eyes I dare not meet in dreams

[seeingscarlet]

WHO: Wanda Maximoff and OTA
WHERE: Around Temba
WHAT: Suffering Everything is fine!
WHEN: During the Storm
WARNINGS: Violence in the second option

I.
There isn't much that actually scares Wanda anymore. Sure, she's still terrified of doctors and all the weird-looking medical equipment in the hospital, but deep down she knows it's not rational. But this? For all she knows the Storm could be reflecting reality. Tommy may have been sent home but Lorna wasn't, and there's no guarantee that Vision is safe wherever he is.

She isn't there to protect him, just like she wasn't there to save Pietro.

This...this Storm-created mockery of her husband isn't real. Wanda knows she should get up, move, do something, anything, but he is warm and solid in her arms, and if she cradles his face into her neck she can almost pretend that he's just resting, that they're just hiding away from the Storm in the peace of the greenhouse.

The real Vision wouldn't want this. She knows that too. But she thinks he would at least understand.

Wanda looks up when she hears footsteps, revealing the empty socket in Vision's forehead where the Mind Stone ought to be. "I know...I know he isn't real. Just...let me have this?"

II.
She tries. She tries so very hard to be a better person, to put something good back into the world to make up for Pietro, for the others Strucker and List had slaughtered, for the 177 people lost in Novi Grad's fall. But that dark rage that had put her on this path in the first place...it's never really gone.

(If there is hope for Natasha, there must be hope for her too. Vision would tell her it's the choice that matters. But neither of them are here anymore, and it's starting to feel like she just can't escape what she is. She was made to be a weapon. And no matter where she goes or how far she runs, that's all some people are ever going to see.)

The Storm's picked up on this, and Wanda's just been blasted to the ground by...herself?

There's another Wanda in front of her, dressed in red and black leather, eyes blazing red and hands wreathed in scarlet wisps of power. "You run from it," she says, slowly advancing. "But you know what you really are." The power hauls Wanda to her feet again and then tosses her aside like she's nothing more than a rag doll. She rolls over, groaning, while that thing wearing her face laughs at her. "This keeps happening, and this is not going to stop happening unless you make them stop. Like you should have done last time."

III.
Logically nothing about this makes sense. The ceiling above her is perfectly intact and yet...here she is, stuck under a pile of debris and trying to fight rising instinctive panic. It doesn't hurt as much as one would think it should, but after a little wiggling it quickly becomes obvious that Wanda is stuck.

Help a girl out?

IV.
[The wild card option. Someone please wrap her in a blanket and give her some cider.]

((ooc: will match styles if you'd rather do brackets!))

Comments

II

[deal_me_in]

It's the light that catches his attention, unnatural and eerie. But then this storm is everything eerie. Cayde has his gun in hand without even thinking about it. It's reflex- it's the storm his thoughts remind, or perhaps it's Sundance, hidden away as she is, but her thoughts, her presence, are always with him. That's about the only thing right that he feels.

"Wan-" he starts once he catches sight of her, except this isn't the Wanda he knows. And then he realizes there's two of them. For a moment, he stares. It's not real- it's like a mantra that comes up every now and then in his head, but even then he finds it extremely hard to convince himself. Even Sundance can see it, see the things he's been seeing, but somehow... The Exo shakes his head, moving towards the fallen Wanda, glowing blue gaze set upon the other in the darker outfit. He hasn't raised his gun yet, but he's got it in hand.

"Hey ma'am, how 'bout you back off?"

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda's got a few scrapes but nothing worse than she already had from the crash. She groans and sits up, casting a panicked glance between Cayde and the dark Scarlet Witch. Would she hurt him? Wanda doesn't think so, but she doesn't know and without her powers there's nothing she can do.

She hates it.

"Cayde," she says warningly, fear evident in her voice. Her dark self remains completely unphased - clearly she's not worried about that gun.

"I am just making a point," says the dark Wanda, gesturing sharply and slamming the real one flat on the ground again. "She is too soft, too weak."

[deal_me_in]

Cayde keeps his optics on the other Wanda. He can hear Sundance's voice echoing the real Wanda's own warning in his head. Still, he somehow manages a casual air while at the same time being cautious.

"Hey!" he scowls, finally tearing his attention away from the one to help the other. "Soft and weak's all a matter of opinion." He eyeballs the Witch's darker half. "So what's that make you, her evil twin? I know a gal like that." He gestures loosely with his gun. "Of course, she doesn't have a body and she's stuck on an alien planet but hey, so are we at the moment..."

oof these deer are teal

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda hisses but gets to her feet with Cayde's help, as sure as she is that she's going to be getting real cozy with the floor again any second now. But they both don't look very happy at Cayde's choice of words - the real Wanda shrinks in on herself and the dark one scowls. "What makes you think that either of us was the good twin?" She fixes red eyes on Wanda. "He would still be alive if you'd stayed with him. But at least you did something about it." And that makes Wanda flinch to remember. She'd been terrified of her powers after that incident for years. She'd only been able to come to peace with them with the help of her friends in her first Calibrations.

She doesn't hate them anymore or see them as a curse. But it sure does feel like it doesn't matter what she wants anymore - she cannot escape what she was made to be. And more than anything, she doesn't want this.

This time the dark Witch doesn't slam her to the ground or toss her around again. She doesn't need to. She's found another weakness, and she intends to keep pressing it until Wanda understands. "Now you're afraid to do what needs to be done. This could have been over if you'd tried to use the machine when you had a chance. You're not a healer. You're a weapon. And the world will never forget even if you try to."

oops it brought friends

[deal_me_in]

If he realizes he's made a faux pas, Cayde doesn't show it. He's a talker. His words are always hit or miss depending on the crowd, but it doesn't stop him. He still positions himself between the two Wandas.

Obviously there are some issues with...what, are they twins? Herself? There are some memos the Exo has definitely missed, but he also figures a lot of it is this storm, and he's had some time to realize just what sort of curve ball this one was throwing at them. Unfortunately knowing doesn't mean it's any easier to stop it.

Shoving his Ace of Spades into its holster, he lifts his hands. "Hello? I'm feelin' the third wheel here. Now I don't want to hurt any lovely ladies, and I'm getting the feeling there are some things that haven't been worked out between you. Also I don't like being ignored, so bear with me."

He flashes a brief smile at Wanda, the one he knows, and then looks to the other, his smile a bit more crooked, but genuine nonetheless. "I realize I stand at the risk of not understanding what exactly is being talked about here, but I needa throw in my two cents. Okay, maybe a handful of glimmer.

"People can't all be healers. People that are healers can still be weapons. People that are weapons aren't all terrible. But everyone, everyone has to make decisions and there are always going to be regrets for things done or not done, said and not said. If no one forgets, so what? If you forget? Then you don't learn. Don't go pointing fingers, but don't forget the things you've experienced, good or bad, because you can still use that to move forward. The real problem?" He shrugs. "Is letting it hold you back."

:D

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda reaches out to tug at Cayde's arm. That is not a safe place to be standing right now. "That's me...what someone else wanted me to be. What some people still want." Her voice drops to a murmur. "Maybe what I really am. But not what I want to be."

The dark Witch rolls her eyes before looking to Cayde, toying with her power in a manner remarkably similar to a bored Voidlock. "Is it? Then what would you do, if you had the people behind all of this here? Would it be enough to stop them? Or would you want them to hurt? To die?"

[deal_me_in]

The Exo glances back at her. He feels he's been in worse positions, certainly not a stranger to being in the not-safe zone, but he arches a brow as Wanda explains...herself. He places his other hand over the one she has on his arm, giving it a light squeeze.

"So long as you got that straight," he says, amber light outlining the faint smile he gives her before looking back at the other woman. It only grows crooked as he watches her idly tracing wisps of red.

"Who, the ones in charge of this terrible vacation, hiding behind the curtain? I'd give them a chance to explain themselves. And then I'd probably shoot 'em." He doesn't sound terribly torn about the decision, shrugging as he replies. "No need to draw it out. But if killing 'em's a surefire way to get everyone back where they oughta be, keep 'em from messing around with other people for no reason whatsoever, I'll pull the trigger."

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda gives him a strained smile in the few precious seconds she's willing to take her eyes off her double, but she's still not letting go of him. Cayde's never seen her fight. Maybe he has better reflexes than she does, but he won't know the other Wanda's tells if she decides to get violent again.

Although that's not happening, at least for the moment, as both Wandas look surprised at his answer and how casual it is. With the Avengers, it would have been a debate (Wanda and maybe Natasha and maybe Clint against the rest of them, probably). "I can't just let them walk away after what they've done, all of the suffering they've caused. This is not desperation. This is toying with people because you can." She takes a shuddering breath. "But I don't know what I would do. And that scares me."

[deal_me_in]

At least Cayde's got Sundance also monitoring Wanda from within. True, neither know what the woman's capable of, but Cayde knows his Ghost's the only reassurance that the Witch isn't really there, although even that's difficult to hold to when both can still see her.

"Oh no, you're absolutely right. They've got no business playing around with people like this," the Exo replies easily, nodding. His carefree attitude smooths so easily into something sincere as he looks at the darker dressed of the pair, and then his ice cream sundae buddy, then back again.

"Depends on who you wanna be. Capability doesn't destine you to be one thing or another. You don't wanna let these guys go, but you're afraid of how far you might take it if you gave yourself free rein. That is a completely reasonable concern to have. And you're not the only one who has to make that decision. Sometimes, it's not even a one time thing. Sometimes, the cards are different, the outcomes vary. But in the end? Still your choice. Still who you want to be known as."

[seeingscarlet]

Wanda fidgets with the ends of her sleeves, the complete opposite to the Witch's casual confidence. "I've failed so many times. I couldn't even save my brother or my home. I don't know where my husband is or if he's all right."

She swallows hard. It does nothing for the lump in her throat. "I don't want to be...that. But I was supposed to be better than this. Maybe if I hadn't been so afraid...or if I hadn't been so stupid..." Her throat closes. Would things have been different if this darker Wanda had been in her place? Maybe, maybe not. But she can't quite say it wouldn't have been worth it. All those people...and then maybe the Atroma would have reconsidered dragging her into all of this in the first place.

"I just want to fix this."

[deal_me_in]

"No one's perfect. I hardly am- know it's hard to believe, but..." Cayde offers both Wanda's a shrug and that grin of his, but it's the real one that he focuses on after.

"There's always something better to aim for. But we're always going to be afraid, and there's always opportunity for stupid- believe me, I know." He turns so he can face her, setting his hands on her shoulders this time.

"Eyes up. We don't forget the times we've failed, but we can't let 'em drag us back. Can't change the past, much as we wish we could. We don't get do-overs though. We own our mistakes. We do better. We keep going for those who can't. Sometimes it seems like a lonely road, but just you remember; you're never really alone."

[seeingscarlet]

The hands on her shoulders finally get Wanda to look up at Cayde - well, that and the fact that he's physically blocked her view of the Witch. "Sometimes it's the only reason I can get up in the morning. Because of all the people who can't."

She doesn't know all of their names or all of their faces. Most of Strucker's other volunteers (victims) were dead before he'd even approached the Maximoffs. She might have shied away from her powers in the aftermath of the battle of Novi Grad if not for them. If she stopped, if she didn't somehow put good into the world, then they died for nothing. Then Pietro died for nothing.

She can't allow that.

Wanda takes a shuddering breath, trying to fight the tears threatening to choke her. "Every step is a step back to home. I have to remember that."

"You have a good friend," says the Witch, softer this time. "Try not to lose this one too."

[deal_me_in]

The Exo gives her a nod at that, and a softer smile. "One step at a time. But we can do it."

He gives Wanda's shoulders a brief but light squeeze in encouragement. That a girl. Hearing the other Wanda behind him, he glances back, giving her a wink of an optic.

"She won't. I'm stubborn like that."