Helena had expected interrogation to start in the car ride to their destination. It never happened. The man, Clint was the name he gave her, had only sent a message on his phone. It was most likely an on-the-way text to the other Avengers.

The female driving Helena identified as the redhead, Natasha Romanoff. The two barely spoke a word.

When the car pulled up to the new facility, Helena's heart started to run in a panic. She didn't think they'd bring her here for torture. They only just wanted to talk...

At least, she hoped so. She wasn't prepared to get her emotions heightened to unleash her power against the Avengers.

The car rolled to a stop. Natasha Romanoff climbed out first, opening the door on Helena's side. Helena cautiously got out. She had to admit, the facility looked pristine.

"Follow us," said Natasha.

Helena obeyed, in fear of what would happen if she didn't.

Natasha and Clint escorted her inside of the facility. It felt big, and empty. The two offered her no time to explore and get a sneak peek inside of any rooms.

When Wanda finds out, they better be ready. She might just lose it and try and kill them. I don't want that for her. Murder will not solve anything; it will only damage her life more.

"I'm guessing you don't offer many tours here, huh?" Helena asked.

Neither of the two answered.

"Tough crowd."

The three gathered in an elevator, and aside from the music, it was a quiet ride upwards to a higher floor.

The three exited onto their designated floor. Natasha took lead, with Clint taking up the rear. If they think I'm going to run, I'm not chancing it. I doubt I'd get far.

Natasha granted access to one of the rooms, which turned out to be a conference room. And, wouldn't Helena know it, all of the Avengers—the main group, that she could tell—was gathered in a seat each. Stage fright gripped the girl.

"That went faster than I expected," said a snarky voice, which Helena identified as Tony Stark. He was currently on a tablet of some sort, at the one head of the table farthest from Helena. When his brown eyes actually looked up, he frowned at her.

Helena had a feeling as to why.

"Please, have a seat," said Bruce Banner. He wore a somber expression on a rather kind face.

Timidly, Helena worked her way around the table to sit. She took a seat near Thor, who looked godlike in looks alone. She hissed as her leg hit the hammer that sat obediently near Thor's chair.

"You know why you're here," said another new voice that belonged to Steve Rogers. He looked as normal as Helena, but she knew his super strength and backstory made him anything but.

"I want to believe it's because you're looking for new recruits, but you could be a little better about it." No one in the room even chuckled at the poor attempt at humor. Helena sighed. "How long have you been spying on us?"

"Truthfully, it wasn't spying, not initially," said Tony Stark. "We were looking for Maximoff when she went MIA here and did some damage on her way out. When we located her and saw you...we thought you were a hostage."

Helena's mouth dropped open. "How could you think that?"

"You're with her, willingly. Either you're as twisted as she is, or she's got some voodoo over you."

"There's no 'voodoo' over me." Helena leaned back in her seat. "And I'm not...you don't know her like I do."

"As if you would know her any better."

"I know that she's hurting and dealing with an emotional wound."

"Did you also know that she tried to kill some of us when we brought her back here?" Steve asked her quietly.

"She mentioned she broke free and got some licks in." Helena swallowed.

"She's under the impression that we are responsible for her twin brother's death," Clint said hollowly. "Ever since Sokovia...we know she's going through a lot. We offered her help. We must not have offered it soon enough or we gave her too much space, because she pulled that stunt and went into hiding."

"Well, until we found her," said Tony. "Since you claim to 'know' her, tell me something then, buttercup. What's going on in her head? What made her snap that she killed Vision?"

Helena bristled. "You sent him after me! You were trying to conduct a kidnapping in broad daylight! What happened to subtlety?"

"We were working on him with that."

"She saved me from him! Sorry if I thought he was a threat when he swooped in and grabbed me."

"Snap out of it, kid, this is her magic talking. She's got some influence on your mind, she's programmed you to be loyal to her."

"She does not control me. I'm loyal to her by choice, let's get that straight right now."

"We were trying to save you," Thor interjected calmly. His hands were clasped on the desk in front of them. "We know what the girl is capable of, we have been exposed to her powers once before. And we feel that what we encountered was just a small sample of what she may be able to do. She is dangerous, more so in the mindset that she is currently in."

"Well, you guys just made that worse on yourselves by bringing me here." Helena rubbed her temple. "You tried to steal me once, look what happened to your android."

"That android was our friend, and your witch blasted him to bits!" Tony shouted.

"Easy, Stark," Natasha said warningly. "We all were fond of Vision, too."

"The more time we waste, the less time you guys will have to prepare for when she gets here," said Helena, refusing to let Tony's raised tone scare her. "Once she realizes I'm gone, she won't think that I left her. She'll know something's up."

"We can use that to our advantage," said Thor.

"You brought me here to use as bait? You guys are seriously messed up!" Helena rose from her chair. "I want no parts of it. You should have just left her alone! You know why? When I first met her, she did have intentions on killing you all. Believe me, she was full-on anti-Avengers. But that changed when we got to know each other. She backed off on her ideas of revenge, but guess what, now you've fueled them up once again! Congratulations, now my pissed girlfriend is going to go on a murder rampage because you didn't do further snooping and realize she was no threat anymore!" She sucked in a breath.

The room fell eerily silent. Steve remained passive, Bruce looked mildly embarrassed. Tony looked about ready to cross to Helena and shake her silly.

"She's under no magic influence," Steve finally said quietly. "You care about Wanda, don't you?"

"More than I expected, but yes, I do."

"Then help us. Help us help her."

"Why should I?"

"If she's gonna go all Rampage on us like you say, we're gonna need some extra hands on deck," said Bruce.

"Tell us, kiddo, what makes you so special that you got her attention?" Tony asked rather calmly.

Helena hesitated. She could lie and not tell them about her destructive power. That would probably be the better option. "Tell me something first: do you have any knowledge of me?"

"Perhaps a small file. When we were wiping out HYDRA, they had some unfinished files on people. Your name might've been on there. Were you an experiment of theirs?"

"No, I wasn't." She looked to each Avenger nervously. "I'm...gifted, but my power is more of a curse, really. I can...When my emotions get really bad, like really angry or really freaked out, I...I send a wave of...I honestly don't know how to describe it without sounding insane."

"Tell us," Bruce said softly.

"Wait..." said Natasha. "Those attacks in New York, those bodies with the creepy veins and blood out of their faces...That's you, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Helena admitted reluctantly. "If you know what she's talking about, that is what happens when my emotions go into overdrive. Think of me as a nuclear bomb, except without the mushroom cloud or destruction of cities, and I release a deadly toxin or plague when it explodes from my body."

"Jesus," Tony murmured. "So you're a walking plague?"

"Tony," Steve scolded.

"I used to think that I was, that if I made any contact with someone, I'd kill them instantly. Wanda found me when I had my latest episode. She...she made me feel like I wasn't so alone. She made me feel like I didn't have to avoid society as much in fear of hurting people. She helped me realize how my power works and how to not let it out."

The Avengers took in Helena's words. She wasn't sure what would come out of this. Vouching for Wanda would not be enough to sway their minds, there was just no way.

She wasn't sure if she could stop them without resorting to the last option she'd ever want to use on them.

"If you guys are serious about helping her," Helena started, since nobody else seemed to want to talk, "we need to do this in a better way. We can't engage her, it'll be what she wants. She needs to see that I'm okay. Maybe if I can walk her back from the murder ledge, this can all be settled with words and we'll all be okay."

"What if she's consumed by revenge?" Thor asked me. "What can we do then?"

"It shouldn't get to that point."

"Thor's got a point," said Tony. "What if it does? What if your words can't sway her, Sting?"

"What kind of a crap nickname is that?" Clint asked.

"What? Her power is kind of like when a scorpion gets pissed and it releases its venom in its stinger."

"Yeah, no, I hate that," said Helena. "But that's not the point here!"

"So, again, I ask, if you can't talk her down, what then?" Tony repeated.

"We would have to stop her before she tries to hurt other people," said Natasha.

It rang clear in Helena's ears. Natasha was talking about murder. "No, we can't kill her," said the girl with the lethal power.

"If we don't do something, she could kill scores of others. Is her life worth innocent lives?"

"You're asking me to be okay with us murdering Wanda if it comes to that." Helena narrowed her eyes. "What about your Golden Rule?"

"She could back us into a corner we don't want to be in," said Steve. "She might not come around and see reason; she could be too blinded by hatred and mourning. Please, Helena. We don't like discussing it just as much as you don't, but...if it has to be an option, we need it to be."

"If it comes to that point, and none of us can take the shot, could you?" Natasha asked her.

Helena's eyes watered. She was being given an impossible scenario with an impossible choice. If Wanda did not see reason, and death was the only way to stop her...

The thought made the girl sick to her stomach, but there were no contents to empty out. 

**Something's brewing....can you feel it?**