Thank you for all the love so far!
7th November, 2023
The 1980s episode had started, with lots of brown decor, frizzy hair on Wanda's part, and two crying babies. There was a weird moment when Agnes came over in a jazzercise outfit and asked 'do you want me to take that again?'.
But the S.W.O.R.D. Research Base was at battle stations.
Darcy and Jimmy weren't allowed in to see Monica until after her medical scans and her interview with the newly-returned Hayward. But they got the transcripts of the interview:
Hayward: What's the first thing you do remember?
Rambeau: Pain. And then… Wanda's voice in my head.
Hayward: Did you try to resist?
Rambeau: There was this feeling keeping me down. This hopeless feeling. Like drowning. It was grief.
Hayward probed more about the sensations she experienced: Excruciating. Terrifying. A violation.
Sometime later, he asked about the 'cast' of Westview. Monica gave her views, including:
Rambeau: It was hard to think clearly. But I recognized Maggie. I asked her… I asked her what was wrong with her brother. And I asked her about the Avengers. I don't think the questions made much sense, and she just… she was just blank. Like… like if we weren't on screen, we weren't real.
In the end Jimmy and Darcy did get a chance to see Monica, and Jimmy introduced them to each other as Darcy handed Monica a fresh pair of clothes.
"There's a briefing in ten," Darcy said, smiling at Monica - she had an impatient, determined attitude to her, like she knew exactly what path to take if only the world around her would stop slowing her down. It reminded Darcy of Jane. "Pants are encouraged."
At the briefing, Darcy got to see Acting Director Hayward at work for the first time. He'd arrived back from S.W.O.R.D. headquarters an hour after the Hex spat Monica back out, and now he stood in the centre of all the senior agents on site in the middle of the operations center. He was vaguely handsome in the way politicians were, but since she'd first met him, there'd been something behind his eyes Darcy didn't quite trust. She'd met plenty of shadowy government agents in her time, and she didn't know how similar this one would be to S.H.I.E.L.D.
The new 80s episode played in the background. No side characters had showed up so far other than Agnes, and the children who had aged themselves up to about five.
"Morning," Hayward said, casting an appraising gaze around at his agents. "We are now assessing a clearer picture of this crisis, and thanks to Captain Rambeau, we now have first-person intel from inside the Westview Anomaly. Our initial theory had Wanda Maximoff as one of many victims, we now know she is the principal victimizer."
Darcy leaned back as the briefing unfolded, taking it in; Jimmy delivered background on Wanda: Sokovian, experimented on by HYDRA, Avenger. Hayward kept turning things around on Wanda, making her out to be a terrorist and a criminal.
"Wanda's not a terrorist," Monica cut in. Things got heated between her and Hayward, and he ended up showing them footage of Wanda breaking into S.W.O.R.D. Headquarters.
"Nine days ago, Maximoff stormed our facility, stole the Vision's body, and" - he turned to the TV screen, which showed a floppy-haired Vision smiling - "resurrected him."
Jimmy frowned. "But that's in direct violation of Section 36B of the Sokovia Accords."
"And the Vision's own living will."
"He didn't want to be anybody's weapon," Jimmy said.
"Maximoff, in her grief, disregarded his wishes," Hayward said, with a significant look at Monica.
Monica lowered her gaze.
Hayward turned to address his agents again. "And we don't know yet how Margaret Stark is involved. She may be an accomplice in this, or another victim. What's the progress on that?"
Rodriguez, his number two, spoke up. "We're trying to get in contact with someone, but the Avengers dissolved after the Blip, her brother's dead, and no one can reach any Avengers."
Darcy, who'd kept her mouth shut so far, frowned.
"Alright, that's it for now," Hayward called. "Let's work the problem, people. Dismissed."
Monica seemed to want to get out from under Hayward's eye, so Darcy followed her into a side office, where Monica promptly beelined for the nearest whiteboard and started scrawling equations.
"Uh, what're you working on?" Darcy asked, eyebrows high.
"I want to figure out a way to re-enter Westview safely." Monica didn't look away from her equations.
"Of course you are," Darcy muttered.
Jimmy, who'd followed them in, rubbed his head. "I'll, uh, go get some coffee, shall I?" He retreated.
Monica kept scrawling away, occasionally bouncing questions off of Darcy, as Darcy watched the episode, which was being projected all over the base by now.
Wanda's twins were hiding a dog in the kitchen sink, and Darcy watched as Wanda went from suspicion to adoration, cuddling the dog as she laughed. Vision appeared, in his human disguise, and greeted the dog.
"Why so formal, honey?" Wanda asked, pointing to Vision's face.
"Love her outfit," Darcy said, and Monica glanced over to see Wanda's checkered shirt, jeans and suspenders. Her brow furrowed and she turned back without saying anything, drawing a line through an equation about radiation frequencies. Darcy could see the error she'd made, but didn't particularly feel like helping Monica dive right back into the Hex.
"Oh, it's just a precaution really. I had a hunch someone might pop over," Vision replied, and at that the door burst open.
"Hi, kiddos!" beamed Agnes from within a nest of wildly frizzy hair, beckoning in another person. The audience laughed.
"Maggie's back on," Darcy said, sitting up. At that, Monica looked over and stayed looking.
Maggie shuffled through the door after Agnes, clutching a wooden dog house in her arms as if it didn't weigh a thing.
"... With exactly the item we require," Vision pondered.
"My kitchen window told me someone got a new pooch!" Agnes exclaimed, flapping her hands at Maggie to hurry her along. "And Maggie dearest kindly offered to help me carry this."
As Maggie set the doghouse on the kitchen table, Agnes turned to the others and stage-whispered behind her hand, winking: "She's awful strong." The audience chuckled, and Darcy and Monica looked at each other.
"Super serum, right?" Monica said.
"Mm-hm," Darcy nodded. "And they're making a cute joke about it."
As Agnes asked about the dog's name, Maggie stepped back from the doghouse and dusted off her hands. She wore high-waisted mom jeans, a retro bomber jacket with pink, green and blue neon stripes and patterns, and converse shoes. The 70's feathered hair had turned into a full on Dolly Parton-esque curly style.
"Still got the dogtags," Darcy noted.
Vision chided Wanda about using magic in front of Agnes, and as he did, Maggie turned to face the boys and exclaimed:
"My, you've gotten so big!" They looked up at her, grinning fiendishly. "Say, you're almost the same size as… as…" she drifted off, a vaguely wistful look in her eye.
"As who, dear?" Agnes prompted, holding the dog in her arms.
Maggie blinked, smiled, and shook her head. "Skipped my mind."
Agnes leaned down and whispered behind her hand again, this time to the boys: "Memory troubles, too!"
Monica's brow furrowed and she turned back to her equations.
A few moments later, the boys grew again, this time to ten years old.
"Wish I could've zoomed through my teen years like that," Darcy grumbled.
Fifteen minutes later, Jimmy returned from fetching coffee to find Monica planning the construction of a 10,000 pound lead, cadmium and tantalum wheeled monstrosity she wanted to use to reenter Westview.
"What'd I miss?" Jimmy said, coming in and setting the takeaway cups on the table.
"Had another cameo from Maggie, and the twins aged up to ten," Darcy updated him.
"Holy Christmas. At this rate, they'll be empty nesters by dinner time."
Monica started in on wanting to reenter Westview, again, and Darcy warned:
"I can't guarantee you the Hex won't just mind-wipe you as you go in!"
"Wait, what's a Hex?"
"Oh, um, it's what I'm calling the anomaly because of its hexagonal shape. It's starting to catch on."
Jimmy subtly shook his head at Monica.
They threw a few theories around, and then Monica took off running to find the costume she'd been wearing when she came out of the Hex. They found it in the lab, hanging against a display surrounded by scanners. And then Monica took Jimmy's gun and shot at it.
"Those pants are 87% Kevlar," Monica breathed, picking up a flattened bullet from the floor. "It's not an illusion, Wanda is rewriting reality!"
"Permanently?" Darcy asked, her ears still ringing from the gunshots.
"If she can change things as they go into the Hex-"
"Ah! You called it the Hex." Darcy smirked.
Monica sighed. "What happens if we send something in that requires no change?"
A few moments passed.
"Huh," Darcy said. "Well, while you figure that out, there's someone I've been meaning to call." She whipped out her cellphone and hit speed-dial.
"Who are you calling?" Jimmy asked. He frowned at her phone. "How did you even bring in a personal cell?"
Darcy held up a finger, silencing him. Monica watched with a cocked eyebrow.
After a few rings, the call picked up. "Heyyy, Janey," Darcy said. "Listen, I need some help getting in touch with some people. And you're the best person I can think of to get me in touch with them." She winced. "You might have to use the connections you got from your ex."
Monica and Jimmy shared a glance.
Inside Westview, Vision glanced around his workplace, alarmed, as all his colleagues said in unison:
"S.W.O.R.D., Top secret communique. Authenticate. Dr Darcy Lewis's findings regarding Maximoff's anomaly. High levels of radiation present at perimeter. Effect on Westview residents unknown. Please advise."
Then they all broke out laughing.
After a moment of bewilderment, Vision tried something - he set his fingers to Norm's temples, and released a flash of golden energy.
Norm's eyes snapped wide and he gasped. "Please," he panted, looking up into Vision's eyes. "Please help me. What day is it? H-how long has it been?" He crouched down to the desk drawer. "Where's my phone? I have to call my sister, she's taking care of our dad, he's sick - where's my phone!" He straightened and Vision leaned in, clutching his arm.
"Calm yourself Norm, I can't understand what you're trying to tell me," he urged.
"You have to stop her," Norm seized his lapels, wild-eyed.
"Stop who?"
"She's in my head, none of it is my own. It hurts - it hurts so much." His wide eyes welled up. "Just make her stop." His face twisted, breaking in pain. "Just make her stop!"
Unable to bear it another moment, Vision touched his fingers to Norm's temples again, and with another glimmer of yellow energy the same smiling, dim-witted Norm emerged.
And once again, on the screens outside Westview, the scene skipped in the middle.
Clear Views Motel, Upstate New York
Sam Wilson eyed the grim-looking motel before him. It had two floors of peeling white paint doors, rickety metal railings, and a reception office that had a man sleeping behind a sign that read VACANCIES in neon tubing.
Sam double-checked his car was locked, then blew out a breath and strode toward Room 4. But he'd barely taken five steps before the door for Room 4 opened of its own accord; out strode Bucky, carrying a trash bag in his gloved hand.
Bucky looked like shit. His clothes - a pair of black jeans, grey shirt, and a leather jacket - looked like they hadn't seen a good wash in a while, and he had a stubbly beard. He'd cut his hair though, and the short, slightly spiky trim was a big change from his long straggly hair before.
Sam didn't need to call out. Bucky sensed someone watching him and looked up - and promptly rolled his eyes and walked off toward the dumpster at the end of the building.
"Hey, Bucky!" Sam called, breaking into a fast walk after him.
"I'm busy," Bucky said over his shoulder, not turning around.
"Busy with what, getting bed bugs?" Sam pulled his hands out of his pockets as he caught up with Bucky, avoiding the swinging trash bag.
"My court orders just got finalized."
"So you're free," Sam spread his hands.
"I've said-"
"Look, I know you said you're not interested in coming to work with me at the Air Force, or in anything else. I get it. You want to hole up on your lonesome and not interact with the 21st century at all. And I know we all need time to rest after…" Bucky's face darkened. "Okay, okay. But this isn't about any of that. I got… a really weird call."
Bucky swung the trash bag into the dumpster, sending up a flurry of flies, then turned to glare at him.
"I can explain on the way," Sam said. "But they said they need us there urgently, and they asked for you by name."
"Sounds like a trap."
"If it is, don't you want me to have backup?" Sam tried a winning smile.
Bucky rolled his eyes again. "Weird how?"
"They said they found three missing Avengers."
He frowned. "But we don't have any missing Avengers."
"Exactly." Sam shot him a significant look. "Will you come?"
Bucky looked wistfully back to his motel room door, then back. "Ugh. How far is it."
"New Jersey. Some town called Westview."
"I hate Jersey, Wilson." But Bucky tipped his head back and took a breath. "Fine."
Monica had successfully piloted a 1980s S.W.O.R.D. drone into Westview. But then everything went wrong when Hayward had his agents take over the controls and launch a drone strike on Wanda. The screens went dark.
"What did you do?" Monica exclaimed.
"There's a breach, sir!" called an agent, as alarms blared.
They all went running down to the border of the anomaly, Darcy pulling on her beanie and a whole squadron of agents training laser-guided rifles on the crackling wall of the Hex. The chill air of the night made her breath come out in clouds of condensation.
Darcy felt her breath stop when Wanda herself strode through the shimmering energy field in her dark red Avengers uniform, dragging a broken and sparking drone behind her. After the last day or so of watching Wanda's smiles and exaggerated expressions on the sit-com, this angry-eyed, looming Avenger was a shock.
She hurled the drone at them.
"Is this yours?"
Darcy hardly breathed for the whole confrontation; Hayward demanded that Wanda let the people of Westview go, and Monica tried to reason with her.
"I have what I want. And no one will ever take it from me again," Wanda said softly. Then with a flare of red magic she had all the S.W.O.R.D. agents turning their guns on Hayward. And she simply walked back into the Hex.
Darcy and Jimmy stood shellshocked, watching red energy flare over the surface of the Hex as the S.W.O.R.D. agents scrambled.
"What do you think it means?" Woo asked, eyeing the now perfectly visible scarlet hexagonal dome stretching into the sky.
"If I had to bet? I don't think we're getting in with any more toy drones."
Back inside a sunny day in Westview, Wanda and her boys looked for their lost dog. They even set their neighbour Maggie looking for him, running off with her dark haired brother.
Only for it all to end in tragedy, and for Billy and Tommy's first taste of loss.
Vision's suspicions bubbled over into a disagreement.
"I spoke with Norm," he said that night, turning away from where he'd been washing the dishes.
"Oh?" Wanda asked.
"I unearthed the man's suppressed personality and spoke to him free of your oversight." Wanda's face dropped. "He was in pain, Wanda."
"Vision…" she chuckled lightly. "Listen, can we just-"
"What? Watch TV? Turn in for the night so that you can change everything over again? No, Wanda, you can't control me the way you do them."
She tilted her head. "Can't I?" Suddenly music played, the audience applauded, and credits began rolling up the screen.
Vision hung his head.
"I'm going to bed," Wanda called.
"No, we're not done here!" Vision exclaimed. "What is the Maximoff anomaly?"
"The what?" Wanda asked, turning to face him again.
"I have to believe that this, whatever this is, was subconscious at first, and that you only recently became aware of it."
Wanda raised her hands. "Aware of what?" She turned and stormed into the next room.
Vision stormed after her, switching from his flesh face to his maroon android one. "Norm has a family, Wanda! He has a family, and he can't reach them because you won't let him reach them!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"And Maggie, she - she is so familiar!" he continued, "Who is she?"
Wanda's eyes flared. "Maggie is happy. Vision."
"That's not what I asked! Stop lying to me!" Vision soared into the air. She rose to match him.
Their argument swirled into further heights, before they both sank back to the ground, still arguing, their anger cooling and turning harder.
Wanda sank onto the couch, tears streaming down her face. "I - I don't know how any of this started in the first place."
Vision came to kneel beside her. "Wanda… what you're doing here, it's wrong. It is wrong."
But at that moment, the doorbell rang.
Outside of Westview, Darcy ran back into the operations center inside the base. The alarms still blared and everyone was running after the confrontation with Wanda, some to get more weapons, some to their scanners, some following a red-faced and fuming Hayward who was hollering orders.
Darcy ran back to the first vintage TV she'd been given, the cold still clinging to her fingers and nose. The broadcast from inside the Hex was still playing. She sat down, drawn in by a shot of Wanda's face; the Avenger looked as if she'd seen a ghost.
The shot pulled back, focusing on the back of a head facing toward Wanda; dark hair, fading to silver.
Wanda gasped, and then the stranger's face appeared. He smiled, to audience applause, then stepped forward and spread his arms.
"Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinking sister to death or what?"
The audience laughed.
"She recast Pietro?" Darcy wondered aloud.
"Pietro?" Wanda breathed. She glanced at Vision, then looked back and stepped into Pietro's arms.
After a moment, Pietro pulled back and gestured to Vision, in his android form.
"Who's the popsicle?"
The audience laughed, and credits rolled.
"Ms Lewis?" one of the agents called from behind her.
"It's Doctor Lewis," she corrected, turning around, still reeling.
"We've just had two visitors arrive," said the agent, a young man in a S.W.O.R.D. jacket. It was mayhem around him, soldiers still running every which way and red lights flashing. "They said they had your authorization to appear on site, but this'll need to be run past Hayward, when he's… available."
"Visitors?" Darcy said, her mind still caught on Wanda murmuring Pietro? But then her gaze slid past the agent, to the two men standing at the entrance to the operations center. "Holy guacamole."
Sam Wilson, wearing jeans and a navy henley, stood a step ahead of Bucky Barnes, in a leather jacket and with short hair. They were both looking around, eyeing the chaotic flashing lights and alarms, the screens with scanners beeping warnings, the people scrambling everywhere. But then they looked at her.
Wilson, his eyebrows high, gave her a small wave. Behind him, Barnes kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and a suspicious scowl on his face.
"Doctor Lewis," Wilson said. "You called?"
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