arabella ⋆.˚ ★

After the fallout of New York, Loki’s scepter vanished off the map, and HYDRA settlements started cropping up everywhere. Eventually, Thor had tracked the scepter to a fortress situated in Eastern Europe, smack dab in the middle of Sokovia. It was an operation so simple it was practically textbook. Get in, locate the scepter, neutralize all targets, and get out. Banner, Nat, Clint and Steve took out the first wave outside the stronghold, while you and Stark slipped inside. From there, it was almost too easy. Floor by floor, none of them ever stood a chance. You cleared them out with the shocking precision you’d trained for.

“I’m going for Strucker, check the east wing for any strays,” Steve’s voice rang out over the comms. You fired off a couple bullets at an incoming HYDRA agent.

“Copy,” You replied, grunting as you took down a couple of agents who attempted to attack you from behind.

You turned the corner of another hallway, before you heard a resounding thud come from the next set of stairs down. You peered down the dark corridor, searching for the source of the noise. Instead, you spotted a girl. She couldn’t have been a year older than you. The first thing you noticed was her eyes. They had a subtle crimson glow that shone through the dark shadows of the corridor. Smudged black eyeliner sat around her eyes; and the glow was now gone and replaced with a piercing shade of green. Then, she spoke.

“Get out of my way,” she said, her hands coming up in front of her. Around them swirled red spirals of energy, glowing from within. It matched the glow in her eyes.

“Absolutely not,” It went without questioning, there’s no way you’d ever let a potential threat out of your sight. You stepped forward, staring her down.

“Hm. Well that’s a shame, you seem nice,” She replied, almost tauntingly. Her hands flicked upwards, shooting tendrils of red energy towards you. The next thing you felt was the cold stone of the wall, as the air was forced from your lungs. You fell to the ground, letting out a wince as you tried to get back up. She looked at you with a mocking sort of pity, before fleeing out of the doors. You let your head fall back against the wall, groaning in what was a mixture of frustration and pain. She got away, and you let her. That never happened. You could only wallow in your disappointment for so long, before Steve’s voice shot through your earpiece.

“Hey, you still with us?”

“I’m fine, but there’s a second Enhanced in the building. Female. Watch out,” The least you could do was warn your fellow Avengers about this girl. Who was she?

“You’ve met her too?” Steve asked, chuckling a little bit, “Yeah, she got to me first. Shoved me down a set of stairs and everything. Never seen anything like it.

You both could agree on that. She truly was like nothing you’ve ever seen before.

On the ride back to Avengers Tower, you couldn’t shake the mental image of the girl. The sound of her voice echoed in your head. She had a heavy accent, Sokovian most likely. It suited her quite nicely. You remembered the shape of her hands, the ones wrapped in glowing red light. They were clad with multiple silver rings. It was laughable actually, how you could remember all of that, but you remained clueless as to how you managed to slip up so bad. It wasn’t like you, you hardly ever made mistakes. Especially not ones as big as that.

“Hey, what happened back there?” Natasha’s question shook you out of your thoughts. She knew you better than anyone on that team. Which means she knew it was strange of you to make such a large blunder.

“I don’t know. She got the jump on me I guess,” You replied flatly. The truth was, you didn’t know why you were so thrown off your game by her. She was Enhanced, sure, but it was almost too easy for her to knock you down.

“I wouldn’t sweat it,” Nat reassured you, a wry smile playing at her lips, “Clint got his ass kicked by the other one.” You heard Clint protest somewhere at the front of the jet.

“Wow, I feel so much better now,” The sarcasm in your voice was evident, earning yet another scoff from Clint.

“Happy to help,” Nat said, patting you on the shoulder before heading over to talk to Banner. Once again, you were left alone with your thoughts, currently occupied by a certain brunette Enhanced that you just couldn’t get rid of.

The days following the encounter, you made it your personal mission to find out who exactly your mystery girl was. Fairly quickly, a pretty clear picture started to form. Her name was Wanda Maximoff. She was orphaned by a bomb that struck her building, leaving her and her twin brother to fend for themselves. Despite your disdain for her, you felt for Wanda. Her and her brother probably joined those trials looking for a way out. Maybe they thought it was their only option? Whatever the case, some part of you wanted to help her. Without fail, Wanda Maximoff stubbornly refused to leave your head. She haunted you, like an annoying, albeit pretty, ghost. You found yourself sketching her face into the blank margins of notebooks, which you quickly buried under your bed, like a shameful secret for your eyes only. You told yourself your fascination with the Maximoff girl was only because she got the better of you when no one else could. Maybe if you told that lie enough you’d convince yourself to believe it. It was a far better fate than any alternative imaginable.

Post the disaster that was Stark’s party, and the now emerging threat of Ultron on the rise, you were (thankfully) forced to set aside all thoughts and daydreams of your horrible, horrible distraction. Ultron had killed Strucker, and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t feel the slightest hint of satisfaction that he was dead. The team had traced Ultron’s next target back to a South African arms dealer, who dealt with Wakandan exports. A couple of the Avengers chattered about their next moves, and suited up for the possible fight to come

“I can deal with the speedster, but what about the nutcase in red?” Stark said, reloading some of the weaponry on his suit.

“There’s really no good way to neutralize her, she’s-” Bruce started, before you interjected.

“Neutralize? She’s a person Bruce, not some weapon of mass destruction or a ticking bomb for you to diffuse,” You felt weirdly defensive over Wanda. Sure, you weren’t on the same side here, but why didn’t she deserve a chance too. She’s a good person, you were sure of it. You also knew that good people were sometimes put into bad situations. You hoped that was her case.

“Yeah…sorry,” Bruce trailed off, going back to tinkering with whatever he was doing on the computer. An awkward silence fell over the room, as some of the Avengers shared looks with each other, like they knew something you didn’t.

After tracking down Ultron to a grounded cargo ship, the Avengers came face-to-face with a shiny new Ultron. And you were once again faced with your tormentor. She stared at you with what you can only assume was hatred in her eyes. Even in light of that, you still couldn’t help but notice certain things about her. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail. It looks nice like that. Her necklaces somehow laid so perfectly on her neck. What a weird thing to notice about someone. You were so engrossed with her that when all hell breaks loose against Ultron, it takes you a second to snap back into reality. Something is seriously wrong with you. You dodge a couple of Ultron’s murder bots, as you notice Wanda slipping away. You weren’t going to let her get away again. You trail Wanda back into a small walkway. The rusted metal creaks under your footsteps, and she turns around. Her gaze hardens at the sight of you. 

For a second, you both stare at each other. For that second, you almost forget that you two aren’t on the same side. You snap out of it soon enough. This time, you were sure you were going to change her mind.

“Wanda, please listen. Ultron is lying to you and your brother. Don’t listen to him-” You began, trying to reason with her.

“And then what, we join your side? Because Stark is such an honest man, right?” Wanda retorted, her eyes flashing that familiar shade of red. Unfortunately, she did have a point. It was his lies that started all of this in the first place.

“Whatever Ultron is promising you, it’s not true. He’s playing you. All he’s done is hurt people, how does any of this save the world?” You take a step closer to her. You’re practically begging her to hear you out here, but all she does is scoff.

“Why would I ever listen to you?”

“You just have to trust me,” You understood better than everyone that trust is something not easily given, but for her sake, you had to try.

“Trust is a luxury I cannot afford.” She replies coldly, as she once again raises her hands. The red glow returns, but in a split second, a flash of blue zips by, sweeping you off your feet. Your head collides onto the floor, and your vision immediately starts to blur at the edges. Distant rings echo in your ears, as you lie limply on the ground. Wanda stares at you for a second, before turning her back and running away. She doesn’t make it very far before she runs into Clint. You crane your neck up in an attempt to see what’s happening. Clint slams one of his stun arrows onto Wanda’s forehead, and you watch her crumple to the floor. Momentarily, you feel a pang in your chest. But, in another flash of blue, she’s gone again. You let your head fall back onto the floor of the corridor, as you groan to yourself. You failed her. Again. Your thoughts trail off, as your eyes shut, and everything fades to black.

You wake back up on the floor of the Quinjet, a thin blanket draped over you. You try to blink away the persisting headache, and glance around. Scattered around you, the Avengers look wholly defeated. You get up off the ground, and make your way to the front of the cockpit. Clint was the only one up there, and you sat in the seat next to him.

“What happened…?” You asked tentatively.

“That girl, Wanda, she got into our heads. Messed us up. Hulk ripped apart half of the city,” Clint said solemnly, flipping a couple switches on the dashboard. He turned towards you.

“You got knocked out by her brother. I hit Wanda with the stun arrow, and then the twins vanished,” He continued, “And now we’re heading to a safe house to lay low, at least until Ultron pops back up on the map,”

You nodded, staring out the window of the cockpit.

“I’m curious though. I saw you up there, with the girl. You could have taken her out, why didn’t you?” Clint asked. The memories of the encounter flashed through your head. You pleaded with her, for what? To get knocked on your ass? She simply didn’t want to listen. Another horrible mistake, all because of one girl.

“I wanted to make her see that Ultron wasn’t the good guy. I thought she might listen,” You started, before trailing off, “Maybe it was a mistake.”

“No. You wanted to help. She’s probably scared. People like that sometimes just need a little push,” Clint replied, his eyes flicking back to Nat. She sat in the back, staring blankly at the floor. You knew their history. It gave you hope that if Nat could be saved, maybe Wanda could too.

The next morning, you landed at the “safe house” Clint was talking about. It was a humble little homestead ranch. Soon enough however, you figured out this was Clint’s actual home. He had two young kids, and his very kind wife. You peered around the home curiously. Crayon drawings were hung up on the walls, toys were scattered around the floor. It was so perfectly domestic. It was the kind of life you would have liked, in the event you weren’t an Avenger. Maybe in another life. Then again, maybe in another life you would have fallen for a girl that wasn’t the enemy.

Speaking of the enemy, Wanda Maximoff was quickly starting to take up an uncomfortable amount of space in your mind, more than she already did. You were plagued by visions of her in your dreams, with those ethereal green eyes. In those dreams, she stared at you with her green eyes full of love, not hate. You often woke up in a cold sweat, the harsh reality hitting you in an instant. You truly hated how much you thought about her. It was hardly conducive to Avenging when your opposition was that distracting. When Fury stopped by the Barton house to fill in the Avengers, you sat at the table. Fury’s words flowed in one ear and out the other. Instead, you doodled little cartoonish drawings of Wanda onto a pad of sticky notes. You swiftly crumpled them up and chucked them into the trash. Because nobody could ever know that you were infatuated with Wanda Maximoff. It was painful enough coming to terms with that yourself, so what would the team think? 

That night, Nat cornered you in the kitchen. You had offered to wash the dishes, just to do something to keep yourself busy. She slid over to the counter, drying a couple damp plates.

“I saw your little sketches. Of the Maximoff girl,” Nat said, casting a knowing glance your way. You froze, and the only sound in the room was the noise of the running faucet.

“It’s not what it looks like-” You immediately began, before Nat shushed you.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure it’s not,” she said sarcastically, “Look, I don’t care about any of that. But I need to know, if it comes down to it, can you do your job?” Nat looked at you seriously, her hands drumming on the counter.

“Yes. Absolutely,” You said quickly, nodding vigorously, “You can trust me.”

“I know I can.”

You dried your hands off and bolted to the bathroom. The door shut behind you, and you set your hands on the counter. Your heart pounded in your ears, as you fought back the moisture in your eyes that you’d never dare let become tears. You told Nat that you could be trusted to do your job, and up until recently, you were positive you could. You’d screwed up twice already because of Wanda, how could you ever promise her that you wouldn’t do it again? Honestly, you couldn’t. All you ever wanted to do was help Wanda, who could blame you for that? Whether it was for your own selfish reasons, or truly honorable reasons, it didn’t matter. God, you hated loving Wanda. She was every reason why you swore to never let anyone worm their way into your heart like that. She hated you anyways, so why couldn’t you do the same? You came to the conclusion you were simply pathetic. A pathetic fool who couldn’t be trusted to grow up and do the job she signed up for. What was wrong with you?

The days flew by after that. Nat never brought up the conversation you and her had that night. Before you knew it though, you were once again suiting up to face off against Ultron. And the twins. You made a point to suppress the slight spark of hope at the prospect of seeing Wanda again.

The next time you saw her, you weren’t throwing punches at her, or firing bullets in her direction. Finally, you were working with her. She had discovered the truth about Ultron’s goal for the world, and wasted no time in abandoning his cause, along with her brother. It was humiliating how overjoyed you felt, to say the least. Your excitement was fleeting however, seeing as Ultron had successfully derailed a passenger train in the struggle. Steve directed Wanda to stop the train, while it was up to you and Pietro to usher civilians out of the way. Once people were clear, you glanced back at Wanda, who was absorbed in her efforts to stop the train. She was so, so beautiful. Her ability to distract you was probably the most magical thing about her.

Her efforts were successful, and the train skidded to a halt. You, Wanda, and Pietro all met Steve, where he was coordinating what to do with Ultron’s latest project. From what it sounded like, Ultron made an attempt to create a physical body, harnessing the power of some foreign stone found in Loki’s scepter.

“Stark’s taking care of the Cradle now,” Steve told you three. Wanda raised an eyebrow, interjecting.

“No, he won’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Stark’s not crazy,” Steve replied, almost incredulously. You stepped forward, opening your mouth to say something, before Wanda spoke again.

“He will do anything to make things right,” Wanda said, casting a glance over to you, “Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?”

Steve looked at you three blankly, before sighing. You heard Clint’s voice over your earpiece, and paused. He sounded stressed.

“Anything on Nat?” Clint asked. When you looked over at Steve, he explained that Ultron had taken Nat with him. You felt sick.

“We’re on the way back to the Tower now, we’re bringing along the twins,” Steve said grimly, beckoning the three of you to follow him. 

Exhausted, the three of you return to the Tower, where you find Stark and Banner fiddling around with the Cradle.

“Shut it down Stark,” Steve said sternly, staring down Stark, “You don’t know what you’re doing here.”

“And you do? Are you sure she’s not in your head?” Bruce remarked, his tone accusatory as he stared down Wanda.

“Cut it out Banner,” You retorted sharply, glaring at him.

“I know you’re angry,” Wanda began calmly, before Banner cut her off again.

“We’re way past that, I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade-”

“I said cut it out Bruce!” You snapped, as Bruce scoffed and turned his attention back to his computer.

Everyone’s voices grew louder as they bickered amongst each other. In the fray, Pietro had run around the lab, unplugging all of the equipment.

“Go on, you were saying?” Pietro asked innocently, smirking. A loud pop resounded through the lab, as the glass shattered underneath Pietro and he fell through the floor. Wanda screamed and ran towards Pietro, as a full on brawl broke out among the Avengers. Bruce grabbed Wanda, locking her in a chokehold.

“Go ahead, piss me off,” He hissed, before you pried him off of her.

“What the fuck are you doing Bruce?” You yelled, stepped in front of Wanda, “I mean seriously what were you thinking-” You never got to finish your sentence, before Thor burst through the window. He landed on top of the Cradle, before slamming his hammer down onto the lid. As electricity ran through the case, the lid blew off. A purple-ish man burst from the Cradle, slamming down Thor and flying through the air. He seemed to come to his senses, as he returned to the ground. Thor explained that the gem from Loki’s scepter was some sort of power source, called an Infinity Stone. And now the purple man had the capacity to end the world with his power. Clearly, there were some questions. He, or apparently the Vision, asserted that he was very much not on the side of Ultron (thankfully) and agreed that he should be stopped.

For what seemed like the hundredth time, you all were preparing for the fight to come. You stayed with Pietro and Wanda. Despite the previous animosity towards them, all of that was in the past. Besides, it wasn’t often you met very many people that were like you your age. Even on the Quinjet, on the way to Sokovia, you sat by Wanda. You racked your brain for a way to approach conversation with the girl you previously had fought (and also just so happened to be borderline obsessed with). Of course, you settled for the smoothest option.

“Hi…” you said, breaching the awkward silence between you two,

“Hello?” Wanda replied, almost suspiciously as she eyed you. You felt strangely exposed. Your heart felt like it was in your throat as you wrung your hands nervously.

“I don’t think we’ve actually talked, at least not without-”

“Without me kicking your ass?” Wanda offered up helpfully, smirking. You laughed, a feeling of success blooming in your chest. She wasn’t entirely opposed to friendly conversation with you, that was better than nothing, right?

“I wouldn’t say you kicked my ass necessarily…” You said. Even you sounded unconvinced, “I think we’re a pretty equal match actually.”

“Hm, whatever you say лепа,” She shrugged, smiling at you slyly. You weren’t quite sure what she said, seeing as your Sokovian was fairly rusty, but her slight smile and glint in her eyes was enough for you to not worry too much about what she said.

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶༉‧₊˚.

The fight against Ultron was exhausting. He was gone, at long last. The battle was not without its losses though, as Sokovia was long gone. At the end of it all, you found Wanda leaning against the wall of one of the SHIELD carriers, covered in dirt and grime. Still, she had never looked more beautiful to you. You sat down next to her, sighing.

“You ok?” You asked Wanda, nudging her shoulder slightly. She turned her head to look at you, giving you a small smile.

“Yes, I’m fine. Very tired,” She remarked, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. You could agree, your bones physically ached from exhaustion at this point. You were itching to ask Wanda something though, despite the pit of anxiety crawling around in your stomach.

“Hey, Wanda? Y’know, maybe when we get back, do you want to grab coffee sometime? In the event we’re not faced with a world-ending crisis?” You asked, bracing yourself for the answer.

“You do know I can read minds right?” Wanda asked you, craning her neck to look at you. The smirk on her face could only be described as devilish. You could feel your face heat up at her answer (and it’s unfortunate implications).

“So is that a yes or no?” You replied, laughing awkwardly.