"You've dealt with witches, right?"
So, maybe the big three was involved.
"Why aren't you frozen?" You asked back, taking in a sharp breath when a sad smile came across his face, but when he let go of the gun, it stayed floating in the air, "How're you..." You trailed off when your eyes went from the gun, a bullet aimed for the wall near your middle, just halfway out of the barrel to his eyes, "Dad?"
"Do you know about witches?" He asked again, but you noted the difference in how he phrased it, "I asked you a question."
"Yeah, I'd say more than others." You mumbled and he nodded, not finding that strange, "Mom's here though, isn't she?"
His face fell and he looked down in shame, only confirming further that you were so close, but not on the money.
"Your mother's dead, Y/n."
"I can help us both," You told him, shaking your head, and turning back to study the ash picture on the wall, "These markings..."
"Your new friends at the tower teaching you a few things?"
"Didn't mention anything about the tower." You mumbled, slowly piecing together something Wanda had shown you in a book she discovered about similar drawings.
It had to do with life and death spells, a dark magic of sorts, but this was a bit different. It had something to do with binding.
And then it hit you.
It was the reason he couldn't leave this place even if he wanted to.
"How'd she die, dad?" You turned around to face the crumblings of a man, "I know you didn't let some suit come to our door with the news of mom's mysterious, random death and leave it at that," You narrowed your eyes on him, wondering why you never thought to ask before, "You let me accept it without explanation, but something else happened, didn't it?"
"Y/n." He warned lowly, his eyes not on you, but the wall behind you where the chitters began again, and he knew the shot he fired wouldn't have made much of a difference, but he had been desperate.
"I'm asking you, dad," You kept your voice even and with every word, the noise grew louder, more dangerous, "What happened to her?"
"She was sick." He lied.
"Sick?" You scoffed, shaking your head, and then looking back to him, "Try again."
"Y/n, please, don't make me..." He pleaded, no longer the confident one who was so smug when you couldn't freeze him in place.
"Say it."
"You wouldn't believe me."
"That's always a big possibility," You nodded and then shrugged when you asked, "But what have you got to lose?"
"When you were seven, your mom made a deal with a witch," He reluctantly started and you furrowed your eyebrows, "We were on a hike and when I looked away for one second when your mom tripped, scraping her knee...you fell," He sighed, running a hand down his face as tears pricked at his eyes, "You fell hard down one of the cliffs," You squinted, trying to remember any of this, but for the love of everything, you couldn't, "...and you died."
"What?"
The chitters stopped altogether and you finally spun around to see the markings were glowing blue, but when you opened your mouth to say something, a blast blew your way, knocking you down.
"And this is what?" You shouted, sitting back on your elbows as you faced the wall with him off to the side, "This is the witch? Coming to collect something?"
"She's here for me." He took a deep breath, stepping forward, but you put your leg out, tripping him so he'd fall to the floor
"As much as we don't like each other," You frowned when he glared over at you from a few feet away, "I'm not letting some creepy ass witch kill you."
"The deal," He gritted between his teeth, "It...I have to go just like your mother did."
"I never saw this," You shook your head, desperate for explanations or reasons you may never get, "And I looked at your future, but it didn't end like this."
"Did you look at yours?"
"I tried to, but...no."
"That's because you don't have one if I don't do this," He told you truthfully, "The witch stated that the time would come when we'd have to trade our lives for yours, but she...she didn't make it easy."
"What is this? Fucking Rumpelstiltskin? Dad, come on, this isn't how-"
"Y/n?" Wanda's voice called from the doorway and the chitters were a low humming noise, but by your dad's face, you knew it was a quiet threat.
"Wanda, stay back," You begged, hoping she'd listen, but she cared about you too much to watch whatever this was without taking action, "It's...not safe."
You saw the blue coming from the walls, it was a slow blinking of light, and she noticed it too, aiming her powers at it, but just as she shot out, your dad jumped up and ran towards the wall.
He got inside with a scream of agony and it built itself back up in seconds, the blast Wanda sent out doing nothing to it...or so you thought.
But he was gone.
It was as if nothing had happened, and a deafening silence fell over the room.
"No, no, no, no," You chanted, scrambling to get up and reach the wall, "Dad!" You shouted at the top of your lungs, but someone must've pulled the fire alarm in the building because your voice was cut off by the sound, "No!" You yelled, slamming your fist against the wall and crying against it, trying to hear any sign of life, but there wasn't one.
"Y/n, we need to go." Wanda told you, trying to pull you back from it, but she was cautious because suddenly the world was back in its place even though you hadn't unfroze it.
Your powers were fritzing, you were fading in and out of it, and you could barely focus on her voice to keep you steady, to keep you sane.
You collapsed to the floor and sobbed as you hugged your knees to your chest, crying out for your dad until you didn't have a voice to do so.
She scooped you up and when you resisted, she used her powers to keep your hands from moving, carrying you out of the building. When she was sure everyone else was safely out, she manipulated it so the whole place went up in flames, but she didn't stick around to make sure it burnt to ash.
