Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 37: Unexpected Visit

Wanda watched from the porch of their log cabin, smiling as Claire's giant wolf chased Jemma around while she was holding a sandwich. She giggled at Jemma's playful screams and cries for help, but she stayed on the porch twirling a small red wisp of energy around in her hand. She was happy, happier than she's been in a long time, and she had Claire to thank for that.

Their relationship was good and stronger than ever, and this past year they celebrated their second anniversary. The two of them were now living back in Victoria's Island with Jemma, having decided that the two of them needed a bit of a break from hero business. The team was understandably upset at the news that they wanted to leave and go off on their own, but they understood and in the end, agreed with them. The team—at least to Wanda's knowledge—had stayed in Greenville and went around the world doing low-scale heroing.

Before Wanda, Claire, and Jemma departed, Steve had given them a two-way tracker that allowed the three of them to track the rest of the team and vice versa, that way, if there was ever an emergency on either end, help would be on the way.

As much as Wanda liked being with Claire and Jemma, she did miss the rest of the team, but leaving was the better choice. Ever since they moved to their cabin, Wanda's anxiety hadn't bothered her. Everything was perfect, and she couldn't be happier.

"Wanda, protect my sandwich!" Jemma yelled as she tossed her sandwich away from her and Claire to Wanda. Wanda didn't hear her or see the sandwich that came hurtling towards her. Her instincts kicked in right at the last second as she saw it coming from the corner of her eyes, and before she could comprehend what the object was, she flexed her hands, creating a scarlet forcefield in front of her to protect her. Jemma's sandwich hit the forcefield with a small thud as it bounced off and fell apart in the grass. Claire ran over and ate the broken sandwich off the ground, her wolf yipping happily as Jemma stared in sadness.

Once Claire finished Jemma's sandwich, she walked up the steps to the cabin to the porch, still in her wolf form, and sat next to Wanda, laying her giant head in her lap. She licked around her mouth for a few minutes, making sure to get every bit of sandwich that was left and Wanda let out a giggle as she ran her fingers through her soft fur and scratched the base of her ear when she got to it. Claire let out a low growl of pleasure that sounded something like a purr and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling.

"You couldn't have at least tried to save my sandwich?" Jemma asked as she came up on the porch and sat on the other side of Wanda.

"I'm sorry. I was..."

"Distracted? You've been distracted a lot lately. Is everything okay?" Wanda sighed and stopped petting Claire and her head snapped up.

She let out a little whine as Wanda looked at her. Claire could sense that for a while she had been feeling worried about something, regardless of her happiness. Claire sat up and leaned her head over towards Wanda's and lightly licked her cheek and nuzzled her snout in her hair.

"I'm fine; just a little worried I think." Wanda moved her hands back to her lap and played with her rings. Claire shifted back to her human form and took Wanda's hand into her own.

"Is it the visions again?" she asked when Wanda turned her head to look at her. Wanda nodded.

"They're not really visions, but it's like my powers are trying to tell me something, but whenever I try to listen, it just sounds like a large group of people yelling. It's incoherent, but...it worries me. I'm fine though, I just have a bad feeling." Claire placed a kiss on her hand.

"Should we leave? Find the others?"

"No. I'm sure it's nothing. Let's not bother the others, especially since we don't know what it is. It's probably nothing," Wanda said leaning back to lay in Claire's arms. Claire looked over at Jemma, silently pleading with her to talk some sense into Wanda. They both knew she never had these "visions" before they separated from the rest of the team, and that for some reason something changed, and that worried Claire.