The Mind's Plague

The Shadow

An hour into the flight out of Sokovia, Y/N wakes up and rubs his eyes as he sits up. Natasha looks at him with a smile.

"Feeling better?"

He shakes his head as he rubs it.

"It hurts. He shut me out completely."

"I didn't know he could do that?"

Y/N nods.

"Usually he can't.... He must've had to do something for the doctor."

"Why wouldn't the doctor want you to see?"

"Probably thinks I would squeal."

Tony walks over to them, followed by Steve and Thor. 

"Why the hell did you leave the jet?"

"Steve leave him alone, the other side of him took over without his permission." Natasha says as she stands up, standing protectively in front of Y/N. 

"You said he had control over that side! That's the only reason he was allowed to come!"

Y/N looks down, fiddling with his hands. Nat notices and looks at him, sitting beside him.

"Y/N, did you willing give him control?"

He lightly nods, not looking at anyone.

"Why?"

"I heard you in distress. I thought you were in trouble! I just wanted to help you!"

He looks at her with tears in his eyes, worry in his voice - afraid of disappointing her.

"Hey, it's ok. You're not in trouble. Is he why all those guys dropped dead?"

Y/N nods.

"But after the bomb that destroyed that bunker, he shut me out."

"So you have no idea about that USB?" Tony questions. "Or what he was getting?"

Y/N shakes his head.

"He blocked me out of my mind."

"How?" Natasha asks, stroking his back as he looks at Tony and Steve.

"Well normally it's like I'm the driver of the car which is my mind and he's the passenger until we switch places when he takes control. Only this time it was like I was in the trunk and had no idea what was happening."

They all fall silent, knowing the dangers of the other side of Y/N, or Shadow. Tony and Steve walk away and Thor decides to say something.

"I like the man with the magic tricks."

Y/N gives Thor a tight lipped smile, not really liking the other side of him. Thor walks away and Nat lets out a light laugh.

"He's just trying to cheer you up. He's not the best but he tries."

"I know."

The red head and H/C duo sit cuddled up for the rest of the journey. The Avengers aircraft lands at the Avengers Tower in New York where Clint is taken by Dr. Cho to have his wounds tended to. Nat follows after Y/N says he needs a minute; Maria walks up to Tony.

"Lab's all set up, boss."

Tony points to Steve. "Uh, actually, he's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler."

"You didn't design anything for me."

"Shush illusion boy."

Y/N smiles at Tony who ruffles his hair as he walks past him. 

"What's the word on Strucker?"

"NATO's got him. Oh, Stark, the files you sent - some are missing, deleted."

Tony glances at Y/N who is putting away Natasha and Clint's stuff. 

"Yeah, we had a shadow guy problem."

Maria looks at Y/N.

"There was a mention of 'The Doctor' but any files surrounding anything involving him have been deleted."

"The two enhanced?"

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special."

Y/N feels his head start to hurt more than it had been. He grabs his head which Tony notices.

"Y/N? You okay?"

He nods as the pain subsides.

"Their abilities?" Steve asks ignoring Y/N's pain.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." Steve looks at her funny, and she rephrases her statement so he can understand. "He's fast and she's weird."

"Being the weird one is my thing!"

Maria looks at Y/N with a smile.

"You are our weird one. Now go find Nat."

He smiles before running off to find Natasha. He skids to a stop when he sees Nat in the lab and walks in, over to her.

"There you are, I was getting worried."

She pulls him into her as he relaxes into her, wrapping his arms around her. 

"They were talking about the enhanced. Maria said I'm the groups weird one." 

He smiles making her smile in return before she notices the look on Clint's face and flips him off. 

"I'm gonna rest. My head is hurting really bad."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"No you can stay with Clint, I know you guys are good friends. Just come up after."

"Of course."

She kisses his head before he leaves the room, heading up to Nat's room and laying on the bed with a heavy sigh.

"Why is my head hurting so much?"

He shoves his head into the pillow, hoping the gentle warmth of a peaceful slumber will overtake him.....

Chaos reigned through Sokovia, after bombs had hit, killing thousands and destroying the lives of those forced to live on. 

The hooded figure of a young boy, no older than ten, walked along the shadows, thriving on the fear of those around him. 

He needed to complete the mission this time, so he wouldn't disappoint his creator. He just needed to keep control this time. Shadow would not disappoint his creator, not again....

"Pietro, did you see something moving in the shadows? Just there?"

"No Wanda, you're seeing things."

"There was something there and it had... it had something in it's hand. It was gonna come towards us!"

"You're imaging things Wanda."