Powerless | b. barnes

08 - three birds

T H E flight back to the compound was eerily silent.

Ivy spent the majority of the time hunched over with her elbows on her knees and her head in the palm of her hands.

She still didn't know how many people she hurt—or rather how many she killed.

She hadn't spoken to Bucky since the incident. She would probably blast him into oblivion if she did.

Okay well... that's a bit extreme but punching him would feel really good right about now.

The rest of her teammates were opting to leave her alone for the duration of the flight—a wise choice on their part, and one she was thankful for.

The QuinJet finally landed after what felt like a week of flying. Ivy removed her puffy, red eyes from her hands, grabbed her bag and walked off the plane without saying a single word to anyone.

Wanda was waiting outside the elevator when Ivy reached her floor. She quickly wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug and Ivy immediately began sobbing into her shoulder. She honestly didn't know how she could possibly have any tears left.

"It's okay Ivy, it's okay," Wanda soothed as she stroked her sisters hair, "we all make mistakes! I've been there too. Look what happened to me in Lagos!"

"No it's not okay, Wanda! What if I killed people!" Ivy wailed, glad that she was finally able to let go of her composure.

"Don't worry, you're lucky that the clothing store you hit wasn't a popular one because, from what I've found out, no one was killed. There are a few in the hospital but it looks like they're all gonna make it," She put her hands on Ivy's cheeks and looked at her with reassuring eyes.

'What would I do without my sister?' thought Ivy.

Wanda walked Ivy to her room and stayed with her for a while before FRIDAY's voice rang through the walls in Ivy's room, "Miss Maximoff, your presence is required in conference room 'B,' promptly." Although both 'Miss Maximoff's' that lived at the Avengers compound were in the room, the sisters didn't need any more clarification. They knew who FRIDAY was summoning.

Ivy sighed and closed her eyes for a long blink, mentally preparing herself to have to explain all of this to Tony and Steve.

She gave Wanda one last hug and hurried down to the conference room.

Bucky was already sitting inside, "what is he doing here?" Ivy asked as her jaw tightened with annoyance.

Bucky felt pained by her anger, but he knew it was justified.

He didn't say a word, though. He didn't even turn around to acknowledge that Ivy was in the room.

"Ivy, please sit down." Tony said in a tone that sounded soft and kind but she knew what he said was a demand not a request.

Ivy sat quickly and looked up at the two men before her, Steve and Tony—Captain America and Iron Man—they had become such role models to her and she absolutely hated to disappoint them.

"Now, the mission wasn't completely successful, we did have civilian casualties," Tony directed this comment at her with a nod, "but we did manage to destroy the serums and take out a large number of Hydra agents," he smiled slightly in an attempt to ease the tension. It wasn't working.

"Alright let's get the tough stuff out of the way first," Steve started, "What the heck happened?"

For Steve, that kind of language was about as harsh as it gets. Ivy felt her palms begin to sweat as she waited for Bucky to speak up and explain himself. Much to her disappointment, his eyes were trained on the floor, as they had been since she walked in and he looked as though he had no intention of talking any time soon.