Chapter Text
Wanda came home from a nice day. The weather was sunny, it was an easy school day, and no drama with the kids at the pre-school. They went to the beach, which would be quite stressful considering they’re a bunch of animals who don’t know how to swim, but there were no accidents. They played capture the flag and built some sandcastles.
Being around all these children and doing all these activities she missed out on herself, made up for it a bit. It was kind of like therapy. It made Wanda happy and all the anger she had bottled up simmered down a bit.
It all came crashing down when she saw the look on Jason’s face. It was somber. He was sitting on the couch with his hands in his head.
“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked, putting down her bags on the ground.
“Wanda, I’m so sorry.” Jason said standing up, worrying Wanda even more.
“For what?” She asked cautiously.
“Some friends from back home called. Rachel’s gone crazy. We were really close when I still lived with Bruce. They’ve exhausted all other options, and want me to come to try and reason with her.” Jason explained. Wanda’s heart dropped as she heard that. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jason stopped her. “Before you say anything, you don’t have to come. I just don’t know how long it’ll take.”
Wanda thought about it for a second and decided. After all Jason had done for her, she felt she owed it to him to support him through it. “Of course I’ll go with you, Jase.” She said softly, with a hint of sadness in her small smile.
They got onto a private jet the next morning. It was a long plane ride, but the flatscreen TV kept them busy.
They landed on Bruce’s private property and saw him right as they exited the jet.
“It’s been a while, Jason.” He said as he approached him.
“Yes, it has.” Jason replied. Bruce pulled him into a small, firm hug, which Jason reluctantly and lazily returned.
Then Bruce turned to Wanda, who had been awkwardly standing behind Jason. “Ah, you must be Wanda. It’s good to see a face to match that snarky voice of yours.” Bruce said playfully, thinking back to their first encounter.
“I can assure you I’m even snarkier in real life.” Wanda joked.
Bruce led them inside, where Jason gave Wanda a tour. They had agreed she wouldn’t go outside, to minimize the chance of people recognizing her, or camera’s catching her, but she definitely wouldn’t get bored in this mansion.
At dinner, Bruce explained the situation to them. Rachel’s powers were growing and they were making her go crazy. All her thoughts were extreme and her powers started taking over her, and she brought others down with her.
She possessed the power of mind control. She already had Dick Grayson’s mind. Before that, she had severely injured her other friends. They have since gone into hiding.
Bruce suggested Wanda help a bit, having ties to mental-power voodoo, as he called it. She agreed, having nothing else to do.
That evening they set up a plan. Rachel was staying in the titans tower. Jason would go in and try to reason with her. If that didn’t work, Wanda would go in and use her powers. The new experiments she’d been through not only gave her a new power but also made managing her powers easier; her heart wouldn’t stop every time she used them.
They spent a week preparing before setting out to go find her. Jason went into the building, seemingly unarmed, but had hidden a knife on the bottom of his shoe and a gun behind his back, just in case.
Wanda kissed him right before and stayed in the car with Bruce while Jason went in. She sympathized with the girl. It wasn’t Rachel who was doing this, it were her powers, which she never asked for. She hoped Jason wouldn’t have to resort to using the gun, but hoped that he would have enough time if he did.
“Jason, how’s it going up there?” Bruce said into the com after a while of no communication. Jason didn’t respond to Bruce’s message. Wanda didn’t even think twice before storming out of the car and into the building.
She climbed to the top floor where she saw Jason on the ground, blood streaming from his nose, ears and sputtering out of his mouth. She was horrified. She leaned down, putting her guard down for one second. That second was all Rachel Roth needed.
Before she knew it, Wanda felt waves of power lifting her up.
“And who the fuck are you?” A girl said, appearing from out of the shadows. She was dressed in all black and her whole eyes were black. It was quite a sight, but didn’t take away from her obvious youth; she was just a kid.
“Rachel, I know you’re scared. Trust me, you’re not going to find anyone who understands this more than me, but you have to take back control. This isn’t you.” Wanda pleaded, while her airway was slowly being closed, making it harder and harder to breathe, let alone talk. She had to do something fast, before this girl killed her, but she had to try to reason with her first. She couldn’t resort to violence right away.
“Ha,” Rachel laughed dryly. “You don’t even know me.”
“But I do. I am you, I was you. One day you’ll snap out of it and have so many regrets. You don’t want to feel that guilt, Rachel.” These words seemed to only fuel Rachel’s anger. This stranger was trying to boss her around, and Rachel didn’t like that.
Rachel squeezed Wanda’s throat with more power and speed than before. Wanda knew if she didn’t do something about it fast, she was going to die, so she flicked her wrist blasting Rachel across the room.
Wanda fell down to the ground gasping for air and made her way back to Jason. Using her powers she got him conscious and lucid.
“Jason, you have to get out of here now. Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.” She told him urgently.
“What? I’m not leaving-” He started debating, but Wanda interrupted him.
“It’s not up for debate.” She stated with somber eyes. Despite the ever-growing guilt she’ll feel after she did this, and the broken trust they’d have, she mind-controlled him into leaving the building. Jason was angry at the lack of control over his own body, but couldn’t do anything about it.
Wanda saw Rachel getting up again, but her eyes weren’t on Wanda. “Get her!” She screamed at a figure behind Wanda. Before Wanda could even turn around to examine who Rachel was talking to, she felt her arms being twisted behind her and one shoulder popping out, rendering her powerless and in pain. She figured the person was Dick Grayson. Jason was always raving about him.
“Two can play at this game.” Rachel said as she looked at Wanda. Rachel raised her arms “Azarath metrion zinthos!” When Rachel uttered those words Wanda felt immense pain. She couldn’t locate it, but she also felt like there was a stranger infiltrating her mind. It was as if someone was wrapping their hands around her brain. It was a pain, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She felt like she was falling, and losing herself. Slowly the pain turned into numbness until all she felt was… black.
Her mind wasn’t her own anymore. She was being controlled.