The Last Maximoff

always a clearing

Picking at a string at the edge of her skirt, Wanda Maximoff tried to forget the heartbreaking incident that led to her current mental state. The screams of terror were still a fresh sound in her head as her mind replayed the moment she ended dozens of lives. Not on purpose, of course, and her team reminded her that, but still, the thought that she was the one responsible for the lives lost was unbearable. She knew she was to blame, so she put it all on herself, not leaving any room to feel sorry for herself for the way people despise her.

She walked through the long, softly lit hallway of the facility late at night. It was eerily quiet since most of the team was trying to figure out how to plan their futures based on the Sokovia Accords. Those formal papers messed with her life, and there were added requirements since she was an enhanced individual, a wild card. She believed that she was the main reason for the upbringing of the documents, that the incident in Lagos gave the UN the push they needed to pursue a course of action like this one.

She hugged herself as she entered the kitchen, face dropping as she watched the news channel showing James Barnes as a criminal and the mourning people of Wakanda. Their king was dead, and it just added more sadness to her already deep sorrow.

"Made up your mind yet?" came Rhodes' voice.

Wanda turned her head to see him leaning forward against the counter, a cup of coffee in hand. She shrugged, "I don't know what I'll do. What do you suggest?"

He took a sip of his coffee. "Well, I may be biased, but I say that you do sign those Accords. It'll be better for your reputation and you'll receive government protection. I mean, that's what Tony would say too."

She hummed softly for a moment and then walked over to the counter. "Any more coffee?"

Rhodes gestured to the pot next to the sink. "Tired too?"

"Yes." She reached for a clean cup and poured herself some of the lukewarm coffee. "Maybe I will sign the Accords," she murmured after a moment, closing her eyes.

"I mean, I think it's the best choice. I already signed because I think it's best for me to stay with the team. But if you don't want to, you would be considered retired like Barton. Maybe he'd let you stay at his place until you figure out what you wanna do."

She nodded in agreement. "True. I guess I do have a failsafe if I don't sign the Accords. But I don't feel like... I just..." She struggled to find the words.

"You'd rather gain the trust of the public?" he suggested softly.

"Yeah. That. There's no point in me not signing, so it's probably best."

She tapped the marble counter, thinking about the idea of signing those documents. Obviously, if she asked Steve for his advice, he'd be against it. He doesn't like the idea of how the Accords shift the blame of the disasters that have happened on them. But she also remembered that Stark said that if oversight isn't placed on the Avengers soon, it would be done sometime later. And she remembered that she said, 'You're saying they'll come for me.'

Rhodes set his cup in the sink." I'm gonna head out. I need to meet Tony soon for something about Barnes escaping captivity. G'night," he said and left the room.

She stared down at her hands. "Night."

After a few minutes of contemplating, she brought her cup to the sink and started to wash it out. Before she could turn the tap on, however, a loud noise sounded outside. From the scare, Wanda dropped the cup in the sink, nearly cracking it.

She brought a hand to her chest and raced to the window, looking at what seemed to be a large fire that erupted in the trees far off. She looked to her right and saw that Vision had phased through the floor of the facility.

He briefly looked at her before placing a hand on her shoulder and saying, "Stay here, please."

Wanda watched as he floated through the wall and to the scene of the fire, but felt a strange feeling burn up her spine as she sensed another conscious in the room. She whipped around and saw that Clint had snuck into the facility.

"Clint? Why are you here?" she asked as she neared him.

"We need to leave, Cap needs our help," he said as he shot two electronically activated arrows across from each other and grabbed onto Wanda's hand.

She pulled back afraid and shook her head. "I'm not gonna leave."

"Steve needs us. He needs you. Now come on, let's get out of here before—"

"Clint," he was caught off by Vision who phased inside the building.

Oh no, Wanda thought. Her head turned back and forth from Vision to Clint who seemed to be irritated at each other. She brought to hands close to her chest as she feared the worse.

"You should not have come," Vision said, threatening the 'retired' man. Both slowly stepped closer, nearing Wanda who was in the middle of the two. Neither noticed her deep fear.

"Shit, well, you know how things are. Now let me leave, in peace, with Wanda, and we don't have to cause any harm," Clint said with a hint of sarcasm and humor, trying to level Vision's powerful stance.

"I cannot allow that."

Clint cracked his knuckles. "I guess it's the hard way, then." He prepared himself and raced towards the synthetic human.

Vision also hastily made his way towards the man, preparing himself for combat.

Wanda watched as Clint shot an arrow at Vision, who phased, which caused the two arrows shot previously to disable, and let the arrow hit against the wall behind him. And when they reached a scared, painfully still Wanda in the middle, she put out her hands and created a shield around herself with her magic. "Stop, please," she whispered. "Clint, I told you I'm not going anywhere. Please leave me alone."

"But Wanda—"

She shook her head.

"Cap needs you. You're abandoning him if you stay!"

She clenched her teeth and curled up underneath the shield, tense from the stress.

Clint stared down at her, confused and hurt, but decided to not waste any time. He threw a smoke bomb at the ground and disappeared from the facility, making his way to pick up Scott Lang, hoping that he would help Steve.

Vision could have easily stopped Clint but was more concerned for Wanda's state.

Once the smoke cleared, he saw that she was still curled up in the protection of her shield.

"Wanda, are you alright?" He knelt down to her level.

She shook her head into her knees and rounded arms as her shield slowly crumbled into nothingness. He placed a hand on her bag and hesitated before rubbing small circles. "Let me take you to bed," he whispered gently. "Does that sound good?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

Vision smiled softly and helped her up, wrapping an arm around her to keep her steady. Once they reached her room, she moved out of his grasp and thanked him, wishing him goodnight.

She shut the door behind her and slid down against it, hoping that nothing worse would happen...

...

...

01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00111111 00100000 01010111 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01001001 00111111 00001101 00001010