Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 40: We Got a Vision Situation

Shuri continued to work hard, pulling apart and reconnecting synapses, her eyes looking at nothing but the hologram in front of her. A deep rumbling sound reverberated through the country and could be heard from Shuri's lab. Wanda looked down on the battlefield and saw movement through the blazing forest between the troopships and the dome. Claire joined her at the window, brows knitted together in confusion and her eyes glowing. Her wolf stirred in her mind, screaming at her that something wasn't right and that something big was coming. When the disturbance reached the edge of the trees, it turned into vast moving mounds of earth that easily bypassed the force field and emerged. Groups of Threshers cut through the earth, shredding everything in its path.

The Wakandan army and Avengers retreated at the entrance of these machines, and Wanda tensed. She needed to do something. There was no way any of them could fight against those things. Claire, who was still staring, turned towards Wanda, and pressed her lips against hers in a short, but passionate kiss. When she pulled away, she had a sad look in her eyes and her heart was heavy. She gulped and attempted to give her a small smile before she spoke.

"I gotta go," she whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder she'd burst into tears. She was afraid; not just for the fate of the world, or her friends, or even Wanda, but for her. She had accepted the idea that if she went out there, she could very well die, but now that she was actively about to go out there, she was afraid. She didn't want to die; she was so young and there were things that she still never got to experience. But, she would do her duty, and she would do it well, even if it meant she didn't make it to see the end. She was a protector, and she had go out there and protect the world. "They need me."

She turned away from Wanda before she could respond and walked towards the door to the lab, but Wanda grasped her hand tightly, not letting her go.

"I don't think so," she said, tears sitting on the brims of her eyes. Wanda tightened her grip on Claire's hand as Pietro appeared in her mind. She blinked and she was back in Sokovia, standing in front of the core, pieces of dismantled robots laid on the ground in the church and at her feet.

"I'm not going to leave you here," he said

"I can handle this."

"You know I'm twelve minutes older than you."

"Go."

That was the last time she saw him. She remembered the feeling of each individual bullet piercing through his skin, killing him. It was her fault; she let him go, and he died. She blinked and shook her head. She was not letting that happen again; not to Claire. Vision was one thing, but if she lost Claire, she couldn't go on. She'd refuse.

"Wanda, let go. You know I have to out there."

"I'm not letting you go anywhere. Long ago, I let my brother leave myside in a battle, and I lost him. I refuse to lose you too." A tear fell from Wanda's eye and Claire's heart broke.

"Wanda, they need help."

"I know. But you're not going." She let go of her hand and kissed her cheek. "Watch Vision."

"Wanda, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Claire asked, but Wanda ran out of the room before she could stop her. Claire ran to the windows and watched as a scarlet flash flew into the air and landed in the middle of the path of a group of the Threshers. Claire's heart plummeted into her stomach as she watched, fearing the worst. Wanda used her magic and lifted the Threshers off the ground, and swung her hands down, throwing them behind her.