open arms, mcu ✓

forty three

chapter forty three
╰ ( wandavision: episode four )

💫 ━━ DARCY watched with interest as Paisley fiddled with the ring on her finger. It seemed to fit just perfectly, that it couldn't come off but not be so tight it hurt her.

"That ring." Jimmy leaned forward, eyeing it with interest. "It's not in the picture of her at Wakanda."

Someone moved around the tent, pulling out a file and silently handing it to Jimmy.

"Thank you!" Darcy grinned, reaching out and pulling it closest to herself. She opened the file, eyeing all the papers and images that were tucked neatly inside.

It started with files from the red room and hydra, something that Nick Fury had no doubt dug up. And then the words on paper progressed; when ultron had risen and attempted to take over the world, when the Sokovia accords and the civil war between Tony Stark and Steve Rodgers happened, when Thanos first appeared, then her life during the blip, then when Thanos appeared for the second time and then everything after that leading up to this moment in time.

"Look." Jimmy pointed to a picture of Paisley sitting on a jet, no doubt the jet that was brining her from Tony's farm to the nearest landing point by Westview. "She isn't wearing that ring. Could Wanda have given it to her?"

Darcy fiddled with the tv, hoping that she could rewind it to when Paisley had either entered Westview or when she had shown up at the Maximoff home. "Shoot." The tv went static and all image of the life inside Westview was gone. "Someone fix the tv!"

Jimmy chuckled, reaching around the girl and fiddling with a knob. The static went away and the tv flashed with a few quick images — as if it was fast forwarding to present time.

"You wanna go for a picnic?" Lizzy questioned, fiddling with her fingers and she kicked her feet back and forth on the swing.

Darcy stared at the girl, taking notice of everything. Her dark black hair, a dark forest green dress that hugged her body almost to tightly, pretty little shoes and freshly painted nails. "She looks nervous, but not that Paisley will say yes. Because they're friends, why would she say no? It's something else."

"Sure!" Paisley nodded, smiling brightly and blushing as she looked towards Lizzy. "You let me know when, okay? I'll bring candy!"

"See, look." Darcy pointed to the screen, her fingers touching the old glass. "She still looks nervous."

The video ends and a commercial fills the box of a tv.

It's a few hours later when the tv pops up again. Darcy stirs from her sleep, blinking and groaning as she looks at the colourful image displayed on the screen.

"Tommy. Billy." Paisley cooed as she stepped into the twins bedroom. Her room was right beside it, and they shared a wall. She could hear every movement and every cry. "It's okay. Shhh. Cousin Paisley is here."

"What is she doing?" Ryder questioned as he stepped into the tent, moving over towards Darcy. "Darc?"

Darcy placed a hand over her chest, her heart beating rapidly because she had been so scared by Ryder sneaking up on her. "Jez, thanks Stark."

Ryder Stark narrows his eyes playfully as he sat down beside the dark haired woman. "You say that like I'm my dad."

"You are a lot like Tony, he's rubbed off on you." She spoke and laughed, leaning back in the chair that was much more comfortable than the one she had been in earlier. "Where is he by the way?"

"Off with Pepper and Morgan; they're on a vacation somewhere." Ryder shrugged as he leaned back in his chair, rocking on two legs instead of four. He kept glancing at the screen, watching Paisley here and there.

Darcy nodded as she reached for the cold cup of coffee in front of her. She sipped on it, grimacing as the cold liquid touched her tastebuds. "You didn't go?"

"I promised Tony and Pietro I would watch over Paisley." He gestured to the tv, watching as Paisley reached into one of the cribs and gently placed her hand on who Ryder assumed to be Tommy — instant calming cries. "So here I am."

Darcy nodded, "Can I ask you about her ring?"

"She isn't sure, said she just got it when she showed up in Westview." Ryder said, remembering when he had asked about it and when he had been told that it had been something that just appeared. "Maybe she found it, why?"

"We think it's abnormal."

"Everything is abnormal here."

Ryder Stark wasn't wrong. Everything was weird, everything was full of static, no one knew who Ryder was - or at least they pretended not to know, Paisley didn't seem to have any magic in her veins, and Wanda was the center of the story. Ryder just couldn't wrap his head around anything.

"It's limiting her powers." Jimmy spoke the second her stepped into the tent. He knew ( he guessed ) that it was something that limited her powers, just like the cuffs that the government used to stop abnormal form using their abilities. "She hasn't used them yet, and she wasn't ever scared to show them off to friends. She would have shown Lizzy and Ryder."

Darcy grinned. "Bingo!"