The Variant [Part One] [Wanda Maximoff [FF] | Elizabeth Olsen

Chapter 27

"Good night, boys." Wanda said.

"Good night, mom." Tommy and Billy said at the same time. Wanda kissed their foreheads and tucked them into their beds. "Sleep now. And no sneaking out." Wanda said, emphasizing her tone while looking at Tommy.

"What?" Tommy said, feigning ignorance.

Billy smirked at his brother. "Come on, Tommy. Mom has powers of course she'll know!" Billy said, teasing his brother.

Tommy huffed, "Yeah. Yeah, whatever it was one time!" He interjected. Wanda raised an eyebrow, "One time that becomes numerous times?" She said. Tommy raised his hands in defeat, "Fine I won't sneak out again." He said. He knew there was no hiding stuff from her mind-reading mother.

"Good. Cuz this time you will be punished." Wanda said seriously. Tommy shook his head. "Nope, I won't do it again."

"You better be." Wanda nodded calmly, tucking a lock of hair out of Tommy's face. She turns her gaze to Billy's.

"Watch over Tommy." Wanda said. Billy smiled, "Of course, mom." He replied. Despite being the younger twin, Billy from Earth-838 acted as the 'big brother' of the duo. He may be more introverted and reserved, even "a dork'' as Tommy calls it but he is thoughtful and responsible enough to keep both him and Tommy out of trouble.

"Good night." Wanda kisses their foreheads. She turned off the lamp's light. Before leaving the room, she took a glance at the two kids. Despite the reassurance that the Scarlet Witch won't take them again, Wanda (Earth-838) is still shaken, terrified of the boys disappearing while taking her guard down. Recently, Wanda (Earth-838) has learned how to astral project her spiritual form while being fully awake. Exhausting at first, but she didn't stop until she mastered it. Her efforts came to the point of giving her astral form a consciousness of its own. The astral-projection has been a routine of her's to work at home while her spiritual form secretly guards their school.

Wanda (838) went to the kitchen to concoct her own brew of Sokohlua coffee. While doing so, her hazy astral form knocked on the kitchen window from outside. Wanda (838) looks at her obscure twin. "What is it?" She said.

The floating astral form points at the front porch of the house. Despite wearing her pyjamas, Wanda (838) wraps her upper body with a towel and then carries her cup of coffee with her. She opens the backdoor and then curiously hears some faint sobs as she walks closer to the front of the house. Her eyes widened when she saw a little girl sitting on the steps of the front. Wanda's heart wrenched at the sight of the crying girl she recognizes to be none other than Milla Maximovich, the Scarlet Witch's adopted child.

Sensing someone's presence, Milla looked up and saw Wanda (838) staring at her. The girl's eyes appear bloodshot as if she's been bawling her eyes out for hours. Wanda's (838) eyes wandered to the girl's hands, Milla had the Scarlet Witch's wimple-crown under her possession.

"Oh, my girl, how long have you been here?" Wanda (838) said. The older woman sat beside the girl and removed the towel from her body. Wanda (838) placed the towel on Milla's shivering form. Milla stopped trembling from the cold as she clutched the comfy towel closer to her. Meanwhile, Wanda's (838) astral twin phased through the wall of the house and then came back seconds later carrying a towel for herself.

"Don't ignore yourself!" Wanda-838's astral projection retorted to her original body.

"I'm not." Wanda-838 said. Work and motherhood have taken most of her time and sometimes she indeed has forgotten about herself. It's good that she has an inner voice to remind her to take a break. She then turns her attention back to Milla.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Wanda said softly. She parted Milla's tear-soaked hair strands out of her view. The girl sniffed back a snot, "She has to go…" She said.