It was too late. She was going to lose him now. Fear gripped her tightly as Vision urged her to turn to him and destroy the mind stone embedded in his forehead, the very thing that gave him life. Her stomach churned as she tried to accept her role in his impending death. Before she gave in to his wishes for her to destroy it, lest Thanos get past her and take it, she sent one final plea to the universe, to anyone listening to her heart cry out in pain to come help her.
Tears blurred her vision as she felt power flow between her fingertips, Vision guiding her hand towards his forehead. "I just feel you." the words cut like a knife, no matter they were meant to assuage her guilt, her worries, her pain at the very thought of causing him such pain and utterly destroying him alongside the mind stone. As she attempted to steady herself, plant her feet, she swore a voice answered her. "I am coming." it said, " You will not go through this alone." She wished it was real, though the logical part of her knew it was her own voice, a figment of her imagination responding to her.
She felt as though the red mist around her fingers burned her now, as it swirled in the air, reaching for the stone. Even now, she still only felt him within it. She knew she would not survive this, even should they find victory. For she was nothing more than a weapon anymore, a weapon that would cause the destruction of one of the last people that cared for her, wanted her. Her love. Before she could truly send the mist digging into the stone to begin ripping it to shreds she felt the presence of the voice in her head, putting pressure on her impulse to simply grab his hand and run instead. Her eyes never strayed from his own and she could feel that he could feel the pressure building in her mind, even as he began to slowly withdraw the connections between their minds. It was dreadful, breaking the bridge between their minds, but it must be done before true destruction and pain infected his system.
"Stop. run." The voice that sounded like Wanda told them at the same time through her mind, "Go, I will deal with the mess here."
"Wanda." He tried to convey enough in the two syllables. She needed to focus and this other voice was not going to help her do that.
"I said go. I'll handle this." The voice was real this time as it spoke aloud. Instinctually Vision pulled her to him and they both dumbly stared as red mists swirled and converged together into the shape of a woman. Quickly she began tangible and Wanda was not the only one who couldn't believe her eyes. This woman, whose voice was her own in her head, looked like her too. A second Wanda Maximoff stood protectively in front of them. She wore a crown of wire and beads, almost in the shape of an M cradling her face.
"What?" Wanda's voice was a stunned whisper, but the new Wanda didn't answer her. Instead her eyes glowed red and her hands filled with red as she turned her attention to Thanos. Her lips quirked up slightly at his amusement, he thought she would be no match for him, no matter who she was or where she came from.
As she advanced forwards towards a battle, Wanda's grip on Vision tightened and she quickly pulled him with her, stumbling away from where Thanos was to hopefully find refuge while the girl who looked like she did duked it out with the mad Titan. "Wanda, " he tried to reason, "we must still destroy the stone."
"No." she refused, her hands cupping his face gently, "She's got it. I refuse to destroy you until the moment I am no longer certain that she will protect you."
Red blasts surged from delicate hands, powerful, strong and in quick succession they painfully knocked Thanos back and threw off his balance. "Ahhhh!" His scream filled the air as she relentlessly attacked, nothing and no one holding her back. The Avengers sagged against trees and dirt as they watched in disbelief. His feet left the ground as she lifted him into the air as she started to simply crush him with his own armor. "Polaris." she commanded in a single word and another woman stepped from red mist once more with green in her hair and at her fingers. They could only watch as green surrounded the gauntlet too then as she used her own powers to rip it right out of his grasp.
Instead of delivering the final blow, she looked to those around and made eye contact with Thor, whose murderous gaze on the Titan caught her eye. "Thor." She spoke and when his gaze turned to her he seemed to know what she was instructing him to do, just like the other girl had. Testing his grip on Stormbreaker he cracked his neck and approached before taking aim as she restrained him. "I told you I would come for you." he reminds Thanos, "I told you that you would lose. This is for the people you killed, my people." In a flash of wickedness he took his revenge upon him, swinging Stormbreaker savagely and with no remorse he hacked and hacked. His goal not yet to kill, but to first show Thanos even a fraction of the immense pain he had caused not only the Asgardians, but the rest of the universe.
The deed done, the universe saved as his forces retreated, feeling the loss of their leader, the Avengers took a breath. As jarring as it was to see Thor brutally kill the Titan, there was a sense of acceptance as well. There would be no coming back from this death for Thanos. And the others admitted Thor had seen and fought in many wars in his life, his experience was far different from their own and they could not find it in them to really begrudge him for his vengeance.
Wanda felt a sea of calm and serenity, a blanket feeling of safety settle on her mind and she knew they could return from their hiding spot. Their eyes connected and she could not help her relieved teary laugh from bubbling up and out of her throat before she launched herself at him. Arms wrapped around him as she pressed a kiss to his lips. Tears streaked down her face as Vision swiftly wiped them away, fervently returning the kiss. Feelings of utter devotion and love traveled between the quickly repaired mental bridge and the cracks in her heart from the ordeal were patched with them.
As relief allowed them to breath and settle their hearts and minds, the pair left their hiding spot and returned to the clearing where they had run from. Voices could be heard even before they entered past the treeline. "So, who even are you two and where are you from?" Rhodey, she thinks, is the one to ask. "I should like to know the same thing." she agrees aloud as they finally step through the trees and finds many eyes flicker to them. The woman smiles immediately upon seeing the both of them safe.
"I am you." she says simply. "I am the Wanda Maximoff from a different universe and this is my sister Lorna Dane. I heard your plea and knew I could help, so I came." she tilts her head. "And I brought Lorna because she insisted on 'joining the fun'." She sends a look as she quotes her words.
"Lorna?" Wanda's nose wrinkles slightly. "I don't have a sister named Lorna?"
"Hm." the other Wanda hums and tilts her head the other way, making direct eye contact. , "May I?" she asks and Wanda nods hesitantly. They see red tinge her eyes before she narrows them for a moment and then shrugs. "Actually, you do. You and Pietro were six when she disappeared. You have blocked it from your mind because you were young and it was painful to remember. Your parents removed every shred of proof she existed immediately. It is likely you both thought she was a shared imaginary friend, a figment of imagination."
"What was it you called her?" Steve asks, "What are your powers?" This time he turns directly to Lorna to ask. "It looked a lot like Wanda's."
"Polaris." she answers for herself. "I can manipulate magnetic fields around metals. More or less, I basically can control metal." She kept her reply short, simple, and to the point. Really only honestly answering because the other version of her sister from this universe was clearly interested as well. "As much as I would love to stay and chat, I think we've done all we can and all we came to do." Lorna announces and shares a look with her sister. "I hope the house isn't burned down by the time we get there." she tells her teasingly.
"Oh relax, we'll be fine. And if it is I'll just fix it, good as new." With that she turns and nods to the Avengers. "I am glad I could be of some assistance to you today. I can see enough of each of you to know that leaving the stones in your hands is a safe choice. Take care of them and do what you need to do to protect them and your universe." She gives them a genuine smile. "We're needed at home now. I'm sure you understand."
Her eyes connected with Wanda's and Wanda was hit with a vision, a beautiful vision. Twin boys and a girl chasing a dog around the yard with their Uncle Pietro, her brother. Her sons and Lorna's daughter. Lorna, her sister, resting on the wicker couch, leaning into her own husband. Vision's hands were wrapped around her waist, soft and lovingly, the feeling of a wedding band weighed on her finger.
"Yes. We do." She smiled at herself as Lorna handed the gauntlet to them. And in an instant they were both gone.
"What did you see?" Vision would ask her later as they laid together, silky sheets coiled around them as she traced patterns on his chest. "A vision." she would reply, "She showed me a glimpse of her home."
