Chapter Text
The Epilogue (present day)
But take a breath, and dance with Death
My love cannot be turned…
“Let me get this straight. You’re being called back as an Avenger, they’re recruiting a bunch of kids including the one the Darkhold had you chasing down months ago, and you expect that either of us actually want to tell Nick Fury that we won’t go with you? After we just got you back and we’ve actually been able to act like a family?”
Tommy’s irate. Actually, understatement of the year - Tommy’s pissed. Agatha can absolutely understand why. A quick glance at her lover’s face tells Agatha that Wanda also understands, but it’s painful for her to consider it.
Wanda bites her lip, clasps her hands together in her lap. Her fingertips have almost completely returned to their natural tone, but even months later she still fidgets with them as if observing the corruption - but only when she’s struggling to get words out. “Tommy, I understand that you’re angry and worried, I get it, I’m sorry. I’m just afraid that if you accept this - this call that you shouldn’t even have to be thinking about before becoming an adult-”
“Wanda, we’re both turning seventeen in, like, a month.” Billy speaks up quietly from the larger couch, where he sits with Rebecca and Jeff. “We may not be adults, but we knew this was coming. None of us realized that it would be…I guess you’d call it official instead of governmental, so to speak. But we’ve known since Lilia first saw what she saw. We’ve been preparing for this.”
His dark blue eyes seem to look right into his soul mother’s very being. “If you’re going, so are we. We have gifts that we can’t afford not to use. I’m pretty sure Tommy is with me on this - we’re not letting our entire coven and two of our moms just walk into a fight they may not come back from. You’re going to need us. And you know that.”
Agatha raises a hand to pause Billy’s train of thought, then looks at Rebecca and Jeff. “I knew the boys would feel this way. But I want to know what you think. I know this is utterly terrifying to think about, and it’s yet another change. But I want your thoughts.”
Rebecca takes a deep breath, casts a resigned glance over at Jeff, who sighs and reaches for her hand. As they interlock their fingers, Jeff speaks quietly. “Actually…Bex and I talked about this when Lilia first brought it up, way before the Avengers got involved. We’ve - we’ve known, since we figured out what was going on with the boys, that something like this would come. We were hoping it wouldn’t, but to us it all has a reason. And while we are obviously extremely concerned, we’re completely willing to respect whatever the boys decide.”
“Provided we can still see them. And speak to them.” Rebecca interjects, reaching up to ruffle Billy’s hair, then looks over at Wanda to firmly add, “And provided you are still in therapy during all of this. I’m not letting you walk back into this without an outlet. In fact, I’m insisting on it once we speak with Fury. If that means we pack up everything we need, move close to wherever you’ll be training - then we do it.”
Wanda’s eyes dart to her hands, then back up to Rebecca. Her voice is small, riddled with anxiety and a slew of other weighted emotions. “I know. I’m not going to drop therapy for this. I had just assumed I’d be portaling back when I could…but if I’m truly outnumbered on this decision, I would expect Fury will figure out arrangements for families.” She looks at the boys, smiling sadly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I had been assuming you’d just accept not going - I just…I can’t…”
Her voice breaks slightly, and Agatha’s heart with it. Wanda looks as if she’s about to bury her head in her hands and start sobbing - her eyes are glassy, slowly taking on a distant look. But before she can so much as rest a hand on Wanda’s shoulder, Tommy is on Wanda’s other side on the small couch, and Billy is moving from the larger couch to kneel down in front of them.
“We can’t lose you either,” he says quietly, brows furrowed as he sits where he knows damn well his soul mother can’t look away from him. “It’s going to be a stalemate, if that’s what you’re worried about. You’re afraid to lose us again, and we’re afraid that you’re going to go off into a war without us and you’ll never come back. We may have other parents, but you are our family and we’re not leaving you behind, and we’re not forgetting you. Do not make me start quoting Lilo & Stitch at you.”
Through the few tears that have slipped from her eyes, Wanda giggles, then full on laughs as the dam bursts. Billy grins, pleased that his tension-breaker worked, then meets Agatha’s gaze. “Hey Ags, is there a rune for ‘ohana’ or am I going to have to make one up for us to add to our witch garb?”
These fucking kids, Agatha thinks to herself, then snorts. “We’ll workshop it, kid.” She wraps an arm around Wanda’s shoulders, pulls her to Agatha’s side. “I told you they weren’t going to let you just leave them here, darling. You really should listen to me more often, I’m never wrong.”
Billy scoffs and rolls his eyes. “I can name at least three times where you’ve been very wrong. Do you really want to use that as your angle for making Wanda listen to you?”
“Don’t you start,” Rebecca warns, jokingly, as Agatha opens her mouth to retort. She and Jeff chuckle, and the tension in the room dissolves as everyone laughs at the typical Billy/Agatha antics returning.
Then the doorbell rings.
“And you’re absolutely sure Wanda’s not going to be angry that I’m here? Or that she’s not going to snap or something?”
In the middle of the trio, Kamala turns to her and reaches out to squeeze her hand comfortingly. Fury casts her a reassuring half-smile - or he tries to, and America has to realize that it’s his best effort. “Miss Chavez, I’ll say this. I’ve known Wanda Maximoff for nearly a decade. I know what she’s done, the hell her life has been, and I’ll tell you right now that who you dealt with wasn’t her. She’s not the one I’m worried about with the possibility of snapping - that’d be her girlfriend or whatever the hell their relationship is. Harkness has a hot temper and a sharp tongue. But they seem to balance each other out. I think you coming with us was a good call on Kamala’s part. You’ll be fine.”
He glances over to Kamala, who meets his gaze and smiles brightly. “You ready, Khan?”
“Only if you’ve got the information pulled up - but let’s not open that tablet until we’re inside, I still hate that it’s transparent like that. Total security risk.” She rolls her eyes, stepping up onto the Kaplans’ porch and taking a deep breath. “Here goes.” She presses the doorbell, and America’s chest constricts slightly as her nerves flare. She reaches up to her neck, fiddles with her necklace to calm herself.
The door opens, and a tall teenage boy pokes his head out. He may not be blood-related now, America realizes, but he’s definitely one of Wanda’s boys. Even without the benefit of genetics, he resembles his mother entirely too much for being a reincarnation of one of the twins from Westview.
“Hi!” Kamala chirps. “We’re looking for-”
“I’m one of the people you’re looking for. You’re a little early,” the boy interjects, tilting his head slightly as he pulls the door open more. “I thought you wouldn’t be coming until the end of the month. Did something else happen?”
Fury steps on the porch and sighs. “William Kaplan, I’m guessing?”
“According to my driver’s license…but I go by Billy most of the time now. What happened that has you here so soon, Agent Fury?”
Fury’s spared from answering right away, as a pale dark-haired woman with strong features and piercing blue-gray eyes appears in the entry behind Billy. “Billy, you could have just let them in.”
“I wanted to be sure of who they were, Agatha,” he shoots back, then grimaces slightly as another woman appears in the entry, taking a death grip on the hand of the other woman - Agatha, Billy had called her. This woman is pale too, with a heart-shaped face and bright green eyes. Her coppery hair is piled on her head in a messy bun, and she’s in an oversized long sleeved shirt and leggings, but America recognizes her instantly.
And apparently, Wanda recognizes America, too, as she worries at her lower lip and her eyes drop to her feet. Probably out of familiarity, Fury defaults to Wanda.
“You already talked to your boys, I see. You still insisting they aren’t coming?” His tone has shifted, America realizes - where he was reassuring but firm with her and Kamala, he takes on an almost paternal countenance with Wanda. She sighs, and her shoulders sag as she meets his gaze to nod wordlessly.
Billy speaks before his mother can. “She tried, but she’s outvoted. Would you like to come in so we can discuss this?”
Kamala smiles at him. “Sure! I’m Kamala Khan, obviously you know Fury, and this is…”
“America,” Wanda finishes, her gaze returning to her own feet. “Fury, should Agatha and I go home while you talk to the Kaplans? I don’t want to intrude.” Her voice is small, riddled with almost the exact same anxiety America feels in her own chest. Wanda lets go of Agatha’s hand to wrap her arms around herself, and Agatha looks from Wanda to America and back, expression unreadable.
America should still be terrified. She’s standing in front of someone who had tried to hurt her. She shouldn’t have come, she should still be afraid, and she should have chosen to stay behind.
But seeing Wanda like this - not the terrifying and mighty Scarlet Witch, possessed by whatever the hell the Darkhold was, ready to eliminate anyone in her path, but the guilt-ridden and trauma-laden woman who had lost everything time and time again, much as America had herself - seeing Wanda in this light?
America isn’t afraid of her now.
America, in spite of knowing that supposedly, her brain hasn’t finished developing yet, can feel in her gut that the Wanda Maximoff standing in the doorway is not the woman who tried to harm her. America should feel afraid, but instead, she feels safe. Her instincts really aren’t that bad, after so many years of being a multiverse nomad. This woman, this version of Wanda, is a mother and a partner and a friend. This is the Wanda that Fury has spoken fondly of.
America steps forward, eyes never leaving Wanda’s face. “No. Please stay. I…I would feel better if you did.”
Wanda’s breath catches, and for a moment America worries that she said something wrong. But the redhead looks up, meeting America’s eyes for the first time since Billy opened the door. Her green ones are full of regret, remorse, fear, and…maybe a little bit of hope. She nods slightly, and her voice is barely above a whisper as she responds. “Okay.”
America releases a breath she never realized she was holding, and she smiles, trying to be encouraging and grateful all at once, to convey that she really does want Wanda to be there. “Okay. Good. Thank you.”
It’s not much, but for them, it’s a huge step in the right direction. And as they all step inside, and Fury and Kamala talk with the Kaplans, and they meet Tommy, as Rebecca Kaplan sets out tea and coffee for everyone and listens to Fury with her husband, America watches Wanda as subtly as she can.
At one point, Wanda catches her looking, but doesn’t say anything aloud. However, America hears the woman’s nervous voice in her head just seconds later and knows it’s actually her speaking.
Thank you. I’m sorry. I can’t take back what I did, but I regret it every single day. I don’t want to be that person again…ever. Whatever I have to do to prove that, I will.
She fights back tears for a moment, because it’s really lame to cry when the conversation was partially psychic. But she concentrates - Stephen has tried to teach her telepathy, she’s just not sure if she can pull it off without him there to remind her.
Can you hear me?
A faint smile flickers across Wanda’s face, and she nods silently. I can. Good job.
America feels herself swell up with pride - just a little bit. She smiles back. You’re not who you were back then. I believe you. I forgave you when the mountain fell...I think we'll be okay.
Wanda’s smile widens, and her nose scrunches slightly, and it’s adorable, and America can maybe see why there’s so much love radiating towards the redhead from Agatha, the boys, and the Kaplans. Her psychic voice sounds stronger this time - resolute, that’s what Stephen would call it.
Yes, we will.