Harry went down with agonized cry, and for a moment Natasha's heart froze. The sudden, gripping fear only took a second to push aside, but that moment needed to refocus could have easily been fatal. With Harry down, so was his shield spell, meaning that they were all now vulnerable to gunfire, and now she was a second slower than the enemy.
Quickly judging that she wouldn't be getting the first shot off, Natasha dove to the side, shielding her face as much as possible with her arm. Several shots streaked behind her, while one impacted against her waist and two against her thigh. The punch of the rounds were powerful but was blunted by the body armor Stark had designed for her. It'd take a truly high caliber round, or more advanced weapons technology, to more than bruise her.
The sudden sideways dive left her horribly exposed, but Skye, thankfully, reacted only a moment after the first barrage of gunfire. She used her powers on the guns, violently shaking them apart and exploding them into deadly shrapnel. Of the four soldiers facing them, the two slower reacting ones, the ones who had yet to even fire in shock at their appearance, went down bleeding. The other two reacted more quickly to Skye's powers, one throwing the weapon to the ground, and the other having the presence of mind to launch it at them. Natasha winced at the explosion, but a impromptu shockwave from Skye scatter the shrapnel so that it didn't strike them.
The soldiers, who Natasha was quickly re-eveluating to be enhanced, then rushed them with frightening speed. From her spot on the ground, she fired with her pistol, but in her haste her aim was poor and either due to superhuman abilities or body armor, the bullets that impacted had little effect. Skye followed up with another shockwave, but she was too late. One supersoldier ragdolled back into the wall, but the other had latched onto her arm. The two grappled with each other, and while Natasha had trained with Skye over the past few weeks and she knew that she was no slouch in physical combat, she also knew that if her opponent was enhanced she didn't stand a chance.
But despite this, they had one key advantage. Nat had a gun, they did not, it was that simple. To his credit, the man did attempt to shield himself using Skye's body, arm locked around her neck, intense eyes daring her to risk it. Skye looked to her with wide, uncertain eyes, but Nat responded with cold precision. She didn't hesitate for a moment; one headshot was all it took to neutralize him.
The other super-soldier wasn't done yet, but as he rolled back up to his feet Skye was ready with another shockwave "Oh my god, just stay fucking down." Skye grunted, covering for how being held hostage had shaken her.
Another headshot was the end of that one. "They're enhanced." Nat said in explanation, placing a soft touch to her shoulder "Good job." She then turned on her heel and knelt next to Harry, hand cupping his cheek. To her relief, his eyelids fluttered, but that relief was undermined when Harry gasp, and began to sob quietly.
Nat was very tempted to walk over and murder that girl, but making sure Harry was okay came first. She had no idea what that Hydra bitch had done to him, but Harry's reaction to it made her blood boil. "Hey, Harry, look at me. Stay with me, okay?" Nat said with forced calm.
Her words seemed to be working, encouraging Nat to continue. "You're here. You're safe. Focus and ground yourself. We've got you." Skye stood by helplessly as she watched Natasha handle him. Nat gestured with her head over to the body of the girl who had attacked him. Skye got the signal and went over to check her over.
"Where am I?" Harry asked, his voice hoarse.
"Sokovia. Its November 23rd 2013. We are assaulting a Hydra compound, and you were attacked by an enhanced Hydra agent." Natasha explained evenly, her thumb stroking his cheek. She melted a little when he leaned into her touch. "We've handled the situation, for now. Though we should get moving when you're ready."
"She's awake." Skye's voice cut in, and Harry instantly tensed. "She seems… out if it, though. Worse than Harry, even."
Natasha repeated whispered nothings to him as she continued to stroke his cheek with her thumb, until Harry was able to speak again. "She… she…"
"You don't have to talk about it yet." She told him.
"Need to know." He muttered. "She attacked my mind."
This time, it was Natasha who tensed, fury surging anew. "Saw my memories. Don't know… what she knows."
With all the serenity of the eye of a hurricane, Nat presses a kiss to Harry's forehead and then walked over to where Skye was crouched over that girl. She really was a wreck, trembling like a leaf, silent tears running down her face, eyes staring out at the world unseeing but haunted.
She drew her gun.
Skye blanched. She was a good agent, but she wasn't hardened like Nat was. Yes, this girl didn't pose an immediate threat, but she was still an enhanced operative. What was more, after what she had done to Harry she wasn't about to be merciful.
"Wait."
Natasha gritted her teeth but paused at Harry's interjection. "Please tell me you aren't going to ask me to spare her."
"Just, don't kill her."
"Oh my god." Natasha groaned.
Haltingly, Harry stumbled to his feet. "I know what it looks like, but she didn't just see my memories. I saw hers too."
"She fucking raped your mind!" Natasha spat. It'd been hard enough hearing about it from Clint second hand, but seeing it herself, seeing Harry's anguish and pain on full display… she would never forget it.
Harry winced at her blunt description of events, but pressed on "Wanda's not a monster. She's been through a lot and made some bad choices, but she's not a bad person." He looked down at the girl… Wanda, with, god help her, compassion. "When she… attacked me, so wasn't being cruel or hateful, she was terrified. She thought her brother was dead, and she freaked out. He's all she has left and… she just lashed out."
He was so good, too good. And it just made her angrier. Utterly disgusted with herself for being incapable of saying no to him, she holstered her gun. Pathetic, all he had to do was flash those puppy dog eyes at her, and the trained assassin melted into a smitten schoolgirl. "I hate you." She seethed, unsure of if she was talking to Wanda, Harry, the universe, or herself.
Harry's smile was a shaky as his stance, but it made her heart flutter nonetheless.
"So… what do we do with them, then?" Skye asked.
"Easy." Harry said. "Stupefy."
-----
Strucker walked past another pair of agents, not letting his growing anxiety show. This was not how he'd intended today to go. All of his enhanced assets had been taken out in a stroke. The twins- the twins- had both gone down in seconds. He'd underestimated Potter's abilities- his performance against the Winter Soldier in Mexico City had led them all to believe he was vulnerable, had they been wrong?
That was only the beginning of their failures. Natasha Romanoff had in fact linked up with Potter. He should have expected that. He knew that they'd had history. He'd been so focused on his plan that he hadn't seen the bigger picture. Regardless, the fact that no one in Hydra had noticed that two of their most high priority targets had linked up was a disgrace. Their intelligence had been suggesting that Romanoff was in Russia, perhaps linking up with old contacts. In hindsight, the evidence placing her there must have been planted by that agent Potter had recruited off Coulson's team.
Then there was the other rogue Shield agent… Skye. The fact that no one had known she was enhanced was a complete failure at all levels. Her abilities, combined with Potter's, had torn through their soldiers and defenses like they were paper. All of their preparations, their best assets, most powerful weapons, best laid plans, all of it had fallen apart before his eyes. Everyone knew it, too, yesterday the base had been buzzing with anxious energy, now… he was surrounded by the walking dead. They all knew this was a lost cause.
There was only one thing left in this base worth salvaging. The scepter was a powerful artifact, and a valuable bargaining chip. If he could take it and slip away…
The scepter was kept in the sub-levels. The most secure location in the entire facility. It could survive a direct Jericho strike, though likely not an attack by two Avengers. He dismissed the guards easily, hinting to them that he had plans for the scepter that might turn the tide, leaving him alone in the darkened room, which was cast in the glow of the artifact.
"Remarkable, isn't it?"
Strucker turned, and startled at his unexpected… guest. "Sinclair." He sneered. The alternative would have been to show fear, and that wasn't an option. He was losing everything, but he still had his pride.
Elisa Sinclair had been only member of Hydra leadership to be enhanced herself. She'd been disgraced and looked far worse for wear than when he'd last saw her, but that didn't make her any less of a threat. If anything, she had nothing to lose now, and she looked positively unhinged, this all made her incredibly dangerous. Perhaps he shouldn't have dismissed those guards, though he doubted they would have been much use against her. Had had seen how easily the twins could tear through people.
"A disappointing performance from the little witch." She remarked "You should have given her to me."
While yes, giving Wanda Maximoff to Sinclair would have been good for her training, he wasn't stupid. He had had control of the twins, but if Sinclair had taken over her training Wanda would have been hers. It wasn't like Sinclair wasn't operating under the same logic- she'd hidden what she'd been doing in London from all of them, hoping to get some advantage, and it had blown up in all their faces.
"Yes, give her to you. I'm sure that would work out as well as your last project did." He bit out, real anger showing. This was all her fault. She'd gotten Potter on their scent. She'd exposed them all. Officially, her position in Hydra hadn't been touched, but that was only because she knew too much. There were no doubt half a dozen black projects aimed at neutralizing her, it might have happened already if she hadn't disappeared. Disappearing had been a smart move, the only smart move, and it prompted both the question of what she was doing here now, and the obvious answer to that question. "And now everything we've all worked for is falling apart. I'm sure you're here now to take advantage of that."
Strucker blinked, and suddenly she was behind him, hand idly stroking the staff. "I'm only doing what you yourself were about to do." She said, lifting the weapon experimentally with her hand, and smiled as she found it comfortable. "But frankly, Strucker, I would be a far better wielding of the staff than you." She cocked her head to the side, smirking. The jewel atop the staff began to glow, she was… charging it up. "Its nothing personal. I know you'd do the same to me if you had the chance."
Strucker barely had time to flinch before the blue light enveloped his vision.
-----
Wanda and Pietro, curled up together, clinging to each other, an unexploded bomb feet from them. The name stamped onto the metal casing taunting them- the name of the person who had killed their parents- Stark.
Pietro pulled her to an alleyway, and they ran, gunfire crackled behind them as fighting once gain flared up at a checkpoint. It felt like they did nothing but run these days.
Wanda choked as noxious gas burned her lungs. Protestors scattered, packs and signs littered the street, tripping Wanda up as she fled. Where was Pietro? Who had just been beside her… through watering eyes, Wanda recognized the form of a black armored police officer.
For once, she felt like she was actually doing something important. That she might actually be making a difference rather than just surviving. She knew that Hydra had more than a bad reputation, but if they could stop the war in Sokovia and avenge her parents… maybe these 'experiments' would just kill her, but she couldn't bring herself to care all that much.
Wanda's memories still burned clear in Harry's mind- the long bitter struggle as her childhood became consumed by war, fear and trauma giving way to anger. The decision to submit herself to Hydra experimentation, accepting that she might well die from it…
To be honest, reliving his memories hadn't been so terrible, all things considered. The experience hadn't been any worse than his Dumbledore approved, Snape implemented Occlumency training. No, what really had him shaking was… the woman. It was his first glimpse into what had happened to him between being hit by Voldemort's killing curse and waking up in this new world, and it was, frankly utterly terrifying. Something in his soul shriveled up at the sight of her. He felt like an insect under a magnifying glass, utterly dwarfed in an indescribably profound way.
Still, his mind couldn't help but draw some obvious conclusions. He had sort of figured that the tale of three brothers had been metaphorical… but what if it wasn't? Who else would he meet after dying, other than Death?
It wasn't exactly a comforting theory.
Harry forced himself to think about something else, and thankfully they were in something of a life-or-death situation. "Right." He managed "The staff." He pretended to not notice Nat and Skye casting each other skeptical glances. He was still shaky, but he was getting better, he'd be fine.
Nat sized him up, and her resolved hardened decisively. "You're staying behind us. You'll be acting as support. No reckless stunts. If you're feeling tired, tell us immediately." He felt warmth at her protectiveness, and couldn't find it in himself to argue with her when she was just looking out for him. She'd been the one to bring him back, she'd been firm and kind and real, the solid tether to reality that he'd focused on and used to drag himself back out of his mind. How could he say no to her when she was just trying to help?
"Deal." Harry agreed without hesitation.
The rest of the facility was simple enough to deal with. Harry blasted down through the floor, Skye cleared the room, with Natasha picking off any holdouts- rinse and repeat. It was only once they reached the basement level and found that the staff was still below them that Harry began to feel uneasy about their situation. It felt a little too easy. Harry's instincts were supported by Natasha, who also seemed on edge they cleared this last level.
The only way further down was a reinforced, industrial grade elevator. Taking the elevator was folly, and as tired as he was, using a levitation charm to guide them all down was also ill-advised, especially since there may well be a fight at the bottom. Instead, Natasha led the way with a more traditional set of climbing equipment- a grapple, rope, and pulley that allowed them to silently drop down the shaft. It opened up into a large room that appeared to be a cross between a lab and a storage area. Crates were stacked up along one side, advanced equipment Harry couldn't identify were clustered around the center, where…
They weren't alone.
Harry almost wanted to roll his eyes, of course it wouldn't be that simple. Of course there'd be some sort of final boss. When had his luck ever led him to think anything else?
In the dim lighting of the cavernous room, she was cast in the blue light of the scepter she held. She wore black body armor, nearly blending into the darkness of the room. This all made it difficult to discern her features- dark hair, a sharp chin and even sharper eyes, but beyond that she almost seemed like an apparition.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Natasha said shortly.
"You can call me Madame Hydra." She returned coolly, a hint of a smile on her face.
This time Harry did roll his eyes. "Well, Madame, I think its time you hand that staff over, before someone gets hurt."
They'd prepared for this- having to fight someone who wielded Loki's staff. The key was keeping their distance. Harry was confident that he could block the energy bolts the artifact could produce. Harry could also throw off the staff's mental domination, but there was still the danger of Natasha and Skye being turned against him. Their agreed strategy would be for Skye to keep Madame Hydra at a distance with her shockwaves. Harry would block any attacks, and if he could, assist Natasha in neutralizing her.
The plan immediately failed. Madame Hydra didn't move from her spot, she didn't so much as twitch before Harry felt the familiar effects of the staff pressing into his mind like a wave of ice water.
He blinked, and with a mental middle finger, pushed out foreign presence in his mind. While Wanda's earlier attack had been similar to legimancy, something Harry had never really been able to counter, the staff felt much more like the imperious curse. Loki had needed contact to use that ability, but apparently Madam Hydra didn't. In a flash, he recognized that both his teammates were probably compromised. He dove behind a large concrete pillar in time to avoid Skye's shockwave. Fuck.
"Hey? You guys in there? I don't need to beat you over the head, do I?" Harry said with forced levity, hoping it could buy him some time while he got his bearings. Maybe he could fight it out, but it was beyond risky. He was far from the top of his game, and he had no idea what Madame Hydra was capable of.
"You need to give it up, Harry." Natasha's voice responded. "You can't win, you have nothing." She was right, in a way. He needed something, a plan, anything. He was cornered, outnumbered, with no backup, no one, except…
"Don't worry. I won't kill you." Madame Hydra purred, and Harry felt something twist in revulsion inside him. "You're much too valuable for that. You'll be well taken care of."
What the hell, its not like this could get any worse.
-----
Awareness returned to Wanda with a flash. She almost regretted it, wished she could go back to being blissfully unconscious.
It hadn't taken her long for her to realize just how badly she'd fucked up by diving into Harry Potter's head. It had been a split second reaction, a response to Pietro being taken out. It had been her first chance to strike back against the people who had torn apart her family… were tearing apart what little family she'd had left.
Or at least, that was what she'd thought she'd been doing. One couldn't spend more than a few moments in Harry's mind without realizing that he wasn't the arrogant, greedy, exploitative westerner that she'd envisioned all the Avengers being.
He'd lost his parents too, he could barely remember them. He'd fought in his own war, against the people who had torn his own family apart. But he'd also built his own family- made of people she didn't know but had clearly felt his love for, and then he'd… he had paid the ultimate price for them, he willingly walked to his own death for him.
That wasn't even the worst part. Here he was, worlds away from everyone he'd ever known… and he was just doing it again. Piece by piece he was building a new family from the ground up one brick at a time, and she knew too, that even now he would die for them, if it came down to it.
She had catastrophically, horrifically misjudged him. She was beginning to realize that she'd gotten everything so wrong, and she'd been horribly cruel to the best person she'd ever met. When she'd been ejected from his mind (and she wasn't even going to touch that experience, not yet) her shame had paralyzed her. Even when it looked like the Black Widow might just kill her on the spot, she couldn't bring herself to move. She was ready to accept her fate.
But Harry had saved her. She wasn't sure if she deserved it, but just like she'd seen inside of him, he'd seen inside of her, and he saw someone worthy of saving.
She choked on a sob. What would she do now? What could she do?
"Wanda, are you alright?" Pietro knelt above her, his face was bruised, and he was sporting a nosebleed, but he was alive.
"I'm sorry." She said wretchedly "We fucked up. I fucked up."
Pietro frowned, confused, but also accepting her words. "Let's get out of here."
Wanda took a steadying breath. The prospect of her brother picking her up and taking her far far away from this place and all her mistakes was appealing. He'd never judge her, he'd stick by her until the end no matter how many mistakes she'd make, just as she'd do for him.
But she hesitated. Would she really just run away like this? Then again, what would staying accomplish? What could she really do here? As if summoned by her inner turmoil, the answer appeared before he. A stag bounded into the room, glowing white and ethereal. Wanda, entranced, sat up and outstretched a hand to it, but stopped short. What was this?
Then she heard Harry's voice.
"Wanda, I know we got off to a rough start." The biggest understatement of her life "But I don't have anyone else to turn to. Someone has Loki's staff, they've turned my friends against me. I need help. I know that you're a good person, and you must have seen that I'm a good person too. So please-" At that point the message cut off, like static on a radio. The stag stood stoically for a few more seconds, before it dissolved into the air, like mist clearing at dawn.
Wanda had a choice to make. But really, it wasn't much of a choice at all.