conquer • wanda maximoff

「 EIGHT 」

CHAPTER EIGHT; TEAM

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THE QUINJET WAS quiet on the flight to Sokovia. It reminded Ayana of the last time the team had sat here, after Wanda had manipulated their minds. It was clear that they were unsure of her, and she couldn't blame them for it. Bruce had made his anger clear back at the tower, and there was no doubt there was still tension with the others. Thor sat quite still, glancing up at Wanda every so often.

"Don't worry about him," Ayana muttered to Wanda, who turned away from Thor. "He acts tough, but he's a teddy bear."

"I'm finding that hard to believe," she told her. Pietro glared at Thor, who simply looked at him.

"Ignore him," she sighed. "I'm pretty sure he's compensating for something with the size of that hammer, anyway."

Wanda frowned, biting her lip. "How can you be joking right now? We don't know what we're heading into."

"Sure we do. We're all about to die because of an evil robot, what's hard to understand?" Ayana shrugged. Wanda looked up at her, brow furrowed. "Look, I know you're scared. So am I. But of all people, we're the ones who can put a stop to this before it gets any worse."

"I can't help but feel like Pietro and I caused this," she glanced at the floor, ashamed. "Your team is right not to trust us. We never should have sided with Ultron."

"Oh no, you definitely shouldn't have," she chuckled. "But you can't change that now. All you can do is try to make up for it."

Wanda took a deep breath, nodding as she spoke. "I suppose that could take a while."

Ayana tilted her head, and bit her lip. "Yeah, it definitely could."

"Thank you for that," the ghost of a smile played on her lips, and sarcasm dropped from her tone. "You always know what to say to make me feel better."

"Well, you look really good in Natasha's jacket," she nodded at the red leather jacket Wanda wore. "Does that make you feel better?"

"It's a start."

At the front of the jet Steve rose from his seat, gazing around at the team.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out," he began.

"All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us," Steve paused for a moment, bowing his head and turning away.

"Ultron thinks we're monsters, and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

***

THE TEAM SPLIT up once they touched down in Sokovia, getting civilians out before the fight. Ayana teleported into dozens of buildings, taking as many people with her as she could. There was no time to give a real explanation: the battle was looming overhead.