To The Moon And Back (Fanfic)

Chapter 22

     Natasha's stomach tightened. "What?"

     "There's no jet." Wanda repeated. Her face went pale. "Nobody's here! Natasha, you said Maria would be waiting for us!"

     "That was the plan! She was supposed to be!" Natasha said, shaking her head in disbelief.

     Tears weld up in Wanda's eyes as she cried out "Why isn't she!? Why is nobody here—not even Fury or the other agents? Where are we supposed to go!?—"

     "Wanda! We're going to figure it out," Natasha interrupted, struggling to disguise her sudden fear of the worst, "You have to calm down."

     It felt like every nerve in Wanda's body had been cut like a wire upon hearing those words. She felt her lips quiver, not out of sadness but out of fury and distaste. "Calm down?" She questioned. Then, she screamed. "I have been stuck here for three days! I was hanging weightless from the ceiling for three days! I'm not even including the other two times I've been held prisoner here! You have no idea what that feels like!"

     "Wanda—" Steve stepped closed.

     She drew back. "I just got rescued for the third time. And I am not going back! I swear—"

     Boots shuffled from behind the door, and then there were sounds of pounding against it. The metal latch had slowed Ross' men down, but Steve and Natasha had relived this scene a thousand times before and knew that it wouldn't keep them on the other side of the door forever.

     Steve exhaled, "They're here."

     "Shit," Natasha mumbled and brought her wrist to her mouth so fast she almost knocked out her own teeth. "Where are you!?" She pleaded to Maria into her chip. Silence.

     "We need to find a way off of here." Steve insisted.

     "We had a way. She isn't here. I don't see her!" Wanda snapped.

     Over the noise coming from behind the door and the arguing going back and forth between Steve and Wanda, Natasha heard Maria's voice in her earpiece saying, "We're almost to you! Hang in there!"

     "How fast can you whip up enough energy to build a protective dome around the entrance?" Steve asked Wanda, sliding out of the way so that she could examine the entrance to the stairs where the security goons would be flooding out from in a matter of moments from then.

     She tilted her head and nodded, "Fast. How big?"

     "Maria's on her way!" Natasha interrupted.

     "Good." Steve responded and continued onto Wanda, "Big enough to downsize the amount of wiggle room they'd have, and to keep them far enough away from us so we can make a run for it."

     She nodded unconfidently. The door started to slip open.

     "When they get through the door, start generating on my cue and—"

     The latch to the door snapped and the door flew open. Dozens of men poured out into the open with their weapons aimed in their direction. Wanda's eyes glowed a fiery red as she began toying with her powers.

     "Stay where you are! Nobody moves! Get your hands above your head!" The man at the front of the crowd shouted at them from a good distance away, due to the entire facility's new fear of the things Wanda Maximoff would do to you on the roof if you too close.

     Obeying their orders, Steve and Natasha slowly began to raise their hands above their heads. Wanda didn't even budge a muscle.

     "Do it!" The man yelled.

     Steve didn't turn to look at her, but he exhaled in her direction, "Do it." He knew they wouldn't get far if they didn't comply in the slightest form or fashion. Wanda's irises reverted back to their average green color and reluctantly, but at Steve's orders, she stopped generating and raised her hands high above her head.

     "Get on your knees!"

     "Don't do this." Steve pleaded.

     "Get on your knees!"

     "Please. This is all a product of what I did—don't hold my team accountable."

     The man almost laughed. "This isn't just about you anymore, Cap! It was never just about you! Every single one of you had the chance to diminish this whole thing from the very beginning and you passed on it! And this is what happens when your actions have real consequences... now I'm not gonna ask you again—get on your knees!"

     "We're coming up on your left! You've got to be quick!" Natasha heard through her earpiece. Her stern face relaxed slightly as she looked at Steve, who sighed. Wanda closed her eyes. None of them lowered to the ground.

     The man loaded his gun and shook his head, "Suit yourself."

     "Now!" Steve signaled and jumped in front of Natasha with his shield as protection for both of them. A split second before the firing began; Wanda already had the dome halfway formed around Ross' men so that the bullets couldn't reach them. The shots bounced off of the barriers of red surrounding them, and while the dome was successful at enclosing them, Wanda struggled with the amount of energy it sucked from her body. She groaned.

     "You've got it, Wanda, keep it up!" Steve yelled.

     Tears streamed down her face. It was hurting her. "It's too hard! They're shooting too much! I can feel it against my skin!"

     Natasha looked to her left in search of the promised jet. Her eyes were in such a hurry that she almost missed it, but in the distance she saw the sky shift in one spot. The reflection panels, she thought... that's our jet!

     She ducked down Steve's head behind the shield and ran to grab Wanda. Natasha tugged at her arm, "They're here! Let's go! Run!"

     "I'll drop the barrier!" Wanda warned. Steve handed his shield over to Natasha and he swooped Wanda up over his shoulder where she could face the back and keep the dome in check. She was caught so off guard that for a moment the dome flickered and bullets pierced through, but she quickly regained control over it as they took off in a sprint.

     As they ran, Steve found himself searching for the jet, unaware that the reflective panels were in use. "I don't see the jet!" He worried.

     Natasha shook her head, "Trust me!"

     "Natasha!?" Wanda questioned in distrust as they quickly approached the edge.

     "Jump on my cue!" Natasha ordered.

     "What!?" Steve and Wanda both said in unison.

     She didn't hesitate. She saw the glimmer of the panels only a few below them and she yanked both of them by the arms. "JUMP!"

     From then on, they experienced everything in slow motion. They leapt from the roof of the Supermax into the abyss, hopeful that there would be the inside of a jet to catch them. In distress, Wanda lost control over the dome and it exploded—shooting out rays of energy in all directions as it burst. She screamed, Steve lost his breath, and then they landed hard against the backdrop of Maria's jet.