Fandom Running In Your Shoes (MCU Avengers)

[MePersonally]

“What the hell...?”
Where had he landed? Normally he was the one to shift reality. He was the one to change everything, making it hard for everyone to follow. Now it was different. Dr Stephen Strange was caught in a spell, that slowly drained his energy. And he hated that. He hated feeling so helpless. And again, those hooligans didn’t stop changing memories. He could feel Wanda’s pain pulsing through the wallks that surrounded them, it was really hard to ignore how the spell was feeding on her. She didn’t notice, and he wouldn’t tell her. That plan had been stupid from the beginning. And he had believed in in. Why had he believed in her stupid fangirling about how well it would work. They were caught, all caught.

For a moment, Strange played with the thought of tearing the illusion apart, but that would mean death to Wanda. He didn’t really want to kill her, but maybe it was necessary...?
He shrugged to himself. If he found the energy lines of that spell, maybe he could manipulate it. Maybe he could even stretch it or shorten it, so they would somehow get out again. He really wanted to go back to his body by now.

Also, it was amazing, how well it all fit. That woman had done a lot of work to hide that memory. Natasha, Natalia, whatever she was. She was a tortured soul, who had this memory buried deep inside her. Still, the spell had dug it up, displayed it to them, integrated them. Magic never failed to surprise him.

Passively watching the whole scenery, but determined to not fit into the role model that the woman had given him, he was one of the men near the door, who were to make sure that she wasn’t going to run again. He shrugged and leaned against the wall.
“Just stop talking Russian already. You’re only digging her deeper into this”, he sighed, bored. This memory was bullshit. But did this spell have a forward button? He hadn’t found it yet...

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Tony was in a Uniform again. He sighed quietly, as he saw that young girl and felt like an intruder. This was definitely not for him to see. The feeling of not belonging there was the worst of all. And Strange sighing behind him and commenting everything didn’t make the situation any better. It was his part to comment everything. He was good at that.

Confusion was also a big part of Tony’s emotional state at the moment. Those sudden changes and shifts, being thrown around from A to B, waking up in different clothes, it was like a bad dream, where he was betrayed again. By Natasha, by Clint, Steve and all the others. Had he really thought that he could trust anyone but himself? Okay, to be fair, Pepper was trustworthy, too. But she wasn’t there at the moment.

Helplessly watching himself laugh at that helpless little girl, he couldn’t help but feel guilty about how he had treated Natasha. She had been on his side, after all. At least until she had helped Rogers...
He shook his head. This had to stop. This dream had to stop. She was his friend, after all. He didn’t want to scare her or tug on her clothes, touch and kick her.
“NO!”, he screamed and stepped back, fighting the strings that wanted to pull him back, “I’m not doing this to Natasha!”
He wouldn’t be mean to a scared girl. She was the only ally he had left.

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

"Oh God," Clint groaned, grimacing as he looked down at the girl who was undoubtedly Tasha. They always knew they'd each had things in their past, in some cases they knew certain details. But it was of the big picture, they didn't go into the little stuff, all that led them there. Clint never talked about the way his father beat him and Tash... well she never talked about this. He suddenly felt out of her league in the fucked up category.

Here he was... and like with Tony they were set in the roles her mind saw them in unconsciously. That couldn't be helped, he knew that... and yet, god dammit, it hurt so much to see himself set up like one of her tortures. At first he was hurt, selfishly. After all they'd been through? How could Nat ever see him like this? Ever think of him this way... no matter what happened, Clint would never hurt Natasha. It helped that the one time he was brain controlled Natasha could kick his ass six ways to sunday to stop him. But she should know, after all they'd been to each other over the years.

"У Вас есть... you have no idea what's going to dig her deeper, I do," Barnes barked, at first in Russian and then correcting himself. MePersonally

But as Clint looked at her, and Barnes and that wizard dude argued, as Tony showed real strength in stopping, Clint stood there motionless. It dawned on him as he looked at the scrawny little thing, bruised and with some electrical burns along her legs. They may be tormenting her but... this was Natasha, and to her... that wasn't an issue for her. Sad, maybe, but it wasn't, that was part of life, that was just how people's nature's were. No... all Clint could see as this scene played out, was as heartbreaking as it could get. Nat was just alone, no one of them on her side, no one of them were being tortured with her. Clint knew for a fact there were more people in her 'class' if you wanted to call this demented KBG bullshit class.

His blue eyes teared up some and he walked forward towards her, his chest felt so much heavier. He just couldn't help it, memory or no, Wanda's powers or no, he just felt like a total dickbag. Because wasn't she right? Clint had left... he went and got a family, retired from all the spy stuff. Left Nat alone to deal with it all, but he'd tried to involve her! He had, he'd brought her into his family, his kids loved her, he forced her over as many holidays as he could, for christ sake they knew Auntie Nat more than any of his or Bobbi's actual family members. But... well it didn't change that he left as her work partner... left her to deal with these burdens on her own while he got out from under them finally.

"You're not alone Natasha," Clint ground out, dropping down to kneel next to the mattress and the little girl Nat would never want any of them seeing. "God dammit, you should know better than that! Why'd you let it get that far, huh? One call... one call and I would have come! But you're too damn prideful, you know that?" He grumbled, a little hurt seeping into his tone as he tried to push it out, keep it straight forward. But... dammit! The rest be damned, Nat and him had been through too much for her to end up like this... he'd told her she wasn't alone anymore, that he'd help her take down those bastards in Budapest and he had meant it every day going forward. Jessy753

 

[Jessy753]

Wanda walked automatically over to Pietro. She felt the spell moving her and it was odd even for her. Usually she had enough control of any spell to control her own role in things. But not this time. "He said time to move, Red," she sneered and lifted her hand before her hand shot forwards as she slept the other woman. Wanda was shocked with herself as she stumbled backwards away from the little girl. She looked towards the Winter Soldier who seemed to take the lead in things by talking Russian with Natasha.

Her attention went back to Strange who appeared to still think he knew best. But if this just proved anything it was quiet the opposite. She opened her mouth to tell him to just shut up. He hadn't really helped them or anything. If anything he was the reason why...all of them were stuck in here now. He had supposed to be their help but proved to be the opposite by being foolish enough to weave both reality and memory. Seeing her father had brought them into this situation in the first place.

She watched the two men starting to quarrel about who knew better and rolled her eyes. It at least gave her the opportunity to step away from Romanoff to stop herself from hurting her any further. "You two don't learn anything? Quarreling with allies have brought us into the situation of having to fix that childish behavior. So perhaps instead of this little pissing contest how about you two actually try to help?", she pointed out to Strange ( MePersonally ) and Barnes ( FarFlungDreamer ). "Acting like you're superior to all of us won't help anybody, Strange," she told the wizard.

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Natasha's gaze went to the Winter Soldier and she obviously wasn't as good in hiding her surprise as she is nowadays. It was like she just realized he was here as well. "Soldat..?", she asked him confused awaiting a more defined order of what she was to stop. The little girl clearly was imitated by him unlike her older self from seconds ago. All the playfulness around him was gone and replaced by a rather timid persona that would challenge the Winter Soldier only when they were alone. But the two soldiers tormenting her making her fight for her only meal on the day were there as well as the others. So there was no way she would speak much around them. She needed food after all or her shoulder with the bullet wound would never heal. She ignored the man who called someone Natasha. It wasn't her name even though it got really close to the American version of her birth name. MePersonally

Her confusion only grew as she heard one of the soldiers cry out in English. It brought a confused look on her gaze and she seemed to move back onto her bed. Her gaze fell back to the soldier who was represented by Pietro. "What do I need to do today?", she asked getting slowly up from her bed. Her skin was extremely pale to the point of blue. The room was cold and she had absolutely nothing but some shorts and a top to shield her from the freezing temperatures outside. Natalia took the slap just like that. No cry of pain or even a flinch. It was normal every day life for her. The female guard though went to argue with someone at the door and the Winter Soldier. Well, that one was unusual. Normally the guards were afraid of him like the girls were.

She's taken aback though as suddenly another guard step forward and she stepped back with a flinch. Her injured arm had moved to quickly for her to be able to relax. Again the same name: Natasha... Who was Natasha and why did she feel like those people meant her? Why did everyone suddenly speak English? It was the only awareness she had of the spell right now. "Why would I call you? I don't even own a phone," she replied lifting her little chin like she felt the need to defend herself even though she had no idea what this was about. FarFlungDreamer Her gaze went back to the Winter Soldier and Pietro "Can I go, now?" It was the first time she'd rather fight than deal with all of those guards.

 

[Hammy]

As Wanda screamed somewhere around him, Steve caught Natasha before she could crumple to the floor. He was ready to ask her what was the matter, even though he might have known. All of this, it was bearing down so hard on their group. They were going to break down at some point. Maybe that was the idea.

Right at that moment, though, he felt that bizarre pulling sensation come back. At least he knew what to expect this time, but he still found himself wincing against it. It hurt, but it wasn't real pain and Steve did his best to just breathe as it passed over him and the room swirled around him. There was nothing wrong. It wasn't real.

But it sure felt real as Steve found himself in a new environment, circled around Natasha with a new group that wasn't new at all. A shudder ran down his spine. She was just so young. It reminded him too much of horrors he'd faced in all his time. Yet still, he didn't protest any of it. Somehow, that didn't seem like the right thing to do just then. It was sick, all of it, but Steve had to keep calm.

Tony was the first to burst out and resist, blubbering and trying to get away. Steve reached out and put a hand over Tony's back, stopping him from moving any farther. It wasn't something he had even meant to do; he just- had. Steve wasn't sure why. Was it an instinct to comfort? Or just cruel remnants of a memory long passed? MePersonally

Despite that and Clint's futile efforts to get through to Nat, Steve's attention was on Bucky. It had been clear for a while, but, especially after the last memory, Steve couldn't help but find himself fixed on the strange connection between him and Nat, that particular way they spoke to each other. Something from his time as The Winter Soldier, almost certainly. Something that he'd kept to himself, and Steve couldn't blame him for that. But he also couldn't help but wonder.

"How do you know her?" Steve murmured, something else he hadn't entirely meant to do. For a moment, he thought he'd only thought the question before the realization that he'd spoken hit him. FarFlungDreamer Jessy753

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

"Do?" Pietro repeated, shocked from answering as his shocked twin slapped the tiny girl. This was out of control. Wanda wasn't in control, and neither was Natasha. The spell was running wild. This was officially a danger to Wanda. Whether it was that savage, the cyborg, or if it was the Black Widow Wanda needed out of their heads. Now. Pietro was going to need to take drastic action unless something changed.


Tasha flinched and worry lines dug above Clint's eyebrows. Ah, dammit he was being stupid this was some deep memory for Nat and she was as stuck in it as Tony had been his. Only way out was to reach this ghost of her and then bring her back.

He tried not to sink into the despair, that she was defensive and he was stuck here -by her- as some enemy. Defend herself... from him? But, no, he needed to focus on the logic, on this magic shit and just get them all out.

"Why are you asking me!?" He asked slightly flustered. This was the Black Widow, Pietro thought.

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

Yelling, pleading, and outrage all took place from the group around him. All of which was going to muddle this all the more. It was already wrong, he wasnt in a certain role but the problem was this was fuzzy for him. These younger years he hadn't even realized he'd known her that length of time.

But she recognized him suddenly and he felt a little clearer as she acted submissive and waited for orders. He saw a certain amount of fear in her eyes, which he supposed he couldn't blame her for, even if he didn't exactly remember what he'd be doing.

<"No,"> He said firmly over the speedy ones babbling. He didn't know what leaving entailed but everyone else needed to get ahold of the situation. Apparently Natasha was better than even he thought at keeping what she had been through, what had forged her silent.

Steve, ever composed, suddenly spoke to him in a low mutter. His gaze grew worried, foggy for a moment with a heavy look before he straightened to answer properly.

"I..." He glanced at Steve, guarded look slipping away as he squared up with him. "Here," He motioned around and his voice lowered. "In the red room. I trained these girls for a short time, Natalia was included. " He didn't look Steve in the face then. Train was such a polite word, as if he'd been some sort of instructor. Some tutor, the thing none of them were seeing was Natasha was waiting for the punishment and orders they rebuked from. It was all she knew, and all she was going to feel safe with until they could turn her head out of this place. "It was the longest I stayed... out," He added, as if that would help the things he left out. But for now, that was all that was important.

 

[MePersonally]

When Steve stopped him, Tony turned right around and slapped him into the face. A moment of silence followed, where the genius tried to make sense of his own actions. If he did something stupid or unpredicted, it had -until now at least- always been thought by his mind before. This being out of control felt odd and uncomfortable. But he had worked on that a lot the last few months. He had found methods to stop himself from doing random things, had started to try to think first. And this was a horrible remission.
Still, the slap had served its purpose. Steve had stepped back and let him walk towards Strange, since he seemed to be the only one aware of the situation. He looked up at the huge man and shortly asked himself how the view was from up there. If he would see anything that Tony missed from his position.

Wanda held a little speech and Strange ignored her professionally. Tony knew that facial expression way too well. That guy didn’t think that he was superior, he was. It was a fact that the Iron Man understood way too well. All in all, it was a little creepy how much he could relate to this man in general.

“A gun”, Strange stated and looked around, “She wouldn’t feel so helpless.”
“Do you wanna kill us?!”, the Iron Man exclaimed with a dramatic expression on his face, “She’s a weapon herself.”
“Hm”, Stephen grumbled and scratched his beard.
“What do you do anyways? I mean, you’re just standing here, watching... I mean, who are you?”
Tony’s arms followed his words with wild gestures.
“I can bend reality. Do magic”, the doctor simply stated, “Before that I was a neurosurgeon.”
Tony nodded.
“So you can bend reality. Get us outta here”, the genius suggested and crossed his arms in front of his chest
“I can’t”, was the simple, and very unsatisfactory answer.
“Why not?!”, Tony demanded to know, his eyes filled with dramatically exaggerated despair.

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Silence, then Strange moved his hands and somehow at the exact same moment, Clint said something to Natasha. There was a small rip in the spell, which was indicated by a ray of light, which tickled Natasha’s nose for just a little second. Then it was gone again and Stephen leaned against the wall, exhausted. No one had noticed. What the hell was he doing in here anyways?

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Rhodey stood by and watched. It seemed like he wasn’t really noticed, except for the gun he was carrying. He was inside a quite young body, maybe about 19 years old. When Tony stepped back and shouted out that he wanted to help Natasha, that he wanted to fight this, something clicked in his mind. He wasn’t able to move, but he could open his mouth and speak. It wasn’t much he could do, but it was something.

If he had known Natasha better, maybe he would have had an idea what to say, too. But... Somehow, Barnes seemed to know a lot. Nevertheless, everyone was so busy with themselves, no one noticed what the soldier wanted to tell them. He knew how to wake her up! And Wanda was right. If they kept on acting like children- well, like Tony- they would never reach anything. From years of experience, Rhodey knew what to do.

“SHUT UP AND LET BARNES TALK!”, he bursted out of nowhere and made everyone shut up and stare at him.
“Doesn’t matter why he knows her or what happened, we’re stuck until he wakes her up. So let him.” The Colonel smiled at Barnes and nodded. “You’re in command, Soldier.”

 

[Hammy]

Steve flinched at being slapped. It didn't hurt all too much, it just came so suddenly. He reached up and touched his face - not really his face - out of sheer bewilderment. Maybe he shouldn't have been too surprised. Tony could be so volatile, especially under stress. It was obvious that he didn't want anything to do with Steve anyway. That wasn't exactly conducive to what seemed to be the goal here, but that was how it was.

Steve listened to Bucky's admittedly vague explanation. It wasn't too much, but it was more than enough for Steve to understand how much these memories hung over Bucky like a dark cloud. Even as Rhodey - or he thought it was Tony's friend anyway - shouted over them all, he couldn't think about much beyond what Bucky had been dealing with, and how much harder it must have made reliving all these moments. It was hard on everyone.

"It was never your fault," he said to Bucky. That was the only thing he said, allowing Bucky the space to do what it was he needed to do. If anyone knew what to do here, it was Bucky.

Steve wished he could have helped Bucky back then. He could have helped, if he hadn't been frozen at the time. It was ridiculous, but he felt some responsibility for where Bucky was. Steve had been unable to save his friend in the first place after all. If he'd just done better...

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

James nodded to the man who'd been in Stark's mind, War Machine who had turned them in, a true supporter of the cause, but also held a close bond to the avengers. A small thanks to be given an excuse out of preying questions. But not to Steve... the one person he'd likely always answer to.

"I wish that were true," He replied with a heavy weight to his voice. He wished he could think like Steve, place it all on Hydra and then the Russians... but while he may have not chosen to do all this... he'd still done it. They all died by his hand.

He cringed suddenly, knowing what he needed to do to reach Natasha, to push her out of her young and scared state. What the Soldat had to do. He closed his eyes, to shut out Steve and his friends, all of them... who were never going to understand Steve protecting him when they just saw more of what he did. Bucky swallowed, swallowed his drowing wish and hardened his resolve.

"I'm sorry pal," Bucky glanced at Steve from under his hair, guilt filtering into his face. It was too late anyways and they needed to get out. Natasha didnt need anyone else seeing more of this, let him save her that pain at least. "I never wanted you to really see it..." he trailed off, too hard to say that Steve seeing or knowing of what he'd done all these years was enough to make him want to give up. He wondered, briefly, if any of it was enough for Steve to finally give up on the old James Buchanan Barnes he so dearly remembered. If it was... he was pretty sure that without his brother in arm's endless hope, endless refusal to let him believe it was all gone, James wondered if Bucky would finally die inside him, snuffed out completely by the darkness without the one support hed ever had.

He turned away from Steve, casting the thoughts out. He'd never make it through this if he kept thinking of it. So he walked up to the young Natalia and pulled up the vague recollections of the Winter Soldier training her.... it hadnt been kind at first. He'd been tough if not cold, bound to reform the wild independance that would provide him so much joy in their time together later.

He walked towards her and reached down to grab the child by her chin, metallic hand grasping either side of her jaw and his thumb digging into her skin underneath. Enough to cause her pain but not so hard he broke anything. He jerked her by the chin towards him, forcing her to stumble nearer to him.

"Now," He said, deciding english would get her closer to the mind frame he needed to coax her into. All he had to do was get her to remember why she'd questioned so much in this memory. What it was she used as her anger to form discipline... instead of being sunk in the memory of the guards making her plead for basic necessities. But the Winter Soldier hadn't been nice about anything.

"Get up, Natalia Romanova," He ordered. "We have much to do. Are you willing to comply or do you seek something else?"

 

[Jessy753]

Wanda was afraid going back to the Black Widow. She didn't want to hurt the woman and who knew what Romanoff would do with her once they were out of this spell again. She really didn't want a Black Widow seeking revenge for something Wanda couldn't control. Well, thinking about it including Natasha wasn't so smart in the retrospective. If they ever got out the brunette would really need to watch her and Pietro's back. This shit better work or she could face a lot of unhappy and skillful people. She worried because they were already three people into the spell and all of them still acted like freaking kindergarten children

"Because Mister I'm-Better-Than-Anyone-Else isn't as good as he thinks he is," she mocked Strange as Stark seemed to be unimpressed about what was going on. In all honesty Wanda was as well. Both her brother and her had thought it was a good idea to include the man. But in retrospective he had brought more chaos into the situation instead of helping he was the reason why they were in this mess. He was the one to bend reality with a memory showing them their father and her losing track. MePersonally

Suddenly something changed just for the briefest of second. She gasped as it hurt her and she looked around for any indication of what was going on. But she couldn't change things and everything was the same. But Wanda noticed that Strange was panting and leaning against a wall. She walked over to her brother and whispered "What do you think is wrong with Strange? He acts even more odd than usually." FarFlungDreamer

Her gaze went to the other Avengers Clint and Steve. She knew those two tried to help and most likely would succeed in one way or another. Yet this was something all of them needed to do. She sighed a little knowing that none of them actually deserved going through their worst memory again. Well, probably Stark just a bit because of what he had brought to her and her family. First he destroyed them with his weapons and then he locked her up in the Avengers base followed by being locked up due those stupid Accords. Still it had to be done to unite them for a bigger cause. In case the world needed them even strange had agreed with that. Eventually she walked over to Steve and Clint in order to find a solution out of Romanoff's memory. "How did you guys get her out of my mind control? She wouldn't have woken up without help back in South Africa," she asked them unsure if it was smart to mention that they once had been on opposing teams. Hammy FarFlungDreamer

 

[Jessy753]

How do you know her? ( Hammy ) What a silly question to ask. He trained all the girls here and hence he knew who she was. Besides everyone knew her ever since she had tried to fight her way out of this Academy. She was pretty sure that the Mistress of this place most likely made sure that all the guards knew since she had killed some of them on her escape out of this prison. That was why they were especially cruel to her right now. She was sure it had something to do with punishing her even more for what she had done. So maybe acting like they didn't know what was going on was the new test they put her under. To see how long it takes for them to break her - to make her compliant in thinking she was safe with those people.

She observed the situation and frowned even more about how those guards behaved with one another. Why was one of the guards, slapping the other one and she got startled a bit over the other man suddenly yelling something about a Barnes. Heck this situation was so confusing and made her feel dizzy somehow. This felt so wrong.

But thankfully the Winter Soldier gave her some guidance. Her broken shoulder twisted strangely as her wrist was still cuffed to the bedpost as soon as she stood up. "I...", she spoke and glanced suspicious towards the others. Something about this situation seemed to strange "I want food." Natalia looked at him and almost on cue she could hear hear stomach grumble. It seemed like she had been in this freezing room for days alone. She looked up at him and whispered "What are they doing here?" Of course she talks about the other guards - the Avengers. FarFlungDreamer

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

"You earn food, my training you does not change that," He said as curtly as he could, but this was hard, he didn't know how to speak to her like the Winter Soldier right now. He felt like he was talking too much, but maybe her brain would pick up on what was wrong with that. That was it! In... in his memory, the one with her.... when he fought the children, all those young girls being torture partially by him... he couldn't think like this. The point was when he saw the situation change, he looked at the girls and then he started to see Steve. That's when the spell broke... and she was turning to him now. Good, he could get her to see that, wasn't it the whole point.

"To find that out, Natalia," He said and looked down at her. It was so odd, after all those years... it made it seem wrong somehow but his time in and out of the ice... it had made it seem like two different situations, two different people when he'd fallen in with her. "Look at the guards, tell me what it is you pick up on," He spoke to her as if this was a training exercise and he was teaching her how to master the proper way to do a sliding kick. The correct way to turn your head up as you end it. Maybe it would make the young minded girl follow through until she could see through the memory. That's all he could think of. Bucky waited for her to tell him... although this wasn't the Winter Soldier's kind of training, others did that. He was just who taught them to fight and in some cases how to deal with pain and push past it. But the idea was the same and he just needed her to look at what was wrong long enough for her mind to take over past the Scarlet Witch's spell.

"Now look deeper, at what you should see there, not the guards, but something else. Small incorrect details, what do they mean?"

 

[Archon]

It'd been just over two hours since the beginning of Vision's intense head pains, it was in likeness to a headache for humans, but something more, something much deeper. When it started, everything in his metallic body seemed to feel a little more mortal, more vulnerable, and the AI was flooded with a nauseating feeling of the very fabric of the minds of those closest to him warping into something else, shifting in and out of reality at whim. It was a difficult feeling to describe, but one unquestionably linked to the gem that thrummed within his forehead. The Mind Gem. A thing so powerful it brought a simple AI to something more than sentience, even now the yellow sunlit stone hammered against his head like a heart against a chest, the rhythm only getting louder as Vision found himself before an old abandoned warehouse, looming pitifully under the sky's unwavering gaze.

With a small sigh, the AI held his eyes tightly shut for a moment, feeling the oppressive aura of magic invading his mind - the Gem - oppressively. Vision feared the worse as he approached the rusted, scrap-like doors of the decrepit structure. A myriad of calculations ran through his mind, yet all logic and reasoning was drowned in a wave of emotions at the idea that his friends - that Wanda - may be in grave danger, if not worse. It was no coincidence that the Avengers had vanished in-sync with the manifestation of sudden reality-rippling waves that Vision had detected with the stone. If an AI could sigh a deep breath of preparation, this would be a time; to state he was nervous didn't do the truth justice, but Vision had to face this moment of truth sooner rather than later. Fading briefly into an intangible form, he stepped gracefully through the tattered doors...

...And was met with a seething pain channeled involuntarily by the Mind Stone, Vision doubled over and clutched his head with a strained growl, his sight briefly shaky and uncertain, the pain seemed to elevate until it threatened to make the Infinity Stone explode, gritting his 'teeth' he bore through the pain and stood upright, staring at a sight that would have otherwise robbed the breath from his body. "Wanda... What have you done?" Vision asked breathlessly, his face a mix of apprehension and surprise. As quick as it came, the pain was gone. It was a realization of how little mastery over the stone Vision truly had, but the reason lay bare before him. Strewn in a disorganized circle, the Avengers lay collapsed and in disarray, bound to chairs by rope and chain, trapped in the familiar red-hue of Wanda's psychic manifestations. The entire room reeked of something unnatural, something that defied everything right and good. The pain he had felt in such force before was the Mind Gem's response to Wanda's blending of reality and memory, but he never recalled her having such raw power, let alone the mastery to manage something so advanced.

Dropping to both feet with a grimace painted upon his face, Vision refused to entertain the possibility that Wanda had done this out of anything malicious, but the AI knew better than anyone how unstable and dangerous altering the living mind can be. She could be angry at him later, but right now, Vision had to put an end to these antics before something went horribly wrong. Pacing forward with fiery determination, the gem radiated brightly, like a supernova sweeping across space, did it's power sweep across the room, Wanda's power was vast, no doubt. But the Mind Gem - and the mind - was where Vision's specialties lay. Focusing his energy, Vision prepared to dispel Wanda's magic and pull the group back into the waking world, and then he did it; a great blast exploded forth and...
...was sucked hungrily into a raging portal, swirling violently at the room's center. The entire group remained untouched, as if the massive magical construct was little more than a gust of harmless wind, but it pulled at Vision with a mighty heave, his resistance crumbling under the surprise of its arrival. A tear in the spell, whatever ritual Wanda had performed, she was losing control.

For a moment, he felt something... strange, like he'd been pulled from the threads of existence entirely, the Mind Gem groaned and he felt it's power leave him, the former yellow-hue now replaced by a crimson red glow. A deja-vu of Wanda's manipulation of the Mind Stone resurfaced, and it became clear that wherever this portal brought him would leave him powerless to escape.

Then, he lurched forward, through the blinding light and into a strange room, familiar voices swamped his senses, causing Vision to glance up; before him was an unfamiliar man, leaning wearily against a wall. Slowly, he climbed to his feet, standing upright and buried in confusion. He did not know if the others could see him, he did not know the state of their minds. Any action had to be carefully considered... Which is what Vision told himself, yet his reasoning skills quickly deteriorated as his head tilted to the side. "Wanda..." Vision uttered with a hint of admiration - and concern - in his voice.

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[Jessy753]

Natalia crinkled her mouth as he shut her simply down. The Winter Soldier shouldn't have asked her if she seeked something else instead of compliance. Heck, she wanted food and she would kill any of the guards in here if she had to in order to get some food. It wouldn't be the first time that he would ask her to do just that after all. So she stepped forward ready to attack anyone of those men. That's what he would ask her to do after all, wouldn't it? So she prepared herself trying to figure out how she would be able to fight these man while being chained up to the bed.

Her gaze though went back to the Winter Soldier as soon as he asked her to do something else. That was strange... "Observe them?", she asked almost dumbfounded like she doesn't believe her ears. She looked at him like she was observing him for once. Was he included to this exercise or shouldn't she analyze him? Still her mind made quick mental notes of how he was actually training her on a different thing than just fighting and he was acting weird. What was up with all of this English all of the sudden.

Yet she turned to the guards and observed them quietly. Most of them were acting strange. Instead of doing there jobs of making sure that the girls were compliant, they were preoccupied with themselves. She frowns a little and continued to observe them for a bit before she turned back to the Winter Soldier. That is that she noticed a stranger coming in from the corner of her eyes. He looked a little strange to her like something on his forehead was glowing ( Archon ). Natalia shook her head though as she was sure the guy hadn't been here moments ago but now he was standing in the middle of the room? Heck, there was something odd going on. "They don't behave like they usually do. They are even more uncoordinated than usually," she murmurs to the Winter Soldier like she's afraid of them hearing them and she added in Russian <"You are acting strange as well. I...You talk too much English and you are not supposed to be teaching me these things."> She knew she was playing with the fire here but at least she was sure the Winter Soldier wouldn't kill her. FarFlungDreamer

 

[Jessy753]

Wanda felt strange something was happening. She felt it like something was happening outside the spell. The witch could feel someone else's presence there even though there was no-one particular close to her. It took her a bit until she realized that the feeling must come from the real world outside this spell and memory. To her it felt like someone tried to intrude this and change things. But she couldn't tell what exactly was going on so there was no way for her to protect herself. She stepped away from Strange and Stark as they made her headache grow worse. She brought her hands up and tried to rub her temples. Her worrisome gaze landed on her twin as she slowly walked over. "I think someone is trying to intrude this spell from the outside," she whispered to Pietro, giving her worry away. She didn't want Strange to hear her as she was sure that the man would simply tell her I told you so and be smug about things. That's the last thing Wanda wanted to face at the moment. FarFlungDreamer

Wanda gasped in pain and almost immediately grabbed Pietro's wrist tight. Moments like this just showed how much she needed her twin to ground her in reality. His support simply seemed necessary from time to time. Her hand dug deep into his wrist as she concentrated on fighting that power, which threatened to destroy her spell. She wasn't sure what would happen if something broke this spell. She'd be damned if they would get killed because of her spell.

Soon enough someone else appeared. She blinked as she stared at the familiar person. "Vision...," she whispered almost at the same time as he murmured her name. Part of her wanted to move forward and just hug the AI but...she couldn't. Wanda hadn't seen him since the airport and what had happened afterwards with her. She gave him a weak smile and released Pietro's wrist as she kept on looking at Vision for a bit. Until she realized that she had stared at him and a soft red hue appeared on her cheeks as soon as she felt her face heating up. "What are you doing here?", she asked him sounding somewhat pleasantly surprised. Archon

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

He nodded as she questioned his er, order. He reached down with his metal arm and squeezed the thin metal holding the handcuffs together so she'd be able to move easily. He didn't want to stray to anything but he hated seeing her sitting there chained up. Even if this was only a memory and she could break that herself as soon as she realized what was happening around them. Maybe? He wasn't sure how this... spell, worked.

Natasha did like she was told, though, every bit the young girl she'd been in her memory as she had been. Bucky wasn't sure if he was leading her how he should, but he could only do his best. She needed out of this and she was too smart to not piece things together right? Besides, he remembered her being extremely inquisitive at this age suddenly. Endless questions that the Winter Soldier had found troublesome having no memories or no experience questioning anything himself then.

James hated the place these memories took him back to.

He smirked, yeah... the these guys weren't 'coordinated' no. Steve was. She didn't seem to pick up on any real details of them though, which frustrated him because he'd kind of hoped she just would and they could get out of this. She spoke in Russian and he considered answering in the language... but he shouldn't. She always thought of James when he spoke English. That was what was catching her now. So... him? He just needed to have her pick him apart? Distinguish he wasn't the Winter Soldier right now, was that powerful enough to pull her older memories forward though?

He'd have to hope so, but he didn't think enough of it to actually go for it. Except... what other play did he have?

"Do I speak too much English? Why would I not speak English? Am I not American?" He stood up from where he'd leaned down to break her restraints. He gave her a minute to let her get away with her thoughts before reordering her. "You should know this. Think, or you'll go hungry another night. Tell me all you know of me, <All of it.>" He ordered, his voice cold and demanding like it used to be. Expectant, accepting only results for the mission... James held the food as a threat, a child wanted to eat and she was motivated at least by that if he recalled. He could make her think... make her walk through to a conclusion, at least one thing that might make her question. Oh, her questions! Those she pestered the Soldier with endlessly during training. The ones that hurt his programming so badly then. "Why is my arm metal? What is my name? What is it you call me, doll?"

All a joke, all questions he couldn't answer himself then. He added the old fashioned nickname as maybe a desperate fetch. Lead her to Bucky, not the Winter Soldier. But why would she know that?

Actually, he... honestly didn't know why he added it himself at first, but... part of it was coming to him now. Questioning her like this, it stirred up more than he had ever really focused on. Doll... because he spoke quirky out of era terms when his mind had slipped back then, accidents. All which she picked upon. Because who would ever dare call the Black Widow something like that but him? That's why... why they chose that.

Ironic wasn't it, that James had wanted to know for so long now what all she knew was... to have it out, to know what was or wasn't still there between them.... why was all of this overwhelming him suddenly? Was it the memory he'd been forced into when the spell attacked him? He didn't have time to be overwhelmed with the memory of her so close to him, of them sparing... how much of his soul she'd held so carefully in her hands for just a brief gleaming moment... he needed to stay focused, how else would they get out?

 

[Jessy753]

Natasha turned to him as he suddenly bombarded her with question she didn't have an answer to. She looked at him and frowned over his behavior. Heck, why was he suddenly acting so differently. It confused her and brought that sort of head aches that she hated. Somehow she knew it indicated that she had forgotten about something again. About something important the Russians wanted her to forget. She sighed frustrated and spat back "How the hell am I supposed to know if you are American or not?" She looked at him pissed off now and it showed more traits of her actual self than the young scared girl.

The funny part was that actually him threatening to take her food away was what broke her out of this spell. Not his continuous unnerving questions but the lack of food. No-one would take away her food anymore. Heck secretly that was something she was afraid of even as an adult away from the KGB. It was funny what stuck with one from one's childhood, wasn't it?

Looking back he should've seen it coming and kept her restraint. Basically he had been asking for it, hadn't he? Next time go and pester someone else with those goddamn questions. He probably had thought the same about ehr own questions towards him during her childhood. But he had been one big interesting question mark to her: Why hadn't he moved like the others? Why was he so goddamn loud? Why did he prefer speaking English sometimes? Why had he actually helped her? She still wasn't sure if it really had been the potential he had seen in her or something else. The list of questions still went on till this day. Why hadn't he recognized her back in the UN? Heck she would've gladly helped him out if he only remembered and hadn't been such a threat.

"You go home without food today," she simply said and her fist flew forward hitting him right on his nose. "You're a fucking asshole, Soldier. Telling me what to do when you cannot even remember me or apparently you can but stay quiet. I could've helped you, you know? I would've helped you if you simply asked. But no? Instead you go around killing people. Still the same old stubborn idiot as always, Teddybear," she let out all her frustration on him. She stared at the man in front of her pissed off before she turned to the Avengers. "I swear to god I'll kill all of you if you ever talk about this again!"

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

Huh? Did that mean.. and then she threw quickly and he stumbled back just a few inches, reaching up to nurse the throbbing wound. For all that was holy! He blinked as she called him an asshole, though, and a relieved smirk flickered across his face. There she was. Oh good. All he actually had to do was annoy her! Should have done that from the beginning and he could have skipped most of that.

A look of guilt flickered across his face as she mentioned that perhaps he did remember. Well, he had done Steve the same courtesy. James wasn't what either of them remembered anymore. He wasn't Steve's Bucky and he wasn't Natalia's James... he was something else, something broken. Useless to anyone, danger to most.

"I didn't kill anyone. I don't do that anymore," He growled defensively, correcting her as he reached up to check on his broken nose. It was only a memory but it sure as hell hurt like the real thing. She had a mean hook... as usual. But he made a point not to kill, or he'd been trying to. At least he didn't try to do it anymore unless completely necessary or the correct assholes like Hydra, the best he could. At the time he'd been chatting with the elderly woman who ran the fruit stand about the simpler days, blissfully unaware he was going to be torn back into this! Before he was used again like he knew he would be. Hurt, both of them, like he knew he would. It was inevitable that someone wanted to use the Winter Soldier. Even so, he hadn't killed anyone in the UN. Ironic, the one thing he didn't destroy was what sent blew his undercover.

<"And what about you? You seem to remember plenty,"> He bit back almost under his breath so no one could hear that part. Bucky was surprised in himself for returning the barb. How was she going to blame him for doing the very same thing she had done all this time, too? They were in the same position. But that wasn't what bothered her, like she said. Natalia was upset he hadn't reached out for her to help him. She didn't come looking, though, did she? No. So James had been correct, that she was past all that was in her past. Him included, and he'd done the right move even if she wasn't pleased with it now after there had been collateral damage she could have prevented for the Avengers.

He rose his eyebrows as she added on the nickname. A ridiculous one, but that's what it was intended to be. Yet it didn't feel stupid to him now. He'd forgotten about it until she said it. It softened him though and he gritted his teeth before yanking the crack back together when she turned to the others in the room who were taking on more of their own likliness as she came to. He wouldn't barb her anymore again.

 

[Jessy753]

"No, all you do is bath in self pity all the time. God forbid someone would want to help you," she told him and added "Besides I know the record of the group that tried to retrieve you from Romania. All of them dead. So stop acting like you are better than me. We both come from the same roots," she grumbled having enough of him acting like the victim. Heck, it wasn't like she hadn't tried to get him out of there multiple times. But how had she have acted if he tried to kill her each and every time. "You should act instead of holding everyone back, Barnes."

Of course she knew holding Romania against him was unfair. But she was sick and tired for people - especially Rogers - to put him on some sort of pedestal. Yes, she had been in the same situation like he was. But to her that also meant to fight for what you wanted. To remove the goddamn red from the ledger. Something she hadn't accomplished for now and maybe instead of whining he should try doing the right thing instead of running away. Heck it had taken her years to redeem her own name enough for SHIELD to use her as spy officially. Even longer to clear her name enough to be considered for the Avengers Initiative. So what was he expecting within a few months? Honestly he was stupid to think all that could happen in a couple of days.

<"What did I do?!">, she bit back at him and looked cold at him. She pulled her shirt up revealing the scar he had given her. <"Taking your bullets when I try to help you. But no, his majesty was too high up Hydra's ass to even listen to me. Besides where do you think Rogers got those damned files from? Yeah, that was me. So the next time when you accuse me of doing nothing - think again, asshole,"> , she told him and stepped away from him before she could break his nose all over again. She took a deep breath calming her nerves before she did something she would regret. Her voice had been bitter almost like she held it against him that he hadn't asked ehr for her help even after she had betrayed her own team back in Berlin. He should've known better. They had been a good team once and they could be one again one day. Once he decided to get off his high horse of course.

Her gaze went to Barton who was most likely pissed off or hurt of where she had placed him in the memory. In all honesty what had he expected. It always had been her against the rest of the world. She wouldn't include him in her own problems anymore. Especially after finding out about his family. He might consider her family but she...she would do everything to protect his. She had promised that and to keep him safe to Laura and she would keep that to her very last breath. Natasha knew he was safer without her so she decided to stay away even though she turned more and more into the person he once had saved from the KGB. She was a loner and she was better off that way. Ironically enough she was similar to James in that aspect and maybe that was what ticked her off so much. Because she knew how he worked and how to fix it. But both were way too prideful to actually ask for help.

 

[FarFlungDreamer]

"We knocked most of them out," He rebutted, grinding his teeth. The one he'd knocked back accidentally Steve had caught over the banister before it could happen. So her reports were false as well.

But him? Better than she was? Apparently Natasha wasn't seeing things the right way. Bucky couldn't imagine himself being better than any of the people in this room. He certainly wasn't trying to claim he'd shown anyone mercy, that he was anything but a mindless killer, murdering whoever and however many they pointed him at. James never denied any of it. Her words were all over the place and even if they weren't, an answer didn't come to him. He just fell back into himself, watching her guardedly. "You think I should act?" He snorted, eyes glowing with self hatred. "It's not self-pity, it's a responsibility," He corrected her coldly. He needed not to act most times. He had to ignore these instincts they'd bred into him, had to ignore the hair pin trigger he was at all times, he had to control the weapon Hydra left here within him. Not acting was harder than he had ever imagined. But it was all he could do.

His mouth tugged into a hard frown as she revealed the bullet hole. His mind flashed back, peering through the scope and finger easing the trigger of the sniper carefully taking in account of the wind up in the mountains. Bucky shook himself back, meeting her gaze evenly. He didn't correct her, she wasn't wrong. He wasn't able to be reached. But it did rise his ire a bit. Back then... she'd always imagined it was some choice. As if he slowly forgot things or he him not ignoring an order, not running from them... she'd always seen it as some lack of effort. But he had never been in control, and still... up until a few months ago... simple words and he would be the exact same way again.

He wanted to tell her that, that at those times it wasn't his choice. That was the thing, though, wasn't it? She was right, every time he felt frustrated about it. No, it hadn't been his choice to do any of it. But it was his fault he didn't break free of it. Eventually... he had, or rather Steve pulled him back bleeding on the ground as he was plunged into the Potomac's water like Bucky had once fallen into the mountains and the cold. If he had had some sort of conscious, even a sliver, when he had been with Natalia... shouldn't he have had the ability to drive their brainwashing out? He hadn't... and that doubt was always there... and he'd done it anyways. Even if he could shirk that kind of blame, which he couldn't, he'd still done it all. Wanting to or not.

She backed away, and he let her go without a word. It was better that way, he'd respect her need to get away from it- from him. Everyone was better off with Bucky at arms length here.