Fight or Flight » JW / Avengers

chapter ten

[ chapter ten ; ]

The conversation between Hoskins and Owen ended with Owen agreeing to using the raptors . . . on his terms. For that, Wanda was proud of him. However, she still didn't think the use of the raptors was a great idea, but then again, no one had asked her.

She stood with Zach and Gray on one side of a fence as Owen was on the other, closer to the raptors that were now harnessed and incapable of movement. She was wondering at how it would work, to manipulate a raptors mind, when Gray asked, "Are they dangerous?"

"Yes," Owen agreed, which seemed to only further delight both of the boys.

Wanda resisted the urge to roll her eyes, even as one of them asked, "Do they have names?"

"Sure do," Owen agreed. Then he began to point to each one, "This one's Charlie. Here's Echo, and Delta . . . and that's Blue," he turned back to the rest of them. "She's the beta."

"Who's the alpha?" Gray asked.

Owen smiled slightly, and glanced over at Wanda. "You're looking at him."

Wanda chuckled at that, pulling back some from the fence. "This does not come as a surprise to me," she said. "However, I doubt that they are always so eager to respond as if you were one of their own."

Owen made a face, but shrugged in silent agreement. "You're not wrong."

Then the man Wanda knew to be Barry (a man who had worked with the raptors just as closely as Owen) came up to Owen and spoke to him quietly. Owen gave a short nod, before looking back to the three on the other side of the fence. "Wanda, if you wouldn't mind coming with me."

"Can we come?" Zach asked.

"No, not this time," Owen said. "Stay with your aunt, okay?"

Both Zach and Gray gave loud sighs of displeasure, but didn't argue the matter further with Owen. Instead they both went off to find Claire, as Wanda trailed after Owen to . . . wherever he was going. "Where are we going?" she asked him as she caught up, falling into step with him quickly.

"Meeting with Hoskins' men," he answered. "They need to know the game plan."

"That sounds more reassuring than us needing to know the game plan," Wanda mused.

"You're half right," he said, glancing down at her. "You need to know the game plan, too. You've never run through drills with the raptors before. Not that that's a bad thing," he added quickly, "because you know, it's not as though you'd ever been around raptors before--"

"I know what you meant, Owen," she assured him with a small smile. "I don't think you need to worry about me near as much as you are at this given moment."

"I don't think you can stop that," he replied. "Just . . . go along with it, all right?"

"Are you assuming that they're not going to recognize I'm an Avenger?" Wanda asked, brushing against him as they entered a tighter hall. His finger tips brushed the inside of her palm, and when she looked up at him, he gave a slight smile. 

"I am, actually," he agreed. "I mean, you're not dressed in your . . . costume? Uniform. Um . . ."

"I know what you mean," she stopped him before he could make a mess of himself. "I'm not dressed as the Scarlet Witch. That is because I didn't come to this island to be an Avenger."

"Yeah, well," Owen cleared his throat, coming to a pause in the doorway of the giant room where many men in black military wear were waiting, "in all honesty, it'd be pretty great if you'd go full blown Avenger here."

Wanda hummed bemusedly, smiling to herself. "Oh trust me, Owen Grady. I can manage that."

He smiled down at her, a hint of relief in his eyes. "Then let's do this."

They went into the room, and Wanda stood to the side as a horde of the men circled around Owen and a table. On the table was a map, and Owen was using said map to illustrate the plan. He explained the raptor's hunting methods, he explained the routine that they had practiced, and then, as he drew to a close, he looked at each and everyone of them. "You get one good shot here," he said seriously. "Do not shoot my animals . . . please."

"It all sounds good to me," one of the gruff, broad-shouldered men said then. "Though I think it's safe to say, we're all a little more curious about your lady friend than your dinosaurs."

Wanda flashed a catty smile at the men as they all turned to face her. There was something devious in her eyes as they watched her; something that was border-line vicious. "My name is Wanda Maximoff," she replied in answer to the man's words. "Though you should probably refer to me as the Scarlet Witch."

One of them gave a low whistle then, and she watched as a few of them exchanged looks. "You're an Avenger," one of them piped up.

"I am," Wanda agreed, right as Owen said, "She is."

"You weren't mentioned in the plan," another pointed out, this one side-eyeing Owen.

"That's because I'm here if the plan goes wrong," Wanda replied smoothly. "And if it does . . . believe me when I say it won't be because of anything Owen's done. If it does," she continued, looking past all of them to the man who had just come into the room and had watched the scene unfold, "it will be Hoskins you should blame."

Hoskins forced a smile to his face then, taking a few steps forward so his men could better see him. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but what have I ever done to you to earn such a mean reputation?"

Her eyes flashed to red then, and it caused most everyone except Owen to withdraw into themselves, or nearly cringe. "You don't have to do anything," she said then, her voice low, but loud enough to be heard by all. "I know a great deal about men such as yourself." 

Hoskins cleared his throat then, and Wanda knew that, for the moment, she had stilled his quick tongue. And without manipulating him with her powers, even. She was a bit proud of that. "All right . . . I assume you've finished your walk through of your plan, Grady."

"We have," Owen agreed, not bothering to suppress a proud smile as he looked not at Hoskins, but Wanda.

"Then you boys better start getting ready. We're moving out soon," Hoskins declared loudly, acting as though he had reclaimed some sense of power, before he rushed out of the room. 

As all of Hoskins men scattered, Owen made his way through them toward Wanda. He stopped in front of her, a small smile still on his lips. "You're pretty good at this whole Avenger business," he noted, sliding his hands into his pockets.

She smirked up at him. "And you're pretty good at this whole alpha business," she teased in return. "I'm thinking you should get ready, though."

"I'm very ready," he said then. "I'm taking my motorcycle."

"I'm guessing I shouldn't ride with you," Wanda said, not bothered at all by the one minor detail.

"No," he agreed, "you should probably ride with Barry. He won't mind."

Wanda smiled widely then. "Then I should probably go introduce myself to him. You go get ready," she said, pushing at his shoulder playfully, before walking away, "I'll see you outside."

Owen watched her go, still smiling to himself. Never had he thought that Claire's telling him there was an Avenger on the island would lead to this. He just hoped that they made it out alive . . . because he knew he wanted more than just one day with Wanda Maximoff.