Chapter Text
She dreams about running.
And wakes up scared enough to keep running, tripping over her own feet, desperate to get out of that room, out of that house, out of that damn town and find S—
No.
She stops in the middle of the kitchen, freezing as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on her head.
No.
She inhales shakily, feeling her hands form fists, and notices the two women sitting at the table, helping themselves to toast and juice and jam and cake and it was perfect. They look at her worriedly, though.
“What's the matter, little bee?”
She blinks, looking back and trying to retrace the path in her mind. What was the matter? Well, she had woken up with a start, leaping down the stairs and... and...
She brings her hand to her forehead, confused. There's pressure on her temples, but that's probably because she'd stayed up last night, studying for the finals. Yes, that was it. Really? Yes. Oh.
“I’m...”
Scared.
“I’m...”
Her eyes find the clock on the wall, the sound of it too loud in her ears, and suddenly it all makes sense.
“...late. I'm late. Shit! I'm late!”
“Hey estrellita! What did we talk about swearing?”
“Sorry!”
She runs back into the bedroom, quickly changing the pajamas into a high-waisted black shorts and a blue shirt with a star symbol. Looking at herself in the mirror after fixing her hair, she has the impression that something is missing, her exposed arms bringing a grimace to her face.
She opens the wardrobe, looking for something that she likes. Nothing. Hm, maybe she needed to go shopping soon. Not today. Yes, not today. She had an appointment today.
She covers her head with the hood of a red sweatshirt, and heads back to the kitchen.
“Oh good, I was just about to get you one! The weather in this town is crazy,”
“Don’t I know it!”
“But I thought you were going to study today, Caperucita.”
“Wow, you guys are on fire with the nicknames today, huh? And Little Red Riding Hood wears a cape mom, and this is not a cape, it's a...” She stops then, her tongue curling to say the word. Shit, it’s a small and simple word, what was it? She can’t remember.
Her other mother sees her struggling and completes: “...a hoddie?”
Yes.
But strangely not the word she was looking for.
She nods, grabbing a sandwich. “I have to go, love you, bye!”
With the roller skates firmly strapped to her feet, she can't run finally manages to get out, slipping down the street to the house she knew like the back of her hand, having often played hide-and-seek with the twins Tommy and Billy Maximoff. She was their babysitter for quite some time now.
And she was late! Funny because she had dreamed that she was late.
(Funny because she had dreamed.)
She approaches the door and prepares to ring the bell when-
“...and who's going to take care of you while I'm gone?”
She is pushed onto the scene opens the door in readiness, having heard the request in pure coincidence.
“The fun has arrived!”
Stephen Strange almost cries when she appears, releasing a strained breath he's been holding for days.
America.
She was alive, she was fine, she was—
“The fun has arrived!”
—on the TV screen, laughing out loud, and Stephen believed he'd never seen her smile this wide before. It almost didn't seem real.
The camera focuses on Wanda's face. It's almost like she's looking at him.
Mocking him.
“What the hell are you playing at?” He questions as the image continues to move in real time.
“What, is she the girl you've been looking for?” Dr. Lewis asks, and it's not just her who sees the change in his expression. “Is that America?”
Stephen can only nod, and there are more questions coming from Nick Fury and Sam Wilson, questions he couldn't care less about. Because how dare she do this.
He didn't know whether to feel relieved or alarmed or angry, the kid had been gone for weeks. He was losing his mind searching for her, working tirelessly alongside Wong hoping to find something, anything, but each clueless dawn was an unbearable day.
And then S.H.I.E.L.D. got in touch for an evaluation, and they were quick enough to mention the name Wanda Maximoff before he could hang up the phone.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Wong had asked, concern clear on his face.
“If you are thinking that there are no such thing as coincidences in our line of work, then yes.” Stephen had answered him, voice too controlled for his racing heart. Days of crying in agony and now he finally got some control. Breathing in. Breathing out. It was almost like he was in medical mode. Would it be possible? Stephen needed to be sure.
And there she was.
Alive, but at what cost? Nothing but a brainwashing, apparently.
“But Erica, aren’t your exams coming next week? I thought you were busy with-”
“With my future being based on a series of numbers that in no way describe my charming personality? Of course not,” America winks, casually sitting down on the couch.
“Mommy, what does it matter? She's here now!”
“Why, I think she is.”
Stephen shakes his head. “Unbelievable.”
“As you can see, Doctor, it's a very tricky situation,” Nick Fury says. “Last time it was about the typical sitcom family. This time we have a single mother and many other supporting characters.”
“In other words, more kidnapped people,” The woman next to the Director added, posing just as in command as he was. “She may not have hijacked a whole town this time, but she practically created one. Maximoff handpicked each person, including your ward America.”
Stephen sighs, trying to think. Of course she did. She'd always wanted America's powers, and even now without the Darkhold's homicidal influence, her goal wouldn’t just change.
But how long she would keep the fantasy was the question. For Wanda was unstable, obsessed with keeping her unreal children safe, and America was so very close to her right now…
His mind isn't kind when imagining all the Scarlet Witch is capable of, all she's already done to America, and the possibility of what this dangerous game could meant.
He looks at the TV screen again. Wanda might not be in the scene, but he knew she was in control.
No, he could not allow America to be hurt.
He would not allow it.
“Do you need college to work as a babysitter?” Billy asked, causing America to pause.
“God, I hope not.”
The answer guarantees laughter from an audience that do not exist. So, so weird.
“It wasn't even funny,” Dr. Lewis complains, eating from a bag of peanuts. “Although that's what revivals do these days, right? ICarly was cool I guess, an exception that-”
“What abilities can this girl offer, Doctor Strange?” Nick Fury raises his voice, eyes focused on him shrewdly, no doubt creating his own theories. “It wasn’t a coincidence, Maximoff placed her right inside the house, close to the children. What value does she hold to her?”
All.
And at the same time, none.
He feels coldness at the thought, therefore he wasn't going to answer the man. He didn't mind having files about him in whatever facility. They wouldn't have the courage to come for him anyway.
However, when it came to America, he couldn’t make room for mistakes. She was under his responsibility, under his… care. The government had already put the Avengers themselves in a prison like the Raft when it deemed them dangerous. Someone like America, able to travel between the dimensions of the multiverse...
No, no. The Scarlet Witch with the knowledge was enough.
“Stay here,” Stephen decides, stepping out of the tent.
Outside, an entire operation was being wrapped around the energy field.
“Uh, sir?” A guard called out, confused when he saw him levitate above the restricted area. Stephen ignores him. “Hey! Is he...? Captain!"
Huh.
It really looked like TV waves as he approached.
“Strange, wait! What are you doing?"
“I'm going in,” He replies Sam Wilson, and his worried look is the last thing Stephen sees before he crosses over gets sucked in really into Wanda Maximoff's dangerous world.
“Is this a good idea?” She questions, raising her eyebrow. “Is it really?”
A fun afternoon while Wanda was out looking for a job.
It was almost as if she could read it on paper, the routine action with the three of them strolling the streets and waving to the neighbors, she on her roller skates, the boys on their scooters. Then they would stop at the playground and have a hot dog or ice cream, whatever the boys wanted, and Erica would look at the town hospital for a moment and wonder about the future. She wanted to be a doctor, she thought. But for that she would have to leave town and...
Usually something would happen in those moments — whether it was a kite on the roof or a cat stuck in a tree —, and it would bring her back to what was most important. The boys and her would help and then return home to find a Wanda Maximoff finishing a dinner that she was not very good at, but it was for sure with lots of love. The mother would always insist that she’d stay, spend the night with them, but Erica would say that her family was waiting for her at home and that she would be back in the morning. It was an easy routine. She liked it.
Today wouldn’t be much different.
Or at least, that's what she thought.
Tommy and Billy change their minds on the way to the playground, turning their scooters into an unusual street and forcing her to follow. “Boys, wait for me!”
She knew this area of course, there was a filthy vacant lot that Wanda warned her not to go near. Garbage and mice didn't exactly make for a good adventure. God, may she never go to New York!
“Erica, look!”
Luckily, they didn't head towards the vacant lot, instead stopping in front of Mr. Fisk's backyard, a rather unpleasant neighbor they had to deal with sometimes. Unfortunately, the only one with perfect apple trees at that time of year and her boys wanted it.
“Mommy loves apples!”
That she loved! But Mr. Fisk wasn't known for sharing, and stealing was wrong. She tries to explain her point to the boys, who just look at each other smiling. Oh no.
“We won’t be stealing it,” Tommy begins.
“Yeah, just think okay, he has so many! We'll be doing him a favor,” Billy finishes.
She murmurs, hesitantly. The man did always left the fruit in his backyard to rot, yet it still seemed like a bad idea to sneak in. She tries to tell them this, but only gets wild plans in response. Shit.
“Or we could race to the Barton house, what do you say?” She tries again, smiling.
Billy raises his hand. “Or we could try my plan,”
“Well Billy, I hate to say but I've already tried your plan,”
“No, you didn't.”
“I tried it in my head, it didn't work.” She dismisses him, causing Tommy to raise his hand. “Yes, Tommy?”
“What about my plan?”
“Your plan?”
"Yeah, it's pretty easy, listen, I just need some matches and-"
She’s already shaking her head before he even finished, her eyes wide. “Absolutely not! It's dangerous, kids, let’s not try anything that involves fire. Ever. Only with the supervision and assistance of an adult we-”
“But you're an adult.”
“No, I'm a babysitter. It's quite different.”
“How different?"
“Different like matches won't help at all if we just want to climb a tree and get some apples.”
“Uncle Pietro would try it,”
“Only because your uncle Pietro is an irresponsible, stuck-up, arrogant person who lives far away from here and-”
“And you like him.”
Ew.
“Tommy!” She and Billy say at the same time, the brother in disapproval and the babysitter in horror.
“Don't worry, he likes you too,” Tommy continues, smoothly and smart, managing to get “aaawwn's” from an audience she couldn't see her to blink in discomfort surprise.
Wanda's brother lived in Sokovia and she couldn't remember his face when was the last time he visited. Being the reckless party boy that he was, it would take him even longer to get back. She hated him.
“So, apples.” Placing her hands on her hips, she is forced to give in their shenanigans. Anything to get out of that moment. “If we're going to do this, we're going to do it like real trained agentes you hear me? In other words, silence and darkness are our allies in this mission-”
“It's the middle of the day, Erica,”
“Don't take away the fun, Billy,” Tommy warned.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“So from what I'm seeing, someone has to climb the fence and open the grid. Mr. Fisk doesn't have dogs, so no danger there. One of you does that while I stand guard out here.”
“Billy can do it.”
“What? Why does it have to be me?”
“I don't know, why do I have to be the cool twin? Everyone has their things.”
“Boys...” She sighs, closing her eyes. Oh, this was going to go terribly.
Even though she already regrets it, she still gives instructions and hopes for the best. Tommy helps Billy over the fence, and she watches as they enter the yard, tiptoeing comically.
She looks around, still not finding any neighbors on the street. Right.
They look at her before taking the first apple. The babysitter raises both hands in thumbs up.
Yeah, maybe it would go alright. She knew that Mr. Fisk always stayed on the front of his house, rocking in an old rocking chair until deep sleep overtook him. He certainly wouldn't hear them, so no problem. He wouldn't even notice the apples were missing.
Besides, nothing really bad happened in the town, so what could go wrong?
She turns around again, and almost falls when she comes face to face with a strange man. “Oh my God!” Oh, they were screwed. That had been a bad idea, she knew it!
“America.”
She frowns at the name, looking him up and down. Who is this? She would remember if she had seen him before, even more if dressed like that.
“Uuuhh, can I help you?” She asks politely, hoping she can buy time for the boys.
“America, it's me.”
“Oh.”
“Do you know me? Can you remember me?”
“Oh, uh, I- I think you're confusing me with somebody else, sir. My name is Erica, just… just… you know, Erica…” She mumbles, stuttering as she notices just how wide his blue eyes get when he hears her say her own name. It's a little unsettling, yet she continues to play her part. The boys needed her. “But I could help you find her? What was it, America? Or, or find someone else or… or even help. If you want, that is.”
“Help?”
“Yes, because you’re, you know, a beggar.”
He blinks, taking his big eyes off her and looking down at himself, like he only just now was seeing his own appearance. Poor fella, how long had he been wandering around? From the state of his hair and goatee, it must have been many months. Or maybe years.
There's a distant sound echoing in the background, then. Like laughter. She ignores it as she always does.
“That's... great.” The beggar grumbles, turning to her with a less than happy expression. “But we don't have much time, listen, it’s very important that you come with me right now.”
She giggles.
And feels the cold realization that he's the stranger that Wanda always warned them not to talk to.
“Yeah, I'll pass.”
“What? No, you don't understand, this isn't real.”
“Nothing really is when you're high,” She spreads her arms as she teases, making that weird sound echo again, but there's no humor in her anymore, only this weird feeling churning in her stomach, and even more so when he takes a step towards her.
“No, no, wake up. You need to pay attention, okay? Nothing, none of this is real, understand?”
“Uuuhh, yeah?”
He leans closer, eyes filled with an emotion she really do not understand and really do not want. “Look, I- I know what it seems ok? But everything will be clearer when you cross the border with me, I promise.”
She nods politely, still not getting what he was saying. Who is he? How did he get here? Nobody came here. It was a small town. Everyone knew everyone.
There is a disturbing change in the air.
A cut in the scene.
As if the light that had been following her since she entered the Maximoff house had gone out.
All the happiness disappeared. Everything was falling apart in a mix of confused emotions. She wanted to run again, just like she wanted to do when she got out of bed that morning.
“America, are you okay? Do you hear me? We need to go,”
Go? Go where? With him?! She didn't know him. He was a stranger. He was a Strange.
“Uh-um, no, no, I don't... no,”
A mad man.
“America, calm down. I know it’s scary ok? But you have to listen to me-”
He wants to take advantage of you somehow. No. Yes.
“No.”
He gets close, too close, enough to—
“You don't understand, we have to go now! It's the only way!”
—reach out to her, grab her arm and do something that would hurt her wait please no But we're friends!
“DON’T TOUCH ME!”
A piercing scream erupts from her, and she is so terrified that she ends up slipping and falling backwards to the floor. The pain in her elbows meant nothing compared to the sheer fear she feels in that moment, her heart beating so fast like it was going to explode in her chest.
Cracks open in the ground right below her, cosmic blue light escaping in a star shape as she screams in terror. The boys are yelling her name just as scared and no please, stay away. They had to be safe.
The man tries to reach her again, a frightened look in his eyes. “AMERICA!”
No, I can’t ConTROL IT PLEASE—
Her vision is taken by scarlet.
And the light is nearly blinding as the sun breaks through the clouds, the wind shifting direction and she finds herself standing in front of the beggar once again, goosebumps all over her. What.
It’s okay.
You’re okay.
“Please sir, do not touch me,” Erica asks, politely raising her hand. Her heart is still beating fast, but that’s probably because the boys are still in Mr. Fisk’s backyard and she was anxious.
She looks at him.
He stares at her with a shocked expression, keeping his shaking hands to himself, unbelievably quiet.
“HEY!”
Apples fly through the air, hitting the beggar, who flinches and steps back.
“Stay away from our babysitter!” Tommy is the first one to come to her rescue.
And Billy is right behind him, pulling apples out of his own pocket and hitting the man mercilessly. “Yeah, don't come any closer you ugly! Don't touch her!”
“Boys, wait! I’m fine!”
“Are you?”
“Yes, Tommy. Billy, stop it. Don’t waste any more apples, please.”
“But we heard you scream!”
She blinks at the boys. She didn’t scream. She didn’t.
“Well, you heard wrong. Nothing happened, boys, I swear.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
They share a look for a moment, but finally shrug their shoulders and approach, hugging her briefly.
“Okay, then.”
“If you say so.”
She smiles, suddenly feeling very safe. And loved. Yes, of course. Usually she was the one protecting them and now they were the ones that came for her. It made sense.
She looks to the beggar. Poor guy, ragged clothes and all dirty, certainly devoid of the goodness of the world. It wasn't his fault if he was a little mad.
“Leave him alone boys,” Erica says, taking each one's hand. "Let's go home."
He watches her leaving.
He's shaking, standing in the middle of the street like an idiot, his heart pounding in his chest, filled with regret and worry and he can just watch her walk away without doing anything.
He... he should have approached her more cautiously.
It was his fault that she lost control, the door to the multiverse opening just below her, about to suck her in. Brainwashed, who knows what could have happened to her then. Trapped, without knowing how to get back. Lost, like her real mothers. Away from him. Forever.
His fault.
Stephen feels tears beginning to well in his eyes again and sits on the curb, shaken.
He hurt her.
He tries to swallow the cry that is stuck in his throat, the images replaying in his mind like torture. Her eyes disorientated, unconsciously begging him to stop.
He had underestimated this utopia, America's reaction only proving how deeply this reality was rooted in her heart, in her... mind. He was a fool to try to get her out of there so rashly.
Oh, he could already hear Wong's lecture.
Stephen didn't even notice the mediocre way he was dressed, someone certainly thought she had a sense of humor—
Speaking of that someone.
She descends from the sky, levitating in her Scarlet Witch garment. She looks like the day she became the enemy, the day she acted against America's life.
Stephen gets up, feeling the rage burn through his veins.
“You! This is all your doing,” Stephen points out, causing her to raise her eyebrows in mockery.
“Why are you blaming me? You’re the one who scared her,”
He turns his head, feeling a twitch in his eye. The absolute audacity.
“Did you plan this?”
“Of course not, now I did felt your presence the moment you crossed my town. But also, I already knew you were coming the moment I got America.”
“Got? What a tolerable way of saying you kidnapped an innocent kid-”
“Oh please, you're talking like I killed the girl.”
“I know for a fact that you would have no problem on doing so,” Stephen snapped, noticing in secondhand the flaw in her expression, but too angry to stop. “You got into her mind, Wanda. Changed everything to align with your taste, changed who she is-”
“Is not true-”
“It's brainwashing-”
“No, it's not like that. She's still who she always was, everyone here is, they're just playing a role.”
“And you think this is normal?”
“If it makes their traumas go away, maybe it's the best option. Believe it or not, I'm not just thinking of myself when I do this.”
Stephen snorts, rolling his eyes. “Please, you're not fading anyone's traumas, you're suffocating it. If you hadn’t changed reality just now, America would have been lost in the multiverse.”
“Then you should be thanking me that I did, she was afraid because of you and I fixed it.”
“You didn’t fix it. That’s not how the mind works, for fuck’s sake! They may not feel anything now but when all this illusion is over, they will break, do you understand that? Can you understand that?!”
“Yes!" Wanda almost yells in his face, which is… fair, because he’s doing it too, genuinely freaked out by all this nonsense. “And it’s for this very reason that it’s essential that this whole illusion, as you so called it, continues.”
“You and I both know that it's not the only reason.”
“You know what?! No, it's not. But if a game makes my children happy, then I'm not ashamed to do what I do.”
“YOUR CHILDREN-” Stephen almost growls, holding back a cry of frustration. He couldn't believe the conversation he was having. “Wanda... people's lives are not a game!”
The woman smiles tenderly.
Shit.
That was never a good sign.
“It's different here. You’ll see. I've learned to control my pain, Stephen, the residents of this town don't suffer like those of Westview, they are happy. America is, and you can be too,”
Happy? He was happy—
Was?
Happy? Yes. You can be happy.
But he already was. With America? Yes.
With Christine? I can bring her here.
You will be happy.
I promise, so happy, just like me—
“STOP IT!” He holds up his hands, making Wanda retract her scarlet.
She was so subtle. Like a snake. He didn't even notice her power approaching and invading his mind. Is that how she kidnapped America? Silently and slowly, he could almost imagine her stepping out of the shadows, implanting scarlet in his kid's mind.
Did America feel it when it happened? Was she scared? Did she call him?
“I don't want to fight you, Stephen. I admit I was wrong before, and I understand your concern but I'm not going to hurt her now. Her being around means safety for my family,” Wanda steps closer, watching the shield he projected with caution. “So please, for your sake, don't try anything... because America stays,”
The word is spoken with such conviction that for a moment it seems like she's using her power again, ripping out a choice and exchanging it for a lie.
“And because I’m reasonable, I’ll let you keep watching everything, very close and very quietly, because no one leaves this town without my permission. And when you see that I'm right, and trust me, you will, you'll be begging me for this life.” Her eyes glow red as she speaks, the threat more than certain.
And Stephen smiles.
He smiles, because he was a self-centered idiot. And Wong would surely have a huge lecture to give him when this was all over.
He smiles because he truly believed it would be easy to get America out of there, just as Wanda truly believes it will be easy for him to sell himself out for a happiness that wasn't real. Both being opposites and both wrong. It was… ironic.
He smiles, because anger like he's never felt before boils his blood.
“Here’s my answer... No.”
And Stephen attacks her.