not appear weak right now. Two weeks ago, I said we needed to come with an understanding with the Widows about not operating on U.S. soil without going through us. Now you are suggesting we attack Russian without going through their protectors?”
“Their government is promoting this. They are sponsoring this. We have to stop it, and we have to do it quietly so it can’t be traced to us.”
Carol crossed her arms. “And when the United States does something like using a child to bomb a train in another country and the Widows attack us with that same reasoning are you going to be okay with it this time?”
Coulson closed his eyes and dropped his head.
“I get it, Coulson. I don’t like sitting back. In the universe I solved most of the conflicts I became involved in with strength. Do you know what I learned? Sometimes that made it worse. Over thirty years I spent traveling the universe, trying to help those who couldn’t help themselves and I had more failures than victories. I want to protect this planet, but I also want to do it as the good guys. We can’t start acting like SHIELD used to act. If that is true everything Russia says about us, everything Maximoff and Belova think of us will have proven them right. I don’t want to do that, do you?”
“I want to save the world.” Coulson told her.
“Then we will, but we are going to be the good guys when we do it.”
Phil grinned. “You sound like Steve Rogers.”
Carol shrugged. “I’m not Steve Rogers. I suck at frisbee. C’mon, I’ll fly you back to base and we can figure out our next move.”
Latveria, Doom Castle
The man in sat in the dark corner, a green hood attached to his cloak covering his face in darkness. He had a wineglass in his hand, a small table next to him and a beautiful woman across from him who was also drinking wine.
The woman was not a lover but perhaps the only person in the world Victor Von Doom considered a friend. He was determined tonight to begin making a new friendship.
“I am glad you had the time to dine with me, Silvija. It has been too long since we have visited in person.”
“I regret that. Much has been going on in my life as you know.”
“I do. How is Ava doing?”
Sable smiled. “So much better. She wanted to meet you, but I told her how…shy you are. Perhaps one day.”
“Her grief?”
Sable nodded. “Better. Lessening. She has been through much and it is unfortunate, but pain has been a part of her life, emotional and physical pain. The two of us have grown closer. Her therapy is going well. She still has moments when she is melancholy, almost inconsolable but we get through them. Having her sisters and their missions to focus on helps her greatly as well. Our therapy together is going well. I think we are closer than I ever dared hope. She has even shown interest in the business and how it is ran.”
Doom nodded. “That pleases me to hear. You deserve it, Silvija. Grief has been a constant in your life as well as mine. I lost my mother and father when I was a young boy then Valeria was taken from me. You lost your parents, left on your own to run a country and then to lose your husband and daughter. My heart has ached for you, friend. You deserve happiness.”
“So do you, Victor. Why do you not let me approach Wanda for you? She can heal those wounds that cause you to hide behind metal and cloth. Come into the light again.”
Doom chuckled. “I carry these scars as a punishment. I made the same mistakes my mother made. I tried to manage a force I did not fully understand. I received my power, but it cost my one love’s life. I have no desire to erase them. I would like to meet Wanda Maximoff though.”
Sable was too surprised to answer right away.
“She would love to. She has mentioned to me many times that she wants to thank you for your help taking in the displaced orphans they rescue. Yelena has always been curious about you…”
“Not Belova. Not Barnes. Just… Wanda. Can you ask her to join me for dinner here in two nights time?”
Sable stared at him for a moment.
“No.”
Doom was silent.
“No, Victor. First, Yelena and Bucky are very protective of her. Yelena would never agree to let her go alone. Bucky would do so if she asked but would be furious inside.
“Second, she is a twenty-year-old mother of three who has just celebrated her first anniversary. It would not be appropriate for her to have dinner with you alone.
“And finally, she won’t meet anyone alone by her own choice. Red Widows never travel alone. It is their number two rule behind not taking each other’s clothes and shoes.”
Doom was quiet for a moment. “Silvija, do you believe I have inappropriate intentions towards the girl?”
“Do you? Why do you want to meet her alone?”
Doom took a moment.
“Silvija, you have never told them about my interests. My power. A power I have but have been afraid to unleash. Only my closest associates and my one dear friend, Silvija, know of my curse. That remains true?”
“Of course.” Sable assured him. She knew Doom had the potential to cause Thanos great harm, but she also believed he had just as much potential to kill everyone on the battlefield. He thought it was too much of a risk and she wasn’t going to risk Ava’s life or any of the Widows’ lives on Dr. Victor Von Doom losing control of the powerful mixture of sorcery and science he had worked on over the years at a time when chaos was already being unleashed.
“I have told no one of the power you have told me you cannot control. The experiments you tell me do not work. Why do you want to tell Wanda Maximoff Barnes about these curses of yours?”
Doom stood and walked to the fireplace, stared into the fire.
“I have discovered a combination of archaic spells that when charged into my armor could allow me to break the dimensional barrier and rescue her.”
Silvija shivered, the fire not helping the chill she just felt.
“You mean your mother?”
“You told me when you helped them destroy Elektra’s complex that Ave mentioned something about Wanda attacking a demon. Do you recall the demon’s name?”
Sable nodded. “It was hard to forget. The devil’s agent in Faust. Mephisto of German folklore. I’m not sure what it’s real name is of course. You would know more about that than I ever could. You wish to ask Wanda about the demon?”
Doom turned to her and pulled his hood lower so she could not see his face with the fire behind him.
“Only one demon calls himself Mephisto and he is not folklore. He is very real. He is also the one who has my mother’s soul. In three months, the barrier will be thin enough to break into his realm.”
Sable shook her head. “Absolutely not! She is not going to help you battle some demon in hell! You shouldn’t either, Doom! It’s madness! Look what using these arcane forces have cost you trying to save your mother’s soul. It cost Valeria’s life, your disfigurements, depression, a drive to gain more power that you cannot control while you hide in this damn dark castle! If you won’t stop, that is your decision, but I won’t let Wanda be dragged into your mess. I have my daughter in my arms every night because of Wanda.”
Doom sighed. “I have no desire to drag her into anything. She learned from the Book of Vishanti. She knows Chaos magic. At twenty years old, she knows more about magic than I have in a lifetime of studying. I just want her advice.”
“Then you will have to get over yourself and invite her and her husband. I will extend the invitation to the married couple and even invite Yelena Belova. Perhaps she will bring Kate Bishop. You can host two loving couples.”
“Silvija…”
“I could invite the twins also. I know you love being around children. Can I tell them it is okay to bring the cats and dogs? Why don’t Ava and I join you? I will bring my Wild Pack and…”
“Enough! I understand. Please ask her and Yelena or her and Mr. Barnes to visit me at their earliest convenience. One or the other. I wasn’t aware the Nexus Being of the Universe required bodyguards.”
“Nexus Beings require friends and family, or they go insane. The same can be said about many powerful individuals. Wanda is still recovering from giving birth so it may be some weeks.”
Doom turned back to the fire. “She hasn’t healed herself?”
“She doesn’t consider herself injured, nor should she. Are you all right, Victor? I know this is important to you but don’t let it destroy you more than it already has.”
That night after Sable had left, Doom entered the lowest levels of his castle. On his bench was a special armored set carved with runes, carefully designed. He needed one thing to make this armor able to withstand any power a hell dimension could attack him with. He needed the blood of a nexus being, anointing the runes.
He had stood by, using sorcery and science to protect Latveria in the event Thanos won the war. He could have gotten involved and could have turned the tide easily. That would have meant exposing his power to every other powerful being in the world. That would not do. He decided to let Wanda Maximoff handle it, betting everything that she could win and survive. Now she would know of his power, just enough to make her want to help him. She would never learn the true extent of his power unless necessary.