maskormenace | ☇ f i r s t

[ The alias attached to the entry reads only Scarlet Witch, no name given. The alias is a relic, a token from the old days when she and Pietro shouted revolution from the rooftops. After HYDRA, Wanda didn't think she had anything to fear anymore. No cell could hold her, no bullets could touch her. Together, she and Pietro were invincible. No one could hurt them again.

Then, she came here. ]

today i have learned that in america, a hero is someone who grows fat and lazy off the praises that are given to him, but he has not earned. for this, a hero will give away his freedom.

[ Though she does not fear as she once did, Wanda doesn't accept the tattoo on her wrist easily. Rather than being gunned down in the streets, the masses of "imPorts" allow themselves to be cataloged and controlled -- even those that profess to be unhappy with their enslavement. They say things like, "it could be worse," using that to justify their own slothfulness.

It could always be worse. That doesn't make it right. ]

where i am from, the avengers are so high in their tower that humans appear to them only as little ants. the complacency i see here is worse, i think.

where do i find a true hero?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Her son?

[ Jesus. He understood things were different in their worlds, but this? It's way more than he expected. There's a heavy sigh as Steve thinks very hard about this. ]

She's a telepath; she'll know if you've both been told about this, and once she figures that out I'm worried she's gonna walk. If you all can win her trust, she's more likely to tell you herself.

[ And then, after a long pause: ]

Everyone's acting like she's a bomb about to go off. What's going on?

—Just a telepath? [The surprise is apparent in her voice.]

I'm not actually fond of treating her like a bomb going off. I am concerned with other people treating her that way. One of the great things that the Avengers has done before is try to capture Billy because he's shown too much power. They suggested locking him up ... and even killing him if it proved necessary. You can guess how well I took that. That's because of what happened with Wanda. She was manipulated into doing some very terrible things. Both Billy and Wanda are extremely powerful chaos magic users, which means they can manipulate reality to their will.

But they don't do that naturally. Treating them like someone might startle them into destroying existence at the blink of an eye is extremely unfair.

That's why I hoped to help her. I know that Tony's approach to Billy hasn't been great, even here, so I don't expect him to do great with Wanda, either. Everything he's telling me, everything he's saying, is just proving my suspicions.

[ He's... actually stunned into silence, for a moment. Locking someone away -- killing them -- because they're too powerful? No matter what they're really like? The good they're capable of? His heart sinks not for the first time, as he's forced to face the fact that the world is not the place it once was... or what he really wants it to be. ]

She's, ah...

[ Damn. Why does terminology have to be so goddamned hard? ]

She's got the telepath thing, and she can, I guess, move matter, and-- [ Fuck's sake ] I don't know, they just told me she was weird. She had a lot of abilities, when we were fighting, getting into people's heads, throwing things around, she could go places right by you and you wouldn't see her, but I'm not sure if she's... dangerous. Not like that. I don't think.

[ But now, he's not so sure. Still, he'd like to think people would have warned him if they thought she could up and destroy everyone, right? There's a thoughtful silence before he speaks again. ]

Is Tony going to try to do anything to her?

[ There's concern there. Because Tony is, in a roundabout way, his friend, and he doesn't want to end up in a position beyond bickering with him when it comes to this -- but he's willing to, if it comes to that. ]

Weird. [The judgment is evident in her voice. Kate wonders if that came from someone claiming to be a professional. They work with Thor, don't they? And a man who flies around in a robotic suit? And a guy who got caught in ice for a bunch of years? "Weird" is extremely ... misleading, even in a world that's only coming to terms with their superhuman population.]

I don't think either of them are as dangerous as people like to make them out to be. That seems to be how it goes with that kind of power. I take care of Billy as his leader. I can do the same with Wanda, even if I'm not in that "official" capacity.

[Which, ah, actually leads to the next part. Kate doesn't clarify what she means by leader, though that at least gives Steve a tip off on what kind of role she has on her team. It likely explains a lot about her, actually.]

I interfered with the discussion with Tony so that he couldn't act, and if he chose to, he'd be in the wrong. As much as he seems to like to reprimand me and talk down to me, I'm clever, too. It's hard to act when acting further proves someone else's point. He won't do anything. He makes a lot of big threats, but he tends to keep his hands behind his back unless something forces his hands. Back home, everything was his business. The Avengers had more of a presence, so you can understand how it led to the next step.

So, hopefully ... we can keep Wanda from doing that. I think in this case, it can and will fall on her.

[ Yeah, all right, okay. He can handle plenty of complex terminology, remembering battle plans, names of hostiles and non-hostiles alike -- but this stuff? Out of his league. ]

That was the dumbed-down version.

[ It's both defensive and conceding all at once as he pinches the bridge of his nose, the display of embarrassment graciously unseen. Still, some of the tension in his shoulders eases as he continues on, though certainly not all of it. He's still struggling with the sort of reactions everyone is having to Wanda, like a grenade with a loose pin; she was strong, but he's not sure she's someone that needs to be worried about as though she's going to take out half the planet.

But then again, they might know better than he does. He just doesn't know. ]

...All right. Whatever you need to do to help her -- including telling Billy -- just... let me know how it goes. I trust you on this one.

[ Which he realizes is an odd thing for him, as he's never even met her face-to-face -- but he's a man who puts a lot of faith in his gut, and right now, she's on his extremely short list of trustworthy people in this mess of a world. ]

Whoever that was, they shouldn't be giving you the dumbed down version. [Or that shouldn't be their "dumbed down" version. She catches the defensiveness, but she wouldn't be Kate Bishop—a Hawkeye—if she held her tongue around Captain America of all people. She has a legacy to uphold.

And the longer she's away from Clint, the less trepidation she feels about taking after him in certain areas. Of course, it's more the consciousness of taking after him that made her hesitate before.]

And thanks for trusting me. I think we'll handle it. And ... I'll make sure breakfast is ASAP, too. We're kind of having a crisis on other levels, too, so ...

Once we get our one week lull. I'm sure it'll be a thing.

[ Honestly, he can't argue that -- so he doesn't. (It's a fair point, really; he'd have appreciated something a little less "talking down" at him, too.) Instead he huffs out a breath, his voice taking on a tone of empathetic concern. ]

Yeah, I got the feeling that you all had a lot going on. [ He'd heard about Teddy. He doubts anyone's feeling great right now. ] Take your time; I'm not going anywhere.

I'll try to give you a head's up about what happens with Wanda.

Thanks, Kate.

[ There's a pregnant pause, as though he wants to say more but doesn't quite know what; finally, he just sighs. ]

Good luck.

[ And with that, he disconnects. ]

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