24 - Colorado

"Are we sure this is the place?"

James and I have parked outside of an abandoned warehouse. For the last few days, we'd been road-tripping, hijacking cars and paying what cash we could find to pay for motels and food. We made it to Colorado early this morning.

It's sometime in the afternoon now. Snow is beginning to fall.

"This is the place," James says. We both get out of the car. He hands me a pistol. "Don't hesitate."

"I won't."

Side by side, we enter the warehouse. There's no light when we walk in. I aim the gun ahead of me, matching James' steps. This place is full of crates. Must've been a storage warehouse or something.

"Did Steve say anything else about this place?" I look around. "Because I don't see anyone."

"It's probably hidden."

"Gee, thanks for that obvious development."

"Shh." He puts an arm out to stop me. "I heard something."

"What?"

"Let's go find out."

We stick close together, both armed, in the warehouse. I check behind every crate we pass, just in case. My sixth sense kicks in; we're not alone. I keep myself calm. The last thing we need is to give our knowledge away.

I hesitate in my footing, and spin around, aiming my weapon. I've come face-to-face with a woman of Asian descent, who looks as though that scowl on her face is permanent. She's got her own gun pointed at me.

"Put it down," she growls.

"Put yours down first," says James, who's at my side.

"Two on one, we win," I sing.

The woman frowns. She slowly lowers her weapon. "She's not...the Angel is she?" She directs this to James.

"I haven't been for a little bit," I say slowly. I hand the gun to James and put my hands up. "See? Not Hell's Angel. You the only one out here?"

"We picked up motion on the sensors. I volunteered to check it out."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

The woman nods. "We were beginning to think you were MIA."

"Well, we were. We found our way."

"How?"

"Long story," James cuts me off. "We can talk about it when we're, you know, actually with the others."

The woman looks at us suspiciously. "Follow me."

The three of us walk to a wall towards the back of the warehouse. The woman puts a hand to the section of a wall, and a door slides open, revealing an elevator. I look in amusement and get in. It's a silent ride down.

Once the doors open, I feel slightly relieved. Familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms walk, some watch us as we leave the elevator.

"Coulson's gonna want to see you," the woman says.

"How long have you been here?" I ask.

"A few days after the ambush."

"Who else is here?"

"Coulson will fill you in. I have some training to get back to."

James and I pass halls, windows, and rooms. The woman leads us into an office, and boy is it a relief to find Director Coulson sitting in a chair behind a desk.

"If we'd known this place beforehand, we would've gotten here a lot sooner," I sass to Coulson.

"The less people that knew—"

"The better it'd be. Romanoff told us this." The woman who escorted James and me to Coulson already disappeared. "Wow, she's quiet. Is she a ninja?"

"No. One of our best agents though. Might be the only time you see Agent May, though."

"Why's that, sir?"

"Different agendas." Coulson moves out from behind the desk. "I'm glad to see you two are alive and in one piece. How'd you get here?"

"We met up with Romanoff and Rogers. They intercepted us."

"And they are, where?"

James and I look at each other uncomfortably. Coulson's eyes jump between the two of us.

"We think HYDRA captured them," James murmurs. "We saw Steve taken in, we didn't see Tasha."

The look on Coulson's face is devastating. "Great, the list grows bigger."

"There's a list?" I squeak.

"Sharon Carter, Steve Rogers, and now Natasha Romanoff. Those are the only three know of that are in HYDRA care now."

"We're sorry to tell you this, director."

"Is that all you can tell me, Melbourne?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"So you have no idea what they're planning?"

I roll my eyes. "I told you from day one that I didn't know anything, sir. James can vouch for me that I haven't been tampered with since the ambush. Which I'm sure you knew about since someone probably told you." I clear my throat and avoid eye contact.

"Yes, Agent Romanoff told me. Tessa came forward too."

"Tessa?" I raise an eyebrow.

Coulson nods. "She told me what she did, how she was blackmailed."

I knew it. "She's here?"

"Yes. She's been keeping herself busy."

"Where can I find her?"

"No idea."

"Figured I'd ask." I shrug. I look at James. "I'm gonna go find her. I'll see you later, okay?" I touch his arm before I leave Coulson's office.

I talk to a few agents, asking of Tessa's whereabouts. It's like she doesn't exist, because nobody seems to know where she is. I need to make sure she's okay. Maybe she can give some insight to this. What does she know? Would she have told Coulson?

As I turn a corner, I find myself bumping into Wanda Maximoff. We bounce off each other. Well, she's here. Sam Wilson must be here, too. Natasha and Steve thought them captured. They'd be relieved to know that they're here.

"Maximoff," I greet her.

"Melbourne," she says in her thick accent.

"I'm glad you're here." She doesn't return the sentiment, her eyes tell me that much. "I'm looking for Tessa. You seen her?"

"I've seen her around, haven't really talked to her." She tilts her head. "Why?"

"I need to see her."

"That's not an answer."

I sigh. "Look, Wanda, I'm really not in the mood. I've been in a car for the past week and I haven't had the chance to relax."

She scoffs. "Oh, you poor baby."

"Excuse me?"

"You brought this on all of us."

"What are you talking about?" My eyes widen at seeing red tendrils slither around her fingers.

"You let this happen." Her eyes are glowing red now. I take a step backwards. "You caused this. People have died at your hand." Wanda has dark intentions. She stalks towards me, her fingers waggling in my direction. I balk at seeing the red wisps twist around her hands.

By the time I turn and start to run, I'm stopped. I see red tendrils stopping my legs. I look over my shoulder, eyes meeting Wanda's.

"Whatever you're about to do, don't do it," I murmur.

"Oh, is the Asset afraid?" she says bluntly. "As far as I'm concerned, you deserve this."

"No!" I scream.

The scene changes. Wanda is no longer near me. I'm in a familiar room, with familiar people.

I don't like this.

"What the...?" I glance down. I'm restrained onto a chair. Bright lights make my eyes squint. No, I can't be back already.

"Welcome back, Victoria," croons a voice.

I gasp, picking my head up to see Grant Ward entering the room, Tessa in tow. I start to visibly shake. No, not Tessa. She's been a friend to me. She can't be...

"We've missed you."

"You son of a bitch. You better let me out of these before I kill you."

Ward smirks. "No chance. You've lost your way. It's time we showed you the way back."

"No. Tessa." She's over me, a syringe in her hand. "Tessa, don't do this."

"No mistakes this time," Ward hisses.

"You're making a big one right now!" I say hysterically.

"Do it."

With a nod, Tessa plunges the needle into my neck. I scream, feeling the liquid burn and run through my veins. Not again.

I hear it, the whir of the machine. The contraption looms above my head. I fight past the burning in my body, fight against the restraints.

"Shouldn't we give her something to bite down on, sir?" Tessa asks Ward.

"No. She should remember what happens when she runs off, screams and all," he whispers. He replaces Tessa at my side, smoothing down my hair. "You'll come back to us. See you in a bit, Angel."

"You bastard!" I scream at the top of my lungs. I move my head, but the contraption forces it to stay in one place. I whimper, panic. I know what comes next.

My scream rips through the air when I feel the impulses shock my system, shock my brain. It's like I've been set on fire, and knives have been sent into my brain.

"Vick!"

I'm hearing things. I feel the pain. Tessa turned on me. Reluctant HYDRA worker, my ass.

"Vick!"

I pop open my eyes, seeing someone's face in front of me. James.

"G-get me out of this!" I say hoarsely.

He watches me in confusion. "Vick, you're okay. Come on, hey." He looks to some point in the room. "Snap her out of it!" I feel his touch on my arms, the warmth of one hand, the coldness of the metal. "Vick, hey, hey. Can you hear me?"

"Make it stop," I beg. "Please."

"Wanda, I said now!"

Everything disappears: the contraption, the room, Tessa, Grant Ward, the burning in my body. I'm disoriented, but a few things are coming back to me. I'm sitting down, not standing up like before. I can feel myself lightly rocking back and forth. What just happened?

"Get her out of here," I hear James snarl. I hear feet leave, but I don't acknowledge them. I feel a hand pull my chin around. I blink wearily. "Vick, can you hear me?"

"Is this real?" I croak.

"I'm real, yeah." He smooths hair out of my face.

"W-where's Tessa? She's got a needle!"

"Whoa, hey. Tessa isn't here. It's only me."

"Wanda..." I shake my head, closing my eyes. "She did something to me."

"I know." James frowns. "Sam took her out of the room."

"Sam? Wilson?"

"Yeah, him."

"W-why did she do that to me? What even was that?" I have a massive, splitting headache going on right now. This feels worse than a bullet through my side.

"She showed you your fear."

"Why? What did I do to her?"

"Nothing. She...she hasn't heard your side of the story, Vick."

"She blames me for the attack."

"Yeah, she does."

"But—"

"You didn't do it. I know, but she doesn't."

"She's not gonna forgive me for it, James." I close my eyes. "If that attack was any indication. I'm glad she didn't make my brain melt. Can she even do that?"

"As far as I know, no, she can't. She'll forgive you. She's just a little more...careful than most people."

"I can tell. She's not afraid to go on offense."

"Come on, up you go." With gentle hands, James gets me on my feet.

I open my eyes. "You ever suffered like this?"

"From her? No. I've been fortunate enough to not piss her off."

"Can I share some of that luck for the future?"

"Let's get you walking." With careful steps, James gets the two of us moving. I wince, seeing fragments in my head.

My fear, James said. That's what Wanda showed me. I know exactly what it is too. Going back to Hell's Angel. Going back to her. I look at James. Does he ever fear about going back to being the Winter Soldier?

"I'm glad you found me when you did," I say groggily. "I would've been stuck in that hellhole forever."

"You know it wasn't real, right?"

"Felt pretty damn real to me."

"How do you feel?"

"Insulted that you just asked me that question."

"Let's get you somewhere to rest. Maybe we can find Tessa."

Hearing her name makes me flinch. I see her with the needle. It wasn't real. Tessa's a friend. She's not the enemy. You can trust her, even if what she's done screwed us over. Normally, what she did, I wouldn't forgive. I mean, reverting me back to Hell's Angel, back to that monster HYDRA made me to be? But since I think I know her motive, I can forgive her for it.

I'd do the same thing.

**Phew, Wanda is a tough girl. I love writing her when she comes into the story.**