The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

The world's silence

The world went quiet for a while after Agatha died. Not because it mourned for Agatha's death, but because it knew exactly what would follow after it.

Digging her hands into the dirt, Wanda pushed her aching body to a stand when she saw that the air was clearing up. While the rest of the team took it slowly to recover and lift themselves up, Wanda couldn't wait any longer.

Once the worst of the storm washed away and the dust settled, y/n's silhouette was noticed by the team. Wanda was the first to notice. Her eyes scanned the area the moment the smog began clearing, so her eyes were the first to spot y/n in the wreck of it all.

Despite not knowing anything other than the fact that y/n was standing, Wanda couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. She pushed herself up and rushed over to y/n, which brought the attention of other teammates.

"Hey- you're okay," Wanda practically gasped in excitement, "you did it, y/n, you did it!"

Everyone else had stood up and circled around the two girls, letting them have their reunion before they themselves could hug and celebrate for her. While Wanda grabbed y/n's shoulders gently and stared lovingly into her eyes, y/n looked in the distance. She wasn't intentionally looking away from Wanda; her body had became too weak to control the little movements like that.

"Y/n?" Wanda asked when she didn't get any kind of response after a while.

Then, when y/n finally looked into Wanda's eyes, that's when she gave in. With a small and inaudible whimper, her legs gave in and she fell. Wanda caught her quickly and helped her lie down so she didn't hurt herself, but her brows furrowed in worry instantly.

"Hey," Wanda softly looked at her, "you're okay, right? You'll be okay, you're y/n. You can do anything." She looked down into her eyes, seeing that there was no promise of life. But she had hope. She had to have hope. "We're gonna be okay. We're going to get through this, y/n, we're okay."

"Wanda," y/n stretched the undamaged hand to place it on top of Wanda's. Before she could finish her words, she began coughing.

To help her, Wanda lifted her to sit up, but couldn't stop her own eyes from falling to her arm. While patting the coughs out of y/n, Wanda focused on how the fight had completely scarred her arm from her shoulder to her fingertips.

"It's blood, Wanda," Bucky told her, rushing down to help with y/n when he realised that Wanda had been distracted by something else, "she's coughing up blood."

When Wanda heard that, she snapped out of it and continued patting y/n's back. Even when y/n stopped coughing, her weak body dropped back down into Wanda's hold, her head being shielded from hitting the floor by Bucky placing his hand on the back of it.

"Y/n," Wanda's voice became a desperate plead as she began to feel nothing from her, "come on, my love, please."

Being as gentle as ever, Bucky hovered his fingers over y/n's arm, seeing the physical damage and feeling the burn coming off of it. Wanda gave him a look - her eyes asking if y/n was going to be okay - but all he could do was shake his head. By the time Wanda looked back at y/n, she saw that y/n was looking at her own arm. When she saw the damage that had been done, the irreversible impairment that came from her persistence, she looked up to Wanda with the few tears she had left in her own eyes.

Her weak voice barely managed to spit out her next words, "I'm sorry."

While tears streamed down Wanda's face, y/n's eyes fluttered to a close but she tried desperately to keep them open for Wanda.

"Y/n, please, ple..." She took a deep breath to try and calm down, but it didn't work, "I don't want to be here without you," her hand shook as she rested it on y/n's face, "I don't want- I can't be here without you." Stroking her face, she begged, "please, y/n, I'll do anything. I need you here, I need you with me. You're my air, you're my life- I can't do this without you."

She held out hope, but when she received no reply, she turned to Strange to see him standing above her, frozen and silent in shock.

"Strange, please do something," she begged, holding tightly to y/n's hand that slipped further away every second.

The man's shock took over his body, and he only just managed to provide an answer, "I can't."

"Yes, you can- STRANGE PLEASE!" She yelled in distress, "please, I'm begging you- just..." she sniffed, "bring her back. Pl- please bring her back to me."

"Wanda, it-..." he shook his head, "I can't."

"No- no, I can't lose her," Wanda turned back, cradling y/n's head in her hand, "you don't get it, I can't lose her. I cant- I'll-... I don't know what I'll do without her." She placed y/n's hand against her forehead, closing her eyes. "Take me. It should've been me. Please, take me instead."

The world ceased to make noise. While crowding around the body, the rest of the team remained silent as well. None of them ever took their eyes off of y/n, and none of them dared to say anything or move slightly. To allow Wanda to mourn, they fought the urge to burst out in tears and hug y/n until they couldn't anymore. Because not only had Wanda lost her love, but the rest of the team lost their best friend.

So, there was silence. A numb, aching, frightening silence. No one could think of anything to say that would console each other in the moment, but Bucky thought of something as his eyes trailed over y/n one more time.

"I might have an idea," he suggested.

Their heads turned, but Wanda's didn't. While she did listen to his next words, her eyes never left the body of her wife.