The Scarlet Witch: Enemy of the Nexus

The Institute

Walking through the Institute made your skin crawl with how familiar yet foreign the place is. It was similar to the one you grew up in but somehow vastly different. Luckily, neither Jean or Raven are in the mood to give the full tour of the facility. The only rooms that they show you to are the room that you and Wanda are staying in and after setting your bags inside, they guide you two to the war room. Inside were various monitors that were broadcasting information the two women must've collected from the other universes. A long table that had a mess of files and folders, even a few trays of food and disposable cups. On the wall at the back of the room was a giant map. It was the strangest map you had ever seen. It was of many universes with many random numbers floating about. On the right side of the screen were numbers in red.

You step closer to get a better look at the numbers. "Those are the universes that we're assuming the witch has already destroyed." The person that answers the question you hadn't asked yet was Carol Danvers, she was munching on some chips while you stared at Captain Marvel wide-eyed. "Hi, I'm Carol–"

"Danvers," Wanda completes as she looks at the woman in disbelief. "Wow, there's a nexus of you too?"

The woman smiles awkwardly, still not used to any part of this situation. "Yeah, I suppose there is. I'm not a complete asshole in your universe am I? The two of you look kind of shocked to see me."

"No," you clear your throat and shake your head to bring yourself back. "No, we were friends until you uh, I mean. We– well, she was really good friends with our Carol until she died on a mission," you explain. Now you understand what Jean and Raven must be going through with you. It was shocking and difficult to see a version of the person that you had cared about and mourned, standing in front of you alive and well. She has shorter hair than your friend did, but otherwise the resemblance was uncanny. You look to your wife to see if she is okay. They had a close relationship and it was hard for her to lose her best friend. On the night of the funeral she made you promise to never go on another mission again, because she needs you more than the world does.

Wanda is trying to keep from getting emotional but she can't help it. To see her friend again felt really good. "Can I hug you?" She asks before she wraps her arms around the woman anyways. Carol laughs as she returns the hug.

"I'm glad to know she had you as a friend. If we were anything alike, she really needed someone like you in her life," she says as she comforts your wife.

"Were we friends too?" You ask to fill in the conversation that your wife couldn't at the moment.

Carol shrugs, "You married her so we tolerated each other." You're amused by her bluntness and make a comment about the universes not being so different after all. She laughs as she pats Wanda on the back to politely end the hug. "Alright, Maximoff, time to release me." Wanda nods and pulls away as she wipes away some of her tears and thanks her. "No need, believe me, with how stressful all of this is," she gestures to the intimidating room, "I needed that hug just as much as you did."

Wanda excuses herself to go clean up and when you offer to go with her she refuses you and tells you to stay put. "Where is everyone else?" Jean asks as she sets down the tablet she was preoccupied with. A screen that wasn't on before is now showing the information they had collected from your universe.

"Wonderbread is sleeping in and your highness the fancy toaster is out collecting more data on the other Nexus Beings. Seeing how many are left, estimating how many she took." Carol sits down and kicks her feet up on the table as she bunches up the empty snack bag and tosses it over her shoulder.

Raven shakes her head, narrowing her eyes, "And what were you doing?"

"Keeping your seat warm, darling," she winks at the shapeshifter that rolls her eyes as she tries to organize the area a bit more. When she left, the place was spotless, she should've known she would have needed to ask one of her colleagues to come in every now and then to reorganize the place.