revivalproject | eyes I dare not meet in dreams

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eyes I dare not meet in dreams

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!))

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The blast of red energy catches Tommy’s eyes in the storm. And he starts running toward it. Was it smarter to run away when this was a storm and he was powerless? Yes. Was it probably the better part of valor to stay in a building and cower in the face of his own lack of power right now? No. Tommy refuses that.

He runs toward the blast of energy as fast as his too human legs would allow him to go. It means he catches the tail end of a bit of evil posturing. And so he puts himself between Wanda and the clear fake, arms crossed over his chest.

“Hey, don’t know what you are but if you’ve got anything like powers in this storm, that means you’re not real. So fuck the hell off and leave my family alone.”

Panic makes Wanda scramble to her feet and try to stick her arm in front of Tommy. Would this...thing...attack him? She doesn't think so - there can't be any version of her that wouldn't tear reality apart if necessary to save the people she loves - but it's not a risk she's willing to take.

The other Wanda just gives them both a Look. "I could be," she says simply. She spoke so harshly to Wanda but there's an odd gentleness in the way she speaks to Tommy. "You would be much safer if I was. No one would dare to hurt you again."

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?"

Tommy laughs, loud and bitter at the way true not-Wanda talks. Damn woman isn’t even real. But what she’s suggesting is stupid.

When the real Wanda tries to protect him he moves in front of her. Don’t.

“The person that hurt me the most was a Wanda who went too far with her powers. In my world mutants call her the Pretender. I can’t visit my boyfriend without hearing my mother badmouthed because of her powers when she was lost in grief and unable to make a rational decision. Her willfully going all evil would ruin my life.”

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."

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..."

Wanda makes an unhappy sound, but what can she do? It just doesn't feel right to passively let Tommy protect her. He better be okay with her standing next to him, then.

The dark Witch seems to flicker, but only for the slightest of split seconds. "There are people who won't even shake my hand at home because they are so afraid. And it is still not enough to keep the people I love safe." She shakes her head. "I can only be what I was made to be. Pretending - playing at being good - this is not going to change anything."

Wanda, please. He’s at least trained in hand to hand. And he’s not scared. Not of this. Not of her.

“Oh go cry more. Wanda in my world did far worse. But who cares? I could kill someone by making their literal brain explode. And they don’t shake my hand. And you know what? I don’t care. Fuck them. They’re cowards and bigoted and not worth it.”

Then he turns to the real Wanda, moving to hug her. Hug her tightly to him.

“You’re good. You’re super good. Don’t ever believe this bitch’s shit.”

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."

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."

"I'm sorry." Jon mutters softly as he steps closer, but stops at a reasonable distance, a concerned frown carrying his expression.

Loss. He doesn't have to try to make that one out. The fear of losing a loved one is the nasty byproduct of caring for another being. Some may draw a certain strength from it to protect those they love, but in a very general sense experiencing loss remains something that can't be avoided. As per Jon's experience, what can make a difference for a person dealing with loss, potential or actual, is how those around them react to it.

So while he may have a couple of questions he craves to ask this woman he may have seen around, yet hasn't actively spoken to, Jon settles with an offer instead. "I can leave, if that helps. Or if you need anything..."

Useless as she knows it is, Lorna still tries to flick away the debris by catching onto any metal in it that she can. She tries a few times, in fact, then lets out a short sound of annoyance and desperation. "Aside from the answer of 'all of it, dumbass', what piece is the biggest problem? I'll start there."

"He isn't real," Wanda repeats softly, though it remains completely out of her power to get up and walk away. Real or not, it's better than nothing, and Vision has been missing for a very long time. At least this time he isn't being used to lure her off a cliff.

"It's all right. I don't want to take up the entire level. I just...I just need a minute."

Excuse you, Natasha Romanoff would like a word with anyone who has a problem with the results of her training. And besides, it's not like either of them could get anywhere near her dark self without their powers unless she wanted it.

"It still hurt," says the real Wanda, clinging to him tightly. "Why do you think Vision and I chose to leave when we had the chance? We could build a life on Naviadna. We weren't strange there. No one was going to try to stop us from getting married. We could be happy in ways that weren't possible on Earth."

"I didn't want to end up like that. I don't. I just want to be good. But..." Her voice wavers. That inclination towards a vengeful rage has never really gone away.

Have words then. They can do that later. For now, Tommy just holds her carefully, not willing to talk to the evil version of her in this moment. That isn’t the best way to handle this.

“I’m sorry Pops isn’t here, Wanda. I really am. But you’re not alone. You’re not going to be alone as long as I am here. I swear it. We’re family. Call it whatever you want, but we’re Maximoff, and we stand together. Always”

So don’t fall into the temptation of revenge. It got them nowhere.

"No, he isn't." Jon agrees. It's a simple fact with nothing to argue about. "But your feelings are. Your anguish and sadness are as legitimate as you caring for him." Another fact. This storm, these illusions, they wouldn't be able to hit people this hard if there weren't actual emotions involved.

Jon settles his attention on the still form she is holding. "I don't know him, but I hope he knows to value those emotions - The real him, I mean."

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?"

Lorna's still a welcome sight - fortunately there's a large enough gap in the debris for Wanda to see out - and her arrival does a lot to stem the rising instinctual panic Wanda feels. "Can you get this off my head? I feel like...if I move wrong I am going to be crushed."

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."

"I know he does." More than most do, really. There's a reason the Storm can only summon this soulless, injured Vision instead of a living, accusatory one. Wanda knows his heart too well to have any room for doubt for the power behind this to latch onto. He loves her and he always will, as she loves him.

"We were brought here together, when all of this started. But he disappeared a long time ago." She glances down. Everyone's lost someone - for Wanda, it's the worst part of this entire situation. "I wish we could know that they are safe."

Jon nods slowly at that. It's true, they don't know what's happening in their absence and whether or not those they care about are doing well. It's a worry he is intimately familiar with. And yet at the same time it's a worry he has been working on to not let it get the better of him.

"We have to trust that they know to take care of themselves. Just as we do our best to take care of ourselves so they don't need to worry." Trust, right. He has had that discussion with some of his assistants. That he should trust them more. Trust their knowledge and abilities.

In the end two of them still died and one blinded herself, but... That's besides the point he is trying to make, right?

Right.

Setting those thoughts aside, Jon bods down at the projection of Vision. "For all it's worth, he looks very capable of looking after himself? He should be upset with this storm for this misrepresentation."

Well, the evil version is a little flat compared to some of the other fear manifestations. She isn't a real person, after all. All she can really do is parrot the thoughts that have been torturing Wanda recently. So instead she's just sort of standing there, toying with her powers...not like anyone's really paying much attention to her anyway.

"I don't want to disappoint you. Or Vision, or Sansa, or Steve...but if I find the people who did this to us, who trapped us here again, I don't know what I will do."

"The people who love you? They aren't disappointed. We never have been, we never will be. And I know you'll make the right choice," Tommy says, his hands coming up to frame her face as he presses his forehead against hers.

"I believe in you, just like I believe in Billy."

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."

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."

"Yeah." She says quickly, carefully moving around to get a better angle on it, as she starts to try to move it. "Uh. You haven't been under this for a while, have you?" Because she would feel bad if so.

"Trust me, it could have been worse. He isn't yelling at me or trying to attack me." She's already been attacked by herself enough, thank you very much. If nothing else, this is a testament to the strength of their bond that the Storm could do nothing worse. "I can pretend he is just resting if I don't look. Much better than being tossed around like a doll."

She sighs, her grip on Vision tightening. "He is strong but I still worry. Is he alone in our new home? Is he in some other place like Lorna was? If he is with people who see him as a thing and not a person, more than we are here...I don't like to think about them being alone in another place like this."

Wanda squeezes her eyes shut and just breaks, clinging to him as tightly as she can as she dissolves into tears. She can't say that she's not disappointed in herself for...a lot of things by this point. But she doesn't need her powers to know that Tommy is telling the absolute truth.

(She doesn't deserve him, either. But she'll try to be worthy of his love and his faith in her.)

Behind them, the dark Witch vanishes.

"I don't know. It probably feels longer than it really is." All that blind panic before she'd managed to remember how to breathe tends to do that. "Can you...can you keep talking to me? It helps."

Who knew having faith was something useful? Maybe he should do that more? As it was, he just keeps Wanda in his arms.

"This is what family does," he reminds her, voice soft, so soft. "And since you don't have yours here for you, you have to know I'm going to be, every step of the way.

"Of course. I'm not going to be leaving you here, and I'm here to help any way I can, so talking incessantly I can also do. Especially on random geophysics facts, if that's your kinda thing; thanks, master's degree."

Another place like this.

Right. Some of those that are here have been abducted before. And while Jon has his share of experience with being kidnapped, he hasn't left his own Earth prior to being brought to Temba.

"It's alright to be worried, but we also need to trust in those we care and worry about." That's more or less a repetition of what he has just said. So he settles with tilting his head a little to the side. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anything you need, or- I can also just leave." An offer. She might not welcome the company he offers after all.

Wanda laughs breathily; it's clearly forced but she's trying to focus on literally anything but her current predicament. "Tell me something strange. The weirdest fact you know."

Well, it works on Wanda. She may have left before Ross could reveal the Raft, and the others have taken care never to bring it up, but she's still internalized enough toxicity to be her own worst enemy sometimes. To say nothing of her survivor's guilt. She's always going to hold herself to a certain heroic standard and then be upset and guilty when she just can't seem to meet it.

"You are my family, Tommy. As long as you want me to be. I don't care that we're from different worlds."

Her family in the weirdest, most complicated way. How does he deal with it? Doesn’t even know how to make it better.

“We’re family and I’ve got your back. Maximoff witches need a speedster to keep you out of trouble.”

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."

"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."

She has to think about that a bit. Why did she come here in the first place? How long has she been sitting here? She's sure that if she shifts her legs even a little she'll be greeted with unpleasant pins and needles.

"I should eat something," Wanda says after a minute. There's breadfruit nearby; she's sure this illusion won't dissipate if she just gets up for a minute? She needs to find a better way to sit, at the very least. But Wanda's only shifted enough for her legs to protest - there's the pins and needles - before Vision's hand lands weakly on her arm. His lips barely move, but she can hear him whisper for her to stay.

She knows he isn't real. But she freezes anyway.

"The phosphorus rich Saharan dust is really helpful to the Amazon when the dust blows over the ocean, and feeds the forest, basically. That, or mountains have roots, and when weather erodes the top away, there's less mass pushing on it, so they wind up rising, and that's why mountains don't lose any substantial elevation. Which means I could have used earth's hair stylist on speed dial so my roots could have also looked that fine when I was dying my hair to hide it."

Ba dum tsh.

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."

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."

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

eyes I dare not meet in dreams

II

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oof these deer are teal

oops it brought friends

I

@ iii.

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:D

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