InsaneJournal

WHO: Billy Kaplan & Wanda Maximoff
WHERE: Thai restaurant
WHEN: Feb 9th [backdated]
WARNINGS: None
RATING: Low
SPOILERS? None

Billy was forever grateful to Wanda for agreeing to meet him for lunch. He’d have been able to drag himself to a morning coffee but even with his ability to Moon Prism Power his way into something socially acceptable he probably still would have looked like the Gmork. That was never a good way to introduce yourself to an alternate-reality version of your mom. And honestly, he wasn’t sure how he’d answer the ‘so how do you know Wanda in your world’ without blurting out that she’s his mother. Or soul-mother. Confirmed numerous times over by herself and Strange and also the Skrull.

Billy’s chest clenched a little thinking about that. He’d not let himself ponder on those events for a long time, especially more recently with Teddy having left because of his people calling for him or whatever. It had been almost two months now - though it felt like a lot longer - since they’d said (what felt like a final) goodbye and Billy still wasn’t used to sleeping alone.

Magic, thankfully, made up for a lack of sleep so just before midday - that was when normal people ate food, after all - he headed down to the lobby of the large building that housed seemingly all the inhabitants of Goodland. He didn’t need to see Wanda to feel her presence: her powers felt different but similar and after his temporary Demiurge boost his ability to sense others who were gifted had become a lot sharper. A lot of things had, to be fair.

He chewed the inside of his lower lip, squared his shoulders and walked towards her, startled only for a second because she was so young, she couldn’t have been much older than he was. But it was only for a second.

“Wanda?”

There was certainly something decidedly off in the general air of Goodland right now, and while in general Wanda was in a good mood, the one she currently felt was rather forced. She didn’t like being manipulated and as such she did what she could to block off some of it with her powers, but in general she was cheerful. In all honesty, the success she’d had with Bucky’s mind and removing the triggers was certainly something to keep her in a good mood. It would take him time to recover, and she herself still felt some exhaustion from it, but going out for lunch was a nice way to give them both the opportunity to deal with all that had happened in their way.

It was always strange to meet someone who claimed to know another version of her, and she knew from her experience thus far with Sam that it was strange to be on the other side of that as well, and as such she was a little nervous about this meeting, but didn’t really overthink it. This ‘Billy’ seemed nice, and Wanda was certainly willing to at least share a meal and get to know him, which meant that at precisely noon, she sat on a small couch in the lobby while she waited, jotting down a few items on a shopping list.

There was an odd sense of something that she picked up just before she lifted her head and smiled as her name was spoken. Standing easily, her smile brightened a little as she slipped the small notebook and pencil into a pocket.

“Billy, I presume? It’s nice to meet you.”

Billy felt his lips curl up into a smile, that strange disconnected happiness tugging at him and causing his shoulders to relax a little. The bright smile from Wanda helped too, loosening the knot of anxiety that had still managed to settle in his chest. He thought about shaking her hand but it felt far too formal for him, but a hug was way too informal for her considering she didn’t know him.

He settled for stuffing his fingers into the narrow pockets of his jeans and nodding his head.

“Yeah, y-yeah, you too. Thanks for agreeing to meet me.” Because she could have said no. She could have been weirded out by the knowledge that he knew a different version of her. Hell, that could still happen: it would be very strange for her to hear that he knew a version of her that was a fair bit older. “And for helping me find a decent place to grab lunch. I’m not- I mean I’m not great at exploring on my own so it’s good to have a couple of places I can just go to.”

He seemed nervous than she would have expected, but Wanda opted not to comment on it and instead gestured towards the door so they could head outside. There was something oddly familiar with him much in the way Laura was oddly familiar, though she knew now why the girl felt the way she did.

“Of course,” Wanda replied. “My friend showed me around too, when I first arrived here. It took a little time to learn where things are.” Absently, she straightened her jacket while stepping out into the sunlight, glancing up and down the street out of habit, then picking a random direction.

“Are you in the mood for anything in particular?” She asked curiously as they began to walk down the sidewalk together. “There are a lot of restaurants nearby. This is just a copy of a piece of New York, but some things don’t change, including the variety offered.”

Billy nodded, falling into step beside Wanda. Despite that lightness in his chest, he wanted her to like him. That was an anxiety he was used to carrying with him, gnawing at the back of his mind even if it was less prevalent than usual. Maybe this place wasn't so bad.

"I know New York pretty well, I just hate exploring. Once I know my way around I can just teleport myself places, since here I'm guessing there's enough people with powers that I don't have to worry about someone screaming and grabbing their children to run away."

He followed as Wanda turned and kept pace. "My ultimate weakness is fast food; burgers or pizza but I'm not that fussy." Eating with people was easier than eating alone. "What about you?"

“You can teleport?” It shouldn’t have surprised her that he had abilities, particularly since so many there did, but that particular ability wasn’t one she was overly familiar with. Of the Avengers, only Vision had been able to do something close to that, to her knowledge.

“Fast food?” She made a face, but her eyes showed her amusement. “Cooking food should take as long as it needs to, it shouldn’t be fast. I prefer food from my homeland, Sokovia, but I also enjoy trying food from different places. I’m not sure I have a real preference,” Wanda said thoughtfully.

“Yeah, it’s got a lot easier the more I use it. And it’s handy, since I’m time blind so I’m usually late for everything. So being able to just… move from place to place is easier, and better than flying in the rain.” Billy smiled again, lifting his shoulder. He wondered if Wanda had the same powers as the one he knew, and he figured that he’d have a chance to ask her about her abilities once they were sat down. He figured she’d have questions. He definitely did.

He laughed when she pulled a face at him. “Look, my fiance and I pretty much live on fast food and cereal since we didn’t have a huge amount of time to cook once we moved out of my parents’ place and into our own.” He opened his mouth and asked, “Sokovia?” before he could help himself. “You’re from Sokovia? Not Transia?”

“Time blind?” Wanda wasn’t sure if that was seriousness or a joke, or if she entirely understood what he meant, but at least it passed the time for their walk. When he mentioned a fiance, she looked over at him curiously, wondering if he was missing that person now. Before she could ask about that, he was questioning her own words, and Wanda gave a slightly bemused smile.

“I am, yes. My home has been devastated, but...that is where Pietro and I were born and raised. My brother,” she clarified - just in case the Wanda he knew didn’t have one. This could get confusing very quickly.

Since he didn’t have a preference for food, Wanda stopped outside a Thai restaurant she enjoyed, and looked at Billy questioningly. “How’s this?”

Billy talked a lot sometimes, when he was feeling nervous or when he was feeling happy and right now he was kind of feeling both and that was a weird combination. He wondered if it had anything to do with the sparkles he’d seen falling from the sky earlier. Whatever. They were talking about Sokovia. “Oh- yeah, there’s- I know Pietro.” And he did, and he also knew Pietro-lite, his own twin brother, Tommy. His chest tightened a little. He missed them all, really. “I’m sorry that your home was destroyed, that must be hard.”

He glanced at the menu quickly as they stopped outside a restaurant and he just nodded, “I haven’t had Thai food in ages,” he smiled, reaching forward and curling his hand around the door handle to gently pull the door open. “After you.” Because he was a gentleman. Or something. It was polite to open the door for your mom, which meant that it was the right thing to do to open the door for an alternate-universe version of your mom, too.

It made her feel a little better knowing that elsewhere her brother also lived, and she gave him a faint, sad smile at the apology. “Thank you. It will rebuild one day, but for now things are difficult there.” Not that she’d been home in several years. While on the run from the UN, she hadn’t gone to Sokovia because it would have been expected.

Wanda smiled her thanks at the politeness and stepped inside. A few minutes later, they were sitting at a table and she ordered some tea, then looked down at the menu.

“Do you have a favorite food?”

Billy ordered a soda when they sat down at first, and then glanced at Wanda and changed his order to a tea as well. After all, he did associate rich, aromatic tea with conversations with his mother. Even if the last one had resulted in her offering to marry him and Teddy.

“Here? I really like the beef dishes,” he admitted, scanning the menu. “Oh! Wild ginger beef. I haven’t had this in ages. Teddy and I-” he cut himself off, momentary excitement dissipating in a heartbeat. “I have a lot of take out at home, which is usually noodles of some kind. What about you? What kind of dishes do you like?”

He wanted to ask her about Sokovia, about Pietro, about her life with Captain America and the world she came from but there was a sadness about her that he didn’t want to stoke. They could talk about it if she wanted to, if the conversation went in that direction.

“I mean that’s the best - and worst - thing about New York. I live near Central Park, but it means that we’re in the best spot for some of the best takeaways in the city.”

Wanda carefully kept her gaze on the menu as Billy talked, not wanting to make him uncomfortable or ask him questions he wasn’t ready to answer about this ‘Teddy’ individual. When he turned the questions on her, she looked up with a small smile.

“I enjoy the curry - all flavors, but particularly the butter chicken, or makhani,” she replied easily. When the server returned with their drinks, she placed her order along with a side of jasmine rice, then returned her attention to the conversation.

“Are we in the part of the city that your home would be in, if it existed here?” Wanda asked.

“We’re not too far from it,” Billy said with a nod of his head, “our apartment overlooks Central Park. It was-” he realised how expensive that was, “-a gift. From a former team mate, when we retired.” He chuckled, more to himself than anything else, “Not that retirement lasted for very long. Teddy and I- well, once you’ve been a hero it’s kinda hard to quit.” Besides, things kept happening around them that meant it was impossible to just… stop. It would be nice though, one day.

He sipped his tea, watching her over the rim. “What about you? Do you live in New York or do you stay somewhere else in your world?”

“I think I can understand that.” While Wanda didn’t know everything that had happened in the five years during which she and half the universe had been dead, she did know that Natasha had done everything possible to hold the team together and that she and the remaining Avengers and their allies had (for the most part) tried to protect and take care of people.

At the question, Wanda actually had to think about it a minute, head tilting as she took a slow sip of her tea. “I didn’t have anything permanent. Things were complicated and, well, I was on the run, and then there were events…” Wanda shook her head a bit. “I’m sorry, I know I’m not making a great deal of sense.”

Billy smiled a little, starting to reach out to take her hand before catching himself and putting both hands around his cup again, cradling it in his palms. “It’s okay,” he said, “take your time. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t wanna.” After all, this was meant to be a first getting-to-know-you, not the Spanish Inquisition. He cleared his throat to hide the way that he smiled at the mental Monty Python quote that played out after that thought.

He took a sip of his drink. “The Avengers have a mansion, or they did, when I was a teenager. They’re based out of a bunch of different places now. I used to walk past it when I was at school after a bad day and it’d make me feel better. When- the mansion got damaged, so when my team set up, we trained in there for a while. Used it as our meeting place.”

He wet his lower lip and placed the cup down. “What kind of- Sorry, I’m just really curious about where you come from. I- I went through a bunch of other realities when I was running through the- We went through the multiverse so, like, I wonder if I passed through it.”

“It’s so strange to hear you speak of the Avengers as if - well…” Wanda had to consider the timing for just a moment. “It often still feels so new in many ways. But it sounds as though in your world, we have been around for many more years,” she said.

“There are so many things that have happened, but...I suppose it is easiest to speak a little of the most recent events.” Her smile disappeared and Wanda carefully set down her tea before lifting her eyes to meet Billy’s again, a part of her still wondering why he felt so familiar.

“You know of Thanos, yes?”

“You guys have been around for a long time in my world,” Billy said, “and for the most part you guys are loved by loads of people. There are comic books and action figures. And people dress up as you- guys, you guys,” smooth, Billy, nice save, “at conventions and things.”

He chewed his lower lip, ignoring the way his whole body went cold when Wanda said Thanos’ name. He wondered if it showed on his face. His fingers tightened around the cup on the table before he just nodded, slowly, taking a breath.

“You didn’t- Thanos? Really? The Mad Titan?” Billy knew practically everything about every foe the Avengers had ever even remotely breathed at, and Thanos was like Galactus, one of the worst.

“There is a little of that in my world. I know there are comics and figures, but mainly they are of the original team, who stopped the Chitauri. That was just in 2012,” she told him. “There is more of Steve, of course, because Captain America has been known for a long time.” She didn’t think he’d mind if she mentioned that to this individual.

Letting out a quiet sigh, Wanda picked up her tea again so that she could cup both hands around it for some small measure of comfort. “Five years ago, he came to Earth and there was a...a terrible battle. And we lost,” she said softly. “He succeeded in his desire to wipe out half the universe. And just recently...only a few days before I came here, those who remained found a way to stop him, and they brought us - they brought nearly everyone back. We defeated him this time.” There was a great deal more to the story, but it seemed surreal to be having this discussion in this setting - so Wanda opted to stick to the basics.

“Did that happen in your world?”

Billy winced in sympathy. “He- he’s been around for a while,” he said with a nod, quietly. “Thanos, that is. He’s tried to destroy the universe a few times, but not since I’ve been a hero, at least, not on Earth. He might have been active in space recently, I know Doctor Strange went off earth to try and stop him but a lot of things happen where I come from: there’s so many heroes.”

And he had a rolodex inside his brain of them all. Almost all of them, anyway. He’d been a little more sloppy recently, they’d had a lot on their minds. Besides, the last few years had been wild. Billy had felt like he was pinwheeling after the events that had landed him in the Negative Zone.

“I’m sorry, he’s one of the worst villains in history. You- you defeated him, though, that’s amazing, Wanda. Still,” he knew from experience, “losing people is hard. It hurts.”

“A few -” Wanda broke off abruptly and shook her head. “Well. He was stopped - he’s gone for good. Tony - he used the gauntlet and destroyed Thanos and his army.” He’d also lost his own life, but this conversation was already filled with difficult topics.

“We did as a team,” she said firmly. “All of us - and so many others. People I’ve never seen before, allies we never knew existed. It was a very large battle.” And though the losses had been few, they still cut deep, particularly in the form of Vision and Natasha in addition to Tony. The latter two were here, at least, but she didn’t dare hope to see Viz again. That chapter of her life was over.

“It does hurt. I think it always will.”

“It must have been something to see,” Billy said quietly, amazed at the scale Wanda was hinting at. He’d never seen anything even remotely like it, not even during the Civil War, as that had been smaller battles. Maybe when the Avengers fought against the X-Men, but he hadn’t seen that, hadn’t been part of those fights. He wished he had, though, seen the fight Wanda was talking about. Just to say he had. To have helped defeat Thanos. “Still, Thanos. And you guys won. That’s incredible, Wanda.”

He did lean over the table then, brown eyes meeting hers kindly. “I think so too, but it gets easier. I got told once that grief is like a ball in a box. So, when it’s fresh, the ball’s hugs and always touching the edges of the box bit as time goes on the ball shrinks, and it still touches the edges sometimes and it hurts but it happens less often.” He looked down at the table, “I probably explained that badly…”

“It was,” she agreed. There were times it seemed surreal, and she was still in awe of it in general. When he leaned over, she met his eyes and gave a faint, sad smile, shaking her head once he looked away. “You didn’t. I think I understand.”

Lifting her tea for another long sip, Wanda decided it was her turn to ask questions. “Will you tell me about where you’re from?”

Billy nodded, understanding that subjecting her to a million questions wasn’t a good thing and so he just nodded again, leaning back in his chair and sweeping his hand through his hair. He hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, or upset her. Go team, he thought bitterly in his own direction.

He tugged on his earlobe and tipped his head at her. “Sure, I mean, there’s a lot,” in fact, a lot had happened even in the five years he’d been a hero. Or sort of a hero. “What do you want to know? Otherwise I’ll just start somewhere in the middle of my life and you’ll get a very wonky story.”

“Why don’t we begin with the beginning? How you became a hero, and had a team - that sort of thing?” It wasn’t often that she had the chance to speak to others from the other realities similar to her own, which was in part her fault because as a whole it was a little bit intimidating in ways that Ultron or Thanos weren’t. But like with Laura, it seemed to be easier to talk to Billy, which made her wonder further about how they were connected in his world.

Or why he still seemed so nervous.

Billy nodded enthusiastically. “I- uh- I got bullied a lot at school and didn’t think I was ever gonna be good for anything other than my encyclopedic knowledge of comic books and heroes,” he told her, “and then one day after a particularly bad run in with my high school nemesis and tormenter-” his voice only wavered a little, sometimes he still remembered his power manifestation in smell-o-vision, “-I escaped to the Avengers mansion, which was abandoned ‘cause they’d all-” He took a breath, forced himself to slow down. “The Avengers had disbanded.”

He shifted in his seat. “I ran into my favourite Avenger there and she found me crying and told me I was stronger than I thought. A few weeks later, my powers manifested. Fast forward a bit more and Kang the Conqueror - only he wasn’t Kang then - came back from the future before he was Kang, hoping we’d help him kill his future self. There was a failsafe in Vision, who’d been deactivated, but Nate hacked into him and found files on… well, on us, I guess. We were all linked to the Avengers one way or another and we were recorded as a sort of… ‘if the Avengers ever disbanded and the world needed new heroes’ we were there.”

He took a sip of his tea, “With me so far? That’s- I get that’s a lot of information.”

In some ways, they had disbanded for a brief time in her own world, while half of them had been on the run or under ‘house arrest’, at least, so she didn’t react to that part. STill, the comment about his favorite Avenger had her eyes focusing on him a little more closely, because he’d told her previously that it was she - which was interesting.

His words about Vision had her actually setting down her tea, a little startled - to even think about him being “deactivated” and “hacked” was somewhat disturbing, when to her he’d never been simply a robot or artificial intelligence.

The question earned him a nod and a smile that came after only a very brief period of hesitation. “I’m with you,” Wanda replied, “Go on.”

Billy watched her, giving her another few moments before carrying on. “So we ended up being a team, me, Teddy, Nate and Eli. And then Cassie and Kate came a bit later, when we messed up a couple of… attempted heroics. We went to break out Speed, who turned out to be my identical twin except his hair’s white and he’s got superspeed. We think he’s faster than Quicksilver but Un- But Pietro won’t race him.” Billy’s expression took on the look of a kid talking about an older family member in a way that would get his ear clipped, “I think he’s afraid of losing.”

But that as a segue. “Tommy and I had never met before, and we have different biological parents but- well, that’s complicated. Some shi- some shit happened with the Skrulls, and Teddy’s mom was killed, except she wasn’t really Teddy’s mom. But, anyway, we became a team before that. We worked together to do some hero things, and it got the attention of Captain America and Iron Man. I nearly died when they turned up to tell us not to do it anymore, but we didn’t listen. They weren’t around, and someone needed to be, y’know?”

“Pietro - mine at least, my fraternal twin - is here, and has white hair,” Wanda said, which had happened at some point after their powers had manifested, because he’d been more blonde before that. She had always suspected it was because of how his abilities had come about, but after meeting Barry whose hair was nearly as dark as Billy’s, she wasn’t so sure.

Tilting her head in slight confusion, Wanda wanted to ask about Tommy being his twin, but decided to hold her tongue so that he could continue to tell his story. “Did they come back after that? The Avengers.”

“After a little while, yeah. We got invaded by Skrulls who wanted to take Teddy away, and then the Kree came and then-” Billy waved his hand. “There was a bunch of stuff that happened that I won’t get into because I’m not even sure I understand what happened. But the next big thing that happened was the superhero registration act which split all of us in two, literally. There were people for it and against it. We ended up on the run from Iron Man. I got caught and put into like, a prison zone by Reed Richards…”

He waved his hand. “I mean, that’s our origin story.”

Some of the names weren’t familiar, but Wanda waited until he was finished before she slowly sat back and picked up her tea again. Further questions were stalled momentarily as the server arrived with their food orders, and Wanda waited until they were alone again before she spoke, frowning.

“You came here from a...a prison zone? I’m not certain what that is.”

“No, the- that was a couple of years ago now. There’s another reality that Reed Richards - Mister Fantastic, I don’t know if you have your own super-stretchy super-genius - created a gateway to but that’s where they stick the worst criminals and-” He wet his lower lip. “Well, it wasn’t a fun place to be. I got rescued, we all did. I- uh- before I came here, like right before I was working with Blade and Bucky and some others to help a displaced group of people find a home while stopping the others from trying to take over earth.”

He tipped his head, trying to work out how to condense everything that had happened. “Teddy and I got engaged a little while after a friend of ours died but we’ve been so busy that I- We haven’t actually got married yet, despite Wan-” Well, there was no other way to say it now since he’d pretty much said her name so he doubled down and carried on. “Despite Wanda offering at least twice to officiate. She’s pretty invested.” There was a definite fondness in his voice when he talked about her. “My Wanda, that is, the one in my world.”

“I’ve never heard the name,” Wanda replied, finding the concept of someone being ‘super stretchy’ to be rather...odd, and she wondered if she misunderstood and he was simply some sort of world-renowned Yoga instructor. She took another bite of her food as she listened to him, then looked up again when he said that this other version of her was to be the one who would officiate.

“...I see. That’s all an incredible story,” she said honestly, though overall she didn’t quite know what to think of it. “It sounds as though you’ve been through a great deal, and I’m sorry that - Teddy? - didn’t come here with you.”

“It’s been a mad five years,” Billy agreed with a nod of his head, “but I think that’s just- I mean that’s just the world I come from. At least I haven’t had to fight Thanos.” It was a lame joke, accompanied by a weak smile.

His shoulders lifted. “I hope he comes soon, but I also don’t. He’s away being… important, I’m sure. I miss him, but hopefully we’ll be together again soon enough. I just have to be patient.” And remember to take care of himself in the interim. “If you- I kinda did a super high level thing there.” He took a bite of his food and glanced up at her, eyes twinkling. “I’ll now take questions.”

Wanda fell silent for a long moment as she concentrated her eyes on her food, taking a few more bites to give herself time to get her thoughts and questions in order. Finally, she decided to go with the most important one she could think of.

“Billy...you don’t have to answer this if you choose not to, but what is your relationship with the Wanda of your universe?” She asked it quietly, her eyes flickering back to his.

The tips of Billy’s ears flushed immediately in response to Wanda’s question. He shifted on the spot, being quiet for a little bit longer, eating his food, before he glanced back at her, brows creased slightly.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t want to make you feel… awkward.” The words tumbled out of him then in a rambled rush. “Through a series of complicated, reality-breaking events the Wanda in my world had kids with the Vision. Sort of. Two of them. Me and Tommy. When reality was put back to rights, the souls of William and Thomas ended up in me and my twin, even though we were officially born to different families, we’re identical in pretty much every way except I’ve got you- I’ve got her colouring and Tommy has Pietro’s.”

He wet his lower lip, tapped his fingers restlessly against the table. “Wanda is our mom, for lack of a better word. It- well, she’s our soul-mom.”

Billy winced a little, like he was expecting Wanda to take the news badly.

Wanda’s fork slipped from suddenly numb fingers, but her powers caught it before it could actually clatter and alert the other patrons to her sudden distress. She stared at Billy, stricken by this news, and not even sure what she was feeling. To know that she - no, not her, but another version of her - had children, and had them with Vision, was amazing and heartbreaking all at once. Her own Vision was dead twice over, and he hadn’t been brought back by Bruce’s snap the way she and nearly everyone else had.

She blinked several times, still staring at him as she struggled to come to terms with all of this. “I...don’t know what to say. That’s honestly the last thing I expected to hear,” Wanda finally said softly. “Wait - she broke reality? And - I’m - she’s your mother. That actually explains a great deal.”

Billy was pretty ready to be told to leave, or to be told something else, for Wanda not to take the news well at all - who would? Billy had to be less than a decade younger than this version of Wanda. And it looked, for a while, like things were about to go that way. He’d seen the fork fall, fingers lifting to catch it with his own powers but Wanda beat him to it. He saw the magenta glow, something familiar to him that settled in his chest.

“I don’t expect anything from you,” he started to say, “but wait- uh- yes she broke reality. A couple of times. But then I kinda did too. That’s-that’s not the point. What does it explain?”

“There’s something - familiar. About you,” Wanda explained as she studied him intently. “I didn’t know what it is, but...this makes some sense. It was a little like how Laura is familiar, but not quite.” She knew she was explaining this badly, but pushed forward.

“In her world, everyone apparently has two souls, somehow. And one of her souls is her world’s version of me. It means that everyone is a blend of two people, some of whom you may recognize as well, but she’d be better to tell you more.” Wanda tilted her head as she kept her eyes on his.

“I know I’m not the Wanda you know, but...do you object to getting to know one another?” There was an odd pang of hopefulness in her heart, and she was worried he’d say no.

“I guess there are some things that are familiar even when they shouldn’t be,” Billy said with a small nod of his head. He listened to Wanda telling him about Laura’s world and couldn’t help the way his chest tightened in sympathy. That sounded very stressful, and he thought she must be finding it hard here, just on the basis of being away from what was familiar. Let alone anything else.

He maintained eye contact for as long as he could before glancing away, just for a second, because the swell in his chest at Wanda’s question was a little overwhelming. When he met her eyes again, they were bright.

“Yeah,” he answered, “wait- I mean, no, I don’t object. I’d love to. That’d be- yeah, that’d be really great.”

While Wanda didn’t know how to be a mother and wasn’t sure how she felt, exactly, she knew that she did want to know more about him and work on developing some sort of relationship. When he looked back at her, she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding, and gave him a small smile.

“Alright. Do you mind if I talk to Laura about this? And - and tell my friends?”

“About… me?” Billy asked, glancing at Wanda and then around them. “That we’re gonna be friends or that I’m kinda- your kid from another reality? Sort of?” Either way, he thought he was okay with it. He didn’t really- If she wanted to tell people, her friends, she was more than allowed to.

After all, he’d be telling Teddy that he’d met Wanda here. Or he would. If Teddy-

He cleared his throat and nodded. “Yeah, I mean, if you want to.”

“The latter, mainly. If it’s alright with you,” she hurried to say, relaxing a little when he agreed. “I...I know this is unusual, for both of us.” And more than a little awkward, considering their situation, but she was actually glad to know him.

Plus, he was a small connection to Vision, even if it wasn’t her Viz.

“Do you have questions for me?” Wanda finally asked. “I feel like you’ve told me so much…”

Billy nodded, “So many,” he told her in a rush of air, “but we’ve got time, right? And I figure there’s some stuff that’s hard to talk about so we can work up to that? Just… the people you know here, they’re good to you, right? They’re kind? And they treat you right?” Because the Wanda in his world… he couldn’t always say the same.

Wanda smiled a little at his eagerness, slowly picking her fork up again to take another bite of her now cold food, but she didn’t mind that. Lifting her eyes to him, she gave a nod.

“They do.” And that was true, at least now. “I won’t lie and say that there have been...some issues over the years, with some of them. But here and now, they do. They’re like family to me.” The Avengers were all Wanda had had after her brother’s death, and she felt as close to Clint as she did to Pietro, in many ways.

Billy’s shoulders relaxed visibly when she said that. That was a relief so powerful it made him feel a little dizzy. He was glad, so glad, that she had friends, family, even. People to trust. People to rely on and that would look after her. That cared for her. His Wanda had them too, of course, but it was harder for her and people didn’t treat her very well because of her powers. Because of- Well. She had needed support, not fear.

“Everyone’s afraid of what they can’t control,” he said, tone indicating he knew full well what it felt like to have people being afraid of you. “And what they don’t understand.” He shook his head, “But I’m glad. I’m really glad.”

He glanced down at his food. “Man, we should probably eat this, huh? Is yours cold? Mine’s cold. Want me to warm yours up for you?”

“I’m aware,” she said quietly with a faint nod of agreement. “It’s taken a long time, but I suppose working together to save the world goes a long way.” There was a hint of a smile in her eyes to show that she wasn’t entirely serious, even if it was fully true.

At his offer, Wanda blinked in surprise, then glanced down at her food before giving a nod. “You can do that? Please,” she replied as she lifted her fork away and gave one light glance around the room.

He nodded, he knew how that felt. He’d helped save the world a few times, worked with the Avengers, and he knew that they still didn’t trust him and his powers. Even his own team, sometimes, showed concern about his abilities. Even his fiance.

He wet his lower lip and then grinned. “Reality warping,” he told her, wiggling his fingers. “Lets me do a lot of things. One day, I’ll try and list some of them for you.”

He took a breath and stretched his hand out, murmuring under his breath for a minute or so. His eyes glowed and, another minute later, their food was steaming once more as though it was fresh.

“Voila,” he said with a nod of his head. “I guess we better eat up now, huh.”

“That’s - it doesn’t sound like what I do.” At least not in name, but Wanda figured that could be a conversation for another time, perhaps when they weren’t in public at the very least. Once he had heated the food, she smiled and took another bite, before giving a nod of her own.

“It’s perfect,” she told him. “And yes, I think we should.”