7
"Five years ago, we lost."
You stood next to Pietro, donned in a time travel suit that clung closely to your skin. You grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently as your nerves caught up to you. He gave you his best reassuring smile and a nod, and you took it with your own.
Steve, with his signature inspirational speech, looked over each of you. His confidence was somewhat contagious, he gave nothing away as he watched you all, but you could tell he was scared. "All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves."
You swallowed hard and glanced down at your forearm, where your mark was supposed to lay. You shook your head and looked back up. "Today we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams. You know your missions. Get the stones. Get them back. One round-trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. That doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win. Whatever it takes."
You all nodded, raising your hands and pressing them together in fists. Whatever it takes.
"Good luck," he nodded.
Rocket looked up at Scott, "He's pretty good at that."
"Right?" Scott nodded enthusiastically.
"Alright, you heard the man," Tony nodded as you all went to your respective places on the platform. "Stroke those keys, Jolly Green."
"You ready?" you asked Pietro, letting go of his hand to go to your spots.
He began to nod before sighing gently, his eyes falling on Clint. "One moment." He walked over to the man, who stood watching the ground. There was an obvious conversation in his head, but Pietro could not begin to decipher it. "Clint," he caught his attention, making the marksman raise his head. Pietro sighed and looked down before nodding. "I can't say I fully forgive you...that would be lying. But I get it, I understand." He held up his hand, "And this is as close as you're getting to an apology for the ambush a few days ago. So enjoy that."
Clint chuckled a little and nodded, raising his hand and shaking it. "You don't have to apologize, Pietro. I get it, and I'm sorry."
Pietro nodded and gave as much as a smile as he could before returning to your side. You gave him a look that had him rolling his eyes. "You say make amends, I'm making amends. I'm trying."
"I know... Thank you," you told him. He nodded and pulled you into a quick hug before returning to his spot.
"Trackers engaged," Bruce called.
Lights began to illuminate around the pad as it powered up, vibrating underneath your feet. The glass from the mirrors overhead clinked and sparkled as they formed, moving to activate the machine. Your helmets engaged, forming over your heads and completing your suit. The ground opened up and swallowed you all whole and suddenly...
You were flying.
It was like you were soaring through space and time...because you were. Shrunk down to a size your mind could not even comprehend, you glided through molecules and macromolecules. Lights flashed around you, whether they were simply illusions or actual activities you could never begin to understand, you did not know.
All you knew was that there was a sudden flash and...you were in a building, a dark room that shielded you from the world outside of it. You looked at Pietro as both of your suits disappeared from your body, replaced with the stretchy, red material of workout leggings and a t-shirt. Pietro's attire was similar, except it was blue and he wore baggy shorts instead.
"It worked," you breathed.
He nodded, "Yeah, now let's go beat up our past selves." You laughed quietly and opened the door slowly, looking both ways into the empty hallways to find your old selves. As you roamed the halls, quickly and quietly, you came across them in no time, huddled together in a conversation like they were hiding something.
You came up behind them, sneaking quietly. As you came up behind them, you raised your hands over their heads and brought them down swiftly and forcefully, successfully knocking them out as they fell to the floor. You caught yourself before you–er–she, could hit the ground.
"Ow, that's gonna be a bitch when I wake up," you muttered, dragging the bodies away with Pietro at your side. You stuffed them in a broom closet, stripping them of their outfits and putting them on so you could find the scepter without being stopped for looking too different. There were robots, they would notice a difference.
Wasting no time, you traveled down the long, winding halls. It had been a while since you had been in this building, and you hardly knew the layout at the time. You were pretty much completely lost. You were following something, a sort of pull. You did not know what it was. could not quite put your finger on it.
As you turned a corner, you had not expected to be stopped by someone's body crashing into yours. You almost stumbled back, but Pietro caught you quickly, as well as the hand of whoever was about to fall. Your eyes fell to the floor, only catching sight of the shoes the person was wearing. They were the same as in your vision, boots that lace up their legs with a type of tie that was far too intricate to be anyone else. Before you could regain your bearings and see who it was you had just assaulted in your hurried quest, you heard the chime of a voice, laughter.
It was the most beautiful thing you had ever heard.
Your breath was knocked from your chest, replaced with a beautiful type of pain that you had not felt in a very long time. Your eyes opened wide as you laid them upon the love of your life, the very center of all your affections, your very reason for breath and life, your soul's deepest and longest desire.
Wanda.
"Hey..." she chuckled lightly, her shadow lined eyes watching the both of you. They were so beautiful, hazel eyes that were sometimes green, sometimes blue, sometimes gray, sometimes they even seemed to be a beautiful mixture of light brown. They glimmered as they watched you, searching your own for some answer to a question she had yet to ask. Her lips, lips you wanted with all of your soul to kiss, were pulled into a small smile as they parted to speak.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" she asked. Her accented voice was like a cool salve to a burning wound. If you had not already been breathless, you would have had more air knocked from your shallow lungs. Her fingers reached up to brush dark strands of hair behind her ear, fingers that were donned in too many rings for her to be able to properly move them half the time—but she did move them, and every single time she did, it was like you had been hypnotized by some sort of great magician, a sorcerer, and she was a sorcerer. A beautiful witch who you long to touch once again, to hold in your arms and claim as your own with a ring of your own to present to her.
"I... We..." you struggled to speak, to find words to say to her after being without her for so long. It was difficult, like you were learning to be human. "Hi," you finally managed with a breath. You were positive you were doing horribly at "acting normal".
But Pietro was doing just as bad as you.
"Sister," he breathed as he looked over her.
"Hello..." she replied awkwardly, her smile still set on her face. Your heart was pounding in your chest, you could practically feel it in your throat. You had to fight the urge to reach out and grab her, pull her in to give her the deepest kiss you could ever manage. Five years was far too long. "Where are you going?" she asked, tilting her head as she looked between the both of you.
"Oh, um..." you had gotten so distracted already, you could not think straight as you shook your head. "I don't remember."
"Well, I was on my way to get food because you said you were hungry," she said, glancing over at Pietro. "Are you still hungry?" She chuckled at the end, knowing that there was no way in hell Pietro was no longer hungry. He had an appetite the same as Bruce.
He almost scoffed playfully, "Starving."
She chuckled again, this time it leaned more towards a laugh as she nodded. You were almost crying right then and there at the sound of her laugh. She raised a hand, pointing behind you in a motion that said she was headed somewhere. Her long, baggy sleeves drooped down as she pointed before her ringed-up hands returned to their usual place resting in front of her body. One of the scenes from your vision. "Then I will be on my way."
You panicked, you could have sworn your heart stopped in your chest as she announced she was leaving. She brushed past the both of you on her way out, but you stopped her with a firm grip on her arm. "Wait! Wanda." You quickly let go of her arm, realizing that you may have been hurting her. Your eyes were wide, the feel of her name on your tongue better than anything else you had felt in a long time.
"Yes?" she asked slowly, concern in her eyes as she examined the both of you closely. Her brows knitted together, one raised as she watched. You did not know what you were going to say—what could you say that would not sound suspicious? You struggled to find the words, trying to find anything suitable.
But there was only one thing you could say, the only thing you wanted to say to her in that minute. "I love you," you said. Your tears burned away in your eyes to keep them from slipping down your cheeks and alarming her anymore than she was already alarmed. "I love you..." you repeated, finally sighing as you nodded, "and Pietro. I love you and Pietro. I just wanted you to know."
She smiled a little, and it made your heart soar. She reached a hand on and placed it in yours, squeezing gently as you threatened to let out a choked sob. Pietro seemed to be in the same boat, but it was getting hard to focus on Pietro when your soulmate—who has been gone for five years—is standing right in front of you with a smile and her hand in yours.
"We love you, too," she promised. She opened her arms and you ran into them, holding her body against yours so tightly, it was like you were trying to mold her to you. She was a perfect fit in your arms. You took a deep breath, she smelled like home. She giggled slightly, the attention made her smile.
Pietro's arms wrapped around the both of you, squeezing tightly and even lifting you off the floor for a moment. You all chuckled in response before you finally, painfully, like ripping a band-aid from a wound, pulled away.
She raised a hand to your cheeks, the coolness of her rings clung to your face and fed the flames of your eternal love as you leaned into her. "Are you sure you're okay? You're acting really strange—both of you."
Pietro nodded, squeezing her hand gently. "We're fine. Just happy to see you."
She laughed, a melody you so loved. Her lips spread in a smile, and you forgot to breathe again. "You guys are weird." She stroked your cheek with the back of her fingers before returning her hand to her side.
She turned to walk away, looking over her shoulder at you for just a moment and offering a smile before turning again. She shook her head and you watched as she left. You just stood there with Pietro at her side.
For the past five years, you have felt like her Orpheus, like an immortal being that was made to be hers and only hers. You walked together, hand in hand in an eternal love that filled your entire soul with Wanda. You were bonded together, spiritually woven as one... only for her to be ripped from your arms and condemned to a world separate from your own. It was like you had betrayed her, turned too quickly to see her still with you, only for her to disappear into the depths of a dreaded world because you were not strong enough to save her.
But perhaps you were being given a second chance... But you were scared that this chance would end up as the last, an attempt made in vain, all in the hopes of saving your love, only to end in another eternal betrayal.
Pietro set his hand on your shoulder, shaking you gently just to grab your attention. "Y/N, we need to go."
But you did not move. Still you watched an empty hall, wishing he would turn the corner again and run into your arms.
"Y/N."
You shook your head and dropped your head, looking down to your feet as a shudder racked through your body like the startup of a lawnmower. "I miss her so fucking much..."
"I know. I do, too," he sighed. He stepped in front of you, pulling your head up by your chin to look at him. He offered a half smile, brows knitted together as he nodded. "But we can't get her back if we don't get that scepter."
You took a breath and nodded, wiping your eyes at any stray tears. "Yeah, you're right," you said. "Let's go." He offered you another smile and you returned it, although half-heartedly.
You started walking and Pietro followed you, you seemed to have the mission set in your mind. "I remember where it is," you stated, not missing a beat as you kept going. He followed with a nod.
Through winding halls with the sounds of your footsteps echoing off the halls, you and Pietro walked to the lab. As you burst through the door, you looked around the room and saw the scepter, shining bright with the blue light of the mind stone buried inside of a Chitauri weapon.
Pietro smiled, but your triumph was quickly interrupted by someone's voice in the room. "Who are–?" They stopped when you saw them, and you turned to see Dr. Cho. The last time you saw her, she was dying on the floor. "Oh," she said as she recognized you. Her eyes were still shining blue, under the control of the stone.
Pietro walked up to the scepter, his hand out to take it. "What are you doing?" she stopped him quickly, almost panicked as she reached out.
"Ultron asked us to bring it to him," you lied quickly, stepping forward to grab the artifact.
She shook her head, looking around frantically, as if she was suffering from withdrawal. "But why would he send you? Why wouldn't he come for it himself or send a bot? You–"
You stopped her quickly, crossing your arms over your chest as Pietro picked up the staff, holding it at his side. You tilted your head, "Do you really want to question us and have to deal with Ultron when he finds out you stopped us from bringing it to him?"
"I'm sure he would love to thank you for that," Pietro agreed.
Your threats easily hit home as she took a step back. She nodded silently and you gave her a smile. "Thank you," you said. You turned to go, and you did not expect the abrupt stop you received as soon did.
A hand clasped around your throat. It was large, and it was cold. Your breath was immediately struggling to flow as it squeezed, just a little. You clawed at the hand as you raked your eyes up to see who had you by the neck. Goosebumps raided your body as the hairs along your body stood on end.
Ultron.
He towered over you with his seven to eight foot height, making the both of you seem like ants compared to him. Fear began to rise within you, but the more you thought and the longer you went without Wanda, the angrier you got. The embers of your hatred sparked as you held on tight to his wrist.
"What are you doing, you two?" he questioned, looking down at you and glancing over at Pietro, who rushed over to defend you.
"Ultron..." Pietro's eyes widened as he saw him, but his muscles tensed as he clutched the scepter.
Ultron's head tilted and his eyes narrowed as he looked over the two of you. He shook his head, thinking, calculating something. There was confusion and realization and more calculation.
"Oh, hm. Something... something is different," he shook his head. "You aren't... from here. Not now. Who are you?"
The metal of his arm began to glow red as it heated under your hands. His eyes looked back at you, cold and thinking. Yours were the opposite, they were red-hot with anger and frustration, glowing bright with fire. Pietro got the idea as his suit wrapped around his body.
"Pissed." You looked over, "Pietro!" He nodded as your own suit formed over your skin, shedding the clothes you had stolen from your past selves in favor of your time travel attire. Your fire burned right through Ultron's arm, which could not withstand the heat you used against him, and you fell to your feet with a gasp and his severed hand in your grasp.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, as if he was more annoyed than angry as his face contorted with both emotions. He went to grab at you, but you were faster.
You slammed the button on your suit meant to bring you back to the present. In a bright flash, you were sent flying back into the molecules between space and time. Back to the present, where you belonged.