บท 135: arc Five. Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five. Trying Times
Wanda was still floating in the building as guards and police officers raised their pistols at her. Venom could hear one on the phone
"She's free sir, what do we do?" and he heard a small cry, while he couldn't hear the rest of the conversion, he guessed it was 'die' and the building was being abandoned.
Venom stood in the ruined office and heard the screams of the men and women in the building. He knew that pain, that anger that bubbled and hid beneath the surface. Not just him, he dealt with his anger at last and even Liv had yelled and screamed at him, at them all for not letting her die. The final catharsis of realising she was free, that her life was now her own and as she lay weeping on Peter's chest he had simply held her, but right now Wanda was still in the full swing of her anger.
She had been collared and enslaved, Liv knew what that was like and Peter had heard the commands through the collar, knew the compulsion the Stone could give. Trapped behind her own body Wanda could have done unspeakable things, had unspeakable things done to her and now, the office paid the price.
He simply waited though, this wasn't his fight and he had other priorities, he needed the location of either Ultron or the Mind stone, preferably both. If Ultron was using the stone already, who knew how many enhanced slaves he had under his control and for once Peter wasn't looking forward to finding out.
The cries of the officers in the building soon stopped and Peter had already been tapping away at a computer in one of the other rooms. There was little on it to tie whatever they were doing to Wanda and Ultron but as she floated back through he raised an eyebrow at her.
"If you say a word about your fantasy, I will tear you apart." She hissed at him and he shrugged one shoulder.
"You made that, not me, so don't get pissy about it now," he replied, idly memorising as much of the information on the screen as he could.
Wanda tightened a fist and red energy crackled over it, ignoring her and concentrating more on the screen. "The collar reached for your deepest fantasy, a way to make you obey and I was made to go along with it, don't think for one second-" but Peter stopped and raised a hand,
"Then we're both victims here. I didn't like it any more than you did, it was a delusion, nothing more, nothing less. It was a dream, a fantasy, so don't worry that I'll suddenly push you down and expect a repeat. You were in my head, you saw who I live with. You saw how I treat them. I would never, not unless you wanted to. and I'm sorry."
What Peter didn't know was that was part of the problem. Wanda had been raised strictly by Magneto and the thought of sharing a man with four other women was horrifying. Her father would go berserk if he knew what they had done, what image stayed in her mind even as she looked at him. While the collar had made her, and her own power supplied the delusion, she had constructed it as a way to reach him, and it was her own desire and willingness to go along that made it so real, but not just for him but for her. The ache that lingered between her legs was a testament to that.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath, and he sighed. "Coming back in contact with Mind Stone energy awakens my powers. I'm sorry for what I said but I needed you angry and upset to break that stupid collars control. I've been in contact with the stone before, I know how bad it gets. I'm sorry but can we get back to figuring out where the stone is now, so this doesn't happen to anyone else."
Wanda huffed and crossed her arms, "well, don't get any ideas tough guy but the stone is at Shield HQ," and she floated past him. "You coming? Novi Grad is about an hour away, and uh, I can drive if you can't fly?" as she floated out of the hole and he leapt down, they found a cruiser with minimal damage, the rest either crushed or riddled with holes from her attacks.
Well, shit, Peter thought, this is awkward. "Uh no, sorry, can't fly, and eh, yeah don't have my licence either," and Wanda laughed.
"Who said anything about a licence?" and waving a hand, the locks clunked and the car doors opened. Peter raised an eyebrow in suspicion as Wanda got into the driver's seat and with a wave of a red covered hand the engine roared into life and the radio came on.
Great, road trip with 80's music, and even Peter winced as Wanda changed gear to a horrible crunching noise,
she shrugged, "not used to stick," but the car's engine roared once more and Peter and Wanda sped off towards the capital.
After a few minutes of Wanda's bad driving, Peter slowly cranked the window down to let some fresh air in,
"It's cold, close it," Wanda complained but Peter shook his head,
"Unless you want to be riding more than just a stolen cop car, then no, fresh air is a must." and she quickly looked at him,
"One of my powers, uh, makes people like me, especially women, so no, windows stay open, unless you really want to finish what we started," and Wanda responded in something he didn't understand,
"Fucking American, stupid fucking powers," she said, shivering as the chilly bitter cold seeped into the car. Peter shrugged and went to turn on the AC but it blasted out warm but foul-smelling air into the car and even Wanda shook her head. She knew about other mutants from her father. He had been adamant about teaching her and Pietro about the mutant rights movement, and its darker side. Magneto had warned her that the powers mutants possess were varied and that some could even control her mind, so a pleasant scent to make a woman lust after him wasn't out of the question and at least he was, no wait, that bastard wasn't shivering like she was,
"Are you not cold?" she asked innocently and he shook his head.
"I don't feel the cold, shit, uh, these aren't clothes. It's like, armour I guess," and his clothing shifted and became his usual jeans and shirt combo. Wanda tutted, so not only did she have to suffer the cold but the bastard that was causing it wasn't even affected as well,
"Close the window, I'm freezing and I don't care about your stupid power," she said but Peter shook his head,
"Nope, not getting into trouble again cause someone didn't listen. Look, Wanda, I mean this really, I would, and you won't be able to stop yourself, it's potent and in a little car we'll be tongue-deep in each other in less than an hour, so please, just, uh, just bear it okay?" but she shook her head and red energy wound the window handle back up.
"Don't say I didn't warn you then," and Peter moved away from her as far as he could on the seat. Even after the radiation treatment of the new formula and the Mind Stone, Peter couldn't control the pheromone he released, it was a basic part of his biology, no more than her could live without a beating heart and even if he was calm the small car would quickly fill and, well, shit he thought, I warned her.
hmph, she thought as if you are the only one with powers, and a subtle red glow filled her side of the car. Peter looked over and gently pressed an invisible wall with his finger and as he squinted he could see the faint red tinge to the air around her.
that's pretty cool, he thought, but as she stared at him smugly he decided not to mention it. He did however roll his window back down, even as Wanda glared at him. "Use your powers to keep warm then, cause really, it'll get back, barrier or not." and she could only hmph at him.
"We need a plan, we should go get your dad and brother before doing this," he said trying to break the silence
"NO!" she yelled with a bit more force than she wanted. "They would have us hide, have me forgive and forget. My father is a coward, he should have done this a long time ago," and Peter frowned, wondering what she meant.
"10 years, my mother was one of the local girls, not a mutant, not like us." and while Peter listened he wasn't going to correct her, "and one day your Shield came, asking my father to fight, that he could end the war and civil unrest in a few days. All they needed was for him to fight, or help. He refused, of course, he did, after his friend was killed he hid. A trigger-happy recruit, who'd never seen a mutant, before shot at him and of course, he defected it. It hit my mother and after that, he stopped using his powers. He would tell me that revenge only creates more revenge and that this is stupid. Wanda shook her head, "if he knew. If you knew what they did to me, you wouldn't stop me either."
Peter shrugged, "I threw a guy off a building cause he bullied me in high school so uh, knock yourself out," and Wanda laughed.
"Really?" and Peter nodded.
"Yup, and then my girlfriend beat the shit outta him because he bullied her as well, and then he ratted me out to Shield, so yeah, you're both right. If I'd let him go, just taken the higher ground then right now, I'd be home and they'd all be safe. But, you'd be in a collar, and whatever the hell is going on here would be a secret, so yeah, it goes both ways I guess."
Wanda gripped the steering wheel, "I guess it does."
What Peter had said made sense, that fighting Shield was a losing cause, even if they were to blame for the unrest in Sokovia. Wanda had been exposed to the Mind Stone and after had the ability to read the minds of those around her. She knew that the American offices of Shield had no idea it was that bad, she knew they had no idea what the real situation was but she intended for them to find out.
"You know about the stone?" she asked, he was easy to talk to and she was warming to him. After spending so much time on the farm with just her brother, even the catcalling assholes in town had been appealing, but Peter was, nice, yes, she thought, he was nice. She could smell a faintly sweet odour coming from him, so much for his stupid power then, as all it seemed to be doing was making the inside of the cruiser smell better.
"Sure, one of six, it's a repository of all knowledge but uh, not in a good way, like try reading a hundred books at once kind of bad. I used it to uh fix my powers, so I know how bad it gets, the way it breaks you down and makes you feel so small." Peter took a deep breath and let it out, the experience had not been a pleasant one, "but it unlocks potential, you had powers before right? The red energy?" and Wanda nodded.
"My father already told us about mutants, Pietro can access a kind of friction power and father, well, Magneto isn't just a nickname. I uh, can move stuff, use the red energy to manipulate stuff, and a bunch of other stuff. and a bit more, after the stone." Wanda shifted a glance at Peter who was sitting with his head against the backrest of the chair with his eyes closed.
"Hey it's fine if you don't want to say, I mean, I'm a stranger, so sure but, I was injected with a mutagenic compound and bonded with an alien called a sym-, no a Klyntar. It kinda messed things up as now I've got bio armour, called symbskin and a few other abilities as well."
Wanda stuck her foot on the brakes of the car and Peter opened her eyes to look at her.
"Alien? Aliens are real?" and Wanda turned and stared, while Peter shrugged and nodded,
"Uh yeah, gods too, met Thor and Loki. One of my girlfriends is like an intergalactic cop, I think," Peter rubbed his head. "Yeah, she's complicated," and Wanda sat back in her seat, gripping the steering wheel.
"Aliens are real, shit, and you're not a mutant?" and Peter shook his head,
"Uh no, I don't think anyone I know is, well, maybe this one girl but uh, a friend of your dad took her before I found out."
Wanda frowned and sighed. "They do that here too, we hear the stories, of people like me and Pietro, they disappear. My father, he ignores them, but I know it bothers him, I," Wanda hesitated for a moment, "I joined Shield to make a difference, but, they're not like the ones you know, they are more like a monster, from a story. I was held without food for days before they brought me to a room with a stone in it," she swallowed, trying to force herself to speak. "It, it tore at me, told me I was nothing and showed me things. My father dying as a big silver man put his arm through his chest, him killing a man with a coin. Pietro dying, riddled with bullet holes and I-" tears began to drip down her face and Peter rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Pull over," and as she slowed the car, she collapsed against the steering wheel. Peter could only rub her back as she sobbed and cried.
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