Chapter 1: a touch of destiny

Wanda had seen many strange things since getting her powers and becoming an Avenger. She could be considered one of those strange things herself. So when Steve announced that the team was going to investigate some alien artifacts that had been found at a crash site in a South American rainforest, she took it in stride like it was any other mission. Her brother, however, was another story. Always the cynic, Pietro had raised his eyebrows and scoffed.

"So what, a spaceship crashed in the jungle and we're only just now hearing about it?"

"It's a pretty remote area, especially back when we think it might have landed," said Steve, choosing to ignore Pietro's attitude. "It's no surprise nobody found it 'til now."

"But seriously? Aliens?"

"Dude, you're sitting next to the literal god of thunder and you got your superpowers from a magic stick whose power source currently lives on one of your teammates' face," Tony said. "The fact that you're still a skeptic is actually bewildering."

Pietro scowled and Wanda rolled her eyes, turning back to Steve.

"So, when are we leaving?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Steve replied. "And it might take a while, so pack a bag."

The quinjet touched down in a small clearing about four miles from the crash site. The Avengers all gathered up their equipment and disembarked. Steve led the way as they hiked single-file through the thick underbrush, holding aside vines and branches for the person behind them. The air was muggy and humid and Wanda eventually had to just pull her hair up into a ponytail so it would stop sticking to her sweaty face.

At last, they reached their destination. The jungle had pretty effectively claimed the ship as its own, covering it in moss and vines, so it wasn't that surprising that it had remained hidden for so many years. Still, the massive, oddly shaped mound surrounded by the deteriorated remains of fallen trees was pretty conspicuous.

"Alright, team, you know the drill," said Steve. "Split up, document what you find, box up anything unusual, and for God's sake, be careful."

They fanned out and began exploring the ship. Wanda was with Pietro, holding a little red ball of light in front of them to light their way as they stepped inside.

"Well, that's not disturbing at all," said Pietro, poking at a very strange skeleton with the toe of his shoe.

"It must have been one of the crew," Wanda said. "There's probably loads more around the place..."

"I definitely believe in aliens now..."

Wanda laughed.

"Come on, let's keep going."

They continued into the depths of the ship, making note of things they found and carefully placing a few artifacts in their bag. They reached the end of a corridor and went into the next room. Inside were rows of beds and lots of strange equipment and tools.

"I think this might've been the medical bay," said Pietro.

"Seems like it," said Wanda. "We could probably save lives with some of the stuff in here."

"Or accidentally turn someone into a human-alien hybrid."

"You know, sometimes I don't know when you're being pessimistic or when you're just joking..."

"I don't even know that sometimes."

They wandered around the room, bagging up some of the smaller tools and a few bottles. When they got to the back of the room, they found a door leading into a small glass room. Inside was a large metal machine.

"Well, we're never gonna be able to stick that thing in our backpack," said Pietro. "Want to get a closer look?"

"We probably should," Wanda replied.

She hesitated a moment, then opened the door and they stepped into the room. The door swung shut behind them and the machine suddenly flickered into life. They moved closer, curious despite Steve's warning to be careful.

"I wonder what it does," said Pietro.

"Well, it's in the hospital, it probably has some medical use."

"No shit."

Wanda rolled her eyes and went back to inspecting the machine.

"Look, there's two sections of this thing," she said. "Maybe it's meant to heal two people at a time."

"How does it heal them, though?" Pietro said. "Do you go inside? See, these holes here, those could be door handles..."

"You know... this thing has been sitting out here for years... I doubt it still works anymore," said Wanda. "I don't see what harm opening it would do."

"You're right," said Pietro, smirking. "I mean, we're supposed to be finding stuff out about these things. How're we supposed to do that if we don't open it?"

"On three?"

"Okay. One... two... three."

They both stuck their hands into the holes, but rather than finding a door handle, a seal clamped down around their wrists and trapped them.

"Shit," Pietro said, trying to tug his hand free.

"It's no use, we're stuck," said Wanda. "We should call for help."

"Uhh, Wanda, the machine is doing something..." said Pietro.

He sounded unusually panicked. And Wanda couldn't blame him. Every display on the machine had lit up and the quiet buzz of the motors had grown to a frantic whirr. Then Wanda felt it. A strange tugging at something inside her, making her head spin and her knees go weak. She tried to pull herself free even though she knew it wouldn't work.

"We've got to get out of here, it's doing something to us!" she exclaimed.

She was getting dizzy now. She looked at Pietro and saw that he had gone pale and looked a little like he was trying not to vomit. The machine began to beep loudly, the displays flashing. Something felt like it was burning up inside Wanda and trying to get out. The pain kept growing and she cried out, doubling over.

"Wanda!"

Pietro reached out for her, but stopped short, collapsing to his knees as the pain reached him too. Then suddenly the machine exploded, sending them flying backwards through the glass walls of the room.