Fractured {Wanda Maximoff}

Epilogue

It had to be done. She forced my hand.

Wanda Maximoff remained in Helena Rowe's arms as Clint Barton had fired a single arrow at the dying witch. Its aim had been true, and Helena had nearly dropped Wanda's body in fear of being struck herself. It had landed with a wet thunk in the witch's forehead.

Hurried footsteps came onto the scene, and Helena didn't need to look up to know that the rest of the Avengers had arrived. She couldn't pull her eyes away from Wanda's, whose remained open. Dried blood remained on her cheeks as though she had shed red tears, under her nose as though someone had gotten a good punch in. Black veins were visible on what skin Helena could see.

"My god..." came Steve Rogers' tone of disbelief.

"Did she go nuclear?" asked Tony.

"I was in control," Helena rasped through a sore throat. "Is this enough proof to you, Romanoff? I did what had to be done...and it's shattered me."

Thor parted the crowd that blocked the morgue's entrance to meet Helena on the ground. She allowed the god to put a meaty hand on her shoulder, his touch light.

"Not all can be saved," he said gently. "You did all that you could for her."

It wasn't enough. I lost her anyway. Was she ever mine? Helena inhaled. "It never mattered." She began to question her romance with Wanda. Was it ever real? Were all the little kisses, the hand holding, the snuggles in bed...was it all a lie? A ploy to warp Helena to Wanda's true schemes?

No, no. Don't doubt what you had. Remember what you told them: you changed her mind. You pulled her away from her original revenge plot. You made a difference in her life. You gave her happiness, and in turn she did the same for you.

Helena looked at the killer weapon, the arrow in Wanda's forehead. She wanted to remove it, as though Wanda would be relieved to not have it in her anymore. As though she would feel it get removed.

"It did. Even if we were not there to witness it, she cared about you," said the god. "Do not let her actions ruin what you shared. Remember her as she was with you."

"We'll have to take her from here," said Bruce calmly.

"If you would like, we will do something in her memory." Thor looked to Helena.

"I can't think about that right now," said Helena hollowly. "Just...I need to..."

Bruce approached Helena. "Come with me. You have to let her go."

"If there had been any other way, I would've chose that option."

"We know."

Helena allowed Thor to take Wanda from her arms. Helena did not rise with Bruce, she remained on the floor. Her eyes fell to her hands, her weapons of destruction. While Clint's arrow did the final shot, Helena had started the lethal process.

The girl heard the voices around her, the encouragement for her to get off the floor of the morgue and start moving, but she didn't listen to their suggestions. It wasn't until a blanket was draped over her that she pulled herself back into her horrible reality.

Steve and Bruce helped her to her feet.

"I didn't want to do it," Helena mumbled.

"None of us wanted it to come to this," said Steve.

The two Avengers escorted Helena to a blank, undecorated room. They both bid her goodbye with mournful looks. She shut the lights off the second the two were gone. With the blanket still around her, she scuffled her way to the biggest window in the room. In a blank stare, she looked out over the facility grounds.

The sky was an unusual array of colors with this sunset. One of the shades was red. 

**Fun fact: chapter 20 was the original epilogue. But when I went back in editing and read it, it...it just didn't feel right. Not that this doesn't invoke more pain and feels.

But #softthor for the win**