SELCOUTH | 7.1
"THE NAME'S AGATHA HARKNESS"
Westview, New Jersey | Present Day
"WHAT AM I DOING HERE?" Athena asks as she looks into the camera that was pointed into her face and the bright lights that were nearly blinding her.
"This is your confessional," Agnes says from her director chair, "Wanda is having everyone doing them."
"Right," Athena says as she looks at the camera, "And what exactly am I supposed to be confessing?"
"That is up to you," Agnes states, "I could give you a prompt to work with? Like is it true that Billy is your favorite twin?"
"No!" Athena says, though she found no point in lying, it wasn't as though the boys would ever see this and no matter how much parents deny it, it was scientifically proven that they always had a kid that they felt closer to, which meant that they favored them.
"Okay Billy is my favorite, but it's only because he's so sensitive and self-aware. And if you're a parent and you say that you don't have a favorite child, you're a liar. Everyone favors one kid over the other it's human nature to do so."
She looks at Agnes, "Is that good enough?"
"Sure," Agnes tells her, "I'm just doing what Wanda ordered."
Athena nods her head, eyeing Agnes suspiciously, "Yeah, okay."
She stands from the chair in the living room of her house, "I'm just gonna go check up on Wanda."
"She's not doing too well, hon. Perhaps you can cheer her up," Agnes says with a smile that leaves Athena feeling unsettled.
She moves past the camera and crews and goes to Wanda's house. When she opens the front door, the boys are sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Hey guys," Athena greets.
"Hey," the boys tell her.
"Where's your mom?" she asks, and they both point to the kitchen. She smiles thankfully at them before pushing the door open and heading inside. She pauses as she enters the kitchen, finding Wanda staring at a carton of milk.
She walks over to Wanda and leans close to the milk carton. She jumps away when the carton of milk glitches into a glass container of milk.
"I have no idea what's going on," Wanda says as she continues to stare at the milk.
"Maybe you overexerted yourself?" Athena suggests, "I mean it makes sense."
"I've never overexerted myself before," Wanda states and there was definitely room for Athena to make a dirty joke there, but she felt that it wasn't the time or place. She also felt that Wanda wasn't really in the mood to laugh.
"There's a first time for everything," Athena states.
"I guess," Wanda says as she grabs her bowl of cereal and sniffs it. She shrugs and holds it out to Athena, just under her nose, "Does this smell dangerous to you?"
Athena maintains eye contact with Wanda as she leans forward slightly and sniffs the cereal.
"No, it seems fine."
Wanda nods her head before eating a spoonful and heading into the living room. Concerned, Athena follows her, watching as she takes a seat between Billy and Tommy, who had been playing video games.
"Has anyone seen Vision?" Wanda asks, looking at the three of them.
"No," Billy answers, "Do you want to go look for him?"
"Well, if he doesn't want to be here, there's nothing I can do about it," she says before grabbing the remote and turning off their game.
"Hey mom, last night, Uncle P said that thing about rekilling Dad?" Billy brings up and Wanda points the remote rather aggressively at him.
"Don't believe anything that man said. He is not your uncle."
"Who is he?" Tommy asks, fear on his face.
Athena looks over at Wanda to see that she doesn't have an answer. She puts the remote down along with her bowl of cereal, "Here's the thing boys. I'm your mom and as such, you were counting on me to have all the answers, right?"
The twins nod their heads.
"Well, I don't! I have no answers. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Niente. I'm starting to believe that everything is meaningless. I mean you're welcome to draw your own conclusions," she points at Athena, "Your mom here studies human behavior, so maybe she can tell us something?"
The boys look at Athena and she lets out a laugh, "Ignore everything your mother just told you, okay? She's just having a really bad day."
"Do you know who Uncle P was?" Tommy asks her.
"No," Athena answers, "I just know that he wasn't your real uncle."
"Then where is our real uncle?" Billy asks.
"A really good question," Athena tells him, "That will have a really good answer someday, just not today."
There's a knock at the front door and Wanda uses her magic to open it. Athena looks up just as Agnes walks into the house a wide smile on her face.
"Hey Agnes, I would get up, but I just don't want to," Wanda says with a laugh. She watches as a look of concern crosses Agnes's face, but Athena couldn't blame her, she didn't get what was wrong with Wanda either.
"Hey, boys, why don't we give your moms some me-time?" Agnes suggests.
Wanda gasps, "Agnes, are you sure?"
"Absolutely!" Agnes exclaims, "Come on guys!"
"Do we have to?" Tommy asks with a frown.
"Yeah, do we have to?" Billy asks.
"You guys are gonna have a lot of fun," Wanda tells them.
Agnes hugs the boys into her side, "I promise I won't bite."
Athena watches as Agnes ushers the boys out of the house and Wanda leans over the back of the couch, "Agnes, you're a lifesaver. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Agnes starts to lift up her shirt, "I think I have this suspicious mole on my back-"
"Yeah, I think you should see a doctor about that," Athena says as she stands and tugs Agnes's shirt down. She smiles at Athena.
"Boundaries. Right. You two relax, enjoy yourselves. I promise the boys are safe."
Athena closes the door and looks back at Wanda, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Wanda states.
A rustling noise catches Athena's attention as the fake plant by the door, changes into a flower vase. The fireplace glitches before turning into an old stove, and the flatscreen TV changes its shape to an old black and white one.
"Yeah, all of that didn't seem fine," Athena says as she walks over to the couch. She takes a seat beside Wanda, "I know that you don't want to talk about this, but we should probably discuss how all of this happened."
Wanda laughs, "I already told you, I don't know."
"Wanda, your powers are acting funny and there are hundreds of people in this town that could be affected if something goes wrong. You need to put a stop to all of this."
"I can't," Wanda tells her.
"You can't? Or you won't?"
"Athena," Wanda warns softly, "Don't."
"You're hurting people," Athena tells her, "I know you miss Vision, I miss him too, but this isn't the way to do things."
Wanda stares at her, "You should go find him."
"Wanda."
"I need time to think and then we can talk, so can you please just find him?" Wanda asks her. Athena sighs, knowing that it was easier if she just did as Wanda asked her.
"Okay," Athena says standing from the couch.
"Thank you," Wanda tells her.
Athena heads toward the door, unable to help herself as she spares one last glance at Wanda.
___
"Darcy was able to get past Hayward's firewall," Jimmy says as he looks at his phone. They were on their way back toward the boundary. They'd lost the broadcast after Wanda had expanded the boundary, which meant they had no idea what was going on inside.
"What'd she uncover?" Monica asks.
"R and D reports on the same project. Code name, Cataract," Jimmy scrolls on his phone and notices a visual plan of Vision's reassembly, "Hayward wasn't decommissioning Vision. He was trying to bring him back online. Nothing worked until-"
"Wanda stole Vision's body," Monica states.
"That's why he was so focused on tracking Vision inside of the Hex. That also has to be why he called Athena. He knew that she would distract Wanda."
"Hayward wants his sentient weapon back and he'll do anything to get him," Monica says, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Someone has to tell Wanda and Athena," Jimmy states.
"I'll do it," Monica says, "An old friend owes me a favor."
___
Wanda had warned the boys not to go past Ellis Avenue, so that had to be where the boundary ended, or where it had ended prior to Wanda's expansion. She couldn't help but wonder what was making Wanda's powers act the way that they were.
Athena's steps slowed as she noticed a circus in the distance. She figured that it couldn't hurt to go asking around. She made her way toward the setup and looks around at the clowns and several other circus acts.
She noticed Darcy and wondered how she'd been able to get into the hex.
"Darcy," Athena says as she wanders over to her. However, Darcy doesn't reply at the sound of her name which meant that she was under whatever mind control Wanda had everyone else under.
"Nora?"
"Vision?" she asks as she looks up to see the synthezoid.
"What are you doing out here?" he asks her.
"Looking for you," Athena answers as she looks at him. He appeared fine or as fine as he could be, given the circumstances.
"Did Wanda send you after me?"
"I may have volunteered," she replies, "Why haven't you returned home? The boys are asking about you."
"I want answers," Vision states, "Something isn't right here, and Wanda is aware of it and now I think you may be as well."
Athena sighs, "My name isn't Nora. It's Athena Choi. Originally, I was here aiding S.W.O.R.D in figuring out what was occurring within Westview, but then I became a part of the anomaly myself."
"And you maintained consciousness outside of Wanda's control?" Vision asks her and she can't even mask the fact that she was impressed. He'd managed to figure out exactly what was going on in impressive time.
"Yes, I think that's due to the fact that Wanda knows me and felt that I didn't need control."
"And her," Vision says pointing to Darcy, "Is she a friend of yours? I saw her just last night when I was outside of all of this."
"That's Darcy Lewis. We were working together, I trust her."
Vision nods before going up to Darcy and placing his hand on her head. Darcy's eyes go wide as she looks around at her surroundings. Her eyes grow even wider as they settle on Athena.
"Athena? Where are we?"
"Welcome to Westview!" Athena says, holding her arms up as though presenting something grand, "Wanda expanded the Hex last night. Seems you got caught in it. How's Monica and Jimmy?"
"Fine and fine," Darcy answers, "However, Hayward is a slimeball. He's after Vision and I don't trust him. Neither does Jimmy or Monica. We think he brought you on this project as a distraction for Wanda."
"Who is Hayward?" Vision asks, "And why is he after me?"
"Long story," Athena states, "Which I will tell you while we get back to Wanda."
"Might be faster if we take that truck," Darcy says, pointing to a funnel cake truck.
"Excellent," Vision states.
"Hey!" one of the circus guys says as he walks out of the tent, "You guys are up!"
"We have a prior engagement," Vision says as he begins making his way toward the truck. The guy grabs Darcy's arm and she reacts quickly punching him in the face. He falls to the ground, clutching his nose.
"Sorry," Darcy apologizes before running off toward the truck.
"Nice punch," Athena compliments as she climbs in the back of the truck. Vision climbs in on the passenger side and closes the door behind him.
"Thanks. I took a self-defense class," Darcy tells her with a smile.
"I don't understand," Vision states. Athena leans between the seats to look at him as Darcy tries to start the car, "Why do the boys refer to you as mom?"
"I honestly don't have an answer for that one," Athena tells him.
"Well, are the boys safe?" Vision asks.
"Can't answer that one either."
"Aha!" Darcy exclaims as she finds the keys, starting the truck. A loud banging comes from the side of the truck and Vision and Athena both jump as they look out of the window.
"You guys are Avengers and you're scared of a little banging?" Darcy asks.
"An Avenger? Agnes mentioned that last night. What is it exactly?" Athena frowns at the mention of Agnes.
"It was a team of enhanced individuals that fought to protect Earth. You, Wanda, and I were members," Athena explains, "How did Agnes tell you about the Avengers?"
"I removed the control that Wanda had over her," he explains. The banging outside the window continues and Darcy puts the truck in drive, heading toward the road with the circus man still chasing after them. Vision shifts in his seat so that he has a better view of Athena, "Is that how you were able to maintain your consciousness? Because you're an enhanced individual?"
"I suppose it's that and the fact that Wanda used to use her magic on me all the time," Athena shares, "I trusted her to do so."
"And what is it that you can do exactly?"
"She's a goddess," Darcy answers, "An Asgardian one."
"I have a sort of charmspeak where I can influence actions if the person is attracted to me. I can also manipulate water."
"So how did all of this occur? How did we end up where we are today?" Vision asks her and Athena hates that she has to tell him about the fate that he faced.
"There was a titan, his name was Thanos. He was invading planets and destroying them. He was searching for the Infinity Stones," Vision subconsciously reaches up and touches the stone that was resting in his head, "We tried to stop him, but our efforts failed. Wanda had to destroy the Mind Stone to stop him."
"So, Wanda killed me?"
"Yes, but you asked her to do it. It was the only way to save the universe," Athena explains.
"But you said your efforts failed."
"That's because Thanos rewound time and killed you himself," Darcy explains, "Then he snapped away half of the population."
"So, I came back and died again," Vision says sadly. Athena reaches out and pats him on the shoulder. She remembered saying goodbye to Vision, how she'd felt relieved when Thanos had almost killed her. She'd almost lost everything that day, including her life.
"Wanda had to watch," Athena says softly, "The two of you had grown – close the year before."
"Close?"
"You and Wanda never actually dated," Athena informs him.
"No?" he asks confused, "Then why did she create this entire universe where we're married and give us children?"
"She was mad at me," Athena states, "Wanda and I, we dated and then I proposed to her, and she said no, so I left. We were on the run from the government because of the Sokovian Accords, which Wanda and I violated. You came to look after us at the request of Tony Stark, who kind of created you in response to creating Ultron who wanted to destroy the world. When I left, you were all Wanda had. You were her safe place."
Vision sighs, "That's why she referred to me as her best friend. That also explains why she was spending so much time with you."
"Well, it wasn't really me at first. Nora was the name that my mother was going to give me if we stayed in Asgard. Wanda created a version of me and placed her here, living across the street from the two of you."
"And you seriously have no idea why the boys call you mom?"
"No," Athena answers, "Because I'm not. You and Wanda, you're their parents."
"Okay," Vision states, "So I am an Avenger, and I was created by Tony Stark to stop Ultron who wanted world domination."
"You're right so far," Darcy says from the driver's seat.
"So, what am I now?"
"Here comes the part that Athena was unaware of," Darcy says, glancing wearily at the Asgardian, "Wanda stole Vision's body from the S.W.O.R.D headquarters. That's how he's here."
"She stole Vision's body. And Hayward didn't think to share that with anyone?" Athena asks. When he called her about the anomaly he appeared not to know about Wanda's involvement or the fact that Vision's body was missing.
"Before I got sucked into here, I got through Hayward's firewalls. He's trying to bring Vision back online. He doesn't care about Wanda. Right now, she's his enemy."
"If Wanda doesn't lower this, he's gonna come in guns blazing," Athena states, and Darcy nods her head.
"There's also the fact that Vision can't leave the Hex. Whatever Wanda did to bring him back, it doesn't work unless he's in here."
Athena glances over at Vision who seems very much in thought. She wished she knew what he was thinking. She was sure this entire situation had to be frustrating to Vision.
The car rolls to a stop and Athena looks out the windshield to see that they're stopped at a red light. They sit there in silence for a moment before the light turns green and a construction crew comes out, repairing the light.
"It appears that Wanda doesn't want us returning home," Vision states observantly.
"I don't know," Athena says, "Her magic has been acting up since she expanded the Hex."
"Really?" Darcy asks.
"Everything is glitching between the decades. I also don't think that we're the only enhanced individuals here. Someone else has to be pulling the strings, because Wanda didn't bring Pietro back or whoever that person was. Someone sent him in there, told him things that only Pietro would know, and used him to mess with Wanda."
"But we did background checks, and everyone is normal civilians," Darcy tells her.
"Agnes," Athena states, recalling Vision's words from earlier. She looks at Darcy, "Agnes, the nosy neighbor, did we ever find a driver's license or residence in Westview for her?"
"Come to think of it, I don't think we did," Darcy states, and Athena sighs as she runs her hands through her hair. She'd left the boys all alone with Agnes, she'd practically left Wanda alone with her and she wasn't sure what she was capable of.
"We need to get back to town. Now."
Darcy motions to the construction workers.
"Vision, fly back to town. Darcy and I will catch up later."
He glances at her, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, and be on the lookout for Agnes. We don't know what she's capable of, but it's not good."
He nods his head before flying through the roof of the funnel cake truck. Darcy looks through the hole, "He couldn't have opened the door?"
Athena climbs into the passenger seat and sighs as she watches the men repair the stoplight. They needed to get back to town.
"So, you proposed to Wanda," Darcy says, "Is that what led to the fallout?"
"It's what began it," Athena tells her, "We planned to talk things through, but Thanos snapped, and suddenly five years went by."
"And you didn't move on," Darcy notes and Athena shakes her head.
"I'd already met the love of my life."
"What happens after all of this?" Darcy asks curiously.
"I don't know," Athena answers as she looks at the scientist.
"Well, I do," Darcy says, "The two of you talk things out. You already lost her once, Athena. Don't make the same mistake twice."
"I'm not," Athena states, "It's just that no matter how you look at it, this doesn't have a good ending. Wanda is holding a town hostage. She's going to be labeled as a hostile, it's the Sokovian Accords all over again. I'm a college professor. I take Morgan Stark out for ice cream every Saturday. I have responsibilities. I can't follow Wanda down that path."
"But Wanda is the love of your life," Darcy states, "And you're the love of her life. Isn't that all that matters?"
___
"Wanda?"
She places her glass of water down as Geraldine, well Monica, enters her living room. Wanda makes her way from the kitchen to the living room, confused as to how she had gotten through her boundary. Had Athena betrayed her and returned to the S.W.O.R.D agents? Had her words the previous night just been a lie?
"How did you get in here?" Wanda asks her.
"Wanda, I need you to listen to me. It's Vision that Hayward wants. He used Athena as a distraction, knowing that if you were focused on her that he could easily get to Vision."
Wanda didn't trust her. She worked with the enemy; how could she trust her?
She forced Monica in the air, taking her back outside, "Don't talk to me about that. I don't want to hear about it! The drones, the missiles, Pietro, and Athena. God, you all really outdid yourself with Athena. She's the reason you're in here, isn't she?"
"Pietro wasn't us and Athena came here because she loves you! Because she wants better for you than this Wanda!"
"All you do is lie!" Wanda exclaims before making the decision to rid herself of the problem once and for all. She shoves Monica into the ground, only for her own energy to stop her. She looks up at Wanda, eyes glowing blue, leaving her unsettled. She wasn't capable of doing that before.
"The only lies I've told are the ones you put in my mouth," Monica retorts.
"Careful," Wanda warns, as Monica takes a step closer to her. Monica's eyes flicker to her hand and then back at Wanda.
"Do it then," she challenges, "Take me out."
Wanda stares at Monica and no matter how much she didn't trust her, all she'd done was try to communicate with her, ask her what she wanted. She didn't want to hurt her. She didn't want to hurt anyone.
Monica takes another step forward, "See? That's where you and Hayward differ. He's gonna burn Westview to the ground just to get what he wants. Don't let him make you the villain."
After everything she had done, she was certain that it might be a little too late for that.
"Maybe I already am."
Monica shakes her head, taking another step, "You are a good person Wanda and I'm not afraid of you. I know what it's like to lose someone. I lost the person closest to me too. The worst thing I can think of has already happened to me and I can't change it. I can't undo it. I can't control this pain anymore."
Wada watches as she takes another step, "But things are different for you. Athena is still there. She still loves you and you have a chance to make this all right. You have to-"
"Young lady!"
Agnes's voice cuts Monica off and they both look over at her.
Wanda watches as Agnes narrows her eyes at Monica, "I think you overstayed your welcome. Poor Wanda's been through enough."
"This doesn't concern you," Monica states, before looking back at her.
"Wanda," Agnes says shoving her away from Monica. She looks at the agent with a smile, "Run along, dear."
"Wanda," Monica attempts once more, "You have to take it down."
"No!" Wanda says pointing a finger at her, "Don't make me hurt you."
She allows Agnes to usher her inside, unable to stop thinking about Monica's words. Perhaps she was right. Maybe she did need to take everything down. Maybe there was something waiting for her out there in the real world.
But in this world, she had everything she wanted. Everyone she wanted.
"Oh Wanda, hun," Agnes says as she pulls out a seat for her, "Can I get you some tea?"
"Sure."
"Okay," Agnes says with a smile, "I'll be right back with that."
Wanda takes a deep breath calming herself, before noticing the half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before her. The boys were supposed to be over here and yet the house was eerily quiet to Wanda.
"Where are the twins?"
"Oh, they're probably just playing in the basement," Agnes answers.
Having the gut feeling that something was wrong, Wanda gets to her feet and heads toward Agnes's basement. She opens the door, looking down the dark steps.
"Boys?" she calls but receives no answer. She looks back toward Agnes once more before heading down the basement steps. The stairs creak under Wanda's weight, but that's the only sound she hears.
"Tommy?" she calls once she reaches the basement, "Billy?"
She continues to walk, noticing the way that vines tangle the walls of the basement. She reaches an open room where she catches a glimpse of light. She looks around, noticing the skulls in a display case and a book that was glowing.
She begins to approach it when she hears a loud thud, forcing her to snap her head in the direction of the sound.
"Wanda, Wanda," Agnes says, "You didn't think you were the only magical girl in town, did you?"
Athena had been right.
Wanda hated that she ever doubted her. If there was one person that she could always trust, it was Athena and she felt guilty for ever thinking otherwise.
Agnes flicks her wrist and the door that Wanda had previously walked through slammed shut.
"The name's Agatha Harkness. Lovely to finally meet you, dear," Agnes, or rather Agatha says, her eyes glowing purple. Wanda tries to resist, but she can feel as Agatha's magic invades her mind.