Fic: Echoes (616 Avengers, Wanda Maximoff, PG)
Title: Echoes
Author: dazzledfirestar
Recipient: garrideb
Prompt: Haunted House
Word Count: ~1700
Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton (implied Wanda/Clint), various other Avengers
Warnings: mentions of canon character deaths, implied M/F
Summary: Wanda revisits past sins in an effort to find some peace.
She stared at the gates for longer than was probably healthy as she tried to remember the rationale she’d been told… no, that she’d told herself during all of the chaos that had caused this destruction.
“Wanda, you don’t have to do this.”
She shook her head. If she didn’t face this, she feared that it could happen again. The guilt of having caused so much death and pain to those she loved could drive her over the edge if she didn’t acknowledge it. Maybe it wouldn’t happen like this again; her powers, when they’d returned were more what they had started as rather than the pure chaotic magicks that she’d wielded in her last act as an Avenger. But it could happen again. “Yes, I do.”
The memories had started coming back slowly; first a dream of monsters, men from the future, a shield, a boy moving so fast he was simply a blur, an archer… all seemingly unconnected to her mind. Then there was a knight in golden armor, a pixie, a strange handsome prince with a gold cape and a red face… she chocked it all up to an over active imagination. She wrote the archer in her dreams that wore the same face as the man in her bed off as a manifestation of infatuation.
It all seemed to start with that man though. Now, of course it made sense. Of course seeing Clint again would trigger something in her mind. Of course he’d be the key to unlocking everything she’d been before; even if she told him on her return that she was sure seeing any of her former teammates would have had the same effect.
She was still avoiding him as much as possible. Not because of what had happened in Wundagore though she still hadn’t sorted through her feelings on all that; because of what had happened before that. Twice. She couldn’t figure it out; couldn’t put her finger on why she’d do that, not just to Clint but to Scott and Vision. Vision, she thought made a little more sense. Some sort of latent aggression because he couldn’t give her what she had wanted so desperately… at least not without a little help.
Scott, she thought might have just gotten caught up in everything. He was one of the many who were. But perhaps because he had Cassie… well, she couldn’t be sure about that. She couldn’t really be sure of any of it.
Cassie. Oh, there was no way to even begin to apologize to Cassie, though she’d tried. The young girl’s eyes tried to burn straight though her and she brushed her off with a deceptively casual ‘whatever’ before rejoining her team. That had come as quite the surprise as well.
The twins… Billy and Tommy were simultaneously a relief and a concern. She first thought maybe she was doing it again; maybe her powers had completely come back and she didn’t even realize she was doing anything! But as she spoke to them, she realized that part of her plan to change the world had been to save them too; to keep them from returning to Mephisto’s grasp. One last act…
It seemed to be a recurring theme as things came to light for her. She’d wept for ages at the news of what she’d done to her own people. Not the Avengers; though as that realization had occurred, she’d wept for them too, but to her fellow mutants. She cursed herself daily for the selfishness that had led to so much pain.
Again, that was a recurring theme.
The creak of the gate opening in front of her pulled her out of her own head. “Alright then.” Steve sighed and stepped aside. “Ladies first.”
She took a deep breath and started up the walk that used to lead home. The steps were still there, but the rubble and destruction marred the homecoming. She could almost hear the words Pietro had braced her with the first time they’d come here. She could swear the ghosts of her younger self, and that of her brother were walking beside her.
The pain she’d caused in Pietro’s life weighed on her. She wasn’t sure he could or would forgive her for any of it, but the memories of the time they’d spend here, young and far less troubled were the ones in her mind at that moment. This is such a wonderful opportunity, Wanda. With some luck, perhaps this will work out.
Her memory of Pietro’s voice was suddenly cut with another voice. One that she hadn’t heard when it had spoken the words she was hearing now, but one she knew well.
Jack! Jack!? It’s me. Scott.
She stopped walking. “Wanda?”
“I’m all right, Steve. Its just…” she shook her head. “Dr. Strange warned me that with all the energy that I… that was directed at this place, there may be… echoes.”
His brow crinkled. “Echoes? Like ghosts?”
“Something like that.” She sighed and started walking again. “Would it really surprise anyone if this place was haunted?”
“No,” he shook his head. “No, probably not.” She stared at the ruins of the doors, and Steve followed her gaze. “That’s where-”
“Vision crashed the Quinjet. Yes, I know.” She could almost see the wreckage, could see the man she’d loved crawling out of it. Our time is over. “It must have been…”
“It was.” Steve nodded. “You don’t remember… any of it?”
“No… not really.” She shook her head again. “I’m sure that’s for the best.” She sighed and continued to wander the grounds, picking up moments, memories, and echoes as she went. Whether it was for the best for her to not have the memories of what she’d done or not was irrelevant really. She didn’t feel that not remembering took away any of the guilt or the responsibility. She should know what she’d brought down upon her home and her family.
As the thought occurred to her she felt more than saw a shadow pass overhead. A big shadow. “Kree…”
“What?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head and continued on through the grounds and around the rubble that had been home. The echoes overhead would be there when she was ready, she knew that much. Though how ready she was for any of this was debatable. “I’ll get there.”
“Get where?” Steve was starting to look very concerned. She couldn’t blame him. Really, talking to herself was the least likely way to convince anyone she was not long homicidally insane.
She gulped in a large breath. “Can we… can we go across the street?”
“To the park? Why?”
“The… energy is centered here, but…” She bit her lip and gazed over Steve’s shoulder.
Something like understand flashed in his eyes and he turned to look. “You’re seeing everything aren’t you?”
“It’s like… the echoes… the energy is showing me the things I really need to see.” She looked up again. Steve didn’t question what she was looking for this time. “This would be a big one.”
“I think he’d agree with you.” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “All right, let’s go.”
As they left the grounds, Wanda paused, staring back for a moment at a green shadow and hearing voices of people she couldn’t see clearly.
Jennifer, calm down.
The shadow got a little clearer and Wanda gasped as she saw what had happened when She-Hulk lost control. “Wanda?” Steve rested a hand on her shoulder and she stared at him, wide eyed. “Jen lost it. Completely. I’ve never seen her like that.”
“I… she just… I knew, I’d read the reports but…”
“I know.” Steve squeezed her shoulder again.
Wanda couldn’t stop watching as Jennifer… no, as the She-Hulk ripped apart the body of the man she’d loved. “What did I…”
“You lost control.” So simple an answer. She shook her head again. “Wanda, you don’t have to do this. We can come back.”
“No.” She sniffled and wiped her cheeks. “No, no one gave any of you the chance to walk away from all this. If I… If I have any hope of standing as an Avenger again, I have to see what I… what I did.”
Steve sighed and turned her toward the park. “Okay, but after this-”
“After this, if I’m not crazy again, I’ll be surprised.” She let out a dry laugh.
“We can-”
“No, Steve. This is important.” She didn’t tell him that, while the events that had happened at and around the mansion were nothing more than blurry smudges on her memory, the events of her ‘other world’, of the House of Magnus, were still accessible and she needed to know… needed to see why Clint had been so angry. She understood on some level why, but she had to see it.
Her feet hit the grass and things got a little darker. She saw the Kree ships, the fight… she saw the moment the energy wanted her to see.
Not like this…
She shook her head and blinked against the light of the ghostly explosion. Her own words from another world echoed in her head.
I brought you back.
“My god… no wonder.” She turned to see Steve standing a way behind her. “I owe him another apology.” She stared at her feet for a moment. “After all he’s given me…”
“Wanda…”
“No. I know. There’s no apologizing for any of this.” She waved her hand dismissively. “There’s no changing it. Even if I could…” she stopped realizing that she’d tried that already and it had been a bigger disaster than she’d realized even as she came out of her haze. “I don’t want this to be my legacy, Steve. I don’t want-”
“I know.” He took another step closer. “I don’t think you have to worry about that as much now that you’ve...” He sighed. “Well, now that you’re back.”
“I just…” Wanda sighed as the echoes faded. “I want to make it right. I want to redeem myself. I want to be good again.”
“Wasn’t that why you came here in the first place? I mean, all those years ago. I seem to remember you saying something similar back then.”
She nodded, thinking of all the reasons she had to try to make things right now. “I think we should get back. Thank you for coming with me.”
Steve smiled and moved toward the street, hailing a cab as he went. Wanda sighed, catching the last glimpse of the echoes. They seemed to glimmer for a moment before vanishing. She closed her eyes, intent on remembering what had happened. When she spoke it was little more than a whisper; a request made to the things she’d been shown.
“I want to be an Avenger again.”
Author: dazzledfirestar
Recipient: garrideb
Prompt: Haunted House
Word Count: ~1700
Characters: Wanda Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton (implied Wanda/Clint), various other Avengers
Warnings: mentions of canon character deaths, implied M/F
Summary: Wanda revisits past sins in an effort to find some peace.
She stared at the gates for longer than was probably healthy as she tried to remember the rationale she’d been told… no, that she’d told herself during all of the chaos that had caused this destruction.
“Wanda, you don’t have to do this.”
She shook her head. If she didn’t face this, she feared that it could happen again. The guilt of having caused so much death and pain to those she loved could drive her over the edge if she didn’t acknowledge it. Maybe it wouldn’t happen like this again; her powers, when they’d returned were more what they had started as rather than the pure chaotic magicks that she’d wielded in her last act as an Avenger. But it could happen again. “Yes, I do.”
The memories had started coming back slowly; first a dream of monsters, men from the future, a shield, a boy moving so fast he was simply a blur, an archer… all seemingly unconnected to her mind. Then there was a knight in golden armor, a pixie, a strange handsome prince with a gold cape and a red face… she chocked it all up to an over active imagination. She wrote the archer in her dreams that wore the same face as the man in her bed off as a manifestation of infatuation.
It all seemed to start with that man though. Now, of course it made sense. Of course seeing Clint again would trigger something in her mind. Of course he’d be the key to unlocking everything she’d been before; even if she told him on her return that she was sure seeing any of her former teammates would have had the same effect.
She was still avoiding him as much as possible. Not because of what had happened in Wundagore though she still hadn’t sorted through her feelings on all that; because of what had happened before that. Twice. She couldn’t figure it out; couldn’t put her finger on why she’d do that, not just to Clint but to Scott and Vision. Vision, she thought made a little more sense. Some sort of latent aggression because he couldn’t give her what she had wanted so desperately… at least not without a little help.
Scott, she thought might have just gotten caught up in everything. He was one of the many who were. But perhaps because he had Cassie… well, she couldn’t be sure about that. She couldn’t really be sure of any of it.
Cassie. Oh, there was no way to even begin to apologize to Cassie, though she’d tried. The young girl’s eyes tried to burn straight though her and she brushed her off with a deceptively casual ‘whatever’ before rejoining her team. That had come as quite the surprise as well.
The twins… Billy and Tommy were simultaneously a relief and a concern. She first thought maybe she was doing it again; maybe her powers had completely come back and she didn’t even realize she was doing anything! But as she spoke to them, she realized that part of her plan to change the world had been to save them too; to keep them from returning to Mephisto’s grasp. One last act…
It seemed to be a recurring theme as things came to light for her. She’d wept for ages at the news of what she’d done to her own people. Not the Avengers; though as that realization had occurred, she’d wept for them too, but to her fellow mutants. She cursed herself daily for the selfishness that had led to so much pain.
Again, that was a recurring theme.
The creak of the gate opening in front of her pulled her out of her own head. “Alright then.” Steve sighed and stepped aside. “Ladies first.”
She took a deep breath and started up the walk that used to lead home. The steps were still there, but the rubble and destruction marred the homecoming. She could almost hear the words Pietro had braced her with the first time they’d come here. She could swear the ghosts of her younger self, and that of her brother were walking beside her.
The pain she’d caused in Pietro’s life weighed on her. She wasn’t sure he could or would forgive her for any of it, but the memories of the time they’d spend here, young and far less troubled were the ones in her mind at that moment. This is such a wonderful opportunity, Wanda. With some luck, perhaps this will work out.
Her memory of Pietro’s voice was suddenly cut with another voice. One that she hadn’t heard when it had spoken the words she was hearing now, but one she knew well.
Jack! Jack!? It’s me. Scott.
She stopped walking. “Wanda?”
“I’m all right, Steve. Its just…” she shook her head. “Dr. Strange warned me that with all the energy that I… that was directed at this place, there may be… echoes.”
His brow crinkled. “Echoes? Like ghosts?”
“Something like that.” She sighed and started walking again. “Would it really surprise anyone if this place was haunted?”
“No,” he shook his head. “No, probably not.” She stared at the ruins of the doors, and Steve followed her gaze. “That’s where-”
“Vision crashed the Quinjet. Yes, I know.” She could almost see the wreckage, could see the man she’d loved crawling out of it. Our time is over. “It must have been…”
“It was.” Steve nodded. “You don’t remember… any of it?”
“No… not really.” She shook her head again. “I’m sure that’s for the best.” She sighed and continued to wander the grounds, picking up moments, memories, and echoes as she went. Whether it was for the best for her to not have the memories of what she’d done or not was irrelevant really. She didn’t feel that not remembering took away any of the guilt or the responsibility. She should know what she’d brought down upon her home and her family.
As the thought occurred to her she felt more than saw a shadow pass overhead. A big shadow. “Kree…”
“What?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head and continued on through the grounds and around the rubble that had been home. The echoes overhead would be there when she was ready, she knew that much. Though how ready she was for any of this was debatable. “I’ll get there.”
“Get where?” Steve was starting to look very concerned. She couldn’t blame him. Really, talking to herself was the least likely way to convince anyone she was not long homicidally insane.
She gulped in a large breath. “Can we… can we go across the street?”
“To the park? Why?”
“The… energy is centered here, but…” She bit her lip and gazed over Steve’s shoulder.
Something like understand flashed in his eyes and he turned to look. “You’re seeing everything aren’t you?”
“It’s like… the echoes… the energy is showing me the things I really need to see.” She looked up again. Steve didn’t question what she was looking for this time. “This would be a big one.”
“I think he’d agree with you.” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “All right, let’s go.”
As they left the grounds, Wanda paused, staring back for a moment at a green shadow and hearing voices of people she couldn’t see clearly.
Jennifer, calm down.
The shadow got a little clearer and Wanda gasped as she saw what had happened when She-Hulk lost control. “Wanda?” Steve rested a hand on her shoulder and she stared at him, wide eyed. “Jen lost it. Completely. I’ve never seen her like that.”
“I… she just… I knew, I’d read the reports but…”
“I know.” Steve squeezed her shoulder again.
Wanda couldn’t stop watching as Jennifer… no, as the She-Hulk ripped apart the body of the man she’d loved. “What did I…”
“You lost control.” So simple an answer. She shook her head again. “Wanda, you don’t have to do this. We can come back.”
“No.” She sniffled and wiped her cheeks. “No, no one gave any of you the chance to walk away from all this. If I… If I have any hope of standing as an Avenger again, I have to see what I… what I did.”
Steve sighed and turned her toward the park. “Okay, but after this-”
“After this, if I’m not crazy again, I’ll be surprised.” She let out a dry laugh.
“We can-”
“No, Steve. This is important.” She didn’t tell him that, while the events that had happened at and around the mansion were nothing more than blurry smudges on her memory, the events of her ‘other world’, of the House of Magnus, were still accessible and she needed to know… needed to see why Clint had been so angry. She understood on some level why, but she had to see it.
Her feet hit the grass and things got a little darker. She saw the Kree ships, the fight… she saw the moment the energy wanted her to see.
Not like this…
She shook her head and blinked against the light of the ghostly explosion. Her own words from another world echoed in her head.
I brought you back.
“My god… no wonder.” She turned to see Steve standing a way behind her. “I owe him another apology.” She stared at her feet for a moment. “After all he’s given me…”
“Wanda…”
“No. I know. There’s no apologizing for any of this.” She waved her hand dismissively. “There’s no changing it. Even if I could…” she stopped realizing that she’d tried that already and it had been a bigger disaster than she’d realized even as she came out of her haze. “I don’t want this to be my legacy, Steve. I don’t want-”
“I know.” He took another step closer. “I don’t think you have to worry about that as much now that you’ve...” He sighed. “Well, now that you’re back.”
“I just…” Wanda sighed as the echoes faded. “I want to make it right. I want to redeem myself. I want to be good again.”
“Wasn’t that why you came here in the first place? I mean, all those years ago. I seem to remember you saying something similar back then.”
She nodded, thinking of all the reasons she had to try to make things right now. “I think we should get back. Thank you for coming with me.”
Steve smiled and moved toward the street, hailing a cab as he went. Wanda sighed, catching the last glimpse of the echoes. They seemed to glimmer for a moment before vanishing. She closed her eyes, intent on remembering what had happened. When she spoke it was little more than a whisper; a request made to the things she’d been shown.
“I want to be an Avenger again.”