To Last Forever

Ch. 7

I continued to fight my attackers until they finally let me go.  I spun quickly to face them and ended up tripping over a branch.  When I looked back up, I saw Black Widow standing over me, hands on her hips with a frown, and Vision standing behind her, staring back at where the building was.  I glanced over my shoulder, but couldn't see the building or anyone behind me.  I slowly turned back to face Natasha, but looked at the ground instead of at her.  She cleared her throat and shifted on her feet, the only thing I could bring myself to look at. 

"What are you doing here?"  she demanded.  She tugged off my mask so she could see my face and I breathed a sigh of defeat.  I knew she already knew who I was.  She had found out before going into hiding, but I didn't really mind her knowing.  She was well known for keeping secrets.  "I thought Stark told you to stay back,"  she reminded me. 

"Everyone's comms went offline and we got reports of magic being used in the area!"  I defended, making myself look up at her.  She was still frowning. 

"I believe Peter was right in coming,"  Vision told her.  I gave her a look that said 'see, Vision thinks it was a good idea' but she ignored it.  "We could use his help." 

"He's a kid,"  Natasha said, glancing at Vision.  "A kid that belongs to Stark and if he gets hurt on our watch, whether or not he was allowed to come, it's our heads he'll have."  Whoa, Natasha was worried Tony would kill her?  I doubted Tony knew she was a little wary of him.  I wasn't gonna tell him either way.  He didn't need the ego boost and I'm fairly certain Natasha wouldn't want him to know.

"I'm not going to get hurt!  I just want to help!"  I told her.  My voice must have been a little too loud because Natasha clasped her hand over it, giving me a stern look before slowly removing her hand. 

"Fine, you can stay,"  she said.  I grinned.  "But if anyone tells you to get out or do something, you do it."  I nodded hastily, eager to stay and help. 

"What's the plan?"  I asked.  Natasha and Vision shared a grim look.  "You don't have one." 

"Look, the person in there is strong,"  Natasha told me.  "He took out everyone at once and floated them into that little hideout of his.  Vision and I only escaped it because we were on the other side of the house." 

"Then how do you know what happened?" 

"Vision does this telepathic thing with Wanda,"  Natasha said, waving her hand nonchalantly.  "Thing is, she was the first one out.  Screamed and collapsed.  We couldn't get to them in time."  

I frowned.  Wanda was the only person we had that could deal with magic similar to what this guy could do.  If she was the first out, we had a pretty slim chance.  Maybe she was faking it?  That seemed unlikely.  Wanda did not willingly fall into the hands of the enemy.  Something about Hydra and never wanting to do that again.  I didn't really know.  Tony wouldn't tell me and Wanda didn't like talking about it. 

"So we need a plan,"  I said.  Natasha nodded and Vision continued to stare through the woods at the small building.  Suddenly, he tore his focus from the forest and focused back on us. 

"Wanda has one." 

* * *

Apparently, Wanda had only been the first to drop because she had been attacked by both at once.  However, the man's helper, apparently his daughter, had been knocked out by Steve and remained so.  Wanda could overpower him with Vision's help, but in order to kill him and get everyone out safely, we needed to move fast.  I wasn't excited about killing someone, but Vision said it was the only way to stop him according to Wanda.  She wasn't strong enough to keep him down the entire ride back and the chances of us finding a place strong enough to keep his power in check were very slim. 

"We will wait for her signal,"  Vision told Natasha and me.  "Natasha, you will help Peter get everyone out of their bonds and then come back to help us kill him."  Natasha frowned slightly.  I knew she didn't like killing people, it reminded her too much of what she did when she was younger.  Tony had told me that once then warned me not to tell her I knew. 

"What's the signal?"  I asked.  Before Vision could answer, a bright flash of light came from the house and Vision grabbed our arms, flying us quickly towards the building.  He dropped Natasha and I outside then flew inside through a window and the red light became more of an orange.  Natasha burst through the door and I shrugged before running inside.  I guess that was the signal.