Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch Imagines

The College Experience

Wanda folds her arms across her chest. The air seems to hum with a strange tension, taut as a spun wire. If you look closely, you'd swear that her eyes seem to glow with an almost unnatural scarlet tinge. Then again, not much about Wanda Maximoff is natural. Not anymore. Despite all of this, however, the man in front of her does not look intimidated. Not in the slightest.

Wanda opens her mouth to speak at last, words as crisp and calculating as always. If her Sokovian accent rounds off her letters a little more than usual, well, it can only add to the overall sense of severity that loops around every one of her words. "So, you feel bad about my parents and brother and city dying because of your bombs, so you're sending me off to college as a way to feel better about it?"

Tony Stark winces, spreading his hands wide as if he's nothing more than a well-meaning parent. "Well, when you put it that way it sounds somewhat terrible, but I promise it'll be better than that. Think of it this way: I'm working to further your education." Wanda frowns. "I'm already being taught as an Avenger." Tony, PhD student at heart, groans at this. "That's not what I mean. Yeah, Nat's teaching you how to kill somebody, but you can learn more than that."

Natasha, across the room, shrugs. "I don't know. I thought that was pretty important." Tony wheels around, pointing a finger at her that's somewhat lackluster in its irritation. "Hey, you're supposed to be helping me here. Defend college to our little witch." Natasha grins, utterly shameless as always. "College is good because you can stop being lectured by Tony."

Tony shoots Natasha a bothered look, but ultimately relents, turning back to face Wanda once more. "Not exactly what I was going for, but it does the job. College will be great. You can pick out any one, don't worry about the tuition costs." He must still see indecision warring in Wanda's face, because his tone softens and he takes a hesitant step forward. "Look, I know it's hard to think about moving on after everything, but I promise that this is going to be good. A chance to be normal after all you've been through? It feels better than you'd think."

Wanda sighs. "I don't know that normal really appeals to any of us." It's a nothing answer, she knows that. They all know that, all of the Avengers clustered in this room to convince her to stop moping around the tower and go be a normal young woman. The chance of a normal life calls to every single one of the Avengers. The only problem is that none of them will ever be able to get it, or feel so choked over regret that they wouldn't ever let themselves enjoy it. Wanda has an opportunity that many of her friends would lay down their lives for, and she's arguing over it.

Natasha, always able to read a mood faster than the blink of an eye, slips down from her perch on top of a counter and walks over to Wanda. She nods once in understanding. "I know you don't want to go, but trust me, it'll be fine. I'd rather have you relax and go finish your education then spend every minute here torn up over what has happened in the past." Wanda is unsurprised by the fact that Natasha can get to the root of the problem so readily, but tries one last attempt at arguing anyway. "What if something bad happens and you need me to fight?"

Natasha grins. "Then we'll call you. Pick a school, Maximoff. College waits for us all." Despite her best attempts at avoiding it, Wanda still finds herself standing on the doorway of her new dorm room later that month. In a final attempt to stick it to Tony for trying to interfere too much in her life, Wanda's managed to choose one of the smallest schools known to man, a college that barely exists on the radar at all. Tony may shake his head, saying something about how she could've gone to Harvard or Princeton, but the fact remains that this school is perfect. It's in the middle of nowhere, and the students usually end up living and dying within the same small college town. Nobody would recognize her at all, which is exactly what Wanda wants- a chance to be a regular college student, just like Tony and Natasha said.