Shock. Terror. And other emotions she hesitated to admit to herself.
All of these were running through the brain of Wanda Maximov when she answered the knock of the door of what she thought was a secluded cabin and saw the last person she thought she'd ever see at the door.
This was not the woman that she knew when she left her. He was not bold or brazen. She was not quick with a quip. She wasn't even demure. She seemed bereft of emotion as she quietly asked permission to enter.
Wanda bowed her head slightly, closed her eyes as if to take it all in. She raised her head again, opened her eyes, usually took in the older woman with dark hair, dark brown eyes, tight fitting purple shirt, and denim jeans. Wanda just as quietly said "come in," and with that, Agatha Harkness. Entered the cabin.
Wanda was wearing a loose fitting t-shirt and jeans. He did not wear a bra, but not for effect. When you are living alone in a cabin, the only thing that you impress are the squirrels.
Agatha gazed around the place and noted how neat it was. "Looks like your housewife training has done you well." The remark was not said with either snark (that would be Agatha's nosy-neighbor alter ego, Agnes) or irony (vintage Agatha). "May I sit down?" Wanda was very suspicious, after all this woman almost destroyed her in Westview.
After the older witch took a seat on the sofa, Wanda asked the obvious question, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I see your accent still comes and goes." It was a repeat that Agatha said when she revealed her true nature, however here there was no acid in her voice, no treachery behind her question. It almost seemed as if back and forth between Slavic and Midwestern was endearing to the Violet Witch.
"Thanks," responded the ginger, trying for no emotion...and failing miserably. Through all that time, through all of the sitcom scenarios that they both went through, Agnes was always there to pull Wanda out of the soup. In the back of Wanda's mind, it often wondered after the events of Westview if the same was not true for Agatha. She didn't have to reveal herself, but she did. Every move that she made after that seem to be purposely set on awakening the Scarlet Witch. Wanda was still wondering what Agatha had in mind, but she can't deny that there was a connection between the two witches. And she wondered if that connection was a mutual one.
"I first want to ask for your forgiveness. Wanda. I know I don't deserve it, but I'm asking for it anyway." For Wanda, surprisingly that was the easy part. A large part of her wanted to forgive the person who turned into her tormentor. A part of her was thinking that Agatha was as evil as she the older witch thought she was. "Ok, Agatha, you're forgiven in part. But as you know, true forgiveness must be earned."
"I know Wanda, and I have no problem spending the rest of my existence trying to earn that." It looked like Agatha wanted to say more along those lines. As a matter of fact both women seem to be hesitant to say to the other but both knew to be true.
"As I told you, you have unleashed power that you have no idea how far reaching that power is." Agatha continued. "I still want to show you how to harness that power and use it in a way where you don't make the same mistakes as I did."
"Let me guess, you'll be my teacher...?" Wanda was still skeptical, but also curious as to why...and maybe hopeful to what that why that may be.
"There are some people who can help. One of them awakened me, as a matter of fact...and lived amongst us in that hex of yours...that clever, beautiful hex. And these are people who have gone they the same things we both have gone through..."
"Hold on, Harkness." The Scarlet Witch was in no mood for over promise and underdeliver. "Do you know what I've gone through? I've had to fight through a slew of Avengers, I had to defeat monsters, I lost the love of my LIFE goddammit, and to deal with that I created an entire world just to fucking cope! Now who has gone through all of THAT??"
Agatha stretched those insanely large...and inviting, if Wanda was honest with herself...crimson lips to a smile as wide as her face: "Check, check, and double-check, toots."
"Toots." Agnes was merging with Agatha, letting those nicknames slip out. The villainess knew her too well.
Wanda apologized for the outburst, but Agatha was truly apologetic. Seemed being the operative word. The younger witch still was curious about...
"You didn't just come here to give me a pep talk," Wanda angrily said as she held her palms up and red waves emanated from the, surrounding the older witch and gripping her.
Slowly with deliberation Wanda commanded "почему ты пришел сюда...why do you come here?" The Russian leaked out, but anger and frustration will force you to do that.
Meanwhile, the red waves were surrounding Agatha. It was a hex that would force someone to tell the truth. The older witch fought desperately not to come under the hex's spell, but slowly she was forced to say the truth that she never really wanted to admit.
"I did...not come...to hurt you...I came...because...I...I..lo..lo.." The crimson wave suddenly dissipated. The wave did force Agatha to tell the truth, but it wasn't what Wanda expected to hear. And as Agatha thank you to the mattress holding her hands to her face, a face that was rapidly becoming wet from tears, Wanda realized basically said it first.
"I knew since the first moment I saw you. I knew through the 50s, 60s, 70s...you know. I wanted you, but I couldn't..." Agatha was sobbing through her soliloquy. "But I couldn't. I respect that you and Vision so much... And you two are so happy. And I couldn't go against the rules of the hex. Never deviate from the main series. And you know that anything I felt for you would do that."
The realization of exactly what Agatha meant by that slowly crypt through Wanda's being. All of the sitcoms that she tried to recreate with her spell were created in an America that was very afraid other than best friends. So even if she wanted something like that, under the rules of the hex it could not be allowed. Tears then started to form in Wanda's eyes as well.
Wanda sat down, cupped Agatha's face, and kissed the older witch's full lips. In that brief span of time she went from being Agatha to Agnes again, the wacky, crazy, occasionally horny neighbor that Wanda liked so much. The two separated. They looked at each other for the longest time, and then they kissed again. they did not stop kissing until they both fell asleep sometime later.
Agatha awakened first. It was 3:00 a.m. in the morning. Both women were fully clothed, not that it mattered. But what mattered was that Agatha Harkness said what she said, that she spoke out her feelings, even though she was forced to by magic. There was no turning back now. Agatha Harkness, AKA Agnes, loved Wanda Maximoff, AKA The Scarlet Witch. And it seemed the feeling was mutual.
And considering that the redhead kissed Agatha upon awakening herself pretty much confirmed it.
Sheepish was not in Agatha's personality trait, but she was sheepish that morning. "How did you know, toots?
"When you started saying those dirty jokes about Ralph," the name Ralph was done in air quotes by Wanda, knowing that Agnes "husband" was non-existent, or at least someone akin to Carlton the doorman. "And then there was the mole..."
Agatha showed that trademark grin of hers, remembering the incident where she pulled down her stretch pants in front of Wanda talking about some mysterious mole. "You were flat-out coming on to me! And maybe if no one was looking I would have gone for it, except my kids were in the..." Wanda closed her eyes and tears started to form.
"Honey, I did a lot of bad shit in Westview, but I never did anything bad to your kids. You have to believe me on that one." And with that, the Agnes in Agatha took Wanda's head into her arms and cradled her until she went to sleep, with the older witch following suit shortly after.
The sun and both witches came up together, and the kitchen area of the cabin was a-whir with activity. The hex did not allow the women to show off their culinary skills, but the two women seem to be making up for lost time. It was simple scrambled eggs, spinach, sausage and hash browns, but the laughter that was coming out of that kitchen was contagious, and with Agatha raucous. That exuberant cackle of hers was contagious and Wanda went with it. There was no mention of anything sad or mournful. Just so much of what could have been if either woman would have allowed it.
And it was during that where Agatha told Wanda of her master plan, a trip to this wondrous place that she mentioned last night where people like they could learn and be taught. Wanda mentioned they could both zap there, but I've decided it would be more fun to do a road trip. "That way we could get to know each other better, gorgeous..." There she goes again, being Agnes.
After last night, the redhead was not nervous, but she wanted to make one thing clear. If she felt an easy or if anything bad would happen, she had the option to sap herself back to the cabin immediately. "You got it, toots!" was the reply "Shall we pack?" And with a dramatic flourish, luggage started to fill and fly out the door and into the open luggage compartment of the black Chrysler SUV that happened to be parked outside.
"So, shall we?" Agatha's devilish grin was a mile wide,
"Yes!" Wanda Maximoff was so thrilled that you dropped the Slavic accent. "just let me whip up a few things so we can have something to eat on the way...and where is this mysterious place we're going to anyway?"
"Don't worry, we'll pick up some stuff along the way." Agatha made her way over to Wanda and soundly kissed her on the mouth. "And as for where we're going, it's a town so small you can't find it on Google maps.*
"And the name of this place"
"It's about 600 mi from here, about a day away. It's north of Boston on the southern part of Maine. And the name of the town is called...Storybrooke."
To be continued
Authors NotesThere may be a few canon things that I did not include in this first chapter, which I know will be in the next few.There is an OUAT Easter egg that was embedded in WandaVision, if you're sharp, you'll find itIt's based on the material, but not cãnon, so don't hate me too much.Since this is my first WandaVision effort, let me state that WandaVision and all characters therein are property of Marvel. All OUAT characters are property of Disney and ABC Signature. I'm just having fun.
When next we meet...ROAD TRIP!Comments are appreciated, even if you don't like. Just be civil. Thank you.