Fractured {Wanda Maximoff}

18 - The Morgue

Wanda Maximoff was tired.

Anger was a powerful motivator, but it was also a very draining emotion. She was finding this out the hard way now, as she had Avengers turning against each other. No blood had been shed yet.

Though she had been there only once, Wanda was able to lead Helena to the facility's morgue. The air dropped considerably the closer they got. A knot formed in Wanda's stomach.

"W-what are we doing?" asked Helena.

"An experiment."

"Wanda, can we just go?"

"We're here." The witch pushed open the door, tugging Helena behind her.

Helena gasped lightly at the sight. Wanda felt sick to her stomach, coming back here. She counted twice before finding his slab. Wanda let go of Helena to pull Pietro out.

"Wanda, this is creeping me out," Helena admitted, looking ready to bolt for the door.

"You know about my brother, how he died." Wanda moved the sheet away from her brother's face. He had already been pale prior to death; the cold slab he laid on only made it worse. His skin was paler than his silver hair. "If...if he could be brought back..."

"What are you going to ask me, Wanda?"

The witch looked down at her brother, then at Helena. She offered a hand to the girl with the deadly power. "Could it be possible for you to revive him?"

Helena stared at Wanda. "What? I...my power only takes away, it doesn't give back. Even if I was hypothetically responsible, I don't think that's reversible. Once it's done, it's done."

"Have you ever tried?"

"It wasn't exactly a thought once I realized I made corpses out of innocent people." Helena began to wheeze.

"If you could try, I can try and restart his brain. Together, maybe we could bring him back."

Helena timidly approached the slab that held Pietro Maximoff. "This is not a normal way to cope, Wanda."

"I am not normal, so should anything I do be 'normal'?" Wanda cocked her head to the side. "I'd like to do this preferably before someone snaps out of their control and comes looking for us."

Helena hesitated, eyes transfixed on Pietro.

"Is there a problem, Helena?"

"N...Yes, Wanda. Yes, there is a huge problem. Where do I start?" Helena's voice began to grow high-pitched. "You are asking me to bring back the dead, even if he is your brother! The concept is...is insane! I hurt people, I can't help them! Even if I...I could, I...I can't do it. I won't. Wanda, this is insanity."

Wanda's eye twitched. She couldn't believe Helena was so against this. Wouldn't she want to bring back her parents, or R...whatever her ex-boyfriend's name was?

If she won't cooperate, there is one other option. Red wisps began to form around Wanda's fingers.

"I understand you're grieving; I've done my time with it. As much as I'd want Mom or Dad, or Rhett back, I...I don't. I accept what I've done. Even if they could be brought back, there'd be no guarantee they would be them. What if they would be shells, or vegetables, or...or...God, what if they turned out to be mindless zombies?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Helena."

"I'm not. This is the kind of world we live in! People have powers in this world! How are zombies a stretch here?!"

"Take a deep breath."

Helena did.

"Now, how do you feel?"

"No different than thirty seconds ago." The raven-haired girl took a step back. "I'm sorry, Wanda. I will help you move on, I will help you cope. But I can't help you cope like this. I can't help you bring back your brother and hurt people. Please. Stop their control, before they do something they can't take back."

A low frustration growled in Wanda's belly. The red wisps around her hands grew restless now, begging their master to rush over to Helena, to wrap themselves around her mind.

For a moment, the magic tempted Wanda to let them.

The witch raised her hand, lip trembling once. "I am not going to ask you again, Helena."

"You're...you're threatening me?" Helena whispered in horror. "After all that we've been through together, and you're pulling this? What do we have, Wanda?"

"What do you mean?"

"We have something good. We're two powered girls against the world, living like it was nobody's business. You're throwing that away by doing all of this. I can't...I can't be part of something that is hurting people. I've already done enough damage, and that's on accident.

"If you put me under a spell, Wanda Maximoff...you're going to back me into a corner I don't want to go into."

"What does that entail?"

"You don't want to find out. I really hope neither of us have to. Before you ultimately decide what happens from here, let me ask you one thing: What's more important to you, the past or the present?"

Both. Both are. Can't I have both? What is so wrong with wanting that?

"She doesn't understand," whispered Pietro. "Make her understand, sister."

The witch's head began to throb.

What's more important to you, the past or the present?

Wanda's answer remained the same. She refused to let go of either one, in fear of not being able to live without both intact.

"If you don't choose soon, we may never have this chance again," said Pietro.

Shut up. Shut up. I don't want to make this choice! If I put a hex on Helena, she'll never forgive me. I'll lose her. But, if I can revive Pietro...

I'm sorry, Helena, but he's my twin brother. He's blood. He's family. You may never forgive me, but...I believe I'm willing to accept that fact.

But, for Wanda's sake, she was going to have to convince Helena in a smarter fashion, even if it required a little trickery.