Chapter 4
When Wanda left her room to have breakfast, she realized that the inhabitants of the compound were gathered, along with Nick Fury and Maria Hill, in the common room.
"Sleeping beauty has finally decided to join us," Natasha stated, her voice sounding very teasy. She was probably making fun of the witch's sleeping habits, in her own nice way.
Wanda displayed a fake smile, in an attempt of showing her that she was annoying. She looked at the people reunited, searching for a free seat. "You may sit beside me, Wanda," Vision kindly suggested, which she accepted to do. As Fury and Hill were explaining their following mission, Vision silently slided her a plate that contained a single pancake. "I assumed you might feel eager to eat, it was cooked by Agent Romanoff," he declared, his humanoid face growing a small smile.
"Thank you, Vis," Wanda replied, it felt nice to be cared for. She focused back her attention on the briefing as her mind adjusted itself to the idea that she will have to be constantly concentrated on the environment around her, as Natasha had taught her.
"Suit up, we'll have to be quick," Maria finally concluded in a determined tone. The Sokovian noticed Natasha walking up to her to whisper something in her ear, quickly wondering what this was about. She could try to infiltrate Agent Hill's mind, but she wouldn't. Her powers had caused enough trouble, she was sure the redhead would agree.
A few minutes later, they were all in the quinjet, except for Vision, to Tony's previous request. As Wanda fidgetted with her numerous rings in the back of the engine, away from the social activity, Steve walked up to her, quietly sitting next to her. His figure was impressive, and it felt quite reassuring to know he was on their side. "Nervous ?" he asked, his pitch betraying how much he was concerned. They had grown to be good friends since they were both great listeners, he had recounted her a lot about Bucky – the one from the fourties. Wanda held a deep respect for him, he was always ready to help the team, or anyone, actually.
"It will be fine, right ?"
"It will. Nobody has any doubts, and we'll be there if something bad happens," he sweetly informed, setting Wanda's mind at ease. She felt ready, Natasha had been training her really hard, she had made a lot of progress. The witch was now able to completely focus her attention on the present moment, which was something crucial that she had struggled with during most of her life. She always seemed to be stuck between the nostalgia of her past memories and the crushing anxiety of what was coming.
As soon as the quinjet landed on the snowy ground, the team started to walk toward an old HYDRA base that was supposed to be unoccupied – according to one source that had the reputation of lying. Before they entered the bunker, Wanda's stare quickly shifted from the door to Natasha, the Sokovian couldn't help it. Did she need a bit of reassurance ? This was what Natasha believed, thereby, she nodded confidently while holding eye-contact with Wanda. It appeared to be enough for the witch, the iris of her eyes turned in scarlet shades and she deeply inhaled cold air as Steve smashed the door open. Wanda could feel Natasha's disapproval : she could have easily unlocked it in a less brutal manner, even though the locking device seemed complex. She could do anything.
The avengers shortly realized Fury's intel was wrong, although he had warned them about this possibility. He could tell when someone was unreliable, but he detected some truth in his source, which convinced Steve to organise the mission, after he made sure everyone was on board. It was Bucky, after all, they knew they couldn't leave Steve alone to deal with this.
Bullets were now flying around everywhere. Steve and Natasha were fighting side to side, he was trying to protect the spy as best as he possibly could whereas she was successfully taking care of the people shooting at them. On the other part of the room, Wanda was handling three men on her own, she kept throwing red balls at them, in an attempt of getting rid of them without causing them too much pain. Rhodey remained busy with another man he was trying to converse with. When the
latter shot his armour, the military man let out an outraged “Rude,” before blasting him.
The fighting part seemed not to last a lot. These people definitely didn't receive a special training, it was easily noticeable. When the bunker sounded more quieter, Steve looked around a little. “Fury's source told him Bucky was detained here, two days ago. He's most likely not here anymore,”
“If he ever was,” Sam interrumpted, he still wasn't very fond of that Soldier guy.
Steve nodded, the expression on his face as serious as ever, before continuing his leader speech “I'm going to look for him, just in case. Wanda, you're coming with me. They might have brainwashed him again after what happened in Washington. Sam, inspect the perimeter, any traces of Bucky or information about his location are welcomed. Rhodey and Natasha, go through the files and see if there's anything related to Bucky.” A grave silence reigned in the bunker, they were all reviewing their purpose. “Is everyone okay with the plan ?” he asked, whilst specifically staring in the direction of Wanda, who wagged her head in agreement as well as the others.
“How come you're filling up for Tony ?” Natasha inquired as soon as everyone else left the room to fulfill their role. Her eyes seemed to be flying from page to page, she was used to reading endless files, it nearly bored her.
“Relationship problems. He's going to surprise Pepper by coming to her office, he's probably flying to LA as we're speaking,” he sighed loudly, showing a sign of empathy for his oldest friend that kept messing up.
“Not a good idea,” Natasha asserted as a file written in Russian attracted her attention. “Never bother someone who's working,” she added in a low-pitched voice.
“Right, that's what I told him !” the colonel complained, turning away from the file he had been reading. “He didn't listen...”
“Maybe you're not good at convincing people,” she replied while displaying a playful grin on her lips. Before he could retort, they heard Sam's voice through their communication device, “I found something.”
Natasha ordered her teammate to stay here and continue their assignment while she went looking for the Falcon, he sounded pretty serious. She focused her senses on any kind of human activity, quickly distinguishing the sound of the man's poll. The spy soon realized that she had fallen into a trap : a man that didn't look familiar was trying to choke Sam, who was barely breathing. She didn't even think for a second and started to attack him.
It was obvious that she had the advantage in the fight, only she didn't see the person from behind, holding the gun she had taken off of her opponent's hands. Natasha heard Sam's voice ring out, he had shouted her name whilst pointing behind her, his other hand massaging his enjured throat.
She swiftly turned around, and it then seemed like time had slowed down, nay stopped. She viewed a bullet that was hanging in the air, right in front of the middle of her eyes. The bullet remained surrounded by some scarlet energy, and when she stared in the distance, Natasha saw Wanda. Wanda who was walking toward them with a shy proud smile exhibited on her face. Wanda who dropped the bullet that had been suspended in the air thanks to her strange abilities. Wanda who had just saved Natasha's life.
Steve was behind her, he strongly overthrew the shooter with his shield ; his eyebrows were shaped in an expression of calm annoyance. He walked up to Natasha, making sure she hadn't been hit, which seemed to irritate her more than anything. “Did you two find anything ?” she asked, turning back her focus on the mission. She had simply nearly been shot, it wasn't the first time.
“Not a sign of Bucky. But we found some SHIELD agents that had gone missing for a few months, at least they're going to see their family back,” he asserted with a sad smile directed toward Wanda who was standing next to him, awkwardly. She would never see her own family again, and the silence filling up the room confirmed the fact that they had all realised his slip up.
Natasha sensed a wave of sympathy hovering over her, so she spoke out, “I still don't get the part where you two ended up here.”
“She felt you were in danger. I don't really understand how, but it seemed urgent, and she was right,” Steve explained while looking gratefully at the witch standing still beside him.
Wanda looked very pale, and tired, which was noticed by the spy. “We should go now, the guy who tried to choke Sam sent out a signal,” she lied. Wanda wouldn't be able to defend her ground if another secret shooter made an appearance and tried to attack the Sokovian.
As they were all seated in the quinjet, updating Hill on what they didn't find, Natasha found it hard to focus on their conversation. The spy, holding a file that she had swiftly grabbed before they left the bunker, discretely gazed at a Wanda who was fighting to keep her eyelids from sliding shut. She seemed to have used all her remaining energy to save Natasha.
Maybe her powers weren't so bad, after all.