WANDA WALKED down the street, running her hands through her hair while she took a deep breath. Carson was walking behind her, letting out a scoff at the fact she had walked off, not listening to what he was saying.

"Wanda." Carson spoke up once more, his patience wearing thin at this point. "We need to talk."

"No, we need to get back to the boys." Wanda dismissed him.

Carson let out a frustrated huff and grabbed her wrist to stop her from walking. Wanda's breath hitched in her throat at the sudden, harsh, contact. Her gaze flicked down to his hand and she tried to pull it from his grip but he didn't let go.

He wasn't going to let her run away from this again.

"What were you doing?" He questioned.

Wanda looked around as she thought of what to say. "What, were you following me or something?"

"Answer the question Wanda."

"I was going for a walk." Wanda snatched her arm from his grip. "Do I need to ask for your permission in future?"

"Oh, really?" Carson raised a brow. "All the way at edge of town?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" Wanda shrugged.

Carson rolled his eyes. "You appeared from nowhere Wanda! Your clothes even changed!"

Wanda broke their eye contact and looked down at the ground. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't bullshit me Witchy." Carson clenched his jaw. "I know you're hiding something from me."

"No I'm n—"

"Listen, I'm gonna give you two options here." Carson cut her off. "You can either tell me what the hell is going on and we can work it out together. Or I can figure it out on my own."

Wanda sighed. "Carson..."

"No Wanda." Carson shook his head. "I can't just sit here and pretend everything's okay, because it's not! I know you're keeping something from me and I know it has something to do with this place. So tell me, what's it gonna be?"

Wanda met his eyes once more and exhaled shakily. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the voices of Billy and Tommy calling out to them.

"Mom!"

"Dad!"

The two of them looked over at the twins who were stood further up on the opposite side of the road, at the end of Agnes' driveway.

"It's Sparky, we found him!" Tommy waved them over excitedly.

Carson smiled at Tommy and started to walk over. Wanda reached out for his arm but he recoiled at the touch and looked over his shoulder at Wanda who was stood there with a saddened look on her face.

"Don't Wanda." Carson told her. "We can talk about this later."

"But—"

"Later."

Wanda swallowed thickly and nodded, following behind him. When the two of them reached the boys, the excited look they had on their faces had faded and was now replaced by one of pure panic.

They joined Billy and Tommy, watching as Agnes emerged from one of her bushes holding Sparky wrapped up in a blanket.

"I... I didn't wanna come until I'd wrapped him up." Agnes said quietly.

"What happened to him?" Carson asked.

"Found him in my azalea bushes." Agnes replied. "Don't know how many leaves he ate. I didn't find him until it was too late."

Wanda walked over to Agnes and looked down at the blanket, her breath hitching in her throat when she saw a small amount of fur sticking through.

"Tommy, Billy... I'm so sorry." Agnes looked at the boys.

Billy and Tommy both looked at each other and nodded, planning to age themselves up once more so they didn't have to experience the grief of losing their dog.

Wanda realized what they were doing and shook head head quickly. "Wait, don't... don't."

"Don't what?" Tommy sniffled.

"Don't age yourselves up." Wanda moved over to them and so did Carson. "The urge to run from this feeling is powerful... I know."

"It's too sad." Billy whispered.

"You can fix anything, Mom." Tommy spoke up. "Fix the dead."

"I..." Wanda quickly glanced over at Carson, but he didn't notice because his eyes were fixed on his kids. "No..."

"You can do that?" Agnes asked.

Carson's gaze now landed upon Wanda and the two made eye contact for a moment before Wanda turned her attention back to the twins.

"I am trying to tell you that there are rules in life, okay?" Wanda continued. "We can't rush things just because it's convenient. And we can't reverse death... no matter how sad it makes us." She took a deep breath, holding back her own tears. "Some things... some things are forever."

"But you said family is forever." Billy reminded her.

"And he is family." Tommy added. "Bring him back."

"Oh boys, come here." Carson crouched down in front of them and gave them a sad smile. Billy and Tommy both moved into his embrace and Carson kissed the top of their heads.

"Let's go home, okay?"

~~ ᗢ ~~

LATER THAT NIGHT, Carson entered the kitchen through the back door after burying Sparky in the back garden. He looked up to see Wanda putting away Billy and Tommy's toys and let out a sigh, walking over to the sink to wash his hands.

Wanda smiled timidly at him, the couple not having spoken since their argument earlier. Although, when Carson ignored Wanda's small gesture and turned his attention back to the sink she frowned and looked back down at the toy basket.

"How are the boys?" Carson asked. Not because he wanted to start a conversation or to clear the air or anything, he was only asking because he wanted to know how his kids were holding up.

"A little heartbroken, but they'll be alright." Wanda said quietly.

Carson looked down at his hands as he continued washing them. "Well, it's not often you get a dog and bury it all in the same day. But then again, that's just how things seem to work around here isn't it?"

Wanda picked up the basket and placed it down on the counter, letting out a quiet huff at the subtle dig. "Life moves pretty fast in the suburbs. That's all."

"Right." Carson responded as he picked up and towel and started to dry his hands. He turned around to face Wanda, looking her in the eye as he leant his back against the counter. "I spoke to Norm today."

"Oh?" Wanda's brows came together, unsure as to why he was being brought up.

"Actually, let me rephrase that." Carson said. "I spoke to the real Norm, free of your oversight. He was in pain Wanda."

"Carson..." Wanda chuckled lightly. "Listen, can we just—

"Can we just what?" Carson interrupted. "Watch TV? Go to bed? Just so you can change everything over again? No Wanda." He moved over to the island counter, standing opposite to her. "You can't control me the way you do with them."

Wanda's head cocked to the side. "Can't I?"

With that, Wanda started to head out the kitchen and make her way into the living room. Carson followed behind her and when Wanda tried to open the door, Carson placed his hand against it to stop her from doing so.

"No, we're not done here." Carson clenched his jaw. "This is serious Wanda."

Wanda turned around and looked up at him, slightly shocked at his reaction.

"What is the Maximoff Anomaly?" Carson questioned.

"The what?" Wanda asked.

Carson inhaled sharply before speaking. "I've been thinking about it since this morning ever since I saw the message. This town, the people, all the strange things that's been happening... I think that this, whatever this is, was subconscious at first. That you only recently became aware of it."

"Aware of what!" Wanda scoffed and pushed his arm away, storming off into the living room.

Carson let out an annoyed grunt and followed after her. "Norm has a family Wanda! He has a family, and he can't reach them because YOU won't let him reach them!"

Wanda spun around to face him. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Carson shouted back, his veins beginning to light up down his arms along with his eyes flaming red.

Wanda's eyes did the same and she lifted herself up into the air, energy pooling in the palm of her hands. "This, all of this, is for us so let me handle it."

"I keep seeing things Wanda. Seeing these people. At first I thought they were some kind of strange vision but they're memories, they're my memories! And every time I try to think about it, I can't remember anything! But I knew them, I know that I knew them and you're keeping them from me!" Carson looked outside the window. "What is outside of Westview!"

Wanda swallowed the lump in her throat. "You don't wanna know I promise you."

Energy started to swirl around Carson's hands as he got more worked up. "You don't get to make that choice for me Wanda!"

Wanda lowered herself down to the ground. "You've never talked to me like this before..."

"BEFORE WHAT!" Carson's breathing picked up as he tried to think back to before he and Wanda moved to the small town, but just like every other time nothing came up. "I can't remember my life before Westview... I don't know who I am!"

Wanda carefully walked up to Carson, her powers starting to fade away. She held out her hands for him to take and he was reluctant at first, he'll admit. But after a few seconds he gave in and slowly slid his hands into hers, his powers starting to die down also.

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

Carson looked down at their hands, his eyes flicking between their wedding rings.

Carson showed a picture on his phone of the ring in the shop window to a man who was stood in the kitchen on a hologram video call.

"So, what do you think?" Carson asked. "I already know she likes it because every time we walk past the shop window she stops to look at it. But it's enough right? She'll be happy with it? You don't think I should get another?"

"Listen bud, you gotta slow down." The man chuckled. "You're talking too fast, I got no clue what you're saying. At all."

Carson sighed. "Tony I'm serious."

"So am I." Tony shrugged. "I literally have no clue what you just said."

A blond woman entered the frame and nudged Tony in the arm making him wince before sitting down next to him.

"I think it's beautiful Carson." The woman smiled. "Wanda will love it."

"You're sure?"

The woman nodded. "I'm sure."

"Thanks pep." Carson let out a relived breath. "At least someone was helpful."

Tony rolled his eyes. "What! I couldn't hear you, come on that's not fair!"

"Oh it's fair." Carson laughed.

"Whatever." Tony scoffed. "But seriously, I do like the ring. When are you getting it?"

"We have to leave here tonight so I won't get the chance without her being suspicious." Carson explained. "So I'm going to get the company to ship it over to Edinburgh a few days after we've landed."

Now being broken out of his thoughts, Carson looked up at Wanda who was already looking at him, confusion written all over her face as to what just happened.

"Who's Tony?" Carson asked her.

Wanda's breath got caught up in her throat and she let go of Carson's hands, walking over to the couch and sitting down. "I... I don't know."

"You can't keep doing this Wanda, you can't keep just lying straight to my face!" Carson looked over at her. "I deserve to know the truth, all these people deserve it."

"Do you really think that I am controlling everything?" Wanda's voice cracked a little as her volume increased. "That I— I'm somehow in charge of everybody in Westview? Walking their dogs, mowing their lawns, getting them to dentist appointments on time!" Wanda moved her hair out of her face and took a deep breath. "I don't know how any of this started in the first place."

Carson kneeled down next to her and placed his hand on her knee. "Wanda... what you're doing here is wrong."

Wanda put her head in her hands and let out a shaky breath.

"I just— I don't understand why you did this in the first place." Carson said. "What happened Wanda? What happened that made you do this?"

Wanda lifted up her head and looked at him, tears starting to form in her eyes when she thought back to the evens that occurred a few weeks ago.

"You—"

The doorbell suddenly rang, stopping Wanda from finishing her sentence. The couple both shared a look and Carson scoffed lightly making Wanda shake her head and grab onto his hand.

"I didn't do that." Wanda told him honestly.

Carson looked away and let out a sigh, moving his gaze down to the floor.

"You don't believe me." Wanda mumbled, letting go of his hand.

Carson got to his feet and looked down at her. "I wish I could."

The doorbell rang again and Wanda wiped her eyes before making her way over with Carson following behind.

Wanda opened the door and a gasp left her mouth when she saw the man that was stood on her doorstep. Carson's brows furrowed at her reaction and he walked over to see for himself who it was.

"Pietro..." Wanda whispered.

The door to Carson's bedroom flung open, along with a blue trail speeding in within the blink of an eye. Carson jumped at the sudden entrance and looked up from the book he was reading to see Pietro stood glaring at him.

"Y'know there's this thing people like to do, it's great, really ground breaking. I don't know if you've heard of it..." Carson put his book down on the table next to his chair. "It's called knocking."

Pietro didn't reply to his remark. Instead he continued to stare at him.

"Okayyyy." Carson mumbled. "Not a fan of sarcasm."

"You." Pietro pointed at him.

Carson looked around his room then back at Pietro. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Pietro nodded. "Stop flirting with my sister."

"I'm not?" Carson told him.

"Yes, yes you are."

"Uh no, no I'm not."

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Yes you are. You think I didn't see the whole 'the jacket looks better on you anyway' trick you did. She practically turned into a tomato once you'd left the room."

"Oh, did she now?" Carson smirked. "Good to know."

"Look, we're only here to help with Ultron, then we leave." Pietro sighed. "Just stay away from her alright?"

"Why?" Carson questioned him, a little offended.

"I don't trust you around her!" Pietro stated. "You've caused enough harm to her already."

Carson scoffed. "Are you kidding me? She played around in me and my family's minds. What was I supposed to do, ask her to marry me?"

"I mean it." Pietro's eyes narrowed. "Stay away."

The man looked between the both of them, smiling warmly. He stepped closer and turned his attention to Wanda. "Long lost bro get to squeeze his stinkin' sister to death or what?"

Wanda's eyes started to fill up and she threw herself into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him tightly. Pietro's smile grew and he hugged her back instantly.

After a few seconds, the two pulled away and Pietro looked over at Carson and chuckled.

"There really was no keeping you two apart, was there?"

~~ ᗢ ~~

two in one day????

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