Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 45 - Something New

The knot in Keira's stomach only tightened the more time went on. Not knowing where Ultron had taken Natasha, or what was being done to her, created nightmare scenarios in Keira's head. That was also why she stayed quiet during the ride home.

She was way too caught up in her own head to pay attention to anything else.

Seeing as Clint had left with the jet to return the Cradle to Stark, they had to find another way to get home, which turned out to be easier than expected.

Being an Avenger had its perks, and after getting to the airport, it didn't take long before they came across a man who was more than happy to loan them their private jet.

Or rather, it was more because of Steve's golden image, and not because of Keira. Her image, if she was recognized, had been somewhat... tainted since the fall of SHIELD. But there were still people who chose to see the good she had done rather than all the horrible things.

And to Keira's relief, Steve didn't fight her on her decision to bring the twins. They had proven that they had been misguided by Ultron, and that was good enough for both her and Steve.

It didn't take them long to navigate through the tower and down to the lab. The twins stayed silent, just following and looking around with big eyes. The building was the peak of technology, and reluctantly, they had to admit they were impressed.

"You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes." Bruce called out to Tony just as he rounded the Cradle.

"I'm gonna say this once." Steve warned, stepping out of the shadows and making their presence known.

"How about nonce?" Tony interrupted, his face contorted into an irritated frown.

"Shut it down!" Steve's raised voice caused Keira to flinch, and she felt her eyes grow big as she observed the man. He wasn't the one to lose his temper lightly, and here he was, practically shouting at his teammate.

But Tony wasn't having any of it. "Nope, not gonna happen."

Keira had to force herself not to roll her eyes at the childish statement and stepped forward, earning the looks of both Bruce and Tony. Where the hell was Clint? "Listen, you don't know what you're doing." She said calmly, her hands slightly raised as she tried to defuse the situation.

To her surprise, it wasn't Tony that answered her, it was Bruce. "And you do? She's not in your head?" He questioned, raising a hand to point at Wanda.

Keira clenched her fists, meeting Bruce's gaze stubbornly. "No, she's not. The fact that you're even implying-"

"I know you're angry." Wanda interrupted and sidestepped Keira, earning Banner's attention.

"Oh, we're way past that." He scoffed. "I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade." Jesus, how pissed off was he if he was ready to make threats in his human form?

Steve, ever the hero, stepped forwards. "Banner, after everything that's happened-"

"It's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony exclaimed.

"You don't know what's in there!"

"This isn't a game!"

Keira backed away, rubbing her temples. They truly didn't learn from their mistakes, did they? Here they were again, arguing like children instead of having a normal, grown-up discussion. All because some of the team members couldn't communicate properly.

A familiar blur of silver streaked through the room, plugging out the cables and the sound of the machine powering down rang in their ears.

"No, no. Go on." Pietro dropped one of the cables to the ground, secretively proud of his work. "You were saying?"