Words: 1,397

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters. I wish I did, (they're awesome characters) but I unfortunately do not.

Also, I did see Endgame (it was fricking awesome) and I decided that the events of Endgame, everything I learned about the MCU in it, will not impact this story. As in, there are NO ENDGAME SPOILERS IN THIS. I may include a tie in at the end of this (still not sure,) but if you haven't seen Endgame, don't worry about it. If you have, treat this as if Endgame didn't come out yet unless I say otherwise. 'Nuff said, enjoy!

Chapter Rating: K+

Published: 5/9/2019


When Wanda Maximoff opened her eyes, she was propped against a tree on the edge of a bright city, not unlike Novi Grad. But this Novi Grad did not have a giant chasm in the middle and did not have people running in terror while robots tried to destroy it, like she last remembered it. She It took her a second to come to the epiphany that she wasn't in Wakanda anymore.

"Vis? Mr. Banner? Vis?" She called out. No response. She tried to get herself off of the tree, but, feeling weak, instantly collapsed into the ground.

Where am I? She wondered. Novi Grad got destroyed a while ago. She then saw a face in the otherwise empty streets. It almost materialized there, but at the same time, it seemed the figure had to of come from somewhere. All of a sudden, it began to confidently stroll toward her. Almost too confidently. Almost creepily. She tried to back up, but something inside her kept her paralyzed, despite wanting to run. The figure (muscular, obviously wearing a jumpsuit of some sort) seemed to realize this, and almost ran towards her. But it was a very interesting run, almost too fast, too unnatural. Wanda could've sworn she saw the air blur around him, but wasn't able to truly think about it. Almost helpless, she closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen. Anything to end the distorting nightmare. But instead, she felt a soft, unexpected hand on her cheek.

She then heard a voice speak in her native tongue. It said, "You know, for someone who can read minds and has been around me almost her entire life, you really should be able to tell who I am, Wanda."

That voice, she knows who it belongs to. "Pietro?" She half gasped, half whispered in utter disbelief. Then she opened her eyes.

"You know it," he replied, an almost forced smile on his face. He looked just like he did the day they fought together, the day he died. Wanda then heard Pietro cry as his face looked down.

"But… aren't we both dead?" Wanda asked.

"Yes I presume," Pietro responded through some tears. "We are both dead, and this is sort of Heaven, I suppose. The nature of this place is very strange."

All of that took Wanda a few seconds to comprehend. Heaven, death, was all she could hear through her mind while Pietro helped her up. She was about to stammer something else, but her brother stopped her. "Our entire family is together once again," Pietro commented, putting his face close to Wanda's. "But… in the wrong place. You shouldn't of had to die. Our parents shouldn't of had to die. The Sokovia incident never should have happened, so I suppose I shouldn't be here either. As much as… as much as I missed you, our family shouldn't be reunited like this this early." Seeing the saddened look on Wanda's face, he added, "Plus, now that you're here, mom and dad will want you to do the cooking. My favorite job in the house is gone thanks to that purple ogre people have been mentioning!"

Wanda wasted no time in responding bluntly and jokingly. "You sly, selfish dog!" She exclaimed, pushing Pietro away and lightly slapping his shoulder. Pietro led his younger sister into the city, talking to her about their parents and what he knows about the place.

"The soul stone," Wanda breathed. "Mr. Banner - The Hulk - told us about it a little before I… died. There's an orange glow around us, it makes sense. Pietro, I think we're in the soul stone. This is Heaven, I suppose." She then proceeded to explain what Bruce Banner had told her about Thanos' genocidal mission.

"The whole universe?!" Pietro exclaimed. "That's millions, billions, trillions of times worse than Ultron!"

"It's terrible… entire families have been split apart. Thanos killed so many to achieve his goal. It sickens me. Vision…" She stopped there, for she had really just remembered about her love. Her eyes were wide with a selfish and guilty realization that she neglected his circumstances when she had worry for herself and Pietro.

"He sacrificed himself… the gem in his forehead was the mind stone. My powers, they, they were the only thing capable of destroying it. He died to save us. I killed him."

Before Pietro could make a remark, she continued, beginning to cry as it was recounted. She said, "Then Thanos used his powers and pieced him back together. That ogre ripped the stone out of Vision's forehead and killed him!"

For a few minutes there was only the sound of Wanda crying. Pietro was seen pondering on what to say in regards to his sisters emotional wreck. Finally, he just shrugged his shoulders, grabbed Wanda's hand, and dragged her to their apartment.

It was just like she remembered. Almost. Heaven seemed to have granted her and Pietro's childhood wish about getting a separate room, just for the two of them. Separate beds, too. It would have been a true marvel if her face wasn't still blotchy. Her tear ducts had begun to cease their emotional work, so she let her few remaining tears cling to her face. She sat on her bed for who knows how long, until she heard a knock on the door and saw her brother walk in. In his hands were two steaming plates of something, with utensils and a napkin as well.

"One plate of paprikash, extra paprika," Pietro said as he handed over the bowl with the slightly darker contents.

"Pietro! You really didn't have to," Wanda said as she brought the bowl up to her nose to smell it. "And you did it right this time!"

"I've had a lot of practice," he replied. "No almost burning half of our apartment now, no getting salmonella poisoning." Wanda couldn't help but laugh at the memory. They sat in silence for a few minutes, eating the paprikash, before Wanda gave a sad smile and a noticeable sigh for seemingly no reason.

When she saw Pietro's face look up at her, she said, "It's Vision. I remember he was trying to make paprikash, and he messed up the recipe quite badly. Whatever he put in, it was definitely not paprika. He messed up some of the ratios, too, so the sauce wasn't the right consistency. It was the funniest thing." She then tried to laugh again, which resulted in a laugh that was half truthful and half painful and fake.

"I know that laugh," Pietro said. "Did Vision mean that much to you?" Wanda nodded. "Were you guys in love?" Another nod. "Would you have died in his place?" A final nod, with almost no hesitation.

Wanda then confessed, "I… I wish I could… apologize. For killing him in vain, for not preventing Thanos from destroying him. Even if he didn't want it, I would have still liked to say it."

"Why couldn't you?"

"Because, despite everything I thought about Vision, about being capable of emotions and of being human, he was still a robot at heart. Not even living. If he had a soul, then he would've been the first thing I saw when I woke up! I doubt he would want to see any people for a while either."

There was a good amount of drawn-out silence aside from chewing noises and Wanda's heaving breathing while trying not to produce more tears. Then Pietro stood up and said, "There is no way a man you love would not have a soul. Finish your paprikash, rest for a few minutes, then we'll go search for him."

Wanda had a look of shock and confusion on her face. She said, "I hope he has a soul. I really do, even though I doubt it now. But even if he does, how can we find him?"

Pietro wholeheartedly replied, "I know he does, Wanda. You have great judgement about people, except for maybe Tony Stark and Ultron. Anyone you even like has to be an amazing person with a vibrant soul. Plus," he smirked a little as he slowly made his way out of the room into the kitchen, "He can't be that hard to find. He's a red android with a British-English accent that looks like a superhero. You don't see many of those every day, do you?"


Also, in case you're wondering what paprikash is (cause I was,) it's a chicken dish originally from Hungary. More about it here if you're interested: wiki/Chicken_paprikash