Work Text:
Blood. Everywhere Draco looked, there was blood. The scene that he and Granger had arrived at was grisly, as most of their assignments often were, but this was different. The floor was littered with debris… and bodies. The air was heavily charged with palpable feelings of grief, despair, and rage.
Draco had only been back for a few weeks, but he had wanted to get back to work. He had been among the billions who had vanished when Thanos snapped his fingers. Hermione had remained, and had worked hard for the years that he and the others were gone, to find a way to bring them back. They’d been in the states when the snap had happened. Hermione had told him she’d returned to Britain for a time, to find that many of their friends and family had vanished as well. While this was devastating, Granger had never been one to take things lying down. She’d returned to the states, determined to do something, and offered to assist the Avengers in any way she could.
As a result of their hard work, billions had been brought back. But, they were here today because of someone who could not be brought back, who had not been snapped out of existence, who had been murdered. Shortly before the snap felt throughout the universe, Thanos had murdered the Vision in order to obtain the Mind Stone. He had turned back time and murdered him right in front of Wanda Maximoff, who just moments before, had been forced to destroy the stone herself, and the man she loved along with it.
This was five years ago, but for Wanda, and also for Draco, only weeks had passed. He and Hermione had only recently learned of the existence of SWORD, as the organization dealt mostly with extraterrestrial forces like the Skrulls. But the SW in SWORD stood for “sentient weapons,” and they had classified the Vision as a potential weapon. And so when the Avengers brought his body back from Wakanda, its final resting place was with SWORD, under lock and key. That is, until today.
Draco and Hermione had been called in because Wanda Maximoff had broken into the facility. Typically, if they were called in, it was because the situation was dire, and their expertise was needed to manage dark and powerful magic. SWORD had managed to contain Wanda, but the situation was precarious. If her rage fluctuated again, it was likely that she would break free of it, and cause more damage. So far, she’d killed no less than a dozen people in her rampage. Whether it was intentional or accidental, remained to be seen. She was standing next to the table that held the Vision’s body, her back to them.
“Stay away from us,” she growled, acknowledging their presence but not looking at them.
“Wanda, we are not government agents, and we did not come here to hurt you, we just want to talk to you,” Hermione said, as they split up and moved to opposite sides.
“What is there to talk about,” Wanda snapped.
“Well for starters, we’d like to know why you are here,” asked Draco.
His voice caught her attention, her eyes flicked in his direction briefly before returning her attention to the corpse lying on the table in front of her.
“You wouldn’t understand, just leave us alone.”
The tone of her voice softened ever so slightly when she responded to him. This did not go unnoticed by Hermione nor Draco. They exchanged a look. After several years, the two worked so well together that each knew when to let the other take the lead on their assignments.
“Help us to understand, Wanda.”
She was silent for a moment as she laid a hand gently upon the corpse’s face, before withdrawing it, and turning to face him. Her fists clenched at her sides, her eyes like glowing embers as she spoke.
“They were experimenting on him. Doing all sorts of horrible things. It isn’t right... He shouldn’t be here.”
Draco’s attention shifted to the body on the table. Knowing what Vision looked like, it was unsettling to see him as he was now: no more than a vibranium shell. The organic tissue had decayed away in the absence of life, leaving only the metal behind.
“Tell me about the experiments,” he asked gently.
Her eyes flashed in anger and her lip curled with disgust as she explained to him that she’d been made aware that SWORD was blatantly disregarding Vision’s wishes. Intelligent as he was, the synthezoid had had the foresight to create a living will. He wished not to be revived in the event of his death, in fear that he could be used as a weapon, if his body fell into the wrong hands. And it appeared that the wrong hands were that of SWORD. Wanda explained that her source had informed her of their plans to use his unique vibranium body for precisely what Vision had feared.
“These people are all the same,” she spat. “SHIELD, HYDRA, SWORD… all have done heinous things. The blood of thousands of innocents is on their hands… and when I arrived here today, they were in the midst of their… work.”
Wanda’s voice shook with rage as she told him what she’d discovered upon entering the room.
“They had taken him apart... opened up his body with their machines and tools... they were violating it!” She turned back around to touch the corpse once more. “I had to repair the damage that they had done… and I destroyed their machines so that they could not continue such abhorrent things ever again.”
The mangled, nearly unrecognizable remains of the machinery she spoke of, surrounded them, tossed about the room carelessly. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears ran down her cheeks. Draco exchanged a look with Hermione, who nodded. She knew what needed to be done. They would obtain the security feeds, and if they’d been tampered with, Granger would know, and she’d be able to recover the real footage. If SWORD was doing what Wanda said, the organization would be dealt with accordingly for such violations.
“You’re absolutely right, Wanda. They had no right to do such a thing, but…” he hesitated.
“But what?” Wanda whipped around to face him again. “Go on, say it!”
Draco took a deep breath before he continued. Hermione was carefully watching the encounter, wand at the ready. Both had shield charms already in place, but she was prepared to defend him further, should he need it.
“But… these people did not have to die, Wanda. Death and destruction is not the answer.”
“Oh but it is,” she replied calmly, stepping away from the table for the first time. “They would have continued with their evil deeds, such people always do. And it spreads like a poison until it is stopped.”
He studied her as she spoke. Her steel-grey eyes were full of desperation and pain. While he himself did not understand the pain of loss like she had experienced, he did still understand desperation, and pain itself.
“Perhaps I can relate to some of what you are feeling…”
“No,” she said firmly. “You can’t. Everyone I have ever loved has been taken from me. Violently. My parents. My twin brother. Vis.” She clenched her jaw. “You people know nothing of pain, and I do not expect you to understand mine.”
“Wanda, please, just let us help you.”
“You cannot help me,” she said, returning to the table. Her eyes began to glow again, as did her hands, as she summoned the powerful energy within her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can see that you, unlike so many others, do actually have good intentions, but I cannot let you keep me from the next part.”
“The next part?” Draco frowned and looked to Hermione.
“Yes,” said Wanda. “I am going to get back some of what I have lost, or rather, what was taken from me.”
Before either Draco or Hermione could perform a spell, Wanda released a stunning amount of energy, rendering both of them useless but unharmed. They were unable to do anything but watch as she levitated herself and the Vision’s body, and left the facility.