Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

The Witch and the Widows

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 54:

Wanda sat on her bed watching the twins play with the four kittens who had become permanent fixtures in their lives over the last few days. The animals seemed to be having a positive effect on them, particularly Nadeja. The young girls were happier and less defensive by the day. Nela was not hiding behind Nadeja around others as much as she had, nor was she clinging to Wanda’s shirt or hand every second they were around others. Now her hands were busy carrying two furry kittens.

Not to say they had become any more comfortable without Wanda. When she had been gone, they were particularly clingy when she returned. They still followed her around the Mansion and slept in her bed. Now she had four kittens sleeping with her as well. Staci, Aino, or Mika had spent more time in the twins’ bunk beds than the twins actually did.

Wanda was beginning to think she needed a bigger room. When she had first moved in, she believed her room was too large. Then Agatha moved in with her and it seemed a little smaller but still too large.

Agatha moved out and the girls changed from sleeping in bed with her to Agatha’s bed. Some of them still slept in her bed. The older ones had stopped now and Staci and Aino only showed up after the twins had fallen asleep and moved. Wanda put them down at nine thirty in their own beds and they slept or pretended to sleep until Wanda herself was asleep. By midnight all three were in her bed. Wanda thought of giving up and just getting a bigger bed and removing the bunk beds but Imi told her it would be a bad idea. The more the twins slept in their own beds, even if it was a few hours, the more they were likely to sleep in them all night with time.

Therapy had been going well both on a personal level and with the children. Nela was still frightened of being hurt and Nadeja was afraid of her being hurt but it was becoming less so. It would take years to lessen the damage and the trauma they suffered from affecting their lives and some of the effects may never go away.

The more they opened up in therapy the more Wanda learned about the horrible truth of their lives. She had suspected much of it already but to have it confirmed caused her so much anger she had to meditate with Agatha to stop from destroying the forest surrounding the Mansion.

From a young age, the Red Room recognized the bond the two had. They used that love against them. If Nadeja didn’t do as she was told, Nela would be whipped in front of her. Nela had always been a poor killer so she was often tasked with planting bombs or causing distractions. If she didn’t do as she was told, she would come back to find Nadeja beaten and bloody then forced to complete her task anyway. They quickly learned to do as they were told. They were given the mind control drug as an experiment but neither needed it. They had already been beaten into submission and thought of themselves as property.

It was only until Nadeja saw Wanda protecting them and killing their tormentors that she became bolder as long as Wanda was close. Both girls began to express themselves more. Nela spoke up and Nadeja let her more aggressive side relax, knowing her sister wasn’t going to be beaten if she did or said the wrong thing.

Still, if Wanda wasn’t around a simple word or touch or some other trigger, was all it would take to send them back to the almost feral mindsets they had when they were first rescued and refused to let anyone at the Mansion touch them while Wanda was away.

“Girls, I was thinking you could play with the other girls and let the kittens play together tonight. I bet Oksana would take you all to the bunker and dance on the training floors. She can turn on the colorful lights and the music. I bet others would join you as well if you didn’t care.”

To Wanda’s relief Nadeja smiled. “Dancing would be fun. Kittens love to dance. You can teach us to dance like you did when you were our age. We are twelve, right?”

Wanda cringed. “Yes, your birthdays are in February on the 12th. We are going to have a very big party. I was thinking tonight you could hang out with Oksana and maybe Amanda could teach you different dances. I would like to spend some alone time with Bucky.”

Nela grinned widely. “We can spend alone time with Bucky! Are we all going to study? I love to study. When can we do big math and words like you do?”

This wasn’t working out the way she had hoped. “I meant me and Bucky… alone. Just the two of us. Bucky and I have some things to talk about. Things we need to be alone to talk about. Just for a couple… a few hours. We haven’t talked alone in a very long time.”

“Talk about what?” Nadeja asked.

“Uh… adult stuff. I want to show… tell Bucky how much I have appreciate all he has done for us lately.”

“Why can’t we be there?” Nela asked, holding her kitten above her face as she lay on the floor.

Nadeja’s eyes widened excitedly. “Are you going to get married and adopt us and we can be a real family?!”

Wanda wasn’t quite sure what to say. The girls had been calling her mama more often, claiming it was an accident. Wanda hadn’t corrected them at all. She had told them not to worry about it when they apologized.

“You don’t think we are a real family? Everyone who lives here is… girls?”

Nadeja and Nela had frowned and gone back to rolling balls with their kittens.

Wanda sighed, not knowing what to say.

After ten minutes of silence, Nadeja spoke up.

“It’s not the same.”

Nadeja had her back turned and was focusing on anything but Wanda. She did this when she wanted to say something that made her uncomfortable.

“What isn’t the same?”

“You all call yourselves sisters. We are supposed all be sisters. Nela is my sister. Real families have at least a mommy or daddy. Yelena has both. Ava has a mommy. Sister should have a mama and papa. She deserves it.”

“Yes, you both do.” Wanda told them.

“You can talk to Bucky alone. We will leave you alone.” Nela told her. “We can dance in bunker with our kittens. If we hold rope above their heads they stand on two legs and bounce around until they hit it with paws. They will like music but they have tiny ears so it can’t be too loud.”

“Maybe Everett can make shadow puppet show for kittens.” Nadeja suggested, loving them herself but never admitting it.

“Thank you girls. I will talk to him after dinner. I’ll even let you two stay up later tonight. We can take baths and brush our teeth at ten instead of nine and then read until eleven. Does that sound fun?”

Both twins smiled and nodded excitedly. Wanda had learned from Imi that while it was important to not be demanding in speaking to the girls it was also important to give them structure. As such Wanda tried her best to keep them on a schedule in regard to meals, study time, play time and bedtimes. She also needed to walk a fine line to avoid triggers.

Wanda conjured a ball of yarn and a knitting needle, catching the twins and the kittens attention.

“I recognize that look. Keep the kitties from my balls of yarn or you two munchkins will be rolling them back up.”

“What are you doing?”

It was an idea she had for a while and since she had down time thanks to the new pets, it was time.

“I am making you two scarves and sweaters.”

“Why?” Nadeja asked.

Wanda smiled, imagining what they would look like with her designs and refusing to use magic to make them.

“Because it will be getting colder soon. The temperatures will drop in October and continue until it begins snowing. You have coats but this is different. My mama taught me how to do this when I was younger than you. She was a seamstress and I learned to knit and sew from her. I haven’t done it in… well, I was younger than you. Every year she would make us new sweaters and scarves from left over wool she had saved over the year. She said wearing a sweater is like wearing a hug.”

“Who is us?” Nela asked, catching onto that term.

Wanda’s hands stopped moving for a moment and she closed her eyes in frustration. She had just been thinking about avoiding triggers. She had never brought up Pietro to the twins because it never seemed like a good idea.

“My brother and I.”

“You have a brother?” Nadeja asked, wide eyed.

Wanda slightly nodded. “His name was Pietro.”

Seeing the twins would not let this go, she decided to get it out in the open and call Imi in if it went bad. “He was my twin.”

“He was?” Nela caught on. “Did he die?”

Wanda swallowed and nodded, not meeting their eyes. “He did.”

The twins were silent for a moment, looking at each other and having a silent conversation with their eyes.

Nadeja spoke quietly. “Was he killed by people like me?”

Wanda was shocked by the question. “No! Don’t ever say that about yourself. Don’t say people like us or me. You were made to do those things. You didn’t have a choice. The person… the thing that killed him was evil. Pietro died saving a man and a child from being killed. He died so they could live. It was who he was. He was always a hero. He was my hero.”

“What is it like?” Nela asked. “I have been so scared of Sister dying and being left alone. Was it horrible?”

Wanda nodded. “Yes, it was. I still miss him very much. I always will. He would love you two. He would adore you both. I could imagine the trouble you would all get into together.”

Wanda took a deep breath and smiled. “But you two find trouble on your own, don’t you?”

Nadeja sat up and crossed her arms. “You are the one who told us to tell Yelena we went back for the kittens. Why didn’t you just tell her you bought all eight for us?”

“It was fun fooling her, wasn’t it?” Wanda said. “You agreed. Besides, she told me a full blooded Akita puppy made her way across miles and miles of isolated country and found her when she actually bought Fanny in Paris. We will tell her the truth soon. She fooled me once with Fanny. This is payback.”

“Like I paid back Naomi for hitting you?”

Wanda closed her eyes.

“What did we agree about that?”

Nadeja sighed. “No stabbing or poking or shooting or any other physical harm unless our lives are in danger. We cannot stab eyes, or cut off fingers, or break…”

“Okay, you get it.” Wanda told her, kissing her forehead. “Now, keep teaching your kitties new tricks while I try to remember what my mama taught me.”

As soon as the kids left the bed, Yelena opened the door and jumped on the bed, laying her head in Wanda’s lap and groaning.

“Good morning to you too. Come in, make yourself at home. Please crawl all over me.”

Yelena waved her concern off. “I have claim over you for long time. When I need cuddle my Wanda cuddles me. This is way of world. Kate wants to visit me this weekend. School hasn’t gotten any better. She is still upset. I thought it would become easier for her. Now she is upset with me.”

Wanda snorted, doubting Kate would be upset with Yelena for long. “Why is she upset?”

Yelena rolled on her back but kept her head in Wanda’s lap. “She thinks I am lying to her about being busy this weekend.”

“You are lying to her.”

Yelena laughed sharply. “Yes, but it is too late to tell her that now. I told her it was big project. If I say now that it was changed and rescheduled she will know I lied to her first time. If I say you are right, I lied, come see me, she will be upset I lied. I cannot win. She is also upset I asked to speak to Eleanor and Eleanor walked out of room. We had to get this problem settled. Eleanor says her ties to Fisk are impossible to trace but I am not so sure. Our new employee is too good at her job. I am not sure if Sable buys that Eleanor agreed to help us in beginning with no benefit to herself. If Sable doesn’t believe then what chance does Carter believe?”

Wanda sighed, having thought of this. Everett Ross and Sable knew of their connection and the aid Eleanor gave them but neither had been told about her connection to Fisk.

“Maybe we should kill Fisk now.” Wanda whispered, glancing at the twins to ensure they hadn’t heard her.

“Eleanor said no.” Yelena said back quietly, aware of the kids’ presence as well.

“Eleanor isn’t the boss. We are protecting her. I can find him and make him commit suicide or appear to be shot by one of his own men. I can kill him and it won’t be connected to us.” Wanda whispered once again while keeping an eye on the twins.

Yelena shook her head. “Eleanor has direct link to Fisk’s accounts. She has tracked farther than Carter has but Carter has only been at this a couple days. The woman is very smart. I understand Everett says we will not be compromised because she won’t look at us but if she finds out about Eleanor, she has something to hang over her head if a day should come she no longer works for us. It is confusing. Bishop women are driving me crazy today.”

Wanda understood. Eleanor didn’t seem to care. She thought it was a great idea that Sable, Ross and now Everett were part of the organization. She had told Wanda more than once that what her and Yelena had was only a start. She expected it to grow and growing it was. Wanda and Yelena weren’t sure what it was growing into though.

“We also need trip to Sokovia. Mika has painful tooth. Mama looked and said it is wisdom teeth coming in and they need to be removed. She then sat me down and went mama on me asking about dentist and yearly checkups and cleanings. She asked when last time you had teeth checked. Then she worried about everyone and said the youngest may need braces. Then she pointed out that we all needed medical checkups by actual doctors and blah blah blah, over and over. It would be safest to use dentists in Sokovia.”

Wanda supposed that made sense. If Mika was in pain it would have to be soon. Maybe this weekend since Yelena was going to stick to lying to Kate about her plans.

“Okay. I will call the President’s office and ask his assistant to find discrete dentists who aren’t afraid of a challenge and alert them that the Widows need their bites checked out. You can all get checked out Saturday.”

“You can all? What about you? Does your magic clean your teeth?”

Wanda shrugged. “I have a thing about dentists. I don’t like them. While you and the others visit dentists I can take the weekend to create the Rhodium mine.”

Yelena laughed. “You can turn rocks into fancy mineral after you go to dentist. You may be able to kind of heal your own wounds sometimes but you are not good at it. Are you going to kiss Tin Man with yellow teeth?”

Wanda narrowed her eyes. “Push the issue and I’ll tell Kate you are lying.”

“You wouldn’t. Your loyalty is to me.”

“This has nothing to do with loyalty. This has to do with me not sitting in a torture chair while some man in a surgical mask takes sharp objects and scrapes my teeth while saying it won’t hurt! It is pure hell!”

Yelena cringed and Wanda realized her mistake. She looked toward the twins were staring at her with wide eyes. She even had the cat’s attention.

“Do we have to go to dentist?!” Nadeja asked.

Wanda smiled brightly. “Yes but I’m talking about adult dentists. Children’s dentists are very fun and don’t hurt at all! We will find a lady children’s dentist and it will be so much fun you will want to stay all day! Clean teeth are fun! Yay!”

“Now who is lying?” Yelena mumbled.

“Can’t you use magic to check our teeth?” Nela asked.

Wanda thought for a moment. She had used magic to heal brain damage, gunshot wounds, poison, broken bones and crushed bodies. She had never tried teeth but this seemed like something left to a professional.

“I probably shouldn’t. I’ve only used it to heal major wounds.”

“Are we going to be strapped in a chair?!” Nela asked panicked.

“What sharp object will he put in our mouths to scrape our teeth?!” Nadeja asked.

Yelena say up and raised her hands. “Girls, relax. Wanda is just being dramatic. A dentist doesn’t hurt. To prove it, Wanda will go first and you can watch everything the dentist does to her. You will see it doesn’t hurt. I will frisk you for weapons and make sure all sharp objects in room are out of Nadeja’s reach and then you can watch Wanda be checked over. It is important to have regular checkups. My mama just spent an hour telling me this, over and over. She even made me open up and say ah. Then she grabbed my chin and shined a cellphone light into my mouth and moved my head all around like she was dentist. It was very annoying but she is right. We all need to go and Wanda will go first so you can see it is nothing to be afraid of.”

The twins seemed to relax. Wanda glared at Yelena not relaxed at all.

“I hate you.” she hissed.

“That’s what you get for buying eight kittens and telling me ridiculous lie. Have nice time knitting. You are becoming good housewife. Are you going to fix Bucky’s plate at dinner too?”

“Get out!” Wanda told her. Yelena laughed and rolled off the bed, hurriedly making her way to the door before Wanda could retaliate.

That night, Wanda finally made it to Bucky’s room with no one else following her. She had taken the girls to the bunker herself where the other two kitten parents in the house were waiting. Many other widows were there also, ready to dance. Nadeja wasn’t crazy about neither Bucky or Wanda being with them but Yelena promised to stay close to their sides and that seemed to appease them somewhat.

He was waiting for her.

The two sat down and talked for a while. It had been a long time since they had any alone time in any manner.

“The dentist? We are going to Sokovia for the dentist.” Bucky said, finding humor in the situation. “The Red Widows descend in force only certain times. They all show up to fight the Iron Legion and they all show up to go to the dentist. Have you talked to your president friend yet?”

Wanda shrugged. “I called his assistant an hour ago. She is very good at getting us what we need. I’ll visit him in the presidential office afterward. He likes for me to show my face in Sokovia as much as possible. Good for his image I suppose and he says it makes the people happy. The last time I talked to him he asked if I would like to go to a United Nations session with our representative. I turned him down. Could you imagine me having a seat at the United Nations? What a joke that would be.”

“Why?” Bucky asked. “It doesn’t sound funny to me.”

Wanda looked as if it should be obvious. “I’m me. You want someone to fight your bad guys, disintegrate crazy robots, rebuild your cities, kill slavers, or take down insane men in green goblin armor, I’m your girl. As far as international politics, I haven’t even taken my IGCSE exam yet.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Isn’t the point of being a United Nations Representative to represent your country? Who represents Sokovia better than you? The people love you, the President trusts you. Why should some test limit you? He isn’t asking you to be the representative, just go with the guy and sit by him. I bet you can learn a lot. Face it, one day you are going to be the leader of Sokovia. No reason you can’t start learning more than just what those courses can teach you on the computer.”

Wanda thought about it and admitted he did have a point. It wouldn’t hurt her to go to a United Nations session and just watch. She also enjoyed imagining how uncomfortable her presence could make some dignitaries.

“Yes, maybe. I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad. Speaking of government work while we are there we need to get, Tanya, Sierra, Nadeja and Nela official identities and citizenship.”

Bucky had been thinking about that as well. “Yeah…”

Wanda caught the hesitancy in his voice.

“What?”

“Have they been talking to you about…”

Wanda chuckled. “Family. Me and you, mama and papa, married with children. It has been mentioned. They were hoping tonight you would ask me to marry you.”

Bucky laughed quietly. “What if I was? Would that be weird?”

Wanda was taken back by the question. “I… I don’t know. I… it would be weird I guess.”

Bucky nodded. “Exactly. Its not like we have lived every second of each other’s lives, the pain, the joy, the good and bad and love each other anyway.”

“When you put it like that, I guess it isn’t so weird. I don’t know. I would be surprised but it wouldn’t freak me out. Why are we talking about this?”

“Don’t worry. I will ask you to marry me one day. I’m kind of old fashioned in case you didn’t notice. Whether you say yes or no doesn’t affect how I feel about you. It’s a personal decision. I’m not going to ask you to marry me because the twins want us to be married. I was just thinking about their names. You are going to give them the Maximoff name, right?”

“Of course.”

“If they have identities they will need birth certificates and the parents will be unknown. Then they will need a guardian. If they have your name already, maybe you should consider adopting them, legally I mean.”

Wanda laughed. “Adopt them? Bucky, no one in their right mind will let a nineteen year old adopt two twelve year olds. No Sokovian social service is going to take them away from us because they don’t have a mother or father.”

Bucky shook his head. “It is true no one would be stupid enough to try and take them, but you are of legal age. You can legally adopt. Maybe no one anywhere else in the world would let you adopt two kids but this isn’t anywhere else. This is Sokovia. This is the country that adores you and would give you whatever you want. I bet the paperwork could be done quickly.”

Wanda thought of this for a while. It was true, she was legally old enough to adopt.

“They will have my name anyway. Do you think it would matter to them?” she asked.

Bucky nodded. “I think it would make all the difference. Those girls want a mother. By making it official it could symbolize that you aren’t leaving them, you won’t give them away to someone else one day, that you are the one who will take care of them for life. We both know you are older than your years. You love them like a mother loves her children. Anyway, its just something to think about. It can be done later if you aren’t ready or never at all. The choice is always yours.”

Wanda lay on her back, mind no longer focused on fulfilling her physical needs but consumed by what Bucky had said.

Last week the idea would have terrified her. It didn’t terrify her now. She thought of how motherly Oksana was with Tanya and how the girl responded. She acted the same towards the twins. She loved all her girls but the twins were special to her. They had picked her as the one they sought love from. She hadn’t just chosen them. They had chosen her.

After the twins went to sleep, Wanda stepped out and made the call. By the time she returned, the twins and the kittens were already in her bed fast asleep with a spot in the middle reserved for her.

Novi Grad, Sokovia

Mika took only a minimal amount of reassurance from Wanda before she agreed to be sedated so her wisdom teeth could be removed. It was a testament to how much pain she was in. The girls still had difficulty going to Oksana with injuries, hating the sick bay, the medicinal smell bringing back horrible memories. The dentist office was no better but Mika had bravely gone under. She had been in tears that morning from the pain and slept in Wanda’s room the night before.

Wanda reluctantly stepped out and let the Novi Grad dental surgeon take care of one of her girls.

“Your turn.” Yelena told her. “Dentist is waiting down the hall in room six with big tray of dental instruments. Me and twins will be in room watching. You must be brave or they will be frightened.”

“Did you frisk them?”

“Yes. I made them think I was straightening their clothes. Nadeja had a toothpick in the palm of her hand. She claimed it was to help dentist clean her teeth. I confiscated it. Be strong. Be brave.”

Wanda nodded but felt dread and her stomach began to turn. She had dreaded and avoided thinking about this but the moment had arrived. Her teeth were fine. They were perfectly white and straight, with no problems. She knew she and Pietro had been lucky in that way. Not many on the Novi Grad streets could make the same claim.

She took a deep breath, walked into the tiny room and focused on the chair and the trays of metal picks around them.

“Wanda Maximoff, it is an honor. I am Doctor Dragica Chesov.”

Wanda nearly rolled her eyes at the woman’s name so closely resembling dragon.

“The honor is mine. I must thank your office for seeing so many of us at once .”

“I have four children. The idea of any of them being stolen is too terrible to think of. The Red Widows are always welcome. No thanks is necessary.”

“I thank you nonetheless. I was told you speak English. I have no particular love for the language but it is the only common language my girls know and they are quite nervous about this. They have never been to the dentist before.”

The doctor looked at the twins who were staring intently at her.

“Of course. I was told there would be adorable children arriving with the Red Widows. How old are you girls? Let me guess. Eight years old? No, you look like much older girls. Maybe… nine?”

Wanda sighed, knowing the twins malnutrition had stunted their growth. In going over their files, they had discovered the twins were rushed out of the nursery on missions much earlier than the rest and used as props. No one suspected an assassin to be pushing a stroller with two crying infants. They were returned to the Red Room often to learn skills related to fighting but never educated or placed on a strict diet like the rest of the widows. They weren’t meant as field operatives but as decoys until they were older.

Because of this they were much shorter than children their age should have been. They were never educated, never fed properly and abused. Oksana hoped with the nutrient program they were on including the vitamin gummies every morning, they may catch up to other children their age eventually.

“We are twelve.” Nadeja answered. “We are short, but very…”

Yelena placed a hand over Nadeja’s mouth before she could say deadly. “They are very excited to be here.” she finished Nadeja’s sentence. “Wanda are you ready to show the girls how fun having your teeth examined can be?”

Wanda took off her brown leather jacket and tossed it into Yelena’s face. She had worn a white t shirt and worn denim jeans and her combat boots for the trip. Her days of dressing in leather corsets and tight leather pants were fewer and fewer as she did not want the twins or the other younger widows for that matter, imitating her. If she were going to be their role model, she decided she would dress how she wanted them to dress and act like she wanted them to act. She made the decision on how she dressed, no one else.

She sat in the chair shakily and squeezed the arm rests until her fists turned pale then reluctantly and very slowly opened her mouth.

As the inspection began Wanda did her best to maintain control and thought she was doing quite well not even flinching away when the metal hook began scraping her teeth or when some sharp object poked her gums.

Admittedly, trays of tools shooting to the ceiling and falling in a loud clatter on the floor wasn’t part of her plan.

Neither was the window shattering the first time her gums were prodded. She did bring it back together.

She thought her glowing red eyes may have made the dentist uncomfortable, especially when the woman had a difficult time pushing against an unseen force of resistance while approaching Wanda’s mouth with another cleaning tool.

The lights flickering on and off may have given the whole scene a horror movie feel.

Wanda gave the doctor credit. She never ran in terror or stopped what she was doing.

After rinsing and spitting, Wanda stood from the chair as quickly as possible and smiled brightly.

“See girls? It was fun! Didn’t hurt at all!” she told them, trying to sound enthused.

Yelena cleared her throat and raised her eyebrows, taking in Wanda up and down. Wanda noticed and checked herself out.

She was wearing the garb of the Scarlet Witch. At some point she must have changed.

Yelena nodded towards the doctor. “You are one of the bravest people I have ever seen in my life. I would have ran the moment her eyes glowed red and the trays began to levitate. You have my eternal respect, Doctor.”

To Wanda’s surprise, the dentist only smiled. “I didn’t expect normal. Wanda you have a beautiful smile.”

Wanda smiled and Yelena cleared her throat, raising her eyebrow once again.

“Oh! Right.”

Wanda’s clothes returned to normal.

“However…” the dentist said hesitantly.

“However…?”

“You have two cavities on your back molars.”

Wanda shook her head. “You must have seen something else. I have no tooth pain. I am fine.”

“Do you chew on one side of your mouth more than the other?”

“We all have our favorites.” Wanda said defensively.

“Am I your favorite or is Nadeja?” Nela asked.

Wanda closed her eyes, realizing she had walked into that one then focused back on the dentist.

“We need to have them filled quickly before they can become worse. Would tomorrow morning be alright? I doubt you will be the only one having extra work needed. I have a feeling the others dental health was related to cleanings to ensure the white smiles.” The dentist surmised correctly. The Red Room only cared about making sure their field assassins were beautiful.

“Does it… does it hurt?” Wanda asked, trying to sound brave.

The dentist shook her head. “No, but I think it best if we perhaps give you a sedative or gas to help you relax. Your gums will need to be numbed and it can be a strange feeling.”

Yelena didn’t like the sound of that. “I don’t know, Doctor. A loopy Scarlet Witch may not be what this universe needs. Although… I don’t suppose you actually need her here, just her body, right?”

Wanda nodded quickly. Getting the hell away from her body sounded like a wonderful idea while this was happening.

“I will kill you!” Madison shouted from a room down the hall.

“Help me hold her down, Ana!” Michiko shouted.

Yelena winced. “I suspect there is some dental anxiety. I must check on others. Wanda will be here in morning along with other widows who need treatment. Eight AM. Thank you doctor. Twins, be good while I keep other widows from violent actions.”

Yelena opened the door and saw a woman in a business suit along with two suited men who appeared to be officials of some sort. She knew what this was.

“Wanda.” Yelena tilted her head outside.

Wanda saw the people she had been waiting for.

“Doctor, can you explain to Nadeja and Nela what the instruments are and how they work and why they won’t hurt?”

Nadeja looked very doubtful. “You shattered a window. Do you always do that when something doesn’t hurt?”

It was a fair question and one Wanda wasn’t sure how to answer. “Just have a seat. I will be just outside the door for a few moments then I will be right back.”

Wanda stepped out quickly before Nadeja could argue.

“Do you have them ?”

“As you requested. There are seventeen places you need to sign. I have them marked.”

Wanda took the documents, asked them to wait and walked back inside the office. Nadeja was sitting in the chair and relaxed when Wanda reentered. Nela was next to her but took a chair when Wanda walked next to Nadeja.

“Let me see your hands.” Wanda said.

Nadeja opened her empty palms. Wanda kissed her forehead. “Good girl. Be strong and brave for your sister.”

While Nadeja squirmed but braved the intrusion, only gagging twice, Wanda kept one eye on her while she read the incredibly large stack of papers the President’s assistant had sent her.

By the time she was done with the papers, Nadeja was spitting bubble gum flavored mouth wash into a tray.

Wanda hugged her and expressed her pride then helped a less nervous Nela into the chair. Before the exam started, Wanda stepped outside once again.

In front of the government witnesses she signed and initialed all seventeen spaces required.

The assistant smiled. “Congratulations. You are a mother. The birth certificates will be waiting for you in the Presidential Building whenever you are ready. The President hopes you and your sisters can make it to lunch tomorrow.”

“Tell the President we will be here for a few days. Unfortunately some of us need dental procedures in the morning so I am not sure if we will be able to eat lunch but we will visit. Tell him I still plan to go mountain hiking but it will be Monday morning rather than tomorrow. He will understand.”

“Of course. Welcome home, Miss Maximoff.”

“You are dead! I will hunt you until the ends of the earth! You will wish you were never born!” Chloe screamed from another room. “I will make what I did to my handlers merciful if you put that in my mouth one more time!”

“I need help!” Ingrid cried out from the same room. “She is stronger than she looks and has a scalpel!”

Lerato and Antonia raced out of a room across the hall into Chloe’s room. Antonia still had the bib hanging over her chest.

Wanda sighed. “This is going to be a long day.”

She stepped back in to find Nadeja holding Nela’s hand. She walked to her other side and held Nela’s other hand.

After the debacle of the morning, it was discovered that twenty one Widows had cavities needing fillings or enflamed gums that needed deep cleaning, and three had teeth that needed to be removed.

Aino needed braces.

Mika was extremely high and kept asking for Wong so she could rub his belly. Ava wasn’t amused as usual. Antonia carried her to the SUV and the group made their way as discreetly as possible back to the hotel.

Bucky was waiting for them in Wanda’s room.

“How did it go?”

“I have two cavities, Nela has three cavities and Wanda has two cavities. The dentist is filling them tomorrow. She promised it wouldn’t hurt.” Nadeja told him.

“Oh…”

“Wanda shattered a window and made metal tools float in the air and changed into her spooky cool clothes while the dentist worked on her!” Nela added.

Bucky didn’t bother holding in a laugh. He sat back on the one chair in the room and bent over in laughter.

Wanda was irritated but considering what she had done, it didn’t bother her. She was exhilarated.

“It’s done.” she told Bucky.

Bucky sobered quickly.

“That was fast.”

“Like you said, I am a big deal here. Its official.”

“Wow.” he said, thinking of the magnitude of what Wanda had done. When he had suggested the idea a part of him didn’t think she would do it or if it would even be possible. It was though and she did it.

He stood up and wrapped her in a fierce hug. “I’m so lucky to be with you. That took guts. I never doubted it but that was bigger than fighting Vision or Thanos… wow. When are you going to tell them?”

Wanda shrugged and looked over at the twins who were gazing out the window over the city.

“I’m not sure. When the time is right, before we leave Sokovia.”

“Wanda?” Nela turned to catch her attention.

“Yes Angel?”

“The city is so cool. You grew up here. Where did you live?”

Wanda sighed. “On the streets mostly.”

“Even as a little kid?” she asked.

Wanda grinned. “No, I lived in a small apartment not far from here. Maybe two kilometers away.”

“Can we see it?!” Nadeja asked.

Wanda shook her head. “It was blown up by Americans. That is why Pietro and I were homeless for a long time.”

“Yelena said you lived in the woods in a cabin when she met you. Was that your home?” Nela asked.

Wanda smiled and pulled the girl in for a hug. “The cabin was where I slept. It wasn’t a home. I didn’t have a home until I found Yelena. Now I have a big home filled with people I love.”

“Can we see your first home?” Nadeja asked again.

“I just told you it was destroyed. It is no longer there.”

Nadeja looked confused and pointed out the window. “Yelena said you rebuilt the city. You didn’t rebuild your first home?”

Wanda’s eyes widened and she stilled, unsure what to say.

It had never occurred to her that the old apartment building where she grew up could still be there.

“Wanda? You okay?” Bucky asked noting she was barely breathing.

Wanda shook her head. “What? Yes… yes, I am okay. I just never thought about it. It would make sense that it was there.”

“So we can go see!” Nela nearly shouted, clapping her hands.

Wanda nodded slightly and turned to Bucky. “I’m going to ask Yelena to come with us. I would like you there as well.”

An hour later a hooded Wanda approached the building with no small amount of trepidation with an equally poorly disguised Yelena and Bucky in his ballcap. She had thought the most daunting task she would face this trip would be the dentist chair.

She never gave a thought that her old home should have been reassembled and it was. The building was a stark reminder of her past, so potent it stopped her in her tracks.

“You okay?” Bucky asked, touching the small of her back.

Yelena took her hand. “We don’t have to do this. The twins can come back some other time, right girls?”

Wanda shook her head. “No, we can. You girls wanted to see the home I grew up in. Here it is.”

It was an unimpressive building as most lower cost living units were. Some differences Wanda noted was the lack of graffiti, the weather stains from years of storms, the cracked windows in the apartments facing the street. It would never catch anyone’s eye but neither would it turn anyone away now.

Wanda stepped up and took the twins hands then continued into the building.

The smell was different. It didn’t smell like mold and mildew any longer. That saddened her in a way. That smell hadn’t been pleasant but Wanda associated it with home. Now it was gone.

The elevators were working.

A couple were getting off one. Wanda and Yelena pulled their hoods further down on their heads and Bucky lowered the bill of his cap to cover his eyes. They stepped into the elevator once it had emptied and took a quick ride up to the third floor.

When Wanda stepped out she began trembling.

“Wanda?” Yelena whispered.

“I’m good.” Wanda told her in a voice she doubted sounded confident.

She pulled the twins along with her halfway down the hall and stood in front of the door to her home for the first time since her parents died within those walls. On the door was a brass sign that said the words Maximoff family residence.

Her breath began to quicken.

Nela tugged her hand.

“We don’t have to see it today, Wanda.” Nela said.

“We can come back another time.” Nadeja agreed.

“I’m fine, girls.” Wanda tried to assure them.

“You are scared.” Nadeja told her. “We know what it is to be scared. We don’t want you to be scared.”

Wanda smiled lovingly at them. “I’m not scared, I’m just… it has been a long time. I’m surprised anyone remembered where we lived or bothered to put up a brass… it is unexpected. I don’t know if anyone lives here now. So many people are moving back to the city it surely must be occupied.”

Wanda raised a shaking fist and knocked on the door.

No one approached. They could hear no footsteps inside. Wanda could feel no presences.

“It is empty. No one must be home.” she whispered.

“I don’t think anyone lives here.” Bucky said. “Why would they have your family name on the door?”

“Maybe someone is making a buck living in the old Maximoff apartment.” Yelena suggested.

The door behind them opened suddenly and Bucky and Yelena reached for their guns, barely stopping from pulling them when they saw it was an middle aged man from across the hall.

“Go!” he said in Sokovian. “You are not allowed to enter that apartment. That is a sacred place !”

Wanda pulled back her hood and the man’s eyes widened in shock. He quickly overcame it and pulled her into a hug. He called out and a woman who must have been his wife and three small children ran to the door. The woman gasped, taking in the sight of Wanda and took her hand then hugged her as well. The children looked at her in awe.

“This is Wanda Maximoff. She is the hero of Sokovia !” The father told his children. One little girl ran inside and came back with a doll that resembled Wanda. To Wanda’s regret the doll was dressed in her familiar red jacket and cleavage baring top along with black leather pants.

Bucky and Yelena weren’t sure what was being said since neither spoke Sokovian. The family was talking in rapid fire to Wanda and she couldn’t get a word in.

“Stop.” Wanda said. “Who lives in the apartment?”

The woman shook her head fiercely. “No one is allowed to live in your home! We open the door on Sundays for people to look inside but no one is allowed to enter. It is free to all. Many times lines form around blocks waiting to get a look at the home of Wanda Maximoff and her family . America can keep their Iron Man and Captain America and their green monsters and aliens! We have Wanda Maximoff! She is true god, not like the blonde with hammer who pretends!”

Wanda felt very uncomfortable at the idea of her childhood home being treated like a holy site and her being called a god.

She was also happy that no one had walked the rooms and halls that her and Pietro had once run and played in.

“May I? ” she asked, motioning to the apartment.

“Of course!” the man assured her. “I will contact superintendent for key . I protect the apartment from those who try to enter to take your belongings but only he has the key.”

“What belongings ?” she asked.

“You and your family’s belongings. I shall get the key.”

“No need. Thank you .”

The woman hesitated letting go of her hand. “Before you leave the building could you take pictures with my children?”

“Of course. I will knock when I am done.”

Wanda’s hand glowed and she raised it toward the door. She almost laughed at the awes coming from the children as her red magic streamed from her fingers through the door to gently unlock it.

“Always flexing.” Yelena mumbled.

Wanda walked inside before she could talk herself out of it and covered her mouth with a hand to stop the shriek of surprise as she took in the room.

“What did I do? The buildings yes, I pulled them back together but how is this possible?”

The living room was exactly as it had been the moment before the bombing. The case of DVDs, the old television with the DVD player her dad had found in the trash and fixed, the same small television, the same couch, the same chairs her mama and papa sat in.

Tears pooled in her eyes.

On the walls were framed photographs of the family together. There were childhood photographs of her and Pietro at different ages and a framed photo of her parents’ wedding. Underneath the couch was a red ball cap with only the bill sticking out. It was Pietro’s favorite. Wanda had hidden it there that day because he hid her favorite doll.

She rushed through the house and found the bedroom her and her brother shared. She saw their bunk beds. Her dresser and mirror still sat in the same place and the dresser was covered with bracelets, necklaces and rings.

“You manifested it. You are capable of spontaneous creation. When you rebuilt Novi Grad you rebuilt it how you always wanted it to be. You rebuilt this home from your heart exactly how it was.” Yelena told her.

Bucky was impressed by her knowledge and Yelena noticed. “I have been around witches for a long time and am the foremost muggle expert on Chaos Magic and the Scarlet Witch. You think I don’t know these things?”

Wanda sat on the bottom bunk trying to take this in. This wasn’t one of her illusion hexes where it was only real inside. This was real like Novis Grad. She had created it exactly as it had been. Had everything been brought back together from the rubble of the building or was some of this created from thin air? She wasn’t sure she cared.

“Was this your room?” Nela asked.

“It is very pretty. I like your jewelry.” Nadeja told her.

Wanda nodded. “Those were the ones my papa gave me. He was always bringing me bracelets and rings and necklaces. He knew I loved sparkly things. He said he loved to see me sparkle. I was his fairy princess.”

Nadeja and Nela slowly walked to the counter and looked carefully over the assorted fake jewelry but didn’t touch any of it.

“Try them on.” Wanda told the girls then walked towards them. She reached for necklaces and bracelets and still had a hard time believing they were real. One of her copper bracelets even had a scratch she had gotten on it when she was chasing Pietro and scraped it against the bed post in her mother’s room.

“I wish I could bring it all back.” she whispered. Everything was there and perfect except the three people who made it perfect.

She opened the drawers and closets and found her and Pietro’s clothes where they normally were.

“Yelena, could you snap some pics of the photos on the walls in the living room. I don’t want to move them but I want copies at home also.”

Yelena nodded. “Of course, Моя самая любимая сестра.”

Wanda continued her tour of the place, trying to take her mind off the strangeness of the situation. The girls were asking more questions and it was helping her. She found the kitchen and was glad there was nothing in the refrigerator at least. Having food there this long would have been expired.

She walked back into her room and picked a necklace, a bracelet and a ring for Nela and for Nadeja to have then placed each on them. Though the jewelry had no monetary value the two girls looked at them as if they were priceless treasure.

“While the dentist was looking at your teeth, I got a visit and signed some papers I had asked for. You are now Sokovian citizens and have legal identities. Your names are officially Nela and Nadeja Maximoff and because I am over eighteen and well known in our home country, adoption papers were drawn up very quickly. We jumped through a couple years work and papers and ignored the fact that a nineteen year old would never be able to adopt two twelve year old twins anywhere else. Do you know what that means?”

Nadeja’s eyes widened. “Adopt?” she asked, recognizing that word well.

“Yes. I signed adoption papers. I am officially your mama if you want me.”

“Its true? You are our mama?” Nadeja asked quietly.

Wanda nodded. “Yes.”

“Our mama? You are our real mama now.” Nela asked to be sure, pointing to herself and Nadeja. “We are a real family. We can tell people you are our mama and it will be true.”

“Yes.”

“So we can call you Mama?” Nadeja asked, becoming more excited as tears formed in her eyes.

“I hope you will. I’m going to keep calling you my angels.”

The two girls nearly knocked her over when they wrapped their arms around her. Wanda held them as tightly as they held her and broke down in tears for the first time since she signed the papers. It was real now. She had no idea what she was doing. She had no business being a mother but she had done it. She jumped, not sure where she would land but knowing it would be okay. Wanda had a very large family but this was different. This was more intense. A part of her remembered the Ancient One telling her she had not even met her greatest loves yet. Now she felt she had.

Yelena wiped her eyes and took many pictures with her phone.

“Sometimes things are okay.” Yelena said quietly to Bucky. “Most of life can be shit but sometimes, things work out. Sometimes we get hope, yes?”

Bucky risked his good arm and wrapped it around Yelena’s shoulder. “Sometimes hope is all we have. Hope and a shitload of cats.”

Yelena laughed and punched him in the ribs.

The next morning the widows packed up and traveled back to the dentist. On the way, Wanda received a text message and responded.

Once she was in the dentist chair, she left her body behind.

She found Nat where she said she would be, inside Barton’s barn alone. She had never been to Barton’s farm and this was as likely the closest she would ever come to visiting it.

Nat nearly jumped at Wanda’s unexpected appearance but managed to appear unaffected.

“I am here.” Wanda told her.

“I see that. Thanks for coming. I know you said you would but I wasn’t sure. Yelena told me last night that congratulations are in order. You are a mother now.”

“So is Oksana.” Wanda pointed out. Oksana had signed the same papers for Tanya as Wanda signed for the twins. “What can I do for you, Natasha? You asked me here.”

Nat took a breath. “I want to come back. Stannic wants me to come back. I knew when I signed on it wouldn’t be easy. I’ve had some time to reflect on what has happened since I joined the widows…”

“You can come back.” Wanda interrupted her. “No one kicked you out. There is no need for a speech. Maybe you have learned something, maybe you haven’t. It doesn’t matter. You don’t need my permission to come back and you know it. Why am I here?”

Nat crossed her arms and steadied herself. “I want to know why you hate me. I get why the others hate me. I’m an intruder, an interloper, the one who got away. I am sure you hate me because I left Yelena behind but there is more to it. I want to know the reasons. All of them.”

Wanda stared at her for a moment. “You think I owe you my reasons?”

Nat shook her head. “You don’t owe me anything. I am hoping you will tell me. I just want it out in the open. I don’t want you to hate me for the rest of my life. We love the same people. For better or worse our lives are always going to be intertwined. Just tell me what it is I can do to end this hatred.”

Wanda continued to lock eyes with her.

“You were a fool. You left the Red Room because you wanted to do good. So what did you do? You joined an organization that required you to kill a child and a building full of innocent people to get to one man. One man. That never gave you a clue as to who you were dealing with? How many people did you kill while following Fury’s orders in some attempt to wipe your precious ledger clean? But it was okay because you worked for the good guys. You had noble intentions. You did whatever it took to take the so called bad guys down, no matter who got hurt.”

Nat nodded. “Yes I did that.”

“Let’s forget Yelena. Lets forget you walking away from these girls. Lets forget that I saw every scar Antonia had after she by some miracle survived the good guys attempt to kill the bad guy. You find out SHIELD is dirty and you expose them. You then devote yourself to the Avengers, another organization who thinks they know what is best for the world. An organization that decides when it is okay to kill, who to kill and how to kill but that’s okay. They are heroes so they can set the rules. They have to do what is best for the world, right? They know the cost, no one else. Sounds a lot like SHIELD.”

Nat nodded.

“Tony Stark even made the decision to create Ultron himself and you still stayed with the Avengers. You didn’t care about Yelena until she was free. Then you decided you wanted to suddenly be a big sister and leave them. You get in hot water and tell us not to become involved. You can handle it, right?”

“Yes, I thought I could.”

“You didn’t want us to get involved because you didn’t want people dying. You of all people, judging us for our methods. We risk our lives to save you and what do you do? Did you offer a simple thank you?”

“No, I didn’t. I tried to change you.”

Wanda nodded. “You trying to change someone is a joke. You think you are a big hero. The world looks at you and has no idea what you are really like.

“You are arrogant, violent, hypocritical and you are a fool. You have been so easily manipulated in your life. First the Red Room then Fury then it was Tony Stark. You justify every horrible thing you have done with the flimsiest excuse. You know what is best. Nobody can understand you. When you do horrible things it is for the greater good. Innocent people have died because of you, Natasha. Many, many innocent people have suffered for your actions and inactions.”

Nat sighed and looked at the dirt floor. “Yeah, you are right. Everything you said is true.”

Wanda nodded.

“Do you know why looking at you makes me sick? Looking at you is like looking at myself. It is the same as looking in a mirror.

“I was an idiot. I followed people time and time again who I knew were evil but I convinced myself it was for the greater good. HYDRA, Ultron, it didn’t take a genius to see that they were not going to be saviors. But I wanted power and I wanted revenge so I told myself the end justified the means. I hurt innocents because of my anger. I am responsible for the death of innocents. I once unleashed a monster on a city because I wanted to the world to see the monsters the Avengers truly were. I did that. Who was the real monster, Banner or the witch that set him loose?

“I led and encouraged children younger than me to torture people. I have left people prisoners in their own nightmares, catatonic, never knowing peace until death. I tell myself they deserve it when in reality it has more to do with me unleashing the hate in my heart than their actions. I don’t kill some and lobotomize others because of what they deserve. I do whatever makes me feel good at the time. I make poor excuses for the evil acts I commit.

“I am arrogant. A lady called me a god yesterday and I didn’t correct her. I took pictures with her children before I left. I was no better than an Avenger. New Yorkers think I am a hero. The only reason I saved that Ferry in New York was because Ava asked me to. I was going to walk away.”

Wanda paused for a moment and looked towards the sound of Stannic’s laughter outside then turned back to Nat. People call me brave but they have never seen me try to commit suicide or drink myself to death because I have been too much of a coward to face life. They never saw me sitting against Pietro’s tombstone with a bottle in my hand, cursing whatever god exists and begging to die.

“I am a violent, arrogant, deadly, selfish, weak fool.

“We are the same, Natasha. We love the same people, we make the same mistakes, we hurt and kill innocents, we have the same arrogant attitudes and we justify our actions as necessary for the greater good even though we know better.

“The only person on this planet I hate more than you is myself.”

Nat took that all in and had no idea what to say. It was not what she expected and it made her sick to listen to.

She didn’t know what to say.

“When should we expect you back?” Wanda asked, breaking the silence. “Stannic is missed.”

Nat took another moment to speak.

“I was thinking in a few days. I… I know this might not be the best time but…”

“Stop in Sokovia before you return. A driver at the airport will take you to the Executive building. I already had them prepared. Adoption papers will be waiting for you to be signed. Stannic deserves this. She deserves everything she wants. They all do.”

“How did you know?” Nat asked.

“I told you, we are the same.” Wanda told her and disappeared.

Nat began crying. She had been upset that Wanda hated her. Now she was upset at how much Wanda hated herself. Nat knew the feeling of having to force yourself to look in the mirror every day. It was horrible.

Clint walked into the barn and took in her state.

“I’m guessing you talked to Wanda. You gonna be okay?”

Nat shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Are you? Are you okay with the things we have done in our lives? The things we did for SHIELD?”

Clint shook his head. “No and I hope I never am. If I ever become okay with it, I’m afraid I won’t be a human anymore.”

“Then how do you live with it?”

“I focus on the people I love. Maybe I don’t deserve them but they deserve my best. Speaking of, Stannic is getting pretty good at riding horses and wants you to mount up with her. Get out there and have fun with your kid. Don’t miss these moments, Nat. This is what matters in life. Moments like this are why we fight. Don’t lose that.”

Sokovia, that afternoon

Yelena and Wanda’s attention was caught by the man behind the hotel check in desk.

He handed Yelena an envelope.

“A lady stopped by and asked me to give this to you. I denied you staying here but she left it anyway.”

Yelena took the white envelope. On the front was a small black widow symbol in white with a row of random letters underneath.

Both Wanda and Yelena tensed.

“What do those letters mean?”

“A Black Widow distress call for those who have been compromised and need extraction.”

Yelena flicked her knife open and cut along the side seam carefully.

She peered inside from an arms length away and saw a simple letter inside. Before she could reach inside, Wanda pulled it out.

“That was dangerous!” Yelena hissed.

“That’s why I did it.” Wanda told her and unfolded the note.

Yelena Belova and Wanda Maximoff

My name is Gabrielle Dunham. I was a Black Widow. I was leading a team of six mind controlled widows working as a HYDRA attack team. When I learned the Red Room was gone, I killed the handlers, destroyed the drugs and took the girls into hiding. We have been here for a month hoping to make contact. Five girls regained their free will after the drug appeared to have worn off. One girl, Claudia, who was a mute is still under the influence of the drug. I have waited for it to burn out of her system but it has shown no signs of letting go. We need help. I hope you receive this. I am at the diner across the street. The girls are at the safe house. I am alone and unarmed. Please come speak to me. I will be here all day waiting for you. I will be here tomorrow as well.

“I suppose we shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Wanda said.

“She can wait for a few moments. I want a strike team on top of the hotel roof and the diner surrounded. This could be a set up.” Yelena pointed out. “I need to talk to Oksana. I want to know exactly who we are dealing with.”