Chapter Text
"Yelena, I'm here." Wanda Maximoff said exhaustedly as she walked down the hall to the theater at their performing arts school. Wanda was in the theater program as a technician, both she and her twin brother Pietro were in this program, and she knew she had to participate in every show, but the previous show the theater program performed, The Doll House, had just wrapped, so Wanda was a bit confused about why her brash but well meaning roommate wanted to meet in the theater. "What did you-"
Wanda froze, seeing a bunch of other people staring at her, a bit confused about why Wanda was yelling for Yelena in the theater. Yelena saw Wanda standing on the stage like a fool, quickly waving her over. "Maximoff, over here!"
Wanda quickly walked over, hiding her face as she made her way over. "Yelena-"
"Hey Roomie!" Yelena said happily.
"You didn't tell me that auditions for the spring musical were today!" Wanda hissed.
"Oh, did I not mention that when I told you to meet me here?" Yelena asked. "Oops."
"Yelena, you know I don't audition. I'm a techie. Once a techie, always a techie." Wanda argued. "Why did you trick me into coming here?"
"Well, first and foremost, I believe that you have an amazing singing voice and you should share that, and second, I want someone in ensemble to talk to during practices." Yelena argued. "Please? It'll be fun, I promise!"
"No! I am perfectly fine being backstage, handling the costumes!" Wanda said, standing up. "I'm gonna leave before the directors-"
"Okay everyone!" One of the directors said happily, the other one closing the door. "Welcome to auditions for Anastasia. Everyone here should be here to audition, because the door is now locked! Everyone can leave when everyone is done!"
Wanda glanced back over at Yelena. "I hate you so much."
"I already filled out your audition form..." Yelena said, holding up an extra audition form.
Wanda sighed, staring at the form. "You can't expect me to do well when you tricked me into coming, right?"
"I'm not asking you to do well." Yelena said quickly. "I'm asking you to do well enough to get into the ensemble."
"Wanda, what in the world are you doing here?" Sam Wilson, one of Wanda and Yelena's few friends, asked as he walked over and sat behind the two girls. "You don't audition for plays."
"Yelena tricked me." Wanda said grumpily.
"Well, what are you gonna sing?" Sam asked. "The directors want everyone to sing one of the songs in the packet, and if this is the first time you're seeing it-"
"She's been helping me with Once Upon A December." Yelena explained. "She'll sing that."
"You tricked me." Wanda said, reaching over and flicking Yelena's nose.
"Ow! I get that you're angry-"
"Am I angry?" Wanda asked. "Sam, do you think I'm angry?"
"A thousand times, yes." Sam answered.
"Wanda, at least try, please?" Yelena asked. "For my sanity? I mean, this is the last thing we get to do before we come back for spring semester. Humor me?"
"I get to choose the music we listen to when we get back to the dorm to pack up." Wanda said, crossing her arms.
"Fine."
"Okay, ladies singing Once Upon A December, get up here and stand in a line." One of the two directors said.
"Let's go." Yelena said, grabbing Wanda's arm and dragging her on stage.
Wanda glared at Yelena as the other girls present sang the song. Eventually, when it got to Wanda, one of the directors said, "I don't think we've seen you before..."
"That's because she usually helps with the costume designs." One of the girls on stage said bluntly.
"And what's your name, Costume?"
Wanda sighed, knowing that if she didn't get in, she was going to be ridiculed like there was no tomorrow. "Wanda Maximoff."
"Okay, you can sing the song now."
Wanda sighed, staring at the wall behind the directors as she grew determined to not make eye contact with anyone. "Dancing bears, painted wings. Things I almost remember. And a song, someone sings, once upon a December. Someone holds me, safe and warm, horses prance through a silver storm. Figures dancing gracefully across my memory."
When Wanda looked back down, she saw that everyone was transfixed on her, almost a little confused about the fact that she was singing. Eventually, when Yelena started singing, the directors seemed to snap out of it, one of them saying, "Hold on a minute, Yelena. What did you say your name was, brunette girl?"
"Wanda..." Wanda said uneasily. "Wanda Maximoff."
"Wanda, could you repeat what you just sang, please?"
"S-Sure." Wanda said, singing that section once again, the directors taking a couple notes.
"Okay, now you can sing, Yelena." One of the directors said after a minute of pausing.
Once everyone else had sang Once Upon A December, Wanda walked back to her seat, feeling everyone's heavy gaze on her back. Sam leaned forward and whispered, "Why haven't you auditioned before now?"
"What do you mean?" Wanda asked, her voice wavering a little.
"I got goosebumps hearing you sing, Wanda." Yelena explained. "I knew you were good from hearing you sing under your breath, but not that good."
"You're being ridiculous." Wanda said, starting to panic a little. "I'm not that good, I swear."
"I think you did better than Agatha, and she's the female lead in all the plays." Sam said honestly. "I'm being very serious about that, you know."
"I think you did too. For just getting this script, phenomenal." Yelena confirmed.
"I think you guys are being a little dramatic..." Wanda said, noticing that Agatha was glaring at her from her seat at the front of the theater, brown hair held back in a messy bun, her arm wrapped around Victor Shade, the guy who usually got the leads in the plays here. Wanda felt her face start to become red as she realized that Victor was also staring at her with his crystal blue eyes hiding behind black glasses, his wavy blonde hair swept back and out of his face. "I think that everyone is being a little dramatic."
"I don't think they are, Wand." Yelena argued.
"Everyone with My Petersburg, please go on stage." One of the directors said.
"Oh, that's me." Sam said, standing up.
"Break a leg!" Yelena said happily.
Wanda and Yelena watched the auditions continue, and as they watched, Wanda still felt everyone's eyes on her, making her more uncomfortable. Wanda felt her phone vibrate in her sweatshirt pocket, pulling it out and shaking her head. "Oh God..."
"Pietro?" Yelena guessed.
"He's wondering what's taking so long. Rick and Stacy want us back before eight."
"Right... Foster parents. We should be out of here by six."
"And it takes us an hour and a half to get home."
"You'll be cutting it close. You'll be fine."
"You don't know that." Wanda argued. "You don't know what kind of mood they'll be in when we get there."
"Right, right, sorry." Yelena apologized. "I forgot about what life is like there for you guys. You know that you're always welcome to spend holidays with my family."
"No offense, Yelena, but you may also be adopted, but it's nothing like it is with us." Wanda explained.
"I know. Probably should have checked before I tricked you into coming here." Yelena agreed. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Wanda said, shrinking a little in her seat. "I just... I don't like all these people staring at me. It makes me feel uncomfortable, all these eyes on me."
"You're fine, I promise." Yelena said quickly. "Trust me on this, Wanda."
The two watched auditions continue, and by the time everyone had finished singing their auditions, one of the directors said, "Okay, can we see Wanda, Sam, and Victor on stage reading Scene Three? Wanda, you're obviously gonna be Anya, Sam, you're reading as Vlad, and Victor, you're reading as Dmitry."
"Break a leg!" Yelena said supportively.
"Oh God..." Wanda muttered to herself, she and Sam walking on stage since Victor already beat them there.
"You're gonna be fine." Sam said supportively.
"Action!" One of the directors said.
Victor awkwardly smiled at Wanda before he said his line. "What do you do?"
"I-I'm a street sweeper." Wanda said, a bit worried as she read the script.
"A street sweeper!" Victor said, clearly exhausted.
"In Odessa, I washed dishes. Before that, I worked in the hospital in Perm."
"They're a long way from here."
"I know. I walked it."
"You walked here all the way from Perm?"
"I had no choice."
Victor looked over at Sam, giving him a concerned look before he asked. "Who are you running from?"
"I'm running to someone." Wanda corrected. "I... Don't know who they are, but they're waiting for me in Paris."
"You don't need papers. There's a canal out there. Jump in and start swimming. You'll be in Paris before you know it!" Victor argued. He looked over at Sam, laughing as he shook his head. "She's crazy!"
"I'm not crazy. Why are you do unkind?" Wanda asked.
"We were hoping you'd be someone else." Sam answered.
"Who?"
"Someone who may not even exist."
Wanda looked around the room, acting shocked as seeing everyone's eyes on her. "I've been in this room before... There was a play. Everyone was beautifully dressed."
"This was the private theater in Count Ysupov's Palace."
"People were polite... And kind..." Wanda said, starting to feel a little faint herself as she saw a few more lines of text, anxiety washing over her. How much more of this was she going to have to do?
Victor seemed to catch this, rushing to put his arm around Wanda to help steady her. "She's going to faint on us!"
"When did you eat last?" Sam asked, doing the same as Victor.
"Afterwards, we danced." Wanda said, starting to feel a little overwhelmed, yet relived since she was on her last line of dialogue for the scene. "There was champagne. I stole a sip!"
"Where are your manners, Dmitry?" Sam asked, going with the script in his hands. "Get her some water. And a piece of that cheese, too."
"This isn't a soup kitchen, Vlad." Victor said, a bit annoyed, before walking away for a second.
"Good job guys!" One of the other directors said.
"Are you okay?" Victor asked cautiously, his British accent coming back into his voice as Wanda seemed to collect herself.
"Uh huh." Wanda said, taking a couple deep breaths. "I... I think I'm good."
"You sure?" Sam asked cautiously. "You're shaking."
"Am I?" Wanda asked. "I can't even tell."
"Let's get you some water." Sam said, escorting Wanda off stage, Victor following close behind as Agatha tried to stop him. Before she managed to succeed, the directors called her and two other boys on stage to run the scene again.
"You good?" Yelena asked cautiously as other groups went through the scene.
Wanda nodded. "I think... I think there was anxiety..."
"Take a drink of water." Victor said, grabbing a water bottle from Yelena's bag. "Water helps."
"Victor, can you go on stage and do Scene 5 with Agatha?"
"Right away, Mr. Lee." Victor said, smiling at Wanda as he walked away, watching her take a drink of water as he went back on stage.
After a minute, one of the directors said, "Can we do that scene again, but have Wanda up there instead?"
"I'm not sure that's the beat idea, sir." Victor said quickly. "I don't think that Wanda's acted before, I'm not even sure she knew she was auditioning before you locked us in, and she had a slight anxiety attack while she was on stage doing the scene with myself and Sam. If you want to judge her for this based on her own abilities, then you shouldn't have her do this scene until she's mentally ready and recovered from the anxiety attack."
"Are you okay with coming back to this later?" Mr. Lee asked.
Wanda nodded. "Yeah, just... Just gimmie a couple minutes."
"Okay sweetie."
"Well, I guess someone impressed Victor Shade." Yelena said teasingly as Victor got off stage, a different pair of people going on stage to do the scene.
"What makes you say that?" Wanda asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked. "I've never seen him ask to do a scene later before. I think he sees potential in you, Wanda."
Wanda rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. He probably just wanted to give me a fighting chance."
Auditions went on for another hour, Wanda and Victor finally doing the scene, and everyone got released for Winter Break.
Pietro was waiting for Wanda outside of the school by the time auditions ended and Wanda grabbed her stuff, peacefully sitting down on a snowy bench, as Wanda walked over. "Pietro, I'm so sorry!"
"What happened?" Pietro asked, standing up and walking towards his car in the parking lot.
"Yelena tricked me into auditioning for Anastasia." Wanda explained.
"What?" Pietro asked. "Are we allowed to do that?"
"The only stipulation for our scholarship is that we have to participate in every show. It doesn't say how." Wanda said, shouldering her backpack.
"Did it... Did it go okay?"
"It was awful. I don't I'm gonna get in. Good thing I'm fine doing costumes."
"Just like I'm fine doing special effects." Pietro said, putting an arm around Wanda. "Head back to Rick and Stacy's before they murder us?"
"Let's go."
When the students returned for second semester in January, Yelena practically ran into her shared dorm room with Wanda, grabbing Wanda by the arm. "Come on!"
"Why?" Wanda asked exhaustedly, reluctantly following Yelena.
"The cast list is out!" Yelena reminded Wanda. "We gotta go see if we got in!"
"Really?" Wanda asked exhaustedly. "We gotta go see?"
"I'm hoping I have actual lines this time instead of dancing." Yelena said hopefully.
"But you're a great dancer!" Wanda argued. "You should have the spotlight!"
"Yeah, but when my older adopted sister got accepted into Julliard for acting, that kinda put some pressure on me to do the same thing." Yelena argued.
"Well, you don't have to be like her." Wanda reminded Yelena. "You gotta be your own person at some point."
"Yeah, I know." Yelena said exhaustedly. "Let's just go see!"
Wanda rolled her eyes as she and Yelena managed to fight through the crowd of people crowding the entrance to the hallway, everyone struggling to get a look at the cast list on two regular sized pieces of paper, looking minuscule against the crowd of people.
"Yes!" Sam said happily, doing a small dance in the hallway.
"Someone looks happy." Yelena commented.
"Guess who got Vlad!" Sam said, pointing to himself. "This guy!"
Wanda smiled, feeling proud of her friend. She was always proud of Sam whenever he got a role like that, it wasn't very often that happened, but she also understood that males always had a privilege in theater. She had seen it plenty of times working backstage. "Congrats, Sam."
"Um... Congrats to you too." Sam said happily. "Seriously, congrats! It's incredible!"
"Congrats on what?" Wanda asked, starting to get worried.
"Oh, have you two not seen the cast list yet?" Sam asked, his eyes widening.
"No. Why?" Yelena asked. "Did she get in?"
"Something like that..." Sam said, pulling out his phone. "I took a picture of the cast list to send to my family back home... Check it out."
Yelena and Wanda crowded around the phone, Yelena frowning at the screen. "Oh great... I get to play Odette in the ballet scene."
"That's still really good." Wanda reassured Yelena. "You get a ballet solo. I'll get to watch you from the wings."
"Not... Not exactly." Sam said uneasily.
"What do you mean?" Wanda asked. "I always watch Yelena from the wings."
"You'll be watching her, just not from your usual place..." Sam said, zooming in on a different section of the cast list.
Wanda read the names he zeroed in on, her eyes widening when she realized what Sam was talking about. "Oh my God..."
"This is unbelievable!" Agatha said angrily. "How in the world did I get the Dowager Empress!?"
"Agatha didn't get the lead?" Yelena asked. "That's unheard of... If she didn't get the lead, who did?"
Wanda handed Sam back his phone, struggling to get through the crowd so she could see the cast list for herself, wanting to make sure Sam didn't somehow edit the picture. Sure enough, once Wanda got close enough to see the cast list for herself, she saw her name on the piece of paper. Wanda's eyes widened, her mouth dropping. "Yelena..."
"Yeah?" Yelena, both she and Sam managing to squeeze through the crowd.
"I need you to pinch me so I know I'm not having a nightmare."
"Why?"
"Look." Wanda said, pointing to the cast list.
Yelena saw what Wanda was pointing at, tightly gripping Wanda's shoulder. "You're not dreaming!"
"Why is my name next to Anya?" Wanda asked, her hand shaking.
"Because you got casted as her." Sam said cautiously.
"That... That's not..." Wanda struggled to say, her mind not comprehending what she was seeing.
"You..." Agatha said, zeroing in on Wanda. "How in the world did you-"
"I didn't even want to get casted, I got tricked into auditioning, I'm sorry!" Wanda stammered, feeling herself start to shrink.
"Hey, don't apologize." Yelena chided. "You have nothing to be sorry about."
"But I am!" Wanda countered. "I didn't want to take a role from someone more experienced!"
"You're damn right you did." Agatha argued.
"Hey Agatha, what'd you get?" One of the other girls asked, Agatha plastering a fake smile on her face as she walked over.
"I finally got through!" Victor said happily, reading the cast list. "Cool, I got Dmitry!"
"Congrats, Vision." Sam said happily. "I'm happy that the three of us are gonna be scene buddies."
"You're Dmitry?" Wanda squeaked out.
Victor looked back over at Wanda, noticing that her name was above his for Anya. "Oh, you got Anya? Congrats! You really deserve it."
"I... I..." Wanda said uneasily, averting her gaze.
Victor sighed, shaking his head. "Agatha yelled at you because you got Anya, didn't she?"
"Uh huh..." Wanda said nervously. "I swear I didn-"
"You don't have anything to apologize for. She's just upset because she didn't get what she wanted for the first time in her life." Victor said, rolling his eyes.
"That's what I've been trying to tell her!" Yelena agreed.
"You did a great job at auditions, Wanda. You're gonna do great in the show. Just take whatever Agatha says with a grain of salt, okay?" Victor said, putting a hand on Wanda's shoulder. "It's gonna be fine, I promise. You got this."
As Victor walked away, Sam said, "See? We're not the only two giving you a vote of confidence."
"This is gonna be a mess." Wanda said, not looking forward to the storm that was going to be coming her way as soon as she walked into the script reading.