The Mimic

148

"Do you think you can get the stone out in time?" Steve asked, interrupting something that Bruce was saying.

The general atmosphere of Shuri's lab was one of solemnness and focus. No humour, no smiles, no casual jokes. This was serious, far serious than any of their previous missions. This wasn't a simple bank heist, or a random alien nest in a kid's play area, this was a battle that determined whether or not half of the planet was going to be turned into dust.

Y/n and Bucky were stood together in the lab, both seeming to try their hardest to process everything that was going on. The situation had been explained to them, but it was still hard to understand. Hell, the pair had practically been vacationing and relaxing for almost two years, getting launched back into action wasn't really something that they were expecting. Changing back into their mission suits after living in comfortable Wakandan clothing for so long felt weird, they were used to soft, loose outfits, not the heavily layered and armoured suits that they were currently wearing. Shuri had made a few modifications to their suits, nothing major, but the integration of vibranium into the fabric would add a little more protection during battle.

Y/n had her back pressed against Bucky's chest as they stood in the lab with the rest of the team. One hand was absentmindedly fiddling with Bucky's new vibranium arm, her fingers gently running over every single ridge as she listened to the rest of the team discuss what to do. She allowed Bucky to play with her spare hand so he could get used to controlling the new arm, but that did cause her to elbow him in the stomach every now and again. It wasn't in a mean way, it was simply because Bucky was purposefully annoying her by squeezing her hand too tight or positioning her fingers so she had her middle finger stuck up.

There were so many little comments that y/n wanted to make, like how Steve seemed to be copying Bucky's look with the beard and the long hair, or how nice it was to see their faces again - well, only certain faces. She definitely wasn't happy to see Bruce, especially after the hell that he'd put her through. That cell in The Raft had completely and utterly destroyed her, and even though she'd never admit it, she was still recovering from it all. Just the sight of Bruce stood across the room seemed to activate a deep anger inside of her. But, it wasn't the time nor the place to start yelling or berating him. The icy look on her face whenever she looked at Bruce was sending enough of a message.

"I'm not sure. Separating the mind stone from Vision seems possible, but his innerworkings are complex. There are millions of connectors that I'll need to work through one by one. One wrong move and it could all go wrong." Shuri explained seriously. Her eyebrows were furrowed in complete focus as she continued to input instructions into the machine that was separating the mind stone from Vision. She shook her head with a nervous sigh as she glanced around at everyone in the room, she'd never had to do something like this, especially under so much pressure. "This could take hours-"

"We don't have hours." Steve sighed, a sympathetic look in his eyes as he glanced over at Vision, who was laying on the medical table in front of Shuri. He rested a hand on his hip, closing his eyes as he tried to think of something else that they could do. Usually he was able to focus and stay calm during missions, but this even had his mind racing. He took a slow breath, listening to the machine above Vision whir for a little while longer before he spoke up again. "You said earlier that an excessive amount of power can break the mind stone, correct?" Steve asked, opening his eyes as he looked over at Shuri again.

Shuri took a sharp breath, focusing her attention back on Vision and the mind stone. "Well, yes. But that amount of power is insane. No machines here have that kind of power." She murmured with a shrug, not wanting to talk about the fact that destroying the stone whilst it was still in Vision's head would kill him. It was a pretty obvious consequence.

At the moment that Shuri mentioned that the mind stone needed an insane amount of power to break, the whole team turned to look at y/n and Wanda.

Wanda had that power, and y/n could mimic it with ease.

Not another word needed to be said for Wanda to realise what everyone was thinking. Sadness washed over her like a tidal wave as she glanced down at Vision, squeezing his hand tightly. She didn't say anything, but the tears in her eyes was enough for everyone to understand the gravity of the situation.

She didn't want to lose Vision. She couldn't. He was the only person that she had left. And the fact that she was the one that had to kill her own lover was sick. It was sick, twisted, and horrible. She almost felt as if the world was playing a constant trick on her. All she wanted was to have someone to love, and Vision was exactly that. Yet here they were, on what was probably going to be their last day together.

Y/n let out a slight breath as she watched Wanda, frowning sadly at the sight of her. She could see all of the inner turmoil, all of the sadness, the stress, and the need to make every second count. It was almost like she was looking in a mirror, and it hurt.

Y/n and Wanda weren't on the best terms, they hadn't been since the Zemo Incident, but there had never been any genuine bad blood between the pair. There had never been any arguments, glares, or rude comments. Wanda had just simply decided to avoid y/n, so y/n had decided to do the same. 

But standing there and watching Wanda try her hardest to keep her composure was something that just made y/n want to step out and hug her. Losing a loved one, especially at your own hands, was traumatic and terrifying. She'd had far too many close calls with Bucky to just be able to stand there and do nothing. Y/n could mimic Wanda's powers. She could mimic them with her eyes closed.

"I'll help you, Wanda." She murmured, breaking the heart wrenching silence in the room.