The Voice of Reason (Wanda Maximoff, PG-13)
Title: The Voice of Reason
Author: dazzledfirestar
Recipient: strawberispring
Prompt: paranoia and hatred
Word Count: 1048
Characters: Wanda Maximoff (Avengers in the background)
Warnings: Off panel character death
Author’s Notes: This is set just before Disassembled and lifts a moment or two from canon. I may be catching a little crazy from spending too much time in Wanda’s head with this…
Summary: Her friends. People she thought of as family. Carol, Jan, Steve, Tony, Clint… even Vision and Pietro! They were going to come after the only pure thing she had.
They were going to come and ruin it all over again. That’s what the little voice told her. They’d steal her babies away again. She wasn’t exactly sure why she trusted the voice. The rational part of her brain told her that voices in your head don’t usually give the best of advice, but this little voice…. It was right.
It had been right about her babies. It had been right about Agatha. It had been right about everyone keeping the truth from her. And now…. Now that she’d put the pieces back together again; now that everything was as it actually should have been; now they were going to do it all over again.
Her friends. People she thought of as family. Carol, Jan, Steve, Tony, Clint. Even Vision and Pietro! They were going to come after the only pure thing she had. They would come for her children. She had to defend them. It was instinct, after all. What mother wouldn’t die for her children? What mother wouldn’t kill for them if it was necessary? It was the way things were. It was natural. Yes, nature demanded she do anything and everything to keep them safe.
She’d had no choice with Agatha. She’d lied. Agatha had taken the souls she’d rescued, souls that deserved better and shoved them back into hell. How could that be for the best? How could she stand there and tell her that was for the best? How could she say that these lovely little bundles in her arms weren’t real? How could they be anything but real? No. No, Agatha’s lies couldn’t be allowed to stand. Agatha couldn’t be allowed to stand after doing such horrible things to the innocent creatures in Wanda’s arms. No. It couldn’t be allowed.
And if Agatha was guilty, what then of her family? Of the Avengers?
They are many and they have much to answer for.
But it couldn’t be that simple, could it? She couldn’t just wipe them out. No… no one would learn anything that way. They had to be made to see their crimes first. To feel the pain and loss that she held deep in her even when she had no name for who or what had left such a hole. But they…. They would have names. They would know what had filled those holes that would be left in them. They had to see… to feel… to weep as they should have for her fallen sons.
They had to be stopped and shown the error of their ways before they made the same tragic and hurtful mistakes again!
But would they see it? Would they have to be told how they’d brought their punishment on themselves or would a light shine on them and enlighten them to their misguided ways?
They have brought this on themselves. They will know that by the end.
So dark. Everything was so dark. Shadowed. Ominous. All but her children. Her family. That shadow; that darkness had to be held. It had to be kept away from them. It would consume all that was good in her life. That had been proven to her already and though she feared for those trapped in the darkness… those she still loved… she knew that she could show them a way out. Show them the peace that she had found and though it may not be in this life, some other time and space would show them that same peace and knowledge. Knowledge that they lacked here, in this life. Knowledge of what was truly vital and important.
At least she hoped…
But she had to focus on her children. They were her only real concern. She had to keep them safe. Safe from everyone. No one could be allowed to take them from her again. If she had to tear down every tower, burn every bridge and drain every sea to keep them safe, she would. Because that was what mothers were supposed to do. And if her time as an Avenger had shown her anything it was that there was so much to keep them safe from. So many things to fear, to fight, to fend off. So many foes…
And friends.
They would see in the end. They would know why and maybe they would understand the error in their ways. They could take that lesson with them into whatever life held for them after… after she was done. After she had shown them the truth of it all.
After they’d been punished.
It was a harsh lesson but it was a horrible crime to commit… tearing a family apart. Ripping children from their mother. But they’d learn. They’d see. They’d feel what they’d done to her and her children. And they would never dream of doing it again. They couldn’t possibly want to take anything from her again if they knew what it had all done to her the last time; if they knew the hole that had been left behind in their wake. The people she knew and loved would understand and would see that it had all been real, there was no illusion, no magic. It was all real.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, darling?”
“There’s a monster under my bed.”
There were so many monsters. Some wearing friendly faces. “Don’t worry, darling.” She cuddled the boy to her and kissed the top of his head. “Mommy will chase all the monsters away for you.”
A small smile crossed the boy’s face. “That’s what mommies do!” He hugged her tightly and curled up under his covers again.
Days blurred occasionally. She did what she had to, but the time was nearing. Everything was falling into place. It was time to chase off the monsters.
“Tony? Tony, what was that? What’s going on?”
She doesn’t see it.
It’s better this way.
If she really knew she might tell on us.
So, quietly then?
Yes.
There’s more?
Much more.
I’m scared.
Don’t be… Mommy will chase off the monsters.
There is after all, only one thing that truly drives off monsters… Fire, destruction…. Until the monster is slain.
Until they see…
Until they know why it had to happen.
Until they learn.
It’s a harsh lesson, to be sure…. But she had to protect them.
That’s what mommies do.
Author: dazzledfirestar
Recipient: strawberispring
Prompt: paranoia and hatred
Word Count: 1048
Characters: Wanda Maximoff (Avengers in the background)
Warnings: Off panel character death
Author’s Notes: This is set just before Disassembled and lifts a moment or two from canon. I may be catching a little crazy from spending too much time in Wanda’s head with this…
Summary: Her friends. People she thought of as family. Carol, Jan, Steve, Tony, Clint… even Vision and Pietro! They were going to come after the only pure thing she had.
They were going to come and ruin it all over again. That’s what the little voice told her. They’d steal her babies away again. She wasn’t exactly sure why she trusted the voice. The rational part of her brain told her that voices in your head don’t usually give the best of advice, but this little voice…. It was right.
It had been right about her babies. It had been right about Agatha. It had been right about everyone keeping the truth from her. And now…. Now that she’d put the pieces back together again; now that everything was as it actually should have been; now they were going to do it all over again.
Her friends. People she thought of as family. Carol, Jan, Steve, Tony, Clint. Even Vision and Pietro! They were going to come after the only pure thing she had. They would come for her children. She had to defend them. It was instinct, after all. What mother wouldn’t die for her children? What mother wouldn’t kill for them if it was necessary? It was the way things were. It was natural. Yes, nature demanded she do anything and everything to keep them safe.
She’d had no choice with Agatha. She’d lied. Agatha had taken the souls she’d rescued, souls that deserved better and shoved them back into hell. How could that be for the best? How could she stand there and tell her that was for the best? How could she say that these lovely little bundles in her arms weren’t real? How could they be anything but real? No. No, Agatha’s lies couldn’t be allowed to stand. Agatha couldn’t be allowed to stand after doing such horrible things to the innocent creatures in Wanda’s arms. No. It couldn’t be allowed.
And if Agatha was guilty, what then of her family? Of the Avengers?
They are many and they have much to answer for.
But it couldn’t be that simple, could it? She couldn’t just wipe them out. No… no one would learn anything that way. They had to be made to see their crimes first. To feel the pain and loss that she held deep in her even when she had no name for who or what had left such a hole. But they…. They would have names. They would know what had filled those holes that would be left in them. They had to see… to feel… to weep as they should have for her fallen sons.
They had to be stopped and shown the error of their ways before they made the same tragic and hurtful mistakes again!
But would they see it? Would they have to be told how they’d brought their punishment on themselves or would a light shine on them and enlighten them to their misguided ways?
They have brought this on themselves. They will know that by the end.
So dark. Everything was so dark. Shadowed. Ominous. All but her children. Her family. That shadow; that darkness had to be held. It had to be kept away from them. It would consume all that was good in her life. That had been proven to her already and though she feared for those trapped in the darkness… those she still loved… she knew that she could show them a way out. Show them the peace that she had found and though it may not be in this life, some other time and space would show them that same peace and knowledge. Knowledge that they lacked here, in this life. Knowledge of what was truly vital and important.
At least she hoped…
But she had to focus on her children. They were her only real concern. She had to keep them safe. Safe from everyone. No one could be allowed to take them from her again. If she had to tear down every tower, burn every bridge and drain every sea to keep them safe, she would. Because that was what mothers were supposed to do. And if her time as an Avenger had shown her anything it was that there was so much to keep them safe from. So many things to fear, to fight, to fend off. So many foes…
And friends.
They would see in the end. They would know why and maybe they would understand the error in their ways. They could take that lesson with them into whatever life held for them after… after she was done. After she had shown them the truth of it all.
After they’d been punished.
It was a harsh lesson but it was a horrible crime to commit… tearing a family apart. Ripping children from their mother. But they’d learn. They’d see. They’d feel what they’d done to her and her children. And they would never dream of doing it again. They couldn’t possibly want to take anything from her again if they knew what it had all done to her the last time; if they knew the hole that had been left behind in their wake. The people she knew and loved would understand and would see that it had all been real, there was no illusion, no magic. It was all real.
“Mommy?”
“Yes, darling?”
“There’s a monster under my bed.”
There were so many monsters. Some wearing friendly faces. “Don’t worry, darling.” She cuddled the boy to her and kissed the top of his head. “Mommy will chase all the monsters away for you.”
A small smile crossed the boy’s face. “That’s what mommies do!” He hugged her tightly and curled up under his covers again.
Days blurred occasionally. She did what she had to, but the time was nearing. Everything was falling into place. It was time to chase off the monsters.
“Tony? Tony, what was that? What’s going on?”
She doesn’t see it.
It’s better this way.
If she really knew she might tell on us.
So, quietly then?
Yes.
There’s more?
Much more.
I’m scared.
Don’t be… Mommy will chase off the monsters.
There is after all, only one thing that truly drives off monsters… Fire, destruction…. Until the monster is slain.
Until they see…
Until they know why it had to happen.
Until they learn.
It’s a harsh lesson, to be sure…. But she had to protect them.
That’s what mommies do.