Wanda Apologizes
Wanda was shaking. Her fingers were moving just like Tony’s had in the clip. Sam stood up and went over to her.
“Wanda? Are you alright?”
She looked up and there were tears in her eyes.
“I… I am the person that they gave it to. Stark’s powers. They waited all that time from when he was a child. It was never about someone who would serve Hydra. They knew I hated Stark. They wanted him to feel the pain of having his own power turned against him.”
She looked around. Her eyes widened when she saw the way Bucky was staring at her. If looks could kill…
“Bucky… Winter… I’m sorry.”
He shook his head and his eyes softened.
“Damn. No kid. It’s not that. I was thinking about Pierce. It’s not your fault that Hydra is so ruthless.”
She looked down onto her hands. Many thoughts were flying through her head. At the same time Steve sat a bit straighter and asked:
“Why did Tony work with Hydra? He wasn’t brainwashed or anything.”
And that seemed to be the last drop for Rhodey. He stood up quickly and went over to Steve swaying a bit on the way. Vision got up from his seat but didn’t move from his spot. Rhodey pointed a finger at Steve and said angrily:
“Listen now Rogers. Howard abused Tony from the point when he turned two. Now, Tony never told me that he was a mutant. Just that Howard was a drunk. Tony got taken away by the person he begun to treat like a father. He loved Winter more than he ever loved Howard. Winter was taken away from him and he turned to the only people who didn’t think he was a freak. The only people who he had learned to trust back then. And I’ll tell you that it was hard to get his trust already then. So leave your stupid comments to yourself or I will personally throw you out of the tower.”
Steve looked ashamed for a second but then he shrugged and turned his eyes towards a shaking Wanda. She slowly looked around and, when Sam, Rhodey and Vision sat down, she got up.
“I owe you all an apology. I didn’t realize until now that my behavior was bad and that I didn’t follow any logic. I… I am sorry for the part I took in this war and I… I think I understand why Stark… Tony, did what he did. He locked me in my room but now I understand that he was really trying to protect me since he knew how the world treated people like me and him. And I didn’t even listen to him or really let him explain. And there are a few more things I would like to apologize about. First of all I’m sorry for showing you those images. I didn’t realize Ultron’s full plan back then and I acted out of fear. Now it is in no way excusing what I did but I’m sorry. Especially about what I showed Tony and you Natasha. I figured you were the strongest ones, the ones that would do anything to keep the team together but at the same time you were the ones with the biggest weak spots. And I’m sorry Bruce for the way I controlled you while you were the Hulk. Tony is right. You would never hurt anyone intentionally. It was all on me. I never owned up to this before because I was still believing that some of the Avengers were worth less than the others. I’m sorry Vision for fighting you when all you tried to do was protect me. I understand that my crimes may not be so easily apologized but I swear that I will do anything I can to make things better.”
Everyone was staring at her. To everyone’s surprise the first one to speak was Bruce.
“I know you were controlling me back then. I realized it later. When I thought back on how the Other Guy had been calmer before that accident. And I forgive you Wanda. You realize that you did something wrong and that’s the most important thing. That’s what Tony taught me. He said that he realized that making weapons was wrong and as soon as he realized it he could start to fix it. So I forgive you.”
Rhodey shrugged.
“Hey, you didn’t really do anything against me in that sense and as long as you won’t hurt Tony I’m all fine with you.”
Next was Natasha who simply nodded and gave Wanda a small smile.
“I am with Rhodey on this one.”
Clint and Sam didn’t feel like they needed to say anything. They had been on the same side as Wanda. Steve was watching her with curiosity. Almost as if this was the first time he noticed her. Then Pepper stood up, went over to the girl and hugged her.
“Who knows? Maybe I could learn to like you after all.”
Wanda hugged her back with almost desperation.
“I’m sorry Pepper. I didn’t realize…”
Pepper nodded. Then she let go and they returned to their seats. Wanda glanced over to Vision. He was the only one who hasn't spoken. Seeing that Clint smirked and asked:
“Hey Viz. You okey?”
Vision slowly turned his head towards Wanda and, ignoring Clint, said:
“I’m sorry too Wanda. For not explaining things a bit more when I had the chance. I would like for us to be friends again if you can promise me to not hurt Mr. Stark again.”
She nodded quickly. And suddenly it felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her. She felt that the people around her were now happy that she was there instead of simply accepting her because they had too. Then an idea struck her and she looked over to Pepper.
“Did Tony know? That I was created from his power.”
Pepper looked up to the ceiling and said quietly:
“Would you mind playing the clip from shortly after the Ultron fight Friday?”
Instead of answering the AI simply turned it on.
Pepper was standing in Tony’s workshop with her hands on her hips. He was sitting on a chair and looked exhausted.
“I don’t understand you Tony! She goes around and messes with peoples brains, she makes Bruce destroy a city, she sides with Ultron, she gives no damn about you and acts like a brat! How can you be so nice to her?! And how can you ask me to be nice to her?!”
Tony sighed.
“Pep I… You know what? Screw it. You deserve the whole truth after everything I’ve put you through. You know that I’m a mutant right?”
She nodded but kept her mouth shut. She knew how hard it was to get Tony to talk about himself. She didn’t want to ruin the moment.
“Well my mutation, my power, was very much like Wanda’s. I could levitate things. Her eyes go red when she uses it. Mine went blue. That was the reason why Howard abused me. Then Winter got me and I could use it however I wanted. But then Hydra happened and they trained me to use my powers against others. I learned how to torture people. All because I wanted someone to be proud of me for who I was. And because I wanted to revenge Winter. But then Hydra took my powers away and threw me out. I wasn’t needed. They told me that they would use the powers they took from me to create someone who would serve them. And now, so many years later, we suddenly find a girl in a Hydra base. And she can do exactly what I could do back then. And surprise surprise. The girl hates anything that has to do with the name of Stark. You know that I don’t believe in coincidences. Wanda has the powers that were taken from me. She had a part of me inside her. I mean, the kid could be my daughter!”
He laughed a short laugh and then continued in a sadder voice:
“I know… I see what I have become because of people turning away from me when they found out what I could do. I know how it feels when it seems like the whole world is against you. I know what I am. I know how badly my story will end. I don’t want the same fate for her.”
Pepper slowly moved forward and hugged him. After a few seconds of hesitation he hugged her back. While holding him tight she nodded.
“Fine. I’ll do it for you Tony. But don’t you dare thinking ever again that your story will end badly. You have friends around you. Me, Rhodey, Natasha, Clint, Steve, Bruce, Thor. I’m pretty sure that new guy, Wilson, is nice enough not to judge you by the fact that you literally fell asleep naked in the White House.”
Tony pulled back quickly taking the chance she gave him to get out of the heavy topic.
“That was one time Pepper. One time. And it was still not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.”
She smiled warmy at him and he smiled back.
“Thanks Pep. It really means much.”
Then he put on a mock seroious face and said:
“Miss Potts if you wouldn’t mind taking my daughter on a shopping round. You know where all my cards are. Just use one of them.”
She nodded.
“Will that be all Mr. Stark?”
He grinned back at her.
“That will be all Miss Potts.”
She went out followed by his laugh.
Wanda was once again shocked.
“I tried to, more or less, kill him. And he thinks of me as of his daughter?”
Both Pepper and Rhodey nodded. He was faster to start speaking.
“Tony has always dreamt of having children. But due to an… experiment… that Howard did on him he couldn’t have his own children.”
Bucky, who had been once again deep in his thoughts, snapped his head towards Rhodey and asked sharply:
“What experiment?”
For a few seconds Rhodey looked incredibly uncomfortable but then he looked towards Bucky and answered:
“Howard didn’t think that Tony’s genes were good enough to keep the Stark line alive. So he castrated him. Tony was three.”
Everyone paled. Except for Vision and Pepper who knew about it. Suddenly Bucky got up, went over to a wall and put his metal arm through it. Wanda closed her eyes. If Tony Stark ever woke up from the coma she would do anything she could to act like the daughter he wanted to have.