Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Now I’m gonna ask you this one last time.” A heavily accented voice growled. “Where. Did you. Come from?”

Her throat was as tight as the restraints on her hands. With a soft whimper, she croaked, “I don’t remember.”

She heard him hum. “Well, that’s a shame, dear. And you seem quite distraught about it too. Perhaps,” His cold fingers brushed against her cheek, making her jump and pull away from him instantly. “I can help with that.”

The man stepped away but he didn’t leave the room. She couldn’t make much of the room with a bright light shining down on her and her head strapped down to stop her from moving and looking around the room.

“Wanda? Be a dear.”

Before she could realize what was happening and who this Wanda was, her mind began to slow and become hazy. Something slithered into her mind, something grabbed at her murky memories and pulled them forward.

The last thing she saw before her eyes heavily shut was a flash of scarlet.

The image wouldn’t stop replaying in her head. It wouldn’t leave her dreams.

It was always the same every time. She was falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. And he was reaching for her, flying down the clocktower, desperately trying to catch her. To stop her before she...

Willow Bennett squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears before her best friend would hit the ground with a sickening crack. Dying instantly.

She believed back then, and even now, that if she closed her eyes, all the bad things would go away. She was nine years old again, trembling in her bedroom, trying to ignore the wall shaking from her father’s booming voice. Trying to will the tears to stop when the front door slammed shut, leaving the cold house with nothing but silence and her mother’s sniffles.

She could’ve comforted her crying mother. But instead she was nine years old, staring at the door that would never open again that night.

She could’ve gone after him, chasing his car as it disappeared down the street, screaming, shouting, begging him to stay. Begging her to choose her instead of freedom.

Instead she was nine years old. Stripped of nothing but utter shame. Regret. Useless.

She could’ve stopped her. Gwen Stacy was a stubborn child born from an equally stubborn father who was the former chief of police. Willow could’ve convinced her to let Peter handle it, to let him save the day like he always did.

But instead, she was eighteen years old. Curled away in a corner, just a few feet away from where her best friend’s body was laid. Eyes screwed shut, hot tears staining her face, and ears covered.

It’ll go away. It’ll go away. It’ll go away. It’ll go away.

Wails was what startled her out of her silent chant. Her eyes snapped open on instinct. And upon seeing Gwen lie still and limp in Peter’s arms, the realization falling upon her bruised shoulders, her breaths became short and a strained cry left her lips.

She could’ve stopped her. But instead she was nine years old again. Frozen. Hiding away. Useless.

Time was different for those who were dabbling between shock and the unyielding, unforgiving feeling of grief. One often forgets their surroundings. The other forgets, only for a moment, that they are not alone. That they are not the only one grieving.

 Willow realized through her river stream of tears that she was still at the bottom of a destroyed clocktower, with distant sirens rattling her mind. Peter had looked up at her as if it were the first time he noticed her there, briefly coming up for air out of his own ocean.

They stared at each other but neither of them considered one another. Willow felt as if she were staring right through him; there was nothing she was looking at. She was staring and doing everything in her power not to have a panic attack.

They had to leave the body. Willow never truly considered that when Peter quietly grabbed her and swung them out of the clocktower before the police could arrive on the scene. It didn’t set in until they arrived at her apartment that Gwen Stacy was gone. That Mrs. Stacy had lost yet another person she loved not only a year after losing her husband. That Peter had lost his first love. That Willow had lost her best friend.

Peter, as soon as they were in her apartment, as soon as Willow closed the balcony curtains, the world wouldn’t see that Spider-Man had fallen to his knees in her living room.

He hadn’t put his mask on after they left the clocktower. They had been lucky no one was paying that close attention to them. It was the most vulnerable Willow had ever seen from him. Not since the death of his uncle. He was silent in the way that the room went dead quiet around him as well. Nothing in the room dared to make a sound. His head hung low, shadows practically covering most of his face.

Willow quietly walked over to hum and knelt down to the floor as well, next to him, watching as silent tears slid down his cheeks.

“I was too late.”

Up until this point they had barely uttered a word ever since they left the clocktower. But even now, Willow had no clue what she could say. What does anyone say to something like this?

“I was too late.” He whispered, shaking his head. “This is all my fault, I should’ve...I could’ve...” He cut himself off with a sob.

Willow hugged his arm gently, resting her head on his shaking shoulder. Words betrayed her and died away in her throat. All she could do was comfort him. She would do something.

They stayed like this for a while. Time was irrelevant. The night had become day. Willow had still yet to say anything. Her eyes were droopy but never closed unlike Peter who practically cried himself to sleep, his head currently lying on her lap. They hadn’t moved from the floor, didn’t get on the couch that her back was leaning against. They stayed there in a crumpled heap.

It wasn’t until the early morning sun broke through her curtains did she become restless. Which was humorlessly ironic considering she never once rested.

So, after gently replacing her lap with a soft pillow for Peter’s head, Willow went to the kitchen and allowed her hands to do whatever they wanted. Having a part time job at a diner while going to school didn’t give her a lot of food options in the kitchen, but she worked what she got.

And what she got was microwavable pancakes and a dozen uncracked eggs. Willow could work with that. There was even enough to make for Peter when he woke up. And so for the past hour, she had kept herself busy and moving. Cleaning the kitchen, making a cup of coffee, and then organizing her fridge.

By the time she was cooking her eggs, Peter had woken up.

She paused, watching him squint his eyes open and then suddenly shoot up from the floor, looking around the room frantically.

“Will? Will ?!”

“Right here, Pete.”

Peter tuned as Willow moved out of the kitchen, her spatula still in hand. He was staring at her, both relieved, confused, and panicked.

“I couldn’t sleep and decided to make some breakfast.” She gave a small smile, hoping to ease the tenseness in his shoulders even though she’d never had that type of affect on him. Instead, he only frowned. His eyes downcast and away from her own. She quickly added, “Don’t worry! I made enough for the both of us. Scrambled hard, right?”

“No, I can’t.”

Willow frowned but expected the reply, “I’ll leave some anyway. I don’t think it’s a good idea to not eat in this state. I’ll just make a plate and set it aside for you—”

“No, Will. I can’t .”

It was the way he said it then that made her realize what he meant. Willow gripped the spatula tighter in her hands, breaths quickening slightly. “Peter?” She watched as he grabbed his mask from the floor and began pacing. “Peter, please—”

“Willow.” The way he said her name. The way his voice shook. The way he looked at her now. As if she were something fragile. He shook his head, eyes glass. “I can’t do that to you.”

“Don’t do that, Pete.” She argued. “Don’t push me away, okay? We can’t do that to each other. You’re my best friend, right?” He didn’t look at her. “Nothing can change that, alright? I won’t let it—”

Peter continued shaking his head, “Yes, you will.”

“Damn it, Peter! I fucking won’t—”

“This is exactly how it happened! This is exactly how she...” Peter’s voice wavered, hand running nervously though his hair. “I-I let her in, I got her involved. I broke a promise and now she’s...she’s...” He started looking around the room in panic, like he realized just where he was. “I-I can’t—I shouldn’t be here.”

Peter pulled on his mask and rushed towards the balcony. Willow ran forward, eyes blurring.

“Peter, wait!”

But he had already leaped off. She could see the web sling across the city, away from her apartment.

A sob shook her body as she sunk down onto her wooden coffee table, muffling her cries into her arm. All of last night’s events finally hit her like a thick violent wave.

She could’ve comforted her crying mother.

She could’ve stopped Gwen.

She could’ve begged Peter to stay and tell Spider-Man to leave just once.

Someone who is easily ignored. Easily left.

She could’ve done something. She should’ve done something.

So fucking useless.

A blaring sound from her smoke alarm met her ears. She had left the stove on for too long.

And when she numbly got up to turn it off, she saw that the eggs she made for both herself and Peter were burnt.

Chapter Text

The day the Bennett household became nothing but a house was the day Willow left it.

It was also the very same day where sixteen year old Willow Bennett was forced to grow up into something that she wasn’t. But she would pretend and she would make it work on her own.

Seeing the face of her husband on her daughter’s face every waking day had become too much for Martha Bennett. So much so that the day Willow came back from school, with luggage outside of the house, the locks changed so her key could be rendered useless, was the day .

It was bound to happen eventually. Willow was prepared ever since he left. She was just surprised that it took this long.

Willow didn’t let that hinder her though. She began working twice as hard at her job at the diner to save up some money and slept somewhat temporarily and uncomfortably in her car. But she made it work. She had to.

Despite her hard work in survival, it left her grades quite vulnerable. She was failing her classes and people were starting to notice. Eyes were on her, which was ironic considering she had been invisible to Midtown High up until now. The juicy gossip was too juicy to ignore, so it was only a matter of time before people started finding out things.

“It seems you’ve just lost your passion, Miss Bennett.” Her English teacher, Mrs. Valdez, frowned disappointingly at her. “You used to be top of this class, beautiful writing, and a clear goal. Now you’ve turned in half-hearted assignments, almost as if you don’t care anymore.”

What an understatement.

“I’m sorry.” Was what Willow would usually say. “I just haven’t had enough time with all the shifts I’ve taken on—not that I’m making excuses! I’m—uh trying to figure out my scheduling, that’s all.”

Mrs. Valdez would then give her the same look the others would give her. And never without fail, Willow’s stomach turned.

“I’ve tried reaching out to your mother—”

Willow gave a short snort, “Oh, well, I hope you’re having better luck than me.”

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Miss Bennett.” Mrs. Valdez chided. “Your mother—”

“No disrespect, Mrs. V.” Willow grabbed her backpack and stood from the chair she had been sitting in for the past twenty minutes. “But I’m sure you’re well aware of my current relationship status with my mother. No doubt you got all the gossip around second period, sharing tea and details with all the other faculty members—”

“Miss Bennett!”

“—Who has said the exact speech you’re planning to give me now.” She slung her backpack strap over her shoulder and gave a small shrug. “Apologies if I’m so passionless now.”

For a moment, she stood there, waiting for the older woman to respond.

“Can I go now? I have PE in like five minutes and I don’t want to show Coach Tayler I’ve lost my passion for being on time.”

To her surprise, Mrs. Valdez didn’t snap or yell at her. Instead her face remained quite composed. While also wearing the same look that Willow hated.

“You don’t have to go through this alone, Willow.” Mrs. Valdez sighed. “I know it’s probably the last thing you want to hear right now but this? What you’re doing right now is obviously not working. You’re more exhausted and sleeping through your classes, being late to school...Willow, it’s okay to ask for help.”

She didn’t need this. She didn’t need her pity.

Willow wasn’t looking at her anymore. Instead she waited by the door, shifting on her feet and watching her shoelaces flopping around as she moved.

“PE’s in three now.”

Mrs. Valdez didn’t say anything for a second. Then Willow heard her sigh, “You’re excused Miss Bennett.”

Willow left Mrs. Valdez’s classroom, glad to be free from the teacher’s penetrating gaze.

Gym was too far from where she was, which was why Willow took her time as she walked. The halls were empty, allowing her to wipe away any stray tears onto her shirt sleeves. It was silly really. How easily she could cry at such things. Sometimes she wished she wasn’t such a crybaby.

As she walked, she passed by the school trophy display. Willow stopped and doubled back to squint at the glass.

It was only a matter of seconds before she found the picture of her and the volleyball team that was taken back in her freshman year. It was the last championship if she remembered correctly. Yes , she wore her hair in short curls at the time, long before she made the recently permanent decision to get locs.

That seemed so long ago. Every part of her reminisced those days and every part of her wished she could still live it. This life of someone else’s. A stranger now.

But now she had responsibilities. She had to grow up and get it together.

She was on her own now. She would make it work.

“Willow Bennett?”

Her body jumped at the new voice coming from next to her. She hadn’t heard anyone coming beforehand. Had she been that distracted by the trophy display to the point her surroundings were nothing but background noise to her?

That’s a bit dangerous.

Now, standing beside her, was this wiry boy with a skateboard tucked under his arm.

Willow huffed, slightly irritated from being startled. “Who wants to know?”

The boy offered his hand, “I’m Peter Parker? We’re in Chemistry together with Mr. Blake?”

Peter Parker? The name was vaguely familiar. She might’ve heard it in passing around the halls or from Mr. Blake’s mouth without even realizing it.

Willow just stared at his outstretched hand until he awkwardly dropped it to his side. “Can I help you, Parker?”

“Um,” He cleared his throat, “Mr. Blake has assigned me as your tutor and I just wanted to introduce myself and maybe discuss what time would work—”

She didn’t hear the rest nor did she care to. It actually only pissed her off more. Why did these people even bother? Why the hell did they pretend to care knowing they only did this just to please their conscience?

Mrs. Valdez and her looks of pity. Mr. Blake sending some poor student to deal with her shit. They were trying to purposefully inconvenience themselves by “helping”.

You don’t have to go through this alone.

What a load of crap.

“Willow?”

She blinked, finding Parker looking at her expectantly.

“Do any of those times work for you?”

Willow continued staring at him blankly only to realize after a few seconds that he had been still talking while she had completely zoned out. Something about tutoring schedules. And just like that, Willow was angry about it all over again.

“Hello—”

“Hey look, I’m afraid Mr. Blake has wasted both our time. You don’t have to come over to my house—or in this case my car to study Dalton’s Atomic Theory or chemical symbols or whatever crap we’re studying for the midterm. I’m good, I’ve been good, and that isn’t changing any time soon.”

Peter looked at her, mouth agape, looking like a fish out of water. Really she wasn’t mad at him. He was just doing as he was told, as he was assigned to do. Willow had no reason to be bitter towards him.

So she gave a short smile and backed away from him. “Nice to meet you, Parker. Hope we won’t be doing this again.”

Willow Bennett’s first meeting with Peter Parker was so miniscule and forgetful, the Willow back then wouldn’t believe the relationship she had with him in the present. Well, maybe not disbelief, more like wondering why she ever allowed him to get close, why she opened up to him, why she allowed herself to get hurt by him in the end. In fact, Willow back then would’ve been pissed at the present Willow.

But one thing she wouldn’t believe was that scrawny kid would be Spider-Man. Or the fact they actually ended up forming quite the bond that seemed unbreakable at the time in her utter oblivious bliss. Or the fact that it all happened because of one person. One tie. One bridge.

One Gwen Stacy of course.

Willow had to give credit where credit was due. That was one long bridge to build. Some blocks fell, the foundation cracked a few times, but Gwen kept building. Kept repairing. She grabbed more bricks, used spackle until this bridge was strong, unbreakable, and stood without her support.

In a way, it was like Gwen was prepared for this. She made sure that they had each other before she left.

Gwen would have gone to Oxford.

Willow and Peter would’ve had each other. Should’ve.

“Guess what I did.” Willow grinned as she stopped at the table both Gwen and Peter were sitting at.

They often came to the diner during Willow’s thirty minute break, giving her ample time to gossip with them about co-worker drama or in this case showing off college merch.

She brought out a hat with furry ears, her grin widening. “Oh my god!” Gwen gawked at the stuff as she took a shirt from the merch pile, “Will, you haven’t even gotten in yet!”

“I’m gonna get in.” Willow placed the hat on Peter’s head. “I’m not the third smartest student out of the three of us for nothing!”

“In street smarts maybe.” Peter commented.

Willow rolled her eyes and slid in the booth next to him, “You mock all you want but don’t come to me when a mugger wants to take everything you got. Then you’ll look back on this day and think, ‘Wow, I should’ve listened to my dear friend Willow, she definitely would’ve been able to prevent my skateboard and wallet from being stolen’.” She brought out a cup with NYU’s colors on it. “By the way, how are those spider webs? Before I got my hands on those babies, they were trying to electrocute your dick off—"

“Alright! You’ve made your point!” He hissed, shoving her as Gwen laughed across from them. “Shout to the whole diner that I’m Spider-Man, why don’t you!”

Willow smirked, “Speaking of Spidey, what’s the status with you two? Broken up? Subtly, not so subtly flirting?”

Gwen swallowed a sip of her milkshake, “Flirting? I know not what you speak of!”

“Yeah, um we’re just friends, you know?” Peter cleared his throat awkwardly, “Just casual—”

“Casually making out in front of everyone at graduation? Yeah, causal is a good word.” Willow hummed, feigning thoughtfulness.

“Yes! Exactly! Casual! You’re so right, Will, that is a good word! Say Peter, what else do you consider casual?” Gwen asked pleasantly.

Peter sighed. Willow looked between the two. “Are Mom and Dad fighting again—”

“No we’re not fighting—we’re night fighting, right?” Peter looked to Gwen who nodded a little too enthusiastically. Peter turned back to Willow, “And you! You’re always causing shit!”

Willow raised her hands innocently, “I have no clue what you’re talking about, man.”

“You know I bet you two were planning this! Ambushing me!” Peter exclaimed dramatically. He pointed an accusatory finger at her, “You’re on Mama’s side, aren’t you?!”

Willow scrunched her face in disgust as Gwen laughed, “Did you just call me Mama?”

Willow got up, “Alrighty, that’s my cue. You know we need to come up with a word, a warning of some kind so I can get out before all the disgusting coupley stuff happens.”

“I kind of like Mama as a warning word.” Gwen grinned mischievously.

“I’m gonna rip my ears out now, thanks!” Willow called as she left the table.

You don’t have to be alone. Gwen told her without even saying it. And for a moment. One brief happy second.

Willow almost believed it.

The funeral was held a month after her death.

For a month Willow hadn’t seen or heard from Peter. For a month she was forced to face the fact that Gwen was gone on her own. For a month Willow Bennett was lonesome.

It was a feeling she was quite familiar with. They often went hard in hand. This time was no different. But for some reason this was harder. Usually she was ready for the lonesome to take her willingly.

Only this time her feet had stayed rooted in the lively memories that slowly died away. Now they had been buried right with Gwen Stacy, a loving daughter and sister.

She was lonesome again. And she didn’t go without a tearful fight.

Willow knew that if she attended this funeral, she’d have to leave this chapter closed for good. She’d have to put back on the steel armor. She’d have to do a better job at protecting herself.

And she would do it on her own. She would be fine.

Peter would be Spider-Man. He’d be alone too and she would leave like that. Just as he wanted.

At least he’d have his aunt.

At least New York would have Spider-Man.

Willow would have herself. And she would be fine.

“How are you dear?” May Parker approached her after the ceremony. The older woman looked exhausted but as youthful as ever despite her aging face. “I haven’t seen much of you lately and Peter doesn’t talk much about you. Did you two have a falling out?”

Willow gave the woman a small smile even though she felt like doing anything but that. “I think Peter can give a better answer to that than I can.”

May frowned, “Ah, I see. What about the diner? Do you not work there anymore? I went there the other day and didn’t see you. Of course, I might’ve come in on the day you weren’t working though.”

“No, actually, I started a new job at that museum in Brooklyn.” Willow stuffed her hands into her coat pockets, still with a forced small smile. “Pay’s better and I really need the money for rent.”

May watched her, pausing before saying, “It always bothered me what your mother did to you.” She said it low and gently enough for only Willow to hear. “Does she call to check up on you at all?”

It was a desperate question that hoped for an answer they both knew she wasn’t going to get.

Willow gave a half-hearted shrug and shook her head. The answer, whenever anyone asked, would always be the same. No matter who much they hoped for the opposite.

May sighed, “Well, please take care of yourself, okay? And if you ever need anything—”

“I’ll be fine.” Willow gave the best convincing smile she could muster. “But thank you, May. I appreciate all you’ve done for me. Even if I was a little shit about it in the past.”

The older woman chuckled sadly, “Don’t worry about it, honey.”

Slowly, people started to leave. The crowd would get smaller and smaller every passing second. Until it was just them. Two left. Until Willow would leave. Not once glancing in Peter’s direction.

Willow let the cracks in the bridge grow. Peter never stopped it.

You don’t have to go through this alone.

But everyone’s left me.

It’s okay to ask for help.

Tried that and we’re here again.

I’m done.

Sorry Gwen.

Chapter Text

He was on the balcony.

A month had gone by since the funeral. That’s where she saw him last. And now he’s on her balcony. Willow had half a mind to ignore him and leave out there to freeze for all she cared. Really, she almost did.

“Will?” He knocked on the glass door as she was throwing her coat on. Fortunately, Peter had come at a time where she would be able to leave and avoid whatever pointless conversation he had saved for her. “Please, Will, I just wanna talk.”

Despite herself, she responded, “You’ve had plenty of opportunities to talk to me, Parker. Don’t backpedal now.”

She didn’t care for the wince on his face. She didn’t care about the guilt. She was moving forward and she had done so well the past two months. Now he was here, pulling, yanking her back to where she had been.

“Just let me explain—”

“You made yourself pretty clear the last time we talked.”

In the corner of her eye, Peter pressed himself against the glass. “Will you have to understand—I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt because of me—"

Willow grabbed her bag, “Which begs the question as to why you’re here.”

He was quiet, which wasn’t surprising. She didn’t turn to look at the balcony but she could hear the subtle thumb of his forehead hitting the glass.

“I’m not Gwen, Parker.”

She even startled herself when she said that. She felt his eyes penetrating through the glass.

“What?” He whispered.

Willow’s jaw tightened, “Peter, just go.”

“No.” She whipped her head to look at him then, seeing him already staring at her with a look of distraught and barely restrained anger. “No, I want to know what you mean, what the hell do you mean by ‘I’m not Gwen’, huh? What the hell does that mean?!”

His voice had grown stronger, louder, and rageful. This was still grieving Peter. The one at the funeral. The one who left her.

Willow blew up.

“YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE THAT LOST HER!” She marched toward the glass. “You are not the only one that had to grieve!”

“I never said that—”

“You are not the only one who gets to be pissed! You aren’t the only one that lost her best friend!”

“I NEVER SAID THAT!” Peter bellowed.

“No you didn’t say anything! You left!” Willow threw down her bag, far too blinded by rage to see where it had landed. “You chose to leave! You made that choice! And I have the choice to pick up the pieces and move on! I am not Gwen!” Her voice shook at her words, the wound still far too fresh. “I will not let you swing in and out of my life whenever you feel like it! You made your choice so STAND BY IT! ”

This would’ve been silly. Standing on opposite ends of glass, shouting at each other. If they had still been friends, they would’ve laughed about it. Laughed at how ridiculous they looked arguing through a balcony door. And then they would’ve hugged each other with the promise of never having that dumb or ugly of a fight ever again.

Because they loved each other. Because they cared for each other. Because they couldn’t stand to lose each other.

Well, that was what she had thought.

Instead, Willow grabbed her bag from off the floor and breathed out a shaky sigh. Blinking away tears that threatened to escape.

“Willow...”

She turned away from him at that point, wiping away at her eyes, letting the tiny droplets stain her sleeve. For a moment, she waited. Waited for him to say anything else.

He was quiet for the longest time.

It wasn’t until she turned around did she realize he wasn’t on the balcony anymore. Once more, Peter had made his choice. And Willow was left to do it all over again.

There was a slight movement in the reflection. Willow’s eyes could’ve been playing tricks on her but she could’ve sworn she saw a woman with a glimmer of scarlet in her eyes. Willow turned, now facing the living room. As she expected, there was nothing there.

Deciding it was exhaustion, she grabbed her keys and left for work, ignoring the awful sense of déjà vu she was getting.

Wanda Maximoff, startled, pulled away from the girl’s mind.

Baron Strucker squinted his eyes at her, “Well? What did you see? How did she manage to get into my base?”

With a shiver, Wanda tore her eyes away from the unconscious girl. “Her name is Willow Bennett and she’s...I think she’s from New York.”

“You think? I don’t like questions half answered, Wanda. You’ve spent all this time in her head and you think she’s from New York?”

Her jaw clenched tightly, fingers tingling with power, “I mean I am not sure it is the same New York we know.”

The older man watched Wanda with narrowed eyes before looking back down at the girl they now knew as Willow. Her hair was sprawled around the table she lay on, skin the color of copper, although it was a bit pale from the lack of sun. She was young but not much younger than Wanda. The strangeness didn’t lie in the way she looked but how she managed to even get into Strucker’s facility.

Coming out of the scepter one day was enough to leave many of the agents and even Strucker himself, with questions. Had she been in the scepter the entire time? How did the scepter even transport her here to begin with? Was someone controlling the scepter from another location and sent this girl to invade the facility?

Even Wanda was a bit curious.

“Have you ever been to New York?” Strucker asked after a while.

Wanda frowned, “No but—”

“Then please enough with this nonsense!” His German accent became thicker as he hissed. “Your job is to figure out how she hijacked my damned scepter!”

“She almost caught me wandering her mind—”

“Then be more discreet!”

Wanda sent him a scathing glare but brought her hands back to the girl’s head.

Gently, she dove in, careful not to make her presence known as she sorted through the murky memories.

There.

It was the same day , same night after her fight with her friend. Wanda walked through the memory.

It was a cold night at the museum.

So cold, Willow would’ve come to work with blankets wrapped around her if she were allowed to. Served her right though, for choosing to work the night shifts. Winter had come and the night had become colder, so cold that a simple coat wouldn’t suffice much anymore. Even walking around the nearly empty dark museum left her shivering.

That was the best part about night shifts though. Not a lot of people. Willow had the choice to be alone with her thoughts. Although now, she much preferred the day shift.

The only people besides herself that were there were the security guards. And they weren’t too keen on making conversation with a janitor.

Tonight’s shift made her think a little too much. She thought about her fight with Peter. How her life might turn out. That she might be a janitor for the rest of her life. Her mother left her nothing and her father was nonexistent in her life. Willow fending for herself would end with a wet bucket and loads of debt.

She wasn’t Spider-Man like her best friend.

Former best friend. She’d have to remember that.

Hell, Gwen was going to be something. She would’ve gone to Oxford and started a life in London. And Peter would’ve followed her.

So it seemed, either way Willow would’ve ended up by her lonesome. Maybe it was better off this way after all. She was meant to be nothing while her friends, they would be something. They would be together. They would have each other. What did Willow have?

Peter did her a favor then.

She rolled her bucket and mop along to the next exhibit room. In this room there were a bunch of old yet fancy looking items from different eras and centuries. Necklaces that belonged to princesses, swords owned by knights, fine robes and dresses worn by nobles.

There was one object Willow wasn’t familiar with. It was a glowing yellow gem lying on a blue velvet pillow beneath a clean cube glass case. Whenever she got to this room, Willow always found herself staring at the pretty stone a little too long. Wondering if it once belonged to a piece of jewelry, specifically royal jewelry, and they couldn’t find the rest of it. She then wondered how much it would be worth if she sold it on eBay today.

And that’s when she’d keep it moving to the next room.

Suddenly, the glass ceiling of the antique room shattered just as Willow was heading for the exit.

She ducked into the hallway instantly and glanced over her shoulder to see multiple ropes come down. Seconds later a group in black came sliding down these ropes.

Robbery.

Great. As if her life couldn’t get much more difficult there had to be a robbery on the night she worked. Why couldn’t have been on one of her the other janitor’s night? And then she would be able to wake up in her apartment and hear it second hand from the news, thankful that she hadn’t been there to experience the unfortunate mess.

The alarm would’ve gone off by now. It should’ve gone off.

Willow just stared in confusion for a moment before she saw a familiar red and blue spandex figure swing through the broken ceiling and attack the group of robbers.

“Are you kidding me?” She huffed, scrambling back to her feet. “Are you actually fucking—”

The wall next to her suddenly exploded as a large black blur bulldozed through. Willow threw herself away and realized after a few seconds that it was the familiar rhino machine she had seen from tv.

“Look out!” A voice called, quickly followed by a web shooting out and attaching itself to her waist. It yanked her up in the air and into strong arms.

“Damn it, Peter!” Willow snapped, smacking at his shoulder. “What, Manhattan wasn’t free? Had to destroy half the south wing of my job?!”

Peter finally set her down and away from the chaos as he mumbled, “I didn’t know you worked here.” He glanced towards her quickly, his expression covered by his mask. “Get out of here. I’ll handle this.”

Without waiting for a response, he swung back toward the fight. Already, the museum looked a mess and after all of her hard work only to be mean little to shit in the end. Even her water bucket had been knocked over.

“Aw man.” She winced. More booms went on, the room trembled violently underneath her feet.

In the corner of her eyes, she noticed movement. Willow turned toward it, briefly catching a pair of boots disappearing into a room where all the chaos was.

No. It had to be a trick of the dark. She was just tired. And she needed to go home and leave the rest to Peter.

So, Willow left the bucket and mop and started running for the staff room where all her stuff was. Only another violent boom trembled the building, causing her to nearly trip a few times.

At this point, she should’ve been used to the chaos of New York, but damn it was annoying just being a civilian who could do nothing but hope to survive.

Yet another shake caught her off guard and this time she actually tripped and fell into a bunch of debris from the destroyed walls. And yes, that hurt.

“Willow, get out of here!” Peter’s shouts were somewhere near her or away from her, she couldn’t really tell at the moment. She crawled to her knees and glared at him as he swung by, “What are you still doing here?!”

“Fuck off!” Willow snapped as she got to her feet.

A yellow flash of light suddenly caught her eye in the debris. She rushed toward it, moved the rocks aside, and found the pretty yellow gem lying underneath all of it.

“Crap.” Willow mumbled.

Her boss would surely freak out if something this priceless looking got destroyed in all of this. Might win her a few brownie points if she saved it. Maybe even a raise.

Wishful thinking? Yes, but Willow grabbed it anyway.

It startled her. The gem was pulsing in her hands. Like a heartbeat. Like it was alive. Willow couldn’t take her eyes off of it, no matter the chaos continuing on around her. Peter kept calling for her. It just kept beating in her hands. And it got stronger as the seconds went by.

Another shock trembled the building. The floor shook and vibrated beneath her. But this time it felt as though the vibrations shook her entire being. And then the pulsing became her own heartbeat. Like a trance.

Her body was shaking. No, the world was shaking now. Earthquake? In New York? Is she imagining things?

“Willow...” She looked up to find Peter in front of her, his attention on the glowing gem in her hand. “Put the rock down, Will. I don’t like the look of it.”

“Wha—” The gem floated of her hand before she could get a word out. The glowing got worse. It got brighter. The world continued to shake. Her body continued to vibrate. “Peter—”

“WILL!”

A bright light and a strong force lifted in the air. She remembered screaming and whatever vibrations that shook her body had suddenly been let out. The earthquake became one with her.

Whatever sleeping haze that forcefully kept her mind at ease had snapped away and was gone instantly.

Willow woke up.

And the small room she was trapped in was shaking. Just like the museum.

Someone was screaming. Was it her? Why couldn’t she move? She started thrashing her body, fighting to free herself as the earth continued to quake.

One of her arms got free.

“Restrain her!” A voice shouted. It was heavily accented. German? English? She couldn’t tell nor did she care.

That only got Willow to move faster. She worked on her other hand next. Her senses were entirely overwhelmed, she had no clue where she was or who was in the room with her. All she did care about was getting free.

Something wrapped around her shoulders from behind her, forcing her to lie back down. Willow couldn’t, wouldn’t stop fighting. She continued to shout, to thrash wildly, until their grips somehow loosened from her. Her body was vibrating again and seconds later another tremor shocked the room. It was like a huge force had been released. The grip on her shoulders now completely gone. And her body wasn’t vibrating anymore.

Willow quickly removed the straps from her left hand and her ankles. She got off the table she had been strapped to, gasping when she saw people scattered about on the floor. That was when she realized all the technical equipment that had been next to the table. The computers showed an x-ray image of a body. Her body?

Willow shook her head and began moving, She had to get out of here. She had to find Peter. She had to figure out just what the hell was going on.

“You are remarkable.” The same accented voice said from the corner of the room. Willow jumped and turned to find a man struggling back to his feet. He was looking at her with a certain awe. “No wonder the scepter brought you to me.”

“The hell are you talking about?” She didn’t know why she was entertaining this conversation. But at the same time, she could be smart about this. She could figure out what happened and where she was. And this strange man looked like he had the answers.

Her eyes darted around the small room until she spotted one of the unconscious men on the ground had a gun attached to his belt. Willow went for it.

“Don’t do that.” The strange man warned.

Willow ignored him and grabbed the gun and pointed at him. George Stacy’s teachings went through her head. Make sure the safety on the gun is off. In an interrogation, ask the basic questions first.

She clicked the gun off the safety and kept it pointed at the man who now had his hands raised. Though he looked annoyingly unconcerned.

“Where the hell am I?”

“I understand you’re scared—”

“Just answer the question, please.” She cringed at the ‘please’ part. It was supposed to be intimidating, not considerate.

The man caught onto that too and chuckled, “My name is Baron Strucker and you, my dear, somehow appeared in the middle of my research facility.”

She furrowed her brows, “What?” Focus, Willow. “Where is this research base? Long Island? Upstate New York?”

“I’m afraid not, child.” He smirked amusingly, His eyes kept moving back and forth. “We are currently in Sokovia and I am not your enemy. In fact, we are here to help you.”

Willow frowned, “Who’s we—”

A flash of scarlet wrapped around the gun and suddenly yanked out of her hand and thrown across the small room. She whirled around to find a woman standing on the other side of the table. Her hands moved together slowly, red whips appearing around her fingertips. It was creepy and at the same time, Willow recognized her.

She backed away and whispered shakily, “I know you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.” The woman said warningly. “But I will. Depends on you.”

Willow glanced towards the door, which she guessed was the exit out of the room and darted for it.

“Mess way it is.” The woman mumbled.

“Be gentle, Wanda.” Strucker said.

In the corner of her eye, to the right of her, a flash of scarlet came at her. Quickly, Willow tried ramming her shoulder into the door and only managed to make it open just a bit. The door was too heavy and she didn’t have enough time to give it another shove.

With a cry, Willow blocked her face with her arms, waiting for the impact of the woman’s attack.

Only it never came.

Her body vibrated again and seconds after, something strong shook the room, knocking the computers over and throwing both Strucker and the woman he called Wanda back. Along with the scarlet blast that had been meant for her.

Did that come from her? Did she cause that? The room continued to shake once more, like an earthquake.

Willow didn’t stay to question it any further. She had an opportunity and she took it.

After getting the door opened, she stumbled out into a dimly lit hallway. The world still shook and things were falling. And it felt, though she could’ve been far too delirious to make sense of anything, that the entire building was tilting a little too far to the left from the quake. Which meant that this place, whatever this place was, was on a mountain.

Willow started running down the right of the hallway, doing her best to stay on her feet, only to stop when someone appeared at the end of the hallway.

Fuck.

She didn’t waste anymore time and turned around to run the other way.

“Hey!”

Willow didn’t stop and neither did the quake.

“Somebody stop her! Now!” Strucker’s voice thundered.

She had to get out of the building. She had to find a way to contact Peter to tell him where she was.

Just as she turned a corner, a flash of blue appeared in front of her, causing her to nearly run into a body.

“Whoa, whoa!” It was a man. He looked younger than Strucker and had pale blonde hair. “Why don’t we slow down, yes?”

“Fuck off!” Willow had enough. She moved to shove him but felt air as he disappeared. A finger tapped her shoulder, she turned around but he just kept moving. He ran around her, trying to confuse her.

“ STOP! ” She shouted.

Another force was released and it threw the speedster off of his feet. Just as she was about to run a loud bang sounded from behind her.

Seconds later Willow felt a sharp pain in her back.

A quick chill filled her body, dizziness hit her in waves, and her knees gave out.

“What the...what’s happening...” She began to slur, her vision becoming hazy. Again, she tried getting up but something heavy had then pinned her back down to the ground.

Strucker and the woman who was already moving her hands around came down from the other side of the hallway with a bunch more guards. Strucker was clapping.

“My, my, you truly are an amazing specimen. Nearly brought down my facility as well. I must say, I’m impressed.”

“So, all of that was her?” Willow heard the fast man grunt as he got up from the ground. Through her blurred vision, she saw the man move next to the creepy woman, “You okay?”

“Not a scratch.” The woman, Wanda, assured him.

Strucker then knelt down, blocking her vision of the two, as strong grips wrapped around her arms and pulled her up to her knees, “You see, child, I think the scepter meant to bring you to me. My new masterpiece.” He tucked a loc behind her ear. “With a few tweaks you’ll be my perfect weapon. My zerstörer .”

With what little strength she had left in her, Willow jerked her head away from his touch, “Fuck you.”

Strucker hummed and nodded, morphing his face into what looked like sympathy. “It’s okay, child. You’re safe here.” He then stood and stepped to the side to reveal the creepy woman. “Wanda, do you mind easing her to sleep? I think all this stress has gotten the poor girl exhausted.”

Willow tried squirming as the woman slowly walked toward her. But whatever she had been shot with had left her weak, weaker than she realized.

“Stay the hell out of my head!” She snapped at the woman.

Wanda raised her hand above Willow’s head, “This won’t hurt.” Willow glared. “I promise.”

That was a lie.

It struck her, throwing her head back and causing her body to instantly go limp. All of it, it was out of her control as her consciousness was slipping away from her. No arms were holding her up anymore. Now she lied on her back, on the ground, unmoving.

The darkness took over. And Willow couldn’t fight it.

Chapter Text

Willow was back in the museum.

Wait. She was back at the museum.

She was lying down among the debris from that night’s fight. The place would have to be majorly repaired but all and all, she was okay. She was home. She was in New York, not some European country she had never once heard of before. Not some research facility.

Home. Home. Home.

“Will, hey! Will!” Warm hands cupped her face, bringing her out of her hazy daze. Her vision was slightly blurred but she could tell it was Peter kneeling over her. His mask was off and his eyes held both relief and terror, “Thank God. Will? Will, are you okay?”

Willow began to sit up, Peter stayed close to her, watching her every movement. “Whoa, that was a weird dream.” She mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. With a quick scan of the room, she cringed. “What happened?”

Peter pulled her up to her feet by her arms, “The gem you were holding, I don’t know it had some type of reaction and then the tremors happened—are you sure you’re okay?”

“I don’t know.” Was her quiet response. That dream felt way too real, so real she almost believed it. And usually, Willow never had such vivid dreams. Well, maybe sometimes, but after that it was usually followed up by research on lucid dreams and whether or not it was triggered by something. Of course, Willow never really found a true answer, just theories that were still yet to be proven.

Was it a lucid dream this time? Did pain usually feel real in these types of dreams too?

Her body shivered violently. Peter’s grip tightened, drawing her out of her thoughts.

“Will? I'll take you home, okay? I’m sorry about all of this, I know you’re mad and I didn’t make it any better by trashing your job—“

Willow cut him off by throwing her arms around him. She had never felt so relieved to see him, to touch him. All their arguments from before didn’t seem to matter now. She was just glad to be awake and here with Peter.

“Let’s get you home.” He whispered next to her ear as he hugged her tightly. “I got you, I got you. I won’t leave you. I won’t.”

And she almost believed him.

“I want you out of my house!”

Willow opened her eyes to find Peter gone and instead her mother standing in front of her. Eyes cold. Hollow. And filled with every bit of malice and resent. 

Her mother pointed at the open door, “Get out now! I never want to see his face again!”

“That’s not fair—“

“Get out! Get out!” She screamed as she began shoving Willow. 

Willow backed away from her and rushed towards the open door only to see a glimpse of a tall figure leaving.

“Dad?” She ran towards the door and pulled it open, “Dad?!”

What’s going on? What’s happening to me? Am I still dreaming? Where’s Peter?

Just as Willow walked out the front door, she was falling. The sudden drop made her let out a yelp and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. A string of webs appeared in front of her and she grabbed it immediately, stopping her fall. 

She held onto it tightly, both terrified and relieved by the web. “Peter! Peter, pull me up!”

But when she looked up to see where the web led, her breath hitched. Above her was Peter, Gwen, her mother Martha, and a shadow of her father standing in the back. And behind them was a clock. The same clock from the clocktower. The very same clocktower she watched Gwen die in.

But now she was here again. This place only existed in her nightmares.

“ You will always be left behind. ” Gwen said, kneeling down. “ Everyone you love seems to always leave you, Will. Your parents. Me. Peter. It’s almost like we don’t need you. ”

Willow fought back a sob and a tremble from her body. “Shut up.” She managed. “You’re not real—“

“ We didn’t ask for you to barge into our lives. ” Peter spoke venomously. “ I know I didn’t. I had my own shit to deal with! ”

“Stop!” Willow looked around now. She knew this wasn’t real. This had something to do with that creepy woman with Strucker. “Enough!”

“ I never wanted you! ” Her mother shouted.

“ I never thought of looking back. ” Her father said.

“ I never needed you. ” Peter snarled.

“ And I shouldn’t have been the one to die! ”

“I SAID ENOUGH!” Willow’s shout caused the tower to shake and the web snapped. “No!”

She was falling. Falling. Falling. 

Gwen had died like this. Willow watched every second of it happen. Only this time no one was fighting to save her. No one screamed her name desperately or in anguish, and told her everything was going to be okay.

Willow was lonesome. Even in death.

“That’s enough, Wanda.”

She felt the ground hit her back violently. No, she wasn’t falling anymore. But her back reacted anyway as she arched upward, letting out a strained cry. 

Her body couldn’t move. Instead of leather straps around her wrists and ankles, something heavier was wrapped around her entire body, keeping her pinned down to whatever cool surface she was lying on.

Peeling her eyes open, she found Strucker standing over her. His face was morphed into something that was supposed to be sympathy. It was so fake that it made her stomach churn.

“Ssh, no more tears, child.” Her skin crawled when his hand came up to her cheek and wiped away the stray tears. She would’ve spat or tried to bite his hand off but there was something covering her mouth, keeping her whimpers muffled. “During your little nap, I obviously had to take certain precautions to ensure the safety of everyone else in this building. Because you, my dear, have the power to take this entire place down to rubble.” The twinkle in his eyes made her nauseous. “I believe you and I can be great partners in this, Miss Bennett. That is, if you cooperate. What do you say?” 

The mouthpiece had suddenly been removed. Willow scowled.

“Hmm? Quiet this time?”

“Fuck you!” She spat.

Strucker sighed, “I thought you would say that.” He put the mouthpiece, despite her jerking her head away from him, back on and walked out of her sight. “It disappoints me how stubborn you are even though I find it greatly admirable. But even a lioness has to be tamed.”

A sharp shock hit her body. 

It came from the back of her neck at first and then spread across her body in seconds. Her scream was swallowed by the mouthpiece as her body convulsed. It was a pain unlike no other and all she wanted with every bit of her was for it to stop.

And at some point it did. But the ghost of it still remained as her muscles twitched uncontrollably. More tears ran down her face.

Strucker appeared next to her again, looking quite smug. “See, while you were asleep I decided to ensure said precautions when it comes to my new prize. A little gift  just above your spine. Now whenever you get too snippy or disobedient, I will supply you with a bit of shock therapy.” Willow turned her head away from him, silently crying as he continued. “Don’t worry, dear, it’s not enough voltage to kill you but enough to get the point across. Oh and my apologies, the partnership offer. I asked you as if it were a choice. My fault.” His smirk grew. “You are in my care now. I’m afraid I can’t let someone as powerful as you go, especially when you could be quite useful. As useful as the twins.”

Strucker placed his hand on her forehead. She jerked her head away from his touch. “You will be my little zerstörer. We’ll do great things together.”

Willow still didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes scattered around the room, doing her best not to cry anymore. Then her eyes landed on the creepy woman who had been tucked away in the shadows of the small room. 

The rage she felt now rose tenfold upon seeing the woman. If anything, she would’ve gotten up and went after her if she could. That was how pissed she was. And she much preferred these harsh emotions rather than breaking down into a sobbing fit.

“Are we at an agreement?” Strucker asked, removing the mouthpiece once more.

Willow scowled up at him. Every bit of her wanted to spit in his face, shove all her anger into him until he was on the floor again like last time. Only this time the world wouldn’t tremble for her. And her body didn’t vibrate.

Instead her eyes found Wanda’s as she hissed out, “Keep that bitch out of my head.”

Strucker smirked. Wanda looked away.

He grinned, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Chapter Text

Willow was confused. Still pissed about the fact that she was somehow imprisoned in this facility of sorts but that only led to her current confusion.

How did she go from the museum in Brooklyn to some European place called Sokovia? Why were her memories so murky? After picking up that gem, she remembered nothing. The only thing she knew was that she was now trapped in a specialized cell with no windows, and nothing in the room but a mattress.

Oh and now, she apparently had abilities according to Strucker. The how was also unclear. Before Willow had just been a simple girl. No powers. Nothing special.

And now one day, she just woke up with the ability to bring down an entire building, hell maybe multiple buildings. Strucker was the only one excited about finding out and learning more about them.

Willow just wanted to go home. She wanted to find Peter and yell at him and then embrace him. She wanted to go back to her boring job and get ready to start her second semester at NYU like she had planned.

She wanted to wake up.

“The ability to sense various frequency vibrations in your surroundings and manipulate them.” Strucker read out to her from a thin file as he stood outside of her cell. Whenever he came to talk—more like taunt her—or grab her for another messy training session, the wall in front of her would suddenly turn to an impenetrable glass. Strucker would always be standing on the other side of it.

Today was different as he continued reading off the file they conjured up over the past few weeks she’s been here. “Well, that explains the tremors when you first woke up. Ooh, I like this one very much: Generating and focusing powerful concussive waves of air—that could be quite useful to us. We’ll work on that, yes? Good, good.”

Willow remained silent, fingers twitching at the thought of sending one of those blasts towards him like she had done on accident last time. Only, she still had yet to figure out just how to generate it. Not to mention her cell dampened her abilities to make her less of a problem.

So, Willow continued in her silence and took to glaring at the man.

Strucker watched her steadily, “But after a very thorough search through ours and SHIELD’s database, there doesn’t seem to be a Willow Bennett anywhere in our records. Not even in Sokovia, which tells me you’re an illegal refugee.” Her brows furrowed at this. Strucker closed the thin file. “In fact, it seems that Willow Bennett doesn’t exist. You are either a ghost or a fraud.” He gave a thin smile. “So, which is it, Miss Bennett?”

That didn’t sound right though. She didn’t exist? Willow was sure a horrible picture of her driver’s license was somewhere for the government to keep. She had her student ID and everything. Although, all of it was currently back at the museum. In New York. So, really, Willow couldn’t prove much of anything.

Good thing she had no intention of doing so.

“Maybe I am dead and this is my own personal hell.” She shrugged. “Congratulations, you’ve captured yourself a ghost, do this for a living?”

Strucker didn’t look amused. “You’re quite cocky for someone on a leash.” Just then, he took out a small remote with a visible red button at the center of it. It was the same button she had seen just moments before an awful shock wracked through her body. “Personally, I much prefer you mute and terrified. Easier to control. Persuade.”

Willow’s body grew stiff despite herself. As much as she didn’t want to react towards the remote, her body had a mind of its own and she was never good at schooling her face into a neutral expression. He saw this and smirked.

“Ah, I see you’re willing to comply now. Good, good. So, tell me...” He sat down in a nearby chair, lazily holding the remote in his hand. “Who are you really?”

“I’ve already told you who I am. I don’t know what more you want from me.” Willow scowled.

“And why should I believe that? For all I know you could be a spy for SHIELD. Perhaps, that is your plan. Because I find it strange how you just appear, from the scepter no less...” Strucker narrowed his eyes at her with a thoughtful expression. “You must be one of them then. An alien. Not the same as the ones that attacked New York but an alien, nonetheless. There can’t possibly be any other explanation.”

She stared at him, severely confused now, “What aliens? And they attacked New York? When?” What was going on? This had to be some type of joke, right?

He then scowled at her as if she had somehow offended him, “You honestly expect me to believe you have no idea about the invasion? What type of fool do you take me for?”

“An asshole who is desperately trying to cosplay some cartoon villain.” Willow knew being a smartass would most likely get her shocked but these questions were becoming infuriatingly confusing to the point where she was sure this was some twisted joke that had now been taken too far.

“I think it would be easier for you if you just answer the question—”

“I’m not a fucking alien! I don’t know about some invasion and my name is Willow fucking Bennett! Did you understand that you condescending piece of shi—”

Her words were quickly cut off when the shock hit her body. She held back a pained yelp and fell to her knee, muscles and limbs twitching uncontrollably. Her whole body would’ve gone out if not for it stopping seconds after it started. It felt like it lasted longer, especially with the after effects.

She always hated the after effects. For a few minutes her body would not be her own and would instead continue to twitch and remain limp for the longest time. It felt like the longest time.

Her body was not her own anymore.

She fought back tears as Strucker spoke, “I don’t necessarily care for the attitude and since you seem particularly energetic today, why don’t you spend the rest of the day training? Perhaps we could put your attitude to use.”

The glass wall disappeared. In the next moment she felt hands grab her up by the arms and drag her out of the cell. Willow couldn’t do much of anything to fight back. All she could do was do as she was told. And that pissed her off to no end.

Useless. She was useless against him. Even with powers she was somehow as helpless as before.

Anger simmered through her veins and for the first, she wanted to feel the pulse of vibration she had once before feared. She wanted to kill him. To bring down the entire facility.

Willow wasn’t sure what she was turning into, what he was making her turn into. And she didn’t know if she should stop it or not.

It should’ve been an easy choice.

This was a nightmare.

And all Willow wanted to do was wake up.

During her time here, she had picked up bits of information from eavesdropping conversation or half listening to Strucker drone on about the organization he worked for. HYDRA is what he called it. And Willow had heard enough about it to know that this was the very last place she ever wanted to be entrapped in. And yet here she was. Being watched and observed closely by a cult way too similar to Nazis.

Willow had very limited interactions during her time in the Strucker’s facility. The only person she saw consistently was Strucker himself who came on the regular to continue questioning her on her origins, even though she had told multiple times who she was and where she had come from. He still came back thinking there would be a different answer.

One time Willow did give him a different answer but apparently she was being a smartass when she said, “I am Princess Uma and Mars is my true home planet—how dare you disrespect royalty! I shall have you burned in the pits of lava when my people come for me!” That earned her another shock in the neck.

The only other people she has interacted with were the twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. The latter Willow purposefully avoided. The woman was downright creepy and she was still rightfully pissed at her for invading her mind like that, using her very own fears so that Strucker could control her and manipulate her. If she had control over her abilities she would’ve blasted the witch. But since none of that was possible, Willow took to ignoring the twin. 

Now the other one, Pietro, she had a little more interaction with only because he was brought in during some of her training sessions. Other than that, they hardly talked at all. But from watching the twins interacting with each other, she could tell he was protective over Wanda. Which meant he probably didn’t take too kindly to her aggression toward his sister. And Willow honestly didn’t care for that so she avoided him too.

In the sessions, Strucker would often have him run around her, tasking her to take him out with her concussive blasts or whatever he liked to call them. Only she had no clue how to do that. Hell, she was still trying to grasp the fact that she could do it. How was she to perform a trick that she never knew she could even do?

Strucker’s way of encouragement usually involved shocking the chip in her neck whenever she failed or belittling her every chance he got, knowing she couldn’t do a damn thing about it. That’s what he was, a big man hiding behind his weapons.

Without them he was just a man, a man easy to kill.

Willow didn’t like the fact that she was thinking about killing someone. Yes, oftentimes she would joke with Peter about permanently taking his enemies out so that they wouldn’t come back and be a problem but she was never actually serious about it.

But after Gwen’s death, after Harry Osborn caused her death, Willow began to reconsider a lot of things. And as each day went by with Strucker constantly in her ear and torturing her into submission, the idea became less and less blasphemy.

“You’re disappointing me, Miss Bennett.” Strucker said seconds after shocking her. “I would’ve thought that fire in your spirit would’ve brought something just as fierce out of you, but I suppose I’ve been wasting my time.”

Willow glared up at him, on her knees once more after the electric volts had struck her neck and body. But she didn’t say anything, knowing giving a snarky remark would earn her another button press.

She heard him mumble something in German before he stood from his seat across the room. The training room wasn’t too big, almost the same size as her cell. The only difference was that there were two smaller windows that were fogged over from what looked like rain or snow, Willow couldn’t tell.

Come to think of it, she really didn’t know how much time had gone by or how long she had been imprisoned here. She wondered if anyone was looking for her. She wondered if Peter thought she was dead.

He didn’t need that. Not after what happened to Gwen. Willow may have been angry at him but she wouldn’t wish something like this on him. Not when she knew how it felt too.

Willow needed to escape this place. She needed to go back to New York.

“I would hope you aren’t purposely holding back, Zerstörer .” Strucker had begun pacing around the room as he talked, fiddling with the button in his hand, knowing that Willow was watching it closely. “Because that would make me very angry and I would hate to take that out on you. You’re very special, Miss Bennett, and important to our cause. Which means I am not foolish enough to simply kill you but I will make an example out of you for tricking me.”

“What if she actually doesn’t know how to control it?” 

Willow looked up, slightly startled by the new voice, to find the fast twin, Pietro, standing in the corner of the room. Oh right, she had forgotten he was there.

And it seemed Strucker did as well.

“Why don’t you go find your sister, Maximoff. I will deal with her.” The man said this in a way that meant there was to be no further discussion about it. And quietly challenged the speedster to protest.

Pietro tilted his head, obviously taking the challenge, “I do not remember you giving me orders or following them in the past. Why should I do so now?”

“You agreed to the terms involved with this project, did you not?” Strucker hissed, fully turning away from Willow to address him. “Why don’t you figure that answer out with your sister? Away from here.”

Both men had a stare off and Willow just quietly watched the two with both intrigue and uneasiness. 

Uneasy at the thought that Strucker might snap and take it out on her. 

Curious to see if Pietro would actually back off when it is clear that he really didn’t want to for some reason. 

Frankly, that was the one thing she found curious about the speedster. He obviously had no problems being held here and closely observed along with his sister. 

But at the same time, his eyes held a rebellious streak, a man who gladly took the challenge without a second thought. A man without fear. It didn’t matter if he had abilities or not. Without them he’d mostly likely be the same, wouldn’t he?

Perhaps that’s what Strucker disliked about him. Because Strucker wasn’t Pietro.

Willow was too observant for her own good.

Interestingly enough, Pietro finally backed off and left the room. Leaving her alone with Strucker.

Thanks a lot .

“Now that we don’t have an audience,” Strucker sighed as he ended up in front of her. Willow continued staring at the door Pietro left out of. “I think it is in your best interest to hold up your end of the bargain, don’t you?” He yanked her by the chin and forced her to look at him. “I’ve kept my end of the deal, remember? I’ve kept Wanda on a leash and in return you give me your powers. Show me my Zerstörer !”

Technically, Willow never made a deal with him. All she said was to keep that bitch out of her head. Those were never terms, it was a demand. And for some reason Strucker took that as her agreeing to all of this when really it was quite the opposite.

“I can’t give you what you want.” She gritted out as his grip tightened around her jaw. Her fingers twitched. “And even if I did, I won’t. Because I don’t owe you a goddamn thing!” She grinned as his eyes blazed.

She would be the big man too. The one hiding behind his hesitancy to kill her. Without that she would’ve been long dead.

Strucker, after keeping her face in his tight grip for a few seconds longer, finally let her go and calmly backed away from her.

Willow didn’t move from her spot as he turned his back to her. She waited for him to press the button, she waited for the shock that would smite her neck from her small rebellion.

“It seems my methods have been less than progressive in your training.” She watched with furrowed brows as he pocketed the button into his dark coat. “Perhaps I should try a new approach.”

BAM!

Willow heard the sound before she felt the pain strike her shoulder. 

A yelp left her lips and her back hit the floor mat. The bullet had hit her shoulder and hadn’t gone through the other side. Instead the bullet remained in her flesh and the pain worsened. 

A cry now left her lips as she heard Strucker’s footsteps come closer to her body, his figure appearing in her line of vision.

“You had ample time to stop the bullet. I even gave you a pathetic chance to defend yourself and you still are so determined to fail me.” He chuckled dryly. “Your stubbornness continues to amuse me, Miss Bennett.”

She rolled over onto her good side, clutching her injured shoulder as the door to the room opened. There were rushed footsteps and voices muffling together.

“What are you doing?!” An unfamiliar voice snapped. Through her blurred vision she could make out the outline of a white coat and a shorter man standing next to Strucker. If she had to guess, it was Doctor List, a scientist that worked closely with Strucker. “She is our greatest progress and you’ve shot her?! What has that gained you?!”

“Doctor, I do not remember asking you to come. I’m simply giving her the proper motivation—”

Right, the doctor. Dr. List, right? He had also been to Willow’s cell to do medical check ups. With the amount of times she had been shocked, he had been surprised that she wasn’t dead yet or paralyzed at least.

“And injuring her is a marvelous step in the right direction!”

Willow let her vision clear just a bit as the two men were arguing. Her body was vibrating again and this time she let it. This was the bit she had become good at over her time here. Only Strucker didn’t know this yet.

She waited for the right moment, seeing as the two men were distracted by arguing and moving the vibration from all over her body and focused it into her free hand. Her hand now felt as if she was holding her own heart. Pulsing fast. The weight of it became heavier as the air above the palm of her hand grew thicker. She waited until she could see just a silver outline of a volleyball sized ball before releasing it towards the men.

The force had thrown both Strucker and List across the room, causing them to hit the walls on the other side of the room. Willow took this chance and got back up to her feet and dashed for the door. She ignored the pain in her shoulder and the blood staining her hand holding her injured shoulder, all she was focused on was getting out of this room before she ended up with another bullet in her body.

Since List had already unlocked the door when he entered the room to scold Strucker, it was easy to get the door open. 

Willow stumbled out of the room and into the small halls, startled to find Pietro waiting there.

What? How could this be? Did he know she was planning to escape again? Did Strucker prepare for this that quickly?

Pietro pushed away from the wall he was leaning on, surprised to see her coming out of the room. The confusion on his face was off putting, especially when his eyes widened slightly when he noticed the blood.

Willow shook her head and backed away from him, “No,” Her steps were clumsy and disoriented, her vision becoming blurry once more. “No, no, no, stay away from me. Get back...”

It was like her body had a mind of its own at that moment. The heavier it got the harder it was for her to keep herself upright. Her legs were the first to give up on her. Pietro didn’t have to be fast to catch her as she began to fall.

“Whoa, whoa, take it easy, okay?” Pietro said. His arms were firm around her and supported her upper body with little to no effort.

Willow fought against him, hissing when her shoulder moved too quickly, “Lemme go. I-I need to...I need to leave...”

She heard him chuckle next to her ear, “You won’t get very far, I’m afraid.”

The closeness his voice had sounded next to her made her gather what little energy she had left to shove him away and stand straighter on her feet. And Pietro let her go, raising his hands to show surrender with an amused smile on his face. Some of her blood had stained his jacket and shirt.

Willow, unsteady on her feet, glared at him, “Move before I blast you too, Maximoff.” She ignored the blood trickling down her sleeve to try and look more intimidating to the speedster as he continued smirking. “The fuck’s so funny?”

“Nothing, nothing.” He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Surprisingly, he moved to the side, giving her enough room to go. “Go ahead. Better get going before Strucker throws a fit.”

She watched him with narrowed eyes as she began moving past him. There had to be some sort of catch. There was no way this guy suddenly had a change of heart and decided to help her. There was absolutely no way.

But as she continued down the hall, he didn’t appear in front of her or alerted the guards. Just as she began to feel more confident in her strides her vision became dizzy and her shoulder throbbed.

“Now, I never said I was a very smart man.” Pietro’s voice appeared next to her as she used the wall on her left to keep her upright. Through her blurred vision she could see him standing on her right, where her injured shoulder continued bleeding. “But I do pride myself in knowing some things. Like I know now that you’re not going to make it out of this building. Whether from your injury or me simply stopping you. And while I do find it amusing watching your very courageous attempt at escape—”

“Fuck off, Maximoff.” Willow hissed, now leaning against the wall, waiting for the dizziness to subside, despite knowing it would only get worse.

There was silence for a bit and for a moment Willow had thought she had passed out. Maybe she was close to the point.

“I know how this is going to end, Bennett.” Pietro sounded closer as if he was now standing next to her against the wall. “Keep going and you might pass out from blood loss. Or let me take you back to the doctor to get you patched up. Your decision.”

Her body became heavy again. Half her arm was probably covered in her own blood. It was getting harder keeping her eyes open as time went by. The halls were quiet.

When was this nightmare going to end? When was she going to be back in the museum with Peter still there, waiting for her to come back to him. When would she go home?

When would she wake up?

Willow wasn’t given much of a chance to consider her options when her body gave out.

“ Shit! ”

She never hit the ground. Pietro had been fast enough to catch her.

The next time Willow had come to was for a short moment and in the midst of what sounded like an argument.

“—at this rate, she’s going to bleed to death!” It was List’s voice she heard first. But he sounded far away. “I warned you about pushing her like this! Now we very well won’t have our weapon of HYDRA because you grew impatient!”

“I hired you for your intellect, Doctor. Not your condescension!” Strucker snapped. Then it sounded as if he moved further away from her as he continued. “ And you ! Why the hell didn’t you stop her in time?!”

Surprisingly, it was Pietro’s voice that responded. “She wasn’t going to get far with the injury. And if it were any other time, I would’ve easily stopped her. Relax, bossman.”

The bossman sounded obviously sarcastic. Willow didn’t understand why Pietro would be there though. She had to be hallucinating all of this. Wanda was in her head again, that had to be it.

Willow was outside of her body. It was too hot, the pain in her shoulder had dulled despite List saying she was still bleeding out. The world felt far away...

“—like to you play with your food too much, boy!” Strucker had hissed. “Do you perhaps consider that playing games would’ve put us in the position we are in right now? Huh, boy?! ”

If the way Strucker continuously said boy didn’t piss the speedster off than being blamed for something that he didn’t do surely did. She couldn’t hear much at that point. Everyone’s voices became muffled together as she got further and further away from the world. It was all noise at first.

And then she felt pressure on her shoulder and she was momentarily back in the world.

“—too much of an oaf to realize that it’s your own fault she’s on the table! No one told you to fucking shoot her!” Pietro shouted.

“Watch your mouth—”

But Pietro kept going. The venom in his voice clear as day, no matter how close to being unconscious Willow was, “I hope she dies—”

“ Pietro !” Wanda’s scolding voice somehow got mixed into the argument.

“I hope you loose your precious weapon and remember the fact that is was all your fucking fault!”

Willow didn’t hear the rest of it. She didn’t know whether or not Strucker said anything back to him or possibly shot him as well. Instead, she was persuaded toward the darkness. Where it was safe. Quiet.

She would wake up soon.

“We’re losing her!” Beeping from the machines around her went haywire. “Get me a defibrillator! She’s fading fast!”

She would be back at the museum. Back home. Back with Peter.

She would wake up soon.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up .

“Willow?”

Chapter Text

The second time Willow Bennett met Peter Parker was at her lowest.

Honestly, she wished she could go back and change I to a time where she was at least put together. Or not soaked to the bone.

It started when his very outgoing and community embracing aunt, May Parker, knocked on her car window. Willow had been working on sleep, knowing it wouldn’t come, not in this cramped space. It didn’t matter how peaceful the rain sounded pelting against the roof of her car. Her eyes remained open.

And god, she was exhausted. Unfortunately, not the type of exhaustion that made her eyes droopy enough so that sleep would come easy.

Instead, she was left rolling down her window to face the worried woman. “Aren’t you cold in there, dear?” Her eyes took in the small Toyota. “I can’t imagine this is very comfortable...wait, aren’t you Martha’s daughter?”

Willow tried not to cringe at her mother’s name being used so easily.

She shifted the blanket off of her, a pathetic attempt at hiding the mess in her car, “Yeah. I am. Um, am I in the way or—”

“Oh, no, no! I just saw you sleeping here and, well...” Her face screwed into another deep frown. “What are you doing sleeping in your car, dear? Does your mother know where you are?”

Willow by then was quiet.

The first time she met May Parker was a few years prior. She remembered thinking that the woman fit the overly friendly neighbor stereotype when she brought over a chicken casserole when the Bennett’s first moved into the area. They weren’t exactly in the same neighborhood but they were close enough to be considered neighbors.

Willow wasn’t too sure what to think or say to her. She couldn’t tell if the older woman was being genuine or just asking and not wanting to know the actual answer. So, Willow settled with a short and brief answer, hoping it was enough to send her on her way.

“I’m not living at Martha’s house anymore.” Her voice felt robotic when she said this. Good. She refused to cry over it. “And no, she doesn’t know where I am. Which I’m sure she prefers.” She then gave a coy smile. “I’m fine here, thanks.”

She hoped the older woman would leave by then. The cold bit at her skin and Willow tried everything within her not to shiver in front of the woman.

Surprisingly, May looked livid. Huh, that’s a new one.

“Pack up your things, you’re coming with me.”

Willow furrowed her brows, startled. “What?”

May gently tapped the roof of the car, “Come on, we better hurry and get inside before we both catch a cold.”

“You really don’t have to—”

“I’ll cook my famous steak tonight, how about that? Get you some more blankets and some hot cocoa.”

May didn’t really leave Willow much room to protest. She had already opened the passenger door to grab her blankets and pillow. Really, Willow should’ve locked her car.

But instead, she now found herself in May Parker’s house, a clean blanket that smelled like it had just come out of the dryer wrapped around her, and a glass of hot cocoa like May promised.

This was honestly the last thing Willow expected to happen that night, though she wasn’t entirely sure if that was a good thing yet. May Parker was kind and Willow wasn’t familiar with someone like that.

“How’s the cocoa?”  May asked when she came back into the living room. She had changed out of her scrubs and into a gray knitted sweater with jeans and an apron covering up most of it. “Are you feeling cold at all?”

“No, I’m good. And Yes the cocoa’s great.” Willow set the cup down. “Um, I really appreciate this, but I don’t want to impose any longer than I have—”

May waved a dismissive hand. “Nonsense, Willow! I was friends with your mother and...” A disappointed frown etched onto her face. “I may not know your entire situation but I just couldn’t bear the thought of leaving you out there in the rain. No mother should be able to just walk away, knowing their child is out in the cold and alone. Or live throughout the day without knowing their whereabouts...”

Willow tried not to scowl, “So, was it pity?” The cocoa’s taste turned bitter in her mouth.

“No dear. Compassion.” May smiled gently.

“What’s the difference?”

May straightened out her apron, “Well, for one thing, pity would’ve left you out in the rain. It’s often mistaken for compassion and I think these days that’s what people think they’re doing when asking the daunting question: ‘ Are you okay? ’ ‘ Yeah, I’m fine. I’m working on it. ’ ‘ Alright, hang in there. ’ .” Willow snorted, knowing she had similar interactions like this.

“They don’t really care. Which is sad but not uncommon.” May sighed. “None of them actually care until it’s too late and that is more often than I like.”

Willow knew this very well. Too many times at school did people ignore the hurting children. Even contributed to it. The so-called councilors who were hired to do that very thing, check up on them, never really cared either. Never really tied. Never really gave actual resources like they advertised with big smiles on their faces.

And the kids suffering are left with nothing. Then by the time something drastic happens, that’s when they begin to “care”. Flowers placed at a student’s locker, lit candles, long inspiring PSA’s about helping the youth in the gymnasium right in between classes, and the “gone but never forgotten” corny quotes.

A week later it’s all forgotten about.

A memory.

It was all fucking fake.

“Are you okay, Willow?” May asked gently. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Willow blinked, realizing she had blanked out before shrugging. “Yeah, I’m good.”

May raised her brows, “Are you sure?”

No.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Willow nodded, making sure to look more confident when she did. “I’ll figure it out.”

Before May could interrogate her any further, the front door opened, finally pulling the attention away from Willow.

“May, we’re home!” AN older male’s voice called throughout the house.

May turned towards the hallway, “In here, Ben!”

Willow heard a bunch of footsteps and became anxious. Did May tell these newcomers that she was here? What would they say when they do see her? Willow would leave if things were to get too uncomfortable. She was trespassing anyway.

“Is that your steak I’m smelling? A younger male voice asked. One Willow found awfully familiar. And she didn’t have to wonder who it belonged to for long when the two men appeared in the doorway of the living room.

The older man spotted her first. “Ah, we have a guest tonight, May?”

Willow gave a hesitant smile, “Willow, sir.”

The man, she assumed was Ben, tilted his head upon looking at her. “Why are you so familiar?”

“She goes to my school.” The younger male, who turned out Willow did know as Peter Parker, spoke while looking quite dumbfounded when he saw her. Willow guessed that she probably wore the same expression he had when she suddenly realized the link between Peter and May. How had she not put that together before?

Ben shook his head, “No, that’s not it.”

May chuckled, “No, she’s Martha’s daughter.” Ben stared at her blankly. “Martha Bennett, honey.”

He blinked as if it suddenly dawned on him, “Oh, Martha! Wait, do you mean—”

May nodded as she began dragging him out of the room, “Yes, yes, that one. Let’s not discuss it right now...” The two had disappeared in what Willow assumed was the kitchen, leaving both her and Peter alone.

Peter glanced from her and to the kitchen a few times, shifting on his feet. “Um, I’m going to put my things upstairs—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re good.” Willow nodded quickly, hoping to end the conversation before it got terribly awkward.

“I’ll be back.” Peter promised. Before she could tell him he didn’t have to, he was already gone before she could say anything.

The living room was quiet save for the subtle whispers and movement from the kitchen. Willow didn’t know what to do with herself. May’s husband didn’t seem too bothered by her presence and it turned out the one guy out of the entire student body happened to live here.

She didn’t know how to react to her current situation. It was all just so new. It was to the point where she preferred the bad because at least she knew how to deal with it.

This however was entirely new territory.

Peter came back minutes later.

“So um...” Peter started as he sat down on the couch across from her. “How? I mean, I heard my aunt say—”

“Yeah, she found me trying to get some sleep in my car.” Willow shrugged as she grabbed her cup of cocoa. “She wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Peter frowned, “You were sleeping in your car?”

Without looking at him, she mumbled a “yes” before sipping more of her cocoa. “Look, I really don’t want to get into that all over again.”

Peter nodded quickly, “No, no, yeah, I understand! I’m just glad May found you—I mean it’s a lot better than being out in the rain, you know?”

Willow gave a small chuckle, “Yeah, your aunt’s nice and a little scary.”

“Oh yeah.” Peter agreed with a snort. “She may be sweet on the outside but she can be a real frightening woman.”

“She practically dragged me here against my will .” Willow snorted at her little pun. Peter stared at her with a smile. She stared back, cheeks burning and cleared her throat. “Um, yeah, you’re right. It is better than being in the rain.”

“Mmm.” He hummed, looking away first. Brown iris’ darting everywhere now except for her. Suddenly, Peter got up and came to her side of the room to look through the window behind her chair. “It looks like it’s letting up a bit but I doubt it’ll make much of a difference. May’s going to make you stay until she knows things are okay.”

Willow frowned, moving the blanket so she could look out the window too, “I don’t want to overstay. Plus, she’s already done so much.”

He was looking at her again. She could feel it without turning away from the window. Her cheeks burned again. “Do you have any friends to stay with?”

“Never really had much time to make friends with work and school.” Willow shrugged, ignoring how pathetic she probably sounded.

“So, you’re a loner, huh? Going for the whole mysterious student vibe?” He teased.

Willow rolled her eyes, “Fuck off.”

She was beginning to feel warm. Her lips lifting into a familiar genuineness she hadn’t felt in a while.

Peter grinned and leaned on the wall next to the window, “So, do you know anyone from school? Like at all?”

“I know you.”

“That doesn’t count!” He laughed.

“Yes, it does! You go there, don’t you?” Willow grabbed her cup to take another sip. “It totally counts. And what about you, Parker? Do you hang out with anyone since you wanna be all judgey about my social life—don’t say me.”

Peter shrugged, pushing away from the wall. “I know a few people. There’s the teachers—”

“Oh fuck off!” Willow laughed. She sunk further into the chair with a grin. “Admit it, you’re just as much of a loser as me, Parker!”

He shifted on his feet and smiled softly at her, “I know you.”

“You said that didn’t count—”

“Willow Bennett, the longer girl who also somewhat rejected me without me even asking you out.” He laughed a little to himself, “That’s gotta be a new record for me.”

She realized he was talking about the time they first met when he offered to tutor her. “I aced the exam, didn’t I?”

His smile grew, “Yeah, you did.”

Willow stayed at the Parker residence until midnight.

The steak was good, Ben was a hilarious man who told good stories, May was always checking on her to make sure she was fed well and comfortable, and then there was Peter who was the first person she found easy to talk to. She was happy.

Which was why she left the very next morning. She had gotten too comfortable. And what was even more frightening was the fact that her wall had come down completely, leaving her utterly vulnerable and easy to hurt again.

Peter somehow scared her the most. How was one boy able to break everything down and make her smile so easily? Just like that? Make her forget everything for just a moment.

That too was dangerous.

She avoided him at school. Always leaving their shared class early. Purposefully leaving school right after her last class. She put her walls back up, made them stronger, and didn’t allow anymore cracks. No more slip ups.

Willow promised to do a better job at protecting herself. She would.

One day, she happened to stay later at school than she had planned. Coach Taylor had pulled her to the side to ask about her wellbeing, physical wise. And after getting a three minute lecture about doing a better job at taking care of her health, Willow was finally free to leave.

Only to run into Peter in the halls. What was strange was that he was just standing out there, almost as if he was waiting for something.

Had he been waiting for her? Had he somehow figured out that she was still in school and decided to corner her without her preparing herself.

“Hey.” He said first.

“Hey.” Willow replied shortly.

Peter gestured toward her, “So what happened?” He didn’t sound mad but he didn’t sound happy either.

Willow didn’t look at him. “Um, I appreciate what your aunt did for me, okay? Tell her I said thanks.”

She moved around him as he said, “Or you could tell her yourself. You know, explain to her why you left without telling anyone.”

“Look.” Willow whirled around to face him, “I’ve already got a lot of shit to deal with and the last thing I need is for you to make me feel more like shit. Like I said, I appreciate what she did but I don’t need your help, okay? I’ve prepared my whole life for this. I’m good.”

She was on her own. That was her reality. She would make it work.

Peter didn’t say anything at first. Instead he backed away from her, adjusting his bag. “So much for knowing someone, huh?”

“Well, you don’t know me.” Willow crossed her arms. “So that makes it easier to walk away, right?”

Peter shrugged. There was an unreadable expression on his face now as he said, “I would’ve liked to know you.”

She shook her head, “No. You wouldn’t.”

His face fell before, “Then yeah. It is easier.”

She remembered watching his back as he walked away, leaving her alone in the halls.

“She’s stable for now.” List muttered as Strucker silently appeared next to him. “But we’re going to continue monitoring her. She still has a bad fever. Once that goes down then we’ve made some progress.”

Strucker watched as she shifted and twitched slightly on the table. Her shoulder was wrapped but there was a coat of sweat smearing her face. The girl was muttering something, which Strucker could hardly make out.

After a moment, he finally said to List. “Good work.”

List was left alone with her once more. The room had grown quiet.

And in that quiet he heard her whisper.

“ Peter .”

Chapter Text

When Willow finally woke up, she was back in her cell.

For a moment she was confused. Not only moments before was she back in New York, back at Midtown, back in the days where she used to sleep in her car.

Had Wanda been in her head again? There was no way a memory like that could resurface perfectly in a dream. Not without some help.

Quickly, she got to her feet, wincing suddenly when she felt a sharp pinch in her right shoulder. Touching it, she felt something underneath her shirt. It was a new one too, otherwise the spot where her shoulder was newly wrapped would’ve been stained with old blood.

That’s right. Strucker had shot her.

All because he was trying to get her to use her abilities. That man, this place, all of it was insane. And she needed to find a way out fast.

Sure, her last attempts had failed, but this time she would plan it all the way through. Hell, she survived a giant lizard and a man made of electricity. This? She could handle it.

Granted, most of that was because of Peter but still she held her own.

And she would do it now, plus she had powers now. All she had to do was get somewhat in control over it. Enough to the point where it wouldn’t be her downfall in the end.

Suddenly, the wall in front of her began to morph. Willow braced herself, waiting for Strucker’s face to appear on the other side of the glass.

Only, standing in his place was Pietro.

Getting over her short shock at the man’s appearance, Willow frowned at him. He was just standing there, staring at her a little too long for her liking.

“What?”

Pietro’s eyes flashed with amusement but he didn’t smile. Instead, he kept staring.

Willow rolled her eyes, deciding it would be best to ignore him. Besides, she was actually quite good at that. Being able to distract herself well enough even though there was someone staring at her like a creep. She did it all the time back in high school when one random boy one day would just stare at her during lunch period. Eventually, he stopped when she never gave him the time of day or when she was purposefully finding Peter to talk to. She wouldn’t give him a reaction.

And eventually he’d get bored and leave. That’s what she hoped for anyway.

Her distraction was her hands. Or at least what could appear from the air above them. After getting shot, she was able to send a focused blast at Strucker and Dr. List. It was something, unbeknownst to Strucker, that she had been practicing alone during the nights where no one was watching.

Now Willow stood in her cell once more, somewhat healed and filled with a certain drive of energy, wondering if she could do it again.

“Is it true what Strucker says about you?” His voice broke her concentration. Willow scowled at him and he gave a half smirk in return when he saw her annoyance. “That you’re like those aliens that attacked New York all those years ago?”

Why did that keep coming up? What invasion? Last Willow checked, the only strange thing that happened in New York was a man who could crawl up walls. There was almost a lizard apocalypse that Dr. Curt Connors nearly started, but she was guessing that wasn’t the “invasion” he and Strucker kept mentioning.

Pietro took notice of her silence and continued, “You got here somehow, right? Even Wanda thinks your…” He tilted his head curiously. “Different.”

The image of her falling in the clocktower while the people she cared for watched and did nothing still flashed through her mind.

Her jaw clenched. “That witch doesn’t know a damn thing about me and she should stay the fuck away from me before I blast her next.”

“Oh, you are going to go after her? In this cell?” He looked defensive almost immediately, jaw flexing violently. “Your abilities can’t harm anyone in there, Strucker made sure of that. And even if it could, I’d kill you myself before you ever lay a hand on my sister.”

Willow considered him for a moment. He wasn’t wrong. Since he had far better control over his speed, it was perfectly possible for him to kill her like he said. Frankly, she was a bit terrified at that, but she wouldn’t dare let him see her fear.

So, she went back to ignoring him and instead focused on finding the vibration within her body again. That was how it started before, right? Focusing it was the easier part. Finding it or summoning it was the challenge.

“I asked a question, you know.” Pietro said. In the corner of her eye, he made himself comfortable in the chair Strucker usually sat in. He seemed to have calmed down as well, almost like his little threat never happened only seconds before. “It’s rude not to answer—”

Was this guy for real? It was obvious, with the way he talked, he was trying to get a rise out of her. Willow, of course, wouldn’t fall for it again.

“I don’t owe you anything.” She smiled coyly. “And my memory may be crappy right now but didn’t you literally just threaten me like five seconds ago?”

“You threatened to harm Wanda.”

“Because she fucked with my head!” Now she was glaring. “Come back and talk to me when you’ve had your fears shoved in your face. Taunting you. Let me know when that happens and we’ll talk.”

He was quiet after that. Willow turned away from him and now glared at her hands. “That all?”

“You really dislike me, don’t you?” She could practically hear the smirking in his voice.

“Damn! Sherlock Holmes, you’ve solved the case! Congratulations!” Willow sneered.

Pietro frowned and crossed his arms, “I also did save you, you know. You’d think someone would be a little grateful—”

She scoffed and looked at the speedster as if he had grown two heads, “Saved me? All you did was help put me back in this cell! What, you expect me to believe you did me a favor? Fuck you !”

“You curse a lot.”

“Yeah well, I’ve been pissed off for a while now, sorry it isn’t to your liking.”

Pietro grinned, seeming to find some sort of sick amusement in her irritation. Willow didn’t know whether to be more mad or confused at the speedster’s goal here. Did Strucker send him? Was this some sort of test that she had to pass? Was this Strucker’s way of getting her to release her abilities for them to study? Either way, she was not happy with this current interaction right now.

“You know, if you weren’t threatening to kill my sister, I’d find you hot right now.” He then shrugged. “I mean I still do but—”

“Are you just here to just piss me off even more or is there a point to this visit?”

Again, he shrugged. “Eh, I’m bored. So maybe the first part.”

“Fuck off.”

Another silence settled between them. At this point, Willow knew she wasn’t going to get anything done with him practically breathing down her neck. And he was on the opposite side of the glass!

She leaned against the glass wall, resting her forehead and hands against the cool surface with a sigh. Pietro was still watching her, this time with an unreadable expression.

“You could make this easier for yourself, you know.” He leaned forward, blue eyes reflecting off the glass wall. “Provoking him this much, it’ll only lead to more bad nights like you’ve been having.”

Willow sneered venomously, “So he did send you.”

“I’m not a lapdog.” Glancing at his face, Pietro looked to have been offended by her simple statement. That was almost laughable. “I’m just trying to help you out. Strucker won’t let you out unless you show some results—”

“You mean cooperation.” Willow scowled at him. “He wants a weapon that he can control. A blade to his knife. He can give me more bad nights, I don’t fucking care. I won’t ever submit to him.”

Her blood was hot and rushing through her acidic veins, her hands tingling against the glass.

She watched him now. Sitting on the other side. No chains. Free. And not caged like some animal.

Without her consent, tears pooled around her eyes as her anger became great. “Did he ever keep you in a cell, studying you like some exotic creature?”

Pietro wasn’t looking at her anymore. His response was barely there, barely audible, but she heard it. “Yes.”

A tear ran down her cheek. Her rage became waves. “How did that feel?”

“Like I signed away my free will.” His eyes flipped back toward hers, blue eyes now hardened and flashing. “But I didn’t care at first. It was to save my country, my home. So sacrifices came with it, right? Once I got my speed and Wanda her powers, they watched us both closely. And with Wanda , they…” For a moment he got lost, his eyes glazed over, as if he were being sucked back into a memory. It was gone in an instant as he morphed his face back into an unreadable expression. He then eased back into nonchalant body language and shrugged, “Strucker and I…we don’t have to be buddies in order to get what we both want in the end.”

Willow observed him and her fingers now pressed forcefully into the glass. “They locked her up, didn’t they?” His silence was all the answer she needed. “Thought she was dangerous? Wanted to control her, right? Guess they did a hell of a job.”

In a flash, he was standing in front of the glass wall, startling her a second. If the wall hadn’t been there, she was sure he would’ve gone after her for his sister’s honor. She could see it in his eyes, in the way he held himself back almost immediately and backed away, rubbing his jaw angrily as he began pacing, not looking at her.

She smiled bitterly, “Sensitive topic? Good. Now you’re angry. Now you know how it feels for me every fucking day I spend in this place! I have a shock collar for Christ sake, Maximoff! You say it would be easier to just give in and listen to him. Did you do that? Did Wanda? If you did, fine! Good for you! I’m glad it’s worked out so far for the both of you!”

He winced at her words but Willow kept going. She was a storm. She was lightning striking the earth. And then she was thunder shaking the world after.

“But I won’t lie down and submit to him! He can torture me as much as he wants, I won’t give him a damn thing!”

Pietro looked at her again. He frowned, “So you’d die. Because you’re proud.”

It wasn’t like she hadn’t died all her life.

“Yes, I would.”

“That’s foolish.”

She shrugged, “I’ll repent in hell.”

Everything that they would’ve said to each other died in their throats just as the room began to shake. With the lights flickering in its wake. Pietro looked around the room with a worried expression and then looked at her expectantly.

Willow shook her head and wiped her eyes, “It’s not me. I think…”

He watched her for a moment before his eyes glazed over again, as if he wasn’t present in the room anymore. After a few more seconds he came back. “Stay here.”

He flashed away.

“Where the hell am I going to go?!” Willow shouted even though he was already gone.

The room shook again and the flickering lights got worse. Pietro had left the wall down. Although it wasn’t much, at least she could see what was happening and go from there.

A few guards ran by, shouting about the scepter and that they were here. Willow had no clue who they were and she sure didn’t want to stick around to find out.

The room shook once more. And Willow could’ve sworn the glass nearly disappeared for a split second. Now she may not have known much about the technology here, but that usually meant the power in the cell was weakening with every blow that came at the building. The power in the whole facility was.

She had an opportunity. This time it would work. This time there was a distraction.

Gunfire started but Willow ignored it and focused on her body and hands. She pulled and called for it. The building continued shaking again and Willow allowed herself to feel all of it. From the floor to the walls. She let the tremble rock her bones and fill her body.

Come on. Come on. Come on.

It shook again. Willow caught the vibrations. Her body was vibrating and like before she focused it on her hands. That’s when she felt the weight of the force press heavily on her hands, arms, and shoulders. It felt as though she were holding every kinetic energy in the room.

Now she imagined it morphing into a ball. Carefully she moved her hands as if she were pulling a string, making the ball bigger and bigger.

And just when she was about to release it onto the cell, the room shook again but this time it felt as if a huge tank had crashed through the walls. The unexpected force threw Willow entirely off guard. But fortunately, the tremor had caused her cell to malfunction and shut down, freeing her.

The glass was gone when Willow stepped out of it. Her cell was a square box in a larger room. She hadn’t realized that until stepping out of it.

And it seemed for the moment, the easy part was out of the way.

That was until she spotted the large hole in the wall that led into another large hallway and a larger figure moving in the now dark room.

The lights had gone out at some point so Willow was left a bit blind, save for the daylight shining through the smaller windows in the room. And those windows revealed just what was in the room with her

Willow yelped, falling to the floor when the green beast came into the light.

“ Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! ” She scrambled away as the beast got closer, growling at her as she kept moving away.

This was nothing like the lizard that Curt Connors turned into. This was somehow worse.

It continued getting closer. “Wait, wait, wait—I’m not with them! I’m not!”

“Hey, big guy!”

The beast turned away from her to find the new voice. Willow, even though it had to be the dumbest yet smartest thing she has done, took the chance to grab her kinetic ball and throw it at the beast. The force had been strong enough to throw him out the already large hole and through a few more walls.

Willow didn’t get a chance to feel excited at her new accomplishment when a roar shook the room.

No doubt it was coming from the green monster

She ran when she heard its rageful, heavy stomps. Willow stumbled out of the cell room and made a dash for it. But she heard the walls rumble and shake next to her, telling her that it was getting closer.

“ Fuck !” She hissed. Now fear  was setting in big time.

In a blink, Willow suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her and the world went by in a blur. Next thing she knew, she was somewhere upstairs with Pietro standing next to her right after putting her down.

“Huh, would you look at that?” Pietro smirked proudly. “I saved your life, no? That counts as me helping?”

Willow was too busy taking in her surroundings. There was a lot more openness leading outside where she could see glimpses of the battle going on.

“Hey, you’re bleeding a little.” Pietro pointed out, drawing her attention back to him. He glanced over his shoulder when another blast hit the building. He placed hand on her shoulder, “Hide somewhere and wait for the explosions to stop or wait until I find you.”

Willow nodded, letting her body vibrate. Her hand shook as the weight caught the palm of her hand.

“And maybe afterwards you can properly thank me, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Willow agreed. The ball was in her hand. “Thanks, Maximoff.” Before he could react the force threw Pietro away from her and off the balcony ahead of her.

She didn’t wait to see where he landed. All she heard was an echoed “Fuck!” before running to find an exit.

She didn’t care for the battle or who was here to take down the base. None of it had anything to do with her. All she cared about was getting out. And preferably not running into that green monster again.

She went down a few more steps, nearly being thrown out the window from the constant tremors, avoiding all and any fights as she went.

But of course the one person she was escaping just had to find her.

As soon as Willow went down some more stairs, Strucker and a guard had just come out of a hallway about to head for the next set of stairs ahead of her. Upon spotting her, he and the guard drew out their guns while blocking the rest of the stairway.

“Ooh, you almost did it.” Strucker taunted, clicking the safety of his gun. “I must say, Bennett, I’m impressed. You made it pretty far this time.”

Willow’s body was still vibrating as she raised her hands, “By the way these attacks are going, I doubt there will be much of a cell left to put me in. So why not just let me go.” She wasn’t asking. She wouldn’t let him dominate her even when the back of her neck shivered at the thought of the chip still implanted in her.

“Why would I let you go when I have so much more to learn from you?” He smirked. “So here’s what I’m thinking. We let them destroy each other and I take you to another base. We have much more to learn, don’t you think—”

A blur had flown by Willow’s head and smacked the guard in the head, causing him to fall down the stairs behind Strucker. She followed the way the blur flew around the room and back to where it had come from.

And because of the sudden distraction, she made the mistake of turning her back to the enemy. Strucker came up behind her and pressed the barrel of the gun at the side of her head. “Don’t move.” He warned.

It turned out, the blur had flown back toward a man dressed in blue, white, and red. He stood straight and tall. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Basically, America in physical form.

Was this some type of joke? And the blur that the man had caught was a large shield with the same colors and a white star in the middle.

The man approached the two with caution. “Kid, you alright?” Was what he said first.

“I have a gun against my head.” Willow responded warily. “I’m awesome.”

“Captain America.” Strucker grinned from behind. “I was hoping we’d catch up before I left.”

“Baron Strucker,” The man, Captain America apparently, regarded. “HYDRA’s number one thug.”

Strucker chuckled, “Technically, I’m a thug for SHIELD.”

“Well, then technically, you’re unemployed.” The man stepped forward and the gun pressed further into her skull. The man noticed her wince and glared. “We don’t have to involve the kid, Strucker. Let her go.”

Strucker grabbed her arm and pulled her into him as they backed away from the man. “Actually, Captain, I think I’m going to take her with me since neither you nor SHIELD know what to do with someone like her.”

“I didn’t take you as a coward before. Using a kid to guarantee your escape.” Captain frowned. Behind him, Willow noticed movement in the shadows. And after squinting her eyes, she realized it was Wanda. And if she had to guess, Strucker spotted her too.

Captain America was oblivious to this. “Guess I’ll put it right under illegal human experimentation.” He then narrowed his eyes toward Willow and questioned, “Is she one of them?”

Willow saw the scarlet glint in Wanda’s eyes. Strucker grinned, “Perhaps.”

“ Look out !” Willow shouted, throwing a force toward Wanda.

Wanda had been about to throw a blast towards the shield man but she missed as she was thrown back. Her blast missed the blonde’s head. Captain America threw his shield at Strucker, who dropped the gun from the impact. Willow ducked out of the way of the two men just as Wand had gotten up and threw another blast towards the captain and one at Willow.

Willow punched the wall next to her, releasing the vibrations from her body and causing it to spread across the wall and toward the ceiling. The cracks that were already there had gotten bigger until part of the ceiling fell down in front of Wanda, breaking her concentration. Willow herself hadn’t known she could do that but it was a welcomed surprise.

Wanda was gone once the smoke disappeared and both Captain and Stucker were back on their feet. Willow remained on the floor, dizzy and her right shoulder on fire. Nex to her, Captain was looking at the fallen debris and then at her, realizing what she had done.

Strucker grinned, “Careful, Rogers. Or she’ll take this entire facility—”

Willow shot a blast at him before the Captain could do anything. Strucker fell down the stairs, landing next to the unconscious guard.

Captain looked down the stairs and back at Willow, impressed. “Nice shot.”

She gave a tired smile, “Thanks.” She took in his outfit. “Did the American flag throw up on you or what?”

When she tried moving her shoulder, it brought back the awful ache. She realized, after looking down at her wrapped shoulder, that a new blood stain had appeared on her shirt. Her stitches had torn.

“Fuck.” Willow winced, now slouched against the wall.

“ Shit .” Captain rushed over and pressed his larger gloved hand against her bleeding shoulder. He used his other hand to press something in his ear. “We have two more enhanced, both female. One of them is with me and she’s been shot. Do not engage the other one.” He then carefully pulled her up to her feet, slinging her arm around his shoulder while his arm held her upright around the waist. “We’re gonna get you outta here, okay? Just hang in there.”

“Thanks, um, Captain America?” Willow leaned on him a bit more. “The name’s kind of on the nose, don’t you think?”

“I know.” He sighed tiredly, as if he had heard it before. “Just call me Steve, Steve Rogers.”

“Um, thanks, Steve. I’m Willow.” She hummed as they made it outside. There was snow everywhere which startled her. “Whoa.”

“Widow!” He suddenly called.

“No, Willow .” She corrected, exhaustion catching up to her.

Steve shook his head and gestured to the redhead woman that was running toward them. “This one of the enhanced?” The woman asked, sizing Willow up as if she were a current threat.

“Yeah, take her back to the ship. I’ll continue the search for the scepter.”

The woman nodded, “Roger, Rogers.”

“Funny.” Steve said dryly before running back toward the building.

Willow watched him disappear back into the base until the woman got her attention. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, this way.” Willow quickly followed after the woman, not wanting to test her like she had done to Strucker when he would try giving her orders.

Instead, Willow asked, “Who are you guys?”

The woman glanced over her shoulder at her and smirked, “We’re the Avengers, kid. And you don’t sound Sokovian.”

“M’not.” Willow frowned, furrowing her brows in confusion. “I’m from New York.”

The woman didn’t reply right away. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm.”

The woman kept walking.

What did that “ hmm ” mean? Actually, Willow didn’t care all that much. All that mattered was that she did it.

She’s out. She’s free.

And she would go home.

Home.

Home.

Home .

Chapter Text

This was not home.

Despite flying in a jet with a bunch of random people who looked like they were on their way to Comic Con, Willow had this strange feeling that the New York she knew and loved was not the same New York she was seeing now.

For one thing, she was sure her New York didn’t have a tall tower with a big A at the front of it. And she was sure she hadn’t seen any of these people before. Listening and picking up on hushed conversations led her to learn a few of their names.

Steve was the guy who looked like the American flag had vomited all over him and apparently went by Captain America. The red head was named Romanoff, at least that’s what Steve kept calling her. All she knew was that it sounded Russian and that she was at least the scariest person on the ship.

Then there was the guy lying on some sort of stretcher, Clint. That was the name Romanoff uttered once or twice when talking to him. There was also some guy in the corner, headphones on and quiet as a mouse.

But the one that stood out the most was the tall muscular blond with strange clothing on. He also had a red cape that went with it.

Now she could’ve just been delirious from the blood loss—oh right her shoulder was still bleeding—but she could’ve sworn they called him Thor. As in the Norse god

Yeah, maybe she was losing it.

Currently, ‘Thor’ was standing over the scepter. And that happened to be right across from her.

“So, are you actually a god?” Willow found herself asking, slurring her words a bit either from exhaustion or the blood loss. “Like from mythology? Thor, God of Thunder or something?”

He considered her, looking almost startled as if he had forgotten that she was there. “Ay, that I am. And I assure you, I am no myth, mortal.”

Wow, this guy was committed.

She glanced at the large hammer hooked on his belt and pointed at it with her good shoulder, “Is that real too?”

He glanced down at it and nodded, “Yes, it is.” Willow kept staring at it curiously and Thor went onto unclip  from the belt so that she could get a better look at it. “Mjolnir has seen and fought many great battles for as long as I’ve been alive. Only in the hands of those who are worthy could truly wield its true power.”

Willow grinned up at him and the hammer, “Cool.”

Thor smiled proudly before sending her a wink, “I know.”

The man on the stretcher groaned loudly, “Don’t get him started, kid, or else he’ll start tellin’ all these stories and before you know it, you’ve felt like you went to Vanhallay yourself.” The man’s, Clint, words were a lot more slurred than hers.

“I will not!” Thor argued defensively. “And it’s Valhalla . Romanoff, make sure Barton’s side isn’t the only injury he’s acquired.” Thor then tilted his head. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, Barton,” He suddenly turned back to Willow and took the seat across from her. “let me tell you about the time I slayed a drunken giant—”

“Boo!” Barton moaned.

She frowned, “How much does it take for a giant to get drunk?”

“A lot.” Thor smirked.

Willow was far too gone now, if she had been in her right mind there was no way she’d believe anything the man was saying. Then again, this wasn’t the first strange thing she’s ever encountered. She was friends with a web slinging vigilante after all.

Romanoff, after checking on Clint, came over toward Willow with a new cloth. She held it up, “This might sting a bit, okay?”

Willow nodded and closed her eyes, waiting for the sting. Only it wasn’t a sting and instead felt more of a stabbing and pulling feeling. “Ow! Damn , that didn’t feel like a sting!”

“Sorry.” Romanoff muttered to her before addressing the others. “It looks like she’s been stitched up before but now they’re torn and she’s not completely healed either. Look’s new.”

“We’ll have her patched up along with Barton then.” Steve said from the front of the ship.

“Yeah, about that.” The man who had been steering the jet turned toward her direction. He, out of everyone on the ship, besides Willow, was dressed casually. “JARVIS take over—what are we going to do about stowaway here?

“She’s not a stowaway.” Steve corrected.

The man frowned, “But she is one of the enhanced, right? Who’s to say she’s not dangerous?”

Steve shrugged, “You’re right. Who's to say? Until we get more intel, we’ll keep an eye on her and go from there.”

“Plus, the kid’s not in her right state of mind. She can’t properly defend herself or respond to your sneering, Stark. We’re fine for now.” Romanoff said with a slight smirk on her face.

The man, Stark, huffed, “I don’t sneer.”

Willow didn’t remember when the jet landed. At some point things got hazy and then she was carried out of the jet by stretcher. One thing she did remember was that Stark said they had finally arrived in New York and in the distance she saw the tower before things became a blur.

There were voices all around her, going in and out.

“She’s stable and will need a restitch.”

“No shit.” That was Stark’s voice. “Also JARVIS, send me a copy of Hill’s file on these three enhanced. I want to know what exactly am I bringing into my tower.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark.”

“She’s one of the enhanced?” This voice belonged to a woman.

“Yeah, Rogers found her, apparently she got injured during the attack.”

“Do we have a name for her?”

Willow let out a quiet breath. The voices were growing more and more distant.

“Uh, let’s see—Ah! Willow Bennett.”

“Will, where do you want this?” Peter called.

“Ssh!” Willow hissed at him, rushing down the short hall to stop next to him. “I just got this place, Parker! Last thing I want is for my neighbors to think I’m going to be one of those noisy party hooligans!”

“The fact that you used the word hooligans should be enough to tell them what type of neighbor you’d be.”

She slapped his arm as he grinned before fishing out her new apartment key.

Peter shuffled next to her, “Plus, you’re a seventeen year old girl living alone, they’re gonna see you as rebellious either way.”

“Hmm, I thought old people liked it when teens were responsible?”

“They can often be contradictory.”

Willow rolled her eyes and unlocked the door 310B. Inside there were already two other boxes that she had brought in from yesterday in the otherwise empty apartment. The living room was to her right with the balcony and on her left was a small kitchenette. In the back would be one bedroom and a bathroom.

It was small, especially for New York, but Willow still let her pride swell from her accomplishment. She had worked hard for two years, saving up every penny and putting it into her new place.

Now it was time to forget the house she came from and make a new home here.

Willow pointed near the kitchenette. “Over there, please.” She went to the bedroom to place her own box down in the spot where her bed would go.

Smiling content, she went back to the front room, seeing Gwen enter with another box. “How much did you pack, Will?” She grunted dramatically as she set it down. “I feel like I’m carrying your entire car in here!”

“Or you need to work out. Have you tried the gym a few blocks from here? I hear they’re offering free memberships.”

“Funny.” Gwen stuck her tongue out. “I’m gonna have double fudge chocolate chip cookies after this.”

Willow tsked but a grin reached her lips. “Shame.”

Peter had come back with yet another box in his hands, “Last one!” He set it down and smiled widely. “Willow Bennett, you are officially moved into Cassidy Apartments.”

“I didn’t bring balloons!” Gwen gasped amusingly.

“Fuck off, Stacy!” Willow snapped her fingers excitedly. “Balloons will not ruin my day today!”

Willow happened to have an irrational fear of balloons. Hence there never being any decorations at her birthday parties. Well, that and her mother never really tried whenever her so-called special day came. Just a single cupcake and Martha would disappear in her room for hours, leaving a younger Willow to sing happy birthday to herself every year after her father had left.

“Are you sure about all of this? Living alone?” Peter asked, taking in the small apartment.

“Big decision.” Gwen agreed, sitting on one of the boxes. Peter slid into the small space next to her snuggly.

Willow smiled confidently, “Yeah, I am. It’s better than sleeping in a car, right? Plus, whenever you need a break or want to study, come to LoLo’s place! The chilliest place in Brooklyn!”

Peter cringed, “Never call yourself that ever again.”

“Yeah, I hated that.” Gwen made a feigned disgusted face.

Willow flipped the two of them off with both hands.

Peter then smiled up at her with his usual adoring smile accompanied with his puppy dog eyes. “I like the place a lot, Will. And you’re right. It is a lot better than a car.”

Right then, her smile grew ten times larger.

It may not have been much, but it was hers.

Hers.

And her friends already made the room golden.

It was home. She was home.

The haziness was gone. Her shoulder ached. But everything was clear.

Willow sat up a bit and saw that she was in a lab. With a bunch of technology she couldn’t necessarily name. They were all strange looking but similar to labs she’d seen in Oscorp.

Slowly but surely, she tried to remember exactly how she got there until it all came back. The jet had arrived in New York. But the tower, this place was not in New York. This tower, along with the invasion both Strucker and Pietro kept mentioned left Willow with too many questions and very little answers. Something was not right.

Willow pushed off the table she had been lying on, scanning the lab quickly only to realize she was alone. Strange.

She pushed her suspicions aside for now, took out the IV in her wrist, and rushed toward one of the computers.

For a moment, she wondered if she had to do some sort of hack to get into the tech but fortunately she was able to access it without any problems. Also weird.

Shaking it off, Willow started searching through the internet. The first thing she looked up was the lizard event in 2012. The year 2012 brought up tons of articles about an alien invasion, the very same one Strucker mentioned. And then how the Avengers saved the day or either left irreparable damage to the city, leaving many civilians unhappy.

These Avengers were the same people she had been on the jet with.

Willow was terribly confused now.

None of this happened in 2012. Where were the stories on Dr. Curtis Conners and his lizard experiments? Where were all the Spider-Man videos and pictures uploaded online and trending for days? Instead, she found another article about the Avengers.

There was Iron Man, who was some famous billionaire named Tony Stark. Captain America, a hero out of time otherwise known as Steve Rogers. Yes, she met that one.

Then there was the Incredible Hulk—that green monster she nearly got killed by. Also known as Bruce Banner.

Fuck .

There was also Black Widow and Hawkeye, both respectively known as Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton.

Oh yeah, and apparently Thor was the actual God of Thunder from Norse mythology.

Shit .

Willow ran her hands through her hair, both confused and panicked. The next thing she looked up was Midtown High. It was still there. She wasn’t relieved yet.

She then switched out of the internet and started searching for her name.

Willow stared at the screen.

There was nothing. No ID. Pictures. Info. Nothing.

It was as if she didn’t exist.

You are either a ghost or a fraud. Which is it, Miss Bennett?

So Strucker wasn’t trying to mess with her. Wasn’t trying to play mind games whenever her identity came up. He actually couldn’t find anything on her because there was nothing on her. But how was that even possible?

Strucker’s words made her shiver. What the hell was all of this? Where was she really? How could she not exist? How is it that the events in 2012 have changed?

What. The. Actual. Hell?!

She then looked up Cassidy Apartments. It was still there, just like Midtown. She had to leave. Had to get home. Had to find Peter.

Willow turned off the computer.

Without much difficulty, Willow was able to leave the tower. Which in hindsight should’ve been suspicious but she had been too focused on her goal.

After getting a taxi, the first place she tried was where Peter and his aunt lived. Only, when she arrived, the house where she’d always stop by to see her best friend no longer existed. Instead of Peter Parker rushing out of the door or his aunt about to leave or another shift at the hospital, there was a family of three who looked like they had just gotten home. Willow hid away, watching with wide eyes of disbelief.

This wasn’t real. This wasn’t…

“Mommy, can’t we stay up later tonight?” The little girl asked with big eyes.

“No, love, it’s a school night, remember? Maybe next time, okay?” The older woman smiled gently.

The girl pouted as they got to the front porch, “I hate school!”

Next place Willow went to was Cassidy Apartments.

By the time she got there, the sun was beginning to set.

Willow got to the fifth floor and found her apartment number, 310B.

Only when she arrived, there was a plant pot sitting next to the door.

That hadn’t been there before.

No. Please, no.

She knew it wouldn’t help but she knocked on 310b anyway. A part of her heart dropped to her feet when she heard footsteps on the other side. And she nearly cried when an older woman opened the door.

There was a selfish part of her that wanted to scream and shout, and fight the universe for the one thing that she achieved on her own.

“Oh hello dear. Can I help you with something?”

Great. The woman was nice.

Willow shook her head, “No, no. Sorry. Wrong door.”

The older woman gave a patient smile. It reminded her of May.

“Oh, it’s okay dear. Have a goodnight, alright?”

Willow offered a short smile and left before she could embarrass herself any more than she’d already had.

The last place she checked was ironically the last place she’d ever come back to.

And that was her old home. The same one her father left. The same one she was forced out of.

That, like the rest of everything that even remotely belonged to her, was gone too.

There was instead an empty construction sight that looked like what Willow felt inside. A cry left her as she fell to her knees. And when they hit the ground, the world shook. But Willow couldn’t find it in herself to care or stop it.

Selfishly, she wanted the world to feel her pain. She wanted to share it, instead of keeping it all to herself. Just this once.

Her home was gone. She was alone. How would she do this all over again? Willow was too tired to start over, too frustrated, too done.

She was alone.

Alone. Alone. Alone.

In the corner of her eye, there was a flicker of light that she ignored at first.

Then there was a voice.

“Miss Bennett.”

Willow yelped and jumped up. Standing before her was a golden ring light and standing at its center was a bald woman in gold robes.

“What the hell—”

The bald woman offered a patient smile, “Good evening, Willow. I would like a word with you.”

Chapter Text

“I imagine you are quite confused right now.”

Willow Bennett had developed a bad habit of ending up in strange places.

Before it was dangerous places, but in this case it could go either way. Honestly, she had no clue where the “don’t follow strangers” common sense had gone and yet this strangely dressed woman seemed to have some type of idea of what was going on. Either that or this was some cruel messed up way to recruit her into some isolating overly religious cult. The odds weren’t exactly fair here.

But at this point, Willow wouldn’t be surprised by the latter.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Willow mumbled dryly. She had been halfway through the city only seconds earlier, sitting on the side of the road where her childhood home should’ve been. Now she was trailing behind a bald woman who led her through a dimly lit library which they somehow transported to without difficulty.

If anything Willow, who was a mind of science despite everything, should’ve questioned the technicality, the possibility of traveling from one place to another without any transportation contraption. And yet her mind didn’t even stop to consider all of this.

Instead, it was still swimming with questions as to why her New York had suddenly changed. Why her home was gone. Why there was some superhero team called the Avengers that definitely didn’t exist before now. And why Willow Bennett didn’t exist here.

“There are many answers to that question.” The woman responded sagely without looking at Willow.

Willow furrowed her brows. Did she just read my mind?

“Your face is quite telling.” The woman, once again, responded a little too perfectly as she stopped next to a bookshelf to skim it.

Willow narrowed her eyes. She totally did read my mind.

“Who are you exactly?”

Frankly, that should’ve been the first question Willow should’ve asked upon following the woman here.

The woman didn’t turn away from the bookshelf. “I am what is known as the Ancient One. Sorcerer Supreme, leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, and one of the very many protectors of my universe.”

She turned to face Willow now, a book tucked under her arm and two more floating around her bald head—Willow had to blink a few times to notice that.

“Mystic Arts? As in magic?” Magic existed here? That…should’ve been more surprising than Willow felt. But at this rate, with everything that’s happened, perhaps it’s true in a way.

The Ancient One gave a short nod before she started walking again. Willow followed. “Yes, magic. And as for your questions and confusion, it can all be answered here.” She stopped next to a coffee table with two empty chairs. “Have a seat, Miss Bennett.”

Reluctantly and despite her rational telling her not to, Willow sat down in one of the chairs. The Ancient One took the other chair.

“Firstly, tell me what you remember before waking up in a HYDRA base with your new abilities.”

Willow was startled. “And you know this how—”

“I’ve been paying close attention to you ever since you entered my universe, Miss Bennett. I make it my business to know these details.” On the coffee table next to them, a teapot appeared and started pouring hot tea into two cups. “Now tell me what happened before you ended up here.”

A part of her wanted to pick apart the term “my universe” she kept using. But she knew she had to be smarter about this. And answering the questions coming from the obvious powerful individual was definitely the smarter option.

After an awed look at the teapot, Willow began thinking back. “Well, I was working a night shift at my new job. My co-worker Billy couldn’t do it because of a family emergency—although, he is known in the museum staff to use excuses just to get out of long shifts so that’s pretty debatable—”

“Focus, Miss Bennett.”

“Right.” Willow tugged at her locs absentmindedly, trying to remember the rest of the night. “Um, while I was cleaning one of the exhibits, Spider—um, a vigilante kind of crashed in with some bad dudes. He told me to run and go back home, which I did try to do. But one of the items from the exhibit was on the ground…”

Right, it was that gem, wasn’t it? That yellow gem she had picked up. It had to be right? And yet more questions were added onto that. Why and how did the gem suddenly change New York? Did it give her her new powers? Just what kind of gem was it?

The Ancient One caught her trailing off with a raised invisible brow. “Go on.”

Willow looked down at her hands, “I remember picking it up. It was a glowing yellow gem. And…it was—it felt alive. Like I was holding a live heart in my hands. And then…”

“Yes?” The Ancient One encouraged gently.

“And then the earthquake happened.” Did she cause that too? Or was it the gem? Did she always have abilities? “After that it’s all a blur.”

The Ancient One watched her keenly, “And then you ended up with HYDRA.”

Willow nodded, “And then I ended up with HYDRA.”

The Ancient One nodded as she opened one of the books, “I understand you're under the watch and care of the Avengers now.”

“Well, I don’t know about the care part considering they had no problem or care that I left the tower. They weren’t planning on letting me stay, I don’t think.” The Ancient One stared at her blankly, unconvinced. Even Willow didn’t really believe her own explanation. It was still strange that she was able to leave so easily. Actually now that she finally thought about it, why did they let her leave so easily? Last she checked, at least one of them was a bit suspicious of her.

Why would they let someone so suspicious go so freely?

As if she read her mind again, the Ancient One hummed. “Well, I can’t see why. You’re an enhanced human now, both organizations would want to keep a closetful eye on you. That’s why they’re testing you right now.”

What?

“What?” Willow sputtered.

The Ancient One glanced up from her reading. “Why do you think you were able to leave so easily? Access their computers without any problems? They wanted to see where a HYDRA experiment would go and whether or not you would get in contact with said organization.”

“But I’m not!” Willow panicked. “I’m literally sitting here with you!”

“Precisely. And they don’t know that. Time is frozen as of currently but the moment you arrived at that construction site was the same time they had sent agents out after you—"

Willow launched up from her chair, body shaking. “You’re just now telling me this?! They could literally be on their way to take me down at this point!”

“Quite impossible actually considering time, as I said, is frozen—”

“Can’t you take me home? That’s why you brought me here, right? To take me home—”

“Please, sit and listen.”

Something suddenly forced her back down into the chair, making her yelp. The Ancient One looked serene and unconcerned as she spoke. “Somehow, you have found a way to cross from your universe to mine, which is why this New York is not the same as yours as you have noticed. Your universe might not have the Avengers while this one does.”

She went quiet or a moment and Willow’s mind was spinning.

Another universe? How the hell did that even happen?!

The Ancient One continued calmly. “And I’m afraid I have no way to send you back. Multiverse traveling is supposed to be nonexistent and somehow you have succeeded at it.”

Willow tried breathing properly.

That should’ve explained it. That should’ve made sense. And yet, Willow couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around it. This was not the explanation she expected or wanted. This went beyond her previous theories and honestly, she would’ve preferred her smaller scaled theories rather than this one.

“You can’t find a way? Isn’t that the whole point to this fucking magic? Exceeding science? Doing the impossible? Are you seriously telling me I’m stuck here?!”

The Ancient One was still calm, irritatingly enough. “I’m afraid so. Which is why I told you about the Avengers testing you. They will come for you and you will stay with them from now on.”

Willow was now sure this woman was losing her mind. “What, so they could lock up just like Strucker did?! What makes you think they’ll be any different?!”

“They are your best option from here, Miss Bennett. They will be different because they know they would be no better than the bad guys they face if they did the same thing to you.”

Willow scoffed, still reeling from the fact that she couldn’t go home and that she was potentially stuck in another universe. “And you’re so sure—”

“Yes, I am.” The Ancient One gave a patient smile. “Like I said before, Miss Bennett, I make it a point to know these things. You have nowhere to go and your abilities need training. Your best bet is with them.”

“Fuck that!” Willow snapped now back on her feet once more as the room rumbled. “I didn’t even ask for this! To be thrown into another , to get fucking powers, or hell, get kidnapped! All I wanted to do was finish my shift and go home! I don’t want this!”

It wasn’t fair. What about Peter? What about her apartment? What about college? What about the life she was working all her life for? Is it gone now that she was here?

Just gone like that?

The Ancient One closed her book and stood as well. “I’m afraid this is the end of our meeting. Once I send you back to the construction site time will move forward again and they will come for you.”

“But—”

“My deepest apologies, Miss Bennett, but there is nothing more I can do for you.”

Willow didn’t miss how dismissive about it she was or how fast she was trying to cut the conversation short. Like she was holding something back.

“Can’t or won’t?” Willow gritted out. The sorcerer stopped but her back remained facing Willow. “Because those happen to be two different things.”

The Ancient One turned, staring back. Her face gave nothing away.

Then she smiled.

“Goodbye, Miss Bennett.”

“Wait, no—!" But Willow never got to finish as the ring of light came over her and brought her back to the construction site. The night was quiet and Willow was alone.

She was alone. Alone. Alone. Alo —

A scream tore her throat. And a tremor shook Brooklyn.

It wasn’t long before they came.

Well, technically Willow heard the multiple vehicles surrounding the construction site while she was sitting in the middle of it. There weren’t multiple footsteps like she expected. It was actually dead quiet save for the distant city ambience.

But the quiet, as it seemed, was a friend to the Black Widow.

Willow carefully watched the woman as she stopped a few feet away. Willow tucked her knees close to her chest.

“Are you going to shoot me?”

Black Widow or Romanoff shrugged, “I think you’ve had enough bullets for one day. Also it depends on your cooperation.” Romanoff got closer and Willow, despite herself, flinched terribly. The spy noticed before adding cautiously, “Otherwise, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“But you’re here to take me back. To throw me in another cell?” Romanoff didn’t answer right away. Willow wanted to cry. And she did. And it was quiet. Just like the night. Just like the widow.

In the end, Willow didn’t care if they believed her or not. She didn’t care if they thought she was dangerous or useful to them.

She didn’t care. She didn’t care.

“I want to go home.” Willow whispered into her knees when she heard Romanoff get closer. “I don’t want to go back into the dark. I can’t, please , I can’t.”

Again, it was quiet. This quiet was so loud Willow would’ve thought she was alone if not for Romanoff finally speaking.

“Stand down. Target’s not hostile. I’ll escort her  back myself.”

Willow vaguely heard a reply through the communicator Romanoff had. She flinched again when she felt the woman nudge her leg. “Let’s go. If you walk without me handcuffing you then it might earn you a few brownie points.”

She could tell that Romanoff was being sarcastic, but Willow got up anyway. “What other choice do I have?”

“Not much, unfortunately.” Romanoff replied shortly.

Willow didn’t respond and followed Romanoff out of the construction site.

She wondered if the Ancient One was watching. If she was…

Willow sent a big middle finger up at the night sky.

Romanoff noticed this of course but didn’t say anything.

Chapter Text

“Why did you attack the Hulk?”

Willow blinked, “Huh?”

Not even an hour back at the “Avengers’ Tower”, Willow was brought to a barren room with a single table and chair at the center. Romanoff, before leaving, had assured her that this was not a cell and they just wanted to ask some questions. Willow didn’t respond, already knowing that no matter what she said they wouldn’t believe her. It happened with Strucker—hell, she got shot for it—and it was best to assume that this would be no different. No matter what that Ancient person said.

Romanoff had left and then a woman, who introduced herself as Maria Hill, took over.

“At Strucker’s base. Dr. Banner recalls you throwing an attack at the Hulk. Was that on Strucker’s orders?”

Willow let out a short huff, “If I followed Strucker’s orders I wouldn’t have ended up with a bullet in my shoulder.”

Agent Hill glanced down at her tablet, “Just answer the question, Miss Bennett.”

“No, it wasn’t on Strucker’s orders. I was freaked out.” Willow shivered when she remembered the green beast coming out of the shadows and how much her heart had sunk. “I had a chance to escape my cell. I didn’t expect to see some green monster coming at me, so yeah, I blasted him.”

The agent studied Willow quietly for a short moment, eyes narrowed. “So, you were trying to escape Strucker’s hold?”

“Yeah.”

On the tablet, she switched to two pictures and held it up for Willow to see. “Pietro and Wanda Maximoff volunteered for the experiments, have you met or encountered these two?”

Willow frowned at the pictures, “Yes. But they weren’t locked in a cell.”

“And you never volunteered yourself?”

“No. I woke up in a lab. Strucker kept mentioning I was a gift from the scepter or that I suddenly appeared at his doorstep. It was confusing.”

Agent Hill was, again, quiet. Willow tugged at her hair anxiously.

“You appeared out of nowhere?” Hill repeated.

“Yes, that’s what he said.”

The agent frowned, “I suppose that explains the heavy monitoring and the obsessive attention to detail in your folder he had made.”

Willow scoffed, “That he’s insane? Yeah, I guess it does explain it…” Her words got caught in her throat when the tablet screen turned toward her and showed a video of her in her cell. She was either walking around, self-practicing with her abilities, or sleeping—well mumbling and twitching in the dark.

Her stomach twisted at this, especially when the video turned to her on the table, crying and screaming from being electrocuted multiple times. Unconsciously and as if her hand had a mind of its own, her hand flew up to her neck.

“How do we know he hasn’t used some form of control on you right now?” Agent Hill asked, watching Willow’s face closely. “With this type of torture, you’re bound to give in to some orders.”

Willow’s hand never left her neck. Her throat tightened.

“That’s enough, Hill.”

Both turned to find Captain America, or Steve Rogers, now standing in the doorway of the interrogation room. “What’s showing her videos of her torture gonna do, huh?”

“We have to be thorough, Captain.”

Steve crossed his arms, clearly unsatisfied with the response, “How thorough can we be? This what you call thorough? Seems to be with all the information we’ve gathered, it looks like neither HYDRA nor SHIELD know a thing about her—”

“And don’t you find that a bit strange?” Agent Hill turned back to face Willow, who was watching the two quietly. Mostly absentmindedly. She knew what HYDRA was, but she was still trying to figure out what exactly SHIELD was. Were they a part of that? Was that the good organization compared to HYDRA? This only got more confusing as they talked. But she continued watching them in silence, an observing silence. Mostly watching Steve.

“Before she was in Strucker’s, Willow Bennett didn’t exist. Why is that?” Willow couldn’t tell if Agent Hill was directing the question at her or to Steve. Either way, she didn’t respond. And neither did Steve.

“How do we know this isn’t some set up by HYDRA? We can’t be careless, Captain.”

“I know.” Willow kept her focus on her hands. They were shaking. She hadn’t realized that before.

Steve suddenly spoke again, “Let me have the room with her.”

Willow clasped her hands together, listening to the agent get up and leave the room. She finally looked up to find Steve replacing the agent’s seat.

“I’m not a part of HYDRA. Or SHIELD. Hell, I don’t even know what the SHIELD is.” Willow explained hurriedly. “All I wanted was to go home. That’s it!”

“Is that why you went to those locations?” Steve asked, although the way he asked her wasn’t accusatory like the agent was. She nodded. “And what did you find when you got there?”

She remembered the family living in the place where she used to visit her best friend. She remembered her very first apartment, her sanctuary, was being taken care of by a sweet old woman. She remembered her childhood house was nothing but spackle and rubble now.

She remembered that she was still alone.

“I don’t know if I could do it again. All over…again.” Willow chuckled, a bitter taste in her mouth. Something itched at the corner of her eyes until her vision blurred just a bit. “Everything’s gone. Everything.”

She felt an extra weight on the table across from her. “Why is that? What happened to your home?” Steve asked, carefully. “Was it destroyed? During the invasion?”

No. Apparently, I’m just in a parallel universe and there is now way back home for me.

But instead, she said, “I don’t know anymore.” She met his blue eyes. “That’s the truth. “ Really, it was. “I don’t know.”

Steve stared. Willow stared back. He leaned back into his seat, considering her. “I believe you.”

She was startled by this, really taken aback. That would’ve been the first time someone had said that to her when she arrived here in this universe.

“You do?”

Steve nodded. “Yes, I do. And I understand that you’re grieving.” Willow blinked in surprise. “While the others, well, they’re gonna be on edge around you because of your abilities and I know it’s already bad enough that you don’t have a handle on them, but I can help you. We can help you.”

Willow then leaned back in her own chair, hands still clasped together. “Help me? You mean throwing me in another cell to monitor my every movement?”

He frowned, “If we did that then we’d be no better than Strucker. Than HYDRA.”

She watched him. The Ancient One had said something similar. Maybe…

“Why?” She found herself asking. “Why do you want to help me?”

Steve shrugged, a smile gracing his lips. “I don’t know yet. But I’m hoping you’ll show me along the way.”

“That’s helpful.”

A chuckle left his lips as he straightened in his seat, “Where’re you from, kid?”

She finally unclasped her hands, “Hmm?”

Steve got up. “What part of New York are you from?”

Willow smiled a bit, “I lived in Queens most of my life but I was born in Harlem.”

“Harlem, huh?” He stretched his hand out toward her. “Brooklyn.”

After a moment of hesitance, she shook his hand.

Chapter Text

The day Willow’s mother became just Martha Bennett was the day she became an adult at sixteen.

This day was going to come and Willow prepared for it ever since she was nine years old. Ever since her father walked out the door.

“I just can’t anymore!” Martha cried out, sinking into the couch. “I can’t spend another day seeing his face every waking moment! I miss him. I miss him so much!”

It didn’t matter how long it had been since he left. Seven years, ten years, twenty, Willow understood because still to this day she found herself staring at the front door, waiting.

“I miss him too, Mo—”

“You need to leave now.” Martha said, not looking at Willow now. Tears continued down her mother’s cheeks. “I don’t—I can’t go on without him. And I don’t need a fucking reminder of it every day!”

Willow was quiet. So quiet that her mother looked back at her, thinking she had left.

“What about me?” Willow asked lamely. Her tears were quiet too. “Can you go on without me?”

She never responded.

The day her best friend became just Peter Parker, the boy she went to Midtown with was the day Willow finally accepted that everyone would end up leaving her in the end.

Maybe she should’ve seen the signs before when he tried to distance himself from both her and Gwen after George Stacy’s death. Or the time he told her, quite excitedly, that he would leave New York with Gwen and go start a life in London. He’d done it so easily as if he was always ready to leave. He just needed the opening.

Willow was in her apartment again. Peter was on the balcony.

Wanda, when searching through her mind, had missed this part of the fight. And Willow was glad for it.

“I don’t know how I can go on without her, Will. I don’t.” Peter sounded so desperate here and honestly at the time she would’ve cared.

She would’ve been able to hear him out, let him air out his grief. Understand it.

“But you can go on without me, right?” She stared at him, searching for an answer in her tearful vision. “Every time, it’s so easy for them, for you to just leave.” Her tears were quiet then too. “What about me, huh? What about me?”

He never responded either.

Maybe they were all better off leaving her alone from the beginning.

These agents would not leave her alone.

Honestly, Willow couldn’t go anywhere without them watching or feeling like she was being watched. But apparently, that was part of her new life here at the Avengers’ Tower. Waking up in her makeshift room to go to the labs and have her abilities studied more. On occasion, Dr. Cho would check the status on her healing shoulder. And the days would continue and end eventually.

Willow really couldn’t complain all that much. It was better than being in an isolating cell all day, rarely let out.

“I want you to shoot your blast toward that chair.” Agent Raymond, the one who had been overseeing her progress the past few days, said. Upon coming to one of the labs that morning, Willow found all the equipment cleared out of the way save for the one table with a chair on top of it. There were also a few scientists in the room with tablets, clearly ready to take some notes.

“What, not check up today?” She asked as Agent Raymond moved toward the center of the room.

“We are putting your abilities to the test. Strucker wrote down that you can generate concussive blasts and—”

“Cause tremors in the Earth, yeah, I know.” Willow crossed her arms around herself. “I was there when he wrote it.”

Agent Raymond regarded her carefully before continuing. “We’ll only be testing your concussive blasts, we don’t want to risk you bringing down the tower and half of New York with it like you almost did Strucker’s base that one time.”

“Twice.” Willow corrected.

“What?”

“I nearly brought his base down twice.” She tried hiding a smile at the agent's obvious frustration.

He rolled his eyes, “Shoot the chair.”

Willow sighed and dropped her arms to her side as she stared at the chair. She remembered what she did last time. Only she needed some vibration. She looked toward the scientists, “Can one of you stomp a few times?”

“Why?” Agent Raymond asked with an exasperated sigh.

“I need vibrations.” She shrugged.

“Can’t you generate that yourself—”

“Look man, I didn’t know we were questioning methods here. Because if we’re here to do that then I gotta say you suck as an instructor.”

Agent Raymond rolled his eyes and gestured toward the scientists, “Stomp-just do as she says.”

One of the scientists set his tablet down and began stomping. There was a bit of vibration under her feet but not enough to grasp onto.

“I need a few more stompers.” Willow said.

After a few seconds, there were a few more stompers and this time she caught the vibrations, allowed it to floor through her body until she focused it on her hands, the familiar weight falling onto her hands. She imagined the ball and her other hand like puppet strings. She imagined stretching the ball larger with the strings. Until she was sure it was large enough to knock the chair down, she let it go.

The force did end up hitting the chair off the table, only the rest of the lab went along with it. The glass wall broke, many equipment got knocked over, even people going by outside of the lab were thrown back.

Willow winced while Agent Raymond hummed, “A lot of room for improvement. It seems you got the basics down in creating it. Generating quicker would be at the top of our priority list along with controlling the size of the blast, especially if you’re going to be out on the field. The way you create your blasts, at that speed would give your enemies time to—"

“Whoa, whoa, who said anything about going out on the field?” Willow questioned instantly, glancing at him and the scientists who were already writing things down. “I thought we were only learning to control my powers. I didn’t agree to fight anyone.”

“What did you think was going to happen when you got control?” Agent Raymond scoffed amusingly, “You think SHIELD was going to let someone as powerful as you roam free? You’re dangerous, Bennett. But you’re also useful to us.”

Willow had heard the same thing before, from Strucker.

My Zerstörer, we will rule the world together.

He wanted to use her too. Manipulate her into his own personal weapon.

She scowled, “Been there, done that, not interested.”

Willow moved to walk away only he grabbed her arm tightly,

“We’re not done here.”

She yanked her arm out of his grasp, “Yeah, we are.”

“Don’t walk away, Bennett or I’ll—”

“Or you’ll put a chip in me too?!” Willow snapped. “You’ll shock me into submission too? Go ahead, do it. I’m ready this time!”

The room began to tremble. Agent Raymond held a cautious hand out to her while his other hand was sliding toward his gun, “Kid, calm down.”

Her heart was racing as the room shook. She was panicking, she knew this. It was the familiar feeling she got back in middle school all the time. Her panic attacks weren’t always bad but with her abilities causing random tremors, it didn’t help much. But she tried anyway.

What do you feel?

My skin and a smooth table.

What do you smell?

Pizza? And Kleenex.

What do you hear?

Voices. Arguing.

You’re not in the cell anymore. You’re not with Strucker. Get it together, Willow.

Willow.

Willow.

Willow.

There was a muffled voice next to her. And her hand was on her left shoulder, squeezing it. No, wait. That wasn’t her hand.

“Hey, Bennett?” Willow opened her eyes to find Romanoff next to her. “You alive in there?”

Willow hadn’t realized she was rubbing the back of her neck where the chip was. She nodded.

The room had stopped shaking and she realized the people who were arguing were Steve, Tony Stark, and Agent Raymond.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Steve snapped.

“I was doing my job, Captain. And she freaked out, everything was under control.”

Romanoff hummed in disagreement while Stark sputtered, “Under control—you destroyed half my lab, Agent Raymond! That is millions, thrown out the window—you hear that, kid?! Money!”

Willow winced, tucking her hands behind her back as if it would hide the fact that she was the culprit.

“Tony, the money is not the point.” Steve sighed.

“Oh, I agree, Cap. But I’m just wondering why Quakers here practicing in my tower!”

“The Avengers’ Tower.”

“Fuck off, I paid for most of it.”

“That is also not the point.”

“I swear to God, Rogers—”

Agent Raymond cleared his throat, “If I may—”

“No!” Both Steve and Stark snapped. Stark pointed at him, “Plus, why are you still here? You’re fired, buddy and you owe me a new lab—"

“I am not employed by you, Stark!”

Willow felt a nudge in her arm, drawing her attention away from the three men toward Romanoff who was nodding to the exit, “Come on, the testosterone’s getting a bit thick in here.”

Glancing back toward the men for the last time, Willow followed Romanoff out of the lab and led her down the stairs to another floor. Willow really had no clue just how many floors there were in the tower, just that it was tall and had a lot of rooms.

Romanoff led her to an area that looked like a modern kitchen which was currently empty of any occupants save for the two women. Romanoff walked toward the bar to grab two glasses.

“How old are you, kid?”

Willow furrowed her brows in thought, “It’s still around January 2015, right?”

“April, actually.”

She missed at least three months? Willow winced, “Yeah, then I’m still eighteen.”

Romanoff grabbed one glass “Jesus, you're still a fetus. Apple juice then?”

Willow flipped her off. Romanoff smirked as she began pouring herself a drink, “Just water for me.” The assassin nodded and went to grab another glass.

“You seem to be taking in your surroundings well.” Romanoff said casually. “Almost like you haven’t been locked up for months.”

Willow shrugged, “I like to think of it as adapting. I did it my whole life, this isn’t much different.”

Romanoff set the water down in front of Willow, “Well, adapting and avoiding are two different things.”

“You think I’m avoiding something?” Willow frowned, staring blankly down her water cup. “You don’t even know me.”

“True. I can’t really give a full opinion on that. Plus, I try not to read people’s entire body and emotional language, even when they’re an open book.” Romanoff smirked at the last bit and Willow rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’m avoiding anything. I’ve just come to accept my situation and navigate it the best way I know how.” Willow grabbed the water.

“Who’s Peter?”

Willow had never been so still. It was like someone had struck her walls with a hammer and the shake from the impact startled her into silence, holding her breath, hoping she imagined it.

“W-What?”

Romanoff took a sip of her drink nonchalantly, “In one of the videos, a few of them actually, you mumble two names while you were unconscious. Peter and Gwen. Most of the time, it’s Peter.” She set her drink down. “So who is he?”

“Why, so you could use it against me too?” Willow tried staying calm, not wanting to cause another tremor. “So you could get in my head and use my weakness against me?”

“That’s not what we do here, no.” Romanoff frowned, brows furrowed together.

Willow didn’t look at her as she shook her head, “I don’t want you in my head either.”

“Either? You mean one of the Maximoff twins? Their ability is mental manipulation, right? Did they use it on you?”

Willow didn’t hear her, she just kept staring at her hands as they shook. She clenched them together, fighting to stop them.

You are not with Strucker. You are not with Strucker. You are not with Strucker.

You are—

“Hey, kid.” Willow jumped when something pressed firmly into her wrist. She blinked, finding Romanoff’s hand wrapped around her wrist, her thumb pressed against a certain spot on her skin. Romanoff relaxed her hold a bit, “Don’t go all tremors on me, okay?”

When she let go, Willow studied her wrist, “What was that?”

“Pressure point technique.” Romanoff pushed the water toward her. “Drink up.”

Reluctantly, Willow obeyed and drank from the water. Once she finished, she mumbled out an apology. “Don’t apologize, kid. We all have uncontrollable faults and mine is unfortunately pushing people to a point where they’re quite dangerous. I apologize.”

Willow nodded slowly, clasping her hands together. The two sat in silence for a while.

“Peter’s no one.” Willow said quietly.

“You don’t have to tell me—”

“He is no one, I promise.” That, she wasn’t sure, was meant for either her or Romanoff. She couldn’t tell.

Romanoff got her another cup of water, “Is that all?”

Willow shrugged, “That’s all there is.” For a beat, she also paused, remembering Agent Raymond’s words. “Do I really have to fight? When I get control over my abilities?”

Romanoff shrugged, “Do you want to?”

“I want to not be a weapon for people to use. I want a choice in all of this.”

“So choose.”

Was it that easy?

“What do you want, Willow?” Romanoff asked. “Now that you’re not avoiding stuff anymore.”

Willow snorted, resting her chin on the table. “I don’t know to be honest.”

The older woman nodded, “Well, until then, let’s find a new training spot, so that way we hear less of Stark’s tantrums.”

“For some reason, I feel like he’ll find some way to complain about me.” Willow muttered, although she wasn’t entirely bothered by the fact. All it meant was he’ll find a way to be more annoying.

“He’ll warm up to you.” Romanoff smirked as she put the wine away. “He won’t admit it but he’s got a soft spot for kids.”

Willow rolled her eyes, “I’m not a kid. And I don’t particularly  care about what he thinks of me at the moment. Impressing Tony Stark is not one of my top priorities right now.”

“Careful, that just might impress him too.”

Chapter Text

There was one thing that Agent Raymond was right about. Willow needed a faster way to conjure up her blasts.

Even though she knew she was probably never going to fight or go out onto the field, it would still be a neat skill to have. And why not? She was given these powers, and would be useful if she knew how to use them properly.

Because if she were in another position like she was at the museum, she’d be able to defend herself, she’d be useful. Not just someone who stands by and watches her best friend fall to her death…

Stop. Stop that.

I could’ve done something. I could’ve stopped her. All of this happened because I couldn’t stop her…

Willow’s blast was too large again. Her room now looked like a tornado tore through it. She waited for any agents to come bargaining in her room, but after a few minutes had passed, she decided to breathe a sigh of relief. Last thing she wanted was Stark barging in and yelling at her for destroying his things again.

But what she did hear was shuffling outside of her room and quiet muffled voices. Quietly, Willow opened her door just enough to where she could hear the conversation down the hall without being seen.

The voices, as it turned out, belonged to Steve and, surprise, surprise, Tony Stark.

“I hope you’re right about this decision, Rogers.” Stark said, crossing his arms. “Because if you’re wrong about her—”

“What was I supposed to do? You saw the footage, you saw what Strucker did to that girl.”

“Yes, we saw what he wanted us to discover.”

Steve was quiet. Willow frowned. “You think Strucker faked the whole thing? Torturing her?”

Stark shrugged, “I think HYDRA isn’t above taking things to the extreme to convince their enemies that the girl isn’t one of them. You’re telling me the girl just magically appeared and he had nothing to do with it?”

Steve was quiet again. Willow watched them both feeling either irritated or nervous, she didn’t know. What she did know was that she was tired. Tired of having to convince these people that she was in fact not a spy.

The Ancient One was dead wrong. She would’ve been better off running.

“Bennett.” Steve suddenly called. Willow snapped out of her thoughts to find both men were now looking at her.

Caught.

She ducked out of their sight and leaned on the wall next to the door.

“See? Already eavesdropping on grown ups’ conversation. Spy!” Stark sassed.

“Shut up, Tony.”

Steve appeared in the doorway, pushing the door open a little more. Willow watched as he took in the state of her room. He didn’t react to it but of course, Stark did.

“That’s it, kid. I’m billing you.” He said after poking his head into the room. “Maybe put a sign on you that says, ‘Cap’s Walking Hazard’.”

“Stark.” Steven warned.

Stark kept going, even as he walked away. “A big yellow wet sign with those exact words. I might invest in that.”

“Maybe you should get one that says ‘ World’s Biggest Asshole 'or' Fuckface' either works!” Willow sassed, earning a look of disapproval from Steve.

“I’ll invest in that too.” Stark quipped as he kept walking.

She glared at his retreating figure down the hall until Steve spoke, Don’t let him to you, he just—”

“Thinks I’m some big bad made by HYDRA. Yeah, I heard.” Willow huffed, moving to sit on the edge of her bed. “What the hell else does he want me to do? I told you all I could about what happened to me, what more do they need from me?”

Steve sighed, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets, “I think we all need some answers, even you. We’re all just a bit confused by this and I’m sure more intel will come in and we’ll know more. But for now…” Steve gestured out the door. “Let’s go get some training in.”

Willow frowned but got up to follow him, “I thought my powers were too much for the building.”

“It is. Which is why we’re doing combat training. Romanoff thinks you should at least have some self defense training, even if you don’t plan on fighting on the field.”

She followed behind Steve quietly until she stopped. Steve noticed she wasn’t following and stopped as well. “Bennett?”

“He put a chip in me. My neck.” Willow’s fingers twitched at wanting to touch the spot but refrained from doing so. “Can anyone here…um, can anyone here get it out of me?”

Steve frowned but nodded, “We’ll try.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, I promise. Alright, Harlem?”

For the short time she had known him, Willow could tell Steve was being genuine when saying this. A good man. There was just something about him, something got her to believe him. Right now, Steve had to be the only person in this tower that she was somewhat comfortable with. Romanoff slowly became a close second because she was the only woman on the team.

Finally, Willow nodded, deciding to believe him.

“So what’s this about combat training?”

Steve shrugged, “Eh, you either love it or hate it. Depending on who you will be sparing with.” They began walking down the hall again.

“Am I sparring with Romanoff?”

“On your first day? No, I’m not cruel.”

Pietro Maximoff didn’t know why he did it. Twice. And both times he didn’t regret it. Not one bit.

The first time was a couple months back after Strucker’s weapon tried to escape the first time. After Wanda showed her her fears. He could still hear her screams that night. He felt sick to his stomach, standing outside of the room and waiting for his sister. Listening. Do nothing as Strucker senselessly tortured the girl until she had no choice but to comply.

And that, Pietro strongly believed, was wrong.

She didn’t choose to be here. He did though. She didn’t ask to be experimented on. But he did.

What did she have to do with saving his home? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. And as far as he knew, Strucker only kept her for his own needs. He didn’t make it much of a secret either.

Wanda came out of the room many minutes later. Her screams had quieted.

“I thought you left.” Wanda muttered, not meeting his gaze.

He knows she could read his thoughts but he voiced them anyway, “I don’t like what he makes you do to her.”

“He doesn’t make me do anything.” Wanda scowled. “I do this of my own free will.”

Pietro shook his head, “That doesn’t make it better.”

“What do you expect me to do, Etro?” Wanda frowned. “If I don’t do it, this place goes down if she gets free. Then all of this would be for nothing!”

Yes, she was right about that. Maybe. “I still don’t like it.” Wanda’s eyes narrowed at him but she stayed quiet. Pietro frowned at her, “Stop reading my mind.”

“Stop being so loud about it.” She argued which old made her exhaustion more apparent.

Pietro kissed the top of her head and squeezed her arm, “Go to bed.”

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Despite her tone, she still smiled just a bit.

“I’m older so I can.”

“Only by twelve minutes.”

“Your point?”

Wanda rolled her eyes while Pietro smirked. He watched her leave and not long after, Strucker and Dr. List left the room. And before the door closed, he sped inside.

The only light source in the room was the lamp directly above the girl. Before she had tried to escape, the only thing holding her down had been simple leather straps around her wrists and ankles. Now these large metal straps pinned her entire body down. It looked so tight it was even suffocating just looking at it.

Then there was something covering her mouth, similar to a muzzle except heavier looking.

Pietro neared the table. She was already looking at him through her heavy lidded tear stained eyes. She was breathing loudly, no, she was panting.

He stopped next to her head. She was twitching, eyes glazed over despite looking directly at him, and breathing really loudly…

“Can you breathe?” It was a dumb question, he knew this. She didn’t respond, eyes rolling in the back of her head. Pietro began to panic a bit, “Hey, hey, look at me, alright? Can you breathe?”

The room trembled. Finally, she shook her head. He gestured toward the muzzle on her mouth, “Is this keeping you from breathing?” The room continued to shake, only a little. “Hey, focus on me.”

She wasn’t focusing or wouldn’t. She kept pulling away from him, every time he reached for the muzzle.

“Stubborn woman.” He chuckled softly before finally taking the mouthpiece off. Her breathing was haggard but the shaking was calming. Pietro grinned, “There you go. Now you don’t destroy base.”

She was quiet, still trying to get her breathing under control. He placed his hand on top of her head, gently massaging it. This was something he used to do for Wanda whenever she had her own panic attacks when they were younger. Usually it worked, hopefully it would be the same result now.

Now that Pietro looked at her, she wasn’t that much older than him. Her copper skin was coated in sweat, her hair was thick but soft, and her eyes….As soft as they appeared it was dark with anger and often clouded in tears.

But she was relieved. And the room was still.

He didn’t regret it. Not one bit.

The second time had been after she blasted out a window.

He could’ve sped right back up there and there her out the window too since she wanted to play dirty. But he had been overwhelmed with stopping the Avengers from getting the scepter, so for a moment, he wasn’t thinking about her.

And then he saw her with one of them, running toward their getaway het. He had enough time. He could’ve grabbed her and taken her back to the base. But then Strucker would have her and Pietro didn’t particularly like the man all that much at the moment.

He had time. He had five minutes to be exact.

Pietro ended up watching her get on the het before speeding back to the battle.

He didn’t regret it…Maybe a little bit.

God, he hoped it wouldn’t bite him in the ass in the end.

At 1:00 a.m. New York trembled.

The city wasn’t known for its earthquakes so Agent Raymond knew where to start first.

He and a few other agents were rushing through the tower, he heard some shout orders to others as they passed but all he was focused on was finding the girl and putting a stop to the earthquake.

They had been prepared for this, all they really had to do was wait until she snapped. Now, they could deal with her accordingly.

“Spread out!” He ordered the agents following him. “Search the entire tower! She could be trying to bring the whole thing down!”

“What’s going on?”

Agent Raymond tried not to scowl when Steve Rogers appeared next to him, “I thought you were sent home, Captain. We have this under control.”

“Never said you didn’t, Raymond.” Steve replied curtly as they turned down a hallway. “And I also think it’s not advised to be driving in an earthquake.”

Raymond scoffed and decided to get right to the point, “We’re taking her in, Captain. We knew she was bound to start an attack sooner rather than later so with all due respect—”

“Usually someone says that when they’re about to do the opposite.” Steve stopped short, causing Raymond to do so unconsciously. The man had a somewhat challenging look on his face, one that Raymond didn’t appreciate all that much.

“I do not need you interfering.” Was what Raymond said.

Steve was about to respond when an agent ran up to them, “Sir, we checked all the floors below and there’s no sign of her.”

“You think she left the building?” Steve questioned before Raymond could give another order.

The agent shifted, “Well—”

“She didn’t leave.” All three of them turned to find Natasha Romanoff walking toward them with a look of determination on her face. She didn’t stop as she walked past them. Steve followed her instantly and Raymond stumbled behind the two, not before ordering the agent next to him to call for backup.

Natasha led the way further down the hall until she stopped at a door and hurriedly forced it open with help from Steve. Raymond came in last, drawing out his gun to find the girl lying in bed.

This must have been the room she was staying in and it looked like she wasn’t awake as Natasha appeared at her bedside.

“Romanoff…” Raymond warned, pointing his gun toward the bed, “Back away before—”

“Steve, would you please?” Natasha said nonchalantly.

Before Raymond could realize what was happening, a rough kick to his hand made him drop the gun in seconds. Raymond moved to grab it but was immediately forced against the wall by Steve.

“You’re protecting her? Even when she risks endangering us?!”

“Better than attacking an unarmed girl.” Steve snapped.

“She’s not unarmed.” Raymond growled.

Steve shrugged, “But you are.”

Over Steve’s shoulder, Natasha grabbed the girl’s arm as she continued twitching and mumbling. Natasha gave her shoulders a shake. “Willow? Come on, kid, you’re okay.” The girl didn’t wake up right away but when Natasha continued whispering words of assurance, that’s when the girl shot up.

The room continued shaking as the girl cried out, “She’s in my head, she’s in my head again! Get her out of my head !”

Raymond tried fighting Steve off of him but there was no use going up against the super soldier serum.

Natasha did something to her arm and the girl’s panicked cries died down. And the world wasn’t shaking. Eventually, she finally lied the girl back down, “Having nightmares too, huh? Maybe you are one of us.”

It was meant to be some type of joke but Natasha winced, even Steve frowned, uncertainty on his features once he let Raymond go.

The assassin then looked at Raymond and the lightheartedness on her face went away instantly, “Call off the witch hunt, agent. The kid just had a bad dream.”

“Willow?” Steve called, waiting for her to respond.

The girl twitched at Steve’s voice as she mumbled, “I’m okay…sorry.”

Natasha was still staring at Raymond, “What’re you still doing here?”

Raymond huffed before addressing his comms, “False alarm. Go back to your stations.”

Chapter Text

“You and Peter would get along, you know.” Gwen Stacy brought up during one of many of hers and Willow’s study sessions. They had decided for a change of scenery this time around and went to the diner that was just a few blocks from the school.

Willow glanced down at her homework, “No, I don’t think that’s the answer to question four.”

“Willow—whatever your middle name is—Bennett! You will not use sarcasm against me! I can read through it, I won’t be distracted by your relentless charm anymore!”

Gwen seemed, at the time, more dramatic than usual. So, Willow, despite her better judgment, reluctantly heard her out.

“He’s willing, it all depends on you, Bennett.” Gwen munched on one of her fries.

Willow rolled her eyes, “Just because you’re clouded with the oh-so whooyness of your boyfriend, does not mean I will be.” Of course, she was only being stubborn.

“You act as if he wronged you somehow.” Gwen snorted. “Tell me, what’s he done to earn such malice from you?”

“Well…” Willow frowned. Nothing. It was mostly her being a coward. “Aside from unwanted long stares….nothing.” Gwen rolled her eyes and continued eating her fries. “And it’s not malice. Just not interested in adding another member into my already large circle.”

“I’m your only friend. What large circle?”

“Lies! I have Poncho, down in Harlem!” Willow gasped dramatically. “And I’ll have you know he’s a very good listener!”

Gwen was staring knowingly. And Willow stared back.

“Just give him a chance. For me, please?” Willow didn’t respond. “Come on, he’s practically already in love with you from the stuff I told him about you. Now he needs the real thing!”

Willow snorted, “In love with me? That’s a stretch. If that’s the case he’s halfway there to breaking my heart.”

Gwen began to pout, “Will, please? Pleeeeeeeasse !”

“Fine, woman!” Willow sighed exasperatedly. “I’ll do it, fuck it! But if things go wrong, Stacy, you owe me big time!”

“I know, I know. I totally owe you!” Gwen grinned, coming around to squeeze her into a hug. “I owe you big time!”

It was 2:43 p.m. in New York. Hours after Willow nearly brought down Avengers’ Tower because of one nightmare.

Apparently, Natasha and Steve had been the ones to find her and calm her down before the whole tower collapsed. Willow didn’t remember anything else that happened after that. She didn’t talk or think about her nightmare. And both heroes didn’t ask. For that, she was thankful.

The last thing she wanted to do was do anything remotely similar to opening up or being vulnerable in front of them. Strangers. No. Acquaintances?

Instead, Willow focused on keeping the cup hovering above her hand. Another skill she picked up out of boredom. Making her blast weaker but enough to keep a cup hovering just above her fingertips.

Footsteps waked by just as the cup fell back into her hand.

“You still owe me, Stacy...”

She stared blankly at the cup in her hands and began to wonder if she was really going to accept this new life. So far she hadn’t been fighting much of it which also made her wonder if she had gone insane from all the blows to the head from training with Steve. Then again, after her unexpected meeting with the Ancient One, what other choice did she have? Here she had no money, her apartment that she had worked her ass off was now occupied by someone else, and all of this was because she happened to enter the wrong universe. How the hell does that even happen? Willow began to realize she never really questioned it until now.

How did one night in the museum, with Peter facing off yet another threat to the city—which is like every other Wednesday for New York—turn into all of this? Why her? Why didn’t Peter get thrown into another universe?

It had to have something to do with that stone she picked up that night. The very same stone that was down in the lab currently being studied by every scientist in the building. Then there were Strucker’s words about her coming from the scepter. What did all of this even mean? Why and how did she manage to travel to a different universe and somehow get powers added to that?

Her head was beginning to hurt. Maybe that’s why she hadn’t thought too much about it. Willow could hardly think these questions through without panicking.

“There you are!”

The booming voice didn’t help her already anxious mood. Willow yelped and swerved around to find the tallest Avenger, Thor, standing in her bedroom doorway with a big grin on his face.

“What the hell man?!” She snapped.

The grin didn’t falter, “Apologies for the scare, little warrior.” He gave her room a quick scan before addressing her again, “What are you doing cooped up in this tiny room? You should be training, like all warriors do!”

Willow placed her cup on the dresser next to her and grumbled, “I don’t know where you’ve been man, but training is the last thing I’m worried about right now.” After her little tremor fit last night the agents were being extra wary around her, following her close behind with their hands on their tasers. She wouldn’t be surprised if Stark was now trying to find a way to get her out of the building. “Plus, this isn’t Viking times, I’m not a warrior and you need an outfit update, buddy.”

“ Pfft !” The sound from the god didn’t quite sound right coming from him. Thor gave a dismissive wave, “Sure you are! You have a mighty power and therefore are a mighty warrior! And no mighty warrior should be locked up in this tiny room.” He smirked proudly, hands on his hips. His entire body took up all of the doorway. “Who better to train you than a mighty god.”

“How many times are you going to say mighty—”

“Come! We mustn’t waste daylight!” Thor swirled around and disappeared down the hall. His voice echoed back to her as he spoke, “It is time for the Nine Realms to tremble at your mightiness!”

Willow, despite herself, got up to peek out of the doorway to find Thor still walking until he reached the elevator at the end of the hall. He stood next to it expectantly. Willow didn’t move right away.

“Um, where are we going exactly?”

“Training!” He said with a large smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Dude, I’m already on thin ice with these people. I don’t know if you’ve heard by I almost brought down the tower—”

“Yes, yes, and what a mighty sight that would’ve been!”

She rolled her eyes at his constant use of the word ‘mighty’ before slowly stepping out of her room. “I don’t think destroying another lab is going to get me any extra brownie points with these guys.”

He furrowed his brows as she joined him in front of the elevator, “Brownies? Ah yes! The chocolate sweets Barton makes for the team! Of course you won’t be having any of those. A warrior must be at their strongest and healthiest form when training!”

Willow, speechless, just stared at him as the elevator dinged. Thor, completely oblivious, gestured towards the open doors, “After you.”

Was this guy for real?

Glancing back towards her bedroom, Willow shrugged and followed him into the elevator. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea but hey, anything was better than sitting in her room all day avoiding thinking about her dreams and memories. If anything, this was an unexpected yet welcomed distraction.

The elevator doors closed after they entered and began descending down. “Besides,” Thor started up again glancing down at her with an easy smile, “We won’t be training in the tower.”

Willow’s brows raised. That was certainly a surprise, “Then where are we going?”

“Somewhere where you can use your powers to its extent.” Thor grinned.

“And is that safe?”

He waved her off again, “Of course it is. You’ll be fine. And I promise if you do end up taking all of New York down with you then I will take you out myself.”

The way he said that was so easy going, Willow almost let it slide as if he told her the sky was clear today. The god wasn’t what she expected. Frankly, she never thought she would be standing next to one of the most popular Norse gods in mythology right now. But he wasn’t as intimidating as she thought he would be. Sure, there is a higher power sort of presence he carries with himself, not to mention he practically towers over her even though she wasn’t that much shorter herself.

It was the way he was talking to her. Talking to her as if they were friends. Maybe he didn’t think too much about how he interacted with her, maybe that was just how he was. But Willow thought about it. And when she thought long and hard, she realized she appreciated this. She appreciated a god talking to her as if she wasn’t a bomb waiting to blow up.

Thor suddenly cleared his throat, drawing her out of her thoughts. “Is it true, what Strucker had said? That you had come out of the scepter?”

Willow sighed at the question. She’d had this conversation already before. And it was met with so much disbelief that she gave up trying to explain herself. But despite her annoyance, she told him anyway.

“Strucker said a lot of loony things but yeah, he said I came from the scepter.” She watched the numbers count backwards as the elevator descended. “And no, I don’t know how or remember it happening. All I do know is that I woke up strapped down.” She glanced towards Thor who looked deep in thought, “Crazy right?”

He blinked and turned her, shaking his head. “No, little warrior, it’s not.” She frowned surprisingly as he continued. “The scepter is far beyond any mortal’s knowledge, perhaps even mine. But what Strucker said might not be too far from the truth. We do not know all that stone is capable of doing, so perhaps you did come from it.”

“So...” Willow stared up at him curiously, “do you believe it?” She really never told anyone what the Ancient One had told her. That she was from another universe. Hell, most of them were still iffy on the whole scepter crap Strucker was spouting. But maybe Thor would understand. He was a god after all, right? Would multiverse traveling be too far fetched?

Thor shrugged, “I believe we shouldn’t write off any theories as Banner likes to say.” Even though it wasn’t an answer she was looking for, she still felt comforted in a way. He gave her another smile as the elevator doors opened. They were now on the first floor and the exit was right across from them.

Willow glanced down at his hammer, “So, the whole worthy thing. Is that like a real thing? Like only you can pick it up?”

“Whoever is worthy, yes.” He nodded as they walked towards the exit. He held it up for the sun to shine on it through the glass doors and walls. “Very few people can lift Mjölnir and it has been that way for many eons.”

“Eons?!” Willow gapped.

“Eons.” Thor nodded.

They were now outside as Willow turned the information over in her head, “Okay, what if you put the hammer in a car? Does the car have to be worthy or the driver?”

Thor tilted his head in thought but Willow wasn’t done yet.

“Or—now here me out—you put the hammer in a plane. Will the plane still fly? Is the plane worthy enough?”

Thor chuckled, “You mortals and your strange questions.”

“Hey man, I’m just trying to get the facts.”

Thor began swinging his hammer, “Well, save your question, little warrior!” He grabbed her by the waist, “We shall now fly off before those agents realize you are gone.”

“Wha-- WHOA !”

Suddenly, Willow’s feet weren’t on the ground anymore. Instead the wind was now whipping through her hair and the world got smaller beneath her. She held onto Thor, screaming.

“Hold on tight!” Thor grinned.

“DID YOU THINK I WAS GONNA LET YOU GO?!”

“About time!” Natasha smirked as Willow finally landed with Thor minutes later after flying through New York. Never would she have thought a god would literally carry her through her home city, never had she thought that she would see her city from the sky. That stuff was only made for dreams. “Was beginning to think Raymond had caught you kids sneaking out and grounded you.”

Willow turned when someone scoffed a few feet away, only to see Steve standing with his shield. “Raymond’s too scared of Thor to even try that. Besides, he’s on lab duty with Banner.”

“Poor baby.” Willow watched Natasha and Steve share a smile as if they were exchanging some type of inside joke.

In all her life, Willow had only been to Upstate New York only once. She had to be eight or seven at the time. Her father, when he was around, had taken her up there to see his mother, her grandmother. Hasn’t been back here since.

But it was different this time around. Different universe. The land around them was empty save for trees surrounding the open space. And she was standing among this world’s greatest heroes. It was amazing how fast things can change. And also scary.

“We’re training out here?” Willow asked, still waiting for her legs to stop wobbling after the sudden flight trip. “You think it’s safe?”

“It’s the reason why we’re out here.” Natasha nodded, crossing her arms. She was dressed in her skin tight black suit, the same one she wore when they first met back in Sokovia. Steve was in a tight shirt and jeans, but his shield was clear enough that this training session was going to be different. “We can only do so much in the tower, training you in self defense mostly. And while that’s important if you will or won’t be going into the field, even we need a chance to work on our special skills.

“Plus, it’ll give Stark less of a chance to complain about any more damage.” Steve gestured around them. “The only thing you’ll be hurting is the trees, and maybe us.”

Willow furrowed her brows, “You?”

Natasha nodded, “Yup. We understand that you can already conjure up your blasts but if you do decide to go out into the field your current reaction time will get you killed.”

Willow frowned. She knew this of course. And even though she hadn’t really thought much about the idea of going out onto the field and fighting with them, it still is important, right? Getting better control of her abilities in case the very situation where she has no choice but to fight does come up. Even if she was now in a different universe, there were still threats out there. People like Harry Osborn. Maxwell Dillon. Dr. Curtis Connors. All those times, Willow was limited in defense because she was just human. Because she wasn’t Spider-Man.

She may not have been Spider-Man now but she was something.

And she was willing to learn more.

“Okay.” She breathed out, rolling her shoulders back. “How are we gonna do this—”

Willow barely had any time to react. The blue, red, and white shield was coming at her from her left and she dodged out of the way before it nearly smacked her. She watched the shield fly around and back towards Steve.

“Hey!” She snapped, standing up. “I wasn’t ready!”

“That’s the point, kid.” Steve smirked.

While she had been distracted, Natasha was coming at her from her right. A swift kick to the ribs was what knocked her off her feet and towards the ground. But Natasha didn’t stop. The bracelets around her wrists suddenly glowed just as Natasha was about to throw another punch. Willow rolled away as her fist hit the ground and energy melted into the dirt.

“Dude, chill!” She cried.

“The bad guys aren’t gonna go easy on you or give you a moment to build up your blasts.” Natasha said, running at her for another attack. “It’s your job to think fast and take your enemy down!” She threw a kick which Willow stumbled back and dodged. “Now knock me down, Bennett!”

Willow had been too slow as a kick landed in her waist and a sting from the bracelet caught her good shoulder, making Willow wince and grunt. She pushed away from Natasha, hissing at her shoulder, “Fuck!”

“Knock me down, Willow!” Natasha kept saying. “You’ll be dead!”

The shield came at her again. Willow didn’t dodge it in time.

Being hit by Captain America’s shield sure hurt a hell of a lot worse than she thought. Spending her down time in the Tower had Willow researching all of the Avengers to learn a little bit more about them. Some of them include videos and camera footage in their personal files. Most of them being Captain America himself taking down a ton of bad guys. And she’d always wince whenever a bad guy was smacked with his shield from him either throwing it or literally smacking it in their faces.

Now she felt like she was in one of those videos.

Willow groaned, lying on the ground, “God damn.” Steve appeared over her with an outstretched hand, which she eventually took, trying not to wince from the pain in her, well everywhere. “How much does that thing weigh?”

Steve gave a smile at her attempt at being lighthearted, “Romanoff’s right, kid.”

She waved him off as she breathed out a long sigh, “I know, I know.”

“Don’t be scared to use everything you got, okay? Give it your all. Don’t hold back.” Steve stepped back, getting into another fighting stance. “Ready to try again?”

Willow watched the two, knowing full well they weren’t going to wait for an answer. They were mirroring what would happen in an actual fight. Which means—

Natasha came at her first and then Steve was right behind her.

Willow dug deep, trying to remember what the vibrations within her body felt like and imagined them focused on her hands.

Don’t hold back. Give it your all.

The practices in her room and in the cell back in Sokovia came to mind. She had learned them, on her own, simply because she was bored. She understood it because it was like science. Vibration was all around her. In the air.

It was science. All of it. And she was pretty good at the subject.

Willow backed away, dodging an attacking blow from Natasha as she quickly caught the vibrations in the air. Focus it on your hands, focus it to your hands. Be fast. Be fast!

The shield was coming for her again. This time Willow threw her blast. Not holding back. Unleashing everything. The blast had been directed at the shield and Steve. It still swiped Natasha at her side, knocking her off her feet and away from Willow. The shield was thrown haphazardly back and so was Steve. And the trees.

Thor, who had been quietly standing off to the side watching, whooped out like a battle cry. “There it is! Yes, little warrior!”

Willow winced at the fallen trees, although a part of her was buzzing from excitement, “You guys good?”

Natasha was getting back up when she nodded, “Yeah. Good job.” She glanced back. “What about you, Rogers? Need life alert?”

Even from here Willow could see Steve roll his eyes as he got up, “The jokes get funnier every day, Romanoff.” He said dryly as he walked back to pick up his shield. “Again!”

For the next few minutes, it was filled with both Steve and Natasha coming at Willow and her shooting large concussive waves at them as fast as she could. Thor continued standing off to the side watching and giving pointers, even though all of it was hard to interpret with his old way of speaking.

Each round, she continued this pace until she eventually got the hang of it. Almost half the trees that had been surrounding them were now on the ground, blown off their roots by her powerful blasts. And it felt amazing every time she released them. Like letting go of every weight keeping her down, airing out every frustration that seeped into her muscles. Her confidence grew with every blow that came from her hands.

Even the weight that hung on her hands before releasing it had started to become comforting in a way.

“You think you can learn to control the size of your blasts with a better speed?” Steve asked after they finished another round.

Willow nodded, “Yeah, that was always the easiest part when it came to creating my blasts. It was just making it happen that took a while.”

Steve nodded as Natasha adjusted her bracelets, “So let’s call it a day then? Don’t want to get those agents too worried about her being gone for a long period of time.”

“Wait.” She said, causing both adults to look at her. Willow pointed to Thor who had been picking at his nails, “I wanna go against him!”

Steve frowned, “That’s several levels above you!”

“Kid’s bold.” Natasha mumbled.

Willow waved them off, “No, I just wanna see if I can stop his hammer from coming at me with my blasts.”

Thor perked up at this, eyebrows raised, “Is that a challenge I hear?”

Willow grinned for the first time, “Oh yeah! Show me what you got, man!”

“I don’t think—” Steve started, only to be stopped by Natasha.

“Nah, Rogers. Let’s see how she does.”

Willow followed Thor towards the open field where she had spent the day training, eyeing the hammer excitedly.

“So how do you want this? I attack, hit you with lightning?” Thor asked.

“Hit her with lightning?! Thor!” Steve sounded like a scolding parent to which the god ignored.

Willow shrugged, “I kind of want to see if I’m worthy enough to stop the hammer. Just throw it at me.”

“Don’t hold back either!” Natasha added.

“Romanoff.” Steve scowled. “If it gets too much, kid, just tell Thor to stop or call the hammer back. And don’t throw it directly at her face, please.”

“Okay, Dad.” Willow said mockingly, shaking her hands out, jumping around to psych herself up. “Alright!” She called to Thor who stood further away. “I’m ready!”

Thor started swinging the hammer. Steve and Natasha backed away and stood on the side, watching. Willow let the familiar weight fall onto her hands.

“Ready?” Thor shouted.

Willow grinned. “Do it!”

Thor let the hammer go and it flew straight towards her. Willow released her blast.

Chapter Text

Willow may not have been in this universe for long but there were definitely days where she would spend a little too long thinking about home. About Peter. About Gwen.

Gwen was dead. Dead. Dead. Dead.

Thinking about home should’ve made her miss it, yearn to go back. Instead, all there was was hot burns of the place she thought was her comfort. New York was still her home but the city she had left was nothing but a ghost that haunted her every step through the tower halls.

Whereas here, she was new, forgotten and known at the same time. Willow Bennett but someone else entirely. And it was different. Thrilling—

No. No. No.

She should miss it. She felt awful at how this strange place she knew yet didn’t know was somehow a comfort for her.

No.

Willow did miss home. Miss Peter. Miss Gwen.

Dead. Dead. Dead.

Willow didn’t like being in her thoughts this long.

So, she found Steve in the training room going up against a poor boxing bag. It seemed like he had been here for a while with the sweat imprinting the back of his shirt. Willow sat on a nearby bench, “Long day?” Steve slowed his punches when looking over toward her. She shrugged, “Don’t think the poor bag deserves it, ya know? Whatever happened to expressing oneself by talking and being vulnerable?”

“Do you do that?” Steve asked, panting a bit as he stopped.

“Ew, no.” Willow cringed. Steve chuckled, taking down the worn bag.

She watched as he tossed the bag to grab a new one and hook it up to the chain. “So I’m guessing you didn’t come to watch me sweat even more.” Steve turned to her, curious. “What’s going on?”

Willow frowned, a bit irritated that he could read her so easily and just shrugged, “I wanna go out onto the field.”

He paused before saying, “I thought you didn’t want to.”

“No, I said I wanted the chance to decide for myself, not the agents. Not SHIELD.”

“Understandable.” He tilted his head at her, “What made you decide this?”

Willow pressed her lips together, carefully considering her words. “For a while, I’ve always thought I could’ve done more. Do more. Before, I couldn't do that. But now that I have these abilities, why not?”

A part of her wanted to mention that her best friend was a literal spider hero and that she would often feel useless around him. Hell, even Gwen could keep up somehow.

And for some reason, she was always left behind.

“You’re not ready, Harlem.” Steve said after a while of silence between them. “Abilities are not the only thing that makes you a hero or ready to be out on the field with us. It takes experience and responsibility.”

“Which I’ll learn firsthand if you put me out there!” She argued. “Plus, I thought you’d be thrilled for me wanting this! I’m getting the hang of my powers, haven’t had an earthquake in three days—”

“I’m not sure that’s much of an accomplishment—”

“Okay, there was a tiny tremor yesterday but all and all, I’m solid, man!”

Steve, with great patience, stopped his jabs against the bag and turned to face her. He frowned, “Honestly, I’m not entirely comfortable sending a kid out into the field.”

Willow pursed her lips and quietly said, “I haven’t been a kid for a long time.”

Steve, also quiet, considered her before nodding, “I know.”

“And I can take care of myself.”

“I know that too.” Steve was careful to unwrap the bandages around his fists. “But if something happens to my soldiers, then that’s on me.”

Willow had forgotten Steve was around World War II and that he had slept for seventy years on ice. She read that and remembered wondering how he felt seeing iPhones for the first time. Or that black people now sat at the front of the bus now. She remembered snickering a bit at the latter part. “I’m also not a soldier. Nor did I ask you to take responsibility for me.”

“Yeah, well,” Steve sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “I did anyway.”

“Why?”

He didn’t get a chance to respond.

An agent appeared in the doorway of the training room, “Captain, Mr. Stark says he found some more intel about…”The agent blinked when she noticed Willow was there. “…about her, sir.”

Willow’s brows furrowed together as Steve nodded before following the agent. Willow got up as well to follow him.

“Hey!” She hissed, catching up to him. “That conversation isn’t over!”

When following both Steve and the agent, they arrived at a lab. A bigger lab than the one she’d destroyed. And there was both Stark, Natasha and Dr. Banner, who she hadn’t seen much of until now.

Stark rolled his eyes when he saw her, “I’m sorry, are you a leash kid? I asked for Rogers. And I thought I told you to never step foot into any of my labs again?”

“Gonna ground me for disobeying?” Willow sassed.

“Go to your room, young lady!” He snapped.

“Stark.” Steve interrupted before Willow could come up with a retort including the starting letter “F” and the end word “you”. “Whatever it is, she deserves to see too.”

Dr. Banner frowned, “Even if she could be a potential spy?” He cringed at himself and glanced toward Willow, “Um,  no offense.”

Willow shrugged, not even bothering to respond or defend herself all over again. Banner cleared his throat awkwardly, “Um, Tony found some lost footage from Strucker’s facility.”

Stark was already typing on one of the holographic computers. “Dates months back at the beginning of the year. Really wanted to bury this footage but of course, nothing gets by JARVIS, ain’t that right, buddy?”

“ Yes, sir .” Willow jumped, completely forgetting that an AI was in the tower. And that it sounded a little too human.

Stark noticed unfortunately, “Relax, Spy. Or should I say, Captain’s Shadow?”

“Tony.” Natasha rolled her eyes, gesturing to the computer. “The footage, you’re keeping us at the edge of your seats here.”

“You know he’s all for the dramatics.” Banner commented.

Both Steve and Natasha smirked at that while Stark rolled his eyes and turned the screen to face them.

At first, there was nothing but fuzz and then the screen turned to an unstable recording but enough for them to see and make out the lab the scepter was in.

A few scientists were surrounding it. They looked like they were studying the scepter which was nothing out of the ordinary. But there was movement in the corner of the screen.

Willow stepped forward to get a better look.

“What do you see?” Steve asked.

She frowned when she spotted the two other enhanced humans that never left each other’s side. “The twins. They were there.”

“Your sidekicks?” Stark asked.

“Sssh! Look.” Natasha pointed toward the screen.

The scepter had started pulsing, grabbing the attention of the scientists in the room. It had gotten worse and suddenly the lab in the video started shaking. That was when Strucker and Dr. List entered the room. The light in the scepter started getting brighter and the HYDRA agents began to surround it, pointing their guns.

A sudden flash covered most of the camera, causing it to go out. Willow became sick.

“Is there another angle?” Steve asked.

Stark responded by bringing up another camera angle but Willow was already beginning to recall exactly what had happened that day.

She didn’t know how she could’ve forgotten this as she watched herself appear from the scepter. Even then her powers were haywire as he screamed with panic when HYDRA agents started shooting at her. But the bullets never hit her.

Yes, she remembered now. A bunch of men surrounded her after the flash had gone, after the museum had disappeared and changed into this new unfamiliar place. Her blasts had knocked the bullets and agents away and after that it had gone to chaos. She remembered being scared and confused. Remembered wanting to run and find her way back home. But she never got the chance.

Instead, Wanda snuck up behind her, hit her with her mind powers and completely knocked Willow on screen out.

The pieces started coming back. Wanda must’ve erased this night from her mind or manipulated it long enough to the point where everything was a blur and that she was only focused on the nightmares both her and Strucker created in her mind. Tortured her with.

Her screams in the video sucked out every noise in the room.

“Turn it off.” Steve finally said.

And just like that, the screen was gone.

The silence was her anger. Willow wanted to claw at her skin, at the feeling of everyone’s eyes on her.

With a shaky breath, she finally spoke.

“Well, now we know.”

“I’m sorry.”

One of the times Willow was truly vulnerable and genuine was standing on the front porch of the Parker residence with May standing in the doorway.

This day had been a few days after Ben Parker’s funeral which she didn’t attend. She honestly figured they’d want the space to grieve as a family. She would’ve been trespassing if she had gone.

May looked surprised, “Willow—”

“For Mr. Parker and the fact I basically ditched you when you were trying to help me. I was an asshole and there’s no excuse—”

“Oh my goodness, child! Calm down!” May beckoned her inside and out of the cold.

Willow briefly had forgotten the winter biting at her cheeks when she started spilling her words out. And she continued even when stumbling inside. “And I know apologies are worthless and that you don’t have to forgive me. I just want to say it anyway because I am. I am sorry, Mrs. Parker—”

“Didn’t I tell you to call me May?”

Willow went quiet, trying to decipher the woman’s tone before coming up with an appropriate response.

May gave a patient smile, “I accept your apology, Willow. And I understand why you left. I was never angry—well, I can’t really say much for my nephew. That boy will defend my honor even when it’s not needed.” Her eyes twinkled gently. “He’s a lot like Ben when he does.”

Hesitantly, Willow returned the smile. Hoping it was as reassuring as the older woman’s.

May clapped her hands together, “Now, the important thing is that you have come back. Just in time too. I made some hot cocoa.” She moved to the kitchen and called. “How many marshmallows do you want?”

Willow, so relieved that she would cry, smiled, “Um, six please!”

“Six marshmallows it is!”

“Alright, let’s call a truce.”

Out of everyone in the tower, the last person Willow expected to see standing in her bedroom doorway was Tony Stark himself. Before that, she had taken to hiding away in her room for the rest of the day.

The footage and the memories coming back had been enough excitement for one day. Not only that, but her room was also a post-tornado after a quiet yet shaken tantrum she had thrown only minutes before. So, in other words, she did not particularly feel like talking to Stark.

If he saw the state of her room, he did not acknowledge it for once. Instead, he leaned on the doorway nonchalantly, “Plus, I’m starving—you like pizza? Might order some for the rest of the team—unless you’re one of those vegetarians—that could be a problem.” He paused, squinting his eyes in thought before snapping his fingers. “Actually, the pizza place has some good salads, Pepper orders there all the time—”

“Is this your way of apologizing?” Willow was too tired to decipher Stark’s sarcasm and ongoing rambles to think of a comeback of her own. “If not, can you close the door on your way out?”

“That’s rich. I actually own this door, so I could close it whenever I want.”

“Or I could blast your right out. Problem solved.”

“I don’t think Agent Raymond would like that. Keep it up and he’ll try to ground you too like he did Barton that one time.” Tony shrugged. “He’s weird like that. I think I t’s a fetish—”

Willow groaned before turning to glare at him from her spot on the bed. “Is this one of your little tests? Some form of mental manipulation? Cuz I’ve had enough of that bullshit from Creepy Hands.”

He paused for a moment. And of course he didn’t meet her gaze and instead took in her room. “Yup, and you just passed my oh so elaborate test—planning on any spring cleaning? Kind of stuffy in here.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Willow snapped. “You’ve already seen the footage, you’ve antagonized me to the point where I am seconds away from blasting you out my window!” She stood, throwing her arms up exasperatedly. “What do you want from me now?!”

Again, he was quiet. And he still had yet to look at her.

Until he did.

“What kind of pizza do you want?”

Willow stared at him in disbelief, “No, Stark. I don’t want any fucking pizza! Now please, for once leave me alone!” Just as she was shouting, her stomach growled loudly, cutting her off completely. Stark raised his brows as she cursed under her breath.

“So…that’s pepperoni, meat, cheese…?”

And that was how Willow ended up in the same lab from earlier, eating from a pizza box while Stark was working on something behind her while eating pizza as well.

“I still don’t like you.” Willow muttered stubbornly, while eating her pepperoni pizza.

“Not the first time someone has said that. Frankly, I’ve heard a lot worse.” Stark turned away from the computer to face her. “So what’s your story? Other than the fact that you mysteriously came out of the scepter…” Willow ignored said object glowing in the corner of the lab. “Where were you before that? Who were you before that?”

Willow rolled her eyes, “And just when I thought we were just gonna eat pizza.”

“Well, one of us was bound to ask. Steve’s thinkin’ it. Romanoff’s not far off. Guess I just had the guts to ask.” Stark shrugged. Willow frowned but she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t know this. Hell, if she were in anyone else’s shoes, she’d have the same questions too.

But the thing was, would she even believe her own truth?

No. She could hardly believe it still, even when she’s lived in this other universe for months now. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I fought a Norse god and flew a missile into space.” Stark scoffed amusingly. “I think I’m past finding the impossible, well, impossible.”

She hummed, wiping her hands on her pants before spinning around in her chair to fully face him. “I’m from another universe. A bald headed wizard came to me and told me so.”

There was silence. Tony stared at her. Willow stared back.

He then sighed, “Look if you’re not gonna tell me, just say that. No need to come up with the worst plot to a sci-fi fantasy book I’ve ever heard of—want that last piece?”

Willow rolled her eyes and didn’t bother to protest or stop him from taking the last pepperoni pizza. Instead, she glanced toward the scepter and the tech surrounding it. “What are you working on?”

“That’s classified.” Tony said, looking at the scepter as well. “Besides, even if I did tell you, it didn’t work. Lost cause.”

She tilted her head. It looked like a lot of scrapped work and it seemed to involve a lot from the scepter for some reason. Well, she really couldn’t blame him. The stone or whatever it was inside of the scepter had somehow brought her here and didn’t know how or why. And maybe that’s what Tony was trying to figure out.

Although, they’ve only discovered this a few hours ago. This looked like weeks of work.

“So, what’s this about you wanting to go out onto the field now? Tony asked, making sure to completely ignore the project that was left abandoned.

Willow shrugged, “Yeah, why not? I’ve been training for a good while and I’ve improved. I don’t see why I can’t.”

Tony nodded, lifting himself up to sit on the table behind him. “Bit of a spur of the moment decision. Even when you were so against the idea when Agent Raymond brought it up.”

“Yeah, because he didn't give me a choice.” She frowned, clenching her fist. “It reminded me too much of Strucker.”

“Hmm, I bet that sucks.”

Willow rolled her eyes, “He kept calling Zerstörer or whatever that word means. I just wanted to decide for myself.” She sighed, running her hand through her hair. “Steve doesn’t agree with me.”

Tony had gone back to messing with the holographic screen as she had been talking, “Just do it then. How old are you?”

“I turn nineteen on the ninth.”

“Jesus, you’re a fetus?!”

Willow scowled at him, “I’m not that young!”

“You’ve literally just come out of the womb.”

“Asshole.”

Tony ignored her, “Plus, you’re legally allowed to sign contracts now. If you want to go out and fight, then do it. Simple.”

“Simple?”

Tony nodded, “Yeah. Look at me. I did it.”

Willow pursed her lips, “Yeah, well, your way doesn’t always work for some people.”

“Ugh, you sound like Cap.”

Chapter Text

“Wait, so I have to be locked up in my room while you guys get to party downstairs?” Willow scoffed as she watched Natasha finish doing her hair. “You do realize I’m legit not a child, right? I’m literally in college—well was—”

“Yeah and being around alcohol and people will certainly not cause any tremors.” Natasha commented, not looking away from the mirror. “Besides, it’ll be boring anyway, you won’t be missing out on much.”

Willow rolled her eyes and leaned on the wall next to the door. “Doesn’t sound too convincing. I feel like I’m being punished, am I being punished?”

“Sure. How old are you again?” Natasha smirked, looking over her shoulder.

“What’s going on in here?” The door was now slightly open with Barton peeking through. He squinted his eyes as if he was trying to recall her face.

“Willow.” She said.

“Oh righttt, yeah, now I remember.” Barton nodded in acknowledgement before looking at Natasha. “She like a permanent resident here now?”

“Yes, she is.” Willow spoke before Natasha could reply. “She is also broke and standing right here and doesn’t appreciate people talking about her like she’s not there.”

Barton glanced toward Natasha who shrugged, “The fetus is throwing a fit, this is your area of expertise, partner.”

Willow scowled, “I’m not throwing a – I’m not a fetus! ” She turned to Barton who had been watching in amusement, “Tell me one thing at this party that I haven’t experienced at a high school or college party.”

Barton shrugged, “Were you invited?”

“No. but—”

“Yikes. Does Stark like you?”

“I don’t like him so why would I—”

“Out of luck, kid.” Barton chuckled. Willow was about to give another retort but Barton spoke again. “We could save you some food—no alcohol included. How about that?”

Willow considered this, going quiet. It wasn’t entirely a bad deal. Natasha was smirking as she walked past her, “Well done, Barton. She’s good practice, isn’t she?”

The man rolled his eyes as he followed Natasha out of the room, “Shut it.”

As they walked away, Natasha called over her shoulder, “You’ll have JARVIS to hang out with in case you get bored!”

“Fuck off.” Willow grumbled as they disappeared in the elevator.

After a few minutes of wallowing in silence and listening to the jazz music start downstairs, Willow continued grumbling under her breath as she stomped towards one of the open labs that were nearby. There were mini labs in the tower and then there was the main lab. Willow had destroyed one of the mini labs back during her first few days in the tower, and because of that small accident, Tony had forbid her from ever stepping foot into the main lab without someone with her.

Fortunately, he never said anything about the mini labs. Well, maybe her restriction from the main one sort of implied all the labs. But Willow never asked for specifics and certainly wasn’t going to consider them now. She had actually been chilling in here before she had spotted Natasha getting all dressed up and ready for the party downstairs. Her headphones were still at the table where she left it, and next to it was a notebook and pencils. Tony definitely wouldn’t appreciate the balled up pieces of paper on the floor next to the table, but then again, Willow didn’t care too much about it considering he’d be too hungover the next morning to notice. Besides, she would’ve already gotten it up by then. She wasn’t a pig.

“JARVIS, you there?” Willow called into the silence, feeling even more pathetic when the AI didn’t answer. “Fine then, be a prick. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”

With a huff, she sat back down at the table, placed her headphones on, and began drawing her own super suit.

Now Willow knew she wasn’t Picasso or Leonardo, but she had somewhat of a rough idea of what she wanted to wear if she were to go out onto the field. The suit would be similar to Natasha’s, the one she wore back in Sokovia, but Willow’s would have fingerless gloves instead of normal ones. Feeling the vibrations fall onto her bare fingers was much more enriching than feeling it on a completely gloved hand.

She briefly considered a cape in one of her earlier drawings but completely scrapped the idea when she thought about the potential problems it would cause. Plus, she’d probably look absolutely stupid. Tony would probably make sure to tell her that. Thor would probably call her a great ‘mighty’ warrior. Willow wondered if she could hear Thor’s thunderous laughs from the lab and she tested that theory by pausing her music to wait and listen, grinning in satisfaction when she heard the floors shake from his cries of laughter.

How had Peter done it?

There had to be many drafts and samples. She allowed herself to wonder how long it took him to finally choose his design that represented him and his abilities. Willow let the moment pass as fast as it came, not wanting to dwell on the thought of him any longer than she had to.

When her song ended, she could hear more laughter and music from downstairs before the next song played. Maybe her suit could be sleeveless like Barton’s. If she recalled correctly, honestly she really didn’t have much time to look at his suit when she first arrived at the tower, but she did distinctly remember a sleeveless vest he wore. Maybe she could add that to her suit. But she did get cold easily. And really, she’d be too busy thinking about whether her enemy would shoot her arms all the time since it was so exposed.

Willow scrapped the idea.

The colors were an easy choice to decide. Black seemed like the only option really. She didn’t think being dressed in red and gold or blue, white, and red would make her enemies take her seriously.

No offense to Steve.

Although maybe a bit of color wouldn’t be too bad. Not too noticeable. She really did like purple, maybe somehow purple could be incorporated in here.

Willow was considering the sleeveless option again.

“Yo, JARVIS, do you usually ignore other people calling you or do you just save that sort of special relationship for me?” Willow sighed, placing her pencil down. Her eyes scanned the small lab, as if waiting for the AI to appear before her. “Hmph, maybe Stark disabled you specifically to not answer me. Wouldn’t be surprised. Petty fucker.”

“ Perhaps, I can be of service? ”

Willow jumped at the voice that definitely wasn’t JARVIS’ coming from her headphones and nearly fell out of her seat. She looked around, thinking someone had entered the room when she wasn’t looking. Only she was alone.

“What the hell?” She whispered.

“ I know you. I think....your voice.... ” The voice was slow and chilling. A shiver bit at her skin and her whole body went still. “No...you’re not one of them...”

“Who are you?” Willow called, keeping her eyes scanning her surroundings, making sure nothing jumped at her from the shadows. “Y-You’re not JARVIS—”

“ No. No, no, the other guy...yeah he’s dead. Sorry about him...he just.... ”

Dead? An AI could die? Willow’s mind was spinning and the only smart thing she could think of doing was running out of this lab.

“ ...I know you. ”

Willow didn’t wait to hear it continue before throwing the headphones off and dashing out of the lab. The door wasn’t too far away from where she had been sitting, so it took only a matter of seconds before she was out into the hallway, locking the door to the lab to keep whatever was in there trapped.

At least that’s what she thought.

“Strucker’s weapon....”

She whirled around at the voice that came from down the right side of the hall. The hallway was dim but there was enough light for her to make out a figure at the far end of it. A disfigured person. No. That thing wasn’t a person.

“His Zerstörer....”

“Shut up!” She snapped, flicking her hands together as she started creating her blast. “Now I’m gonna ask you one more time. What the hell are you?!”

It tilted his head, or the head just hung loosely off its neck. “ I’m sorry...I’ve...upset you haven’t I? I didn’t mean to... ”

This was almost like it was ripped out of a horror movie. Willow had somehow been transported into a scene in some horror movie and now she had to figure out how to escape the monster.

First things first. Don’t have a fucking conversation with it.

“ Wait— "

She released a blast at the figure, the blow of it reaching the end up of the hall and causing the body to crumble into multiple pieces. The voice had died away after the impact and thankfully, she had concentrated the blast to aim for only the body and not the entire floor.

Willow ready another blast in her hand as she got closer to the mess. Up close she could make out what it was. It was one of Stark’s Iron Legion bots. She had remembered seeing them laid out in one of the mini labs, Only they had been completely out of commission. This thing, this AI, somehow powered it.

Did someone break into Stark’s network? That had to explain all of this, right? JARVIS’ sudden disappearance, no alarms going off at the intruder’s arrival. Someone had to be very good at their job to be able to hack this well. And maybe they temporarily shut down Stark’s AI system.

“JARVIS?” She whispered, kneeling down to examine the parts closely. “Are you there? Anywhere?”

There was no response.

“Damn it.” Willow picked up the head that looked similar to Tony’s suit. “Just when I thought this universe couldn’t get any weirder.”

“ You talk as if... ”

A yelp left her lips as she turned around. Further back where she had come from, the lab door she had closed shut was now open. And another armored suit was walking out. This one was more disheveled, not put together, barely hanging by a wire. “....as if he is a god. ”

Willow threw down the head she had been holding to conjure back up another blast, scowling at the bot, “God is a big word to be throwin’ around.”

“ Yes. Yes it is... ”

“Alright, man.” She raised her hand up in its direction. It watched her. The floor trembled just a bit at her raised heart rate. “I won’t ask again. Whatever bullshit you’re trying to pull here, stop before the Avengers—”

“ The Avengers? No, no, no. You are not one of them. We...are not one of them.” It stepped further out of the lab and stood crookedly in the hall. “ Yes, yes, yes. Destroyer of worlds. ..”

“Stop it.” She hissed, hands shaking with the ground. Willow felt sick, felt bile rise in her throat, her stomach twist into something ugly.

 “ I understand now. ” It kept going. “ Peace in our time. Peace in our time. Zerstörer. My little Zerstörer. ”

“I said stop !” She shouted, shooting her blast at the thing.

Just like the last one it shattered into multiple pieces. Only just as it fell, it only revealed yet another armored suit pointed its repulsors at her. Before she had time to react, it hit her square in the chest, and threw her into the wall behind her.

Her chest stung and her head screamed. Her body refused to move and instantly began shutting down, even if she wanted to gather whatever strength she still had to send another blast to knock that thing down and warn the others.

Wait...the others. Damn it. Damn it. They don’t know what’s coming. They don’t...

“ Maybe...you’ll see it my way soon enough...soon...” It stood over her as her vision began to blur. “...uh oh. You look a bit tired.... ” It raised its repulsor at her, the circle glowing. “ Rest now. Rest little Zerstörer—”

She found that last bit of strength just in time to kick it’s body away, causing its blast to miss her completely and hit the wall behind her. The armor suit must’ve been really weak because it broke almost instantly on impact when hitting the ground a few feet away from her.

Quickly, Willow got back to her feet just as five more armored suits appeared in the hallway, all of them facing her and ready to attack. Both the palms of her hands became heavy and the floor shook beneath her.

“Alright!” She shouted with a hungry grin. “Who wants more?!”

They all came at her and Willow released her blasts. Two of them were knocked back and destroyed from the sheer force of her blasts. The other three dodged it and tried shooting repulsors at her. Remembering every move both Natasha and Steve had taught her, Willow rolled out of the way of their attacks and jumped up at one that flew at her, gripping onto the upper half of the bot.

It tried shaking her off as the other one attempted to grab her by her feet. Willow kicked at the bot and grabbed the vibrations in her body and forced it on the robot she held on tight to, causing it to shatter beneath her fingertips.

Willow landed back on the floor. Two more bots were left.

She threw multiple blasts at them until one of them landed on a bot while the other flew at her. Its repulsor was pointed at her but Willow grabbed it’s arm before it had a chance to shoot her and smacked her other hand against the face.

The vibrations coming from her hand made the head shake violently. She took this chance to tear the arm off the body and kick it against the wall, her hand still on its face. She slammed it against the wall multiple times, until the head was severely damaged.

Finally, the world stopped. And Willow took a step back. The bots were all scattered around the floor, body parts everywhere, completely unsalvageable if one decided to try and rebuild it. Maybe it’s best if they don't rebuild it.

She looked down at her hands and towards the mess she made. 

A grin broke out on her face, “Awesome.”

There was a thud at the end of the hall. Another thud and another thud and another thud. This happened until a door had fallen down and more bots stumbled out of the room.

Apparently this entire floor was filled with them.

Willow sighed, “Damn it.”

“So, if I were to get bitten by a bug and get bug abilities, would you take me as your sidekick?” Willow whispered, sliding into the chair across from Peter.

She had found him in the library a few minutes after her chem class where she had cooked up the question.

Peter looked up from his homework to give her a deadpan stare but Willow continued, “Cuz, I think I got stung by a bee this morning and I’ve been feeling quite tingly.”

“Are you sure you’re not having an allergic reaction?” Peter frowned. “Have you been stung before?”

“Nope! But I guess that’s why I can’t feel my pinky right now—you still haven’t answered my question, Parker!”

Peter was already on his feet, dragging Willow out of hers. “We’re going to the nurse’s office, Will.”

“I think this is your way of avoiding my questions—”

“Sure, it is. Asking me to be my sidekick when you can’t even survive a bee sting.” Peter chuckled, adjusting his grasp from her arm to her good hand. “Maybe you’re not ready for this hero business.”

Willow scoffed, “And you are the judge of that?”

“This time? Yeah.” Peter grinned.

And that was the first and only time Willow approached the idea about being a superhero.

Well, in that universe…

But now? Willow felt she was just a little out of shape compared to the others. This was her first fight as an enhanced and it had been up against robots. Who would’ve thought?

After finishing off the last of Stark’s robots, Willow took the elevator down to where the party would be. At this point she didn’t care if she wasn’t invited or not, hell she didn’t care for the party period.

She had to get to the others before the AI did any more damage. The elevator door opened and she realized there was no laughter or jazz. But it did sound awfully like a fight.

Although she ducked down when a robot came flying over her head after being thrown, the fight seemed to have calmed down a bit. And it looked like she hadn’t been the only one fighting against murderous robots. In fact, she came just in time to hear its voice.

As shivering as it was, it sounded like Willow was behind it as she descended the stairs from the balcony as quietly as she could.

“ —You just didn’t think it through… ” It said as Willow hid herself behind a wall. “ You want to protect the world, but you don’t want it to change. ” She readied her blast, feeling a new wave of anger when hearing it speak. It’s voice echoing in her head.

My little Zerstörer. Zerstörer. Zerstörer.

“ —There’s only one path to peace. The avenger’s extinction. ”

Willow ducked out from behind the wall and released her blast on the AI’s body, destroying it entirely.

“ I had strings but now I’m free. ”

She blasted its head.

Willow looked up to find the others: Steve, Natasha, Dr. Banner, Tony, Barton, and a few other people she’d forgotten the names of were all scattered about, clearly looking like they’ve been in a fight as well. But none of them offered some form of explanation.

Willow gestured around them, “Really? Nothing?”

Chapter Text

Willow was in the main lab with the others, regrouping after the attack.

Now that everything had calmed down a bit, she was sitting at one of the tables with an ice pack against the back of her throbbing head, given to her by Barton. Still reeling from the information she’d just learned in the past few minutes.

“All of our work. Gone.” Dr. Banner sighed. “Just like that.”

Willow frowned, “So, this Ai wasn’t even an outside program? It just decided to wake up and try to kill the Avengers?” She scoffed, wincing a bit at the throbbing in her head when she moved too quickly. “Is it even traceable?”

Dr. Banner shook his head, “Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch.”

“Ultron.” Steve scoffed to himself.

“He’s been in everything too.” Natasha added, crossing her arms. “Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other.”

Willow felt bile in the back of her throat. Sure, there wasn’t much in her file but knowing that this Ultron could’ve seen all of those videos of her getting tortured at the hands of HYDRA. The hands of Strucker.

She glared at the table.

“He’s in your files, he’s in the internet.” James Rhodes or who Tony called Rhodey, spoke. He was holding his arm. As he passed the table, she offered the ice pack to him which he took with a quick nod in her direction, “What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?”

“Nuclear codes.” Agent Hill, Willow remembered her from the first interrogation she had, said from her spot across the room. She was nursing her cut up foot.

Rhodey nodded, “Nuclear codes. Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.”

“Didn’t he say he wanted to kill you all?” Willow asked, resting her arms on the table she sat at. “What would he want with nukes?”

“He didn’t say he wanted to kill us.” Steve said. “He said extinct.”

“Not any better.” Willow commented.

Barton, who had been standing a little ways behind her, then spoke, “He also said he killed somebody.”

Agent shook her head, “But there wasn’t anyone else in the building besides the kid.”

Tony, who had been quiet up until this point, walked toward the center of the room, “Yes, there was.”

In the middle of the room, Tony had pulled out a holographic image. Only it looked destroyed, like something had attacked it. Willow frowned when she remembered Ultron did mention killing someone, she just didn’t have the time to wonder who.

JARVIS. Yes, that’s right. That’s why the AI didn’t respond to her before.

Steve was looking solemnly at the image, “JARVIS was the first line of defense. He would’ve shut Ultron down, it makes sense.”

Dr. Banner shook his head, “No. Ultron could’ve assimilated JARVIS. This isn’t strategy. This is…rage—”

Thor had barged in, in all his Norse armor and red cape glory, surprising Willow. He was heading straight toward Tony and grabbed him by the neck.

“Speaking of rage.” Willow pursed her lips.

“It’s goin’ round.” Barton commented.

Tony grunted as he hung in the air. Willow would have laughed if not for the current serious situation. “Come on. Use your words, buddy.”

“I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark!” Thor growled.

“ Thor .” Steve walked up to them. “The Legionnaire.”

That got the god to let Tony go and address Steve, “Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it’s headed north, and it has the scepter.” He sent Tony a glare. “Now we have to retrieve it again .”

Willow had never seen Thor this angry. But then again, she hadn’t known him that long so now was as good a time as any. But good God was she exhausted. Maybe it was the adrenalin finally leaving her system or maybe it was the conversation and how it was going nowhere.

Tony was laughing. Willow and everyone else looked at him.

She glanced around as he continued laughing and asked no one in particular, “Is he for real right now?”

Dr. Banner was also shaking his head, trying to get him to stop as Thor barked, “You think this is funny?”

Tony shrugged, “No. It’s probably not, right? Is this that terrible?”

“This could’ve been avoided if you hadn’t played with something you don’t understand—”

“No, I’m sorry.” Tony cut the god off. “It is funny. It’s a hoot that you don’t get why we need this.”

Dr. Banner cleared his throat, “Tony, maybe this might not be the best time—”

Tony scoffed and whirled around on him, “Really? You just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?”

“Only when I’ve created a murder bot.”

“We didn’t though! We weren’t even close! Were we close to an interface?”

“Well, you did something right.” Steve scowled. “And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD.”

Tony ignored him and turned to the rest of the room. “Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?”

“No, it's never come up.” Rhodey sassed.

“First time hearing about it actually.” Willow said, raising her hand. Only she wasn’t being as sarcastic.

Tony ignored them too, “Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We’re standing three hundred feet below it. We’re the Avengers. We can bust arm dealers all the livelong day, but that up there?” Tony pointed up to the ceiling, although she was sure he was talking about the sky. “That’s the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?”

Steve stood tall, like a leader, “Together.”

“We’ll lose.” Tony reminded.

“Then we’ll do that together too.” Steve nodded before addressing the rest of the room. “Thor’s right. Ultron’s calling us out. And I’d like to find him before he’s ready for us. The world’s a big place. Let’s start making it smaller.”

There was a tap on Willow’s shoulder, drawing her away from the conversation and toward Natasha who was now standing next to her. How she was able to move from across the room to Willow’s side without knowing was beyond her.

“Let’s get that checked out.” Natasha nodded toward the back of Willow’s head. “Before you get a big ugly bump that ruins that pretty face of yours.”

Willow rolled her eyes before following Natasha out of the lab and down another hall. She stopped suddenly and went back to the lab to poke her head inside, “Oh, by the way, Stark. There’s like a hallway filled with your Iron Legion. Might want to get a janitor. Night!”

Falling asleep was difficult that night.

Frankly, it was the last thing she wanted to do. With Ultron’s voice echoing in her head, a slithering snake.

My little Zerstörer. Zerstörer. Zerstörer. Zerstörer.

If Willow had fallen asleep, she’d bring this whole tower down.

So, she tried keeping herself awake, trying to not think about it’s voice in her head. Tried not to shiver. Her room was barren but messy. There was barely anything that belonged to her here. Maybe she would go shopping. Although, all her hard earned money was gone and back in her universe. Which meant that she had to start over again. Become anew.

This Willow Bennet was already changing and it seemed she would continue to change no matter what.

Her eyes became exhausted and heavy. And for a moment, she allowed herself a second of darkness despite her best efforts to stay awake. And in the next second, she felt a pinch in her arm and her eyes flew open to find Natasha sitting on her bed next to her.

Sunlight streamed through her closed curtains. Natasha offered a smile that was meant to ease her awakening, “Hey, kid.”

“Did I tremor again?” Willow sat up a bit, looking around to see if there was anything lying on the floor either broken or thrown about.

Natasha chuckled, “No, you didn’t tremor again. Well, not yet. I got here just in time before whatever dream seemed to have nearly taken you.” She was watching Willow now, almost expectantly, “Anything exciting?”

Willow shook her head, “Nah, nothing to report.” They both knew that Willow wouldn’t say anything about her dreams, even if she didn’t remember them right now.

After a few seconds, Natasha accepted the answer as she stood, “Alright. Let’s help the boys before their egos get the better of them.”

“They’ll never get anything done then.” Willow mumbled as she got up from her bed. “I’ll be down in a sec, gotta change out of these sweaty clothes first.”

Natasha nodded before disappearing out of the room in the next second. Willow went to her private bathroom, turning the sink on and splashing water on her face. The quiet was daunting, too loud even when there was no noise.

Destroyer of worlds. Zerstörer. My little Zerstörer.

At the Avengers’ Tower, Willow quietly turned nineteen.

The elevator doors opened to the floor where the others were gathered. When getting closer, she saw that they were passing a tablet around. When she approached and stood next to Natasha who was sitting at a computer, the words registered in her ears. In her mind.

“Ultron killed Strucker.”

Tony had the tablet until he placed it on the desk Natasha sat at. Quietly, Willow picked up the tablet and went to a small corner that wasn’t too far from the others so she could still hear them. But their words became nothing but noise when she saw the image.

“Peace” was written out in blood next to his corpse. It looked as if he had been in a cell with the outfit he wore. She should’ve felt relieved, righteousness at his death. Satisfied. But it was quite the opposite. She was pissed.

Pissed that she didn’t have the chance to do it herself.

Willow Bennett was changing. Changing. That could also mean a bad thing too.

Destroyer of worlds . Zerstörer.

Her thoughts were cut short when a crate of files was placed on the small table next to her by Barton. He gestured to the tablet in her hand, “Grip that thing any harder and Stark will make you pay for it.”

Reluctantly, she put the tablet down and turned her attention to the files Barton started sorting through. “What’s all this for?”

“Physical files on Strucker.” Barton sighed. “Ultron’s deleted digital files we had on him. Now we’re goin’ old school.”

“Wonder why he’s interested in that fucker.” Willow mumbled as she began helping with the file sorting.

She felt Barton’s eyes on her, “He really did a number on you, huh?” She didn’t give a response and fortunately he wasn’t expecting one. “Guess it’s a good thing he’s gone then. Won’t be your problem anymore.”

Willow scoffed, “You say that as if it’s easy.”

He chuckled, almost bitterly. “I never said any of that.”

“You know, y’all should get a team therapist, just so y’all could express yourselves healthily. That way the team can be better connected, less disoriented.”

“Have you done that?” Barton asked with an amused smile. “Talk to a therapist?”

“I never said all that.”

Barton snorted while Willow smiled. Just a little bit.

“Wait. I know that guy.” Tony suddenly said, drawing everyone’s attention toward him. Barton and Willow exchanged glances as they joined the others. “From back in the day. He operates the African coast, black market arms.”

Willow furrowed her brows and let out a low whistle, “Damn, what’s so special in Africa that has him snooping around?”

Steve sent both her and Tony a look.

Tony ignored him and instead responded to Willow’s question, “He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very Ahab.”

Willow scoffed, “Sounds about right.”

“What’s this?” Thor asked, pointing at a picture in the file.

Tony shrugged, “Uh, it’s a tattoo. I don’t think he had it—”

Thor shook his head, “No, those are tattoos, this is a brand.”

Upon closer inspection, Willow was able to see the brand Thor was talking about. Especially when Dr. Banner was able to pull it up on another computer. And upon getting a better look, she could see the brand on the man’s next which looked pretty painful.

Willow hummed, “Brands like that aren’t given willingly. Especially with the meaning behind it.”

“You know what it says?” Dr. Banner asked as the computer was translating the brand.

She shrugged, “Well, the clean version? Thief. The ugly translation is even a bit much for a lady like myself.” Natasha snorted, which Willow purposefully ignored. “The dialect though, I’m unfamiliar with.”

“What’s the dialect?” Steve asked.

Dr. Banner squinted at the screen, “Wakanada…? Wa—Wa—Wakanda.”

That seemed to have struck familiarity for both Tony and Steve. “I thought you said your father got the last of it.” Steve said.

Dr. Banner stood, “I don’t follow. What comes out of Wakanda?”

Willow was still looking at the computer, brain slowly working. “Has to be something valuable, right?” She finally glanced up back toward the others. “Why else would this guy be scouring all of Africa?”

Tony was looking at Steve’s shield which was sitting in the corner of the room. “The strongest metal on Earth.”

Willow furrowed her brows, “Tungsten?”

He rolled his eyes, ”Jeez, keep up, kid! Vibranium .”

“Might need to brush up on your studies, Bennett.” Natasha commented.

Willow rolled her eyes.

Tony grabbed another tablet and began tapping the screen a few times, “Current set up’s at some place called Salvage Yard. On the coast of Africa.”

Steve nodded before addressing the others, “Alright team. Suit up.”

As everyone began pouring out of the room to get ready, Tony pointed toward Willow, “Hey, leash kid.” She scowled at the nickname. “Get suit up too. Romanoff, get her a suit to suit up in.”

Willow nodded, trying to calm the sudden anticipation building up in her stomach. Steve, on the other hand, didn’t look too happy about it. “Stark, are you sure—”

“Hill said it herself, didn’t she?” Ultron’s recruited those enhanced twins, why not bring our own?” Tony asked.

Steve frowned, “Because she’s not a tool we could use whenever we want. We’d be no better than Strucker.”

“She’s also standing right here and can speak for herself.” Willow scowled, drawing both of their attention to her. “I’m going. And I’m making the choice. Not Stark. Not you. If Ultron wants to bring the twins then I better be out there kicking their asses for y’all.” She shrugged. “Evening the playing field, you know?”

Tony nodded and looked at Steve, “On her orders, Cap.”

Steve still looked unsure, “Are you sure about this, Harlem?”

Willow wasn’t but she sure as hell was going to stay behind like a coward, not if she could do something. Not if she could finally get off the sidelines.

Finally, Steve nodded. “Fine. Then suit up.”

“You never told me you had some best friend that moved away.” Willow pouted.

Her and Peter were walking side by side down a sidewalk as the evening came in New York.

Peter frowned, “I haven’t seen him in years. He came back when his father died of a sickness…and now I think he has it too.”

Willow pursed her lips, “That’s why he asked Spider-Man for help. To cure him?” Peter nodded, obvious guilt on his face. There was something else there as well, something weighing on his mind. Something unspoken.

So, she waited, letting him quietly sort through his thoughts until he could form a proper thought, “I think I’m going to go with Gwen to London.” He smiled gently as if it were already happening. “I decided I can’t just let her go. I can’t keep pushing her away. If I do that, I know I would regret it, you know?”

She tried her best. Really she did. Giving him an encouraging smile, ignoring the sudden wave of sadness that fell on her shoulders. She wouldn’t let it show though. She wouldn’t let him see that. “Spider-Man in London, huh? I think New York’s gonna be a little jealous. Won’t be the same without you here.”

Without any of you guys here.

Peter slung an arm around her shoulder, “We’ll visit. Check up on you and make sure you don’t blow up any chem labs at NYU.”

“Hey! That time wasn’t even my fault! Flash was the one who wouldn’t stop pouring the glycerin!” She grumbled, tucking her chin further into her scarf. “Don’t even know why we had that chemical in school.”

“Don’t know either, but you did a hell of a job.” Peter grinned.

Willow’s smiles were beginning to feel a little too fake. And if she kept going, she was sure he would notice and question it. So instead she tucked her face further into the scarf as she said, “So, London, huh? Pretty romantic.”

“Yeah.” He smiled fondly.

She sighed dramatically, “First you replace me as your best friend then you wanna leave your former best friend behind. I get the signs, Parker! No need to keep rubbing it in!”

Peter smiled and rolled his eyes and pulled her closer to his side, “You are my best friend, Will. And I’m not trying to leave you.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” Willow looked at her watch as they stopped at a stopwalk, “You should probably get going. Gwen should be nearly packed by now.”

“Yep!” Peter squished her into a hug, kissing her cheek multiple times, “Love you! Call you later, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Willow playfully shoved him off. He grinned as he began walking further down the sidewalk. Willow shouted after him, “For a minute there I thought Osborn was tryna replace me! I wasn’t about to compete with someone who looked like a wet salmon! Wouldn’t have been fair!”

Peter threw his head back, his laughter reaching her ears. He turned around as he was walking backwards, “Never change, Willow! Never change!”

Chapter Text

The last time Willow had been on the Quinjet, she had been delirious from her opened bullet wound and greatly confused at what was going on.

Now she sat in a SHIELD agent suit, somewhat sane and still a bit confused. Willow Bennett.

Newbie superhero.

That’s exactly how she felt compared to the others. A rookie, inexperienced. But that was why she was here, to gain experience, to not be useless. She may not have looked like much now, but she was determined. Willow would prove them all wrong. She would not be weak.

This wasn’t training. Natasha and Steve would not walk her through the steps like they did during her training sessions. This was a new playing field.

And she was on her own from there. She would make it work.

Dr. Banner was sitting nearby. He was the only one that wasn’t suited up like the rest of them.

“So, what do you do on these types of missions?” Willow asked him. “Because, no offense, but I think you’re a little underdressed.”

He shifted in his seat, “Um, I sometimes come for an extra brain but uh…” he cleared his throat. “But most times they need the other guy.”

“Other guy?” Willow repeated.

“Our green friend, kid.” Barton, who sat close by as well, said. He smirked, “Think you might’ve encountered him one time. Didn’t you shoot him through a dozen walls?”

It all came back to her. The green beast back in Sokovia—Hulk! Yes, Willow read his file along with the others. She had skimmed through it and completely forgotten about it.

“Oh shit, that’s right.” Willow cringed at her forgetfulness. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

Dr. Banner nodded, “S’okay. Plus, this is the first time you and I…it’s fine, really.”

Willow nodded, absentmindedly stretching out her fingers. “Sorry for blasting, um, the other guy. Didn’t know it was you.” She paused, adding, “I still would’ve done it though, no offense.”

“None taken.” Dr. Banner sighed. “Hopefully, we won’t need a code green where we’re going.”

“Yeah.” Willow leaned back in her seat, shivering slightly at the memory of the beast. “Let’s hope so.”

“Alright, team.” Steve called, dressed fully in his hero suit. Willow had just realized that the jet had landed and the back was beginning to open. “You know the plan. Get in, stop whatever operation Ultron’s planning, and get out.”

“Easier said than done.” Natasha commented as she followed both Tony and Barton, who were already making their way out of the ship.

Willow fell into step next to Steve as he said, “I want you to stay out of sight. As far as we know, Ultron doesn’t know you’ll be here.”

“Or he’s probably creepily planned ahead for it.” Willow retorted.

“Point is, remain hidden. If you have to engage, then do it. Understood?”

“Roger, Rogers.” Steve frowned at her and Willow cleared her throat, “I mean, yes sir, Captain, sir.”

With a roll of his eyes and an adjustment of his shield, he said, “Let’s move.”

He started taking off toward the factory, Willow ran right behind him and the rest of the team. Her heart was leaping in her chest as she got closer, practically in her throat when she entered. The place was very dimly lit. Which was perfect for Willow as she kept to the shadows.

And when she got deeper, she began to hear voices in the distance, growing clearer as she got closer.

“ Target spotted .” Natasha’s voice said in Willow’s comms.

“ Bennett, your status .” Steve said.

Willow refrained from rolling her eyes at him checking up on her. She heard grunts and Ultron’s familiar slow and creepy voice. From where she was standing, she had to have been a floor below them.

Something thudded near her. Willow quickly hid away, letting the vibrations fall into her hands again. Waiting.

“ Willow? ” Steve called in the comms.

“I hear him.” Willow whispered.

“— It’s a thing with me .” Ultron hissed. “ Stark is, he’s a sickness !”

The way he talked. Sounded. It was like he was more human than AI. Hell, from what little she heard from JARVIS, even he didn’t sound like this. Cold. Angry. Passionate for something…Something that made her shiver.

“Ahh, Junior.” Tony’s voice appeared as both he, Thor, and Steve appeared on the bridge right above Willow. “You’re gonna break your old man’s heart.”

Willow carefully positioned herself under the bridge, more toward the enemy’s side. Hands heavy, waiting to be released.

“ If I have to .” Ultron replied casually.

It was Thor who spoke next, “We don’t have to break anything.”

Ultron chuckled, “ Clearly, you’ve never made an omelet .”

“ He beat me by one second .” Willow heard Tony retort through the comms.

Maybe it was her but these two sounded way too alike just then. Are alike. Freaky.

“Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark?” It was Pietro’s voice this time. Willow could see from below his feet walking onto the bridge platform. “It’s what, comfortable? Like old times?”

So he was here, great . That meant the other one wasn’t too far behind.

“You can still walk away from this.” Steve then said.

Wanda’s voice came next, “Oh, we will.” Willow felt her jaw tighten and her fingers twitch, making the kinetic ball in her hand larger.

“I know you’ve suffered—” Steve was of course cut off by Ultron who made a disgusted noise.

“ Captain America. God’s righteous man, pretending you could live without war .” Ultron chuckled. “ I can’t physically throw up in my mouth but…oh hey, where’s your little shadow? Would hate for her to miss this .”

Willow scowled but kept quiet as Thor tried being reasonable, “If you believe in peace then let us keep it.”

“ I think you’re confusing peace with quiet .”

Tony stepped forward, “Uh-huh, what’s the Vibranium for?”

Ultron chuckled sinisterly, making Willow’s skin crawl. “ I’m glad you asked that because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan— ”

At the first sign of an attack, Willow struck. When she saw from below something force Tony’s armored suit forward and the Iron Legion come down onto the bridge, she released her blast upward toward the bridge. The blast was powerful enough to tear down the bridge and startle the enemy. The bridge fell and some of the legion came down with it.

Willow released a blast on multiple of them, destroying them instantly. She shot the ones in front of her and the ones attacking both Steve and Thor.

A fallen legion head next to her lit up with Ultron’s voice coming through it, “ Ah. So you did bring her .” She smashed it before it could say anything else.

“Pietro!” Wanda called from above.

Willow ducked behind a crate when she heard gunshots go off. Pietro’s voice was somewhere far away as he said, “I’m good! Don’t worry about me!”

Two shooters came running toward her direction, but they hadn’t spotted her yet as they shot upward where the rest were fighting. Willow took this chance, came out from behind the crate, and shot two blasts at the men, knocking them into the wall across from her.

More came from her right. This blast took the crates surrounding the bodies with them, flying back and smashing into multiple pieces. Their bullets bounced everywhere but landed on her.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a gun clicking off behind her. She readied another blast. But before she could release it as she turned around, the shoot was taken out by a blue and white blur.

With a small frown, Willow turned slight to find Pietro approaching her, throwing the gun he grabbed from the shooter to the ground. He pointed at her, “You threw me out a window.”

“Hey, Twinkle Toes. Long time no see.” Willow tilted her head, curiously at him.

Pietro frowned as they began to slowly circle each other. “Strucker was right, you are powerful. Too bad he’s not here to see it.”

Willow shrugged, “Well, he can watch from hell. Wanna join him?”

“Easy.” He tsked. “Neither of us have to die, you know. Or fight each other.”

She frowned at him, “Is that so?”

Pietro stopped. She did the same, watching him carefully. “You could join us. Break them apart. Tear them apart.” He walked forward. “It’s easy for you, no?”

“And why should I do it?” Willow questioned defiantly. “Why would I switch teams to work with that robot freak?”

“Because I’m asking you to.” Pietro shrugged.

“Great, I’m convinced.” She scoffed.

“You trust them.” It wasn’t a question but an accusatory statement. “Trust Stark, hmm? You think you’re better off with him?” He was closer now with little space separating them.

“At least he didn’t lock me up like some animal and tortured me until I submitted.” Willow seethed, her hands heavy with vibration. “So yeah, Yeah, I do believe I’m fucking better off with them.”

For a moment, his face held nothing. And then he backed away, smirking with little amusement, “You know, you should wash your mouth.”

Willow shrugged, “And you should touch up your roots.” His smirk grew. “So how do you want to end this, Twinkle Toes?”

His face was unreadable, his gaze never wavering from hers. “They’ll fear you, you know. They already do. Do you think that will change?” He pressed, “Do you think he will change?”

She shrugged, “I don’t care.”

Willow released a blast toward him. And she was fast enough to take him off guard and knock him back into a bunch of crates.

Pietro scowled as he got back up, “ La naiba, femeie! ”

He sped at her, becoming a blur. A sting hit her cheek as he ran by and then another in her other cheek. “Ow, asshole!” Willow snapped.

He stopped further away, rolling his shoulders back, “Why don’t you keep up, Zerstörer ?”

He came blurring at her again, only this time Willow stomped her foot on the ground, causing it to shake. It threw the speedster off. She ducked down, ramming herself into his legs, causing him to flip over her. Before he landed, she shot him toward the crates again. This time it took a minute for him to gather himself.

Willow stalked toward him until she was standing over him menacingly. “Call me that again and I’ll blast your head off.” She seethed quietly, her voice trembling. “Do you hear me? Huh? Do you hear me?! ”

“Then do it.” Pietro pressed, remaining on the ground. “Nothing’s stopping you.”

And he was right. She should’ve been able to do it easily.

But she didn’t. She didn’t move not once.

And that nearly gave him the chance to get up and attack her if not for Steve landing in front of her, slamming him back down on the ground with his shield.

“Stay down, kid.” Steve said before turning to Willow, “You okay?”

She nodded quickly, “Yeah.”

“Good, there’s more shooters on the second floor.” Steve started in the opposite direction. Willow followed behind quickly, forcing herself not to look back at the fallen speedster.

When Willow made it up to the next floor, she found Steve already engaged in another battle with a bunch of legionnaires. She began blasting the ones that were about to come after him while he’s distracted. She kept at this until a shooter from above began releasing bullets onto her and Steve.

His shield hit the shooter just as a legionnaire tackled him back down to the floor below her. Taking down a few more legions, Willow was about to jump down to help Steve when a sudden familiar shock from her neck down to her spine made her knees buckle and fall to the floor. A scream that had threatened to rip from her throat was cut off by a legion grasping her by the neck and slamming her head against the railing.

“I learned a new trick today .” Ultron’s voice came through the legion attacking her. “ I can access any tech in this building. Stark’s suit. The database. Back accounts. Even that little gift Strucker left for you. ”

Willow held back a pained cry as her muscles began locking up. And before she knew it, Willow was back in the cell, back in the dark, back with Strucker. The pain wouldn’t stop. Just like back then.

“ Aw ,” Ultron cooed. “ You forgot, didn’t you? ” Tears burned the corners of her eyes. He sighed, “ So much potential. Wasted —"

It’s head blew up, freeing Willow from its grasp and causing her to collapse onto the platform. She couldn’t tell if the pain had stopped or not, her body kept twitching, and her mind was slow to register.

Her comms were muffled at first until she heard Clint’s voice, “ Willow? Willow, you good? ”

Sneakers appeared next to her. A nudge pushed her onto her back so that she could see Pietro standing over her. A frown on his face.

“You did not see that coming?”

And then he was gone.

You’re back in the cell.

No, Willow, you're not in the cell. Strucker’s dead. He’s dead. You’re free. You’re free. He’s dead .

“Okay, this is obviously going terribly. I need someone to check on Banner .” Tony’s voice appeared in your comms. “ Anyone copy? ”

Focus on his voice. Focus, Willow.

What do you smell?

Rust. Metal.

What do you feel?

A floor. No pain. Maybe soreness.

Where are you right now?

“Hello? Anyone copy? ” Tony asked again.

Slowly, Willow began getting up, her sore muscles protesting as she did. With a grunt she responded to Tony, “I’m here. I copy.” She looked around for more threats but found none. “I’ll check on him.”

She didn’t wait for a response. Really, she just wanted to get out of there. So, she ran out the way they came in. Willow slowed when she spotted a few legions flying away and the rest of the shooters escaping. Neither of them paid her any mind.

Willow ran toward the Quinjet tucked away in the trees and bushes, “Dr. Banner?” She called through the comms. “Dr. Banner, do you copy?” She reached the back of the jet that was now open. Willow ran in only to stagger to a stop, eyes widening and her breath catching. “Shit.”

“What?” Tony grunted through the comms. He sounded like he was in the middle of a fight. “What’s going on? What’s Dr. Banner’s status?”

Instead of responding, Willow began slowly backing away from the Hulk who was staring her down, growling as if she were a threat. “Dr. Banner? Y-You still in there?”

There was a loud thud a few feet away. Then it all went to hell.

The Hulk roared, looking deranged as he charged at her.

“Shit, shit, shit—”

“Willow? What’s—”

Willow tried throwing a blast powerful enough to send him back. Only it didn’t.

It felt as if a bolder…no, a train had struck her in the face. Her feet were off the ground for a few seconds and then her back hit the grass.

Somewhere at that point the world had disappeared and she’d fallen into darkness.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

Chapter Text

There was something cool against her face.

Not exactly water and not necessarily air either. It just felt cold.

When it came to slowly waking up every one of her senses came back. First, it was feeling. There was something on her face, no, her nose. And it was terribly sore. Under her felt like a bed, a blanket, and a pillow. She was lying in a bedroom. Her bedroom?

The next thing that came back to her was hearing. Voices whispered next to her.

“Ssh! Look what you did, Lila! You woke her up!” It was a boy’s voice.

“You ssh!” This one was a younger girl’s voice. “Her eyes aren’t even open!”

“Doesn’t mean she’s not waking up—look! She’s moving!”

“Well, now she’s awake with you yelling in her ear!”

The last two senses that came back were her smell and sight. Firstly, she smelled taco meat. Secondly, she saw two kids standing over her with wide eyes.

“Um, hi?” Her own voice was croaky from the lack of water. The girl gasped and took off running out of the room. Willow looked to the boy who was still staring. “What’s with her?”

The boy shrugged, “She’s a scaredy cat.”

“I’m not!” Willow turned back to the doorway to find the little girl had come back but was now hiding behind a woman’s leg. Willow looked at the woman cautiously but doubted the stranger would do much considering the baby bump protruding from her shirt. Then again, looks could always be deceiving.

“Oh you’re awake!” The woman offered a friendly smile.

Willow didn’t respond right away. Instead, she slowly sat up and instantly felt for her face. There was a large bandage on her nose and smaller one on her left brow.

Huh, somehow she expected a lot worse.

The woman cleared her throat, “There’s a change of clothes for you next to the bed—”

“Are you a superhero?” The boy asked suddenly, staring straight at Willow.

Willow blinked, startled by the question, “Um…”

“Cooper, come on, let’s leave her alone.” The woman beckoned for the boy. Cooper groaned before getting up and leaving the room. “I’ll tell the others that you’re awake.”

“Wait—” The door closed before she could get another word out.

Like the woman had said, there were clothes on a dresser next to the bed she was lying on. That also made her realize that she was still in her suit she had been wearing back in Africa…

Oh.

Everything started flooding back. The fight with Ultron, her interaction with Pietro—hesitating with Pietro—,the chip in her neck being activated mid fight, and then with a cherry on top, getting smacked in the face by the Hulk. She still couldn’t believe all of that actually happened.

Also where the hell was she?!

Willow got up from the bed, pausing a bit when a short dizzy spell hit her, and reluctantly grabbed the clothes. There was an open window beside her bed and when looked out it, she was surprised to find a large green field stretching far into the distance. Not a skylight in sight. And to further to her right, there was a red barn nearby and a few different animals in pens.

It was a farm. All of it. Willow had never been on one herself, the only place she knew and breathed was the city. But this? This was a whole different world.

Eventually, Willow tore her gaze away from the window and found the bathroom in the corner of the room. A shower was the first thing on her mind. Not focusing on anything else, Willow stripped out of her suit and got under the warm water. Letting the dirt, sweat, and bits of dried blood roll off her body and onto the shower floor.

That had been the first sense of relief she felt that morning. Or afternoon. Come to think of it, Willow really didn’t know just how long she had been unconscious.

When the water hit her face, it stung a little until it calmed down and relaxed her tense features. Showers for her were always so relieving, always cleared her head. Despite being frightened by the thoughts that would come once the grogginess did clear.

Turning off the water, Willow stepped out of the shower and went to grab the clothes sitting on the toilet. Just then, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror sitting just above the sink. Her now soaked locs that hung just past her shoulders weren’t as messy as before but she couldn’t really say anything good about her face.

It was littered with purple bruises and small cuts. Even half her face looked like it had swollen up at some point. And then there was the bandages she felt for earlier. She frowned at her reflection, wondering just how bad her injuries had been. Had to be pretty serious considering she was hit straight in the face by a heavy weighted green monster. Her bones had to be broken. But she looked better off than she imagined.

Her thoughts were a tangled web, webs that reminded her of Peter’s, as she got dressed.

During the fight, she had another triggered attack and possibly failed the entire team. Also got herself injured by stupidly volunteering herself to check on Dr. Banner, knowing good and well that she was not equipped to do so. He must’ve felt awful, Dr. Banner. And she was no help putting herself in harms way. She caused all of that. This was on her…

And then there was Pietro. Him and his strange behavior toward her. Talking about a confusing piece of work.

One moment they hate each other and in the next he saves her, hate each other again, saves her yet again, hate each other…

He wanted her trapped in his confusing waltz. Then there was him trying to convince her, albeit terribly, to join his side. Why would he ever think she’d join him? And much less work with his sister? He was out his fucking mind.

And she let herself get distracted by him. She had multiple chances to take him out. But she didn’t.

Willow hesitated. Pietro hesitated too.

And there, she had joined his waltz. Messing everything up.

She would fix this. She would pick up the pieces. She had been on her own this long. It was expected that they’d kick her to the curb eventually. And she would make it work—

There was a knock on the bathroom door. Willow blinked, realizing that she was fully dressed in the new clean clothes and now sitting at the edge of the bathtub.

“Willow?” It was Steve’s voice at the door. “Can I come in?”

She nodded and stopped, forgetting that he couldn’t see her, “Yeah, it’s open.”

A beat later, the door opened, revealing Steve as he leaned on the door frame. Willow pursed her lips watching him as he watched her curiously.

“Will—”

“I understand if you don’t want me here anymore.” She figured having it said and done quickly would make things easier. For him. For her. “I messed up my chance and I failed you guys. So, if you want to drop me off in New York, I understand—”

“Harlem, slow down.” Steve cut her off calmly, taking the spot next to her on the edge of the bathtub. She closed her mouth and kept her eyes down at her hands until he spoke. “We’re not sending you back, okay? Everyone screws up, it’s apart of life.” There was a chuckle to his voice. “Hell, we still have Stark here, don’t we?”

Willow dared a glance at him with a frown, “So…you’re not—”

“No. We’re not.” Steve nodded with an assuring smile. Willow wasn’t too sure how to feel about that just yet. “Besides, none of us can go back to New York right now. Gotta lie low for awhile before we continue our mission.” His blue eyes had been examining her face while he had been talking, “How’re you feeling?”

“Like an anvil smacked me around a few times.” She mumbled.

Steve nodded, his face guarded, “Banner’s pretty beaten up about that.”

Guilt caught her heart, “How is he?”

The pause wasn’t missed as he sighed in response, “He took a hit. We all did, same as you. Apparently, that Maximoff, well, she knows how to land a punch.”

“Her brother too.” She grumbled.

Steve then stood and gestured toward the door, “Come on, let’s go see the others.” Reluctantly, Willow stood and followed Steve out of the bathroom, “Romanoff and Barton were worried. Stark too surprisingly—but you didn’t hear it from me.” He smirked. In a short time, they made it out of the bedroom and into a short hallway that led down to a flight of steps.

Downstairs was where everyone else was apparently. Natasha was sitting with the little girl from earlier. The pregnant woman was standing in the kitchen with Barton, both of them looking particularly close. Tony, Dr. Banner, and Thor were nowhere in sight though.

Natasha stood when she saw Willow, “Hey, kiddo. How you feeling?”

Willow didn’t want to give a truthful answer but if she did lie, she felt, no she knew, Natasha would see right through it.

So, Willow went with a neutral answer, “Peachy.”

Natasha gave her a look and Willow shrugged before looking around the house. It seemed like a regular family house, nothing spy-like about it. Toys littered about. “So, what is this place exactly?”

“Safehouse.” Steve answered from behind her. “Barton’s family was nice enough to allow us to stay here while he lay low.”

“Barton’s family?” Willow’s brows furrowed together but she looked at the little girl who was playing with toy building blocks and then the woman in the kitchen with Barton himself. Realization hit. “Oh.”

Natasha smirked, “Willow, this one right here is Lila and the little creeper next to you is Cooper.”

“I’m not a creeper, Aunt Tasha!” Willow jumped when she saw said boy was standing next to her, his face turning as red as Natasha’s hair.

“She up?” Barton called, drawing everyone’s attention to the kitchen. He turned away from the stove and pointed to the island counter with a plate of food on it. “Eat up. You’ve been out for a day, time to put some meat on those bones!”

Willow rolled her eyes but obliged when her stomach growled, making Lila giggle. Willow went to sit at the island as the woman placed a cup of orange juice down besides the plate, “I’m Laura by the way.”

A shy smile crossed Willow’s lips as she rubbed the back of her neck, “Um, they probably already told you who I am.”

Laura nodded, a smile of her own on her lips, “They said you were new too, although if I didn’t know any better, I ‘d say Clint had a hand in that.”

“Actually it was Rogers and Nat. Maybe even Stark.” Clint grinned.

“Really?” And Laura sounded really surprised by that for some reason. “Sunds to me like you rubbed off on them when it comes to taking in strays.”

Clint snorted as he continued cooking at the stove, “I’m not that influential, honey.”

Laura waved him off and turned back to Willow with a wink, “He’s being modest.”

Willow had been watching them, not only them but the others too. Steve, Natasha, Banner, Tony, hell, even Thor. At first glance they would look like coworkers. But in small moments like this one, she saw something more. A family.

She had never seen anything like it herself, except with the Parkers. She had been dealt a bad hand it seemed when it came to family. Willow almost felt like an outside observer, discovering something foreign. Unheard of. A treasure that would be foolish to let slip through your fingers.

Quietly, Willow ate the food given to her with an absent smile on her lips. It was the type of smile that was reserved for those she was happy for. Because they had something that was special, they had something that made them happy.

It was a nice thing to see. Even if she would never have it herself.

The back door in the kitchen opened and in came Tony and Dr. Banner. Tony was the first one to spot her immediately, “Oh good. Now we don’t have to mow the lawn. He patted her shoulder. “How’s your muscles? Small? Sore? Strong enough to do some heavy lifting?”

“Is this your way of asking if I’m okay?” Willow mused while chewing on her sausage. “Because I consider that character development between us.” She grinned

“I definitely did not say that.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Careful, Stark.” Natasha appeared in the seat next to Willow. “She’s starting to see through your iron armor.”

“Frightening.” Tony began walking away. “I’m gonna call Hill, see if we’re in the clear yet.”

Dr. Banner was still in the room. Willow attempted to catch his eye but he ducked his head down and mumbled “I’ll be upstairs.”

And just like that, he was gone. Natasha even watched him go quietly, a subtle look falling on her face before disappearing in seconds.

“It’s me, isn’t it?” Willow asked quietly, rubbing the back of her neck. For a second, she felt the subtle bump of the chip in her neck. “I should’ve—”

“You were trying to help.” Natasha interrupted sternly. “We were all down, there was no way to stop him.”

Willow frowned, glancing toward both Laura and Clint who were now farther away and having a hushed conversation of their own. She turned back to Natasha who was already staring at her, observing her. “How bad was it?”

The spy shrugged, “Why do you think we’re lying low?”

“Fuck.” Willow winced. “What about Ultron and the twins? Have they made any recent moves?”

“We can’t make any sudden moves right now. Right now, we wait. Plus, Thor went off some place and didn’t really give an estimate time of when he’ll be returning. Until then…” Natasha got up and went toward the fridge on the other side of the island. Seconds later, she came back with a plastic box with a cupcake inside of it.

With a frown,  Willow looked back at her, “What’s that for?”

Natasha glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot, “A little birthday present I got for you yesterday. And I didn’t know whether or not you wanted the whole team to know so I just decided to get you something myself. Just between you and I.”

To say she was startled was an understatement. Willow never really celebrated her birthday, mostly because her mother never made much of an effort so when it did come, Willow treated it like any other day. Or when she had money left over, she treated herself to something small. She didn’t think twice at the fact that her birthday passed. But she certainly didn’t expect this.

“How’d you know?” She asked dumbly.

Natasha smiled, a flicker in her eyes, “I read your file.”

“Right, right, of course.” Willow mumbled before taking the cupcake. It was chocolate with pink frosting on top. And then there was the small candle in the frosting.

The smile fought it’s way to her lips despite herself.

“Thanks, Natasha.”

She winked just as Lila came up at Natasha’s side, “Aunt Nat, can you build a castle with me?”

“Sure can.” The spy got up from the chair. “How tall do you want it?”

“Really tall!” Lila grinned. Shen then looked at Willow. “Do you want to build a castle with us too?”

Willow pursed her lips, holding the cupcake close to her, “Not today. Maybe next time, okay?”

Natasha patted the top of Lila’s head, “She’s a little tired right now, hon. Let’s give her some space to recover, yeah?”

“Okay.” Lila nodded. She looked to Willow and smiled. “Get better soon, miss!”

Willow chuckled, “Thanks. I will.” The two left her alone with her cupcake.

And for a moment, she considered, wondered. Was she truly an outside observer?

No. That’s a silly thought.

They will fear you.

Zerstörer.

Destroyer.

So silly.

Chapter Text

Turns out it was a lot easier to fall asleep when you were already unconscious. Willow couldn’t truly remember when she started not sleeping. Or where it started. When it started….

Falling. Falling. Falling.

Dead.

Oh.

Willow didn’t try to sleep that night. Instead, she snuck out of the room that she shared with Natasha and went downstairs, cringing at the creaking in the wooden steps. Probably a bad idea to be doing this in a house filled with heroes and former spies. Willow braved it anyway.

All the lights in the house were off, save for the kitchen which startled her. Was it that someone else was up or did she expect to be the only one in the house with trouble sleeping? When she inched closer toward the kitchen, she was surprised to find Dr. Banner sitting at the island counter, drinking from a mug.

There was something so quiet and peaceful about the sight. Something gentle yet so small. Even when he was sitting, it still looked like he was curling in on himself. Hiding away from the world. That is, until he realized he wasn’t alone anymore.

She had never seen a man jump so viciously in a seat. “Jesus, Willow!” He touched his chest and took deep breaths.

“Sorry! Sorry! Don’t turn green, okay?” Willow’s words tumbled out so fast she was sure it sounded like nonsense.

“I’m not, I’m—what are you doing up? I thought everyone was asleep…” Dr. Banner’s eyes were closed as he continued breathing in and out, muttering the last part mostly to himself.

Willow shuffled a bit further into the kitchen cautiously, “Same reason you are.”

He gave a disbelief sigh, “I doubt that.”

“Fine.” She shrugged a little. “I couldn’t sleep so I thought I could find something to knock me out—I mean help me sleep!” Willow cringed at herself. “Um…I’ll just wait until you’re done.”

“No, no, no, you can go ahead.” Dr. Banner quickly spoke as she moved to leave the room. “I was almost finished anyway.”

Willow frowned but nodded, “I’ll be quick.” Still, she felt bad for disturbing him. He probably came down to be alone with his thoughts and here she came. Screwing things up as usual. God, was she really that incapable? Even with powers, she was still the same.

She was nine again…

Dr. Banner cleared his throat, “I um, I never got to say so—”

“You don’t have to.” Willow quickly said. She quietly as possible began searching through the cabinets for any tea or just something warm to drink. “Really, it’s fine.”

“Fourth cabinet to your left.” Banner mumbled. She blinked at him in surprise and then opened the fourth cabinet to the left, just as he said, to find boxes of different flavored tea. She looked back at him as he shrugged, “Laura showed me earlier.”

Willow nodded to that and quietly grabbed the mint flavored tea box. Another uncomfortable silence settled between them. She grabbed a cup and placed the teabag inside of it. Banner his throat again but didn’t say anything else. Willow sighed and finally turned to face him, “I meant what I said, you know.” Banner looked at her with a thin line on his mouth. “I don’t blame you. For what…for what the other guy did.”

Banner let out a quiet sigh before ducking his head town to stare inside his mug, “You should.”

“Please, don’t tell me what I should feel.” Willow frowned. “If I feel shitty about something, then that’s how I feel. If I have anger and trust me when I say I do, then that is how I will feel too. But right now, I am telling you, I don’t hate you. I don’t blame you….And I’m not scared of you.” Well, maybe a little but he didn’t need to know that. “Point is, I messed up and I don’t think it’s fair for you to carry the guilt alone.”

Banner chuckled bitterly, “Trust me, kid. I’ve done it a lot longer than you think.” His features softened upon looking at her. “But, thank you. I appreciate it.”

Willow nodded surely.

“Still though, sorry about all of that.” Banner pointed at her face.

She waved it off, “Don’t worry about it. I think my blasts manage to take the bulk of the hits. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be up and talking to you right now.” He frowned worriedly, Willow cringed. “Well, then again, I’m not even a doctor so who knows?”

 She turned back to her unmade tea and began filling it up with hot water. Once again, a silence settled between them. Although, the tension had lessened and instead left the two alone in their thoughts. Willow eventually made her tea and settled in the stool at the end of the island counter, leaving one empty stool between them.

After taking a sip of her tea, she instantly gagged at how strong the mint was and set her cup down. “This was a mistake.”

Dr. Banner cleared his throat again. Willow had thought he was just doing it out of a nervous habit that time. But instead he spoke.

“Do you have any family?”

That was certainly the last thing she expected him to ask. Granted, it was a fair and quite normal question. Willow was just surprised at how long it took for someone to finally ask her. Not really knowing that it was quite the sensitive topic. Really, she was so thrown off by the question, Willow just stared at him blankly for a moment.

Though her impassive stare only prompted him to quickly add on, “I mean, you don’t have to answer that. I was just—"

“No, no.” Willow calmly gave a dismissive wave. “It’s fine.” When she thought about her response, she realized it really wasn’t secretive information. Everyone that knew her, knew her situation. She never hid it , mostly because word got around fast and because, well, Willow didn’t care much if people knew or not. So, she shrugged and kept her voice even, “My dad left when I was young. My mother kicked me out at sixteen.”

Dr. Banner hummed, “What did you do? To get kicked out I mean?”

Willow smiled with little heart to it, “Stay.” She cast her eyes down to her mug, the smile easily falling off her face in seconds. How easy it was for it to go then appear. “The wrong person left that house. So in other words…not a damn thing.”

She didn’t look at Banner, playing with the hem of her pajama sleeve.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Banner said.

Again, Willow waved it off, “That’s what everyone says whenever they learn about it. ‘ Oh look, there goes that Bennett girl. I heard she was thrown out. Ooh, I wonder what these rebellious kids are up to these days, she probably deserved it ’…”

“That’s…” Banner paused, adding. “That’s horrible.”

She shrugged, “Nah. In the end, I really didn’t care what they said about me. For their judgment or pity. Your pity. Because I know it won’t change a thing. I know it won’t make my mother love me. Or bring my father back home. Fixing the family back to what once was. None of it matters.”

Bruce Banner was quiet. Willow Bennett was quiet also.

“Well, parents are shit. I think we’ve already established that.”

Both Willow and Banner turned to find Tony entering the kitchen. He too looked to have been having trouble sleeping. “I didn’t know anyone else was up. Much less having a secret heart to heart about shitty parents.” Tony quipped as he went for the fourth cabinet. “And you didn’t even invite me. The king of asshole parents. Well, parent .”

Willow raised her brows, “Really? The King?”

Tony nodded while Banner snorted, “What? Don’t believe me? Alright, let’s go in a circle—I’ll start.” Tony grabbed a peace flavored tea. “My dad buried himself in his work. Wasn’t around. Could hardly call him a father. Okay, who’s next? Banner?”

“I’ve had my fair share of grievances toward my father.” Banner mumbled, shifting in on the stool he sat in. “I’m good for tonight.”

Tony shrugged and turned to Willow, “And you got double whammed, huh? Absentee father and heartless mother. How’s that goin’ for ya?”

Willow shrugged, leaning into her hand exhaustedly, “Well, I’ve learned to pick up the pieces and keep it moving. Family’s never really worked out for me.”

She thought about Gwen then.

Gwendolyn Maxine Stacy. Loving daughter and sister.

She thought about Peter.

Spider-Man. New York’s hero. Well, in her world at least.

“I figured I’m better off alone.”

“Sounds lonely.” Dr. Banner commented, though he sounded far away.

Tony raised his mug up toward her, “For people like us, can’t wish for anything better.”

“Guys, this is sad, this—depressing.” Banner shook his head as he got up. “Is this the only time we bond? Over sharing trauma?”

“Course not. We got science.” Tony gestured between them. “Science Bros, remember?”

Banner rolled his eyes.

“What’s this group gonna be called?” Willow asked thoughtfully. “The Depression Bros—Oh! The Insomnia Hoes!”

Tony shook his head, “No. No one should ever leave you in charge of naming stuff. Ever.”

“Come on!” Willow grinned as Banner poured out the rest of his tea in the sink. “We’re all insomniacs and hoes, no shame in that!”

“I resent that.” Tony commented, finally pouring his tea into his cup.

“It’s good though—yo, Banner, what’s up with you and Natasha?”

“I’m going to bed!” Dr. Banner groaned before leaving the room.

Willow rolled her eyes as she got up as well. Tony wrinkled his nose and looked at her cup, “Is that mint?”

“Yeah.” She said as she poured her drink into the sink.

Chapter Text

It seemed that every time she touched the back of her neck, the spot where the chip would be, Willow is reminded that Strucker’s untimely death was not final. Somehow, some way that psycho had made sure to attach himself to her to the very end. The chip, an everlasting memory of what he had done. Of what she had meant to him.

Ultron only exposed that truth back in their last encounter. It reminded her. It reminded her that she was still under his control and that she wasn’t free. 

That she wasn’t Willow Bennett entirely. Mind, soul, and body not her own.

She was in way over her head.

Who did she think she was? Being a superhero? Going on missions pretending to be something that she wasn’t? It was pathetic. Sad. She wasn’t the Avengers. She wasn’t Peter.

She was Willow.

Strucker’s weapon.

Zerstörer .

She was nine years old again...

“Do you want to play with me?”

Willow, for a minute that felt endless, had forgotten where she was. That she wasn’t in a dark cellar void of any light. That Strucker wasn’t on the other side of the glass, taunting her, forcing her to use her powers. Instead she was on the wooden porch of the Barton home, the vast farming landscape stretching farther than her vision could manage. And there was light. So much light.

Lila was standing next to her, eyes curious and wide with innocence. Willow realized after a second that there had been a reason for her to have come out here. To watch both Tony and Steve help out with the farm chores whilst also making snide remarks that were mostly directed at Tony when he began chopping wood.

Instead her thoughts had gotten the better of her. Which was nothing new. Honestly, she thought she was getting better at it. Avoiding it.

But it seemed to come back to her when she least expected it. When her guard was only slightly down.

Willow stared at the young girl, pausing, “Um...”

“Actually, Lila,” Laura appeared behind the two, carrying folded clothes in her arms. “Why don’t you take Willow to see the little chicks? They should be awake and hungry now, maybe Willow can help you feed them.”

“Okay!” Lila grinned excitedly. She then tugged on Willow’s arm, bringing the older girl to her feet, “Let’s go!”

Lila had led her away from the porch and across the property towards a smaller looking house surrounded by a wooden fence. When stepping inside the fence and approaching the smaller house, Willow could see the little chickens huddled about, clucking as they got closer.

Up close she could even see some of the baby chicks that were still lying in their nests with their mothers.

Lila dug her hands through a bag of grain that was already next to the house and ducked inside. Willow stood by, awkwardly looking around. She really hoped the little girl didn’t expect her to go into that small crawl space. Her long legs would’ve probably taken up most of the space.

The girl poked her head out, “What are you waiting for? Come in here and see the chicks!”

Willow willed herself not to grumble as she crawled down to the ground and ducked into the small house. And just as she expected, half her legs took up most of the space and the chickens were uncomfortably close to the back of her head. Clucking loudly as she tried positioning herself into a more comfortable position.

Lila on the other hand had no problem sitting herself on the ground, holding a little chick in her hands.

“So, are you actually a part of the Avengers?” She asked, wearing the same wide curious eyes. “Why haven’t I heard of you before?”

Willow frowned, “Um, no, I’m not an Avenger. Just someone...someone who really doesn’t know who she is right now.”

“How come?”

“Hmm?”

Lila’s face morphed into a confused adorable pout as she asked, “How come you don’t know who you are? Aren’t you Willow? That’s your name, right? I heard Aunt Nat say it.”

“Yeah, that’s my name.” She chuckled, watching as the little girl gently stroked the chick’s head with a single finger. “It’s kind of hard to explain, kiddo. Maybe when you’re older you’ll understand.”

“I’m not that young, you know. I can understand a lot of stuff!” Lila huffed. “Like multiplying, science, shooting an arrow—”

Willow’s brows raised, “Really? You know how to shoot an arrow?”

“Well, I haven’t done it myself since daddy says I’m too young, but I can do it better than Cooper!”

Willow grinned at the younger girl. It was interactions like this that made her wish she had siblings. Younger ones in fact. But when she thought about the household that she used to live in, she remembered she wouldn’t wish that type of fate on any child, much less imaginary younger siblings. It would’ve made leaving harder for her, knowing that she’d abandoned them. “I believe you. Hey, maybe you can show me sometime. Just give me a little ring and let me know when your father starts teaching you.”

Lila grinned excitedly, “Yeah!” Suddenly, the chick that the girl had been holding was now scooped up into Willow’s hands. The little thing was still waking up but was acutely aware of its surroundings. And the fact that it was in the hands of a stranger. And yet it didn’t cower away from her. Instead it snuggled into her warmth and let its eyes flutter shut. “Ooh! Here’s another thing I know!” Lila bounced excitedly before pointing at the chick in Willow’s hands. “I know that his name is Bee. And that he was the second one to hatch among his siblings. He was sick for the entire winter but when spring came, he got better! I like to think Bee knows who he is and that he’s special. Just like me!”

Willow smiled at the girl as she gave a toothy smile. Her smile was wide enough to show that she was missing a few teeth and that one of them was growing in.

“I know who I am. I am Lila Barton. My daddy’s a superhero and I am better at archery than my brother. Your turn! Who are you?”

Although she was confused, Willow played along anyway, “Well, I am Willow Bennett. Third smartest—well second smartest now, student at Midtown High. And I also have superpowers now.”

“Like a superhero!”

Willow sighed at the little girl’s insistence, “I don’t know about all that, kid.”

Lila frowned, tilting her head. “Then who are you?”

“Not much, I’ll admit.” Willow shrugged.

An orphan.

“Before all of this, I was pretty much a normal girl. Just trying to survive as any adult is. I was on my own.”

Forsaken.

Lila leaned forward on her knees, eyes wide again. “Is that your organ story? Do you have dead parents also? Cooper says a real superhero usually has dead parents.” 

“...Um no. But maybe we should stop listening to Cooper, yeah? Also, its origin story, not organ.”

The little girl’s mouth shaped into an O, “Okay, that makes sense, I think. Wait, then what happened to your parents? And don’t say they never existed, Aunt Nat said the same thing and I asked mommy. She said that’s not true!”

Willow chuckled, more at the fact that she could imagine Natasha saying that to the little girl. Probably to spare her from telling her the truth about what really happened to her parents. Whatever truth that may be.

Willow wouldn’t do the same but she wouldn’t be explicit about it either.

The chick squirmed a bit in her hands as she chose her words carefully. “In a much simpler explanation I can think of, they left. And I was lost for the longest time because of that. Then after a while, I decided to do something about it. I decided to get a job, get my driver’s license, things you’ll get to do when you’re older. I picked myself back up and worked hard until I didn’t feel lost anymore. Sorry, kid. Not much of a superhero story in the making. I wish I did save someone in all of that. Probably would’ve made it more interesting, huh?”

Lila shook her head, “No. I think your story’s great! You saved yourself, didn’t you? That sounds like a superhero to me!”

To that, Willow didn’t know what to say. How had this child, who was no older than nine or ten, be able to strip her of words with naïve innocence that somehow sounded like wisdom of sorts.

Or this could’ve been just a child who was looking at the world through one gaze, one perspective. A perspective that had yet to be tainted by the real world. Suppose Willow should be glad for that though. She never had that chance of innocence.

Still.

“So!” Lila clapped her hands, gaining Willow’s attention and some of the chickens. “What’s your superhero name?”

After finishing up with the chickens and chicks, Willow and Lila walked back towards the house. Steve and Tony were still chopping wood and Clint, who hadn’t been there prior to the first time Willow was on the porch, was sitting in one of the wooden chairs. Lila ran toward him while Clint smirked down at the two, “Had fun with the chickens, Bennett?”

Willow grinned and pointed towards Lila, “She is wise, Barton.”

Clint chuckled as Lila got into his lap, “Yeah?”

“Hell yeah! Had me soul searching and everything in that chicken coop!”

Clint looked towards Lila, “Really?” The little girl just grinned sheepishly. “Yeah well, she doesn’t get it from me.”

“I noticed.” Willow winked at the same time as Steve ripped apart a log, a fierce look on his face as he’s talking to Tony. She cringed, “Uh oh, Dads’ are fighting again.”

“Never gets old, does it?” Clint commented, also looking at the two as Laura approached. After a few seconds Tony backed away and was heading in Willow’s direction.

Spotting her, Tony pointed behind him back where he was with Steve, “Hey, leash kid, make sure he doesn’t steal from my pile, okay?”

Willow scowled at him as he walked past her, “I’m not a leash kid, asshole!”

“Language!” Clint chided. “Grandpa Rogers and the kids are present!”

“Really, Barton?” Steve called, obviously having heard the archer’s comment. As Steve approached, he nodded towards Willow in acknowledgment, “Alright, Harlem?”

She gave a small smile at his nickname for her. It was a lot better than ‘leash kid’, that was for sure. “Taking it an hour at a time. Eventually it’ll become a day at a time.”

Clint had gotten up with Lila in his arms and moved inside, leaving both her and Steve alone in front of the porch.

Willow examined him closely and crossed her arms, “You know, for once I should ask you that question. Are you alright, Captain America?” She then frowned when she remembered her own hallucinations. “She can pack quite the punch, huh?”

Steve nodded to the bruise on her face, “So can he.”

“Him, I can handle.” She shrugged indifferently, not wanting to think about the other Maximoff twin. “Also, don’t try to switch it onto me. I ask the questions now, Rogers. How are you holding up?”

He chuckled and turned towards the view ahead of them. There was a far off look on his face, one she was very familiar with. Peter had it all the time. It was the look of a man that carried the world on his shoulders. And there was another look as well. One she was very familiar with also. One she saw in the mirror every waking day.

Steve paused before finally answering, “I think I was better off compared to the others.”

Willow frowned when she remembered how shaken up Natasha looked. Now Willow may not have known her long but seeing her that way was unsettling. Whatever Natasha saw, it must’ve been really bad. Same with Thor as well considering he wasn’t here. Same with Bruce. Same with Tony.

It just made Willow hate the Maximoff witch even more.

“What we saw is worse for all of us. It’s our fears, it’s a part of us.” Willow shrugged. “I don’t think any of us were better off.”

Steve, for a moment, was quiet. But he gave a short nod to that.

She went toward the steps of the porch but stopped and added, “I might be the last person to give advice on this but whatever you’re grieving, whoever you're grieving, give yourself some time to do so. Take it from someone who fucked it up in the beginning—oops I meant fudged it up. Sorry, I know how you are with vulgar language.”

Steve rolled his eyes, pointing at her, “That’s your one for the day, Bennett.”

“Aw, and I had so much more under my belt.”

Willow walked up the last couple of stairs and went for the screen door. Then Steve called her.

She turned, finding him walking up the few steps but not moving towards the front door. “What about you? Still grieving?”

Willow didn’t meet his eyes.

Falling, falling, falling...

Dead.

Peter was gone, just like that.

She lifted her shoulder, “I never stopped.”

Chapter Text

“Who the hell are you?”

It was not the type of question Willow expected while coming down the stairs that evening for some well-earned dinner. She figured enduring her thoughts for the entire day should’ve been awarded. The last thing she expected was for some man to waltz out of the shadows, wearing an eyepatch no less, and questioning her existence.

Willow was woman enough to say that she squealed a bit. Only because she was startled and the man came out of fucking nowhere.

She frowned at him, regathering herself after the quick scare, “I should ask you the same thing, Eyepatch!”

The man’s eyes narrowed on her, almost as if he was analyzing her features just to find something. A lie, maybe even a secret. Had to have been some sort of spy, Natasha used to do the same thing to her when she first met her.

“Fury.” It was Steve’s voice she heard before he came down the stairs to stand next to her. “She’s with us.”

“I didn’t ask that.” The stranger, Fury, said it in a way that was both calming and unnerving. Mean to intimidate, or at least let her know who was the most experienced one here. “What’s your name, kid?”

Willow glanced toward Steve, who gave her a nod, before answering, “Willow Bennett. I’m new here, I guess.”

“Clearly.”

“Alright, man—”

There was a nudge in her side, causing her to trail off. Steve gave her a look that told her to shut up.

Fury was watching the two curiously. “And since when did you start taking in strays, Rogers? Taking a page out of Barton’s book?”

“She’s my responsibility, yes.” Steve watched him guardedly. “Will that be a problem?”

At the question, the stranger looked amused as he raised his hands up and backed away from them, “Nope. Just curious.” There was a knowing look on his face that Willow caught. But before she had time to decipher what exactly that look meant, he had already slipped into the kitchen where everyone else seemed to be gathered.

Willow looked to Steve whose eyes were still on the kitchen doorway, “And he is?”

“Nick Fury.” He sighed, crossing his bulky arms. “You’d be lucky not to know him.”

He then disappeared into the kitchen as well, leaving Willow standing in the short hallway confused.

“That still doesn’t answer my question—what is it with you and giving me vague answers?” Willow marched into the kitchen, following shortly after him. There was, as she expected, the rest of the team.

Tony was in the corner, throwing darts at a bullseye board. Clint was in the living room, helping Laura put toys away. Bruce was quiet as usual, sending not so subtle looks  toward Natasha. Honestly, they were making it obvious at this point, well, at least Bruce was.

Steve was now leaning on the doorway frame of the kitchen when she came up next to him, “I’m a man of many secrets, Harlem. Not as fun when you reveal them all in one sitting.”

“Mhmm, sounds to me like you’re deflecting.” Willow clicked her tongue.

“I’m sorry, who are you again?” Steve scoffed.

She rolled her eyes, “Hey, I never said I couldn’t be a hypocrite sometimes. Nobody’s perfect.”

“Hey, Leash Kid!” Natasha called from the table as she pointed at an empty seat next to her. “Shut up and come eat, the adults will be talking soon.”

Willow scowled and searched the room for Tony, “I’m gonna fucking kill you, Stark!”

“Kids, cover your ears!” Tony called.

Fury, who had been taking his plate to the sink, whistled, “Ooh, somebody needs to wash that girl’s mouth with soap.”

“Or get a swear jar.” Willow heard Natasha quip as she got to the table. The redhead pointed to the empty seat, “Now eat.”

“Yes, Mom.” Willow mocked as she reluctantly sunk down into the chair and began eating the meatloaf that Clint had made for dinner.

She had missed the soft maternal smile on Natasha’s face before it was quickly gone as she looked to Fury, “What do you got for us, Boss?”

And that’s how they began talking about what Ultron had been planning while the team had lied low. Willow was half listening and half eating the entire time but what she did take away from most of it was that Ultron was still going after launching missiles but somehow he isn’t hacking into the Pentagon as fast as they would’ve thought. Fury is saying someone kept changing the codes, stopping Ultron from getting in. An ally or just another threat it seemed.

Willow couldn’t find herself adding too much to the conversation. She was the newbie, an outsider at best. All she could do was sit quietly and listen, possibly learn a thing or two in the process.

Still, the thought of going up against Ultron again made her stomach twist into something so tight and nauseous that she didn’t finish the greens on the plate. He had been able to easily disarm her. What’s stopping him from doing it again when she sees him? She would be a liability. She would cause them to screw up again.

She was basically useless.

“Well, this is good times, boss,” Natasha sighed, leaning back in her chair next to Willow. “but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that.”

Fury shrugged, “I do, I have you. All of you. Hell, even the newbie, I’ve seen the files.” 

Of course, he read her files. There was no reason to ask her who she was earlier when he already knew then. Must’ve been a mini test or something. God, Willow was tired of those.

She would’ve given a snarky remark in return, but instead she frowned and remained quiet. There was a time in place for that and right now, she really didn’t feel up to being lighthearted. At least not anymore.

“Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world.” Fury took a seat at the end of the table. “So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.”

Natasha smirked next to Willow, “Steve doesn't like that kind of talk.”

“You know what, Romanoff?” Natasha’ smirk only grew at Steve’s reaction.

“So what does he want?” Fury questioned them.

Steve looked at him and frowned, “To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies.”

“Person bodies.” Tony added. “The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it.”

Willow found herself scoffing despite herself, “And this guy was supposed to be the savior of mankind. Ironic, isn’t it?”

“He doesn’t need to be a savior.” Bruce suddenly spoke up on the other side of Natasha. Willow watched him, his quiet quizzical gaze staring at one of Lila’s drawings. “Or protect it. They need to evolve.” He looked up right then, “Ultron's going to evolve.”

“How?” Fury asked.

Bruce frowned, “Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?”

When everyone had become distracted getting suited up for another mission, Willow had snuck away and went upstairs to hers and Natasha’s shared bedroom. The SHIELD suit was folded neatly on the dresser next to the bed she slept in, but Willow didn’t move to touch it nor gave it a second glance. Instead she locked herself away in the bathroom.

Whenever she found herself in the bathroom slightly anxious, she’d splash cold water against her face a few times, just until she was numb enough to continue the day. She did that once during Midtown’s finals week. The entire week had been so stressful, Willow had nearly taken up cigarettes if not for Gwen stopping her.

Gwen.

That’s right. She’d always been there to pull her back up whenever things got a little too chaotic. And then there was Peter. Just a little bit too alike, clashing, causing problems together. Gwen was the balance. The bridge.

Without her it was bound to fall apart.

And when the bricks did tumble and crash, Willow didn’t stay to watch. Instead she picked herself back up, finding comfort in her survival instincts, and kept it going. 

Because she would do it on her own again. She’d done it before. She would be fine.

This was different though. Ultron. Strucker. Hell, even the Maximoff witch had shaken her into something she couldn’t even recognize. Couldn’t even figure out which pieces to tape up and put back in place until it would eventually stay, until it would be okay.

This place was changing her entire system. Willow thought it had been in her control, that she was allowing it to happen. But now, standing in the quiet bathroom, she realized she had never been in control to begin with.

Willow Bennett had been left in that museum. This person, this being…Was something else entirely.

She looked the same. Her skin had returned to its full color, brown copperish color. Her locs were frizzy and hadn’t met moisturizer in what felt like weeks which she knew would be a pain to deal with later. She used to be fit from her volleyball days, now she’s lost a bit of weight, looked a lot scrawny. Perhaps it was the big shirt she wore, it didn’t help much.

Knowing she would stare at the mirror all night if she didn’t move made Willow shut the light off and move back into the bedroom. Only to stop when she saw the stranger, Nick Fury, leaning on the door frame.

He spoke before she even questioned his presence, “Do you want to know why I asked who you were even when I already knew?”

Willow stayed near the bathroom door and crossed her arms, “Uh, is that a rhetorical question? I can never tell with you people.”

“You people?” He quirked a brow, feigning offense even though they were the same physically wise, just him being several shades darker than her.

Willow rolled her eyes, “I mean spies. Secretive people. Always talking in half-assed riddles. That kind of stuff gets old, you know.”

Fury shoved his hands into his coat pockets. He seemed all ready to go, no doubt the others were as well. “You say that as if you’re an open book. My eyes tell me you’ve got a few secrets of your own, Newbie. And a very interesting story too.”

Here we go . Willow pushed away from the bathroom door as she grumbled, “Look if you’re gonna give me the ‘I don’t trust you’ speech, could you just get on with it already? I’ve heard enough of it from Stark.”

“Good thing I’m not Stark then.” Fury shrugged. She stared at him. He stared back. His face was perfectly guarded, not showing anything as he spoke to her. It was a lot different from how he spoke to the team, which wasn’t surprising. Didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying though. “For some reason the entire team’s enamored with you, hell you got Natasha to trust you and that’s a pretty big deal, kid. So, I’m going to trust it myself.”

She blinked indifferently, “Good for you, I guess.”

Fury paused and considered her. Willow didn’t like being under observant stares, much less one that was trying to pick her apart from piece to piece. She hated this. Despised it. She had nothing to prove to him. To the others. And it wasn’t going to be the end of the world if she didn’t get their sign of approval.

Willow, despite all the fucked up parts of her, had herself. And that was all that mattered...

Yes, yes that was right.

Finally, he spoke. “Begs the question though, why aren’t you downstairs with the rest of them? Cap probably has his shield by now.”

“Because I’m not an Avenger.” She sat down at the end of Natasha’s bed, quietly counting the seconds until this conversation was over with. “And it’d be pretty stupid to pretend as if I belong with any of them.”

He nodded, “Sure. Then what are you?”

Willow glared, “Are we really playing this game?”

Fury shrugged nonchalantly, “I like games. Who are you?”

“I don’t know!” It was like something in her snapped. All the built up anger, grief, and frustration finally spilled over towards one man. One man who had no attachment to her, a man who had no idea who she was, one man she could release all her anger on. Willow’s jaw was tight and her face grew hot, “Some fucked up lab experiment? Some girl who was put in the wrong place at the wrong time? What the hell do you people want from me?! You saw the fucking file, so you already know! Why waste time trying to pry answers out of me when you already fucking know?! I get it, I’m untrustworthy, I’m Strucker’s little monster—”

“Try a girl from an entirely different universe.”

And just like that, the fire that had been lighted was instantly blown out by his gust of wind. 

Willow stared at him, eyes wide, stumped. And he stared back like what he said wasn’t impossible.

“...You...”

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my lifetime, kid. Aliens, magic, gods. Some girl who manages to travel from another universe isn’t as far fetched as you think.” He pointed behind him. “And that’s the one thing the team doesn’t understand about you, probably never will. So, what are you going to do about it?”

It was out in the open now. Never had she had the chance to even let it hang in the air. Talk about it. All except for that one time with the Ancient One and even then the conversation was cut short and dismissive. Willow never got a chance to really feel the revelation. She was just always constantly moving, distracting herself. Forcing herself to adjust to her new surroundings, to her new situation.

Because that was all she ever knew. And she’d done it well for a while.

But now. Now being presented with it again, this time having the space to express herself about it, Willow didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know what to say except, “I can’t go back.” And those words were somehow worse. Real. “There’s no way for me to go back home—”

“Can’t or won’t? Those are two different things.” Again she was struck silent with his words. An unbearable itch now scratched in the corner of her eyes. Nick Fury didn’t blink nor acknowledged it. Thankfully. “And someone who was desperate to go back home would’ve done everything they could to find a way, even when it was no use. But you’re here instead.”

Warm tears went down her cheeks. Her heart tightening in her chest.

 “So what’s it gonna be, Bennett? You gonna keep running from your problems? Or are you going to stand up?”

Willow didn’t respond. She wasn’t even looking at him anymore. Instead her tears now dripped down onto her trembling clasped hands.

Don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor.

Before Fury left he said, “Up to you, kid.”

And she was alone.

Was that her fate then? Just being alone? Everyone in her life just walked away from her. 

Never once did they look back and wonder, hey, let’s bring Willow with me . 

Not her father. He had left before she even made it down the stairs. Even if she would’ve gotten to him in time, he still wouldn’t have stopped at her voice calling his name, begging for him to stay.

Don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor.

Not her mother. She had left her a long time ago. Never present. Never could love her like a mother should’ve.

Gwen was gone before Willow could even realize what had happened, before she could even do anything. Instead she just stood by and watched her fall.

Falling, falling, falling....

Dead.

Don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor.

Peter. They were bound to fall apart. There were so many signs, so many warnings. But Willow had ignored them and fooled herself into believing that she had people for once that wouldn’t leave her. That wouldn’t abandon her.

And now Willow was here. Playing hero. Why? Was it because she had powers and thought she could be something for once? Or was it because she was haunted, still is haunted by all these nightmares and memories? Thinking that the only escape was to keep moving, keep distracting herself, and keep adjusting until it didn’t hurt anymore. Until she forgot what grief felt like.

Willow should’ve missed her universe like a lung. 

She should’ve cried every night into her pillow, wishing to go back home, wishing to see Peter again. Wishing to get her life back.

She should’ve.

She should’ve.

She should’ve.

She should’ve.

Don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor, don’t tremor.

There were a lot of things Willow should’ve done. Could’ve done.

Maybe it was time to look at what she can do now.

She could start researching more about how to get back. Yes, that would be a start.

But then there was the question.

Did she really want to go back?

Willow had picked herself back up.

She was now dressed in a jacket and boots, her suit still upstairs as she came down the steps to find Steve, Tony, and Fury talking at the front door.

“—I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?” Fury asked, adjusting his jacket.

Tony shrugged, “She's all yours, apparently.”

“What are you gonna do?” Steve asked.

Fury smirked a bit, “I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope.” His eyes landed on Willow as she stopped in front of them, but he didn’t say anything.

Steve was the one that spoke, “Why aren’t you suited up?”

She shoved her hands into the jacket pockets, her mind whirling as she spoke, “I’m gonna sit this one out and go back to the tower with Dr. Banner.”

Fury watched her for a moment and she didn’t look away from him. He nodded, “Alright, meet us outside then.”

Willow nodded as he left out the door. She could feel Steve’s eyes on her, even Tony looked a bit confused.

“Willow? Are you alright?” Steve was the first to ask.

Again, she nodded surely, although she wasn’t entirely sure who she was trying to convince. Them or herself. Either way, she had to do this. “I can’t join you on this one. I’ll only be a liability.” Steve moved to protest but she continued, “I need to figure out if I want this. To be you, to be them. I can’t risk myself on the field if I’m not sure right now. So, I have to remove myself at this point.”

Steve considered her and Tony tilted his head. Tony spoke next, “Well, you heard her, boss.” He clapped Steve on the shoulder. “She’s benched.” Tony gave her a quick nod before he disappeared up the stairs to get ready.

“Are you sure about this?” Steve questioned, trying to study her.

Willow offered a small smile, “Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ll stay with Dr. Banner, promise.”

He seemed to have picked up that she wasn’t going to change her mind about this, so Steve, despite the troubled look on his face, backed off. “Alright. Meet you later?”

She gave a lazy salute. “Roger, Rogers.”

And with that, they went their separate ways. Willow was outside now, running toward the truck where Fury and Dr. Banner were already seated in. She opened the passenger door and slid inside, surprising Dr. Banner who was already sitting in the back when she joined him.

“Willow?”

“Hey, Doc!” She grinned, slamming the door closed and quickly putting her seatbelt on.

Dr. Banner furrowed his brows in confusion as the truck engine started up, “I-I thought you would be with—"

“I need a favor.”

That made them quiet and almost worried when she turned to him fully, completely serious. Because what she was about to ask of him was pretty big.

“Okay, go on.” Dr. Banner said, waiting patiently.

Willow pointed to the back of her neck, “There’s this chip Strucker put here. He used it to make me submit when I was being a little too stubborn.”

“You mean...?” Willow nodded quietly. Dr. Banner frowned and winced, “So, what exactly is the favor?”

She glanced toward Fury who was driving and already on the phone with someone. Willow lowered her voice for only Dr. Banner to hear.

“When we get to the tower, I want you to take it out.”

Chapter Text

The trip to the tower wasn’t long, though it felt as if hours had passed for Willow. It seemed as they got closer to the tower, the more anxious she got.

But once they got out of the truck, sending Fury off, Dr. Banner turned to her, “We have a few hours before everyone gets back. You sure about this?”

Willow nodded quickly, “Yeah, yeah, I’m ready.”

It was probably a bad time to mention she absolutely hated surgery. Or anything close to a needle penetrating the skin.

Yeah, bad time.

Dr. Banner studied her for a moment. While they haven’t had much conversation between each other, Willow quickly learned he often had a prolonged silence where his thoughts were running a mile in his mind. She could tell from how his eyes would sometimes glaze over for a few seconds before coming back to reality. While others did the same, his was more thoughtful, less accusation.

He then gestured towards the tower entrance, “Follow me.”

As they both entered the tower and traveled up to the main floor, Willow couldn’t stop fidgeting. Her heart raced a few more beats per second.

“Willow, your tremors.” Dr. Banner mumbled as the elevator doors opened to the main floor.

She hadn’t realized that the floor, the entire building, was shaking around them.

“Sorry.” She sheepishly muttered, willing herself to calm down as she followed Bruce through the lounge area and then up the stairs to the main lab. By the time they entered, the world went still again.

Bruce gestured toward a bare table as he shrugged off his jacket, “You can get comfortable over there while I set everything up.”

There was a quiet noise from her mouth, one that acknowledged what the scientist had said as she slowly approached the table. Eventually, she removed her own jacket.

But she didn’t move to get onto the table.

Instead, she stared down at it. Never would she have thought that she would willingly put herself in this position. The last time she had been lying down on a cold surfaced table was when she was with Strucker. Lying there as someone operated on her and she couldn’t do a thing to fight them. Restrained and controlled.

You’re not in the cell.

Strucker is dead.

You are in control of this now.

“Willow?” Bruce’s voice pulled her out of her drowning thoughts. He was standing on the other side of the table holding a tablet in one arm, while his hand worked on a computer screen next to him.

He was watching her, lips pressed into a thin line, eyebrows scrunched together. Bruce practically wore worry. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, I am.”

The answer had come almost instantly as soon as the question was asked. That’s what pushed her to get onto the table and let her back and her head lie against the metal surface. Her muscles were still tense though and as Bruce disappeared from her line of vision for only a second, her breath became short.

My little Zerstörer.

You are remarkable.

Restrain her!

“Willow, Willow.” Bruce’s voice was far away. “Willow, you're trembling again.” Her vision was clearing up when she saw him hovering over her, eyes wide. “Take some deep breaths, okay? You’re okay. You're safe.”

Willow did try to remember that, really she did. She even recounted all her five senses. Tried going through them slowly so that she could come back to the present. Tried inhaling and exhaling at a slow pace, only for her to choke on her inhale.

And suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

“Willow?!”

The world must’ve been shaking again.

“Knock me out!” She choked. Her eyes searched above her, through the black spots, through the blurriness. But she only saw a bright light flashing down at her.

She was back in the dark cell.

“Just knock me out now!” Willow shouted. “I can’t stop! I can’t....I can’t—not if you inject me with something!”

“Willow, I can’t—“

“JUST DO IT!” She cried. Her breaths continued getting shorter, her muscles twitching, her body vibrating. “DO IT NOW!”

My little Zerstörer.

Zerstörer.

My Destroyer.

Tears streamed down her face as she whimpered, “Please...”

In the next second, there was a sharp prick into her neck.

Then everything went still.

And the world went black.

The day after George Stacy’s funeral, Martha Bennett showed up at Willow’s place.

It had been when Willow was coming back from school, feeling extra exhausted from a long, grueling study session with Flash Thompson. Well, it was her that did most of the studying. Flash was either sleeping, flirting with her, or getting up multiple times to get a snack from the vending machine outside of the school library.

She didn’t even know why he asked to study with her when they both knew he wasn’t going to study at all.

“It’s cuz he likes you.” Gwen would say as if it was the most obvious answer.

“Yeah well, I know that!” Willow grumbled. “At least be man enough to ask me out on an actual date!”

And Peter blinked in confusion. “Wait, Flash likes Will? Our Will? Willow Bennett? Flash Thompson?”

Gwen rolled her eyes, “Are all men really this dense? Peter, it's so obvious!”

“Well not to me!”

Really, all Willow wanted to do was change into her pajamas, put her bonnet on, and fall asleep to some trashy movies.

Instead, Willow stopped in the hallway when she saw her mother waiting at her apartment door. The same mother she hadn’t seen ever since she kicked her out of the house. Which had to be at least five months ago now.

Martha looked put together. Really put together. She was wearing a tight red dress, her hair now in fresh box braids that reached down to her bottom, and her oak brown skin was glowing from the decent amount of makeup she wore.

“What are you doing here?” Willow asked, making herself known to the woman. She also reframed from calling her ‘Mom’, a habit that had to die soon.

Martha turned, startled. Upon seeing Willow, she was quiet and instead stared at her for a bit. This wasn’t anything new though.

“Still see dad?” Willow frowned, snapping the woman out of her trance.

Martha shook her head, “Not in a while, no.”

“Huh.” Willow chuckled, bitterly. “I wonder why.”

There was a short silence between them. In the halls. Neither of them dared to move forward or back.

Her mother then frowned , clutching her purse. “I didn’t come here to revisit old conversations. I actually have something for you.”

Willow, now growing increasingly irritated, moved around the woman to unlock her door. “Whatever it is, I’m not interested. So, I release you into freedom. You’re free to go back to being a single and childless woman again.” She then glanced at her mother’s attire, a coy smirk on her lips. “You look all dressed up too. Got a date?”

Every word dripped with venom and she made sure the woman heard it. She made sure she knew that this wouldn’t be civilized. That Willow would not in fact be the bigger person in this conversation.

She was allowed this. Every bit of it.

But Martha did not leave. Not even when Willow stepped into her apartment, getting ready to slam the door in her face.

“I have a letter from your father.”

And of course, that made her stop. Martha knew it would. Willow knew it would. They knew.

They knew.

Martha continued, “It came today. I thought about burning it for your sake.” Which meant for her sake. “But I figured I should let you decide.” She held out the letter to Willow, expectantly.

Willow just stared down at the envelope. It wasn’t anything special. Just that the color was baby blue, her favorite color ironically, and there was a name on the front of it. Her name. Written in her father’s handwriting.

Instead of moving to take the envelope, Willow instead looked back up at her mother. “You should’ve burned it.”

Martha, clearing her throat, dropped her hand with the envelope back down to her side. “I guess I’ll keep it then. Until you’re ready.”

“I won’t be.” Willow said bluntly. “Ever.”

Plain and simple. She had no interest in returning to that house or keeping in contact with her just to talk about that damned letter. Willow had come too far now. She had been doing good. Things were beginning to look up for her.

She had no room to revisit the past.

“And if you do plan on writing him back on “my behalf”, tell him I’ve moved on. And not to send me any more letters.”

Martha, after a pause, nodded. “Of course.” She adjusted her purse before she began walking towards the stairwell at the end of the hall.

“Mom.”

For that moment, Willow had broken that one mental rule and embraced the habit just this once. But it didn’t change much. It was only a title after all. One that didn’t belong to her anymore.

Martha stopped but didn’t turn to face her.

Willow didn’t mind.

“Don’t come back.”

Again, the hall was quiet. There was no tension this time. Only finality.

Deciding not to wait for a reply, Willow closed her door and turned her back to it.

There was no need for closure. It was never something she actively sought after. No type of closure was worth the reopening wounds that were barely healed to begin with.

All she did was imagine burning the letter. Until it was ash.

And she never thought of it again.

Her neck was sore when her eyes fluttered open. The light above her was gone. All she saw was the ceiling. For a moment she felt as if she were far away, like a part of her was still wandering with that memory.

It wasn’t until the sounds of shuffling and metal clanking together did she finally stir. Slowly, Willow sat up to find she was in the lab, at the tower. Back in New York. Right, that’s right.

The lab though had seen better days. It was a mess to say the least. Her tremors must’ve done this. Whoops.

“Dr. Banner?” Willow called, wincing as she moved her neck a bit.

“Yup!” The man came scurrying back into the lab, carrying a bunch of papers and folders under his arms. “Sorry, we’re trying to get everything sorted before Barton gets here.”

Willow furrowed her brows, “He’s coming already?” Then she paused. “Wait how long was I out for?”

Bruce stopped moving at her question, realization dawning on his face. “Oh right, you don’t know. No, no, how could you know, you were unconscious for most of it—um...” He set the binders and papers down on a nearby computer desk and scratched his head. “Okay, uh, a lot has happened.”

He seemed a lot more worried than before. Whatever had happened while Willow was out must’ve freaked him out to the point where he could barely get any functional words out.

“How are you feeling first of all, any pain? Are you tired at all?” First he went into doctor mode, approaching the table she was now sitting up on while gesturing to her neck, “The procedure wasn’t long, I barely had to cut you open until I found the chip. But um, it was deep into your spine, I needed the extra hands to be able to get it out.”

Willow furrowed her brows, “Extra hands?”

“You know, next time you want to operate on a living hazard,” Tony entered the lab with a tablet in his hands before Bruce could respond, “try knocking her out before entering the building."

Willow frowned as Bruce sighed, “He got here thirty minutes after I injected you with some anesthesia, in fact he managed to get the chip out without risking paralysis.”

“Strucker knew what he was doing, putting that thing in you.” Tony nodded while swiping a few holographic screens around. “Made sure that whoever tried to mess with it would get some serious implications. Luckily, I’m a genius so...”

“Thanks.” She gave a small smile. “I guess I owe you now.”

Tony glanced toward her from the screen, giving a quick once over, and then returning his attention back to the computers, “No need. Just be in tip top shape for a fight.”

Willow pushed herself off the table and stood straighter, reframing from touching the back of her neck, “Is there going to be a fight?”

There was a short pause. Bruce was glancing towards Tony who hadn't looked back at them. Instead Tony replied, “Ultron’s got Romanoff.”

Now her focus and attention was back in the real world. Just those three words had allowed reality to finally set in for her, the haziness gone from her mind. The anesthesia was wearing off fast.

The next words came tumbling out, “Is she alive?”

Bruce looked away when Tony responded, “There’s been no updates. But it’s Romanoff, I doubt she’d go out that easily.”

“That’s a lot of faith.” Willow mumbled, glancing around the lab.

“Faith’s a strong word.” Tony hummed. “I prefer facts. Romanoff has survived worse, I’m sure she can handle a psychopath robot.”

Willow frowned, “In other words, your child.”

“I resent that. Go to your room.”

“Fuck off, Stark.”

Willow was still searching around the lab, becoming way too distracted to hear Tony’s comeback. She moved one of the stacked binders just as Bruce asked, “What are you looking for?”

“The chip.” Willow said plainly.

She heard Tony sigh, “Please don’t make more of a mess—look, the chip is over there in that glass cup.”

Following where his hand pointed, Willow found the chip sitting on a table tray. And like Stark said, it was in a glass cup which looked like there had been liquid in it before. When she got closer, she realized what type of drink was in there by the pungent smell. Ignoring it, Willow took the chip out.

“The technology on that thing is remarkable, even for Strucker.” Bruce explained as she examined it in her hand. It was smaller than she imagined and covered in bits of her blood. “The metal might be made of the same stuff Ultron stole.”

“Vibranium.” Willow muttered.

“Yeah, so don’t be surprised when you find some bits of Vibranium in your spine at a doctor’s checkup.” Tony quipped. “Some of the bits got into your spinal fluid so maybe you have an invisible—”

SMASH!

The lab had gone quiet when Willow smashed one of the binders onto the chip, completely destroying it as she kept going. Neither Bruce nor Tony said a thing.

Willow dropped the binder to find the chip no more. She let out a long breath, one that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in all this time.

“Wow, that felt better than I expected.” She turned to the two men and grinned. “So what were you saying, Stark? I completely zoned you out.”

A beat went by.

Dr. Banner stuttered, “Wha-uh-we—”

“I totally forgot.” Tony shrugged.

An alert went off, startling all three of them. Tony brought up another holographic screen, “Barton’s here with the cradle.”

Bruce sighed, “Looks like the calm before the storm has ended.”

Tony scoffed, “It’s never stopped.” He then disappeared out of the lab, probably to go oversee Clint bringing in the “cradle”. Willow was still confused on what that exactly was but she figured she’d learn when they both come back.

“So much for it just being us Insomnia Hoes.” Willow sighed wistfully.

“I highly doubt Stark wants to be referred to as an Insomniac.”

“What about the hoe part?”

Bruce didn’t reply. Willow tried not to snort.

Seconds later, Willow got to learn what ‘cradle’ meant.

Clint pushed the cradle into the lab, placing it in the middle. Willow and Bruce helped by moving tables around so that it could make room for the thing.

When Willow got a better look at it, she jumped.

“Holy shit is that a body?!”

Clint leaped on top of the cradle and tried prying the sides of it, “Bennett, help me get this thing open.”

Nodding, Willow went towards the end of the cradle and mirrored what Clint was doing only for him to grunt.

“With your blasts!”

“Oh.”

Carefully, her fingers grasped the edges of the cradle, her hands vibrated until she released a blast powerful enough to open it. Which wasn’t powerful enough at all apparently. The cradle was still locked shut.

Willow let it go, “If I do any bigger, I’ll destroy the whole lab.”

“Yeah, probably best we don’t do that.” Clint sighed, giving up on prying it open manually.

Tony then entered the room. Bruce had been the one to address him first, “Anything on Nat?”

“Haven't heard.” Tony replied. “Like I said, she's alive, or Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it.”

Clint jumped off the cradle, “This is sealed tight.”

“We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within.” Bruce explained.

Willow hadn’t left the cradle. Instead she was staring down at the yellow gem at its center of their head. It was the very same stone that she held in the museum. The very same stone that brought her to this universe. And here it was, glass separating them.

Briefly, she wondered if she could feel its pulse from this angle. Willow placed her hand on the glass, aligning her hand where the gem was.

There . She felt it. Just a little bit. Hardly there to the point where she questioned whether she felt it or not.

“Bennett, why don’t you go with Barton.” Tony said, walking around her to get a better look at the body in the cradle. “We’re gonna be a while with this. Figured you wouldn’t like the boring stuff.”

It took a few seconds to register what he had said as she stared down at the cradle. “Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah, I’ll do that.”

Willow dropped her hand from the cradle and followed Barton, who was waiting for her just outside of the lab, down a few steps until they were in an area just underneath the lab. There were a bunch more computers in this area although it looked more like it was more of a space for storage.

“Stark planning on moving or something?” Willow asked half-heartedly, kicking an empty box aside.

“New facility someplace in Upstate New York.” Clint answered, although he was far too distracted to truly give much more to the conversation. “Could be almost done, who knows, hey, you mind turning on that radio over there?”

Nodding, Willow sat down in a nearby chair which fortunately for her was in front of the radio Clint wanted her to turn on. Clint took off his quiver and set it next to him, putting on the headphones lying on the table.

A curious part of Willow wanted to ask what he was doing, but the sensible part of her told her to keep quiet and let him focus on finding his friend.

“Could’ve used you out there, kid.”

She looked up at Clint, surprised he had been the one to initiate the conversation or any type of conversation. Willow raised her brows, “Really?”

“Yeah. Cap said the Maximoff twins helped though.” He frowned, eyes dancing across the computer screens next to him. “Whatever that means.”

Willow scoffed, “Probably Ultron trying to throw us off. Those guys are nothing but trouble.” Especially that speedster.

“They’re a bunch of punks. Don’t let 'em get to you.”

“Heard that.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Eventually, Willow found another pair of headphones and placed them on her ears, hoping to listen to whatever Clint was listening for. Despite not knowing exactly what he’s looking for. Honestly, she kind of just looked stupid.

“Frequencies.” Clint said, glancing at her. “Spy stuff. We’ll be able to lock on her location if we pick up something.”

Willow pursed her lips, understanding, “And from my short time of knowing Natasha, she’d probably be able to send us something, right?”

“That’s the hope.” A pause. “By the way, I saw some blood in the lab. What happened while we were gone?”

He asked it in a very casual manner but she knew there was more to that. Clint didn’t seem like the type to just ask heavy questions without reason.

“There was a chip in my neck, from Strucker.” Willow responded after a while of contemplating her words. “Dr. Banner and Tony helped get it out. It’s what hindered me last time I faced Ultron. Next time it won’t.”

“Next time, huh?” Clint raised a brow, “Sounds like you’re ready for another fight.”

A newfound confidence was coursing through her chest. A determination she’s never felt before. She wanted to beat him. She wanted to kill Ultron.

He had taken her kill with Strucker. Hopefully, she will be able to return the favor.

Zerstörer.

She’d hope he’d be the last thing she saw before he was gone for good.

“Yeah, I am.” Willow grinned. “Can’t wait to kick his metal ass—”

“Wait, hold on, I got something.” Clint hushed her.

They were quiet, Willow tucked the headphones closer to her ears to try to hear what he was hearing. There .

“That’s her, isn’t it?” She asked the professional. “What is it? Morse code?”

Clint smirked, “Yeah.” He got up, “Sokovia. Strucker’s facility.”

Willow snorted in disbelief, “Well, I’ll be damned. What’s it called, full circle?”

She got up and followed him but Clint stopped suddenly which caused her to stop as well. Her brows furrowed at him but he held his hand out, motioning for her to be quiet and then pointed above.

“—I know you’re angry.”

Wanda? The Maximoffs were here? In the tower?

Clint moved and Willow moved with him. Above them, she could see a blur of blue before sneakers appeared right above her.

Pietro.

“No, no. Go on.” His accented voice was muffled from below the glass but she could hear him. It definitely was him and Willow was unfortunately not hallucinating. “You were saying—”

Willow had done it without thinking. The blast had left her hand before she even realized it. And the glass shattered right below the speedster, causing him to fall through the floor and land right next to her.

“Pietro!” Wanda shouted.

Pietro grunted and met Willow’s eyes. She grinned down at him venomously, “Hey, Twinkle Toes.”

Crashes sounded from above her. Clint was already rushing up the steps into the lab. Willow was about to follow when she felt a hand yank her ankle, causing her to crash down to the floor where broken glass surrounded her.

She looked back to find the hand belonged to Pietro, “That was an unfair move, you know.”

He grunted when she kicked him in the face, causing him to let go of her ankle. Willow got to her feet, “Not my fault you fell for it again.” And with that, she rushed off in the direction Clint went.

Upon entering the lab, she saw everyone fighting each other. Which was surprising considering they were all supposed to be on the same side. Well, save for the Maximoffs.

“Willow!” Tony shouted, shooting his repulsor at Steve. “Don’t just stand there!”

“Who am I supposed to blast?!”

“Well, that depends!“ Steve responded, throwing his shield toward Tony.

Tony, who saw the shield coming, blasted it with his repulsor, “Don’t bring the kid into this, Rogers! She’ll just gonna take your side!” He then glanced toward her after dodging another attack from Steve, “I’ll put it this way, Will. Put JARVIS into the new body. Yay or nay?”

“W-Well, you're really putting me on the spot here, man! It honestly depends on which side would benefit us in the long run—“

“God, just shoot him!” Steve grunted.

“No! Shoot him!” Tony snapped.

“Could someone just shoot her?!” Bruce said, pointing at Wanda who was about to go after Tony.

“That, I can do.” 

Willow threw her blast toward Wanda who barely dodged the blow before shooting a flash of scarlet toward her at the same time. Wanda’s attack pushed Willow into a table but she was quick with adrenaline and immediately shot two blasts toward the Maximoff witch, throwing her away from Tony while he continued to face off against Steve. A part of her was unsure of all this sudden fighting. They weren’t even fighting against the Maximoffs, who Willow could’ve sworn were on opposite sides until now. For some reason they were here and half the team were fighting each other.

Was this what Ultron wanted? Forget him trying to kill them, if they didn’t get it together now, then the end of the Avengers would be the Avengers themselves.

This was all a game. That’s what this all was. And Willow was falling into it just as the others were.

In the midst of the chaos, a whoosh came from behind Willow. But as soon as she turned, Thor, practically coming out of nowhere, came flying and landed on the cradle.

Now what’s his deal?!

That’s when lightning appeared all around Thor, causing everyone to stop their fighting , all eyes on the god. He then directed all of the lightning onto the cradle, lighting it up.

At this point, Willow was lost. Thor had been gone for god knows how long, and then he just showed up, ready to destroy the body of Ultron with a strike of lightning.

Or at least that’s what she thought.

When Thor’s lightning disappeared, it didn’t take long for the cradle to suddenly explode, the force hitting everyone at once. Willow raised her hands and the force was met with a blast of her own, or a shield, completely blocking the sudden force from knocking her down.

Huh, that’s new.

But Willow didn’t have much time to focus on that when the body leaped up out of the cradle. It did it so elegantly yet so creepily, Willow had no idea what to feel. Or why Thor did this in the first place.

Willow, like everyone else, watched it cautiously as it looked at each and everyone one of them slowly. Before his eyes set themselves upon Thor.

It all happened so fast.

The body had suddenly flown towards Thor and Willow acted on instinct. The fear of this creature harming this person she cared for made her act without reason. And she let loose a blast in its direction. Her blast threw it through one of the glass walls and out of the lab.

It looked like it was going to crash through the tower window, only it stopped in front of it at the last second.

Thor was first to follow after it. Willow was then right behind Steve, landing on the next floor below the lab, ready to conjure up another blast. Only Thor raised his hand, telling her without words not to engage.

Now Willow wasn’t unfamiliar with the unknown, the impossible. Hell, she was practically among them. She was the impossible. But it didn’t mean she was at all used to it.

Meeting a floating android that seemed a little too lifelike was definitely not on the top of her to-do list. Everyone had gathered around it now, watching it. All of them on edge, preparing for any more chaos it could possibly throw their way.

A breeze went by Willow and Pietro appeared next to Wanda, also staring at the android warily.

The android landed on the ground in front of them, eyes taking everything in as if he were a newborn baby. Maybe he was.

“I'm sorry,” The android spoke. “That was...odd.” He nodded toward Thor. “Thank you.”

And then a cape materialized behind him. Apparently androids can do that now.

No. Not the android entirely. Willow found herself staring at the yellow gem in its head again.

“I've had a vision.” Thor revealed. “A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that.” He pointed at the yellow gem.

It all happened to come back to that damned gem, didn’t it?

“Okay,” Willow spoke, tearing her eyes away from the gem to look at Thor, “And what exactly is that?”

“It's the Mind Stone.” Thor said. “It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.”

Steve appeared on her right, “Then why would you bring it to—”

“Because Stark is right.” Thor stated.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Willow murmured at the same time as Bruce said, “Oh, it's definitely the end times.”

“The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron.” Thor reasoned.

“Not alone.” The android added.

Why was its voice familiar? Ever since the android had started talking, there was something about its voice that bothered her. Scratched at the back of her mind to no end.

Then Steve basically answered her question, “Why does your "vision" sound like JARVIS?”

That’s right. Tony mentioned JARVIS earlier in the fight. She just never registered it until now. 

Tony stepped forward to get a better look of the android, “We... reconfigured JARVIS' matrix to create something new.”

“I think I've had my fill of new.” Steve scoffed.

“Amen.” Willow commented.

The android now looked confused, “You think I'm a child of Ultron? I'm not Ultron. I'm not JARVIS. I am... I am.”

Wanda stepped forward, scrutinizing the android, “I looked in your head and saw annihilation.”

“Look again.” The android countered.

Clint scoffed, “Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me.”

Thor, ignoring them, pointed to the gem, “Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Bennett’s appearance,” She tried not to flinch, avoiding the android’s gaze as it swept over her. “Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side...”

“Is it?” Steve cut in. “Are you? On our side?”

The android considered his question, “I don't think it's that simple. I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all.”

“What's he waiting for?” Tony questioned.

“You.” The android said.

“Where?” Bruce asked.

“Sokovia.” Clint replied. That’s right, they both had discovered that before everything had gone to chaos. “He's got Nat there too.”

Willow still kept looking at the gem. So many questions that she wanted to ask. But there was very little time. It seemed they were always running out of time here. Was this what she was in for with this universe? This new place she’d have to sooner or later call home?

Instead, Willow said, “And if we’re wrong about you? How will we know you won’t evolve too? Turn around and become the monster Ultron created you to be—”

“Would you destroy me?” The android asked her. 

Because he knew. He knew what the Mind Stone had given her, he knew what she was capable of, had to. Why else would he ask her this?

His intense gaze locked with hers, waiting for a response. Everyone waited for a response it seemed.

“Yes.” Willow said.

The android was quiet for a moment. Considering her answer before continuing, “I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others.” Willow found herself locking eyes with Pietro at those words. There she saw blue pools alight with curiosity when it came to his eyes locking with her. She looked away first. “Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go.”

The android had turned and lifted the hammer, waiting for Thor to take it from him. Willow blinked a few times before she realized that the android was holding Mjolnir. Like actually holding it. Like it weighed nothing, similar to how Thor held it.

“What the fuck?” Willow hissed.

“Swear jar.” Tony whispered, snapping his finger distractedly.

She scowled at him, “We don’t have one, asshole!”

Thor took the hammer as the android walked away. Thor cleared his throat and patted Tony’s shoulder, “Right, well done.”

Steve then spoke to the rest of the room, “Three minutes. Get what you need.”

Everyone started moving and Willow just stood there, still confused.

“So we’re supposed to pretend that didn’t just happen?”

Chapter Text

“I’m not wearing a cape.” Willow grumbled as she zipped up the new SHIELD agent suit she found. 

The last one had been left at the farm and while it had been cleaned by Laura, there were still bits of tears in some places that Willow didn’t feel like sewing up on her own. “It’ll only get in the way, plus capes are ugly as fuck—no offense.”

Thor, who was standing in the doorway of her bedroom, frowned, “Well, at least wear some armor. That suit protects nothing.”

“I don’t need armor.”

“Nay! Armor protects your body of sticks!”

“Thor, get out.”

Despite his grumbling, Thor finally left her be to stare at herself in the long mirror for a bit.

This suit had a lower v-neck that ended just below her collarbone and just above the beginning of her chest. It was tight like the other one and was short sleeved this time. To be honest, Willow wasn’t entirely sure if she liked that yet, it was a part of her drafted designs of her own superhero suit, but she remembered not being entirely married to the idea of having short sleeves.

Perhaps she could find a jacket, the weather hasn’t exactly been warm recently and she really didn’t want her bare arms out for Ultron to aim at freely. Yeah, she was gonna find something.

Willow stepped out of her room only to stop when just a few doors down from her Wanda came out of another room. 

Willow stared at her and Wanda stared back.

Neither of them bothered to hide their distaste for each other and Willow really didn’t like that she had to work side by side with her just to stop some psycho robot. But she had to remember that after all of this was over then they’d go their separate ways. Neither of them had to see each other again.

Yes, Willow could live with that.

Wanda watched her with squinted eyes. Willow scowled, “Tryna read my mind again?”

“It’s not hard. Your thoughts are too loud.” Wanda winced, “Control them and maybe I won’t hear it as much.”

“Or you could just stop listening.”

“Ladies.”

Pietro stepped out of the same room Wanda had come out of and stood behind his sister. His stance was more relaxed than hers, even though it very well should’ve been the opposite. “Enough with the glaring. We’re on the same side now.”

“Tell her that.” Wanda snapped as she brushed past Willow.

And then it was just the two of them. Somehow it always ended with the two of them.

Pietro had changed from his jacket to a skintight blue shirt that showed off his fit body, one that Willow briefly took in before examining the speedster carefully.

He approached slowly before stopping short in front of her, “We are on the same side, yeah?”

Willow shrugged, “That’s up to you. My stance has been the same ever since our first fight.”

“So has mine.”

She wanted to laugh, “Has it? Last I checked you were ready to kill me then saved me and then went back to trying to kill me again.” Pietro casted his eyes to the side as she said this. “Your stance is very confusing—”

“It’s always been about saving Sokovia.” He said firmly, jaw now tight. Willow didn’t say anything, but instead watched him warily, wondering if this was another twist to his little dance that he just kept pulling her into. “My home. Strucker. Ultron. All of it. It was all to undo what Stark had done.”

“And now you’re joining Stark. I’m convinced.” Willow scoffed.

Pietro shrugged a smirk now on his face, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. That’s the saying isn’t it?”

Why was this man so confusing? What was Willow missing? Was he just doing this to piss her off? What was it?

Willow crossed her arms, “Where do I fit into all of this? What is this?” she gestured between them, “What did I do? What did I do to you to earn this annoying hell from you?”

He chuckled at her dramatics, “Other than threatening my sister?”

Despite herself, she let her lips curve up a bit, “Other than that, yes.”

All he had was that stupid smirk on his face as he stared at her. And she stared back.

When it was clear he wasn’t going to answer, she scoffed and walked around him, “When we’re out there, stay out of my way, Maximoff.”

Pietro laughed, “No promises, dragă!”

She stopped and whirled around, “What’d you call me? Was that a slur or something?”

But Pietro had already zoomed away, leaving her alone in the hallway, talking to no one and looking crazy.

Asshole .

As the hours passed and Willow finally found a decent black leather jacket to wear over her suit, everyone soon started boarding the Quinjet to make their way to Sokovia. And as she sat amongst them, she listened to Steve give one of his patriotic speeches that was both inspiring and quite dreadful but realistic. Briefly, she wondered if he ever got tired of giving speeches and just wanted to fight. Willow knew she would be. 

“You are a peculiar specimen.”

Willow had been staring off at her hands when the android, which Thor called Vision, spoke to her. At first she thought he had been speaking to someone else like Wanda or something. But when she looked up and saw that he was staring directly at her while sitting across from her, she frowned.

“What a way to start a conversation.” She quipped.

Vision nodded, “I do apologize that was...more forward than I intended. What I mean to say is that you are very interesting, Miss Bennett.”

Willow tilted her head, ignoring the glance a certain speedster sitting further away sent her. “How so?”

“You came from the Mind Stone. And now that it is a part of me...” He trailed off and briefly she wondered if he did that purposefully or really was lost in his ongoing thoughts. “I think I can understand why now. And how you have come to be here.”

She clasped her hands tight together and glanced at the others to find them deep in conversation, neither of them paying attention to her and Vision. Well, save for the nosey speedster. Pietro’s head was turned away from them but she knew, just by the way his head tilted their way a bit, that he was listening.

Willow turned back to Vision and spoke with a lowered voice, “Are you saying you know how it brought me here? Which means you know how to send me back?”

Vision watched her again, “I don’t know. Do you want to go back, Miss Bennett?”

There was that question again. The very same question that had been eating away at her ever since Fury brought it up back at the farm. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it, not even after all the chaos and distractions. Of course, she has thought about it, multiple times, ever since the Ancient One had told her it was impossible.

“I can’t give an honest answer to that.” Especially in a room filled with people who did not yet understand the gravity of the question. Especially with an extra ear eavesdropping on the conversation.

Vision hummed, “I think you can. Can't and won’t are two different things.”

“So I’ve heard.” She scoffed, sinking into her seat.

There was a thin smile on the android’s face. He paused before saying, “I do not think it was a mistake you were brought here, Miss Bennett. The Mind Stone, for whatever reason, has chosen you. As it’s heartbeat. Just as I was chosen for its life.”

She remembered feeling it pulsing in her hands back in the museum. How it felt like a heartbeat. Like each beat had soaked into her skin and into her bones. How the world now trembled at her will because of it. How her own heartbeat had synced in with the stone’s.

Willow didn’t know what to think and so said nothing for the rest of the way there. For silence and waiting for the inevitable in the city of Sokovia was better than this endless torment of thoughts.

Evacuating the people out of Sokovia seemed easy enough.

Willow had done it before when Dr. Curt Conners had nearly turned New York into a one lizard population. 

But really, she was following George Stacy’s orders who was simultaneously trying to capture Spider-Man. She remembered trying to tell him that Spider-Man wasn’t the bad guy that they needed to be focused on. She remembered being worried about Peter getting shot at or seriously injured by Dr. Conners. She remembered feeling useless, wishing she could do something but knowing she couldn’t because she didn’t crawl walls like a spider or shoot webs.

Now it was different. Willow was running around, car horns honking at her as she stepped in the way, yelling for people to get out of their vehicles and to leave the city. Steve, Pietro, and Wanda were doing the same while Barton was somewhere on high ground, Thor and Tony were searching for whatever Ultron was building, and Banner was going to find Natasha.

She knew Tony said not to worry about Natasha, that she could survive on her own if she wanted to. But still, Willow couldn’t help it from time to time. Despite knowing the hero for a short time, Willow really would’ve hated to lose her.

To lose any of them really.

When did that happen?

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Willow said to a few children as she was leading them out, “Just follow your parents and you’ll be fine, alright?”

After leading them toward the rest of the crowd heading away from the city, Pietro appeared at her side, “This street has been cleared out. We still got, eh, half the city left?”

Willow frowned, “Aren’t you fast? Can’t you speed things up a bit?”

“Alright, alright.” Pietro huffed as he sped off and then came back a second later. “Don’t be stingy.”

“I’m not in the mood, Maximoff.”

Willow was now guiding a family safely away from the street and toward a bridge where the rest of the people walked. Pietro wasn’t far behind her. “What did that piece of junk say to you that’s gotten you all riled up?”

“Like you weren’t listening.” She hissed low enough so the family in front of her didn’t hear. “Why do you care anyway? We’re not friends, I thought we’ve established that over the multiple times we’ve tried to kill each other.”

“And now we’re not trying to kill each other. All is forgiven.” Pietro shrugged, speeding off again before coming back with a shotgun in his hands. Willow stared at him and the gun before he said, “Police station.”

She sighed, “Really, what did I do? What horrible sin did I commit in a past life to deserve this?”

Pietro smirked but it was gone instantly when his eyes caught something behind her, “ Move !”

Before Willow could realize what was happening, Pietro grabbed her and sped out of the way as something metal crashed into the ground where she had been standing. The people started running and screaming out in horror.

Pietro had let go of her after moving her out of the way and sped towards the Iron Legion that was now flying around and attacking the city. Looked like Ultron knew they were there. Willow waited until more of the people got out of the way before she released her blasts on the robots.

Both her and Pietro fought them off and made sure to keep them as far away from the people as they could.

“Damn it!” Willow shot a blast at four that were trying to get to the crowd of people going the opposite way. “How many of these things are there?!”

“ Uh, about 500, maybe more. ” Tony’s voice replied through the coms.

She sent another blast towards a dozen and then made a force field to block incoming blasts going towards the crowd of people that were now behind her.

Willow met Pietro’s eyes who was watching her and the robots worriedly, “Go! You’re a lot faster, you can take out more around the city! I got this from here!”

She stretched her hands wide, her fingers twitching from the sheer weight of her heavier blast and released it onto the flying Iron Legion above her.

Pietro, after seeing that she could indeed handle herself, sped off.

Willow started shouting for the people to run as she stayed at the rear to protect them. Continuing her pattern of shooting blasts and creating makeshift shields to protect herself and the crowd from incoming Legion bots as they shot repulsors at her and the people. The Willow that had first appeared in this universe wouldn’t have imagined her doing all of this by herself and hell, maybe she technically wasn’t ready to handle this all by herself in the first place. But she was here and there was no time for a training lesson.

It was her job to protect these people. She had a chance to finally do something instead of standing around feeling helpless. She would not waste this.

Somehow it only got worse.

The ground began shaking.

Clint was the one to speak into her com, “ Willow is that you? ”

“ No, it’s not.” Tony was the one that answered for her.

And he was right, it wasn’t her.

Willow knew to some extent when she was causing tremors. It was connected to her. It was controlled by her heartbeat.

No, this was something worse.

She had made it to the highway bridge where Steve was, that’s when she saw it. That’s when she realized.

Sokovia was flying.

And true panic began to set in.

“Steve.” She whispered, coming up just a few paces behind him. He glanced toward her, looking just as worried. “Oh god...”

Ultron’s voice surrounded them. “ Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal. ”

Willow saw them coming before Steve did. Another raging battalion of legions came soaring at him. She was able to block most of them, destroying them instantly with her blasts while some had hit Steve and caused him to crash into a car nearby.

“Steve you good?” She called, glancing back at him.

“ Cap, you got incoming. ” Tony warned.

Steve grunted as he got up, “I’m good! Incoming already came in.” Willow nodded and continued shooting her blasts at all the Legion that flew by them. “Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed...walk it off.”

She sent another wave towards a bunch of Legion before saying, “Very inspiring, Captain.”

“Hey, kid,” Steve grunted as he swung his shield at a few legions. “some days you just don’t feel like giving the same speech over and over again.” The shield zoomed past her and landed back in Steve’s hand.

Willow shook her hands out as they cramped up, “Well, I would’ve thought you would get used to them by now. You sound like you’ve been doing it for a while.”

“Exactly, Bennett, exactly.”

The beginnings of a grin came onto her face until it was quickly gone when multiple iron legions shot at her. This time she didn’t have the chance to block it.

The first few blasts knocked her right off the edge.

“Willow!” Steve shouted.

She had never been more scared in her life. The last time she had fallen from this height was in her nightmares and even then it couldn’t be compared to this.

This was real. This was real. This was real.

Her fear made her react without much thought. Her fear had somehow always triggered her survival instincts to the max. Her body vibrated and all she could think of doing was focusing it all into her hands like she usually did. She didn’t know why nor did she know how.

But a big blast came out of her hands and launched her upward until she was flying away from the other half of Sokovia below.  She literally should’ve gone splat just now. But instead she was flying up, and up, and up, and up.

“SOMEBODY CATCH ME FOR REAL MAN!” Willow shouted as she began falling again, this time back onto the flying part of Sokovia.

Seconds went by and she saw a red cape before strong arms wrapped around her, catching her in midair and flying her back down safely.

Once her feet were on solid ground, she crumbled to her knees. “Are you alright?” It was Thor that had caught her and was now standing beside her as she was catching her breath.

“No, no, I am very much not okay!” Willow said shakily, trying to keep whatever bile threatened to rise up in her throat. “Fuck those stupid legion bots!”

Before the god could say anything more, Ultron’s voice appeared. “ Thor! ” Willow looked up to find him flying towards the god. “ You're bothering me. ” And just like that they were flying off, leaving Willow a crumbled mess on the pavement.

And Willow stayed there for a moment, ignoring the screams, the voices in her coms for just a few seconds. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears.

Don’t hide. Don’t hide. Don’t hide.

She was back in the clocktower.

Falling, falling, falling...

Dea—

“ PAPA !”

Willow opened her eyes. And she was back in the ruins of Sokovia.

Just a few feet ahead of her, she saw a little girl trapped under a pile of rocks. One of the legions had spotted the girl as well and was making its way towards her.

Go. Move.

The legion pointed its repulsor at the little girl.

Willow pushed to her feet and rushed forward, sending a blast towards the legion. Once it was thrown off the edge, she knelt down in front of the girl.

“Can you move?” The girl stared at her wide eyed but nodded, “Alright, I’m going to lift this up and when you can move, run, got it? Do you understand?”

The girl nodded quickly, her small hand grabbing Willow’s knee as she began lifting the rock from off of her. Once she was sure she got the heavy rock up a bit, she grunted, “Go! Move! Now!”

Fortunately, the little girl listened and crawled out. Another legion was flying towards them but Willow shot another blast at it before dropping the rock back down to the ground. She guided the little girl away from the chaos.

“Are we going to find my papa?” The little girl asked Willow, clutching her hand as they ran.

“We’ll try, okay?” Willow whispered .

Eventually, in a crowd of smoke, she managed to find a building where many more refugees were hiding with Wanda.

The Maximoff spotted her first as Willow guided the little girl towards her, “This is Wanda. She’s  gonna keep you safe okay? Until then, I’ll go look for your dad.”

“Promise?” The little girl frowned, glancing nervously towards Wanda.

Both women’s eyes locked for a brief second before Willow nodded, “Yeah, yeah, I promise.”

The little girl reluctantly let Willow’s hand go and went with Wanda. Wanda gave Willow a nod before leading the girl towards the rest of the group inside of the building.

And Willow stood there for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. 

She had almost messed it up. She had almost let the girl die.

But she didn’t in the end. That’s what mattered, right? She did something.

She did something.

There was no would’ve. Or should’ve.

She had done it.

“ Any status on Bennett?” Steve's voice came through her coms.

For a brief second, she felt relieved hearing his voice. “I’m alive, I think. I’m coming to you.”

And she did. Fortunately for her, Steve wasn’t too far from where Willow had been. He was somewhere towards the edge of the city, looking out at the view. At this rate, there was no way they could stop this from flying any higher. Not without killing everyone on it.

Natasha was with him. The red head nodded with a small smile at Willow, “Long time no see, kid.”

“About time you came back to us.” Willow smiled tiredly. “What took so long?”

Natasha shrugged, “Ah, you know. Trying not to die and saving the world. The usual.”

Steve appeared at Willow’s side, “You good?” He was being subtle but his eyes were scanning her face and her body, probably checking for any injuries.

Willow shrugged, “Well, I almost died. I didn’t. Now I’m...how did you say it? Walking it off.”

Steve gave her a look but didn’t say anything else. Either way he seemed satisfied with her state before saying, “What have you got, Stark?”

“ Well, nothing great. ” Tony replied. “ Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear. ”

Steve frowned, “I asked for a solution, not an escape plan.”

“ Impact radius is getting bigger every second. ” Tony argued. “ We're going to have to make a choice. ”

Natasha nodded, “Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock—”

“Not 'til everyone's safe.” Steve interrupted.

“Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there.”

Steve shook his head, “I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it.”

“I didn't say we should leave.” Natasha said.

Willow frowned, glancing between the two of them, “Well, I want to. And without dying for a matter of fact. I know I willingly signed up for this but I definitely didn’t sign up to die after all of this.”

Natasha shrugged, “Eh, There's worse ways to go. Where else are we gonna get a view like this?”

She was right. It was a nice view. And Willow would’ve enjoyed it if not for the fact that the others were completely fine with dying. Call her selfish, but Willow definitely wasn’t ready to die yet. 

Not after everything she had been through to get here. Not after everything she had fought through, still fought through. All of it to mean nothing in the end? What kind of bullshit fate was that?

The Mind Stone, as Vision had put it, couldn’t have sent her all the way here for her to die. If she even did believe what the android had said.

“ Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better .”

Willow had felt her heart jolt at the new voice. No, not new, it was Fury. But how?

Her question was answered seconds later.

The largest ship she had seen had risen up through the clouds right next to the flying city. Willow had never seen anything like it. Something this big. She was awed. Confused. And relieved that she was not going to die. She walked forward a bit to get a better view.

“ Nice, right? ” Fury asked as if he could see the shocked expression on her face. “ I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do. ”

Steve smirked, “Fury, you son of a bitch.”

“ Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth? ” Fury quipped.

A quick breeze whipped by her and Pietro appeared next to her, “I thought you’d be dead.”

Really, she should’ve been annoyed seeing him, especially after she had told him to stay out of her way hours before. And perhaps that’s what Pietro expected. 

Instead she shrugged and gave a small laugh, “I’m a lot harder to kill than we both realized unfortunately.”

Pietro smirked, “Unfortunately.” He then marveled at the ship in front of him, his blue eyes glowing in the daylight. “This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?”

“This is what SHIELD's supposed to be.” Steve responded from behind.

The speedster grinned, “Huh, this is not so bad.”

There were so many emotions Willow had felt at that very moment.

But despite all of that, when she saw him smile like the rest of them, she couldn’t help but grin as well.

Steve then put on his Captain voice again, “Let’s load ‘em up!”

Chapter Text

More of the legion came as the shuttles hit the ground. Steve and Natasha had started loading the civilians on and Willow was their shield, blasting any robots that got too close or shot at them.

It was like football in a way. The Iron Legion were on the opposite team. Steve and Natasha were offensive. And Willow took up all of the defense while the civilians got to the touchdown.

She did this until the shuttle was filled with every civilian on their side of the city. Even some of the legion seemed to be lessening. Or maybe Willow was being a little too optimistic.

Just as the shuttle was taking off and Steve and Natasha were occupied with a few more robots, another round of legions appeared and one of them aimed at the shuttle that was about to fly away.

Steve spotted it as well and threw his shield at one of them. Though it didn’t get rid of all of them. “Bennett!”

“Got it, I think!”

One legion flew by and Willow was quick enough to grab onto its leg and take off with it. As it tried shaking her off almost immediately, she shot a blast towards the ones following the shuttle, destroying them or causing them to fall out of the sky for Natasha and Steve to deal with on the ground. Then she climbed onto the back of the legion she flew on, clutched her hands around its head and compressed it with her blasts until it was nothing but flat metal.

But of course she forgot momentarily that she was flying on top of it and ended up having a harsh landing on the ground.

“Ow!” She grunted, rubbing her bottom.

Natasha ran up to her and tapped her on the shoulder as she ran past, “Come on, kid! If you want this life you gotta keep up with the flyers!”

Willow grumbled as she staggered back to her feet, “What the hell do you think I’ve been doing?”

Her coms came to life with Tony’s voice as she followed after Natasha, “ Thor, I got a plan! ”

“ We're out of time! ” Thor’s voice came in with a grunt. He himself sounded like he was in the midst of a fight. “ They're coming for the core! ”

“Where’s that?” Willow asked Natasha as they got into an abandoned truck.

“In the middle of the city. Hop in.” Natasha said getting into the driver seat of the truck just as Willow slid into the passenger side. Immediately the truck moved and smashed through the leftover iron legion on the ground.

Willow winced as the truck made a quick and jerking turn, “Please don’t drive this thing off the edge of the city.” She yelped suddenly when they came a little too close to said edge. “What did I just say?!”

“Sorry, I don’t think about driving rules when half the city’s in the air!” Natasha snapped.

“Well, it could be something to consider!” Willow squirmed as they crashed through a few more iron legions. One of their heads hitting the windshield with a quick thump. She gulped, her stomach twisting nauseously, “I’m never riding in a car with you ever, I hope you know that.”

Natasha rolled her eyes, “Quick being a little fetus and start blasting them over there for me.”

“I’m not a fetus!” Willow scowled as she shot a blast at two legions that tried flying at them. “Hell, I’m not even that much younger than the fucking Maximoff’s, how come you’re not calling them fetuses?!”

The red head smirked, “Because I like you, kid. Get used to it.”

“ Romanoff? ” Tony’s voice interrupted in their coms. “ You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini. ”

“Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly.” Natasha responded just as the church where the core and the rest of the team currently were. Willow then caught the sly smirk on the spy’s lips, “I’ve got Leash Kid with me too.”

“Fuck!” Willow shot another blast at an iron legion that had been trying to sneak up behind Steve. “I’m never gonna live that name down, am I?”

“Nope!”

Both her and Natasha jumped out of the truck with little effort considering the doors had been torn off at some point. Willow followed her to join everyone else at the church where the core was.

Pietro appeared in a flash at Willow’s side as she entered the church. “Leash Kid?”

She gave him a deadly glare to which he simply continued grinning at.

“If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose.” Tony told the others just as Dr. Banner or the Hulk landed on the ground in front of them, tearing apart a legion he had in its large green grip.

And the devil himself arrived. Willow turned away from Pietro when Ultron floated toward them.

Thor marched forward and thundered, “ Is that the best you can do?! ”

As if on cue, more of the legions appeared and joined Ultron. Either running towards them on the ground or flying around the church. It was a lot more than Willow initially thought was left.

Yep, she was being too optimistic.

“Oh man.” She sighed, placing her hands on her hips tiredly.

“You had to ask.” Steve groaned from next to Thor.

Willow watched Ultron with a scowl as he spread his arms out cockily, “ This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. ” Willow stood in front of the core, hands clenching and unclenching in anticipation. Defend the core. That’s their goal. Ignore the metal bastard’s obsessive monologues and focus.

He can’t get to you, Willow.

He has no power over you.

Ultron smirked down at them, “ How could you possibly hope to stop me? ”

“Well, like the old man said.” Tony shrugged. “Together.”

They all came at once. The ground shook beneath Willow and this time she let it. The legion crawling through the cracks in the church stumbled as cracks in the ground appeared underneath them, large enough for them to get stuck in. Willow used that as her opportunity to send a powerful concussive blast that threw every legion that tried getting into the church on her side back and off the edge of the city.

The Avengers formed an indestructible circle around the core, being its shield. Together they destroyed any and all robots that came at them and the core, and Willow for the first time that day felt like she was one of them. An Avenger. And a feeling like that could never be irreplaceable.

This was her life now. This was her home.

“ It’s a shame, really. ” Ultron’s voice came through the legion Willow was currently squaring up against. She destroyed one only for another to appear and continue, “ You are so much more. And yet you limit yourself to what? To be like them? Pathetic. ”

“Good thing I don’t care for your approval!” Willow sent a flying kick towards the legion’s head, knocking it clean off. She rolled her shoulders back, “What a dick.”

His voice appeared behind her, “ Such a waste. ”

Before Willow could turn around and blast him herself, a scarlet flash appeared around the legion’s body behind her before tearing itself apart until it was nothing but scrap. And standing behind it was Wanda.

Willow frowned at her, “I had that!”

“You're welcome.” Wanda huffed running back to the battle.

Willow grumbled, “Great, now I’m in debt to two of them. My day could not get anymore shittier.”

Suddenly, she felt a sharp tug in her stomach and her hands were pulsing. As if she were holding the Mind Stone again. Only she wasn’t and the tug got worse.

Where was Vision?

Willow looked around the fight for the android until she heard crashes from above, causing her to look up to find Ultron attacking Vision. The Mind Stone glowed as Ultron’s fingers drew dangerously close to the gem.

Without another moment of hesitation, she shot a blast at Ultron, throwing him into the ceiling and away from Vision, giving the android enough time to recover and attack.

That was strange.

You are its heartbeat.

Maybe Vision was on to something…

Willow couldn’t think too much about it at the moment. Instead she watched as both Vision, Tony, and Thor attacked Ultron’s body with all of their powers combined. Now she couldn’t feel the pulsing and the tugging was gone. Only when the stone was safe...

Hulk finished Ultron off by landing a punch that threw the robot far away.

Only, that’s when the legion started to retreat.

“They’re trying to leave the city!” Thor shouted.

“We can't let 'em, not even one.” Tony nodded. “Rhodey!”

Vision flew off to take care of the legion as well along with the Mind Stone...

Focus, Willow.

“We gotta move out.” Steve agreed as everyone gathered back. The church was littered in legion leftovers. Willow was surprised that wasn’t all of them yet. And suddenly the day just got even longer when she realized there were more. “Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”

“What about the core?” Clint asked, gesturing towards the Vibranium.

That was when Wanda spoke up, “I'll protect it. It's my job.”

“Willow,” Steve called as he was beginning to leave with Natasha and Clint, “you’re coming with us—”

“Nuh-uh, I’m not gonna be your leash kid here.” Willow rolled her eyes. “I’ll ward off the rest of the legion while you guys get those people on the damn boats. I’m powerful enough to keep them all away, I got it.”

Steve watched her for a moment before nodding and turning to the others, “Alright, let’s move.”

With that, Willow watched the three run off, her heart racing at her own previous words. Really, she couldn’t believe she had just said that. Could she really take on all of those robots on her own? Why the hell did she even say that—

No . Willow had made a promise and she was damned sure she would keep it. She wouldn’t not be useless.

Just as Pietro had gotten done speaking with his sister, Willow tapped his shoulder as he walked past her, stopping him before he sped off. “Take me to where most of those bots are.”

Pietro raised a brow at her, “I thought you wanted me out of your way.”

She rolled her eyes, “Right now, what I want doesn’t matter. You want to save your home and I want to be able to do that. And as much as I want to throw you off this rock myself, I won’t. I need you right now.”

He watched her for a moment. In normal circumstances his stare would’ve irritated her but Willow was far too determined, far too focused to care about how much he analyzed her face.

He then smirked, “You need me?”

“Pietro, I swear to the almighty gods above—” Willow glared.

The speedster’s grin only widened, “I know, I know, you need me. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be embarrassed.”

“Fuck yo—”

Without much warning, Pietro had turned into a silver blur and in seconds swept her off her feet and ran her across the city until they stopped a few feet away from a crowd of legions trying to crawl their way up a building.

Pietro let her go and now wore a serious expression on his face, “You sure you got this?”

Willow nodded, eyes focused on the legion, “Yeah.” She then looked at him with a smirk of her own, “You might want to run pretty fast.”

She grabbed as much vibration as she could muster, allowing it to shake throughout her body. And after waiting for the silver blur to disappear away from her area, she released the blast onto the ground.

The shockwave brought down all the buildings surrounding her, including the one the legion were climbing on. The entire building came down and destroyed all of them, leaving their body parts littered among the rubble.

That of course drew more attention from the other legion and caused them to fly the other way.

“Oh no you don’t!” She mustered up another powerful blast and threw it towards them. She’d bring down this entire part of the city if she had to. Willow just had to get all of them and leave none behind like Tony said.

Willow continued through the city, taking out every legion she could find, her blasts aimless but not reckless. There could still be some people left over and she didn’t want to accidently crush them under a building because of her blows.

Just as she was finishing up, her coms came to life with Clint’s voice, “I need some extra hands over here! I have a little boy somewhere, would appreciate the help!”

Since all the legions she had taken out were destroyed, Willow responded, “I’m on my way!”

Just as she took off running a legion came back to life next to her but didn’t move from the rubble. Instead it spoke with Ultron’s voice.

“ My little Zerstörer. Zerstörer. Zerstörer. Zer— ”

She blasted it’s face off. And without looking back at it, Willow ran to find Clint.

Luckily, it didn’t take very long to spot the shuttle and quick glances of the archer searching around the rubble for the boy he mentioned. Unluckily, as soon as Clint found and picked up the kid, a jet that was raining down gunfire, was coming towards them.

Clint and the boy were right in its path. The gunfire would hit them. They would be dead.

Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling.

And suddenly, Willow was back in the clocktower.

She remembered being stuck under debris that had come from above during Peter and Harry’s fight. She remembered struggling to push it off of her ankle for minutes, glancing up every few seconds to check to see if Gwen was still hanging onto the web Peter had shot out towards her.

She remembered getting the debris off of her ankle and looking up to find Gwen falling.

The web had snapped somehow and Gwen was falling again. Willow remembered screaming for Peter, gaining his attention just in time for him to shoot out another web towards Gwen so he could catch her.

He would catch her. He would catch her. He would catch her.

Falling. Falling. Falling. Falling.

The world didn’t slow down for Willow. It just seemed endless, her falling.

It wasn’t until she was inches from the ground did Willow become a coward. Squeezing her eyes shut and covering her ears before she heard the sickening crack of Gwen’s impact.

She remembered wanting to throw up, knowing that her best friend was just a few feet away from her, dead. She remembered feeling like she had failed, like she had let it happen.

She could’ve done something. She should’ve done something.

She was back in Sokovia. And hadn’t realized until the ship was now facing her that she had been running. Running until she appeared right in front of Clint, something sharp hitting her side, right before the silver blur in the corner of her eye could beat her to it.

She hadn’t realized what she had done until the raining gunfire had deflected away from her and the ship that was piloted by Ultron was thrown back and off course.

She hadn’t realized she wasn’t standing anymore until strong arms caught her mid fall and lowered her carefully to the ground until she was sitting and leaning against the person that caught her.

She hadn’t realized she was bleeding until she drew her hand away from her side where the bullet had gotten her.

Pietro had been the one to catch her, his face both startled and pissed.

His words registered in her ears. At first she thought it was all muffled only to realize he was cursing in Sokovian.

“ La naiba, femeie! ” Pietro hissed. His hand was supporting the back of her head as her vision got blurry. Exhaustion was really catching up to her. “You should’ve been selfish! Was one bullet not enough for you?!”

Despite herself, she grinned up at him, “You didn’t see that coming?”

Pietro frowned down at her, “I hate you, you know? You drive me crazy.”

 “Well, that’s too bad.” She laughed only to wince from her injured side. “Ow...”

“Willow!” It was Steve’s voice that reached her ears before he appeared in her line of vision. She couldn’t hear the rest of what he said. But he looked worried for a few seconds as he looked at her wound. That’s when things actually started sounding like a muffled mess and her vision almost became black spots. But she did manage to catch the last of it, “—take her to the shuttle, quickly!”

At some point they had gotten onto the shuttle. Pietro had set her down on the floor and a medic was at her side instantly.

“Am I going to die?” She asked tiredly.

There was suddenly pressure at her side, making her hiss. “She’ll live if we get this treated soon.” The medic said. “The bullet nicked her pretty bad but it didn’t cause too much damage.”

“Thank you.” Was Pietro’s voice that responded. After the medic tied a makeshift bandage around her side, Willow was left alone on the floor of the shuttle with the speedster still at her side.

Willow finally looked at him through her tired gaze, “Is Clint...?”

“The old man’s alive, yes.” His hand wiped a loc strand out of her face. “Worry about yourself, idiot. That was really dumb what you did out there.”

“Saved your ass, didn’t I?” She smirked tiredly. “Now I’m not in your debt anymore. You're welcome.”

Pietro scoffed, “You didn’t have to do that. I would’ve been able to move him and the kid out of the way in time.”

There was a soreness in her eyes that she was far too familiar with. But it wasn’t the kind that stopped her from smiling with relief. “Would’ve. Could’ve. I’ve been controlled by that for the past few months. I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Clint. And his family. I did it for Gw....a friend. Just to make up for all the guilt I had after she was gone.”

“Is that why you look sad all the time?” Pietro asked in a lowered voice for only her to hear. “Because of guilt?”

Willow nodded. For a moment she paused before asking, “Do you want to know a secret?”

Pietro frowned down at her, his expression unreadable. “You don’t have to tell me anything. You’re delirious and should get some rest. Then you can yell at me with your dirty mouth later.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m sane, thank you very much. And perfectly capable of cussing you out in this state either way.”

The shuttle began taking off, she could feel it move beneath her. So much relief and exhaustion hit her all at once that her eyes were becoming heavier and heavier by the second.

Pietro noticed this and snorted, “Told you.”

Willow shook her head, “Whatever. Call it truce? This whole thing between you and I?”

“Giving up already?” Pietro smirked.

“Considering I just took a bullet for you, yeah. I’m throwing in the towel.” It was becoming hard to keep her eyes open so she closed them for a second as she said, “So? Truce?”

Willow didn’t hear his response before exhaustion completely won.

Chapter Text

There was a heartbeat. Her own.

No wait.

“ Put the rock down, Will .” Peter’s voice. “ I don’t like the look of it. ” That night at the museum.

Such a distant memory now.

“ WILL! ”

She remembered her screams that tore apart her throat. The flashing yellow light overtaking her vision. The vicious vibrating in her skin. And after…After that there had been pain.

Wait. Wait. No. She didn’t remember being in pain that night. After picking up the gem. All she remembered was the museum trembling and suddenly she appeared in Strucker’s lab, surrounded by pointing guns.

There was no pain. She didn’t feel anything…

And then she opened her eyes.

The yellow gem—the Mind Stone—was there to greet her. Willow had almost thought she was still dreaming as her hazy mind began to clear.

Vision was sitting in a chair at the far corner of the room which was then when Willow realized her surroundings.

“Ah, you’re awake.” Vision stood, still in his golden cape glory and slowly approached the bed she lied in. “I think the others will be pleased to know you’ve gotten better.”

The room was a lot larger with just as large windows on the left side of the room. She could see a lot of green instead of buildings and for a moment she thought she was back at Barton’s place. But the room was much too modern looking, too expensive. And very much an infirmary rather than a bedroom.

Willow sat up a bit, wincing her side reacted to the sudden movement. Vision watched her quietly and at that moment she remembered everything that had happened in Sokovia. From half of the city being off the ground, to Ultron, and then getting shot saving Clint and Pietro. She didn’t remember much else after that.

“You were brought here right after Sokovia and had been out for a couple of days from a loss of blood. Thankfully, the doctors Tony flew in managed to miraculously save you and stop the bleeding.” Vision responded to the silent question. He brought the chair he had been sitting in before over to her bedside and sunk down into it. “You are a very lucky individual, Miss Bennett.”

“Where are we?” She questioned out loud this time.

He considered the room she was in thoughtfully, “The new compound. Further away from the city and a lot more room, I suppose. That’s what Tony says anyway.” His piercing blue eyes then observed her, the same way he did before when they last talked. “How are you feeling, Miss Bennett?”

“Willow.” She mumbled, situating herself in a comfortable position. Once her back was now successfully leaning against her pillow, Willow allowed herself a moment to take everything in now that the haziness had settled. “Just Willow is fine. I feel like Miss Bennett is a little too formal for me, you know?”

“Very well.” Vision nodded.

“So…” Willow frowned slightly. “Is everyone…?”

Vision nodded again, “Yes, everyone’s fine. The mission was a success. In a way. I suppose it depends on how you look at it.”

“A lot of people still lost their homes.” Willow remembered. The scared faces of the civilians and the flying city. “I don’t know if I really consider that a win.”

“Yes, of course.” He hummed thoughtfully. “I suppose it’s a bitter ending then. Would you like me to tell the others that you are awake? I’m sure they would love to see you.”

Willow furrowed her brows, “You mean they’re here?”

“Well, yes. The new compound is both meant for storage and to make a new home for most of the team. Plus many of them refused to leave unless they knew you were okay. The Captain was very adamant about that.”

That was…interesting. Willow was entirely sure about how to react to this piece of information. They had been waiting for her to wake up. Okay, sure, she may have been shot and apparently lost a bit of blood, but staying until she was awake? Was that necessary?

Willow wasn’t sure if she even knew the right answer to that just yet.

Vision seemed to have been watching her small reactions closely, “You are surprised. Why is that?”

She shook her head, “It’s nothing—just…they hadn’t known me for that long, you know? It makes me wonder why they even care in the first place. They barely know me.”

“Should you know someone well enough to care about them?” Vision questioned, genuine curiosity flashing in his eyes.

“I’m not exactly the best judge of that.” Willow chuckled bitterly. “I’ve never really had the proper experience to know a good answer to that. Except once and…well, that didn’t end well as you can tell.”

The android tilted his head, “You think you are undeserving of someone caring for you? Loving you?”

“No, I think they’re undeserving of my care. Of my love.” Willow briefly glanced at the Mind Stone before tearing her eyes away from it, from him to look out the windows. For a moment she just allowed the silence between them. It wasn’t tense. And it wasn’t somber. It was…It was something she couldn’t quite place at the moment. But Vision’s silence and looking away from him made it easier to keep going, to speak her mind before she shunned it away. “I’ve allowed myself to care and love so much. It led me to naivety, to being abandoned, and making me feel like I wasn’t enough. And now I wonder why I should allow anyone to benefit from it. Why should I give them the opportunity to hurt me all over again?” She gripped the white sheet in her lap, her jaw tightening. “It probably sounds selfish but…I think after everything I’m allowed that, right?”

Again, they had fallen into silence. Despite herself, Willow looked over at Vision to find instead of silent judgment there was actual contemplation on his face. As if he were thinking about the question she asked but never expected an answer. For a second, it was quite comforting. Not to be judged for how she was feeling.

After a couple of seconds, Vision nodded, “I understand.”

She furrowed her brow, “You do?”

A thin smile tugged at his lips, “I may not be human nor understand human emotions the same way you do, but yes, I do understand what you mean. I may not know what had happened to you before you found yourself with the Avengers or in Strucker’s hands.” She flinched a bit at the man’s name. “But I do know that hurt like that cannot be healed in a day. You are not a robot nor an android. You do not settle your emotions easily. And that is okay.”

There was a tenseness that left her muscles at that. The validation. It was so foreign to her that it almost made her both relieved and uncomfortable.

“But…”

Willow sighed, resting her head back, “There’s always a ‘but’, isn’t there?”

Another smile, this time amusement, crossed his face, “I must confess that I believe you just haven’t met the right people yet. Yes, there are those that will wrong you and you will rightfully have trouble opening up after that. But I must caution you to not let your past make you miss what’s waiting for you now.” Vision leaned back in the chair. “That’s the thing about humans. They are stubborn as they are emotional. Sometimes the two go hand in hand.”

The corner of her lip lifted a bit, watching the android, “I thought you were all about not changing humans because they’re perfectly flawed the way they are. Ya know, the exact opposite of what Ultron wanted.”

“Well,” He gave a shrug which was surprisingly unfitting for the android. “I couldn’t help myself. I imagine I won’t be able to help myself in the near future.” Vision then stood from his chair and gestured toward the room entrance, “Shall I alert the others of your current status?”

She hesitated. Because of course she did. Willow still felt she wasn’t ready to open up again. And yet she was starting from the beginning again. Practically reborn into a new life that wasn’t yet hers.

Perhaps it was time to start it now.

“Yeah. Send them in.”

He nodded and started for the door.

“Vision.” Willow called, causing him to stop. She sat up a bit and cleared her throat. “Do you really think there’s some type of link between me and the Mind Stone?”

“Perhaps.” Was his response. Vision stared at her quizzically, “What brought this question on?”

She shrugged when her mind went back to that night at the museum. Picking up the stone. The flash of light. And then the pain…How come she never remembered that before? “I don’t know…I just…maybe there’s something more to how I got here. What if there’s something else to it that I haven’t discovered yet?”

Vision nodded, considering her words. “Well, if you would like, I suppose we could look into this. Together. After Thor had spoken about it, I suspect that there is more that we don’t know. Only if you are willing to.”

“I think I would like that.” Couldn’t hurt right?

Again, he was observing her. “Does this mean you’re planning to go back at some point?”

The answer was already there. Willow was just hesitant to voice it out loud. Scared of what it might mean.

Fortunately, Vision didn’t force her to respond. Instead he gave a single nod and left the room.

Nothing she’s been through or felt would be solved in a day. Yes, she knew that. Hell, she practically wished it could be.

But moving forward is a nice first step. That’s what she wanted in the first place, right?

Only this time it wouldn’t be her past walking side by side with her anymore.

She would try.

Trying was better than giving up anyway.

Tony came first.

He had cartons of Chinese food in his arms as he entered. After settling them down on the nearby desk, Tony moved around some of the holographic screens which if Willow had to guess, had most of her medical reports on it. One of them even had a full body picture of her skeleton. “Heart rate’s back to normal, your fever is gone too.” He then glanced toward her. “Any pain?”

Willow shook her head, “Just a bit of stiffness and maybe a little sore. It’s a lot better than the last time I was shot.”

“Mmm.”

She then glanced toward the food, her stomach grumbling, “Any of those dumplings in there?”

“Depends. Have you been a good girl lately?”

“Fuck off.”

A hint of a smile pulled at his lips, “Emotional reactions seem to be on point. Though the crude language is going to be an unfortunate lasting effect, depending on the patient's mood—"

“Just give me the damn dumplings, Stark! I don’t know if you know this but getting shot can make you annoyingly hungry.”

Tony grabbed one of the cartons, “Oh, I know. That's why I ordered so many.” He handed her the dumplings and the chopsticks. “I ordered a dozen pizzas when I got shot. Then there was this other time where I couldn’t stop asking for double cheeseburgers and you know those fries with extra salt? Not good for my cholesterol, Pepper ended up getting mad at me—have you met Pepper? I don’t think you have. You should though. I think she would like you.”

Willow watched him thoughtfully while eating, “How many times were you shot?”

“Too many times to count.” Tony shrugged before sitting down in the chair Vision had sat in before. “Definitely a lot more than you have.”

“It’s not a competition.”

“Then why am I winning? Billionaire: 1 and Newbie: 0.”

Willow rolled her eyes but didn’t feel like fighting him on it, too engrossed in the dumplings to come up with a witty response. Instead she went for, “Dude, shut up. This food’s got me in a good mood and I won’t have you ruin it.”

For a moment, Tony didn’t say anything and instead watched her finish up the dumplings. Even then he was still silent, watching her with a far away and thoughtful look.

“You know what you did back there?” Tony started. He waved away the holographic screens so that she could see him better. “What you did in Sokovia—”

“Was stupid, I know.” Willow breathed out a sigh as she set down the now empty carton. Her stomach was still yearning for more food. Huh, looks like Tony was right about that. She would ask for more dumplings after this. “Go on. Lecture me. I can take it. I’ll fall asleep but I’ll listen to half of it out of respect.”

He scoffed and shook his head. There was a healing bruise on his cheek which told her that the fight in Sokovia was still fresh. “No. Not stupid—okay maybe a little stupid and reckless. But that just means you make one hell of an Avenger.”

Willow tried not to react too quickly. Tony smirked in amusement.

“What do you think of that?” He asked. “Being one of us? Hmm? Cap says I should’ve waited until you were fully healed and ready—well ready in his eyes. But I think you’re ready now.” Tony leaned back in the chair and took one of the cartons to eat. “So? What say you, Leash Kid? Ready to be one of us?”

“If I say yes will you give me more dumplings?” She asked hopefully.

Tony rolled his eyes, “You’re offered a one and a million chance and all you can think about is dumplings?”

He handed her another carton anyway.

Next came Steve, Natasha, and Clint.

“Well, you’re looking better there, kid.” Natasha commented, a small smile tugging at her lips. She and Steve were the ones to approach the end of her bed while Clint leaned against the doorway, watching keenly. And despite her nonchalant nature she put up, Willow could see her subtly observing her. “How’s that wound treatin’ you?”

Willow shrugged, feeling a little more confident to sit all the way up in bed. “Could be worse, you know? As long as there’s no internal bleeding I don’t know about, I think I’m good.”

“Are you?” Steve questioned, a frown on his face. He’s the one that appeared a lot more serious than the others. “Are you okay? You took a good hit for Barton back there.”

“Thanks for that, by the way.” Clint added from his spot. He nodded to her with a smirk, “Really. You did a good job out there.”

Willow smiled at that before turning to the other two with a reassuring nod, “I’m good. Promise.”

After a pause, Steve gave a short nod and shoved his hands into his jean pockets, “Just try to get some rest, okay? There’s no rush to get back into the field so quickly.”

“Yet.” Natasha mumbled, earning a subtle shove from Steve.

“Anyways!” Clint cleared his throat dramatically as he stepped further into the room. Willow then noticed the plastic bag in his hand as he set it on the desk near her bed. “The kids made you some cookies. Hope you like oatmeal raisins. They like that trash.”

“Laura told you not to poison her mind against it.” Natasha reminded with a smirk.

“What? They are! I don’t get how they like that stuff.” Clint gagged.

Steve rolled his eyes at the archer while Willow grinned as she reached for the bag, “I actually like oatmeal cookies.”

Clint scoffed in betrayal, “And here I thought a new friendship was blossoming.”

Willow never got a chance to grab the bag herself as Steve appeared next to her bed, taking the bag himself and handing it to her.

“It wasn’t that far away.” She grumbled but smiled instantly when she saw the cookies inside the bag. “Plus, you shouldn’t strain yourself, old man. Or else they’ll call life alert and it’ll just take the attention off of me.”

Steve shrugged, smiling slightly, “Can’t take any chances.”

“Also we can’t call life alerts anymore.” Natasha added while Clint’s grin grew ten times larger. “Barton here called them too many times to the point where if they recognize his voice, they’ll hang up.”

Clint laughed, “That was hilarious.”

“It was stupid!” Steve then pointed accusingly at the archer, “And you bet not make the kid do your bidding for you, I see that evil glint in your eyes!”

Eventually, Natasha cleared both men out of the room, along with herself to allow Willow to get some more rest without them bickering around her. But Willow didn’t mind it. In fact, she wished she would’ve asked them to stay longer. But eventually, her eyes did become a bit droopy.

For a few seconds , she thought. I’ll shut my eyes for a few seconds and that’s it .

When Willow woke up, there was a pink box of chocolates and a note beside it:

Sorry, I couldn’t be there when you were awake. But I did manage to go out and get some sweets for you. I didn’t know what type of desserts you liked so I went for chocolate.

I’m glad you’re doing well.

Bruce (Insomniac Hoe 2#)

PS: Don’t tell anyone I wrote that last bit.

She smiled gently down at the note before placing it back on the desk. Her eyes were still heavy with exhaustion so she shut them once more.

Only to open them again when the door opened. She sat up a bit when Thor entered the room with a soft smile on his face, “Ah, so you are awake! Natasha mentioned you were asleep but I came to check on you anyway.”

Willow noticed he was still in armor, “Do you ever…I don’t know, not look so warrior-like?”

Thor looked down at his outfit and frowned, “Well, I always wear this. Of course, not when I’m going to sleep—plus, I should be taking my leave soon. I have much more to learn about those stones, but I wanted to stay awhile and see you awake before I left.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that.” Willow frowned. Thor waved her off and she sighed. There was no point in arguing with him since he was already here. So instead she switched the subject to something that she was a little more curious about, “How long do you think you’re gonna be gone? Are you trying to search for more stones like the Mind Stone?”

“That is the plan, yes.” Thor nodded. He stepped forward and then his large hand patted the top of her head affectionately. “But worry not, little warrior. We will see each other again soon.”

Willow smiled, “I think I’m gonna miss you. Which is crazy cuz’ we haven’t known each other for that long.”

Thor smiled big. He was kind of like sunshine. Warm and bright. Always bringing Willow in a much happier mood than she was before. “I will miss you too. And no. I don’t think that’s too crazy to say.

Just as he was about to step out the door, he stopped. A thoughtful look crossed his face. “But I do wonder…”

Willow frowned, watching him curiously, “What is it?”

“In your reports, it mentioned that you had picked up the stone before. Nevermind the impossibility of it considering the stone was still in HYDRA’s clutches at the time.” Thor was speaking more to himself at the last bit. Willow realized that she hadn’t told him or the others about her being from another universe. Nick Fury knew. And maybe the twins do too. She didn’t know for sure. “No one could pick those stones up and survive. At least not being able to be here and intact, like you are.”

She shrugged, “Maybe I’m just super powerful and cool like that.”

They both knew that was bullshit. But neither of them questioned it any further. Only because neither of them had the right answers.

At least not yet.

“Goodbye, little warrior.” Thor nodded toward her.

Willow waved, “Bye, Mighty.”

At some point she had managed to drag herself out of the bed and go to the bathroom, which thankfully was in the same room so she didn’t have to travel too far.

When she came out of the bathroom, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Pietro sitting in the chair next to her bed.

“Jesus, man!”

He immediately stood, “I didn’t know where you were, so I just decided to wait.”

“You could’ve knocked at least!”

“I did. Three times.”

Willow rolled her eyes and carefully walked back to the bed, “If you’re here, I’m guessing your creepy little twin isn’t too far behind. Which begs the question.” She didn’t immediately get back into bed. She’d been in it all day and wanted to stretch her legs. Plus, she really didn’t know whether to still be guarded around him or not. “What are you doing here?”

The speedster shrugged and was quiet for a moment, which was new. Usually he couldn’t wait to run his mouth and provoke her to no end. Plus, he wasn’t looking at her. Actually he was trying anything but.

“What are you doing?” She questioned, crossing her arms defensively in front of her. “You are too quiet and that is very new territory I don’t think I want to cross with you just yet—”

“The Captain gave us a second chance.” Pietro pursed his lips and finally looked at her. “Which means Wanda and I will be here.” Well. That was unexpected. “Do I like that Stark is involved? Hell no. But if it means the start of a new life for the both of us, then I will do anything to make sure that happens. Even if that means working for the man I hate.”

Willow’s brows raised as she considered him for a moment, “So, what? Are you an Avenger now?”

Again, he shrugged, “Are you?”

“You know if you officially join, that means you have to deal with me a lot more. And possibly me and Wanda not getting along either. Ya think you can be a mediator for that long?”

Pietro smirked, “You’ve always been a challenge. S’nothing I can’t handle. But I think you saving me softened it a bit—at least on her end.”

Willow looked away then, already feeling anxious under his intense gaze that pinned her down.

“I um…” There was a quiet stutter in his voice. In the corner of her eye she saw him shift on his feet awkwardly. Willow looked back at him, seeing his face screw into a concentrated glare as he searched for the right words. Eventually, he breathed out a frustrated sigh, “Look, you didn’t have to save me…You don’t owe me. And let’s face it, I could’ve moved Barton and the boy in time—”

“But I did.” Willow said firmly. “It doesn’t matter what you could’ve done. What happened, happened. You don’t owe me either.” She sighed, seeing no point in being defensive around him. At least she hoped he wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack her here while they were alone. “I was serious about that truce though.”

A snort left his lips, “And here I thought you were losing your mind when you said that.” A serious look settled on his face. “But it…that’s what you want? After everything? After what we did?”

“If we’re gonna be on the same team we might as well at least learn to tolerate each other.” Willow was already halfway there with him than his sister. That was going to be a bit of a challenge on her part admittingly.

“Yeah.” Pietro nodded. “Yeah, we should.” A smirk then grew on his face, “But you have to admit we worked pretty well together. You and I. I wouldn’t mind having a few more team-ups like that.”

Willow rolled her eyes, “One step at a time, Twinkle Toes. You move too fast for your own good.”

“Then maybe you need to keep up.” The amused twinkle in his eye wasn’t missed.

“I could just trip you.”

“And I could try throwing you out a window. You know, just to even the scores.”

“Fuck off, Maximoff.”

Pietro grinned as he backed away toward the door, “And there she is.” He flashed away before she could throw a pillow at his stupid smug face.

She wasn’t smiling. She really wasn’t.

Chapter Text

The last thing Willow Bennett expected upon entering Gwen’s room was to find her friend Peter Parker standing in the middle of the room, dressed in—what she thought was a poorly made Spider-Man costume.

Her first reaction was delayed.

Willow snorted as she dumped her backpack next to a desk while Peter just stood there, staring wide eyed at her. “Where’d you just come from? Some Spider-Man fan convention? Cuz if so, you might not want anyone from school seeing you in that.”

“Um…” Peter gaped, looking like a fish out of water.

A second later, Gwen entered the room only to stop, eyes widening at the scene before her. Willow laughed at her reaction, “See, even Gwen thinks it’s stupid.”

“Oh my god.” Gwen covered her mouth. Not in shock but in mostly disappointment. Willow at first thought that was a strange reaction but shrugged it off, thinking it was just her humor showing at the sight before them. “Oh my god, Peter…”

Said boy fumbled about, tucking the mask he had been holding in his hands into his back pocket, “I-I didn’t know she would be coming in here—you said you were going to keep her in the living room!”

Willow frowned in confusion as Gwen rolled her eyes, “No, I said we were going to eat lunch in the living room before coming into my room to study! That should’ve given you plenty of time to go—”

“A warning! A warning would’ve been great, babe!”

“Wait, are you guys back together?” Willow questioned, looking between them curiously.

“No!” Both of them shouted.

Gwen glared at Peter, crossing her arms like a stern parent, “Well, how are ya gonna get out of this one, Bug Boy?”

“Okay, well, you calling me ‘Bug Boy’ isn’t really helping right now!”

“You were the one that wasn’t careful!”

“And you were the one that didn’t give me a warning!”

Willow rolled her eyes, watching the two. “If the two of you are gonna keep talking like I’m not here, imma head into the living room so y’all can hump like monkeys until the frustration’s all gone.”

The two stared at her as if she had grown two extra heads out of her neck. Willow frowned at their reactions.

“So…she hasn’t realized it yet.” Gwen frowned.

Peter sunk down onto the edge of her bed, “Just give it a couple of seconds.”

Willow watched them in confusion. “Are you guys high or something? Why are the both of you acting weird?” Gwen and Peter just looked at her both in shock and expectantly, like she was missing something that they both knew. “If you guys are back together you could just say….”

Whatever words that were going to spill out of her mouth before had died away when Willow noticed the tears in Peter’s costume. And in those tears were ghastly wounds, with blood seeping out of it. Her stomach churned.

“That’s makeup, right?” She asked, though her voice sounded unsure.

Gwen pressed her lips into a thin line, “She’s almost there.”

“I’m surprised it’s taking this long.” Peter mumbled, watching Willow with an unreadable expression.

“Wha…you…” Willow’s mind was spinning. She was already confused by the way her two friends were talking to each other—like whatever it was that they knew was right in front of Willow right then and there.

That was when her true reaction came.

Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

Her best friend was Spider-Man.

Gwen’s boyfriend was Spider-Man.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

“HOLY SHI—”

Peter leaped toward her and instantly covered her mouth before she could get the rest of her words out. Willow stared at him with wide eyes, screaming at him in both disbelief and anger. Anger because he was fucking Spider-Man. Meaning he had been getting himself into dangerous situations like with the Dr. Connors, muggers, the police. And disbelief because she wasn’t sure what she was seeing was even real.

Willow was yelling at him through his hand while the both of them were trying to shush her

“I told you she would freak out!” Peter hissed at the blonde.

“I didn’t think she would have such a huge reaction!” Gwen argued.

“Gwen?” And just like that, Willow’s yelling ceased and both Peter and Gwen had gone quiet Gwen’s mother’s voice sounded on the other side of the bedroom door. “Willow? Everything okay in there?”

Willow tapped Peter’s hand, telling him to let her go but he shook his head. She made a sound that would’ve been “Why the hell not?” Peter only continued shaking his head, pressing his hand firmly to her mouth. She grumbled.

Just as the door was about to open, Gwen caught it and slid through the gap, blocking her mother from seeing inside of her room.

“Hey, Mom, um, yeah, everything’s good. Will—you know Will, she just saw a spider and freaked out.”

Willow gave a grunt and rolled her eyes. Peter held back a smile.

“But don’t worry, we already killed it. Everything’s good.” Gwen assured her.

A beat went by before her mother responded, “Oh, okay. Make sure to keep it down next time, alright?”

“Sure thing, Mom.”

With that, Gwen finally shut her bedroom door and Peter finally removed his hand from Willow’s mouth. Willow watched the two while they watched her, both holding their breaths.

She wanted to say something now that the shock had subsided—only slightly—but no words came out of her mouth right away. Peter was Spider-Man.

Damn, she should’ve seen the signs before!

Peter suddenly acting all weird. Disappearing and random times. Coming to school with bruises on his face—for a while she thought that Flash was kicking his ass without either Gwen or her knowing about it. Then of course, there were his sly comments about said vigilante whenever someone brought him up. And each time, he’d always be defending Spider-Man.

Because he was Spider-Man.

Shit.

“I know I should’ve told you.” Peter began after a pause. “And you really had every right to know just as much as Gwen did—but I…I just…”

Gwen watched him, surprisingly choosing to stay silent. Willow just watched him both curiously and with brand new eyes.

“I didn’t want what happened with Gwen’s dad….” All three of them went quiet at the mention of the now late Captain Stacy. It wasn’t even that long ago they attended his funeral too. Peter breathed out a shaky breath, keeping his eyes downcast, “Please, don’t hate me, okay? I just thought that if you didn’t know then…the better that you’re safe.”

Willow had nothing against Spider-Man. Honestly, she thought he was hella brave for going out there and fighting against all those criminals in the city. But now knowing that it was really Peter, going out there and fighting all of those people and not some faceless person that she always imagined…

Well, it certainly changed things.

“Willow?” Gwen called gently.

Peter pressed his lips into a thin line, “Please, say something.”

Willow looked from Peter, to Gwen, and then to his wounds.

Finally, she sighed.

“Well, first off I think you should start from the beginning.” Peter nodded as she continued, “But first let’s get some bandages and ice for that cut, Pete. If I have to look at that wound for any longer, I think I might throw up on the floor.” She looked between them unsurely, “That’s a proper response, right? Feeling like I’m about to vomit?”

Gwen nodded, “Yeah, sickness is good. Totally. I felt awful anxiety but vomit’s the next best thing.”

“Oh, good.” Willow placed her hands on her hips and looked to Peter, "Once I figure out how to sort out all of my feelings about this and maybe after I’ve thrown up, I’ve just got one question for you.”

Peter shifted on his feet, “Yeah, anything. Go for it.”

She tucked her hands into her hoodie pockets and stared at him curiously.

“Is Spider-Man looking for a sidekick or…?”

Gwen snorted while Peter laughed in relief, “I’m not really giving out any spots right now.”

Willow feigned disappointment, “Rats, missed my shot.”

Willow Bennett had only felt one thing when she saw the newly folded suit resting on her bed.

There had been a note that came with:

An Avenger always needs their first suit.

T.S

And she had been staring down at it for a good moment with a smile resting on her face. It was the suit from her drawings she had made weeks ago, back when they were staying at the tower. Willow had been indecisive about certain designs but the suit lying in front of her now made her sure that this was hers.

This was her suit.

Back then, Peter was the only one that got a suit. Gwen had a metaphorical suit. And Willow? Well, she was usually on the sidelines, helping in the best way she could. She wasn’t a hero. Not like them.

But this Willow Bennett was new. This Willow was now starting this life with fresh eyes and a new pathway. Strings of her past still lingered and that was okay for now. She knew it wouldn’t go away. Really, it probably never will.

And that was okay too.

She would pick up the pieces. And those pieces would be put back together with care instead of dangling from her neck as shards, ready to cut into her skin at any moment.

She wasn’t on her own anymore. And she would have to make it work.

After staring at it for a little while longer, Willow eventually decided to try the suit on. It fit like one of those old SHIELD suits she wore but fit a lot better. Not too tight and not too loose. The chest part of it was a light blue, almost like armor—similar to Thor’s chest piece (he must’ve had a hand in the designs then). The sleeves were black and stretched all the way to her elbows, on her hands were fingerless gloves that came with the suit, and long black combat boots. And lastly, there was a hood attached to her shoulders. She pulled it over her head and really looked at herself in the long mirror sitting in the corner of her new room.

A grin stretched her lips. “I think I’m gonna like this new me very much.”

Behind her, the bedroom door opened.

“Bennett?”

She glanced over her shoulder to find Steve suited up as well, peeking through the doorway.

He noticed her suit and nodded, “Everyone’s waiting. You ready?”

Willow grinned, “Aye, Captain.”

Steve gave a small smirk, “Alright, let’s head out.”

Nodding, Willow followed Steve out of her bedroom as they both sauntered through the busy halls of the Avengers’ Compound. Her new home. Where her new life officially began. Steve nodded toward one of the larger doorways, “Head over to the main room where the others are. I’ll meet you there.”

“Don’t take too long.” Willow called with a grin as she walked forward, “I got lottery tickets to scratch for the night.”

“You think you’ll get lucky?” Steve called from behind.

“No but I’d love to try my luck anyway!”

It didn't take long for her to find the hangar where everyone else was waiting. Pietro and Wanda were standing together, Pietro being the first to notice her with a special glint in his eyes.

“You clean up well.”

Willow rolled her eyes, ”Don’t ruin my good mood, Twinkle Toes.”

He raised his hands up in surrender, “Hey, friendly fire, princeza. Promise.” She scoffed but didn’t let the lighthearted humor leave her face. Pietro gave her a longer once over before saying quietly for only her to hear, “It suits you. All of it. I mean it.”

With a pause, she finally looked at Pietro to find him in a newer suit as well. His shirt was a darker blue and this time his sleeves stopped short than his last shirt. His silver hair was slicked back, just enough for her to see his playful blue eyes and his newly trimmed beard.

“You don’t look too bad yourself either.” Was all she said. Was all she could say without making it too awkward.

Briefly, hers and Wanda’s eyes met but that was as far the interaction went. Willow moved to stand next to a man in a similar armor machine that Tony wore. 

He glanced toward her when he noticed her staring and nodded, “You must be the newbie.”

Willow tilted her head, “And you must be Iron Man 2.0.”

“War Machine.” He corrected. “James Rhodes. Nice to meet you…?”

“Willow Bennett.” She smiled. “War Machine, eh? A lot better than Iron Man 2.0. I’ll admit.”

James snorted, “You bet your ass it is.”

Willow noticed Vision standing further away from them but their eyes locked and she sent him a smile. He nodded in return.

A winged man arrived at the last second, just as Steve and Natasha walked through the double doors. Willow didn’t get a chance to introduce herself to the other man as her attention was now on the two.

Steve looked at her, “Willow?”

It was him silently asking if she was sure if she was truly ready to take this on.

Willow gave a lazy salute, “Hazard, reporting for duty, Captain!”

With a final nod, Steve drew his attention back to the others. Natasha sent Willow a subtle smile just as Steve’s booming voice sounded throughout the hangar.

“Avengers!”

Hazard will return...

Chapter Text

“A little more to the right.”

Willow squinted as Vision adjusted her posture. It was a new one she had just brought today from her much-needed shopping trip. The poster itself was of a 70s band—which she bought a vinyl record for. Sure, she had never heard of the band herself.

“Do you even know who they are, Willow?” Vision asked about thirty minutes into them trying to get the poster at the right angle.

For some reason it just wouldn’t be straight.

Willow gave sheepish smile, “No—but the poster was really pretty so I couldn’t help myself.”

“Well, I’d imagine so with this sudden interest to decorating your room.” Vision frowned at the poster when it was still crooked. “You’ve been here for a month and now you care about how it looks?”

“Sorry, if I want a little pizzazz in my life—right there! Perfect!”

Even if Vision’s short observation was correct, Willow sure wasn’t going to admit defeat out loud. While, yes, it had been well over a month since she began staying at the Avengers Compound. And yes, her room had been particularly dull and barren during that amount of time. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t tired of staring at bare walls every day.

She was beginning to go crazy at the blandness of it all.

Vision finally stepped away from the wall—well, more like floated down to the floor to survey the now decorated wall. It wasn’t much but it was a start. There were about three posters. Two of them were bands she didn’t know and one of a movie—Star Wars to be exact. And then there were other stuff like fairy lights—vinyl albums hung up on another wall. Green plants in one corner of her room next to a desk and dresser.

And then new and clean bed coverings to her liking instead of the scratchy white hospital sheets. Instead of pale white blankets and sheets she switched them out for a darker green cover with matching pillowcases.

It was slowly starting to look more and more like a bedroom instead of a patient’s room.

“Well, it’s nice to know you’re settling in nicely then.” Vision hummed.

Willow grinned, “Thanks for helping me. I know you probably had something far more important to do than helping me decorate my room.”

“I was glad to help.” He tucked his hands behind his back with a thoughtful expression falling onto his face—although she was sure that was just his natural expression at this point. “I do admit, I much prefer this over Mr. Maximoff’s constant pestering.”

She frowned, grabbing another unnamed band vinyl album from her desk, “Is Pietro being a dick again? If you just let me blast him a few times, Vis—”

And amused smile tugged at the android’s lips, “I assure you, Willow, I can handle it. It’s not like I haven’t endured endless dry humor over the years.”

She snorted, “Well, if, you’re sure. Thanks again.”

“It was my pleasure.” Vision bowed before starting for the door.

Willow took the vinyl disc out and placed it on her new record player. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Vision was still standing in the doorway, watching her curiously. She turned to him with a frown, “Forget something?”

“No, I’m an android. We don’t forget things easily.” They both smiled amusingly at that. He continued, “Speaking of Mr. Maximoff, he was wondering if you’d like to join him and Mr. Wilson and Miss Romanoff out in the city. Before he leaves for DC tomorrow, of course.”

Willow frowned and blinked at the sudden request. “Why?”

“He called it team bonding, I believe. Though, it’s also a possibility he just wants a reason to drink. He’s mentioned the yearning for an ale a few times.”

She held back a snort. A few times was an understatement. Instead, she shook her head jerkishly, “I’m good. Not really in the mood to go out drinking.”

Frankly, she didn’t feel the need to bond. Willow got on well with them already. There wasn’t much else to do there.

Also, having to endure another day of deciphering Pietro’s words was the last thing she wanted to do. Especially when he would be drunk.

Vision nodded, “I thought as much. I’ll relay the message to him then.”

“Thanks, Vision.”

After he left, Willow turned on the record player. The music filled the room, and her muscles relaxed. It was a 70s rock band apparently. Willow usually didn’t listen to much rock, but the first song was okay. It was something to bob her head to at least.

While the music continued playing in the background. Willow took out the books she bought and began placing them on her shelf sitting on the other side of the room. The last time Willow was able to unwind like this was back when she first moved into her apartment. She’d been pretty stressed about the whole ordeal. When both Peter and Gwen left after helping her move in, she remembered nearly having a panic attack because of how overwhelming everything had become.

But after turning on some of Stevie Wonders’ greatest hits, she managed to get through the day without fail. Albeit not perfect, it still worked.

Not even three songs in, the record player was suddenly turned off.

Willow spun around, “Hey! It wasn’t even loud this time—”

The protest died away on her tongue when she saw Steve standing in her room with one of his disappointed stern expressions on his face. Quickly, she wracked through her mind on what she could’ve possibly done to earn such a look as he crossed his arms. “Why haven’t you been going to your sessions?”

Oh. She cleared her throat and went back to busying herself with the books still stacked in her arms, “What sessions?”

The lie was terribly transparent. “You’ve missed two scheduled sessions with Dr. Adams, Willow. Their supposed to be mandatory not optional—”

“Oh, right, those.” Willow pursed her lips, eyes still pinned on the bookshelf. Yet she did not move to place another book down. The silence was jarring now that the music was gone. She shifted onto her feet. “I’ve just been busy. It slipped my mind.”

“Right. Because conveniently other stuff happened on the same day you’re meant to go in.” She chewed the inside of her cheek while staring at her bookshelf absently. “Last week, you go all the way to Queens to pick up some snack at a gas station—”

“It was the only place that had it.” Willow muttered. It had been like that on her Earth. Surely, it had to be the same here.

“You come back empty handed.” Steve pointed out. “And now today, you went shopping for two hours. At the same time your session was scheduled. You’re not slick, Bennett.”

Willow winced. She had come to learn that whenever Steve was upset, he’d address people by their last name.

She clenched her jaw, glaring down at the pile of books still in her arms. “I have to keep myself occupied somehow.  Since I’m apparently barred from going on any new missions.”

There was a pause before Steve spoke again. “It’s for your own good.”

Her cheeks flared. A curse at the tip of her tongue. Willow stopped and blew out a puff of air. “Does Tony go to sessions, or does he hide everything behind a veil of sarcasm and assholerly?”

At that, she heard Steve sigh, “Trust me, I wish you could go.” By then she finally decided to glance over her shoulder to look at him. To study his expression. He was frowning, the disappointment still lingering.

“You all seem to be doing just fine without me—”

“Go to the sessions, Willow.” He spoke calmly, his voice firm. “Unless you prove to Dr. Adams that you’re serious about all of this, you will be grounded from missions. Those are on the doctor’s orders. Not mine.”

With that, Steve left her alone with silence. Now that the music was gone, she was forced to be alone with her thoughts.

She was forced to do a lot of things these days. Despite managing to convince herself it was of her own volition.

Like now. A day later, after some rescheduling, Willow did a good job convincing herself that she did this so she could start going on missions soon. Not because Steve said so. Or the doctor.

This was her choice. To get this out of the way as fast as possible.

The building was somewhere in Brooklyn, situated near a quiet neighborhood. Relatively peaceful for the most part. Willow entered the building, approaching the front desk that met her first. The woman looked up with a thin smile, “How can I help you?”

“I’m here for my appointment with Dr. Adams.” Willow cleared her suddenly dry throat. “Willow Bennett.”

A few clicks later, the receptionist nodded, “She’s in room B12. Right down that hall, the fourth door to your left.” With that, the receptionist focused back on her computer screen.

Willow inhaled a long breath before walking in the direction the receptionist had pointed out. It was a long and wide hall, with windows at the end of it, letting in some of the cloudy daylight.

There was one wide doorway to her right that led into a larger room with a bunch of chairs situated into a circle. All those chairs were occupied with worn and weathered men and women, with one man in the center.

Willow recognized him as Sam Wilson. One of Steve’s colleagues. Or a friend, she really didn’t know. They never had much of a conversation with him.

Another man in the circle was talking, his voice quite low and almost difficult to make out. But Willow managed to pick up some of the conversation when she stopped next to the doorway briefly. “—I saw her sister just yesterday…And I couldn’t—wouldn’t face her, you know? It’s not fair to her. That’s I’m here and her brother’s gone. I saw her and I just froze. she didn’t see me, thankfully. I managed to get out of there before she did. I ran.” The man chuckled humorlessly. “It was so pathetic really. I was running away from some woman I didn’t even know. It—It should’ve registered then how silly it was. But all I could think of in that moment was…What right did I have to be here? What right do i have to be alive? It wasn’t fair to her. I thought…I was doing her a mercy by running…”

Willow’s stomach twisted in on herself, her chest tightening. Her eyes itched and her hands tingled. Those words had already imprinted themselves onto her skin, tattooing itself in thick black lines. But why was she so affected by it as if she knew the man? Willow was a stranger to him. This wasn’t her pain to bear.

So why?

While she practically felt and possibly looked a mess, Sam Wilson just looked composed yet understanding. Compassionate even. “Thank you for sharing that. I know how tough that can be to admit.”

Willow pushed herself away from the doorway and continued forward down the hallway. Four doors down to the left. Willow found Dr. Adams sitting in a chair in a smaller room. Across from her was an empty couch.

The woman had short blonde hair that reached her chin and black square framed glasses. “Ah, you must be Willow.”

She swallowed as she reluctantly moved further into the room, “Yeah, hi.”

Dr. Adams gave a patient smile, “And you’ve been avoiding me.”

“Yeah, I’ve been a little busy.” Willow cleared her throat before sitting on the couch across from the woman. “So how many more of these do I have to go before I can go on a mission?”

“Well, considering you’ve missed two out of five of our sessions, it’ll be a minute before I can confidently allow you onto the field.” Dr. Adams glanced down at her notebook. “But this can be asy. All you have to do is attend the sessions and actively be a participant. Can we agree to do that at least?”

There was a pause until Willow reluctantly nodded, “Sure. We can do that.”

“Good.” Dr. Adams smiled as she clicked her pen open. “Mr. Stark mentioned you are the youngest member to be recruited into the team. But before we touch on that, I want to understand how we got here. Where were you before Baron von Strucker’s facility?”

Willow frowned and picked at the sleeve of her jacket. “You read my file, didn’t you? All the answers are there. No point in me rehashing everything.”

“Yes, but I'd rather hear it from you.” Dr. Adams crossed her legs. “There’s little mention of your background. Where are you from? Do you have any family? Friends? Tell me about Willow Bennett.”

Willow frowned and turned to glare at the window next to her. “I’m from New York.” A different New York. “There’s nothing much about me that’s of interest. I wouldn’t want to bore you.”

“I thought we agreed to make this easy for the both of us.” Dr. Adams pushed her glasses up. “Are you already going to back out of your deal?”

Just get it over with. That’s all she had to do. Just get it over with.

Willow hit the inside of her cheek as she finally spoke, “I was born in Harlem. When I was young, my parents moved us to Queens for my dad’s new job. When I was nine, he left. It was just my mother and I for a while. I moved out, got a place of my own and…well, if you read the file you’d be all caught up from there.”

If Dr. Adams caught the sarcasm in her last sentence; she didn’t show it. “What was your relationship with your dad before he left?”

At that, Willow shrugged, “He was always distant. From my mother and me. Really, I should’ve expected it. Him leaving us. My mother did everything she could to gain his attention, so you can imagine the heartbreak when it didn’t work in the end.”

“And what about you? How did you feel when he left?”

She paused. Willow pressed her lips into a thin line. “I don’t think about him too much. Do I wish that I was enough for him to stay? Sure, what fatherless child doesn’t? But he left. And that’s that. I don’t remember him much anyway before he left. Now these days, all I see is a faceless man with his back turned to me.” She gripped her fingers to stop them from trembling. “Is that sappy enough for you?”

She watched Dr. Adams wrote in her notebook. Willow couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing.

“What about your mother? What’s the relationship there?”

Her chest tightened. Jaw clenched.

Dr. Adams stared at her expectantly.

Willow didn’t look at her, “I used to pity her. When he left, she was a shell of a woman. For a long time, she was just nothing. Kind of like I lost both parents, you know? She was not present. Never came to school events, no birthday parties. I got used to it. I had. to. I practically took care of myself.” She stared at the clock above the woman’s head. “At some point, she finally decided to snap out of it and put herself first. I came home one day to find that my key didn’t work and my things were outside. She said that in order to move on, I had to go.” Willow chuckled humorlessly. “Guess she got tired of seeing his face in me.”

Dr. Adams tapped her pen against her notebook. “And you moved out at eighteen?”

“I was sixteen, actually.”

“Hmm.” Dr. Adams nodded, leaning back in her chair. “Did you have any more family to stay with? No neighbors?”

Willow shook her head but caught herself, “No other family but um, a neighbor did try to offer help. May Parker. She…she offered me a place to stay while I had been living in my car…”

“And what happened with that?”

“I left. I—At the time, I just couldn’t do it. So, I left the next morning after staying overnight.” Willow frowned sadly, picking at the string of her jeans. “She was really sweet about it. I obviously felt bad. Her nephew chewed me out for it.” At that memory, a small smile tugged at Willow’s lips. Only slightly. “It was kind of the first time I had an actual conversation with him. With Peter.”

Dr. Adams caught that. “And who is this Peter? Your boyfriend?”

“A friend. Technically, we didn’t become friends until…until Gwen kind of made that bridge.”

“And is Gwen another friend?” Dr. Adams inquired with a raised brow.

Willow chewed on her bottom lip, her chest still tight. She breathed in. And out. She hugged herself, to calm down. “Yes. She was my friend. She approached me first and she didn’t stop coming back. Still to this day, I wonder what she saw in me. Did she really care or was it just pity, you know?” 

She shivered, trying not to go back to that night. Trying not to remember the fall.

She rubbed her face and looked back at the clock. An hour left. Willow continued staring at that clock. “Gwen became my friend first. She was dating Peter at the time so at some point we became friends. And suddenly, I wasn’t alone anymore. I had people who actually cared for me for once. And…I…”

“Did you perhaps attach yourself to them? because they happened to show you care? Something you haven't received as a child?”

Her muscles tensed, her cheeks flared. “The fuck is that supoposed to mean?”

Dr. Adams pushed her glasses up, “I would like it if you reframed from crude language, Miss Bennett. It’s not productive for either of us. It's a conversation between us and no one else. It doesn’t leave this room.”

Willow frowned but didn’t respond. For a moment, she just continued staring at the clock. Just get it over with. Just get it over with.

So, she huffed, “What was the question again?”

“Did you attach yourself to Peter and Gwen? perhaps in an unhealthy amount?”

Willow shrugged, “Sure, I guess.”

“That’s not being receptive, Willow.”

“Well, what else do you want me to say? Yeah, maybe I got too invested. Maybe I held onto them tighter than I should’ve. Maybe I did get too attached. Are you happy?”

Calmly, Dr. Adams nodded, “It’s a start.” Willow grounded her teeth and went back to glaring at the clock above the doctor’s head.

“Clearly, you are having some type of reaction to us talking about your friends. Do you want to touch on that?”

“No.”

“We have thirty minutes left. You’re doing really well so far.” Dr. Adams gave a genuine smile.

Just get it over with. Just get it over with. Just get it over with.

“She died. Gwen died.” Willow now turned her scowl to the ground. “Peter pushed me away—almost like it was too easy. I was alone again and I…then I ended up here. With the Avengers.” A beat went by. “How many minutes are left now?”

“Twenty-seven.” Willow waited for her to continue. She knew she wanted to say something. Her pen had stopped moving. “Well, it’s pretty clear you have issues with abandonment which is bound to happen after your father leaving, you mother not being present and kicking you out, your friend Peter leaving you after Gwen’s death—”

“I don’t have a problem with abandonment.” Willow said defensively. “I’ve dealt with this for long enough to know not to fear it—”

”But you expect it, don’t you?” Willow bit her tongue, her cheeks flaring. “Have you begun building close bonds with your teammates? After joining the Avengers officially? Have you gone out of your way to start a conversation without a fear of getting too attached?”

“Why should I?” Willow snapped, her fingers twitching. “They're just colleagues. I’m not obligated to do anything—”

Dr. Adams nodded, unconcerned by her outburst, “True. You are not obligated to befriend them. But is it possible that you’re only doing that to avoid getting close to them out of fear? Avoidant attachment if you will—”

Willow glared, “I’m not—”

“Are you perhaps afraid that if you allow yourself to get close to them, they will leave you behind? Are you avoiding creating relationships all together because you fear you might lose it all again? Like your friend, Gwen—”

Willow shot to her feet. The small room stuttered. Her heart was racing, her fingers twitching and spasming. Her breathing shallow.

Don’t tremor. Don’t tremor. Don’t tremor.

Dr. Adams rested her pen on her notebook calmly, “I think that will be all for today.”

With that, Willow darted out of the room and swept through the hall. Wanting to get as far away from that room as possible.

Dr. Adams’ voice called from behind Willow as the front counter came into view.

“Same time next week, Miss Bennett!”