Hex for Maximoff

[u][b]I.[/b][/u]

[p]It's not easy fitting in when you can warp reality with your mind and your new husband is an android.

[p]Especially in a town as small as Westview.

[p]Wanda and Vision lived in one of those idyllic neighborhoods, the sort every American idolized after the war. Pies cooling on windowsills. Women in floral print dresses waving and calling to each other across the lawn. Men who spent their days in an office and their nights sitting on the porch swing, swigging from a cold bottle of Coke and watching their kids chase each other with the hose.

[p]Had Vision found the place? Wanda wasn't sure. Her memories of life before their marriage were foggy. Some people would've been disturbed by this lack of clarity but Wanda had the ideal house, the ideal husband, the ideal life. What were a few memories? She was sure she'd had a perfectly dull childhood, nothing worth watching on TV. She was content.

[p]Except...

[p]That stupid toaster.

[p]She kept seeing the ads everywhere she went. On her own TV. On the display screens flashing through the picture window on Main Street. Stark Industries had even put up a billboard. (A relative rarity for such a small town.) It should have been no more than a fantastic kitchen accessory but every time her eyes fell on that sleek silver box, she saw a flash of red.

[p]In her perfect world of black and white, red had no reason to exist.

[p]It was the color she sensed inside herself, on those rare occasions when using her power was unavoidable. Sometimes she could've even sworn she saw it on Vision...with a brilliant spot of yellow light at the center of his forehead.

[p]She gave her head a shake, trying to focus her attention between two cuts of meat. This was supermarket day. Vision would be counting on her to bring home something worthy of gracing the dining table. She couldn't be letting a few bad dreams get in the way of fulfilling her duties as a wife.

[p]She selected steak, putting the chicken cutlets back. There were still a few potatoes left over from their drive to the countryside. A smile stole over her face. They'd fed each other strawberries on a checkered blanket. A perfect afternoon.

[p][i]Strawberries the red of blood. The red of rage. The red of revenge, finally fulfilled.[/i]

[p]She gave her head a shake, not wanting the grocer at the checkout to think she was crazy.

[p]Half afraid he would see the forbidden color gleaming in her eyes.

[p][u][b]II.[/b][/u]

[p]It gave her a little thrill every time she walked into the nursery. The soft pastels, the dreamy clouds on the ceiling and the cozy crib Vision had assembled with the efficiency of a...

[p]Well, of a machine.

[p]Wanda hummed a little tune as she folded the onesies sent by the latest round of well-wishers. She could feel the twins bouncing around, playing games and getting rowdy before they were even born.

[p]Her boys. Her precious boys.

[p]Dreams were coming thicker and faster, the closer she got to delivery day.

[p]Mostly they were of silly things. Going to the supermarket for eggs and coming home with twelve dozen cartloads of baby supplies. Her twins being born with the ability to talk. Vision inventing a bouncy swing that could fly around the yard. (When she woke, she'd be worrying if any of the neighbors would panic over these impromptu UFOs. In the dream, she'd merely been charmed by her husband's resourcefulness.)

[p]She looked at the clock above the changing table. Vision should be home any minute.

[p]He'd told her how crazy things had been lately at the office. Ten minutes was nothing. [i]Nothing[/i].

[p]So why did it feel like an eternity since he'd last held her or smiled or kissed her?

[p]It was probably just her pregnancy hormones making her antsy. That was normal, right?

[p]Her eyes fell on the little army of stuffed animals that Vision had been assembling in the corner by the dressed painted in primary colors. The blue elephant was her personal favorite. She just loved to envision pudgy fists clutching at poofy limbs and tiny mouths lighting up in smiles.

[p][i]From the center of a pile, an interdimensional creature unfurled, its glistening body a foul cross between giant centipede and some sort of prehistoric bird. Pincers the length of her arm turned with interest toward the crib. A baby's cries rose from within.[/i]

[p]She came back to herself with her hands outstretched, glowing and ready to rip a hole between worlds to send the threat as far across the universe as possible from her vulnerable children.

[p]Mortified by her overreaction, she stuffed her hands into the pockets of the light blue apron that fit comfortably over her bulging belly.

[p]Relenting just a little to her fears, she used her powers to float the elephant across the room and clutched it to her chest, biting back sobs of both terror and relief as she heard Vision's car pulling into the garage.

[p][u][b]III.[/b][/u]

[p]She relished every sleepless night and dirty diaper. Motherhood was exhausting but infinitely worth it.

[p][i]Infinity Stones.[/i]

[p]Odd. Where had she gotten that? Must have been one of those futuristic programs Vision was always watching in the evening. He loved those cyber-shows where one of the protagonists was as much machine as man.

[p]Tommy started to make the crowing noises that always precluded crying. Billy would soon follow his brother's lead, no doubt. They were working on getting the boys used to the bottle. Wanda loved being able to feed them but wanted to get the occasional evening out with her husband, now that the boys weren't quite so small and helpless.

[p]This was the little white lie she'd told Vision. She didn't want to admit even to him that she worried what her milk could do to the boys. They were so [i]normal[/i]. She would keep it that way.

[p]Waiting for the milk to come to a boil was always the most annoying part. Listening to her sweet sons grow more and more frustrated as they were forced to wait for breakfast by the laws of physics.

[p]She shot a guilty look around the kitchen. She was alone, of course. Vision would already be at the office. The sitter wasn't needed today. She manipulated the water just a tiny bit, increasing the chemical reaction to just shy of a boil.

[p]Staring down into the sluggish bubbles, she seemed to see a picture forming. She leaned down until her reddish hair was nearly touching the water's surface.

[p][i]Evidence of war all around. Costumed figures she almost recognized fighting creatures that might have been pulled from the set of one of Vision's favorite movies. Blood and property destruction everywhere.

[p]Vision lying in the street, his eyes open in shock. A gaping hole in his forehead, evidence of a violation, a robbery of that critical compomnent that kept his body functioning.

[p]She knelt in the street, cradling his head as he struggled to stutter a few last words. He begged her with his eyes not to give into her base nature, that feral side that could rip apart worlds. She was beyond compassion or mercy. There were no lengths she wouldn't go to, not when it came to avenging her lost love.[/i]

[p]A tear fell down her cheek and landed in the heating water. Shaking her head, she hurriedly tested the milk from each bottle on her wrist before hurrying upstairs.

[p]She was a wonderful wife and a good mother and these visions meant [i]nothing[/i].

[p][u][b]IV.[/b][/u]

[p]It seemed like only yesterday her boys had been babies and now they were turning ten years old.

[p]Getting all the details right for their birthday party had been taxing but well worth the effort. She stood outside their bedroom door, listening to the boys talk in excited whispers about what presents they hoped to get and what flavor they thought their cake would be. She smiled, already envisioning how their faces would light up and how their school friends would look on in awed jealousy as this season's hottest toys were revealed.

[p]She'd put so much effort into this ideal life, this flawless marriage, these perfectly normal children.

[p]She wasn't going to let the raw electricity in the air spoil an ideal day. It was probably all in her head. Or maybe her powers were finally burning out. (A secret wish she'd been harboring for as long as she could remember: to be normal herself.)

[p]A low-grade headache plagued her through games and opening presents and cutting the cake. She was almost mesmerized by the flickering flames of the birthday candles. She almost thought she saw a shape forming in those pinpricks of light. She rubbed a hand over her face. She would [i]not[/i] have an outburst of her powers in front of half the town's children. That would be more of a nightmare than any number of these dark pictures her mind kept shaping.

[p]She could sense Vision's worry. She tried to offer a reassuring smile that didn't reach her eyes. Though he was gracious to those parents who came to collect their children, his eyes kept darting to Wanda the whole time.

[p]As if to reassure himself she was still there.

[p]She wanted to come clean, to tell him about the nightmares that had plagued her all these years but she couldn't find the words. Who could ever believe the vague notion that reality was a slender thread held together on a whim?

[p]As if some dark force somewhere, created in the deepest recesses of her mind, could unravel her joyful life with the snap of hate-filled fingers.

[p]Story by [user=Pureflower]
[br]Inspired by Marvel's Scarlet Witch and the Wanda Vision TV series.