The Seven Stages of Grief

Bargaining

When she opened her eyes after the ground settled and life seemed still, she felt almost blinded by the orange and red light. "Wh-What's happening? Where am I?" she cried, scared she accidentally killed herself and is now in an entrance to hell for her record crimes.

She heard the dark red creature in front of her grumble. "Who are you? What do you want with me?" she screamed. "Let me out of here!"

She heard the creature laugh, maniacal and twisted. His smile became distorted as he whispered something that sounded like "Mephisto." "Wanda Maximoff... I know what you want. The robotic human, your dead children. Am I not wrong?"

Wanda gave a shy look and nodded, defeated. Then her head perked up. "C-Children?!"

He gave her a dry, sinister look, "You miscarried two children...yessss."

As she contemplated this, he continued, "I'm glad you came to me."

She looked up with confusion. "I came to you?"

"I heard your screams, your pleas."

Wanda looked at him with skepticism. "You... Can you give me my children back?"

He hummed. "Possibly. I have their souls. All you have to do is agree to my terms. Their souls belong to me until their next death, including but not limited to their mother after death."

"Y-You want my soul after I die?" she asked, concerned about his offer.

His eyes grew bright and he laughed, "Well, of course. I am the demon of demons after all."

Wanda breathed heavily. The anticipation of it all. This could be her only way out of the reality where Vision is dead. She would go crazy if she couldn't be prosperous with the love of her life.

"Okay. I'll do it."

Mephisto laughed, laughed so loud that Wanda had to cover her ears until she couldn't take it, and fell into darkness once more.

Wanda woke up with a gasp, precipitation on her forehead. She quietly moaned as she stretched, noticing the amount of weight on her stomach. Her eyes widened as she looked over her chest and realized the enlargened belly that greeted her. "Oh my God. It worked," she whispered after feeling a couple of kicks. "Maybe I can have a family with Vision after all. Maybe this will fix things."

She sighed before foolishly trying to move out of bed. She'd never experienced pregnancy before, so this was a difficult task for her to manage. She wasn't used to the weight. But once she got her balance, she changed, or at least tried to change, into a colorful maternity dress and decided to straighten her hair for the sake of keeping everything neat.

She decided to explore the upstairs before heading down. When she went into the room across from theirs, she almost gasped. Tears coated her eyes as she softened inside.

Two white cribs sat side by side in the colorful nursery. The carpet was a vibrant navy and there was a stary decoration that covered the baby blue walls. Her hand covered her mouth as she thought of Pietro. She wondered what he would think about her being pregnant, carrying twins. She wondered if they would be like her and her dead twin. It filled her with happiness.

Once she finished contemplating the idea of having twins, she tried to balance herself as she moved downstairs where she heard chattering. Vision and Agatha.

Wanda could admit that seeing Agatha in every reality was a little creepy and intimidating, but she also wondered if it was just her consciousness keeping a lookout for her in this reality. Maybe a guardian angel?

When Wanda reached the bottom steps, she finally noticed how the stairs were made and how decorated it was with various plants and succulents. She peeked around the corner, opposite of where Vision and Agatha were, to see exactly how this place was designed. 1970s, she concluded.