Amazed

Chapter 45: She's the key

"From what I've been told about their past, and what I can see from their astral form in the corner, they didn't know that it was you messing with the memories in their mind," Stephen stated.

Yelena stood as she tried to grab his attention, "Why would they not know it was Wanda? They watched her come into the room before it all happened. They knew she was the one who was behind them and sifting through their mind."

He nodded, knowing that this didn't sound plausible to anyone in the room, "When she stepped into their mind, everything else fell away. Nothing in their physical form mattered. It barely existed to them in that time."

"So what did they think was happening?" Steve asked as he stepped closer while crossing his arms. 

Stephen cast his eyes over to the corner where Y/N's astral form was curled up with their head resting on the wall. He could tell that they were insanely terrified.

"If I had to guess, that probably was not the first time someone had ever gone through their memories," He started. Before he could even finish his sentence, Yelena sat back in her chair knowing what he was getting at, "And I would assume that whoever did it before caused them so much harm that it scared them when it started again."

With her eyes burned into her lap, Yelena responded, "HYDRA. Y/N told me they'd done millions of tests on them, told me they'd done so many things when they didn't comply..." She drifted off.

"Oh my god," Steve started, "when Y/N and I heard Jack Walters talking back in Botswana, he had said something about twins that resembled Wanda and Pietro."

Stephen finally began piecing everything together, "I'm sure whoever resembled Wanda was the one they'd used with Y/N, which incidentally terrified them so much that it threw them directly out of their own body."

Hearing this caused Wanda to be struck with guilt so strong that it immediately threw her into an anxiety attack. She bolted from the room, racing down the hall as Tony jogged after her.

"Hey, Wanda! Stop! Hold on!" He yelled before finally catching up to her, "What's going on?!"

"I DID THIS TONY!" She screamed loud enough for the entire floor to hear, "I'M THE REASON THEY'RE LIKE THIS!"

She rolled her head as she tried to hold back the sobs that were aching to burst from her throat. If she had worked more on this power, if she had understood it beforehand, this would have never happened. 

"You didn't do this, Wanda!" He yelled back, "We had no other choice. We didn't know how to get them back and this was the only thing that we could think of."

Tony let out a long breath as he placed each of his hands on her shoulders, "Look at me. From what Stephen is telling us, they're still here. I need you to come back in there so we can start working on getting them out of that Astral... Dimension, or whatever he called it."

The thought of even stepping near Y/N with her powers again was so deeply unsettling that she could barely stand the thought of it. All she could think about was pushing them further to the point of no return.

She shook her head, "I can't... Tony. I can't do it.. If anything worse was to happen to them, I could never forgive myself."

By now, he'd moved his hands from her shoulders to grip the sides of her face so that she would focus on him, "You will never learn about your powers if you don't start now and we may never see Y/N again if you don't help us." Wanda's head fell back as she shook the tears away.

"And what if you're the only person who can do it? What if you're the only one who can get to them and through to them?" He asked.

Her eyes shot up to him, thinking through all of the possibilities that could come from trying to use her powers again. She could push them further, but she could also be the one who brings them back. Then again, if she didn't try at all... Would she regret it knowing there was a possibility she could bring them back?

"Fine. Let's go," She answered as she brushed by him and back to Y/N's room.

"I had a feeling you'd be back," Stephen said with a smile, "If you all wouldn't mind, I'd like to have the room with Wanda for a few minutes."

Of course, Stephen not knowing about Yelena's stubbornness, he was met with a great resistance, "I'm not leaving."

He looked over at her confused, "Ma'am, you can come back in soon. I need to speak with her and show her what to do so that we can get Y/N back into their physical body."

"And why can't you do that while I'm in here?" She asked, standing from her seat as she clenched her jaw. It was difficult for her to even imagine leaving Y/N's side in case something happened. 

"Yelena," She heard Nat call from the doorway after Steve had texted her to come help out, "Let's go get some food. Give them a few minutes and I promise I will bring you right back down."

She looked between Nat, Wanda, and Stephen as she tried to gauge what to do. What if she left and Y/N woke up? What would they think if she wasn't there? What if something happened and Wanda needed her to bring Y/N back?

Seeing her deep in thought, Nat walked over to her and placed her hand on Yelena's lower back as she lightly began leading her out of the room, "I know it's hard... but I think right now Wanda is our best chance at getting them back and we need to do everything in our abilities to help her."

Yelena silently consented as she allowed Nat to walk her out of the room. She knew that even though she wanted to stay, and actually felt like she needed to, she knew that Nat was right. At this point, Wanda was the only one that would be able to bring Y/N back. 

And Yelena would do absolutely anything to make sure she got one last chance.