Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 70 - Another One Bites The Dust

Wanda shook her head resolutely. "No." She protested, her lower lip jutting out slightly. There was no way she would kill Vision unless there was any other option.

They still had time to win this, didn't they?

Keira's heart shattered at having to push Wanda to do this, but they didn't have any other choice. Thanos was getting closer by the second. She gently grabbed the redhead's wrist and then intertwined their fingers when the red mist that had been circling around Wanda's hand evaporated. "We're out of options, my love. No one but you have the power to destroy the Stone-"

"Don't." Wanda warned in a dangerously low voice.

Vision used some of his last strength to grab Wanda's other hand. "You must do it, Wanda. Please."

"I- I can't." Wanda's voice broke. Never before had she felt this cornered. She never asked for the responsibility of balancing the fate of the universe in her hands. She never asked to be forced to kill her closest friend in order to protect the world, and yet, here she was.

"Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the Stone, half the universe dies." Vision reminded her, rubbing the back of her hand soothingly.

Keira closed her eyes for a moment before cupping Wanda's cheek with her free hand, causing the redhead to finally make eye contact. "Vision's right. We can't let him have it. I know, it isn't fair. You have already suffered so much during the years and to have this put in your hands... It shouldn't be you, but it is." She finished sadly, wiping away a stray tear that was trailing down Wanda's cheek.

Wanda couldn't get herself to answer but she kept shaking her head faintly as her lower lip trembled. Her eyes were stinging, and she tried hard to swallow down the lump in her throat.

Vision looked up in sorrow at the redhead and raised his other hand to grip Keira's forearm, connecting the three of them. "Wanda." He began slowly, trying to underline the weight of his words. "This... this isn't fair. But you two taught me more about humanity and what it meant to be human more than the internet ever could. I will forever cherish our memories together. The movie nights at the compound or when we watched through entire seasons of some of your favorite sitcoms. Our monopoly nights as we traveled through Europe, those moments mean everything to me."

He would've said that he would cherish the memories for as long as he lived, but since his life was about to end, there was no point. "You could never hurt me, Wanda. You are my closest friend." Glancing at Keira, he gently squeezed her arm. "You both are. Just... Promise me one thing?"

The two women looked down on him, ready to promise whatever dying wish the synthezoid had.

"Take care of each other."

"We promise. Always and forever." Keira said serenely. She didn't think she could take it any longer without crying, so she slipped out of both Vision's and Wanda's grasp but not before giving Vision a sympathetic nod.

Even at this moment, they had to keep their secret, no matter how much it hurt them. "I'll buy you as much much time as I can." She added in a whisper, pressing what might be the last kiss ever, to Wanda's cheek before turning around to face Thanos.

"Always and forever." Wanda whispered, her bottom lip quivering badly. With a shaking breath, she stretched out her hand and let her powers emerge. The red wisps grew slowly, almost reluctantly as her inner conflict was messing with her. "Until forever falls apart."

Everything within Keira was screaming at her to stay put, to stay by her fiancée and friend's side until the very end, but fate was cruel.

An ending where they all stood united together, alive and breathing wasn't written in the cards.