Strings - A Winter Story

-15-

"Man has responsibility, not power"

"You should not have done that Wanda" Vision calmly scolds the Scarlet Witch as he slowly trails after Autumn, she is now lost in the nightmare sparked by Wanda.

"She hurt my friends" Wanda tries to defend herself but there is no defending what she has done to Autumn. Vision holds back the anger he feels, and replaces it with a more controlled approach.

"Get everyone back to the containment room please, tell them I have Miss Courtney" Vision asks of Wanda, who knows that she has overstepped the line so obeys his request. She disappears from the room, leaving just Vision and Autumn. Vision trails Autumn as she drops the gun and holds out her hand in front of her as if holding onto something or someone. Her screams are deafening as they fill the room, they are truly heartbreaking. She falls to her knees, her limbs shaking from fear. Vision can sense her tears streaming down her face.

"I've no strings so I have fun. I'm not tied up to anyone" Autumn whispers as the nightmare subsides, just before she falls into a deep unconscious sleep. Vision catches her from behind as she blacks out, he scoops up her still shaking body and holds her still for a moment. He uses his stone to gently read her mind but quickly refrains as he gets a mere glimpse at what is going through her head on repeat.

"I am truly sorry Autumn" Vision sincerely expresses his sadness and for the first time, he regrets not letting her go. She could have easily escaped if he hadn't noticed her. Now she is in pain and the terrors of her nightmares will change her, he feels somewhat responsible for this. With her light frame quaking and twitching in his arms, he slowly begins the short walk to where the others would be waiting.

And they are waiting, minutes later Vision enters the room with everyone in it except Tony and Steve.

"What happened?" Natasha questions them immediately as all eyes fall upon Autumn's twitching body. Vision strides over to the couch and carefully places Autumn's body on it. He then turns his attention back to those wanting answers.

"I found her in the engineering room. Wanda used her powers to, scare her" Vision tries to put it as nicely as possible, but there is no shielding what she has done and the others know it.

"Wanda? You promised you would never do that to anyone ever again?" Sam is the first to throw a comment to Wanda.

"She hurt my friends, she needed to pay" Wanda defensibility crosses her arms across her chest as she replies to Sam.

"That doesn't matter Wanda, you don't mess with people's minds. Even Autumn, she might not be our friend but she doesn't deserve to relive her worst nightmares. We don't even know what she saw but by looking at her, it wasn't good" Natasha scolds Wanda and shuts down any argument Wanda is prepared to fight with. As they continue to bicker over Wanda's poor and negligent use of her powers, no one takes notice of Bucky who has left the group to check on Autumn. He stares at her face with sadness as he watches her face contort and her body twitch. Bucky has not experienced what it is like to have your worst nightmare triggered by Wanda but it has nearly broken Autumn and that's scares him. Her soft features scream out in pain, she inhales sharp breaths every fourth or fifth breath. She is in pain, this breaks his heart.

"So what do we do know? She has been knocked out twice today, that's not good for a brain you know?" Sam switches the subject as the bickering is getting them no where.

"We wait till she wakes up, then ask her why she came here" Clint gives his input, a simple strategy. The dull sound of incoming boots alerts the irritated group to the company now joining them.