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Chapter 32 - Could You? Would You?
Seoul, South Korea
It could have been days.
Weeks.
Maybe even years as Wanda lost herself in the wild link that tethered her to Atlas. The Sokovian might as well have been trying to drown herself in the Titans emotions. Whether out of concern or addiction, she couldn't tell. But what she did know was the crushing, insatiable need to lay her eyes on the angry Avenger just one more time.
And my God was she angry, the flickers of apoplectic fury she could feel through the link triggered a long-forgotten instinct in the Maximoff twin. A plea from her ancestors to steer clear of the wrath of demons and gods for the sake of her own survival.
But as Pietro could tell anyone, Wanda wasn't particularly good at following anyone's orders.
'How could anyone feel so much at the same time?' Wanda mused as a mind-controlled Helen Cho flittered across the labs.
Perhaps it took seeing someone else forcefully bind another to their will, but a sick feeling of nausea overcame Wanda as she watched Helen. Her normal brown eyes taken over by an otherworldly electric blue that deeply unnerved the Sokovian witch.
"What have we done?" Wanda whispered to herself, stricken with the sudden urge to grab Pietro and run away. Far from Ultron's creeping mania, far from the consequences of her own mistakes.
'And far away from Atlas' rage,' A tiny voice in her head gleefully cackled, unconsciously urging Wanda to once again peer into her emotions again.
The lingering anger, the deep anxiety that clung like a sickness, immeasurable guilt. And underneath it all, so much hurt and betrayal that it brought Wanda up short. Her hand flew to her chest instinctively as if it was a physical blow, her teeth gritted as she held off the sudden spike of red light that lit up her fingers.
If she focused hard enough, she would be able to feel that pain again; the very same pain that brought her to her knees.
A surge of guilt overcame Wanda yet again, churning in her stomach like a physical repulsion.
'But is it my guilt or hers?' Wanda thought to herself, pushing away from Pietro's hold to walk toward the cradle. The whispers of unfinished thoughts coming from the cradle drawing her away from the intensity of the link.
"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream." Helen Cho relayed as she attached a cord from the back of Ultron's head to the cradle, beginning the transfer process. "We're uploading your cerebral matrix...now."
"I can read him. He is dreaming." Wanda remarked, her eyes locked onto the slowly building body, but her mind flitting through half thought images that fluttered away before she could focus on them.
