Inescapable

Ch. 19

They stayed frozen in place, waiting to see what Jocasta would do. When she took a step towards the group Tony lifted his repulsors towards her, stopping her in her tracks. "Stop right there. Not another step Miss. Betty Broderick." Tony warned.

"I am no longer his puppet." Jocasta said looking at Tony.

Steve stepped forward, standing next to Tony. "Are you? How can we be so sure?" Steve's oh-so-imposing Captain's voice rang out.

Jocasta turned to look at Wanda. "Look inside my mind. You'll see."

Tony, and everyone else, turned their sights onto Wanda. Wanda looked confident, strong, but more than anything relieved for reasons Tony could not understand. Wanda took a small step forward, but her brother quickly ran to her side and held her back. "It could be a trick."

She looked at him, a twinkle in her eyes that again Tony could not place. "It is alright. I'll be fine." Wanda slowly approached Jocasta, red tendrils winding between her fingers. "I will not let you survive if you are against us." Jocasta stood still, no reply. When Wanda finally stood in front of her, the red tendrils escaped Wanda's hands and headed towards the robot. It took a fraction of a second for her to pull back, a small sigh escaping her lips. At the same time, Jocasta phased herself and her body, changing her appearance to look like a human woman. "She is herself; her thoughts are her own." Wanda's voice was relieved. "Is that why she looks like a model then?" Pietro said sarcastically while he sized up Jocasta. She just winked at him before turning towards Tony.

"May you please lower the weapon Mr. Stark? I would like to go recover the missus." Jocasta asked, waiting for Tony's reaction. He immediately lowered his weapon, his lady taking precedence in his mind. "Where is she?"

Jocasta took off, hovering over the collapsed building. Tony's heart was in his throat, coughing to clear it and speak. "J. Any survivors?" He silently prayed in his head as JARVIS scanned the rubble. "There is one sign of life, Sir." Before Tony could think of a way to get through the rubble, it began to lift, piece by piece. Jocasta was using her power (?) to clear away the rubble. Quickly, red tendrils joined in, and more rubble was lifted. When one particularly large piece was removed, he felt as though he could finally breathe. Y/N was there, just curled up into a little ball, dust covering her entire body. But what shocked him were the tears and cries coming from her. Tony sprang into action, fearing she was in pain and hurt. Landing by her side, he tried to take her into his arms. But she thrashed and resisted, wailing and crying uncontrollably. He realized she wouldn't let go of something, and when Tony finally took notice of the tiny hand in hers, he paled. He stood there, in shock and realization for who knows how long. It was finally Loki who appeared next to him, placing a finger on Y/N's forehead. She immediately stopped crying and resisting. Her whole body relaxed, and the vice-like grip on the small hand broke.

Tony had a quiet understanding with Loki, knowing he had only allowed her to rest, so that she could be removed from the wreckage and checked up. As Tony lifted her sleeping form from the rubble and hovered above, the team all stared back at him with varying degrees of worry. Tony looked at Steve, who got the point quickly. "Back to the jet. Time to go home." The Captain spoke, the team listened. The whole flight back, Tony kept Y/N in his arms, worried and afraid about her wellbeing.

-.-

It had been weeks since that day in Sokovia, and after a brief stint in the med bay, Y/N had spent the whole time in their shared bed. At first it was non-stop crying, and then after a few days the crying had turned into silence and stared off into space, only getting out of bed to relieve herself in the restroom and eat minimal amounts of food in bed. Tony had tried everything to coax her out of the shell of a woman she had become, but nothing had worked. He laid by her every night as she stared into nothing-ness.