Discimer - All the owners have their respective rights. I only own the characters that came from my addled brain (don’t worry, I am pletely sober).

  New York [October 2014]

  –Jack Sullivan–

  He waited as the pod did all the procedures to safely bring someo of medical stasis. It had not harmed her in the slightest but she did spend a lot of time in the same position, suspended in nutritional fluid.

  He took a deep breath as he stopped pag, the thought of her rea tensing him slightly. For all his strength, he didn’t know how to deal with grieving people all that much, especially women.

  Then there was also all the stress of the vents that happened retly. He still couldn’t uand just what was happening with Wanda. He was sure that Wanda was a ret thing because even the A One was caught blindsided by the ehing.

  Well, let’s recap the events that led to the Avengers being subdued, Bruce missing and the Kamar Taj ending up with a huge hole in the middle of it.

  First, he entered Wanda who somehoed him in some sort of parallel mirror dimension, after fooling him into thinking that the HYDRA castle was still somehow being used by Strucker and was an active base.

  Sed, she somehoered with his sling ring, depriving him of the sling ring, which then had to be repaired using his barrier as he used his power to fill in the gaps of the sling ring so to speak. It was not something he had told the A One because despite knowing that she had the best of iions, he was still somewhat uneasy with her ability to actively track every ring.

  Thirdly, she had attacked the Avengers, brainwashing all of them, forced Jarvis to shut down, ordered the Avengers sans Bruce to attack him on sight, and then took off with Bruce to parts unknown.

  Four, she then attacked the New York Sanctum. Not attack, as in try and take down the wards but attack as iing a fshy bang outside the Sanctum with a red fire that was mostly decoration because the temperatures were not even enough to scorch the sidewalks. It was as if she just wanted someoo notice the attacks but not do any damage with the attacks at all.

  Five, she the all the way to Kamar Taj, attacked it, and created a huge hole in the ter of the training grounds. There, she somehow mao fight the A One and even escape, leading the A Oo lead war like state of Kamar Taj, something that had never happened ever sihe A Oook leadership of Kamar Taj, her overwhelming prowess allowing the anisation to e out on top of wars before they had any ce of spilling over.

  After that, there had not been a single peep. Jarvis was back up and running, the Avengers will be after some time, the Sanctum still stood, Kamar Taj was fih the A One personally guarding it.

  Whatever she did, aside from putting all the ed parties into a heightened cautionary state, did nothing of substanothing that was truly damaging.

  ARGH! Why was this so fusing?

  CLICK

  He froze as a click sound was heard in the medical room of the spaceship, signalling the pod was doh the procedures and Jessica was about to e out of the medical a. He stood up from the chair as Jessica’s near unscious form staggered forward.

  He caught her with his barriers and then id her down on the sofa in the living room. He thought the someen and weling area of the living space of the spaceship would help put her at ease.

  Nope! He thought to himself as he ducked under her punch, her fist going straight for his head.

  “Whoa! Calm down! You’re safe, I am Jack Sullivan,” He said iween punches and kicks as she kicked hard enough to dent the floor and then began to wildly throw pu him. He could see her frighteate of mind as she began chasing him wildly, absolutely set on putting him down before he could do something.

  “H-Hey! Wait, I am Jack Sullivan. O-Oh, fod’s sake, I am Green Guardian,” he said with finality as a full green shroud appeared around him as he finally stopped dodging and stood in the same spot, letting Jessica jump toward him with her fist drawn back.

  He let her hit him, trusting in her enhanced physique being able to hahe backsh from hitting something strohan steel.

  “Fuck!” She swore as she finally jumped bad took a look at him. He let his face show so she could reise him. His face finally made her rex a bit but she was still ready to absolutely bash his fa, well, try at least.

  “What is this! Where am I? Where is h-he?”

  He pretended as if he didn't hear her voice break towards the end, the bastard had gotten into her head for her to be so afraid of seeing him. He was genuinely afraid for Jessica’s wellbeing now because he had a feeling that she would much rather kill herself this time tha herself fall once more into Kilgrave’s trap.

  He urple as well so he might have to look into his parents and theroy every shred of evidence of their very evidence from this world because as much as Kilgrave himself was to be bmed for who he was, his parents were equally to bme.

  Nature Vs Nurture could not be applied here because what could you expect from someone who had always known cruelty all his life?

  That didn’t absolve Kilgrave of his crimes but he could at least uand his existence a bit better because of that. Jessica didn’t have that, not that it would help her.

  “You are safe. You are in a safehouse, where Kilgrave won’t be able to reach you,” He looked at her with sadness as she fli the mere mention of that name, her head whipping around the room, as if afraid that he would emerge from some dark er.

  “He is dead, I saw to it personally. He will not torment anyone anymore. I disposed his body by burning it and then spreading the ashes in space, so I doly have any proo-”

  “No..” He looked as she hunched forward as the exhaustion of the abrupt movement her body was subjected to, finally caught up with her. He let her rest on top of one of his barriers as it floated her toward one of the nearby sofas.

  “T-Thank you,” She mumbled even as she fell asleep, her face still set in a rictus of pain, from the memories or her body ag, he did not know. Actually, he did know and knowing that only made him hurt that bastard more.

  As, he could not risk any amount of close tact with Kilgrave. If he mao trol him for even half a day, the damage would be catastrophiot just to the world itself but to all his objectives. He would have to start over and even then, he would never be able tain the level of trust that he did now.

  He looked at the unscious Jessid realised that…he would have to head back to Wakanda, again. God, he hoped that Wakadna was not secretly dug super soldier researd he hadn’t just accelerated their research multi-fold. That would really suck.

  Wakanda was already messed up as is, with the intense family drama and one vastly stronger foe uhe O, just waiting for them to slip up with the vast stores of Vibranium they had on hand. They didn’t need mass produced super soldiers added to the mix as well.

  He covered Jessi a series of barriers, desigo be as fortable as bulletproof barriers could be, as another barrier interposed itself into the crevices of the sling ring, uhe scratch that Wanda had drawn on his sling ring, rendering it unusable, and then opened a portal that led straight to the portal room that was designated as his arrival point until the emergency is lifted across Wakanda.

  He took a siep forward and watched with raised eyebrows as what could only be described as energy turrets receded bato their respective areas ihe anels, and then the door finally opened up with a Dora Mije standing outside, just waiting for him.

  She him and then simply stalked off towards the dire of the Pace, esc them to the King Probably. She didn’t even bat a the unscious body that was floating behind them. Truly, they were traio be stoid calm in all situations.

  “Take me to the Lab, please,” He asked her and then added after seeing her giving him the stink eye, in the subtle Dora Mije manner, “If you ’t do it because of orders, don’t worry, I know my way around the pce,”

  That had her ht gring at him as she begrudgingly led him to the b where Shuri was currently w on the Iron Man suit, putting it back together, with T’Chal arriving in the b just in time.

  They arrived ihrough the side gate and were greeted by Shuri somehow dropping the Arc Reactor, essentially a fusioor accurately on the Arc Reactor housing. Strangely, the Rector fit snug but probably not ected to any wires, judging by the ck of activity from the suit.

  He khat Tony had some sort of limited quantum unications system installed in the suit and iower so that Jarvis could unicate with him so that the thing with the Titan tour didn’t happen again, where Jarvis had lost plete tact with Tony.

  Holy, Tony was somehow the most dangerous person he had met, even above the likes of Bruce, or even Danvers, not because of his suit but because the moment he is defeated by a problem and lives to tell the tale, he rectified the issue and then would never be caught with his pants down again.

  The dangerous bination of virtually unlimited riches, unpreted access, beyond genius level intellect, the will to see it through, and the luck to survive through his failures.

  He had no doubt that had he entered Thanos once before, he would have made a suit that would have given Thanos a much tougher fight than the ohey had on Titan in the timeline.

  Enough about that, “Hey! You’re back!” Shuri’s excited shout didn’t break his attention as he looked at all the Avengers still suspended in the medical pods.

  “Oh, them? We were going to keep them in observation for 24 more hours but Father said that we hem awake so we are getting them out of the pods ihan 2 hours,” Shuri told him.

  “Against my better judgement, might I say,” He looked up to see anentleman arrive behind Shuri with a notepad in his right hand and his left hand stretched in his dire?

  He awkwardly shook his hand as he tinued, “Their brain signs are pletely normal. No sign of any fn energy in their brains or bodies. The Captain, in particur, is abs the nutrients from the nutrient solution at an arming rate, leading us to believe that his body is capable of healing usiing nutrients if only the body had the prerequisite proteins avaible in their broken down forms,” All that jargo over his head as he T’Chal and then had jessica floated to the forefront.

  “Let me guess, another mind trol victim?” The doctor deadpa him.

  “No, former mind trol victim. She is ba trol of her mind now. The one who vioted her mind is no longer alive, safe to say. He is different from the one who brainwashed the Avengers,”

  “By Bast, hoeople are there who trol minds out there?” T’Chal muttered as he looked at him in shock. Well, not much, if you don't t the Masters of the Mystic Arts being capable of the mind arts and therefore, capable of developing moderately powerful psychic powers like telepathy, telekinesis, etc.

  “She is just unscious at the moment. Her body is weak at the moment. She is strong but not as strong or as bat trained as the Good Captain there, so keeping her with a Dora Mije guarding her should be more than enough,” He said to T’Chal as he pced Jessi the bed that one of the interns brought.

  “A single Dora Mije he says, as if they weren’t the stuff of legend,” The Doctor scoffed as he led his patient bato the medical tre, from the looks of it. He didn’t actually know how to read Xhosa and Wakandans had no reason to use English in their beling.

  “Now, let’s get to stuff. I want you to look for two people:” He looked at Shuri who was startled at first but then recovered as a holo s maed in front of her.

  “Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, and why not, Baron Strucker, along with Bruce Banner as well,” He said as Shuri began walking away from them, already typing across the s at a dizzying pace.

  “Five my sister. Once she is in her groove, she fets that the outside world exists. In the meantime, you help us prepare better for the threat? Most of the popution has already been evacuated to the shelters but they were not built for long term sanctuary so the people have beeing more and more jittery,” T’Chal informed him as they began walking towards T’Chaka, probably.

  “My Prihere’s been news. J-Johannesburg. We found Hulk!” His neapped towards the guard who uttered the word Hulk.

  ____xx_____

  –Wanda Maximoff–

  “I still don’t get it. Why couldn’t I hurt Stark when you had him under your trol? And why do I have to sit everything out? I help too you know,” She rolled her eyes at her brother as he munched on an apple, along with a myriad varieties of pasta id out on top of his table, in the penthouse suite of a five star hotel.

  It was much easier to just hijack the mind of a single evil person and then have him pay for all her expehis way, she had no guilt in duping i people and also had fewer risks as she only had to trol a single mind, and that was much much easier than casting a single spell to trol dozens of minds.

  That would only be possible with a really simple and and nothing more.

  They were currently treating themselves to the generosity of a corrupt insurance fraud who had personally caused the colpse of han 2 pension funds, in the West.

  “Just finish your food and don’t go to any nightclubs tonight. We are leaving soon,” She warned him and had to fsh her eyes to really drive to the point because her brother looked rebellious.

  “As for Stark, Death or mere injuries are not things that would hurt him or make me feel good. No, we have to do something much more personal,” She said even though she didn’t kly what she was doing.

  “Like him?” Pietro pointed his fork at the currently unscious Bruce Banner id out on the bed of the penthouse.

  She nodded. He didn’t mean to kidnap him but he had a part to py in Johannesburg and she had no other choice but to make the event happen.

  Already, she could feel her mind and soul anch itself to this reality more and more as time went by, proving that her approach was w.

  All she had to do was whatever Chthon told her to do but with her own twist added in the mix. All of this, without ever toug the Darhold or looking for it in any way.

  Her mind jerked as she received the step in her pn.

  “Alright, let’s go. We have a building to destroy and an arm to shear off so that the man get his owal arm iure,” She said, snapping her fingers as a glowing red portal appeared in front of her.

  The magical formu capable of trag anything that used dimensional energy to make portals anywhere on the p was really clever but when used with Chaos Energy, it made no traces that could be traced by the A One.

  The A One being a woman really shocked her, along with her prowess as well. Throughout her fight, if that could even be called a fight, she had a feeling that one wrong step would have had her head removed from her body, or her soul and body sealed in a dimension for Eternity.

  “Aww, man! I was just getting to the best Pasta,” Pietro moaned and whined but rushed into the portal just as instructed, as did Bruce who had to be carried by Pietro, not because she couldn’t do it but because she liked to invenience Pietro.

  It was always fun.

  And…who knows if she could tio experience said fun or not?

  After all, she was living on borrowed time and Borrowed Power.

  Word t - 2924

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  A/N - 69 (giggles) Nice.