The Ancient Sorceress ~Loki x Bucky AU~

Chapter 76

    "Vision...I need to know if the team is ok?" Shadow stood by the window, watching the sun set behind the trees.

    Vision stood in the doorway, a solemn look upon his face. "The team...they're fine. Though I am afraid there were civilian casualties."

    Shadow looked over her shoulder, her long hair pulled into a loose braid. "I've seen the news. I know exactly how Wanda is feeling right now." There was a silence as the two lone Avengers were processing the events of the mission. "They got the bio weapon?"

    Vision nodded. "It has been secured. They should arrive here soon."

    "Then we will wait for them." Shadow walked around Vision and out her door towards the common area. He followed close behind, not struggling to match up to her smaller stride. Shadow could feel how stiff her body was becoming. Her chest ached constantly and every time Bucky was being tortured, she could feel it all.

    When they sat down on the couches, Vision had reached for the remote to turn on the TV. The first thing that came on was the news.

    Reporter: The people are asking themselves if the Avengers are actually doing good for this world, or are they just as bad as the bad guys. No responsibility has been taken since the fight that occurred in Lagos. Where are the Avengers and what are they doing to help fix this mess?

    Shadow rolled her eyes at the screen. "I'm sick and tired of all these know-it-alls talking about our jobs like they do them and know everything. We do all the dirty work and when something happens that wasn't even intentional, they have to find someone to blame."

    "I don't disagree with you but maybe we can find some solution that will help things go smoother?" Vision tried.

    Shadow shook her head furiously. "No one meant for that bomb to go off right next to that building. Heck you can even see in the news footage that Wanda controlled the blast and got it off the ground away from them. She probably saved more lives with that choice than what could have happened."

    Shadow pushed herself further into the couch and summoned the remote into her hands. Vision knew better than to argue with her. He was looking forward to seeing Wanda when she got back, hoping he could ease her worries. They changed the channel to something more relaxing and waited for the team to return. Shadow continued to feel aches and pains throughout the night, doing everything she could to dampen the effects of them.

    At some point early in the morning hours, the team had returned. No one seemed to be in a talking mood. Of course, the mission was a bit of a success but no one wanted to have casualties come with it. Shadow didn't remember seeing them when they came in. She wondered if they had gone to bed shortly after arriving because she was now all alone in the living room.

    She stood from her seat, turning in her chair to see if there was any sign of life or if maybe she had just fallen asleep and they hadn't returned yet. She walked towards the kitchen to check the time and saw the clock blinking at her. Two sets of zeros stared right back at her.

    "Did the power go off? Friday, can you make sure the power is running fine within the Compound?" Shadow yelled to the ceiling, pressing buttons to see if she could change the clock. After several failed attempts and no response from the AI, Shadow began to worry.

    She rose from her bent position and once again looked around the large open concept rooms. Nothing seemed different. A few emergency lights here and there had a soft glow to them but otherwise, all the other lights were turned off. Shadow slowly made her way over to the living room light switch and flicked it up.