I came up with this story idea at around 3 AM one night because I loved the promo art for it. And when they released that black and white photo (this story's cover), it immediately became my phone's wallpaper and one of my laptop's desktop backgrounds. So this is my spin on the WandaVision show which will tie into The Multiverse of Madness. I wrote this before the Disney+ trailer came out so that means way before the show's release. Read this story without those thoughts in your mind.
Disclaimer - I don't own these characters. I apologize if there is any OOC.
Happy birthday to me. I hope you enjoy :)
Chapter One: Her Reality
The timer on her oven dings so Wanda walks over to check up on the roast. Her heels click against the tiled floor, echoing through the house. She flattens the apron on the skirt of the dress with her oven mitts before opening the oven. Steam rises to her face as she bends over. She gently pats her cheeks with her forearms to avoid moisture ruining her makeup and makes sure her curls remain up.
Wanda hesitates, looking down at her uncovered roast. She isn't sure if it's finished. Too much time meant it would get dry but too little would be underdone. Maybe she should baste it. That's what the recipes and neighbour wives said to do so she follows. It also adds more flavour!
Instead, she turns off the oven and leaves it in there. The roast can cook in the remaining heat and there's a sauce on the stove in case it's too dry. Wanda removes her oven mitts and sets them on the counter.
She hears a noise coming from upstairs. Wanda looks upwards, trying her best to follow the noise with her eyes. The single thump becomes a patter of many. She trails the movement with her eyes, hearing it get louder as it comes closer. Looking out to the living room, Wanda sees her twin boys running down the stairs and charging for the front door.
"Daddy's home!" They scream.
Wanda steps forwards, watching the pale red car pull up in the driveway. Her sons, William and Thomas, wait patiently at the front door but she can see their excitement. Their small jittering bodies expect that door to unlock and swing open. Then, they'll explode like mini firecrackers for their father. Wanda loves seeing that every night. Her smile always gets brighter.
The small twins press their ears against the door. Even from the kitchen, which isn't that far away (only their small living room in between), she can hear the car stop just outside. The car door opens, someone steps out, the car door closes, footsteps walk up the driveway and onto the patio. The key enters the lock and turns. The front door opens and the kids scream for joy, hugging the tuxedoed man as he puts his briefcase down.
"Honey!" He exclaims. "I'm home!"
Wanda smiles as she approaches her husband, Vision. She stands behind her twins who hug their father. Wanda leans forwards, turning her head and Vision kisses her on the cheek. She smiles, folding her hands together as she watches Vision roughhouse with their boys. It's the little moments like these that get her heart swelling up. Before she could pry the twins off to let Vision breathe for a moment or have them take this to the living room, the doorbell rings.
The twins pause and Vision looks over his shoulder.
"I'll get -" he insists before Wanda cuts him off.
"Go rest," Wanda says. "I'll get it. But please check the roast. The boys are starving and you've had a long day."
Vision smiles before giving Wanda another quick kiss. She walks over to the door as Vision picks up one of the twins and swings them around. Wanda opens the door slightly and raises a brow in confusion at who's there. Wanda fully opens it but feels the need to step out.
There's a thin man with dark hair and a beard. He wears a dark blue suit with a red tie. Before she asks who he is, she notices a small name tag on his chest that says, Stephen Strange. There was something familiar about that name but she can put her finger on it. The face and name go together for unknown reasons. But she isn't sure about the vacuum in his hands.
"Do I know you?" Wanda asks.
"Dr. Stephen Strange," he responds.
Wanda nods, now recognizing him. The Sorcerer Supreme. She doesn't remember inviting him here. He's about to shake her hand as societal conventions dictate but forgot about the vacuum in his arms. He puts it down on her porch swing and is about to return the gesture but Wanda doesn't budge. She knows what he wants but she won't let him get it.
"You need to come with me now," Stephen demands.
Wanda smiles, folding her hands in front of her. "And why would I do that?"
"Reality is in danger."
Wanda takes a step closer to him, keeping the plastered smile. "It's not."
Stephen sighs rushed. "Just because you don't believe it doesn't make it a lie. Most people are blind to the magic in the world. They move through a blank and empty world. They're bored with their lives and there's nothing they could do about it. They're eaten alive by longing and they're dead before they die."
Wanda's smile dissipates into a frown. "Did you write that speech in the purgatory?"
"Wanda -"
Wanda gets closer to his face. Her frown becomes a scowl in seconds as she speaks through gritted teeth. She can feel her eyes burning with her power. "You and I were dead for five years. Then we came back as if no time has passed, defeated Thanos, and can now live the lives we wanted. I couldn't do that because Vision died twice before my very eyes but now I can. Don't try and stop me."
"I can't." He looks around to see if anyone is listening but only Wanda's here. "You've manipulated cosmic reality by giving yourself this life. And, in return, the real reality is crumbling. For your sake and everyone else's, you have to stop this."
Wanda straightens her back. Her face remains unchanged. "What is that for?"
She cocks a brow and gestures to the vacuum he brought. Stephen walks over and takes it into his arms.
"Whenever I visit your new world, I change to blend in. Your power is beyond me which is dangerous for everyone else in every universe." He looks at the machine's tube. "Or to suck you back to reality."
Wanda scoffs with an eye roll, crossing her arms. "You should've started with that."
"You would've ended the conversation sooner."
"You have a point. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a roast in the oven."
Wanda turns on her heel and heads back inside, closing the door behind her. She looks through the peephole to make sure that he's gone and nobody's there. Wanda sighs relieved. She hears Vision and her boys in the kitchen, them not having noticed her reentry. She lifts her feet lightly to avoid the sound of her heels. Wanda walks into the hallway's powder room and closes the door.
She turns on the light and looks at her reflection in the mirror. There's a young woman with perfect makeup and curls that bounce from her shoulders when she moves. In any other moment, she would smile her pearly whites that matched the necklace she always wore. Her perfectly shaped nails run over the surface of her floral dress and apron that she forgot to take off.
Wanda runs the tap and holds her hands under cold water. As her body tenses, she feels tears forming in her eyes. Wanda attempts to blink them away but fails. She sniffles, making a noise nobody would hear over the faucet. Another technique from the neighbourhood moms.
She looks up at her green eyes that are becoming red with immense emotion, not the power she hid from the world she created. Behind the sadness, she feels Pietro dying in the country she lost. She recounts the Avengers separating because of the Accords she blames herself for. She hears the people who died because of her. She sees the android Vision die twice before her eyes. She holds his dead body on her lap before she accepted her fate. She lit up and feels Thanos burning in her fingertips. She learns that Natasha, one of her closest friends in her fugitive Avengers family, sacrificed herself for the Soul Stone. She listens to Bruce telling her that he tried to bring Vision back. She watches Steve go without a final goodbye. She sees him after living a life he wanted.
So she did the same thing. It took a lot of effort but she finally created the world she wanted. It was a simpler time where she and Vision were a normal couple and the cutest twin boys who looked like the perfect mixture of them. They had his light blonde hair and her green eyes. They were two super-powered beings living an ideal suburban life for this era. He was unaware of being an android and this being a constructed world. He was just her husband, kids' father, and breadwinner. But now that Stephen Strange is here trying to get her out, she had to work harder. Just like in the house to keep this role up.
Wanda exhales sharply, turning off the faucet. She wipes her hands on the nearest towel and dabs underneath her eyes. Now she looks like she wasn't crying. Wanda practices her smile in the mirror, fixing the edges of her lipstick with her thumb. As she wipes the residue on her apron, she hears a soft knock on the door before it slowly opens.
When she sees that it's Vision, she smiles with only her lips. All she hopes is that he doesn't notice anything wrong.
"I came to check on you," Vision tells her, leaning against the doorframe.
"What about the roast?" Wanda asks.
"It's fine. It's perfect." He looks at her for a moment longer. His eyebrows wrinkle with worry. "Are you okay?"
"I am."
"Who was at the door?"
Wanda shrugs. "Another salesman. He went to extreme lengths to try and sell me a new vacuum. I told him no because ours is perfectly fine. Ours needs no tampering or replacing, nothing."
"Wanda, you didn't have to tell him that."
"I did!"
Wanda immediately holds back because she's becoming too sharp. She takes a breath to compose herself and Vision holds her arms, rubbing them up and down. Wanda looks up at him and sees his genuine smile.
"Do you know how much I love you?" Vision asks.
Wanda grins before kissing him. She parts a second later. "That much."
So, that's the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it so far. I'm not sure how long it'll be but we'll find out along the way. Just know that Dr. Strange trying to get Wanda out will be a recurring theme.