The Life of Hadley Maximoff

Aftermath

The flight home from Wakanda is silent. Finally, we arrive at the compound, and I quickly get off the jet and teleport to my room. I make sure the door is closed. Then I get cleaned up and put on some PJs, and put on my special Family is Forever necklace from Nat. I sit on my bed and cry for hours as memories of Wanda and I play on repeat in my head. I cry harder as I think about the fact that Wanda's gone with no certainty of coming back.

Over the next few days, I don't leave my room. I wake up whenever, I shower, get dressed in sweats or PJs, and sit on my bed. Before Wanda, Pietro, and I reunited when Ultron was around, I had a hunch that they were alive. Then we reunited, and it was the best feeling in the world. Pietro died after that, and Wanda and I were the last two Maximoffs. Wanda was so broken after Pietro's death it killed me to see how much pain she was going through. I felt like I had to take care of her, otherwise she wouldn't have made it through that rough time. Now that she's gone, I know what she felt like. Except we aren't twins like she and Pietro are. One of my ways of coping is Harry Potter. It's been my escape from the chaos around me since I was about 7. Sirius Black says, "The ones that love us never really leave us." I hope that's true.

It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth. I've been keeping track. So far, I've only left my room once a day. Nat and Steve keep trying to talk to me, but I'm just not ready yet. They always bring me food, though. I am sitting in my room as usual when the compound starts to rumble. I look out of my window and see a spaceship being carried by someone glowing with their powers. They look like Captain Marvel. I teleport outside, and everyone else is out there. The door opens, and a Luphomoid walks out supporting Tony. Steve runs up to him and helps him walk. "Couldn't stop him," says Tony. "Neither could I," says Steve. "Hang on, I lost the kid," says Tony. "Tony, we lost," says Steve. "Is, uh...? Oh, good," says Tony when Pepper walks up to Tony and says, "Oh, my God!" and she hugs him sobbing on his shoulder. Tony kisses her cheek and says, "It's okay."

Then Nat puts her arm around me, and we all walk inside. We put Tony in a wheelchair and put an IV into his arm. "It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth," says Rhodey. We are standing in the living room that we talked about Vision's stone in. A table is projecting pictures of all of the missing people related to the Avengers. "World governments are in pieces," says Nat as she talks a picture of Wanda shows up. Then tears start pouring down my cheeks, and Nat hugs me. Then she continues saying, "The parts that are still working are trying to take a census, and it looks like he did...He did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out 50% of all living creatures." "Where is he now? Where?" asks Tony. "We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through," says Steve. Tony points to Thor and asks, "What's wrong with him?" "Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which, of course, he did, but there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?" says Rocket. "Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear," says Tony. "Maybe I am," says Rocket. "We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him," says Steve. "Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleeker Street magician gave away the store. That's what happened. There was no fight, 'cause he's not beatable," says Tony. "Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" asks Steve. "Uh...I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming," says Tony. I know exactly what vision he's referring to. He's referring to the one Wanda showed him while Ultron was around. "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus," says Steve. "And I needed you. As in, past tense. That Trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry. You know what I need? I need a shave. And I believe I remember telling all youse," says Tony, and he stands up, and he starts to take out the IV. "Tony, Tony!" says Rhodey. "Alive and otherwise, that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world. Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not. That's what we needed," continues Tony. "Well, that didn't work out, did it?" says Steve. "I said we'd lose. You said, "We'll do that together, too." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the "Avengers." We're the "Avengers," not the "Pre-vengers." says Tony. "Okay," says Rhodey. "Right?" says Tony. "You made your point. Just sit down, okay?" says Rhodey. "Okay. No, no, here's my point. She's great, by the way." says Tony pointing to Captain Marvel, whose real name I learned is Carol Danvers. "Tony, you're sick. Sit down," says Rhodey. "We need you. You're new blood. We're a bunch of tired old mules. I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust, liar." says Tony getting in Steve's face. Tony takes off his arc reactor and puts it in Steve's hand, and Tony says, "Here, take this. You find him, you put that on, you hide." then Tony falls to the ground. "Tony!" says Steve. We all try to help him. "I'm fine. Let me..." says Tony, and he lays flat on the ground.