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Ch. 217 - Wanda broken.
🕑 Added 2022-05-03 09:04:45 +0000 UTCWe exited the portal onto the charred remains of the HYDRA base, Wanda and Banner healed up with CodeRed.
They had delivered their account of the incident to me and I had checked for Pietro's comms as well and logs.
The comms and trackers on him had been destroyed as well. Worrying, but not unsalvageable.
"Is he safe? Can you save him?" Wanda asked, impatiently, worry writ on her face.
"His forcefield is still active." Is all I could say.
Still, he should be fine. If nothing else, he should be in a reviveable condition.
I pulled up a holographic display on my bracelet, following the tracker to his position in the rubble.
"Down here." I said, coming to a stop in the middle of the rubble.
With a flick of my wrist, I telekinetically lifted the rubble, shifting it to the sides forming a crater, as slowly a soft white glow revealed itself through the cracks.
"The forcefield is holding." I confirmed and Wanda sighed in relief, rushing down the incline to me just as I cleared the last bits of debri, uncovering the whole forcefield.
And inside...was Cap, leaning against the edge, his hands pressed against the forcefield, grief in his muddled eyes. He wasn't alone in there.There were kids and women. Rescues no doubt. And of course, one armed Stan. Bucky Barnes.
But no Pietro. And seeing them, I could guess what had happened.
That idiot!
I knelt down by Cap's side, undoing the forcefield, and caught him as he fell.
"Captain? Where is Pietro?" Wanda asked, her voice shaking.
"He..." Cap bit his lip in frustration.
"He sacrificed himself trying to save you, didn't he?" I sighed, injecting Cap with a CodeRed.
"Yes, he...he was a brave man. I'm sorry I couldn't protect him. He came to help me and...I failed him. I'm sorry. Wanda... I'm so very sorry." Cap said in a sombre tone as Wanda took a deep breath, turning to me, on the brink of breaking.
"You can revive him right, Jay? Please tell me you can revive him?" She begged.
I brought out the Time Stone.
"I can. But it depends." I told her, patting the healed up Captain, "Where did he die? Can you point it out?"
Cap nodded.
"He died right here. Where you're standing right now. He was pressed against the forcefield. And he..." Cap couldn't find the words to describe the scene and gave up, choosing to remain silent.
I frowned.
"By right here, you really mean right here?" I confirmed.
"Yes. Exactly here." Cap replied.
I slapped my thighs and got back up, disappointed.
"Yup. That's no good." I announced, "No good at all. My forcefields give out a causal interference wave till about a foot from their border, making any attemot at time manipulation and other such methods invalid. It's made to protect me from time space fuckery shenanigans.
So if he died here, I can't just reverse time to revive him. The forcefield will interfere with it. And sure, I can break the forcefield, but then there's a chance Pietro AND Cap along with the rest die as well, by courtesy of whatever ripple effect the act of messing with time has.
Same with time travel back to the point of his death to get him out. Too many risks. Everyone could end up dead. Butterfly wings and all that, you know?"
"But you have some way, don't you?" Wanda clutched my hand, tears in her eyes.
"One. One way. I can reload the quantum save state of the universe at the point of his death and pull him out. But that's dangero-"
"Do it. Please, Jay. Please. Save Pietro." She shook me.
"Wanda. Listen to me. There are risks associated with tha-"
"I don't care! I want my brother back-"
Slap!
Wanda looked at me, shocked and I stared back into her eyes with a coldness that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Wanda. Stop acting like a baby for one minute and listen to me. This will be dangerous. There's a chance that if we don't time it exactly right, Pietro could be erased from existence. You could lose him, forever." I explained, "But there is another way. A longer way. A safer way."
I lied.
There was one more way. The use of the Soul Stone to revive in a new body.
The easy way. The same way I revived that poor girl's dad in the body of a HYDRA agent.
But not only did that have the problem of identity dissociation that could lead him to madness, it also had a chance of not working once we go out of the MCU leading him to being perma-killed. And it wasnt as of Wanda would agree to leave him back here while we go to the next world.
So not telling her about this.
Nope.
Of course there were a multitude of other more complex methods but they were even worse as options.
"The same way you plan to revive your wife." She realised.
"Yes. I can become a true god and then with that new authority I can pluck him out of the time stream, easy peasy lemon squeazy. But that will take time.
So I want you to choose, Wanda. Risk saving him now and possibly losing him forever or wait for the safer option?" I offered her the choice.
Wanda though, stood there, shell shocked, like a deer in the headlights.
She began to tear up, burying her face in her hands, sobbing, unable to make the decision before she suddenly turned it onto me.
She looked up, rage and grief in her eyes, and threw herself at me, pummeling my chest.
"You wanted this didn't you? Was this your plan all along? You wanted him de-"
I caught her hands, and pulled Wanda into a hug, holding her tight, wordlessly.
There was nothing I could say that would convince her otherwise.
Or rather not something on such short notice.
Instinctively, I activated my geass, peering into the future timelines as I picked the right words, from the roots of all possibilities laid bare before my eyes.
"Wanda....Pietro, he was my friend. My only friend. I have burned bridges everywhere, Wanda. Everywhere. I have made mistakes. And Pietro...he was the only one who remained true to me. He is the first friend I have had in two years, Wanda. If you think I care any less about him than you do.... you're deluded. It hurts me too. More than you know, Wanda." Wanda began to settle down, her sobs muffled into sniffling, as she buried her face in my chest, her arms falling limp in my grasp, before slowly sneaking around me in a hug.
I didn't lie. He was my only friend. Especially after what I had pulled woth Ahsoka. No way Anakin was going to forgive me for that, even if he understood.
Pietro was truly my only friend. One I cherished.
Even if I was willing to sacrifice him. That was just my nature. I don't let anyone get in the way of my goals.
But this?
This wasn't planned. I didn't intend for any of it to happen. I just wanted him to get some field experience. It was supposed to be an easy mission. But I fucked up. Not checking the future before. I thought, what could possibly be a danger to the Hulk, Wanda and Pietro combined.
I had already looted most of the HYDRA bases, the ones in Sokovia were the only ones I had left, partly for Ultron, partly for humanity's future after I left. To give them a fighting chance. It was three HYDRA bases in Sokovia. How bad could the tech in them be? And if they wiped themselves out in a war over the tech it's their fault, not mine.
But as they say, there is no accounting for the limits of human stupidity.
He just had to fuck it up. A simple mission as any. And he messed it all up.
I sighed, taking in a deep breath as the sweet scent of lavender and charcoal hit me.
Wanda.
I returned my focus to her and I must say, hugging her felt .... nice.
I know I shouldn't be thinking of things like this but damn did she smell nice.
Why didn't I notice this earlier?
I shook my head.
No. Focus.
More important things are at play here.
An opportunity.
One that I had intended to create earlier.
To break Wanda and rebuild her into what I wanted.
Unflinchingly loyal. Fiercely amoral. Willing to die for me.
For the next world, I needed Wanda to do some really questionable shit and so she needed to be moulded, perfected while we still had time here.
And now the opportunity had dropped right into my lap. And I wasn't about to mess it up.
I'm not Pietro after all.
I patted Wanda's back, comforting her as I eyed the kids and gestured at Cap.
Cap nodded.
"I'll take care of the rescuees." He assured me softly.
I nodded, grabbed Pietro's forcefield, before opening a portal below us and talking Wanda back to the ship.
Time to grab that opportunity by the pussy.
And teach my kids a valuable lesson while I'm at it. They've been getting too heroic lately.
.
".....and the muons interact with the reaction mixture with a -"
The door to the room slammed open interrupting the teaching droid as my kids looked over at me.
"Kids, come on. Follow me. Family meeting." I barged into their classes.
"Sir, interruptions are not conducive to-" The droid instructor advised.
"You shut your trap, A3-82. Kids, now." I ordered, dragging them back to the living room.
As we sat down on the sofa, the kids looked over at Wanda, tearful, and shifted uneasily in their seats.
"What happened Papa?" Riley asked, watching me take a seat opposite them, Wanda leaning into me for support.
"Are you finally getting married to Aunty Wanda?" Ace teased.
I shot her a stern glance and Ace, puckered up.
"Sorry." She muttered.
"No. It's okay." I assured her.
"The thing is... Uncle Pietro has passed away."
There were immediate gasps and Riley interjected.
"Can't you...." She looked at me and I shook my head.
"You can't revive him?"
Star sniffled.
"Uncle Pietro is gone? Like Mama?"
It hurt my heart to see Star like this.
Immediately, I pulled him into my lap, giving him a hug.
"Shush. Star, we'll bring him back. It's going to be okay." I patted his back.
I couldn't bear to see Star sad.
Even if I have to lie to him, I want Star to be happy as a child.
"His case is similar to Mama Offee. We can't revive him yet. But in the future, definitely so. Once I become a true god." I explained.
"I see." Riley muttered, and Ace nodded, muttering another softer sorry under her breath.
"But I called you here because I want you to learn a lesson from this. You too Wanda.
Pietro, he died trying to save some people from HYDRA. Being a hero. He didn't need to do that. It was stupid of him to do that. He could have done his mission and then come to me for help. But he prioritized the lives of others, of random people over his own.
Now look at what's happened. He's left a void in our lives. You feel that pain Wanda? In your chest. This sadness, this grief, this pain. I want you all to remember it. Internalize it.
Playing hero doesn't matter if you end up hurting your family. The ones you love and the one who love you." I panned the room and saw soft nods from the girls.
"Think about it. If the people he died to save were in his position, would they have saved him? Saved you?
Wanda. You grew up in Sokovia. You should know."
"They wouldn't." Riley replied, clenching her teeth, "They just watch and let it happen. Like sheep. No one comes to save people like us."
"No one but family. Everyone thinks only of their own good. Their own interests. Even Cap. Remember what he said back there?
Sorry. He didn't offer help. He didn't offer consolation. He just said sorry and moved on to his own friend, his own problems. Even though you wen tthere to help him.
And Cap is not a bad guy. By no means. He's a better man than most.
But he still offered no help. Nothing.
Tell me Wanda, if you had the choice between saving Pietro or saving Cap and those random kids, who would you pick?" I asked, prodding her.
She looked up at me, thought for a moment then looked away.
"Pietro."
I caught her chin, and lifted it gently, bringing her back to face me.
"Exactly.That's the truth of the world.
Only family matters. Everyone else can go to hell for all I care." I said, gently.
"No one else matters. Your first and only allegiance, your only responsibility is to your family. You can't be weak. Papa was weak. That's how I lost Mama Offee.
Being powerful is the only way. That's how you protect what you love."
Wanda looked into my eyes resolute and nodded.
I turned to the kids, and continued.
"You guy's have been playing hero a bit too much recently. What's worse you've been doing it carrlessly. And while I don't like to use such tragedy to drive home my point, it is important that you know this. Understand this. Family comes first and last. Got it?"
Ace gulped nervously while Riley and Saraswati simply nodded with a sombre look.
"Good." I said when Wanda tapped my chest.
"Jay...." She said, with a newfound resolve, the bags under her reddened eyes from the tears more pronounced now, "I want your help. I want to be more powerful. I don't want to lose anyone ever again. Please....can you teach me? Help me grow?"
I smiled.
And there we go. Jackpot!
"Of course, Wanda. Of course."
Dark Side Wanda get!
