Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 54 - Heart To Heart

Keira's heart had dropped to the bottom of her stomach. Her team, no, her family was in shambles.

And she didn't know what to do. She felt helpless, and all she could do was stand aside and watch her life slipping through her fingers like grains of sand from a broken hourglass.

Who was she without the Avengers?

Just an ex-assassin with too many lives on her conscience to count. A mutant with too much red in her ledger, something she would never be able to make up for. The team might not be her family by blood, but they were by choice.

And to see it all shatter in just a few hours was heartbreaking.

"Hey."

A soft voice with just a hint of a Sokovian accent broke Keira out of her thoughts and she ripped her gaze away from the floor to meet Wanda's eyes. She hadn't even been aware that she had been walking over to Wanda's room, it seemed like her feet had moved on autopilot. "Hi." She smiled weakly as the brunette laced their fingers together and gently pulled her into the room.

Keira let herself be dragged inside and couldn't help but feel her heart lift a little when Wanda sat down on the floor in front of her bed, tugging on her arm to get her to join her. Sinking down, the blonde crossed her legs and let out a small sigh. "What do you think about all this?"

Wanda pressed her tongue against the inside of her cheek and slipped her hand out of Keira's. "I..." She averted her eyes to her hands and started to pull at the sleeves of her sweater. "It's all my fault." Seeing the way Keira opened her mouth to protest, Wanda held up a hand to silence her. "It is. If I had better control over my powers, this wouldn't be happening."

Keira's heart stung upon seeing Wanda this way, blaming herself for something that wasn't her fault. "That's not true, Wanda." She shook her head and grabbed one of Wanda's hand to stop her from fidgeting. "It would've been done to us sooner or later. If it hadn't been you, it would've been the Hulk, Thor, or even me. The Accords have been in the works for a long time, Ross was just waiting for the right opportunity to strike."

"Then why do I feel like it's all my fault?" Wanda shakily asked as her eyes started to brim with tears.

Keira felt her heart shatter for what felt like the millionth time and gently grabbed Wanda's chin between her thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up so their gazes met. "Because you're a good person, Wanda." She said sincerely. "You care about people. You want them to be safe. That's why you're hurting."

Wanda tried to avert her gaze, but the blonde in front of her stubbornly ducked her head to catch it every time she did so. "The world thinks I'm a monster. They're being very vocal about it." She helplessly gestured towards the black TV screen.

"The world thinks that anybody who's different is a monster." Keira replied, earning a skeptical look from the brunette. "In their eyes, I'm a monster too. And maybe I am. I've done unspeakable things in the past but I'm trying my best to repay my debt." Noticing how she was sliding away from the subject at hand, she shook her head.

"The point I'm trying to make is, that the world doesn't know you. And you're the furthest thing from a monster. Because of you, hundreds of lives were saved in Sokovia. The same goes for Lagos. And just because the world is unable to see it, doesn't make it any less true. You're a hero, Wanda."

Wanda gave an unconvinced scoff. "Heroes don't torture people."

"And villains don't feel the need to try and justify their actions." Keira countered simply. "The world isn't divided into good or bad people. It isn't just black or white. Sometimes, our best intentions turn out to be the worst. But it doesn't matter. In the end, we're all human. We make mistakes, it's a part of life. We're not perfect, nor should we be." Sliding her hand from Wanda's chin to her cheek, she gently wiped away a stray tear with her thumb. If only she could make Wanda see herself from her point of view.