Avengers: Vengeance

Sacrifice

A/N: I want to thank all of you for being so patient with me. I don't want to mince words- things have been very difficult lately. My work is overwhelming me to the point of burnout and exhaustion and I've been questioning my path in life and whether it makes me happy or not. All very heavy things to process. I don't have any clarity right now but I do feel more like myself. I'm ready to create again because it makes me happy.

Helion stood beside Thor as the remnants of his new team assembled in the subterranean lair. Though he had only been in their company for a short while, he felt a kinship with them.

"We have to come up with a plan," Shang-Chi urged. "There are more of us now, and we had them all on the ropes when we encountered them last."

"That was until Lady Wanda was summoned," Thor remarked. "We have not met her in battle yet, but you make it sound as if that is a death wish."

"It is," Natasha said with a serious expression on her face. "What little I know of Wanda is that she's as unstable as she is powerful. Doom keeps her on a leash by feeding into her need to mother and protect her kids."

"You say she can alter reality, manipulate minds," Helion recalled. "But it seems she, herself, is being manipulated."

Hope nodded and lifted a finger. "What if we...I don't know, show her the truth?"

Yelena chuckled.

"Is that funny to you?" Clint snapped.

Yelena's mirthful expression solidified. "Wanda would unmake all of us before we had the chance to even attempt to reason with her."

"Then how do you fight someone whose only weakness is something you don't want to exploit?" Peter asked in a hopeless voice.

The team fell into silence as they contemplated Peter's question.

"Maybe," Fury said in a resigned voice.

"No," Shang-Chi interrupted.

"It may be the only way, Shang-Chi," Fury said. "I know we don't want to bring kids into this, but it's looking like we don't really have a whole lot of options here."

"What about your friend?" Sam asked. "Space lady? Can she match Wanda?"

Fury shrugged. "I'd like to think she could."

Silence fell in around them again before the monitoring equipment in the distance began to sound off.

"Guys, it looks like there's something coming into earth's atmosphere," Tony shouted. "And fast!"

A gigantic smile blossomed on Fury's face.

"This is Danvers," a stern female spoke over the radio. "Fury, do you copy?"

Fury hustled over to the radio and snatched it up. "Carol fucking Danvers. It's about damn time."

"Sorry, I've been a little busy dealing with some bullshit on the edge of the Milky Way," Carol said in a nonchalant voice. "What's going on?"

Fury shook his head. "Too damn much," Fury said before diving into a very abridged version of events.

"Well," Carol said in amusement. "Just point me in Lady Wanda's direction."

Wanda exited the castle and hovered in the air. She tapped into the powers that lay deep beneath her skin, nestled within her core. An explosion of bright red energy erupted from her body and surrounded her as she slowly panned and took in her surroundings. She never ventured outside of the castle, preferring to stay near the boys in their private and protected quarters. Seeing Doom's empire spread out before her, she viewed it through the eyes of an enraged mother, hellbent on finding and snuffing out any threat to her boys.