fandomtownies | Magic Box

"That's fair," Wanda allowed with a nod. "But why ask in the first place then?"

"Because I wanted to see what you'd say," Annie replied honestly, shrugging. "And I don't want to give the impression I've forgotten."

Not that any of that had been real forgettable, but Annie more meant -- she was looking closer, now. She would keep looking closer, now, going forward.

If Wanda had been planning to surf the multiverse again she most likely wouldn't have been honest about it, but she understood what Annie had been trying to do.

"I don't think you ever forget something like that," Wanda said. "You shouldn't."

Not that she thought Annie should be reliving the ordeal day to day, but everybody probably should have come away from that experience learning something about themselves.

Well. Maybe not Wong.

Maybe Wong came away with a new love of rock-climbing!

"Yeah, no," Annie agreed dryly. "I'm not forgetting any of that any time soon."

She'd at least stopped having nightmares awhile back. And a few months ago, just seeing Wanda like this would have sent her into a tailspin of panic.

Now it was more like a dull throb of panic, just pulsing quietly at the back of her mind.

"But -- I'm glad you're...okay," Annie added, hesitant both because it was hard to say -- anger was a lot easier than anything like an olive branch, right now -- and because she wasn't really sure how okay Wanda was. And really, it didn't seem like Annie's place to ask. (And she also wasn't sure she wanted to know? She needed to sit with that one, for a little while.)

"I'm glad you're okay too," Wanda said. "And for the record I didn't come back here to hurt you or make you uncomfortable or scared."

However her mere presence seemed to be doing that without her even trying.

"The people here are the closest thing I have to friends or family anymore. I had to come back."

"I didn't think you did," Annie promised, shaking her head. It was a bit of a by-product, her discomfort and fear, but it was also something she'd learned to live with and was managing better by the day. "I think this island's probably big enough for the two of us." She actually quirked a little smile at Wanda. "And -- I'm glad you have your people here. I get how important that is. Seriously."

If Steve or Jane ever figured out who Wanda had hurt, that would be one thing, but Annie would take that secret to her grave if it meant Wanda didn't lose more tethers to this reality, this life.

Edited 2023-03-14 15:54 (UTC)

"Thank you," Wanda replied quietly. She hadn't actually realized how much she needed to be back here until she had seen Steve and Scott, but now she knew she'd have trouble leaving if Annie had asked.

"I'll stay out of your way," Wanda promised. "And if anything becomes a problem you can let me know--or let Steve know and he'll pass it along to me."

"I can let you know," Annie corrected, though her tone was gentle. She wasn't sure they'd ever get back to where they'd been, no, but -- she was a big girl. She didn't need to pass messages along through Captain America.

She was quiet for a second, before softly asking, "Wanda, why'd you ask me for help?"

That question was the one that kept coming up for her, more than anything else. Had it been because Annie was a hero and Wanda had known she would help, or because she's sensed that Annie was easy to manipulate? Had it been because of their bond, or because something about Annie invited smarter people to prey upon her?

She knew some (all?) of it had been the Darkhold's influence, sure. But she was still kind of rooting out just how comforting that knowledge actually was. The thing about something dark and addictive like that, in Annie's experience, was that it just showed you someone's darkest side. It didn't always transform them into a different person entirely -- it just betrayed the parts of them they didn't show anyone else.

"Because you were my friend," Wanda said after moment. "You were one of the only people who knew how much my children meant to me."

At the time she had been so desperate to get her kids back, she thought that maybe if she enlisted the help of someone who understood even a little bit, she'd be able to convince them about the America part. If she had more time before Kamar-Taj she would have tried convincing Annie before throwing her into the whole situation.

Now she was clearheaded enough to know that no convincing would have had Annie on her side.

It did not escape Annie's notice that Wanda referred to their friendship in the past tense, which prompted a guilty little twinge in her gut. That was complicated. She'd also probably use the past tense there, but it still hurt. All of this still kind of hurt more than she'd really anticipated.

But it also stood out to Annie that Wanda had used the past tense when talking about her kids, and in a lot of ways, that was both more telling, and more important. Maybe she had actually achieved some kind of peace while away, which -- even as angry and hurt as she was -- had been what Annie wanted for her more than anything.

"Okay," she replied softly, accepting that. It was the reassurance she'd needed, at least for now, that she hadn't been picked out as a sucker. "I wish -- I wish you'd asked for help sooner."

Before it got to the kid-killing stage. Not that Annie would have known what to do, but maybe they wouldn't have quite as much distance between them now if they'd looked at the problem together, earlier.

Edited 2023-03-14 16:58 (UTC)

"I do too." She wasn't sure if it would have changed much, but Annie would have been able to get out before getting wrangled into Wanda's mess at its worst.

"Have you been okay?" Wanda asked. "Since...everything?"

"Yeah, I've been fine," Annie lied. She was trying to be fine, anyway. It felt pretty cruel to tell Wanda that she'd literally put Annie in therapy (though, that also wasn't fair to pin entirely on Wanda. There was something of a pattern leading up to all of that, even before.) And she also needed to tell Wanda -- everything, but that was going to take a delicate touch. (The reason she felt compelled to tell her at all was because this whole situation was delicate, really.) "Just got back from settling some stuff in Diego's universe, actually."

Where Diego's sister had reset the entire universe for her daughter. Big year for that whole vibe, apparently.

"Oh." From what Wanda could remember, that usually meant an apocalypse. "You didn't end up in the 60's again, did you?"

A very faint smile crossed Annie's features. "No, but we were in 2019," she replied. "Not long enough back to be all that novel. But there was a whole thing with paradoxes and time travel. Not as fun as getting to turn into paint for a hot second, maybe...."

Was that a joke? It was sort of like a joke. A joke's cousin, maybe.

"So just a normal visit back home," Wanda said dryly. "I'm glad you're okay. Diego too."

"Thanks." And that kind of segued right into the thing she needed to tell Wanda -- or she could just not, because it was still so early, but Annie also knew she wasn't going to be able to hide things for very long, and --

"There's something else," she said, visibly a little nerved up. She was probably going to need to go home and nap after this, since she could also feel the beginnings of a headache blooming at the base of her skull. "And you need to hear it from me before, like, radio gets it out there."

"Okay," Wanda said, immediately looking concerned. Even if she didn't really have the right to be concerned about Annie anymore. "Go ahead."

Annie glanced towards the windows and doors, fidgeting with her wedding ring for a moment just to have something to do with her hands. (She had, at least, uncrossed her arms from around herself.)

And she didn't like thinking like this, but she could tell there was enough electricity nearby to buy her some time if she needed to. Not that she expected Wanda to attack her or anything, but like -- she just didn't know what to expect.

"I'm pregnant," she said quietly, meeting Wanda's gaze. "Twins."

She was just trying to be sensitive, but Wanda needed to know that so she could process it on her own time, before Annie was lumbering around town or pushing a double stroller that might have belonged to Wanda in another universe.

If this had been six months ago, something like this probably would have sent Wanda into a spiral. She probably would have holed up in her apartment and studied the Darkhold even more to get what she wanted.

But now, after spending a lot of time thinking on it alone, and the horrified faces of Billy and Tommy looking at her never far away in her memory, she found she wasn't upset or jealous at all. A little wistful, maybe, but she accepted that life was never going to happen for her.

"That's great, Annie," Wanda said with a small smile. "Having twins--and being a twin is a special thing. I'm really happy for you."

And that small smile, matched with Wanda's sincerity, was better than any small-talky olive branch Annie could muster up. It felt like the first step to actually healing this rift, rather than just patching it over with avoidance or pleasantries.

Maybe this would be okay. Maybe, actually, they would be okay.

"Thank you," she said again, her smile a little wider this time. "We're pretty excited. I just -- I'm probably going to start showing soonish. Seemed like it would be a bad surprise."

Just for Wanda. Barring a couple of people who were being told ahead of time, most of Diego and Annie's friends and acquaintances did, indeed, get to be surprised. But most of their friends and acquaintances -- Wanda sort of defied categorization at this point -- hadn't lost their twin brother, or their twin sons.

Again -- Annie was hurt, and a very little afraid, and regretful. But she was still looking out for Wanda's feelings and wellbeing.

"I appreciate that, truly." The fact that Annie cared enough to break this gently to Wanda, even if Wanda hadn't needed the tiptoeing, meant a lot. "I hope everything goes smoothly. Well, as smoothly as it can."

She knew from experience that even after a short 24 hour pregnancy the labor part really sucked.

Barring any unexpected sitcom disasters, Annie hopefully had about seven months before she had to worry about that part. (But like, threats of bedrest and you're going to be very big had already been put out there, so she was also really not anticipating how much this was gonna suck even before the labor part.)

"So far, so good," Annie told her, flashing a real smile that turned just a skosh awkward. "I should probably...leave you to your chickens."

Not the amazing exit line she'd envisioned when she'd come in here, no, but oh well.

That drew a laugh out of Wanda. It was ridiculous to have this meeting around a bunch of rubber chickens but that was sort of why she had missed it here?

"I'll see you around, Annie." With her permission, of course.

Magic Box | Tuesday

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