Memories

Coming Home

Disclaimer: What do you think?

If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.

"For the last time, I'm not your reality's version of Tora! I'm an alternate."

"Prove it."

She sighed and glared at Iron Man.

"In the first place, in my world, you're actually Antionette Stark. You're actually rather attractive, but not really my type. Sorry. And you're definitely not my type."

Tony looked moderately offended.

"Why not?"

"Wrong set of 23rd chromosomes for a start. Sorry."

She gave a grin that the Tora they were used to had never used. It was wide and bright and teasing. Not the sly smirk they more often than not had gotten.

"Look, I appreciate you're worried, but quite frankly, I am not a threat. I can't access the Dragon Song in this dimension. I need to get home. Look, if I could just get a dimensional portal home, I'd be out of your hair. And I possibly won't be murdered for getting killed before I could buy anniversary dinner."

There was a long pause then finally she sighed.

"Look, there is absolutely nothing I can say to prove who I am. Except maybe one thing."

She turned to Hawkeye.

"My partner has a series of three moles on their inner left thigh that mark out a straight line. You know who I am talking about and there has never been an opportunity for this reality's version to discover such a thing, has there?"

There was an awkward pause when everyone turned to look at Hawkeye who was bright red.

"It wouldn't have to be you..."

"Except every one of us considers eavesdropping on personal interactions a morally reprehensible act that we would never partake in. Anyway, we are perfectly capable of locking out the others during such acts."

"But…"

"Okay, something else… Er… Um… Do you know how difficult it is when I can easily discover pretty much everything you ever said to her?"

She considered.

"Would it help if I let a telepath into my head?"

Tony opened his mouth but Steve shook his head.

"Except you were trained in mental disciplines by Charles Xavier."

"Actually, I wasn't. I left the X-Men less than a year into my tenure with them due to a number of differences with another team member that made my remaining amongst them nearly impossible."

"What sort of differences?"

"I do not wish to talk about it. It was…traumatic, in many ways. I had to leave the only home I had ever known to ensure my family was able to remain together. I was the problem so it was logical for me to leave. I still have regular dealings with the X-Men but I've mostly been doing solo work or working in a two-person team. My mental controls are only what I've borrowed from others. A patchwork of defences aside from my natural ones."

"Your natural defences?"

"Have the telepaths never mentioned it? Basically, the deeper anyone goes into my mind, the deeper I go into theirs. I can't stop it. Thing is, even if they don't aim to hurt, I… I react badly to mental intrusion and tend to lash out. Once, I accidentally sent a young telepath into a week-long coma when they didn't realise how dangerous my mind is."

She paused.

"Look, I cannot prove who I am. But I am not your version of Tora. Please, believe me. I… I just want to go home…"

She looked away and her eyes lost the teasing glint that had been there the entire time.

"I… I just want to go home and be myself again. I want to have little fights about whose turn it is to do the laundry and about picking up underwear from the bathroom. I want to go back to having a normal life."

She turned round and her eyes were sad.

"I want to go back to being just a normal person who is getting ready to retire because we're going to have a family. I just want to go home…"

There were tears welling up in her eyes now. Slight, shiny tears staining her face.

"I… I want to just go home and say sorry…"

The Avengers hurried outside to confer. The Scarlet Witch was standing there with her arms folded, not looking at all impressed.

"Great work, guys. You just made her feel incredibly guilty."

"How do you know…?"

"How do I know it isn't her? For pity's sake, Tony! Just look at her! That's a completely different woman! She moves differently, talks differently! That woman has never been a mother. You can see it in her eyes. She's not our Tora. There's no way she is."

"Why should we believe you?"

"Because if that was our Tora and you had her in there, Logan would have killed you all. She feels wrong, Tony. She feels…disjointed. Not right here. I'm a reality warper and she doesn't belong here. She's got another… How to describe it…? Another smell on her. She's not from this universe and she doesn't belong."

"So…"

"We get in Richards. He's the one with the best reality jumping tech. We need to get her home."

"Why?"

"Because she's screaming. She wants to go home. She's still got a Dragon in her head, but at the moment, it's a powerless Dragon who can't do anything. If we keep her here too long… That Dragon will rip a hole in reality to get at its power. Then nothing will be able to stop her. It'll destroy her mind first, then our universe. You really want that?"

"No. I don't."

"So, we call Reed Richards and get her home."

Tony and Steve exchanged looks then sighed.

"I'll go call Reed."

"I'll go tell her."

Wanda smiled.

"Thank you."

"Aww. That is so sweet."

"You're a sad being, Phoenix dear."

Wanda walked the flat, feeling numb. Three months. Three months since Steve came knocking, still bruised and bloody. Three months since he handed her the cloth wraps that contained only a scratched, burnt and misshapen silver headdress. All that was left. Hull breach. Tora sealed the bulkheads, with her on the wrong side. Went down fighting, was always going to happen. Steve had quietly apologised, but space was a big place. They'd been lucky to find anything. A body was too much to ask for.

She hadn't been able to go in the office at all. Walking in, seeing the papers, the pens, all the stuff to sketch and ink and colour. Half-finished work, never to be completed. The place would probably be perfectly tidy. Tora was almost compulsive about keeping things in order. Steve and any former military Avenger was the same. So even when a high-level alert came it, Tora would spend a few extra minutes tidying up, making sure things were fine before the Quinjet or the Blackbird or whoever it was that wanted Tora with them for that mission turned up.

Her mug was still on the draining board. And her clothes were still neatly folded in the laundry basket, waiting to be put away. It was as if she could walk in the door any minute, carrying a bag of shopping Wanda had forgotten to get and griping about lazy people who couldn't do anything for themselves. Of course, she'd then smile and pull a silly face which was her way of saying "I love you".

The door clicked. Wanda immediately stiffened and readied herself to throw a hex bolt. Etana was out of the back room in a moment, throwing knife in hand. The older woman had been a godsend. Tora had always considered her a mother-figure and Wanda had grown fond of the gruff woman who pretended she didn't care for anyone. So when… When Steve had come knocking, Etana had moved in and had been sleeping on the floor, stating it was surprisingly comfortable, and had just been…helping out. Being there. When Wanda didn't want to get up or do anything but lie in bed, Etana had been the one who brought food, wash cloths and a hairbrush. She sang in a language Wanda didn't understand, her voice soft and low and full of sorrow.

But now they stood side by side, preparing to fight. And a voice Wanda thought she'd never hear again spoke out, low and soft.

"Wanda…? Wanda, I… I'm sorry… Please… I'm back? Er… Not that… Looks, it's awkward… I didn't really die, but… Er… Wanda, where are you? Please don't kill me. Again."

Tora walked in from the hall, hands raised with palms open. She saw Wanda and Etana and smiled sheepishly.

"Er… Yeah. Hey. I'm alive? Er… Please don't try and kill me. An alternate version of you went to a lot of hassle to bring me back, thinking I was her version of me… I should just shut up now, shouldn't I?"

Wanda moved like lightning, slapping Tora's face as hard as possible. She noticed Tora moved with it, so Wanda wouldn't break anything on adamantium cheekbones. Then she moved her head down just that little bit, to seal her mouth. Tried and tested way of shutting up the stupid idiot who seemed to have a death wish.

When she pulled away, Tora was blinking in surprise.

"That was far too easy. I'm waiting to be turned into a skunk or something here."

"Shut up, you."

"Shutting up…"

Wanda heard the slight implosion of air as Etana vanished and grinned, before jabbing Tora in the ribs.

"You're an idiot. And I want to hear everything about this other me. I will not be happy if you kissed her."

"She punched me before I could. I thought she was you, honest!"

Wanda laughed, seeing the answering glint in Tora's eyes. She could feel again.

Phoenix raised her eye at the masked woman.

"You are an incorrigible romantic, aren't you? All this time, you've been pretending to be a stone-cold pragmatist, but you're all soft and gooey inside."

"Shut up."