Author's Note: I'm posting this opening weekend of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Here's your spoiler warning.
Trigger warnings for this chapter: (canon) major character deaths
Earth 838 had a Wanda.
Reed had met her. He knew her. All of the Fantastic Four, all of the world's heroes, did. She'd been one of them before she'd taken an early retirement to grieve her lover and care for her children. That was why Reed had truly believed the Illuminati could take her.
His Wanda was kind. She was gentle, sometimes even shy. That didn't mean she wasn't strong. She knew when to stand up for herself and she had the power to back it up but she always used it for others, whether it be her fellow heroes or to protect her family. She was a good woman at heart. This Wanda may have lost her way a little bit with the loss of her children but she was still Wanda. She was fundamentally good and she could be reasoned with.
Or at least that was what Reed thought until he saw Black Bolt's head explode.
It was… God, it was graphic. Disgusting. Horrifying. In so many ways. He hadn't been looking when Wanda made his mouth disappear but he was looking when Black Bolt realized what happened. The sheer panic wasn't something Reed ever expected to see in his friend's eyes. Black Bolt always had it together. Sure, that could make him a bit cocky and he always scowled when Medusa put him in his place but he knew his power and his responsibility. He was everything the leader of the Inhumans should be.
Reed couldn't fault him for trying to speak. Or screaming. He didn't know which it was. There was only a split second between the moment of realization and death. Maybe he'd just been trying to see if his mouth was truly gone. Maybe he'd been so surprised he couldn't think through the consequences of his actions. Or maybe, as much as Reed hated to think it, he just didn't know how to keep living without his voice. It was a defining part of his life. Reed couldn't fault him for taking the quick way out, either.
Would he have taken an easy way out too if he'd known? His death had been a split second reaction as well. In a moment, there was horror then gentle realization and he knew he had to do something. If Wanda could destroy Black Bolt, the most powerful man Reed knew, then she could- Well, he couldn't even imagine what she could do. Hell, he wasn't even totally sure what his Wanda was capable of, let alone this one.
Reed was the smartest man on Earth. As his body split into ribbons, he knew he could have thought of a better plan. Stretching was just so instinctive at this point though. Had that dulled his intellect? He didn't beat himself up for it though. He had better things to spend his final moments about.
There had been that initial panic when he knew he was going to die. Black Bolt didn't even have that and Reed didn't even know if he envied him for it or not. An instantaneous death may have been nice but at least Reed had the chance to think. Thinking was what he did best after all.
"At least they'll have someone to care for them."
The Scarlet Witch's words rang in his ears as panic melted into clarity. He was going to die, no doubt about it, so there was no wasting time. His son and daughter would grow up without a father. Johnny and Ben would step up, of course, but they wouldn't fill the void. He hoped they did but he knew better. And Sue- poor Sue. She had her brother and she had Ben but to be a single mother? And- and to deal with Reed's death while still caring for the children? Children who may not understand what was happening?
He didn't want to think about that. Sue was strong. His whole family was strong. They may not be the Fantastic Four anymore but they would still be together. They'd get through this. Reed knew it.
Who would tell them? He would've liked Captain Carter to be the one to do it but Reed knew that no one was walking out of this room alive except the Scarlet Witch. It'd probably be Xavier or Mordo, assuming neither of them joined the fight. He hoped it'd be Xavier. Franklin and Valeria liked him. Well, not really but more than Mordo at least. And he was old. Old people knew how to deal with death, right? He'd be able to console his family. He'd do the same for the X-Men if something happened to Xavier.
The Illuminati would have to be rebuilt but Reed didn't care about that in the slightest. Through the sensation of his body shredding into pieces, all his mind could think about was how the rest of the Four and his children would fare. Or rather, that was all he could think about before his mind was consumed with the complete and utter agony of his body ripping itself apart.
Author's Note: I want to make this a multichapter fic showing not only the Fantastic Four's recovery from Reed's death but also how the fall of the Illuminati affected the Avengers, X-Men, the Inhumans, and the rest of this Earth. In the past I've always prewritten stuff before posting but doing something this time so feel free to share theories or ideas.