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"Are you an Avenger?"

Vex looked up from the book that she had been reading, Alice in Wonderland, and her eyes locked with hesitant red ones. She closed the book and tossed it next to her, a chuckle escaping her lips.

"No, I'm not. I'm being forced to stay here," Vex answered, Wanda nodding in understanding.

"You are not being forced to stay here Vex, you know that," Steve stared down at her with a frown. "You can leave whenever you want."

The woman shrugged, standing up. "Alright then. I'll leave. Have fun killing Ultron and saving the world. If you all don't die, I'll send a postcard from France."

Steve's eyes went wide and he grabbed her arm before she could walk off. "What's wrong with you? You can't leave right now. We're in the middle of war."

Vex shared a look with Wanda before she faced Steve again. "Like I said, I'm being forced to stay here."

"Not forced, don't say that," Steve shook his index finger in front of her, hissing when she slapped it away harshly. He grumbled a few words under his breath and made his way towards the kitchen, holding his finger carefully.

"He seems...nice," Wanda chose her words carefully as she entered the living room more, taking in her surroundings. She found it odd being in such a nice place at such a terrible time.

"No, his ass is nice..glorious even. But Steve, he's kind of a dick," Vex smiled, causing Wanda to let out a laugh. "He means well though."

"What can you do?" Wanda asked, taking a spot on the couch, per request of Vex. "I mean, your powers. What are they?"

"I do what you do," the brunette woman answered simply. "I cause destruction and I fuck with minds. Easy. I don't like it but there's no way I can get rid of my powers. I was born with them, so I put up with them."

"You're a mutant," Wanda breathed out with a smile, her irises expanding as her eyebrows rose.

A dark look crossed Vex's face and Wanda's smile dropped, afraid of being on the receiving end of Vex's glare. "Don't call me a mutant, alright? I don't like it."

The teenager nodded quickly, watching as Vex's shoulders slumped. She closed her eyes for a brief second, taking in a deep breath. Wanda found it odd but she wouldn't dare question her actions.

"I'm going to go find my brother," Wanda was quick to speak, standing up so fast that black dots began to cloud her vision. She rushed off without another word, leaving Vex alone.

The brunette sighed, running her hands through her hair. It had been almost three years since anyone had called her that word. There had been too many times to count but each one made her more angrier. Vex hated that word. She despised it with a passion and caused damage to anyone who dared to say it. Wanda was an exception. She was just a kid, someone who didn't know any better, but that didn't stop that anger in Vex's body. Her hands twitched involuntarily, purple magic seeping through her fingertips, her eyes illuminating.

It seemed as if she could never escape her past.

In an attempt to calm herself down, Vex began meditating. She thought of everything that made her happy, and only focused on those things, feeling the tightness in her chest loosen slightly. Vex could never let her anger get the best of her, she had let it happen too many times before. If she were to reach her breaking point, she wouldn't be in control of herself, something she feared more than anything in the entire world.

Shouting interrupted her meditation, making her eyes snap open instantly. She glowered at nothing in particular as she stood up and made her way towards the source of the noise. The Avengers, minus Thor and Natasha, and plus the twins, were arguing over what Vex knew to be Ultron's body.

"What if it comes out and the thing ends up being almost exactly like Ultron? Then what do we do?" Vex asked, having heard enough from the shouts to know what was going on.

Tony faced her, unsure of how to answer that. Steve held his hand out in her direction, silently agreeing to what she had said, while Bruce said nothing. Vex couldn't spot out Clint but she saw the twins huddled together.

do it.

The voice in Vex's head was never really loud and the woman had learned to control it before she was a teen. But this time, Vex had to cover her ears from the volume. The voice continued to shout at her over and over, but Vex didn't know what the hell it was referring to. Her head moved involuntarily and landed on the cradle, which held Ultron's body.

Vex felt as if someone else were in control of her body, her right arm lifting up and the familiar hues seeping out of her fingertips. Everyone's shouting slowly stopped and they watched as Vex's magic slowly traveled towards the cradle. The hues suddenly changed form, turning into what the woman could only describe as purple clouds, and they began to surround the closed cradle. Her magic began to disappear slowly but surely and the cradle opened.

Just as a red android jumped out of the object, Thor burst into the room, gaining an unimpressed look from Vex.

"Yeah, you missed your cue. I had to take action."