Elsewhere in the Preserve | Monday Evening

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda couldn't go back to her apartment after saying goodbye to her boys. She was too sad, too angry--she felt like she could explode and didn't want to risk hurting anyone in the building. She instead found herself deeper in the preserve, wandering aimlessly.

She had lost them. Again. And this time a goddamn island had taken them from her. How much more of this was she expected to take? A few poor tree branches lost their lives to Wanda's blasts, but the measured use of power was helping her calm down.

Eventually the anger dissipated to the point where Wanda could slow down, leaning against a tree and trying to come to terms with the heavy feeling in her chest. She knew by now she couldn't make it go away, not without another Westview happening. She'd just have to learn to live with it, like she had with everything else.

There'd just be some crying in the woods first. Then she'd learn to live with it.

[Sad post is sad. It's open if anyone spots the red in the trees, and she has her phone on her too]

Comments

[scarlet_chaos]

"Well, they couldn't live outside the town, and the people in the town couldn't be controlled by me forever," she said. "I didn't have a choice. It's what I deserved, after what I had done."

[heroic_jawline]

"You didn't deserve to lose more people you love," Steve said firmly.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I think the people in that town would argue they didn't deserve to be mind-controlled," Wanda said. "It was unfair all around."

[heroic_jawline]

"I can't argue that, either," Steve admitted with a wry smile. "Grief affects us all differently."

Steve, for instance, would tell the United Nations to get fucked.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Understatement," Wanda said with a small smile. "Is Tony okay? After his kid left?"

[heroic_jawline]

"Yes and no," Steve said. "Morgan was older this year, which made it a lot less awkward than the last few where Tony's, um, kind of recently dead."

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda knew nothing about that, no sir. Tony was totally not dead where she was from. Not Dead Tony, that's what they called him.

"That's has to be pretty awkward, to say the least," she said. "But that must be nice for Morgan, to have that opportunity to see him."

[heroic_jawline]

"She protects the time pretty fiercely, yeah," Steve understated. Morgan normally had zero time for Steve.

"She didn't blame me for his death this time, so maybe we're moving forward? It could be because I live on the moon in her universe, though."

[scarlet_chaos]

"Space seems to be a popular place for Avengers," Wanda said, but didn't elaborate on it. "Blaming someone else for a parent's death is...well, it's not right. But it's the easy thing to do when you're young and are still processing it."

Wanda was well into adulthood when she stopped blaming Tony for her parents' deaths.

[heroic_jawline]

"She never went into specifics, so I can only go forward and hope I don't make the same decisions that would, um, have Tony leave me, marry Pepper, and die," he said.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I think you're pretty safe from the him leaving you thing that this point." Rings were already involved, after all. However, she was not going to say anything one way or the other regarding the death thing.

[heroic_jawline]

The other part gave Steve nightmares, yeah.

He huffed out a laugh. "I don't know. Sometimes I'm just waiting for him to realize he's Tony Stark and can do way better than me."

[scarlet_chaos]

That got a surprised laugh out of Wanda. "Please. If anything, it's the other way around."

But she might be biased.

[heroic_jawline]

Steve's cheeks went a pleased pink at the compliment. "Thanks," he said, nudging her with his shoulder.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Thank you," Wanda said. "For coming out here. Checking up on me."

[heroic_jawline]

"That's what friends do," Steve said. "I didn't want you to be alone."

[scarlet_chaos]

"It helps, trust me," Wanda said. "I'm not saying I'm not going to go home and cry a little, but you did help."

[heroic_jawline]

"I think you aren't the first person to go home and cry after this weekend," Steve said with a sympathetic smile.

[scarlet_chaos]

"You're probably right," Wanda said. "Next year I'm fleeing the island."

[heroic_jawline]

"That seems more than fair," Steve agreed. "I'll keep my eye out for the boys if they show up anyway."

Because of course he would.

[scarlet_chaos]

"I'd appreciate it," Wanda said with another small smile. "If only to keep them from taking over the town."

[heroic_jawline]

"Or at least the bakery," Steve teased softly.