(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 5 - When the Truth lies

Chapter 5 - When the Truth lies

Summary: Wanda has to face some hard truths, and Clint is his usual self.

Wanda could only blink at the screen in front of her. She could feel her mouth moving but no sound came out.

Her brother, on the other hand, didn't seem to be in the same boat as her as he asked in wonder, "Stark went to help the Sokovians? Is he doing it because they are his customers?"

Wanda's eyes snapped to her brother's face. While there was nothing mean in his features, Wanda was still glad to see Pietro remembered what the monster was still capable of.

Clint, on the other hand, tilted his head in confusion and asked, "Clients?"

Pietro frowned, and Wanda could feel herself doing the same. Clint was very nice to them and kept reassuring them that everything would be okay soon enough, so to see the man lie to them now was infuriating.

Wanda was the one to hiss at the Avenger, "Don't pretend you don't know Stark was selling them weapons."

Clint frowned back at them and said calmly, "I have no idea what you're talking about, kids. Tony never sold weapons outside the US military, and even then, he closed his weapon manufacturing six years ago."

That took both Wanda and Pietro back. Their parents were killed seven years ago, and about a year after that, they joined Hydra to get their revenge. While they never had the chance to see the news or things like that, the people in the base made sure to keep them up to date with the news, especially those about Stark. Something like that surely would have come up.

Then Wanda's mind focused on the first part of what the bow user said, and she replied with fury, "Of course he sold outside of your country! The bomb that killed our parents had the name STARK written all over it."

Clint opened his mouth as if to respond when an Irish voice filled the room, "If you would allow me, Ms. Maximoff, I believe I can shed light on the matter."

Wanda and Pietro both tensed at the AI's voice while Clint seemed to look at a random point of the room and said with a small smile, "Please do, Friday."

The television screen turned on again by itself, a picture Wanda hoped to never see again filled it. It was the bomb that destroyed their home; she would recognize the odd pattern of the scratches around the STARK name anywhere.

A whimper from her brother proved he remembered as well. Then the female AI spoke again, "This is the bomb series that was possessed by the rebel faction of Sokovia. After searching through the entire SI database, I reached the conclusion the entire series is a counterfeit."

Clint's eyes widened and he asked, "As in someone just copied the design and specs to sell it as a STARK weapon?"

The Irish voice responded immediately, "Indeed, Mr. Barton. It was a popular practice since Boss took over the company."

Clint frowned again and so did Pietro, but it was her brother who asked, "Why since this Stark took over?"

To Wanda, the question seemed obvious. The man was a monster, and he didn't care if his weapons ended up in the wrong hands if it required too much work on his part to stop it. She was shocked when she heard the true response, "The former COO of SI, Obadiah Stane, had used the fragile mental state of Boss at the time to manipulate him and get full authorization over the company, allowing him to sell weapons illegally and off the books so he personally could benefit from it."

"Who is Stane?" Wanda found herself asking aloud before she even noticed.

Clint looked at her, still with the same frown on his face as he replied, "Someone who tried to take over the company from Tony after they found him in the desert, and then tried to kill him, but Tony killed him instead. To be fair, it was the same man who paid the terrorist group in Afghanistan to kill Tony in the first place."

Wait! What?! What the hell was Clint talking about? Hydra told them that Stark disappeared for three months so he could work on a new weapon, that later was revealed to be the Iron Man suit. But what was this about terrorists and someone betraying Stark?

"Still," the Irish voice kept speaking as the image on the screen was replaced by images of many documents, "I managed to track the buyers and orders attached to that bomb series, though I must warn you, Mr. and Ms. Maximoff, the result might cause you great distress."

Wanda was confused by that comment; what could be worse than reliving the two days she and her brother were trapped with the bomb still active just next to them, already knowing their parents were dead?

Clint glanced between her and Pietro before saying, "You don't have to hear it if you don't want to, kid."

Wanda finally had enough of that and snapped at the archer, "Stop calling us kids! We are in our mid-20s, not kids, and if this is a part of my past, I want to know it!"

Clint looked at her for a long moment before sighing and said with a small nod, "You're right. You're not kids; I said as much when we were fighting in the air. Go ahead then, Friday."

There seemed to be a small hesitation from the AI this time before she spoke calmly, "Very well. All those STARK counterfeits were bought by the Sokovian branch of Hydra."

As she said this, one of the documents on the screen was highlighted to show the proof of her words. Wanda could feel her head getting a little dizzy and her stomach began to roll around like a washing machine. Her vision tunneled to the images on the screen and her ears began to ring a little.

She was still able to hear the female voice explaining further, "The order to use the missile that was aimed at the Maximoff house holds the signature of one Dr. Alfred List."

Wanda's vision blurred completely, her ears overtaken by the ringing and her stomach was already on its way to vacate itself. She could feel her entire body shaking and breathing was becoming harder by the moment.

She was sure she was about to pass out when a new sensation penetrated her mind. She felt something stabbing her in the neck, and she couldn't say if it was a minute later or an hour that she felt herself calming down.

She was no longer shaking, and her breathing was coming easier. She felt a hand rubbing her back and a voice calling softly, "Hey, are you with me, Wanda? It's fine, everything will be fine."

Fine?! How could it be fine? The man she thought was helping her get her revenge on the monster that killed her parents was actually the monster all along.

Oh god. She allowed that monster to experiment on her; she did so many terrible things because she believed him, she believed everything he did was helping her. While the man she blamed... wait.

"Hey Wanda, are you okay? Do you need another dose of the calming drug? I wouldn't recommend it, but you still look..." Clint began saying.

Wanda ignored him. She stared at the floor, tears falling from her eyes to the floor as she asked weakly, "Stark... He... He..."

Wanda couldn't bring herself to even ask the question, but the AI seemed to understand what she was trying to ask and answered her with what Wanda found to be a gentle tone, "Boss knew it. He asked me to find any information I could on that Hydra branch once the Avengers were asked to invade it, and after hearing your story, it wasn't hard for him to connect the dots."

Clint scowled and he snarled, "And the truth was that List created that disaster on purpose to create recruits for his experiments."

The response was quick and with a disgusted tone, "Indeed."

Wanda felt disgusted too. Disgusted by Dr. List who did it, disgusted by her own countrymen who chose to help him by starting a civil war, and most of all disgusted by herself.

But there was still one more question she had to ask, "Why?"

This time when the female voice spoke, she had a soothing voice, "Boss didn't want to cause you any more anguish by telling you those facts; he believed you had suffered enough under the roof of Hydra."

Clint snorted and threw a comment that sounded like "That's Tony for you" under his breath.

Hydra was a group of monsters. It was the only conclusion Wanda could reach in the moment, and as a result, she was one as well. Ironic that the man she considered a monster for so long tried to protect her from the reality where she was the monster between the two.

She was surprised to hear the shaky voice of her brother; she had almost forgotten he was in the room as well, too busy dwelling in her own self-pity, "We have to apologize. All the things we said... Oh, God..."

Wanda couldn't help but agree this time. After all of this, she still wasn't sure what she really felt toward Stark now, or even what she thought of herself, so she would need to take time and reevaluate pretty much every thought she had in the last seven years. But even she could admit that after everything she put him through in the past week, the man deserved an apology at the very least.

Clint looked like he was trying to comfort them when he said, "Well, I'm sure you'll get your chance sooner rather than later." Then he snapped his fingers and said, "Almost forgot what I wanted to tell you in the first place. Fury said all the Avengers are moving into a new location that Tony built."

For some reason, a pit began forming in her stomach. It was Pietro who asked, "So you have come to say goodbye?"

Clint raised an amused eyebrow and said, "What are the two of you talking about? You're coming with us."

Wanda had to take a moment to make sure she wasn't hearing things; her brother took that moment to point out the obvious, "We are not Avengers."

Clint just shrugged with the same smile on his face and said, "Well, no. But still, you need a home, and right now you are our responsibility, so you're coming with us."

Wanda had so many feelings mixing up inside of her, but right now the most prominent one was warmth. How long was it since someone offered to help them out of the kindness of their heart and not because they wanted to use them?

The protesters gave them a roof and food just as long as they took part in the activities every day, not that either Pietro or she had any objection to that term at the time. Hydra only gave them the illusion of hope so they could use them as soldiers against the Avengers.

And still, here the Avengers were offering them a house and meals after all they did, not just against them, but against the entire world.

Still, there was one thing that bothered her in all of that. She hated how timid her voice sounded when she asked, "Do... Does S...Stark..." And wow, after all those years it was hard to say the name without letting venom drip out of each syllable; she still pushed on, "Does he know we are joining you?"

Clint actually laughed at the question, which made her feel a little uncomfortable, but after a moment he answered, "Knows? He was the one to offer the idea and prepare rooms for you two." Wanda's heart skipped a beat at this new information, but Clint wasn't done yet as he added, "Actually, Tony 'donated' some money to you two because he knows you don't have a lot of clothes or anything else really."

Wanda could see Pietro was shocked into silence while she... she felt a wet drop landing on the skin of her hand, and only then did she realize she had tears flowing down her cheeks.

Pietro managed to get out of his shocked state and yell out, "We don't deserve it."

Clint just shrugged. "Not for me to decide. Tony made the choice, and usually when he does, there's little we can do about it."

Why?! Why would the man they wanted to hurt the most, the one they hated the most, now be the one to help them more than anyone else? Why did he do it? Was he doing it to be the bigger man, so he could lord that over them for as long as they were living under his roof? Or was there some bigger scheme for revenge he...

No! Bad Wanda. She couldn't keep assuming the worst of the man. Even Clint didn't seem to be worried about all the generosity provided by Stark, and the archer seemed to genuinely care about them.

Clint interrupted her thoughts, "So, yeah. I would suggest you pack up, but you'd better start thinking what you need to buy once you're settled in."

With that, the Avenger left the room, leaving both the Maximoff siblings to contemplate the new information they had.

Wanda was sure she, at the very least, had a lot of things to reconsider.