Variation - W.M.

Chapter 74 - January 21, 2017

After my day with Oscar I was in a much better mood, almost giddy in fact. I had returned home and left the flowers for Wanda before collapsing on my bed and drifting off to sleep for the first time in years without any kind of aid.

Once I woke up I felt oddly calm despite everything, the normal anxious and tense energy I carried melting away and being replaced by an energetic ease.

When it was time for me to brief a group about the mission I was surprised that I didn't feel any bitterness towards my inability to assist. I simply stood at the front of the room with a smile on my face as I waited for those summoned to join us.

When Wanda walked through the door, Pietro following close behind her, my mood dipped fractionally but it was soon brought back up by the small smile she gave me and the pink flower she had tucked behind her ear.

With Steve by my side I rattled off the information of the mission, answering any questions to the best of my ability before everyone filed out to get ready. Wanda lingered in the room, taking the flower out of her hair and twisting it gently between her fingers.

"I assume the flowers were from you?"

I nodded, smiling softly. "They were. Sorry if they looked a little rough, I spent like an hour walking and stealing them people's front yards."

The brunette smiled back, her eyes flickering between mine. "You seem more at peace today than you ever have before."

"I am" I confirmed, my head dipping into a nod. I didn't bother elaborating, deciding that my day with Oscar, at least from my side, would stay a secret. Instead I switched gears. "I'm sorry, by the way. About everything."

"I know" she nodded, her hand moving to tap my head. "And I didn't need to read your thoughts to know that."

I chuckled, my hand moving through my hair. The silence that filled the room was laced with an awkwardness that I had never felt with Wanda, this one or the one from my world. It reminded me of the times I had spent alone with Nat in my own timeline; unsure of what else to say but aware that I shouldn't simply walk away.

"Did you mean what you said?"

My eyes found Wanda's at the break of the silence and I bit my lip. I didn't know exactly what she was talking about; which moment of our hostile exchange she could possibly be referencing, but it didn't truly matter. The answer was the same.

"I did" I answered, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You're really going back?"

"I don't have a way to get there yet, but I have to" I sighed, my heart clenching at the thought. "I love it here. I have a family with the Avengers and my brother is alive and I have you. Part of me wishes I could just be okay here, that I wasn't so hellbent on getting home and a larger part wishes that there was nowhere for me to go, that this was my timeline from the beginning. But it's not and the place I left has someone who needs me."

"Even if you can't be with her the way you want?"

I hummed, a sad smile spreading across my face. "I love her in the way that I just want her to be happy. If that means that I have to simply support her and help her get Vision back in a way that won't hurt thousands of people then that's what I'll do."

Wanda chuckled, gesturing to me. "You have powers now so you'll be more help than you were before."

I gasped, my hand moving to my heart in feigned offense as a calm washed over me. We were okay. She didn't hate me. "Ouch, Maximoff, so harsh. I was super helpful before."

Wanda opened her mouth to disagree when a loud thundering sound came from outside, a flash of light accompanying it. I furrowed my brows and ran to the window, eyes widening when I caught sight of a blond man with a serious look on his face.

"That's Thor" I breathed, pressing my face further against the glass. I had never gotten to meet the god as he had left the compound before I had gotten there in my timeline. My awe was quickly replaced by confusion when a familiar man with black hair appeared next to Thor.

My conversation with Wanda was quickly forgotten and I pushed myself through the glass, dropping to the ground and meeting Steve, Tony and Nat in front of Thor and Loki.

"You always do this on the lawn. Why not the roof, there's plenty of room" Tony complained and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Thanos is coming."

Three words spoken in the blond's deep accented voice sent ice through my veins and all the air out of my lungs.

"Who?" Steve asked, his face scrunched in confusion as Tony pouted at the ruined grass. Nat was watching Loki closely, a hand hovering over her gun.

"He's a titan after the stones. Heimdall says he already has the power and reality stones. He's coming here next."

I sunk to the ground, my breath coming out in strained pants. It was too early, why was he coming now? He wasn't supposed to come for another year, we should have had more time.

"Is this human okay?" Loki asked but I couldn't tell much else thanks to the blurriness of the world.

"Ollie?" Steve called and I felt a large hand land on my shoulder.

"It's too early, he shouldn't...why is he...please" I gasped out, trying to recall how to breath as my lungs ran empty.

"Hey, calm down" Tony instructed, his voice coming from somewhere in front of me and I felt him grab my hand and place it against his chest. "Just breathe in and out. Follow me."

I closed my eyes and focused on the rising and falling of his chest and my hand, mimicking the pattern. In for five, out for five. When I felt calmer I smiled gratefully at Tony and retracted my hand.

"Thank you."

"I've had a few of my own, don't worry" he assured me before standing back up. Steve held out a hand to pull me back to my feet and I accepted it gratefully.

"So what's wrong? What happened?" Steve questioned.

I took a shuddering breath before looking straight at Thor. "You said he's coming; why here? This is supposed to be his last stop."

Thor's brows furrow in confusion at the wording of my statement. "He has no chance at beating Odin to retrieve the space stone unless he has the power of the other five. Few know where the soul stone resides so that leaves the mind and time stones."

Based on his answer it wasn't hard to conclude the fact that he hadn't taken the mind stone with him to Asgard, as Wanda had told me, but that it resided here on earth. I shoved aside my frustration at the witch and nodded, my brain racing to formulate a plan that would lead us to a different outcome than my timeline.

"We need to tell everyone. Wakanda is going to be our biggest ally. Someone needs to alert the Sanctum since they have the time stone. If we had more time and a bunch of vibranium then creating Vision would be a good plan but we don't so we'll just have to hope that having Pietro and me will make up for it. We-"

"Who are you?" Thor interrupted, watching me as I rambled and paced back and forth. I stopped, blinking at him.

"Now is not the time for introductions. We have work to do."

"That's Ollie. She appeared here a few months ago from another timeline. She's dealt with this Thanos guy before."

"Not directly but I fought his little minions and then got dusted and when I was brought back I got debriefed at SWORD so I'd still say my knowledge is pretty good."

Thor's brow furrowed and he looked to Steve. "Dusted?" Steve just shrugged in response.

"What's that?" Pietro's voice chimed in and I glanced behind me, seeing the rest of the Avengers beginning to gather before following his line of sight, my stomach dropping when I caught sight of a giant ring-shaped spaceship.

"That is a sign that we are completely and utterly fucked."