- CHAPTER EIGHT -
❝ AVOIDANCE ❞

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the air dropped, and her face slackened, melting into a look of confusion rather than anger. Releasing a breath she had hitched, she stumbled backwards slightly, almost squealing as the shelf shook and threatened to collapse behind her.

"Shit," Loki gritted out, as he watched a leg of the shelf snap. Instinctively, his hand fumbled to the handle, the door swinging open as he fell out of it unceremoniously, hand still attached to her as she stumbled after.

As soon as she regained her footing, however, she darted forwards towards him, knocking him against the wall with a blast of energy, "What do you mean, we broke it?"

"They turned back time to undo the blip, and you turned back time to resurrect the others that they couldn't. Its splitting over too many universes, the multiverse is shattering, it was a domino affect. Us breaking out of our universe let other universes start doing it too."

Letting out a staggered breath, the witch took a shaky step back, processing everything that had been said. The momentary lapse of weakness was something she has vowed to never unveil in front of Loki, so she compiled herself immediately, her mind was filed with the organisation and priorities of a fighter, so the first question to escape her lips was inevitably;

"What do we do to fix it?"

Loki's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, scoffing, "What do we do? Its funny that you think we can do anything."

For a second, she felt the dread settle in her stomach, bile threatening to rise at her throat as it seared through her skin. Her mouth soured, "What do you mean?"

"The Multiverse is frighteningly large beyond your mortal comprehension, and if its breaking, it is utterly out of our control."

The fear striking her was almost alarming, she felt sick, the world seemed to stop spinning for a second. Inhaling slowly, she scraped her teeth over her bottom lip, jaw tensing. This wasn't it. This couldn't be game-over before they had even started, she had just got everything back. Her stomach swooped at the thought of it all shattering into shards again.

But somewhere in Wanda, she had an imbedded survival instinct to channel fear and pain into burning, blinding rage. Her body was designed to deflect from being prey, rather, it was hard-wired into maintaining control.

"So why?" She seethed through clenched teeth, "The fuck did you tell me?"

A look of something like sheepishness flashed upon his face, but it vanished so fast as to make her question whether it was even there. A blank façade returned steeled on his face, as an air of hesitancy surrounded him, "There may be.. one thing."

Jutting out a hip, she rested her arm on it, staring daggers at him as she shrugged, ushering him to continue on. Rolling his eyes at her antics, he opened his mouth as if to respond, before eliciting a sudden breath and shaking his head.

"Not here."

"Oh my- Loki, I do not having the fucking patience for this."

"Shame, isn't it? Patience is a virtue you lack," he scoffed, moving up a hand to encase her wrist and drag her away again, but she slammed it away instantly.

"Don't touch me."

"Listen, witch," he spat the word like it was venom, "You are the one who demanded on playing hero to fix the universe-"

"Well clearly you wanted me to because YOU told ME," she snapped, unable to contain herself anymore as her annoyance filled to its brim, threatening to overflow.

"Wanda?" Pietro.

With a singular small flick of her wrist, a rope of scarlet energy snatched the trickster and shoved him back into the supply closet he had previously dragged her into.

"Sestra, there you are. Tony wants us all to meet in his 'new meeting room,' I do not understand why this man refuses to let us rest," Pietro continued to babble happily, arm stringing over her shoulders as he prompted her to walk with him.

Hesitantly, she obliged, and he didn't seem to notice how she looked over her shoulder, the faint sound of the door clicking open peaking her fired senses. She was met with a grim nod, and she understood it immediately.

She had just got back her perfect fantasy world.

Only for it to come crashing down again.

"Ah, latecomers, welcome!" Tony declared, flourishing a hand towards a sofa. Pietro nustled back comfortably into one of them besides Natasha, the two sharing a smirk at Tony's dramatics. Wanda sat in a loveseat besides them, bristling slightly at the booming voice he spoke with. Cringing, she forced herself to stop being so obvious, she was better than this.

Reclining back slightly, she forced herself to relax her tensed muscles, pursing her lips for a moment before blowing out a slow breath. It was fine, fine, fine. Nothing wrong. Didn't just have a world breaking revelation. Nope. She was just fine.

"Wanda? Are you alright," Natasha's wary voice snapped her out of her trance.

For some reason, it also snapped her out of her seat as she shot up, ankles burning at the sudden weight sprung onto them with lack of warning as she shrugged languidly, before choking out, "I need to go-"

"I'd prefer you didn't," a voice slithered from the door she was just seconds away from bolting out of. Loki. God, she had to stay for this, he was going to tell them now, wasn't he?

Biting her lip in embarrassment, she sat back down, shaky hands grasping the armrest with her nails digging into the velvet fabric with an unnecessary agression. With a concerned glance, Natasha whispered to her, but it seemed too distant, almost like speech in a dream. Wanda responded with an idle nod, completely unaware of what the assasin had even said.

She supposed, however, her action was enough, because Natasha seemed satisfied after Wanda shot her a wavering, yet reassuring smile. She was glad it sufficed, though, because the smile was so fake it pained the muscles in her cheek.

"Talk of latecomers," she scoffed, an attempt at normalcy to cover up her lapse just moments before, hoping that her channelling her undeniable hatred would be enough to prove she was fine.

Shooting her a weak glare, he shook his head, "Anywho, plebian insults aside, we have.. important matter to discuss."

"Indeed we do.." Tony agreed somberly, face darkening all of a sudden as his gaze fell to the ground. What? Had he already told the team? Was she a fool for thinking she was the first to know? How was everyone so calm about this-

"..choosing party themes are so stressful," the Ironman groaned, "Honestly, Reindeer Games, you were the last one I expected to understand."

Wanda caught Loki's barely noticeable grimace at that, before slamming his façade back on in a practised manner. "Yes, of course," he drawled, undertones of disgust evident in his voice which no one (apart from the witch glaring at him) seemed to notice, "Party Planning."

Loki felt her gaze burning holes into the back of his head at the swift change in plan. Without sparing her a gaze, he let himself relax onto a sofa, arms crossing over his chest as he observed them with obvious disgust. Biting her tongue, Wanda forced herself not to snap at him, instead, wiping her clammy palms on her skirt. Cringing, she realised she hadn't changed since the flight, and everyone seemed to already have done it.

"A party, Tony? Really?" Pepper scoffed, eyes crinkling with mirth as she gazed at him fondly. It was sweet, yes, but it also made Wanda sort of want to puke.

"Of course, Pep, I just came back to the land of the living," he declared proudly, hands taking both of hers as he bowed his head slightly in a half whisper, "I am going to throw the biggest event that Stark Industries has ever seen."

"That sounds lovely," Sam deadpanned, making a false throwing up mime prompting Tony to stick his tongue out at the Falcon.

"Oh dear God, I live with a bunch of children," Natasha groaned, facepalming as she rubbed her hand over her face with genuine exasperation. Usually, it'd bring Wanda endless amusement to watch the harmless banter springing across the room, but it was getting gradually harder with the thought of the Multiverse looming around her head.

Wanda knew she was the Scarlet Witch. Knew that she was capable of magic beyond human comprehension, and that somewhere within that hellbent, terrifying mix lay a concept of the Multiverse. But in all honestly, she knew little to nothing else about it. But now? It seemed to haunt her, an ominous, looming promise of dread encapsulating her.

And so she waited. Waited for Loki's admission to the rest of the team. Waited until everyone else shared her fear and the stress of being the only one knowing was dispersed. Selfishly, she wanted to share that pain, she knew it was wrong, and she'd hate to see the ones she loved in pain, but it stressed her to no end containing a secret which threatened everything.

So she waited.

But it never happened. The conversation continued on smoothly after Tony's party planning comment, on the topic of dazzling chandeliers and walls as clear as an iced over lake, with everyone who was anyone attending. It meant nothing to her. Her gaze remained trained on Loki, eyes searing holes into his head as she waited for him to speak up, refusing to do it herself.

"Oh how fabulous," Loki drawled sarcastically after a comment Tony had made about champagne, and while it hadn't been what Wanda wanted to come out of his mouth, it was a start. "But that sounds pathetic. Mortals can't do anything right, not a threat, and certainly not a party."

That jab was obviously thrown at her, and she battled his smirk with a glare, which surprisingly, he didn't reciprocate, not even giving her the time of day to glance in her direction. It fuelled her rage.

Fine, then. If he wasn't going to say anything, then she was. The words felt like acid in her throat, a fire spewing out with them. So be it.

"Actually, there's something mor-"

"Here's a thought," Loki interrupted, his gaze finally sliding over to her as he caught her eyes, something unreadable swimming in his eyes, something too mischievous for her liking. It reminded her of a snake. A serpent.

"Why not throw your celebration in Asgard?"

"What?"

"What?"

Both responses were shot back at the trickster in an instant, but while Thor's was more of a gleeful shock, Wanda's was a burst of anger overflowing, fists balling by her sides at the useless interjection.

As everyone seemed distracted by the suggestion, with Thor bellowing about what a 'marvellous' idea it was, she watched as Loki caught her attention with a small, barely recognisable shake of his head, mouthing a 'not yet' to her.

Not yet? Not yet? She almost scoffed. What could possibly be worth waiting for? How was this not the urgent matter at hand? What weight did a mere party hold over this? Her knuckles faded white with her death grip on the arm rest of the sofa, teeth gritting together with unruly agression.

"Yes! We shall present to you a true Asgardian party," Thor announced, obviously overjoyed by the very idea of it, the grin on his face growing impossibly larger. Tugging her own fake smile onto her lips, she ignored the ache in her cheeks as she stood up suddenly, stretching out her hands where they rest on her thighs as she excused herself.

"Agreed," Loki added distantly at her suggestion about how late it had become, eyes lingering sceptically on her as he spoke, "You shouldn't deprive a God of his beauty sleep."

Scoffing out a laugh, Clint stood up, stretching out like an ox as he nodded, starting to bid his own goodbyes before being halted by Nat who slyly gestured her head over to Wanda's direction.

Clearly, it was the worst timing possible, as she was amidst flourishing a middle finger at Loki after he had made a comment about her 'eagerness for battle', which he matched with a smirk, looking her up and down in a condescending manner. Whilst the intention of it was just that, condescending, something to make her feel lesser than him, to the two observing them from afar, it didn't come across like that.

Looking at Nat with alarm, she stifled a laugh as she shook her head, standing up as she clasped a hand on his shoulder. She waved everyone goodbye, prompting a stunned Clint to do the same, but he only managed to mutter out a goodnight as he urged Nat away.

Wanda inspected them with a raised brow, they were definitely acting odd, which was weird considering they were trained agents who would certainly be able to mask that usually. Shrugging it off, she marched off towards a corridor besides her without a glance back, intending to find her room. Unfortunately, she came to the realisation she didn't exactly have one yet.

A familiar voice chuckled behind her, Pietro, along with another which she had recently become too acquainted with. A sudden wave of energy flooded her, and at the sound of Pietro's receeding footsteps, she turned on her heel immediately. Seemingly knowing she was there, he turned around, tilting his head slightly.

"Yes?" Loki asked innocently. "Is there a problem? Surely you wouldn't interrupt my forming a new friendship for something trivial." Asshole. ASSHOLE. How dare he act like he didn't just drop world breaking news on her and continue to tease about befriending her brother?

Hatred curled up her spine, practically buzzing in her blood as she sent daggers towards him in her glare.

"Ooh, fiesty. What seems to be the problem?"

"You," she spat.

"My, my, you made that problem yourself when you approached me," he retorted, that stupid, stupid smirk not once faltering. God, the things she would do to wipe that smug look clean off his face.

"No," she uttered slowly, voice dangerously low as she observed him throught narrowed eyes, scarlet obscuring her vision, "You made the problem when you refused to tell the team."

And surprisingly, she got what he deserved. He fell silent, face suddenly turning grim. But it wasn't as satisfying as she expected, not in the slightest, no. It made her stomach churn with the relisation that this meant there could be something much, much worse.

"But please," she slithered out nevertheless, not allowing her fear to halt her determination, "If you do not have the bravery to tell the them.. then at least tell me what we have to do."

He faltered, something flashing over his features, but flooding away in an instant. Eyes flicking across her face, he seemed to examine her for a second, almost as if sensing her intentions. Wait, maybe he was. The prodding in her mind was something Wanda was not a stranger to. She slammed her walls down instantly.

"Stay out of my HEA-"

With a single wave of his finger, he silenced her, her voice lost in her throat. Reeling her head back in shock, she shook her head furiously at him. Stifling a laugh, he simply continued, "Well, you insisted on knowing and I need you to be quiet."

In retaliation, she kicked a metal container besides them with all her strength, it's echo resounding around the room as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Okay, nevermind then."

"Can you just get on with it?" She yelled, but this time, it wasn't a useless exclamation in her mind, he gave her voice back. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he returned with a dazzling smirk at her politeness.

"It was sarcastic dumbass."

"Yes, I picked up on that."

"Will you just-"

"We have to go back in time," he blurted, "Back before we messed with the stones. Before we ruined the timeline."

A silence stunned her, and as she opened her mouth, she only managed to puff out a breath of air.

A beat passed. Then another, before she finally fought out the words, "What if the other universes start splitting into ours already."

"Then I suppose we'll have to be quicker"

a/n:

oohhh whats nat suspecting hehe

also, i owe you an apology for how long this one took me. ive had a busy few weeks, and honestly, some lazy days, but somehow being sick gave me motivation to finish this chapter. anyways, thank you for your patience, and i hope you enjoyed this one <3