the strongest avenger (0.5)

four

It didn't take long for the team to get ready. Talia stripped and threw on a pair of leggings and a shirt as she didn't really have anything for the occasion.

However, Tony pulled her aside and handed her a black suit. It fit like a glove to her skin, gold accents on the sides with slits for knives and gun holsters around the legs. He made it clear to her that the suit was for missions only. It was fire resistant and could channel electricity.

She secretly loved it.

After that, the team boarded the Quinjet where they began their flight to the African Coast. All they saw were ships in a murky mud.

An abandoned shipyard. How nice.

Talia followed Steve and Tony as they led the group into the ship where Ultron and the Maximoff twins were located. There were robots working on machines and carrying metal parts around the ship, but they hid in the shadows.

Talia jerked back though, as a body was sent tumbling down a set of stairs across from them. Her ears strained as she tried to hear what was happening in the room above.

Tony led, with Steve right behind.

"It's a thing with me. Stark is...he's a sickness!"

Tony took that moment to butt in, Talia preparing with letting some lightning crackle around her fingers, as her gloves deactivated.

"Ah, Junior." Thor and Steve came up on Tony's sides, while Clint and Nat were finding an alternate route. "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

Talia took the time to assess the twins, the fake blonde was the fast one. He tilted his head as he looked at her, while the girl stared Talia down.

"If I have to." Ultron replied.

"Nobody has to break anything." Thor mutters as they all stared down each other on opposite sides of a bridge.

"Clearly you've never made an omelet."

"He beat me by one second." Tony mumbles.

"Ah yes. He's funny." The twin says, Pietro. "Mr. Stark."

Talia's sparks flare as Pietro moves closer. "It's what? Comfortable? Like old times?" He looks down at the weapons on the level below.

"This was never my life. You two can still walk away from this." Iron Man states while looking at the twins.

"Oh we will." The girl says while nodding her head.

"I know you've suffered," Steve steps forward while Ultron scoffs.

"Captain America, God's righteous man. Pretending you could live without a war. I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..." Talia's lip quirks up at Ultron attempting sarcasm.

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor adds.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet."

"Uh huh," Tony butts in. "What's the vibranium for?"

"I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan." Ultron snaps his hand out and uses a magnet to pull the three towards him, while Talia lets lightning trickle down her arms.

Tony flies back into the wall and Talia glances up as they start fighting in the air. A robot comes out and yanks her braid, causing the girl to cry out. She kicks out her leg and spins, sending flames to the robot and watches as it disintegrates.

Another flies in at her but she dodges it, sending a bolt of lightning at the machine. The overload of electricity causes a mini explosion which sends Steve into a wall.

There's a blur out of the corner of her eye near Thor, and she knows it's Pietro. Steve throws his shield at Wanda who easily deflects it and used her powers to send him away. Talia ignites flames in her hands and sends them at Wanda who creates a wall of red to protect her.

She briefly hears some yelling but ignores it and continues to send fire at the girl.

A yell escapes Talia's mouth as there's a pain along her legs and she's suddenly on the ground. Pietro stands above her and she sees Wanda disappear.

Talia kicks up and uses a move that Natasha taught her, swinging her leg over Pietro's torso so he flips over and she's straddling him.

He smirks as he looks up at her. "You know, if we weren't on opposite sides—"

"Gross." She stops him there.

His smirk falls and he's gone in a blur from underneath her. Talia scowls and looks around, she winces as something hits her arm, and then Pietro kicks her knee out and she falls to the ground.

"Argh!" She pushes her hands out and puts her energy into freezing the air.

She looks over to find Pietro frozen in a running motion. Talia gets up and starts walking over to him, but freezes as a warm, tingly sensation starts at the base of her skull.

Thor status...She briefly hears in the background.

The tingling sensation grows stronger as Thor's voice fades. But then she shakes her head and the feeling is gone. Talia looks around and sees no one, so she continues towards the sound of fighting.

She rounds a corner and comes to a complete stop, trying to understand what's in front of her.

Her stomach drops as she sees the familiar grey walls, the bucket in the corner, the guards lining the wall. Talia's breathing quickens as the guards start to walk towards her.

"No." She holds out her hand but nothing happens. Her hand goes to her neck and she gasps at the collar closing around her neck.

"No, no..." She looks back at the guards closing in, their hands grabbing her arms her legs, pushing her down.

"No! Stop!" Tears stream from her eyes as the tightening of her throat becomes painful and she feels hands moving on her body.

Silent sobs wrack her body as she folds in on herself and cradles her head, trying to push the feeling away. She lets out screams as the feeling intensifies, hands all over, and her body jerks as they start to kick her body.

"Please, please, please..." She continues, hoping that it all just stops.

She keeps uttering the word over and over until she finally realizes that someone is shaking her and saying her name.

Immediately, Talia jerks back and pulls away, meeting the eyes of Steve. He pulls his hand back, his brows furrowed and a frown on his face.

Talia blinks and wipes her face, looking around trying to remember what happened.

"She got in my head too."

Talia just blinks, trying to process what occurred. Wanda had went into her mind and brought forth something that she never wanted to think about again. She shudders at the thought.

"Come on. We gotta go, there's an issue with Bruce."

Talia takes a second, closes her eyes, and gets up, wrapping her arms around her torso. Steve looks at her for a second but she refuses to meet his eyes, then leads the way.

Thor seems shaken up, while Natasha is unlike anything Talia has seen before. Clint helps her as they make their way out of the shipyard and to the Jet, where Bruce is nowhere to be found.

Talia finds a spot on the floor, far from everyone else as Clint flies the jet. She tunes out Steve and Clint figuring out where Tony and Banner are and just pulls her knees to her chest. What Wanda did, put her back in a place that she had just started crawling out of.

Talia was basically back at ground zero.