• • 2010's • •

WANDA WOKE UP alone in her bed. She looked to her left, noticing that her husband wasn't there.

Did she sleep in?

Either way, she didn't care. She needed the rest.

* * * *

"Look, we've all been there, right?" Wanda chuckled as she sat on the seat speaking to the camera, "Letting our fear and anger get the best of us, intentionally expanding the borders of the false world we created."

* * * *

Back in her bed, Wanda pulled the covers over her face and sighed. Tommy, Billy, and Vivian ran into the room.

"Mom, are you coming down soon?" Tommy asked.

"Mom, our game is freaking out." Billy added.

Their video game controllers had been changing from their usual form to controllers from past eras of time. It changed to UNO cards last and hasn't reverted since.

"Mommy's resting her eyes, honey." Wanda's muffled voice came from under the covers, "Go ask your dad."

"Dad can't fix it." Vivian said, "That's what he's saying."

"Resting...her...eyes." Wanda repeated.

The triplets looked at each other, then walked back downstairs.

* * * *

"As punishment for my reckless evening. I plan on taking a quarantine-style staycation." Wanda faced the camera, "A whole day...just to myself. That'll show me."

* * * *

Downstairs, Tommy and Billy fought for the newly formed controllers. Vivian crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at the sight of her immature brothers.

"All right, all right." Y/N called out walking into the living room from the kitchen, "I sense bloodshed."

"I got to it first!" Tommy exclaimed.

"No, I did!" Billy rebutted.

"I see the UNO cards turned back into a controller." Y/N remarked and looked at Vivian, who gave a nod.

* * * *

"Things have been kind of hectic." Y/N sat on the sofa and spoke to the camera,  "First it was Halloween in the 2000's now it's a normal day a decade later." He chuckled, "Time flies, I guess."

* * * *

Y/N put his hands on his waist as he looked at his sons, "Well, unless you two find a way to settle this peacefully, I'm gonna have to take that controller."

"But, Dad..." Tommy pleaded.

"Them the rules." Y/N replied, "Unless you want to give it your sister."

"Yes! So I can toss it in the trash and actually watch TV." Vivian said.

Tommy and Billy sighed, then the four of them heard footsteps coming downstairs. Y/N turned around and saw Wanda in her pajamas. She made it to the living room, giving a blank look as she started walking to the kitchen.

"Good morning?" Y/N asked but got no response.

* * * *

Y/N leaned back on the couch, "Haven't really spoke to Wanda since that incident down at the festival. I wanted to give her space as I, myself, processed what the heck went on at that moment. I haven't even heard from Vision." Y/N sat back up and kept looking at the camera, "But...I think it's time to re-communicate."

* * * *

Wanda grabbed the carton of milk before also getting a bowl and a box of cereal. She placed it on the counter and started to serve herself breakfast as Y/N walked in.

"Breakfast at 3 in the afternoon? I see this more as a brunch kind of time." Y/N initiated conversation, but Wanda didn't respond and continued serving herself cereal. He had an inkling that Wanda probably knew about his and Vision's plan to investigate Westview during Halloween. It likely pissed her off.

Y/N sighed before talking again, "Wanda, we've been keeping things from each other. I think it's best if we talk."

The carton of milk began to change from a bottle to another different looking carton. It changed back to its original look, but Wanda ignored it and took in a spoonful of her cereal.

"What's there to talk about?" She asked as she chewed and walked back into the living room.

* * * *

"Yeah...I don't know what that was about." Wanda looked into the camera mentioning the milk carton incident, "Probably just a case of the Monday's. Am I right?"

* * * *

Y/N shook his head as his wife left the kitchen. He walked over to the coffee machine and began to brew himself a cup before going back into the living room.

"Have you seen Uncle Vision?" Wanda asked her kids who were sitting on the couch.

"Uh...no." Tommy answered.

"Do you wanna go look for him?" Billy asked.

"Well, if he doesn't wanna be here, there's nothing I can do about it." She replied, the took the remote and tuned into the weather channel.

"Hey, Mom, last night, Uncle P said that thing about re-killing Vis?" Vivian asked.

"Don't believe anything that man said. He is not your uncle."

Tommy was confused, "Who is he?"

Y/N walked in when his son asked that question. He stood by and waited to see what Wanda answered.

"Here's the thing, kids." She placed her bowl on the coffee table, "I'm your mom. And as such, you were counting on me to have all the answers, right?"

The three kids nodded.

Wanda chuckled, "Well, I don't. I have no answers. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Niente." She laughed, "I'm starting to believe that everything is...meaningless."

Billy gave a glance at Tommy.

"You're welcome to draw your own conclusions, of course. But that's just where I'm at." Wanda said.

Y/N took a sip of his coffee after witnessing the unusual exchange.

* * * *

"Okay, maybe I went a little to dark there." Wanda said to the camera, "But they'll be fine."

* * * *

"Yeah..." Y/N said as he sat on the other sofa, "I'm going to have to stage an intervention of some sort."

* * * *

Wanda sat on the couch with her kids. Somebody knocked at the front door, and Y/N was about to answer it but Wanda used her powers to open it herself. She already knew who it was.

"Hi, Agnes. Come on in." She greeted then laughed, "I'd get up, but I just don't want to."

Agnes looked at Wanda, noticing her current state. She glanced at Y/N.

"Hey, Agnes." He greeted.

* * * *

Agnes sat on her own couch and talked to the camera, "But I think I got there in the nick of time, because she was one split end away from cutting her own bangs."

* * * *

"Hey, kids, why don't we give your mom and dad some alone time?" Agnes asked them.

Wanda looked at her, "Agnes, are you sure?"

"Oh, abso-positively."

"Can you take Y/N too?"

Agnes responded with a nervous laugh, and Y/N chose to speak.

"Uh, thank you, Agnes. We appreciate you giving us the chance to talk...alone."

Wanda rolled her eyes and continued watching television.

"Not a problem." She faced the kids, "Come on, kids."

"Be safe, kiddos." Y/N called out as they started walking out the door with Agnes.

"Bye, mom! Bye, dad!" They said in unison. They left the house, and Y/N looked at Wanda.

"I would've preferred some me time." She remarked, eyes still fixated on the TV.

"Well...you're stuck with me for the time being." Y/N inched himself closer to the sofa, "But you already knew that when we said our vows."

Wanda stifled a laugh at his response. Getting that reaction eased the tension a bit. He decided to go straight to the point.

"I'm sorry, Wanda. For lying to you and going behind your back last night."

She crossed her arms and looked at him. It did hurt to know that he and Vision kept suspecting her for what was happening in Westview...even though they were kind of right.

"It's just..." Y/N sat beside her on the couch, "...things were hard to understand. Ever since that night when Pietro arrived...I still don't."

Wanda looked directly at Y/N, her eyes starting to water. She felt bad knowing that her husband was in the dark.

"That's all I want...to understand. It's all too much to ignore now." Y/N said, then held her hands, "Please...be honest."

A tear ran down her face. She didn't want to remember or look back at the past. She did all this so she could forget her pain, or at least suppress it.

"This is all for us, Y/N. So I can be with you." She ran her thumb along the back his hand, "I don't know how I did it, but you're here now."

Y/N kept listening as he held her hands. Wanda wanted to keep all this to herself, but she needed to tell him the truth...or at least some form of it. It's what he deserved.

"Without this, this whole thing around me, I don't think it'd be possible. Everything. Vision...our children...us...I don't know where it will all go."

Y/N looked down and nodded as he took in her explanation. He looked back up at her before asking, "You said I'm here now...where was I before?"

Wanda never wanted to answer that question. She didn't want to recall that memory. Trying to hold back more tears seemed impossible, but she felt like she needed to tell him.

"You were dead." She sniffled, "I lost you."

Her husband inhaled through his nose, then exhaled, taking in the revelation. The idea of him being dead before and somehow coming back to life came as a bit of a shock. But with the capabilities Wanda had...anything was possible. He remembered Billy earlier this week mentioning how Wanda could bring back the dead.

"So..." He began, "I'm back, but only in this place?"

Wanda didn't entirely know. But after seeing how Vision almost died leaving the Hex, she felt like Y/N could suffer the same fate. She gave a small nod.

Y/N sighed, "Okay...okay..."

Wanda noticed his reaction. She placed her hand on his cheek, "Nothing is fake, my love. What you feel, what you've experienced, it's real. Loving me, being a father, being a brother, all of that. That wasn't nothing."

Y/N agreed with her. Yes, maybe everything in Westview was scripted in a way, but what he went through was real. He loved his kids, he loved Vision, he still loved Wanda.

"That I know, Wanda. That's something I can't deny." Y/N said as he grabbed her hand that was on his cheek, "My love for you was real ever since I came back, as if that part of me was still there."

Wanda smiled at his words. Y/N smiled back too. He understood some of why Wanda would bring him back, but still didn't know the full extent of his past life. For now though, he was happy that he got to have a heart to heart with Wanda.

"Thank you, my love, for telling me. I know it must've hurt to do so." He told her.

"I knew I couldn't keep it from you forever. I love you." She replied, eyes still puffy from her crying.

"I love you, too." Y/N said, then leaned in and their lips met.

Their kiss became more intense, and he ran his hands along her back as Wanda gripped the back of his head. Their tongues battled, and then Y/N began leaving a trail of kisses along her neck as they laid down on the couch. The passion continued, it felt like something they needed.

* * * *

"I'd say that alone time worked." Y/N told the interviewer. He had an arm around Wanda as they both sat on the sofa, "Who needs couple's therapy?"

"We made definite progress." Wanda added. Y/N looked at her, "We should have more of these talks.

• • •

Y/N WALKED DOWN the sidewalk and went towards Agnes's house. Wanda told him to go pick up the kids, and he was obliged to do so.

He knocked on the door, but after some time, there was no answer. He knocked again and called out, "Agnes? Kids?"

He tried the door knob, and was surprised to see it was unlocked. He walked in, seeing that the living room was empty.

"Agnes? Your door was unlocked." He called out again.

He looked around the room, noticing how everything was dimly lit and dark. He also didn't expect a person like Agnes to have the sort of decor he saw.

"Dad?" He heard Vivian call out. He looked down the hallway, seeing that the door to the basement was open. He figured that's where her shout came from.

"Viv? You down there?"

He went down the staircase and into the basement. He noticed the stone walls and even dark branches rooted on them as he walked deeper down the corridor. He was confused.

He saw a dark room at the end of the hallway. It looked like some sort of lair. He kept walking down, then he finally stepped into t e r o m t b o p n m d g l h l  k a b n  l y

01000100 01000101 01010000 01001111 01010111 01000101 01010010 01000101 01000100 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01001100 01000101 01000001 01010110 01001001 01001110 01000111 00100000 01001000 01000101 01011000 00001101 00001010 00001101 00001010 01000001 01001100 01001001 01010110 01000101

• • 2023 • •

Y/N GRABBED AT THE SIDES of his head as felt a sudden thumping pain. He got onto his knees and slammed his fist on the floor.

By entering the room, he had unknowingly left Wanda's hex. All the memories of his past life...from his childhood, to being in the military, to S.H.I.E.L.D, to the Avengers...it all started rushing back into his brain.

"Argh!" Y/N groaned as he still tried to bear with the headache. It was all coming so fast and it disoriented him. He ultimately fell to the floor and began to pant.

Amidst his discomfort, he heard footsteps near him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw who stood above him. The woman held her pet rabbit and ran her hands along it as she grinned. It was Agnes...but not Agnes.

"I would've had some tea ready if you phoned earlier, Y/N." Agatha Harkness said, "Or should I say...Specter."