Wow, haven't been around these parts in a long while. So, this is an old fic that I wrote on an old forum with a member named Tatu that I have since lost touch with. Upon rereading it recently, I decided I really really dislike the end of it and am using this as a jumping off point to give it a better ending. I have no clue which parts he wrote and which I wrote (though I have an inkling...I'll leave it be), so I'm just going to throw it up all together. The first few chapters will be the old story in it's entirety (with a couple edits here and there. Sorry, but some things just really bugged me!).
Obviously, this is pre-Second Coming, pre-HoM...hell, let's just call it AU. Enjoy!
Tired. That's what it was, Wanda was tired.
Tired of fighting, tired of costumes, tired of "Villains, tired of being an Avenger in general. She was a mother, that's what she was and that's what she wanted to be.
Wanda slowly opened the door to her bed room and walked over to the corner where a small crib sat. Inside and under the red satin sheet lay her child, beautiful little girl by the name of Talia Josephine. She looked just like her father, cute little tail, soft blue skin, big yellow eyes
Wanda played with her daughters swaying tail and sighed.
She missed him.
She was the infamous Scarlet Witch of the avengers, he was Nightcrawler of the X-men. How two people with such similar lives could be worlds apart she never knew. She kissed her daughter on the forehead, changed clothes and went to sleep hoping these thoughts would be gone by morning.
The next morning Wanda sat at the breakfast table drinking a cup of coffee in her big red mug and watching the news when all of a sudden, to her utmost excitement, it was time for them to do the Avenger thing. "Yay" She scoffed and got up.
Hex this, hex that. whatever. The whole thing was a giant blur. Saving the day has become a chore, It didn't even register to her.
They'd swooped in, beaten the villain, done their duty as protectors. 'Good times,' she'd scoffed to herself. 'What I'd always imagined my life would be.' Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft hand on her shoulder.
"Wanda, are you ok?" Janet asked, concerned evident in her expression.
Wanda flinched slightly. "I'm fine," she snapped, before regaining herself. "Maybe I'm just a little off, that's all."
"You were reckless, Wanda. We nearly lost our lives here," Steve Rogers stormed over.
"Well, we didn't," Wanda answered. "So just...just lay off for once." She threw her hand up dismissively and walked away from the group.
"Wanda!" Steve called after her. She simply kept walking.
"Give her a break, Steve," she heard Janet saying. "She's having a rough time."
"I understand that, but she needs to learn to-" His voice droned out as Wanda moved further from the group, tearing her head piece off as she made her way through the city blocks. She ignored the stares she received as she trekked back to the mansion. Hadn't these people ever seen a spandex clad super hero before?
The team was already showered and dressed by the time she had finished walking. She brushed past them all, ignoring as they tried to gain her attention. She finally found her bedroom, and pushed the door open. She moved to the crib, checking on her little cherub, fast asleep already. Turning, she saw as her babysitter waking.
"How was the fight?" He asked, brushing sleep out of his eyes and ruffling his pure white hair.
"Same as. How are you doing?" she asked, sitting next to him.
"Some days are better than others, ya know?" Pietro gave her a pathetic half smile, telling her all she needed to know.
Wanda leaned forward and captured her twin in a hug. "It'll get better. I promise it will." She felt as his tears began to wet her neck and uniform. The divorce had been hard on her brother, but not nearly as hard as his child being taken. They hadn't seen Luna in nearly four months, with no guarantee he'd ever see her again.
Pietro pulled away, wiping his nose on his hand in a childish manner. "I think I had better head to my room and get some sleep." He stood and headed for the door, before turning back. "Oh! I almost forgot! TJ crawled today."
Wanda's eyes widened. "She did?"
Pietro nodded, sniffling again. "Yeah. From the bed all the way to the bathroom door. She's a quick one, too."
"Wow," Wanda said to herself. "Crawling already."
"Yeah. They grow up quick," Pietro added, a few tears leaking. "Goodnight, Wanda."
She didn't look up as he closed the door. Just stared at the floor. Crawling? Her baby was crawling? Where had all the time gone? It felt like just yesterday she was bringing TJ home for the first time, seeing her first smile. Now she was crawling! Soon she'd be walking, speaking, going to school.
Crawling. Her baby girl had crawled, for the first time. And she'd missed it. She'd missed a milestone in her daughter's life, over this Avengers shit.
Wanda looked to her daughter's crib once more, lip shaking quietly. She curled herself up into her bed, pulling the covers up over her head, and cried herself to sleep.
Even in her dreams, Wanda couldn't escape it
"So what? You think I'll just drop everything for you?"
"That's not what I-"
"That's exactly what you're saying! You want me to drop everything for you without you doing anything in return!" Wanda snapped.
"Nein, Liebling, I-"
"Don't you 'Libeling' me, Kurt! All I wanted was for us to be able to be together without all this nonsense that surrounds us. I thought you wanted the same… It looks like I was wrong, goodbye Kurt!"
Where had it all gone wrong? It was impossible for them to even look at one another after…
The next morning Wanda awoke to the sound of her little girl's cooing. She rubbed her eyes and started over just to notice Pietro already holding and feeding the little one.
The young woman walked over and lay a hand on her baby brothers shoulder. Barely a minute younger, but to her, he was still her baby brother.
"Even your nightgown is scarlet.."
Wanda yawned "… it's a thing."
Pietro turned and look at his sister "Tell me something, Wan."
"Yes?" Wanda replied sweetly.
"Does… does he know?"
"About Talia?"
"..yeah" Pietro said sadly.
Wanda just stood and bowed her head as her eyes began to tear.
"..Wan?"
"..no. I never told him I was- " The young mutant began sobbing quietly
" He should know, Sis…"
".. I know."
"I cant have my little girl, he should at least get to know his."
"… He didn't want me.. why would he want to know about her.."
Pietro just stood silently, Wanda never actually spoke about what happened… and he was never brave enough to ask.
She quickly changed the subject "I need to get Talia cleaned up and dressed…"
"I'll do it...and.. I thought maybe..I could take her to the lake or something, she seems to really like the ducks.."
Wanda looked over..
"Um.." Pietro spoke softly. "Could I? …Please.. Its just.."
Wanda bent over and kissed her brother on the forehead and whispered. "Of course." She wanted badly to join them, but knew at the moment, her duties as an Avenger precluded her duties as a mother. She sighed sadly. Wanda gave her baby a kiss. "You be good for your uncle Pietro, ok honey?" She gave Pietro a small smile and walked out.
"Mornin' Ms. Scarlet." Clint said playfully.
She couldn't help but grin "Good morning, Clint."
"You always this proper at 9 AM?"
Wanda filled her coffee mug and began over to the main room where Janet and Jennifer sat. As she got by the doorway she turned and looked back at Clint. "Of course."
"Just keep smiling Wanda, just keep smiling.." she said to herself
"Wanda!"
"Steve..."Wanda acknowledged without turning.
"I think we should talk, Wanda," The Captain grabbed her shoulder gently.
"There really isn't anything to talk about. I just need some space." Wanda turned, taking his hand off her should. "If you'll excuse me." She began to exit the room.
Steve's tone became terse. "I understand you have some kind of personal problems, Wanda, but you have to learn to separate work from personal business."
Wanda tensed. "I'm done talking Steve," she informed.
"I'm not!" Steve moved forward and turned Wanda to face him. "We are public servants. It is our job to put our lives on the lines to ensure the safety of this city. We have to be efficient. And your actions lately have been less than."
Her glare cut right through him as she roughly pulled her arm out of his grasp. "You know what? Fuck the team. I'm done."
Wanda turned, and stormed out of the room. The rest watched in utter shock. They had never heard Wanda use such language before. Whatever was wrong with her, it was serious.
TJ giggled as her uncle passed bread to the gathered ducks. The small laugh brought a warm smile to his face and he gave her a small piece of the loaf.
"See pixie?" Pietro threw his bread out to the ducks. "The ducks like bread, huh? Now throw it out to them."
Talia laughed again and sat back in her stroller, chewing on the bread herself. Her golden eyes widened, as the two looked at one another. She sucked on her piece, holding it with one hand, the turned her attention to her raised foot, reaching with the other.
Pietro watched her lovingly, thinking back to the days when his own child was this age. Tiny hands reaching up for her Daddy. His own arms wanting nothing more than to hold her, as she bunched her fists around clumps of his white hair. He ignored the pain as she tugged curiously. And watching her grow from that tiny baby into an energetic four year old. A miniature beauty, with long blonde hair like her mothers. And large expressive eyes. And the tears, the day she was taken from him.
His thoughts suddenly shifted from his daughter to Nightcrawler. Someone he never expected to be thinking of as much as he had been recently. He didn't agree with his sister's decision to keep Talia from her father. Pietro felt like he'd been blessed to see his daughter grow, and knew the pain of having her kept from him. It hurt him that his own sister could do the same to another man.
TJ's squeal pulled him out from his thoughts. She cooed and giggled as her mother pulled her into her arms.
"I didn't think you'd be joining us, Wan," Pietro said as she sat beside him.
"I had to get out of the house," she patted her daughters back, as the babe buried her head in mommy's neck. "It's just not the same there anymore."
"Of course it's not," Pietro put his arm around her shoulders. "You're a mom now, Wanda. Things change. For you, at least."
"I don't feel the same about the whole super hero thing as I used to." She stroked her hand through TJ's short, fuzzy hair. "I used to get such a rush. It was fun. Now, it's a chore."
TJ's head snapped up, and turned toward the lake, watching the ducks. She looked at her mother and laughed loudly. Pietro smiled at his sister watching her daughter with pride.
After a few moments of silence, Wanda continued. "I missed the first time she crawled, Pie. I missed something so important, because of what? They didn't even need me out there. But my daughter did. Talia needed me, and I wasn't there." A tear slipped, falling onto TJ's head. She turned her golden eyes up to her mother. "I don't want to not be there again."
Pietro pulled wanda into a hug. "I know, Wan."
So ends part 1. I'll be updating pretty frequently at first, to get these few old bits up. Then the new stuff. Honestly, this is a really great creative outlet, and there are simply not enough Kurt/Wanda stories...though...will this be Kurt/Wanda? We'll see...