The Scarlet Apprentice 2: The Multiverse Between Us

Consequences of secrets

"Thanks for the party, Mr Strange, it was really nice," Fitz smiled while Simmons held the door.

"Just Strange is fine," Strange corrected him, "but you're welcome."

While trying her best to hold back everything she wanted to admit, y/n smiled softly to the both of them before wrapping them in her arms. She hugged them as tightly as she could, burying her face in Jemma's hair, whilst holding the back of Fitz's neck in a gentle grip.

In that moment, all she wanted to do was hug everyone as tightly as she could and never let go, but she knew that she'd have to let go sooner than she would've hoped. Once she finished hugging Fitzsimmons, she hugged all the other Agents Of SHIELD. Even the ones she didn't think she'd hug.

Mack gave her a soft and brotherly hug, Coulson and May her familiar parental one, YoYo her regular loving hug. She'd even hugged Daisy and managed to convince herself to hug Deke. In any other circumstance, she'd never have hugged Deke. But since she'd never see him again - and since she'd never have to tolerate his irritability anymore - she did hug him.

While y/n said her last goodbyes to her old team and her old family, Wanda lingered in the kitchen as she placed cold foods back in the fridge so that they wouldn't go to waste. Y/n actually saw it as an opportunity to let herself cry a little, knowing that Wanda wouldn't get suspicious of her emotions.

When the group left, she watched them thoroughly. With her hand holding the door open against the harsh wind, she stood there and watched them get in the car. Constantly wiping the cold tears off of her face, y/n waited until they were gone to shut the door once again.

The moment the door closed, Bucky stepped forward, away from the rest of the group, and cleared away the harsh lump that had formed in his throat in his silence. He'd been biting back the urge to speak while y/n said her goodbyes, but it grew to a point that he could no longer ignore.

"You're sacrificing yourself tomorrow, aren't you?"

Those few words caused the room to plunge to an immediate silence. Even the people who didn't know what it meant dropped to a silence as they waited for someone to explain.

With her hand still holding the door, y/n's eyes fell to the floor. Her heart sunk when she heard the words, but her mind and body froze.

With her back still facing Bucky, and her voice weak in her throat, she muttered ever so quietly, "what?"

"You can't stop appreciating Wanda, you're crying when saying goodbye to your friends. The way your heart stopped when you realised we're doing this tomorrow. It's obvious, y/n. You're saying goodbye because you don't plan on seeing them again."

"That's not-,"

"You told me 'every step of the way' but that can't happen, can it?" He asked her, but all she did was wait for a reply, "because your path ends tomorrow."

"Bucky," she revealed herself to him, her eyes already melting with tears, her lips shaking with nerves, "please."

"You gonna deny it?" He asked her.

Throughout their ordeal, he did not take his eyes off of her, not even for a second. Strange stood in guilt, knowing he could've prevented this situation. Even though Wong had his suspicion, having his dreaded theory confirmed had crushed him and brought him to silence.

Then there was Sam: the only one who had no idea about any of it. Even though the others had only had a suspicion that was just confirmed, the confrontation was the first thing Sam had ever heard about it, which brought out an unexpected reaction.

When y/n realised that she couldn't produce a sound from her weak voice to respond to Bucky's comment, everyone else discerned that the accusation was true. Knowing what was going to happen had shook the group and caused a mixed reactions from all of them.

While she received and array of questions and hurt reactions, y/n turned to Stephen, her hurt visible in her eyes and face, "did you tell him this?"

"No, I swear to you, y/n," Strange promised her.

"You knew about this?" Sam asked him, his voice noticeably angry, "and you kept this from all of us?"

He panicked, "I promised y/n I wouldn't tell."

"This isn't up to her," Sam told him.

Y/n sighed, "yes it is, Sam,"

"No the fuck it isn't!" He snapped - the unexpectedness of his tone forced y/n to a silence - and he asked, "why wouldn't you tell any of us?"

While her lips quivered and her teeth chattered quietly, she weakly spoke, "because I knew that you'd try to stop me."

"Of course we'd try to stop you- we're not gonna just watch you die for something that we don't even know is gonna work," Bucky joined in.

"It will work, Bucky, it's the only way," she tried to explain.

Sam asked once again, "how do you know it'll work?"

"It's my prophecy," when she said it out loud, she finally registered how ridiculous it must've sounded.

"Oh, bullshit!" Sam shouted.

He wasn't angry at y/n for any reason other than the fact that he didn't want to lose her. The shock of this news and the immediate realisation that he'd have to lose someone he loved had brought out a sadness that he could only express through frustration and bitterness.

Without warning, Wanda returned to the room from the kitchen after putting everything away. She held that familiar bright smile on her face when she saw y/n again, but it dulled slightly when she saw Sam's distinct anger.

Gently tilting her head and not thinking too much of the situation, she asked, "what's up? Why is Sam angry?"

While her whole body tensed, y/n turned to her and swallowed, "Wanda, can I talk to you about this in priv-"

"Y/n's sacrificing herself tomorrow," Sam admitted without any regret, "because of some bullshit prophecy, she's killing herself."

It was visible that Wanda's heart sank in that moment, but she hoped that Sam wasn't being serious, "what?"

"And she expects us to be fine with it," he added.

Just as y/n was about to comfort Wanda, Sam said that, which caused her to turn back to him with a heavy sigh, "I don't expect you to be fine with it, Sam, I just want you to understand why I'm doing it. If it was any of you in this position, you'd do that same thing. I know you would. So don't act like I'm the bad one for doing what I have to do to save the world."

"You're not the only fucking one who's job it is is to save the world, you know?" Sam argued.

Strange and Wong hung back, watching the situation unravel without being able to provide any kind of support or resolution to the group.

"No one else has the ability to do this," she tried to explain.

"Oh, right, of course," he sarcastically agreed, "so you get these powers and suddenly you're the only one in the world who can do anything? You know there's a witch and a wizard in this room with us. You're not the only fucking strong one, y/n."

When y/n began to feel the sadness flowing through Sam, her eyes clouded with tears once again and she looked at him, sweetly, "Sam."

"How could you do this to us?" He asked her, then clenched his jaw as if he was stopping himself from saying anything else. After saying that, it was clear that he had nothing else to say to her, so he left.

Y/n's eyes follow Sam out and eventually land back on Wanda, where she saw her teary eyes staring back at her. Bucky, who remained frozen in place, looked at the floor and bit the skin of his cheek. Y/n felt the guilt he exhibited for telling everyone, but she didn't have the time to even acknowledge it.

"Is it true?" Wanda asked her, dreading the answer.

Y/n's eyes met with Wanda's, but not a single word left her mouth.

So Wanda repeated, "is it true, y/n?"

Weakly and hopelessly, y/n shrugged, "Wanda, how can I not do this?"

When that final hit was confirmed, all Wanda could do was nod. Her tears streamed down her puffy face, and she just nodded.

"You promised me," Wanda reminded her before turning and leaving the room herself.