Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 12: I'm a Monster

"Hello? Wanda?" Jemma asked in a panic, feeling some relief.

"No, this is Steve. Jemma is that you?" Jemma froze. What is Steve doing with Wanda's phone? Is she okay?

"Steve? What's going on? Where's Wanda, is she okay? Please, God, tell me she's okay—" Jemma rambled as Steve cut her off.

"She's okay, Jemma, there was just a little issue with the mission, but I promise she's okay." Jemma relaxed at his words.

"Okay, can I talk to her?"

"Hold on," she could hear Steve talking in the background, probably to Wanda, but she frowned a bit when Steve came back on the line. "She's asleep right now, Jemma. I'll let her know you called and she'll call you back, I'll make sure of it. I'll talk to you later, Jemma. Bye."

"Bye," she said as she heard Steve hang up. Jemma stared at the floor in confusion; Why did Steve Rogers lie to me?

○○○

Hours had passed before Jemma heard the familiar sound of a key in the lock. She stood up from her seat on the loveseat and Jemma watched as Wanda's familiar brown hair entered the apartment. Griffon ran out from the bedroom and ran over to Wanda, rubbing his face against her legs meowing. She bent down to pet him gently before looking over at Jemma who was standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed over her body.

"I'm sorry I didn't call," Wanda said quietly as she started to walk past Jemma to her room. Jemma reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her and causing her to look at Jemma.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jemma asked slowly, trying to not to scream at the girl. Wanda shifted uncomfortably and didn't meet Jemma's eyes.

"I...hung out at the compound for a little bit. I needed to decompress," Wanda said.

"And you didn't think to call and tell me?" Wanda didn't answer. "I was worried sick about you. I thought that something had happened to you. I thought that you were dead. I thought I lost you like I lost—" Jemma cut herself off as Wanda's face snapped to Jemma's. "I thought I lost you...like I lost Lily."

"I'm sorry," Wanda whispered as both her and Jemma felt the tears form in their eyes. Wanda brought the woman into her arms allowing the woman to cry into her neck. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, but I'm okay. I promise." After a few minutes, the two women pulled away and Wanda started towards her room again.

"What happened on the mission? Steve said there was an issue." Wanda paused in front of her door, her fingers grazing the doorknob. She visibly tensed as she thought back on what happened during the mission; the bomb, the building, the many people that she killed. "Wanda, are you okay?"

Wanda ignored Jemma and walked into her room and laid on her bed, face down, much like how she laid when Jemma visited her at the compound after Ultron's attack. Jemma followed, clearly seeing that something was bothering her young roommate. She entered the room and sat on her bed, gently taking her hand and rubbing the girl's back.

"Wanda, please talk to me. What happened?"

"You're going to hate me," Wanda said quietly as her Sokovian accent came through. She fought hard to keep from crying again, but her voice cracked and a few tears spilled from her eyes at the thought of Jemma hating her for what she had done. Jemma sighed and lifted the girl from her position and brought her into her lap and embraced her. She rested her chin on top of Wanda's brown hair and continued to rub her back, letting her cry. She placed a small kiss on Wanda's hair.

"Wanda, you know that I could never hate you. Now, please, tell me what happened." Wanda didn't speak, instead she grabbed the remote to her TV and turned the device on, automatically playing a news station. Jemma's attention followed to the screen.

"11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria, earlier today. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos when the attack occurred." Wanda flipped to another news channel.

"They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these. What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri—" Jemma grabbed the remote and turned off the TV and turned to look at Wanda.

"It's my fault," she said sadly. "I killed all those people. I'm a monster."

"You're not a monster, Wanda. It was just an accident."

"They sure don't think it was an accident." Wanda didn't meet her eyes and just stared at the floor, allowing herself to wallow in self-pity.

"Did you mean to kill those people?" Jemma asked her with an eyebrow raised. Wanda sighed; of course, she didn't mean to kill those people, that didn't change the fact that she did.

"Of course, I didn't mean to kill them. But, Jemma, I still did. Whether I did it on purpose or not, they're still dead. I'm still a murderer." Jemma got up from the side of Wanda's bed and walked to the other side, laying down beside her. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling, not speaking.

The two women didn't speak for the rest of the evening. Jemma didn't know what else to say to Wanda, and Wanda was too wrapped up in her own head to even think of a conversation. Eventually, Jemma left to go to the kitchen to make dinner for the two of them, leaving Wanda to her thoughts. There weren't many moments when Wanda shut Jemma out anymore, but when she did, it was always difficult to bring her back out. Jemma stood outside Wanda's closed door, trying to bring herself to knock and let the young woman know that dinner was ready and that she should join her.

"Wanda? Wanda, dinner's ready. Why don't you come out and get something to eat?" The inside of the room was quiet, until Jemma heard the soft sound of someone moving around, and before long, Wanda walked out of her room and stepped closer to Jemma, hugging her. She buried her face in her chest and closed her eyes, relishing the hug. Jemma wrapped her arms around Wanda and patted her back, before the both of them pulled away and walked towards the kitchen and helped themselves to food.

Almost as if the foul mood didn't happen, the two women laughed and joked as they ate. Yes, Wanda was glad that she had Jemma Barnes in her life; the one person she had left that could pull her out of any bad mood that she was feeling.

"So, what did you do while I was out?" Wanda asked as she brought her fork up to her mouth, eating the piece of chicken that Jemma made while looking at her. Wanda was always curious about what Jemma did when she wasn't here, like it was some big secret. Jemma laughed as she too ate a piece of chicken.

"Why do you want to know? My life isn't nearly as interesting as yours," she countered as she got up to pour herself a glass of wine. She held out the bottle towards Wanda and raised an eyebrow, silently asking if she wanted some.

"You know I'm not old enough to drink," she said as she sipped her water, tilting her head at the older woman. Jemma smiled and put the bottle back in the fridge, walked back to her seat, and patted Wanda on the shoulder, causing her to laugh.

"Good. That's good. Remember, always say no. Alcohol is bad for you."

"But then why are you drinking it?" Wanda asked laughing.

"It's too late forme, besides, I said it's bad for you!" Jemma replied laughing also asshe took a sip of her wine, giving Wanda a side-eye.