coveted magics, 1
Fatigue was something of a norm now, for Darcy Lewis. She knew what caused it, but... she didn’t know how to fix it. Therapy, probably. But she wasn’t exactly ready to unload this particular truth onto some poor sod of a therapist just yet. She had bad dreams. Dreams about regrets that she had no real reason to have in the first place. Unless... was it her fault that she’d forgotten? It couldn’t have been coincidence that she’d remembered last November, around the same time that the Scarlet Witch had been declared or presumed dead, whatever the terminology had been. But... there was the guilt, too. It ate at her. Had she remembered, maybe Wanda wouldn’t have gone ballistic and killed so many people.
She still remembered rocking up to look for Doctor Strange to ask what the hell was going on with the weird magic leaking out of her, and trying to learn to control it amidst a sanctum that was still grieving and rebuilding. Now, Darcy didn’t want to be a hero or join up with the sanctum people or anything like that, but it was pretty cool to have a tiny little dose of magic she could control. That had appeared around the time that Wanda had been declared or presumed dead or whatever. Which brought everything back to full circle. Why hadn’t she remembered? Why hadn’t she told anyone?
Maybe if Wanda knew that her kids were very much real and alive, everything would have turned out much better. It still didn’t make sense, how that worked. Darcy had tried to understand in the hopes that it would give her some peace. Every single other identified person from the Westview broadcast had been a person who lived there. Except for two individuals: William Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd. They were very much real, and existed. Granted, they were a few years older than they’d ever gotten in that creepy but hilarious show. But they did exist, completely separate to what had taken place in Westview.
Billy lived in Chicago, with parents Jeff and Rebecca, and Tommy lived in Minneapolis under the care of his own different parents, Frank and Mary. They had their own entire lives, and they had the whole damn time. So... how had Wanda created two kids named Billy and Tommy who looked exactly the same as their non-magical counterparts? Why had Darcy forgotten? Why did she suddenly remember one afternoon in November? And inherit some kind of magical abilities at the same time? It just didn’t make sense.
So Darcy had given up on trying to make sense of it. Now, she just wanted to live her life. The nightmares and guilt didn’t help, though. She just wishes she could have told Wanda. Darcy had a sense that even if they had these entirely different lives, Billy and Tommy were still Wanda’s kids. But it was too late now. Too late for Darcy to help.
“Fuck,” Peter and Harley both cursed in unison as they saw Harry’s messages. That... was not good. Wanda- The Scarlet Witch was supposed to be dead. She was also extremely powerful, and had done a lot of damage to Kamar-Taj back at the end of the previous year. If she was there, and she was hostile, Harry needed all the help he could get. Messages flooded in from all the others to say they were on their way. Peter dropped one to indicate that he and Harley would be there soon too, and the two of them fled out of Peter’s dorm room without even pausing to change or clean themselves up. The priority was to get down to the Playground as fast as possible and pick up their suits before rushing down to Harry’s location.
The map said he was at Coolidge Corner, which was in the suburb of Brookline and only a minute away from the Playground if Harley flew both of them there. Peter had patrolled through Coolidge Corner once and meant to go back to check out some of the shops. From what he remembered, it had a large open space, which was a damn good thing if Wanda got violent. It took ten whole minutes to make it to the Playground, during which Peter was so relieved to see another message from Harry saying that he was keeping an eye on the potential enemy but staying well out of sight.
Suits were donned in record time before Peter clutched onto Harley’s back and Harley took off, rocketing south-west over the river as fast as he could. While Harley flew, Peter watched the location trackers on his phone to check everyone else’s position. Gwen was already there, positioned half a block away from Harry and likely waiting for a signal to move in closer. Daisy was about two blocks away and moving fast. Riri had just left her workshop and was flying over, and even Kamala was tracking a straight line from her home in Roxbury towards the site of conflict.
Daisy arrived seconds before Peter and Harley, using her quakes to hurtle herself through the air until she had landed right in front of a figure with red hair that was only mostly concealed beneath a hat and hoodie. Peter dropped off from Harley to join her, while Harley moved to position himself in the air above and behind Wanda. In that moment, Gwen and Harry both emerged from their hiding spots, Gwen blocking Wanda’s escape from behind and Harry levitating to one side.
“Everyone clear out, it’s not safe here!” Harley’s voice boomed, amplified by his suit to reach as many people in this rather busy public space as possible. “GO!”
Finally, people started moving. Right in front of Peter, Wanda sighed. She looked tired. Exhausted, even. But she was still one of the most powerful people on the planet when she wanted to be, and they couldn’t afford to take chances. Peter readied his fingers to trigger his web shooter and act on less than a moment’s notice.
“I promise I mean you all no harm,” Wanda declared.
“I can’t quite say I believe you, Miss Scarlet Witch,” Daisy countered firmly, speaking for all of them. She raised her hands up, ready to strike with her powerful quakes. “You’re a nationally wanted fugitive, because people are so afraid of you that they left the wanted status up even after you supposedly died. Surely you can understand that?”
Wanda frowned, and Peter heard her breath hitch. “I do understand. My own actions have caused immeasurable harm, and I’ll spend my entire life making amends.”
...What? From what Peter remembered of his few interactions with her before everything that happened with Thanos, he recalled Wanda being generally pretty kind. But he also knew exactly what happened to her during the first battle with Thanos - how she’d had to watch Vision die twice. Once by her own magic, and once by Thanos after he reversed time to bring her back to life. The general story about what happened in Westview was that Wanda had been so distraught and twisted in grief that she’d lashed out at a SWORD facility and then taken that entire town hostage.
But... Peter had experienced his fair share of grief, and he’d never let himself turn cruel. There had been moments when he almost had, moments where he either reined himself in or had help. Was it that much of a stretch to believe that Wanda truly meant to atone?
“We need more than that, Wanda,” Peter tried, wanting to give her a chance to prove that she truly wasn’t a threat. “I want to believe you. Help me out here?”
Wanda’s eyes locked onto him. “Spider-Man. You were at the second battle. I... I truly don’t know how to explain myself. It seems so... flimsy to say that I was manipulated by a demon. I still... I take responsibility for all of my actions, whether or not they were truly of my own volition.”
“By Chthon, right?” Harry cut in. “You were possessed by Chthon, but... was it you who destroyed the Darkhold? The true Darkhold, at Mount Wundagore?”
Wanda nodded. Her movements had little strength to them, and every instinct of Peter’s told him that Wanda really was telling the truth. “I... yes. Chthon tempted me, and I gave in. It was my own grief that made me so weak, and for that reason - among others - I wouldn’t dare deny that I am still to blame for what happened.”
Daisy lowered her hands. “I... know what that’s like. Everybody stand down, she’s telling the truth. I know from experience.”
“You-” Wanda started, and then cut herself off. Something in her expression softened, a concerned gaze levelled upon Daisy. And Daisy was meeting Wanda’s gaze with something both tender and protective. Peter took a moment to glance around, and saw that most of the people who had cleared out of the immediate vicinity were now simply standing on the outskirts of the area and filming. Not good.
“Iron Lad, get Darlene to disrupt all nearby mobile device uploads!” Peter yelled, hoping to prevent anything from going live before it was too late. A part of him knew it was futile, but he at least had to try.
“Got it,” Harley confirmed, and started muttering quietly inside his suit. “Shit, we’re too late.”
And then there were sirens. Sirens, and stampeding footsteps. Damn, that had been fast. Shoving their way through the crowds with concerning speed were swathes of armed officers from Damage Control. It had to be them, nobody else would be this nosy and quick to respond to reported sightings of the Scarlet Witch. Someone must have gotten a good enough camera angle to show Wanda’s face.
It was just as well, then, that Riri was rocketing down from the sky - the more of them there, the better. Peter and the others weren’t going to let Damage Control get to Wanda. Even if she wanted to take responsibility, Damage Control’s methods were too forceful and uncaring. They wouldn’t give Wanda the help she needed. They’d only make things worse.
“Situation?” Riri questioned as she came to a halt just above the group.
“Damage Control want Wanda,” Daisy began to answer. “They can’t have her. Wanda, hide your face as best you can, we’re gonna deny that you’re even here.”
“Understood,” Riri acknowledged, and turned to face the approaching federal officers.
One of them stepped forward. Peter recognised him, his dark curly hair and his demeaning vibe. Agent Cleary, who had taken him, Aunt May and his friends in after Peter was framed for the murder of Mysterio. Agent Cleary held up a megaphone, and started speaking. “We are the United States Department of Damage Control, and we have a warrant for the arrest of Wanda Maximoff. Hand her over and there won’t be any trouble.”
Peter was the one to step forward and make enough of an approach to earn Agent Cleary’s attention. He could hear Wanda shudder at the agent’s words, and that only motivated Peter more. He remembered what Wanda was like before Thanos. He remembered how the others had been scared of her, how even then she didn’t have people to support her. It was almost no wonder that a powerful demon had swayed her when she was so vulnerable. This time, Wanda would have her people. “Wanda Maximoff is dead, my guy. I’m sure this is all just some big misunderstanding, yeah?”
Cleary raised an eyebrow. “We’ve seen the pictures, and had prior alerts to sightings of someone with the Scarlet Witch’s appearance in Boston over the last three days. You’re seriously going to try and tell me that this isn’t her? Come on, Spidey. Work with me a little.”
Peter made a big, exaggerated shrug with his hands up in the air. “Sorry Mister Cleary, I don’t know what to tell you. Besides, I think maybe your group aren’t in the best place to be throwing around accusations, are you? I have a pretty clear memory of you accusing me of a crime I didn’t commit, and that didn’t go all too well for you!”
“Spidey, you can’t be serious. Are you trying to tell me that your whole little group came out here where there’s been several reported sightings of the Scarlet Witch and she isn’t the woman standing between you?” Cleary demanded. He made a gesture to the soldiers behind him, who started slowly fanning out with the obvious intention of encircling the group of vigilantes.
“Yup,” Peter retorted, keeping his tone light. “Guess I am!”
The small chimes he’d started hearing off in the distance almost half a minute ago started growing louder and louder. Turning just a little bit to get a better look at the source of the sound, Peter saw Kamala rapidly approaching from the south-east. “Is that Damage Control? I hate those guys.”
“Yup,” Harley responded quietly over the comms line. “We’re protecting Wanda from them.”
“HEYYY!” Kamala then yelled as she got closer and closer, waving her arms up in the air. “Damage Control, my besties! Remember me?”
Cleary groaned quietly - but that didn’t stop Peter from hearing. “Hello, Ms. Marvel. Please kindly advise your friends here to hand over the nationally wanted fugitive.”
“What fugitive?” Kamala responded eagerly. “I guess you guys do that, don’t you! Go places you’re not supposed to and put a lot of people in harms way just because you decided someone was ‘bad’?”
Peter almost snorted at Kamala’s impressively sassy air-quotes. He was well aware of what had happened between her and Damage Control the previous year, and it perhaps made her the perfect person to push back at them.
“I mean, you guys made a real mess of forcing your way through a masjid and a school because you were convinced I was some kind of bad guy and hunted me down,” Kamala continued, anger seeping steadily into her voice. “Do you really want to do all that again? I’m sure we all have better things to do than play at frankly childish vendettas when you guys aren’t even sure you’ve found this person you’re searching for.”
“Hear hear,” Harley piped in. “I would honestly much rather be makin’ out with my boyfriend right now. Hey Ms Marvel, what’s the bet these guys are homophobic too? Can’t imagine that’d be good optics for them!”
Peter flushed, and sputtered rather indignantly and incriminatingly. At that, Gwen cheered. “Oh my god, are you guys finally dating?”
“Do we really have to talk about that now?” Peter squeaked out. “Priorities, guys, come on.”
The megaphone in Agent Cleary’s hand screeched back to life. “I will give you one last chance to turn over the fugitive, otherwise we will open fire.”
Working to regain his full composure, Peter took a few more steps forward. “Make no mistake, Agent Cleary. Even if this was the person you say, we would not hand her over to you. I know how Damage Control handles things, and in no way do any of us here trust you to give the Scarlet Witch the support that she needs. That is, if she’s even alive. If you had your way, we all know that you’d just inhumanely detain her.”
“Can I just add something here?” Daisy called out. She started walking forward to join Peter at his side, whilst Riri flew down to stand with Wanda and continue blocking her face from view. “I remember the old Damage Conrtol from when they were a part of SHIELD. Wasn’t like 90% of the old Damage Control made up of HYDRA agents? How do any of us know that you guys aren’t just HYDRA all over again, and you won’t take powerful ‘fugitives’ to brainwash them for your own usage? That was a classic HYDRA strategy.”
“We are not HYDRA,” Cleary insisted. “I don’t know where you’d get that idea from.”
“Sure, that’s what they all say,” Daisy shot back. At this point, Peter was entirely sure that she was fucking with Cleary in order to discredit Damage Control and force them to stand down or risk some pretty terrible media coverage. Kamala and Harley had laid the foundations for that, and Daisy was finishing it off. “I do happen to be something of a veteran when it comes to fighting Hydra, and suddenly showing up to take in someone as powerful as the Scarlet Witch - who might I echo, is dead - is not a good look. If you’re really that convinced that the Scarlet Witch is alive and a threat to anybody’s safety, why don’t you go call what remains of the Avengers to take care of her?”
“Remember, I gave you a chance,” Cleary stated loudly, and then signalled for all of his soldiers to raise their weapons.
Before any of them had a chance to fire, Riri began speaking rapid-fire orders into the comms line. “Ms Marvel, Quake, Witchboy, get into a triangular formation and do what you can to block incomming shots.”
The rain of gunfire began, and people in the streets behind the soldiers started screaming and quickly clearing out. Peter watched as Kamala conjured up a large light-shield covering her entire third of the formation. Harry did the same with his shadowy magic, and Daisy just pulsed out a quake that was strong enough to stop any bullets from getting close.
“Zapdash, see if you can disarm a bunch of them in Witchboy’s area. If we have to fight back we will, but the goal right now is to give Witchboy a chance to open up a portal and get us out of here. Nothing good will come of fighting them right now.”
“On it,” Gwen affirmed, and in a buzz of yellow light, they set off. Peter could barely even follow how she weaved through the incoming gunfire and started stripping soldiers of their weapons without hurting... well, most of them. Some of them yelped as their guns were ripped to the ground.
“I don’t want to be any trouble,” Wanda tried from within the sphere of protection Harry, Kamala and Daisy were providing. “Don’t become criminals on my behalf.”
Peter stepped closer to Wanda - now that he had the safety to do so - and put a hand on her shoulder. “I doubt it’ll come to that. All that’s going to happen today is Damage Control looking really bad for this. You’ve earned our trust, and we’ll have your back.”
“I-” Wanda started, and then stopped to take in a sharp breath. “Thank you.”
“Weapons clear!” Gwen shouted, and rushed back just in time for Harry to let go of his magical shield and open up a portal. Without even looking at where it led, Peter gently tugged Wanda through it. Everyone else followed through quickly, and the portal shut, cutting off the sounds of Agent Cleary yelling for his soldiers to cease fire.
The group found themselves in the Playground, which now had the distinct absence of the jet from the trip to Maryland. Everyone was through - including Kamala, who hadn’t ever been here before. Nobody looked injured either, which was definitely a relief.
“Woahhh,” Kamala exclaimed as she looked around. “This place is huge!”
“Yup,” Peter agreed. “Welcome to the Playground. It’s kind of our base of operations, and where we come to train.”
“Is this a Stark facility?” Wanda asked, slowly pulling down her hood and taking off her hat - which was a huge show of trust even if she was now out of the public eye. “The design looks familiar.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Harley confirmed, and stepped out of his suit - which effectively reciprocated Wanda’s gesture by revealing his civilian appearance to her. It also meant that Kamala now knew what he looked like. At this point, though, Peter trusted Kamala with that kind of information and pulled his own mask off too. “Tony was... well, a mentor of sorts to me.”
“He and I may have had our disagreements, but he was a good man,” Wanda said, and promptly fell onto her knees. “I’m sorry that all of you had to come into the line of fire for me, I don’t deserve that.”
Daisy popped a squat next to where Wanda had fallen, and put her hands over Wanda’s where they’d come to rest on her knees. “I know what it’s like to be taken control of, to believe that all the wrong you’re doing is of your own volition when it isn’t. Years back, an inhuman named Hive controlled my mind with his power and made me serve him. After I was freed from that control, there was a long period of time where I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt like I didn’t deserve to live. But Wanda, it gets better. It gets so much better.”
“My personal identity was outed to the world last year, when I was framed for killing Mysterio,” Peter added in. He found himself speaking, despite knowing that most of the people in the room weren’t yet privvy to the secret he was about to share. “And then I fucked some stuff up and got people hurt when I tried to fix it, and the end result was that my aunt died, and every single person in the world forgot who ‘Peter Parker’ is. You and I used to know each other personally, before Thanos. I don’t know that we were friends, but I respected you. After everyone forgot me, I had a really dark period of time. I got better with the help of others, and I’ll forever be grateful for that help.”
Silence fell over the room as pretty much everyone turned to look at Peter. It wasn’t an uncomfortable, cutting silence. Rather, it was one of respect for what Peter had shared - and he appreciated that. Harley quickly walked over and put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. Peter was quick to reach up and lay his own over Harley’s.
“I- I want to make amends for all that I have done under Chthon’s influence, or at least do better now,” Wanda declared quietly, her voice wavering as she spoke. “I... after Westview, Chthon made me believe that my sons didn’t exist in this universe anymore, and I gave in. But... I have since discovered that they are alive. Whatever happened when the magic I weaved over Westview was released, their souls were taken back in time and they were reborn. My Billy lives in Chicago, and Tommy is in a short town outside of Minneapolis. They are loved, and I wouldn’t dare intefere. But they are alive, and that is enough.”
“Shit, dude, you got played. You were vulnerable, and you got played,” Riri offered. “That’s on this demon. Chthon, or whatever the name was.”
“Chthon does that,” Harry added, taking off his own mask too. “But you destroyed the True Darkhold, and now Chthon doesn’t have any purchase in the mortal realm. Chthon can never influence anybody onto an evil path again, and that’s because of you.”
“Should I... be here?” Kamala questioned a little awkwardly. “I mean... this sounds kind of intense? And I can see your faces? And I, uh, I know Spidey’s name now? I just... well I thought I should maybe check.”
“You’re a part of the team,” Peter answered her. “It’s up to everyone here whether they want to reveal their name or face around you and Wanda, but maybe for those who are willing we can do some introductions later. I think for now we should figure out what we’re gonna do about Wanda and Damage control, though.”
“Agreed,” said Daisy, who hadn’t moved from her spot comforting Wanda. “Wanda, you’re gonna need to keep a low profile - but I also think it’d be better for you to stay put here in Boston. Damage Control are going to be on the prowl for a while, and if you defend yourself against them they’ll just use that as an excuse to up the ante. Let us look after your safety. With the work all these guys do keeping the city safe and literally just doing random little things to help people out when they’re patrolling, we have enough social capital to not suffer for actively protecting you. They know that it was you, but they can’t act while you’re with us.”
“I knew the Scarlet Witch was cool,” Kamala muttered excitedly.
Wanda sighed, and shuffled uneasily - which prompted Daisy to move her hands away. “I don’t know how I can repay you for this.”
“You don’t need to,” Peter assured her, and gave Harley’s hand a squeeze. This situation really affected him, because he knew just how much it mattered to have people who stood by him when he was so deeply suffering. “You’ve had a really shitty run of things. You deserve to have people around you who care while you heal, and we’re offering to be those people. And... when it comes to long term, I happen to know a really good and trustworthy lawyer who might be able to help fight your case. When you’re ready for that, I mean. This was the lawyer who saved my ass when I was framed for murder, so... he’s good.”
Suddenly, Gwen gasped. “I have an idea! In the meantime, why don’t you come and live with us? I mean, with me and Daisy? Daisy kind of owns the top floor of the apartment building we live in.”
“That is a fantastic idea,” Daisy agreed. “Wanda, you could move in with me, and maybe some of the rest of you guys could move in to the two bedroom apartment that’s just been emptied out? That way you’ll be protected, and you won’t have to hide out somewhere alone.”
“I could move into the third apartment,” Peter offered with a shrug. “I’m not particularly attached to living on campus, and it’s kind of a pain hiding my metabolism at my dorms.”
“Wanda, what do you reckon?” Daisy asked, now holding her hand out for Wanda to take.
Wanda took it. “I’d like that, I think. I’m... grateful. It will be nice to not be on the move for a while.”
Still just as awkwardly as before, Kamala cleared her through and raised her hand to get everyone’s attention. “Uh... I should be getting back home now. Since Damage Control were involved I think my parents are going to be especially worried and I should go let them know I’m okay. Oh, I’m Kamala, by the way!”
“Harley,” Harley introduced himself from behind Peter. At the sound of his voice, Peter leaned backwards into him a little, which was met with Harley wrapping his free arm around Peter’s waist. The two of them were going to need to talk about their relationship and what they wanted sometime soon - and Peter also wanted to invite Harley to come live with him - but for now he was content with just soaking up the affection.
Harry, Gwen and Riri each took their turn to introduce themselves to Kamala, who then swiftly left out of the side entrance.
“I’ll open a portal to the apartments now,” Harry declared. “Who’s coming?”
“I’ll head back to my workshop and suit down, I’ll see y’all later,” Riri said. “Got some classwork to catch up on.”
“Come on, Wanda, let’s get you home,” Daisy suggested.
Home, Peter thought fondly in the back of his mind. I like the sound of that too.