Wandas POV

That voice.

The one that could set a fire through my body with just one word. The voice I haven't heard in a month. The voice that is now turning my blood to ice. I can't move. I don't dare to look. I'm hardly even breathing. I don't want it to be real.

"Oh, come on now. If I was hearing correctly, you were about to tell Tin Man over there how I deserve to have a chance, right?"

She has that teasing tone that she use to carry around with her every time we met. But this time there's something else laced in it; the sinister part of her coming out, making me shudder.

Then there's a cold hand pushing some hair off of my shoulder. "Giving me the cold shoulder, babe?" It's dripping with fake concern.

"Get your hands off of her," I hear Nat growl.

I now have my eyes closed. This is the moment that could bring me all of the answers I've been agonizing over, everything I thought I wanted to know. And I can't face it.

"Oh. Ouch. And here I thought we were best buds, Nat?"

Her tone isn't giving me much hope.

"Yeah, and I thought I knew you," she spits out.

"I'm truly wounded. You do know me. You all do. But unfortunately that didn't play into how you reacted. Didn't give me a chance. Yet, here you are now. Thinking that, what? You could capture me? Throw me into a cell? Once again with out so much as a trial?"

"Oh, come on. Don't try to play the victim here, Alex."

She moves away from me and over to Tony, stepping right in front of him, getting right in his face. She seems to have no fear of us. Not that I've seen her face. I only looked when I felt the absence of her presence.

"My dear, dear, Tony, I'm not. Clearly you don't know what a true victim looks like. But I do. I've seen it first hand. Had to live through the experience. All of you think you're so much higher up than the rest of us, but you forget your true beginnings."

"I was captured -"

"Ah, yes. Tony's little sob story. But what got you there in the first place?"

"I changed everything as soon as I was back. I -"

"Yes, you did. As soon as what you were doing effected you, you changed. You're selfish, don't try to pretend you're not."

"And what are you doing that you're so much better than us?" Steve steps up.

"Oh, Mr. 'merica, I don't think you want to go there."

"I think I do. You weren't even seen at the other locations yet you're standing here in front of us talking. I have to believe there's a reason."

She chuckles. Not the one I fell in love with. Some maniacal laugh that doesn't go beyond the surface. "Stevie, you're pretty. Just go with that."

"Come on. You're going to show your face to us, but you aren't going to explain anything?"

"Ya know, Tony, I tried that before. See where it led us?" She gestures around to where we all are.

I'm surprised no one has moved to take her down. I guess my little speech about giving her a chance worked?

Although it appears that she may be burning whatever bridge was left.

"You're just showing your true colors now, Alex. You're the one trying to say you're better, not us," Tony is clearly getting upset. His mask is down and he's getting right back in her face.

"Actually, I never once said that. Or tried to say that." She looks over to the side enough for me to catch a glimpse of those blue eyes. My breath hitches at the sight; there hardly seems to be any life left in them.

"I've known for a long time what I am. I can't change it or what happened to me. And I know I'm a monster, I'm not denying it," she's off somewhere in another world as she talks quietly. "But I was.. I was trying to do something to make up for all the messed up shit that's happened. I was trying to use this curse for something good. Then you all just decided to step in and fuck it all up."

And the fire is back, burning it's way trough her words.

"If you all had just stayed away, I wouldn't have had to run away! I wouldn't have gone into hiding, I wouldn't be doing this! I would still have-" she cuts herself off as she finally looks at me. "I would still have you."

My mouth opens because I know I should say something, anything, but that's as far as my brain functions, completely shutting off.

She nods her head a few times accepting my silence as an answer. But it isn't one. Is it?

"Then why are you doing this now? You don't have to. You didn't have to do any of it. You could have just-" Nat tries to calm the situation down but it doesn't work.

"Could have what? Joined your little troupe? Became an avenger and showed up only when the world was on the brink of extinction? Or be controlled like the puppets you all are? Or, better yet, think everything on this world is fine just because I have some stupid ass powers I didn't ask for?"

"You know what, you keep trying to tear apart what we've done, but we've saved this planet and many others like it. Saved trillions of lives. So you can take your sorry ass blame game and shove it-"

"Enough!" That gets them to stop. "This is getting us no where. What the fuck are you even trying to do, Tony?"

"I-"

I hold up a hand, "no. I don't even want to hear it. And.. Alex.."

Her eyes visibly soften once I speak her name, the fire from the fight with Tony extinguished.

But then they're replaced with the same one I saw when she got here. Emotionless. Whatever brief hold I had on her, well, it's gone.

"Don't even try to talk to me. After everything.. I loved you. I was going to spend my life with you. And you.. you did exactly what you said you wouldn't do," she's forcing the words out with anger, but I know she's holding back the hurt. I broke her. Like I said I wouldn't. But I can only focus on one thing that she said.

"Loved.. loved me? So.. you don't.. you.."

"No," it's all she says, clenching her jaw shut from saying anything else.

And I want to break down right here. It's like losing her all over again. Any hope I had left in me vanished. She was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, too. She was the one that gave me hope, let me believe I could have a life again.

And now she's taking it all back, grabbed it right out of my hands and threw it to the wolves to devour. And I can't even be mad. Because I did it to her first.

"So if we're all done with the pleasantries, I believe I have some business to tend to. I'd say it's been nice to see you all again, but I wouldn't want to lie right to your faces," her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

"You don't have to do this, Alex," I plead with her despite wanting to curl into a ball.

"You don't get it. And you probably never will. You had you're chance back in the medbay.." once she brings up the fire incident, a flash of guilt washes over her. Turning to Nat, she speaks once again, "I am so sorry about that, Nat. If I had known you were there I could have stopped you, I could have saved you, I should have.."

"Hey, it's okay, Alex. I'm okay. You saved me. You saved all of us," Nat assured her.

"Okay. I'm glad you're okay. I'm just.. really sorry. I never intended for you to get hurt. Or for anyone to get hurt for that matter. How.. how's the kid?"

"It's okay. I know you didn't. Otherwise you wouldn't have saved us," Nat takes a warning glance over to Tony, "Peter is fine. Recovered really quickly. We are all okay because of you."

"Yeah but you wouldn't have been in that situation if I hadn't-"

"What? What were you doing, Alex? Why were you there? Who are you working for?" Tony cuts her off.

And him snapping at her like that changes her demeanor immediately.

"No. I'm not doing this. I don't need this. Fuck you, Tony," she starts backing up as Nat and Steve both turn to curse Tony out.

Tony ignores them, though, "wait!"

"Why should I?" She's about to turn around when I hear it.

I hear the other jets landing. Hear the doors opening. Hear the sound of the rest of our team running for us. Tony called everyone here. He's trying to corner her.

Alex must know they're coming to, but her reaction is to laugh.

What?

Everyone slowly comes around, trying to surround her.

"Why is this funny!?" Tony screams.

Her head snaps to us, the void in her eyes tearing the breath from my lungs. It doesn't matter how many times she looks at me like that, I can't get use to the lifeless look in those beautiful eyes.

Hearing her laugh must have set Tony off, "You're trapped!"