Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 35: Trick-Or-Treat

The two finished their dinner and walked out of the restaurant hand-in-hand, smiling as the cool autumn air blew past them, making Claire shiver slightly.

"Are you cold?" Wanda asked, stopping as they reached the car.

"No, I'm fine." Claire unlocked the car and grabbed her mask, Wanda's hat and broom, and two little pumpkin buckets. She handed Wanda her hat and broom and a bucket and placed her mask and bucket on the hood of the car as she tied her hair back up in a bun. She then placed her mask over her head and grabbed her bucket and locked the car again.

"What are we doing now Claire?" Wanda asked as she adjusted her hat on her head.

"You'll see," was all Claire said as she led the way down the opposite end of the street. The sun had already gone down an hour ago and there were already herds of children running about as they ran up to houses. A chorus of "trick or treat" could be heard as the young couple made their way down towards the decorated houses. Wanda's eyes lit up like a child's on Christmas as she marveled at the intricate decorations and costumes of the children that ran past them in the street.

"Claire what is this?" she asked, trying hard to contain her excitement.

"Tonight we are going to celebrate Halloween together. We're gonna start with some trick or treating, and then the town throws a little Halloween party, so I figured we could go to that, but if you don't want to, we could head back and watch some Halloween movies in our costumes and eat candy all night." Wanda's smile grew and her teeth shone bright against the darkened street. Her smile melted Claire's heart and relaxed her. She did good.

"That sounds amazing," Wanda gushed in a giddy voice. Claire chuckled at her and held out her hand. Wanda took it without missing a beat and started to pull Claire along, looking at the spooky decorations of the neighborhood houses.

Walking up to their first house, Claire said, "Now what you want to do is ring the doorbell, and when they answer, say 'trick or treat' and they'll give you candy." Wanda nodded as Claire rang the doorbell. A small group of kids ran up onto the porch with them and gazed at their costumes. Claire playfully rolled her eyes when she saw two little boys dressed as Captain America and Iron Man. One of the boys tugged on Wanda's dress, gaining her attention.

"What are you supposed to be?" the boy dressed as Captain America asked her, looking curious. Wanda smiled at him and held up her broom.

"I'm a witch. And who are you supposed to be?" The boy beamed and puffed out his little chest.

"I'm Captain America! The greatest hero ever!" the boy exclaimed. His friend dressed as Iron Man turned to him and stomped his foot.

"No way! Iron Man is the greatest hero ever! He has a super high-tech suit that shoots missiles and lasers and everything. What does Captain America have? He just has a shield."
Wanda knelt beside the boys and looked at both of them, placing a gentle hand on each of their shoulders.

"Boys, you don't need to fight. They're both the greatest heroes ever. There can be more than one great hero."

"And besides," Claire said, turning the boys' attention to the shapeshifter dressed as a werewolf. "I think the greatest hero is Black Widow. Think about it. Iron Man has his missiles and lasers and Captain America has his shield, but Black Widow doesn't need that. She relies on her brain to outsmart the bad guys, and sometimes, that's better than being strong. Plus, she could totally beat Iron Man and Captain America in a fight. Trust me, I've seen it happen." Claire sent Wanda a wink as the boys' mouths dropped open at hearing that she saw the Avengers, not realizing that on a technicality they were talking to two members of the team.