2023 ― Westview, New Jersey

WHEN CHRISTIAN ROGERS GOT BACK FROM WORK, he overheard Wanda and the boys talking, and he heard Tommy say, "Bring him back, Mom." Which made him raise an eyebrow. Who had died while he was gone?

"Bring who back?" Christian asked. Wanda stood up from the ground and turned around to face her husband, and then he saw Sparky wrapped in a blanket in Agnes' arms, and he realized what was going on, so he walked to his sons. "Oh, boys... Come here." He said as he pulled them both into his arms.

Then they all walked home.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

After they got the boys home, Christian went out on a walk to gather his thoughts before talking to Wanda. And he buried their dog. What happened at his job with Vision and Norm was still on his mind, and he needed answers. He didn't know if Wanda would give them to him, but he still needed them. Wanda was cleaning up the boys' toys when she heard Christian come in through the back door.

"How are the boys?" He asked.

"A little heartbroken, but they'll be alright," Wanda said. She looked over at Christian, who was washing the dirt from his hands.

"Well, it's not often you get a dog and bury them the same day." He said.

"Well, life moves pretty fast out in the suburbs," Wanda said, and Christian's eyebrows furrowed. That's all she had to say? The dog that they just got that day is already dead, and that was the only thing she had to say about it?

"I spoke with Vision and Norm," Christian said as he turned around while he was drying his hands.

"Oh?" Wanda said. She wasn't really sure what they had to do with anything.

"Vision unearthed the man's suppressed personality, and we spoke to him free of your oversight," Christian said as he fully turned to face her. A hurt and confused expression overcame Wanda's face as she looked at Christian. "He was in pain, Wanda."

"Christian... Listen, can we just...-" Christian cut her off. She mainly didn't want to talk about this since she just confronted Hayward and spoke with Katherine.

"...-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." Christian said as he walked over to the counter that was between them. Wanda looked at her husband and tilted her head to the side.

"Can't I?" Wanda said as she turned around to leave the room. "I'm going to bed." She said.

"No! We're not done here," Christian said as he followed behind her. "What is the Maximoff Anomaly?" He asked.

"The what?" She asked.

"I have to believe that this, whatever this is, was subconscious at first and that you only recently became aware of it," Christian said as he walked over to her. She was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

"Aware of what?" She asked as she walked into the living room.

"Norm has a family, Wanda!" Christian yelled as he followed her into the living room. "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!" Wanda yelled back.

"Stop lying to me!" Christian yelled again as he hoisted himself in the air, so Wanda did the same.

"This, all of this, is for us. So let me handle it." Wanda said.

"What is outside of Westview?" Christian asked.

"You don't wanna know. I promise you..." Wanda said, and Christian shook his head.

"You don't get to make that choice for me, Wanda!" Christian yelled back. Wanda shook her head as she looked at him; they were both still elevated in the air.

"You've never talked to me like this before," Wanda said as she lowered herself to the ground.

"Before what?" He asked as Wanda continued to go down to the ground, and he followed suit, but she wasn't answering. "Before what? I can't remember my life before Westview! I don't know who I am! I'm scared." Christian said.

"You are my husband. You're Tommy and Billy's father. Isn't that enough?" Wanda asked.

"Did I even have a family before we had ours? Do I have parents? Any siblings? I don't know anything, Wanda." Christian said. Wanda sighed as she looked at him, and then Christian looked out of the window. "Wanda, why are there no other children in Westview?"

"Oh, god! There are! Just stop it!" Wanda said as she let go of his hands, and she walked over to the couch and flopped down on it.

"No, no. The playground stands empty every morning I walk to work. Why? Tell me why?" Christian asked.

"Do you really think that I am controlling everything? That I am somehow in charge of everybody in Westview? I'm walking their dogs, mowing their lawns, getting them to dentist appointments on time? I mean, I... I don't know how any of this started in the first place." Wanda said. Christian sighed as he walked over to his wife and sat down on the couch.

"Wanda... what you're doing here, it's wrong..." He said, and Wanda sighed as she started to say something but couldn't find the words. "It is wrong." He said, and then the doorbell rang. Christian quickly looked over at the door before he turned back to his wife.

"I didn't do that," Wanda said, but Christian wouldn't meet her gaze. "You don't believe me." She said.

"Wanda, I want to, but at this point, I'm ignoring statistics entirely," Christian said as the doorbell rang again. Wanda sniffled as she stood up and walked over to the door, and Christian went with her when she opened the door.

Her eyes widened.

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

S.W.O.R.D.

As the alarm was blaring, Darcy and Katherine ran to the broadcasting stream that they had pulled up to see what was going on. Although, Katherine and Steve had just witnessed the entire argument that Christian and Wanda had. And even though she knew it wasn't her actual son, but a Christian that Wanda created, it made her sad when he asked Wanda if he even had a family outside of the one they created.

"Wanda, who is this?" They heard Christian's voice. Katherine could see the look of shock written all over Wanda's face, and now she wanted to know who was at the door. The camera panned, and Katherine could see it was someone with silver hair and her eyes widened. Did Wanda remake Pietro too?

"Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinkin' sister to death or what?" He asked, and Katherine's eyes widened at who was on the screen because that definitely wasn't the Pietro that she remembered. Darcy and Katherine both looked at each other.

"She recast Pietro?"

⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎⇎

It's about to take a turn.

Don't forget to vote/comment.

xoxo.