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(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE. IF it's on AO3 under AnonEhouse, that's fine, that's me. Also, translation and pod-fic done by other fans on free sites is also fine.)
Dr. Strange stepped out of the portal and immediately looked for the one, absolutely pivotal, person fighting against Thanos. The moment he spotted her, he ignored the rush of revived heroes racing towards Thanos's forces. He flew towards her and encased them both in the mirror dimension.
"What ARE you DOING?!" Wanda cried out when she realized she couldn't affect the real world. "I want to KILL THANOS!"
"In the worst way?" Stephen said.
"YES!" Wanda's hands glowed. "Let me go, or I'll kill you first."
"That wouldn't be the worst way," Stephen said. "I'll show you the worst way." He straightened and dropped his mental shields. "You think that your lover dying was the worst of all possible worlds, the most terrible thing that could happen to you. But Wanda... it's not about you."
Wanda screamed and focussed her rage on Dr. Strange, diving into his mind, into his plans, into his memories... there were... so... so... many... dying again and again and again in all the most horrible ways, to save Earth from Dormammu. Shaken, she pulled back.
Stephen's cloak wiped away a thread of blood from his nose. He coughed. "Do you see? Dying to save others. It's... sometimes necessary."
"You want ME to die to save everyone else? WHY? WHY should I?"
"Because," Stephen said gently, "I looked at fourteen million and six hundred and five possible futures. Obviously I couldn't look at the infinity of possible futures, so I chose the simplest variations- of the twenty-four heroes I'd known or heard of, who would be likely to fight him- either each would live, or each would die. Two to the power of twenty four- that would have been over sixteen million futures, but I found what I needed to know before that."
Wanda snapped, "People are DYING right now."
"I found one future with a chance. I gave Thanos the time-stone in return for sparing Stark's life."
Wanda growled. "And Thanos used it to bring my Vision back to life so he could kill him again! Was Stark worth that!"
"YES!" Stephen snapped. "Because Stark brought us all back and gave us a chance. And now... now he will take the stones from Thanos. Use them... and die."
"So," Wanda said, "you've already GOT someone to die for us, and Stark deserves it anyway! How many millions of people died because of him?"
Stephen shook his head. "It's not about Stark, either. Your story doesn't end there. You anchored your life, your sanity, and your reality on Vision. See what you would do without him. Look again. Look further, not a glance through a spyglass, but search the multiverse of your future through the telescope of my mind's eye. Deep, where there is only truth."
Wanda stepped forward and put her hands against Dr. Strange's temples. Scarlet flowed around both of them. Blood trickled from his nose and ears. They stood for a long moment, still.
Then Wanda dropped her hands away, and the glow faded. She began crying. "All that? Westview... and I turned Vision's corpse into a puppet?"
"Yes," Strange said. "And took the Darkhold, and was further corrupted by it."
"I killed your friends and the multiverse... I was... I tried to kill another me, and would have taken her children."
"If you continue on this path, yes. You would create massive disruption on a hitherto undreamt of scale." His voice gentled. "And, no matter what you did, Wanda, you would never be happy."
Wanda straightened. She wiped away her tears. "What must I do?"
"When Stark steps back from Thanos, he has the stones. Take the stones and use them to erase Thanos and his forces from existence. Because of your connection to the mind-stone, you should survive their touch long enough to do that."
"And then," Wanda said, "Vision and I will be reunited." She nodded sharply. "Let's go."
Strange broke the mirror dimension.
Wanda rose just high enough to see Thanos. She headed toward him resolutely, using her powers to fling aside anyone who got in her way. When she saw Stark, she shifted her aim. "I am coming to get you, Stark," she said. Anyone watching would think she was taking her last chance at revenge on him.
Anyone watching using the mind-stone would only see how much she hated Stark.
Anyone watching who happened to be of a sadistic nature who enjoyed torturing his own adopted daughter, might offer her no opposition, out of curiosity to see what she would do to Stark. Thanos glanced at her, but did nothing more than smirk.
Stark ignored Wanda, too. He closed in to briefly grapple with Thanos, before being flung back. Thanos's smirk widened. "I am inevitable!" he shouted.
Stark said, "And I am... Iron Man". He held up his arm. The armor had reshaped to hold the Infinity stones... temporarily, barely.
Wanda exerted her telekinesis, and the stones responded to the traces of the mind-stone in her. They flew to her, and settled on her bare fingers. Wanda screamed as the power burned. She didn't bother with any pithy sayings, letting her hate speak for her. Thanos and his army, their weapons and their ships, all turned to ash.
She was burning, burning, too. She looked at Stark. "You're next." He faced her, and there was nothing on his expression but resolve. His hands stayed down. He waited.
"Wanda," Dr. Strange said. He'd followed her. "Is this how you want to be remembered? Is this what Vision would have wanted?"
Wanda froze for a moment, then let her hands drop. "No. Vision and I... all we wanted. All we ever wanted... was to be normal. A family. Not to be feared..."
She collapsed. The stones fell from her hands.
"Wanda." The voice was soft and loving. The hands that stroked her hair back from her face were soft, and warm. Her head was resting on someone's lap.
Wanda sat up and her eyes flew open. "Vision!" she cried out happily seeing Vision in his human shape. "We're dead together."
Vision laughed. "No, my dear." He smiled at her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Look."
Wanda turned. They were still on the battlefield. Surrounded by everyone who fought against Thanos. And they were all looking at Wanda with respect. Respect. And no fear.
Wanda looked at her hands. There was no answering glow. "Viz?" she asked.
"I was told what you said. Apparently the stones gave us one last gift. I'm human, Wanda. Perfectly normal in every way."
"And so am I?" Wanda said. She touched her hand to her mouth. "I can't protect us. What will they do to us?"
Dr. Strange cleared his throat. "Nothing. No one will do anything to either of you. We wouldn't allow it. " He indicated the watching heroes, who all indicated agreement, silently.
Pepper Potts stepped forward, still in her Rescue armor, with Iron Man at her side. "My daughter will have a father. I will have my husband, all because of you. I can't begin to repay that gift, but I will try."
Wanda met Pepper's eyes, and found understanding. She nodded and held tightly to Vision. "Thank you," she said softly, as Vision helped her to her feet. She couldn't fly.
But she felt free.