BACK AT the office, Carson was stood at his desk, fiddling with some faulty wires that were in the back of his computer. He let out a frustrated huff as he unplugged them before putting them back in, this being the third time today his computer had broken.
"So you're telling me this is a type writer, a Rolodex and a calendar all in one?" Norm asked him in astonishment. "What else can it do, find me a wife?"
Carson chuckled to himself. "I think that's something you'll have to do on your own."
"Y'know, it's a hell of a thing watching you use all this technology Carson." Norm told him. "I still don't know how to work these things."
"You want me to show you?" Carson asked him.
Norm gave him a smile and nodded. "Sure buddy."
Carson walked over to Norm's desk and sat down in his chair while Norm stood at his side, looking down at the computer screen from over his shoulder.
Once the computer had turned on, Carson pressed a button on the keyboard which ended up bringing different coding on the screen. His eyebrows came together in confusion when he saw it wasn't the usual type of emails they normally received. Carson tapped the keyboard once more and the message expanded.
Carson leant closer to the screen. "What the..."
"SWORD, top secret communiqué. Authenticate." Norm started to read out what was on the screen.
Everyone else in the room suddenly joined in with what Norm was saying and Carson spun around on his chair, watching them all speak as if they were in some sort of trance.
"Doctor Darcy Lewis' findings regarding Maximoff's Anomaly. High levels of radiation at the perimeter. Effect on residents of Westview along with Swan unknown, please advise."
Norm and all the other employees suddenly broke into a fit of laughter. But Carson wasn't even close to finding it amusing at all. He leant back in his chair, inhaling sharply as he thought to himself what the message meant, why his name along with Wanda's was included.
Carson felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked up at Norm, now being broken out of his thoughts.
"Well, come on pal." Norm said. "What are we gonna write back? You're the office funny guy."
"I... uh." Carson ignored his question and looked back at the screen, his eyes fixating on a certain line of the email.
Maximoff's Anomaly.
"It's a joke, can't you tell?" Norm nudged him once more. "None of it is real."
Carson's attention seemed to be grabbed after hearing the last line of what Norm said.
None of it is real.
None of it is real.
None of it is real.
He stood up and walked over to Norm, placing his fingers against the man's temples. Carson's eyes flickered red momentarily as he tapped into his powers, a subtle red hue forming around his fingers.
Norm let out a grunt and stumbled backwards a little making Carson remove his hands. Carson watched the man intently as he took in his surroundings, like he'd just been woken up from some sort of nightmare.
Norm's eyes came to a stop when he noticed Carson stood in front of him. "Please... please help me. What day is it? How long has it been? Where's my phone, I need to call my sister!"
"Hey, Norm, just look at me okay?" Carson said quietly, not wanting the others to hear what was going on. "I need you to calm down."
Carson's words didn't seem to register in Norm's brain as he continued to panic, now fumbling through his desk draws to find his phone.
"No, I need to call her!" Norm shook his head. "She's taking care of our dad he's sick! Where's my phone!"
Carson looked over his shoulder, clenching his jaw in frustration as he saw a few employees peek over their computers to see what was happening. He let out an annoyed huff and grabbed Norm's arm harshly, pulling him upright and making him face towards him.
"Calm. Down." Carson told him sternly.
Norm exhaled shakily. "But I— I don't... you need to help me please..."
"Help you with what Norm?" Carson questioned the man. "Just tell me what's happening and I will."
Norm grabbed Carson's jacket. "You have to stop her."
Carson's brows furrowed. "Stop who?"
"She's in my head." Norm's breathing started to pick up again. "It hurts... it hurts so much."
"Who... Who's in your head?"
"Just make her stop... I'll do anything, I promise you." Norm begged. "Just make her STOP!"
Carson moved his hands back up to Norm's head and used his powers to return him back to his previous self. He took a step back, watching as the troubled look that Norm once had faded away, now being replaced by a smile.
"Now tell me this." Norm chuckled. "If I send an email, where would I put the stamp?"
Carson didn't bother to reply to Norm. Instead he walked back over to his desk and grabbed his coat along with his keys, starting to walk over to the door.
"Hey, where you going buddy?" Norm asked.
"There's something I have to do."
~~ ᗢ ~~
WANDA WAS sat down in the living room, watching with Tommy from the couch as Billy showed them the tricks he'd been teaching Sparky.
"Now, spin." With the hand that Billy held a treat in, he spun it around and Sparky followed it, doing the trick that he wanted. "Good boy!"
"Bravo, Billy!" Wanda applauded. "You weren't so bad either sparky!"
"That was so good!" Tommy smiled at his brother. "Where's dad? We have to show him."
"Oh, he's at work." Wanda told them.
"Huh?" Tommy turned around and looked at his mother.
"But it's Saturday..." Billy said.
Wanda shook her head. "No it's not, it's Monday."
"This morning was Saturday." Tommy corrected.
"There was an emergency at the office and your father had to go in." Wanda shrugged. "End of story."
Tommy and Billy both shared a look, each of them frowning after what Wanda had told them. Wanda sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she thought of what to say next.
"Look, he just..." Wanda began. "He needed a distraction."
"From what?" Tommy asked.
Billy looked down at the floor. "From us?"
"No! No way! No!" Wanda walked over to her children. "Sometimes... your dad and I aren't on the same page, but that's just temporary."
She brought the two of them over to the couch and sat between the two while she reassured them.
"It's like the two of you." Wanda explained. "You might fight over toys, but he's always going to be your brother, and he's always going to be yours. Because family is forever."
"Do you have a brother?" Tommy looked at Wanda.
Wanda paused for a moment. "I do. But he's... far away from here... and that makes me sad sometimes."
Sparky suddenly started barking and he jumped from off Billy's lap, running over to the door and scratching at it.
"Sparky, what's up boy?" Billy's face scrunched when he saw Sparky starting to growl at the door. "Somethings scaring him."
Wanda's gaze flicked between the door and the window, her eyes narrowing slightly. Something wasn't right, and she knew. She just had to figure out what it was.
"Stay here."
~~ ᗢ ~~
OUTSIDE the hex, Monica was sat down at one of the desks, controlling the drone that they had sent in for surveillance. Hayward was stood behind her, watching Monica's every move along with what was being shown on the screen.
"I know this is tech from the 80s, but can we sharpen the visuals?" Hayward requested.
"Working on it." Monica replied.
She flew the drone over to Wanda's house, the camera picking up footage of Wanda walking down her driveway with her kids following behind.
Monica smiled proudly. "Maximoff located."
"Well done." Hayward nodded.
"We can't see the drone on the broadcast." Jimmy spoke up from the other side of the room. "Wanda's framing it out of the shot."
"Just like all the jump cuts." Darcy spoke up. "Wanda decides what makes it onto her show and what doesn't."
Hayward looked back at the screen. "And here we go, you're up."
Monica put on her headset and pulled down the mic. "Wanda, this is Captain Monica Rambeau. Can you hear me? I just wanna talk, that's it."
Wanda looked up at the drone, her eyes looking directly into the camera. She didn't respond, instead her head tilted to the side along with her eyes starting to glow.
"No joy." Hayward scoffed. He looked over at one of the agents next to Monica and gave him a signal.
"Uh.." Monica tried to move the drone but nothing happened. "Wait, my controls aren't working. Reconnect patch."
"Disregard. Take the shot."
"What?" Monica looked at Hayward. "No, the drone isn't armed."
"I said take the shot." Hayward ordered.
Monica looked back at the screen with widened eyes, watching as the feed cut out after the sound of an explosion. She took off her headset and stood up, glaring at Hayward.
"What did you do!" She shouted.
The alarms around the base sounded and everybody looked around, confused as to what was happening.
"Sir, there's a breach!" One of the agents said.
Everybody got up out of their seats and all ran outside to the border of the hex where the breach was detected. Multiple armoured trucks pulled up outside, armed soldiers pooling out of them.
They all took their positions with their weapons at the ready, locking onto a certain point of the hex wall.
The wall of the hex started to glitch, it's colour flickering from blue to red as a shadowed figure was seen getting closer and closer.
Monica's breath hitched in her throat when she saw who it was that had left the Hex boundaries, dragging along the drone that was used earlier behind them.
Wanda Maximoff herself.
"Is this yours?" Wanda shouted over as she threw the destroyed drone at the feet.
"The missile was just a precaution." Hayward told her. "You can hardly blame us, Wanda."
"Oh, I think I can." Wanda glared at him. "This will be your only warning. Stay out of my home. You don't bother me, I won't bother you."
Hayward shook his head. "I wish it could be that simple. You've taken an entire town hostage, not to mention your own boyfriend."
Wanda looked down at the lasers from the soldiers guns that were aimed at her chest. "I'm not the one with the guns, Director."
"But you are the one in control."
Wanda looked up, seeing Monica stepping forwards. She rolled her eyes and started to form her energy in her hands.
"You're still here." Wanda raised a brow.
"Wanda... I didn't know the drones were armed." Monica assured her. "But you know that, don't you?"
Wanda's watched intently as Monica continued to walk towards her. She remained passive, deciding to listen to what Monica had to say.
"A town full of civilians and you, a telepath, brought a SWORD agent into your home." Monica stopped a few feet away from her. "You trusted me to help deliver your babies! On some level, Wanda, you know I am an ally. I want to help you."
"How?" Wanda scoffed. "What could you possibly have to offer me?"
"Well," Monica paused for a moment. "What do you want?"
"I have what I want." Wanda clenched her jaw. "And no one, will ever take him from me again."
Monica looked down at Wanda's hand, inhaling sharply when she saw her raise it ever so slightly.
"Wait, wait!" Monica grabbed her attention. "This is about Carson, right? You're doing this because you lost him."
"Don't." Wanda glared at her.
"You lost the most important person in your life Wanda... I get that, believe me I do." Monica cautiously inched closer. "But if you stop this, all of this, then I can help you. We all can. We can help him. Don't you want that?"
"Help him?" Wanda's voice raised, the red glow returning to her eyes. "I saw what your little organization were doing to him in there. And I was right not to trust you so easily like the others did, like Stark did."
Monica's face contorted into a confused look. "What? Wanda I don't know what—"
"Just leave us alone." Wanda snapped. "I won't tell you again."
With the flick of her wrist, Wanda mind controlled all the soldiers to turn their guns onto Hayward. The man raised up his hands and started shouting at his agents for them to stand down, but they didn't move.
Wanda turned away from Monica and started to walk back over to the hex, ignoring the woman calling out to her. She approached the hex wall and opened it up just enough for her to walk in, a burst of red flowing through the hex.
And with one last look over her shoulder, she was gone.
As Wanda returned back into the hex, she looked down at her clothes that had now changed back to the outfit she was wearing previously before she left. She let out a breath and ran a hand over her face, taking a moment to calm down.
But the sound of shuffling quickly caught her attention.
Her head shot up and she looked ahead, her eyes widening at the sight of what was in front of her.
"I..." Wanda tried to speak, but her words got caught up in her throat. "What are— what are you doing?"
Carson slid his hands into his pockets, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her.
"I could ask you the same thing."
~~ ᗢ ~~
DUN DUN DUNNNNN
[Not edited]