Who: Stephanie and Wanda When: Tonight Where: Storybrooke park What: Reunited... finally!
Meaning.
It was the biggest thing that had been sticking in the mind of Stephanie Rogers for weeks. She'd watched as numerous people had come to this world, and somehow found the thing that made their lives incomplete in their own world. For some, it was a person. For some, a job. For others, a feat or accomplishment.
She'd started to truly believe that everyone brought here had been brought for a reason. For something they were meant to have or achieve. But she hadn't done so yet herself, and it was bothering her on a deep level.
She wondered, many times, if perhaps she'd been too attached to Wanda. If the woman didn't share her feelings, and maybe being here was meant to teach her to live without the woman. But if that was the case.... she was failing spectacularly. Because try as she might, she couldn't stop thinking about her. Wanda Maximoff. Her teammate, friend, and the first person she'd ever found herself falling in love with.
She'd gotten dressed up a little tonight, intending to go out and socialize a bit. Yet instead, she found herself walking through the park, silently looking up into the night sky, once again pondering the meaning of her even being here.
"Oh, Wanda..." She said with a deep sigh, talking up to the sky. "Why can't I let you go?" She felt terrible, to be honest. Lilly had been a wonderful friend, and the couple of dates they'd gone on were very fun. She was a GORGEOUS girl, yet... Stephanie couldn't let her perceived 'one true love' go. "If I'm here to find a way to stop loving you... it's not working."
It was dark now. Wanda had arrived in the small town of Storybrooke shortly before sunset. She had used the phone provided to try and call Stephanie's number, and then Natasha's. She even tried Sam's. However none of the numbers were in service. Forehead creased with concern, she chose to wander the town until something made sense. She wasn't nearly so volatile under stress as she once was, but common sense dictated that Wanda go for a walk to try and calm herself before she figured out her next move.
As the sun sank below the horizon and stars began to appear she did feel calmer. The little town was beautiful and picturesque. The leaves on the trees had changed colors with the season and the air here smelled cleaner than anything she'd ever experienced in Sokovia or New York. Yet even as her nerves settled, the walk did nothing to clear up her confusion. She shouldn't be here. She should be at home with Stephanie. With the team. How would she manage here without them? She felt a surge of anxiety at the thought and the air crackled around her. "Stop," she ordered herself in a low tone and turned in the direction of a park. ]
As she entered the park, she caught sight of a woman on the path ahead of her. A woman who reminded her painfully of Stephanie. Wanda had been about to turn and walk in the opposite direction, less her emotions get more riled, when she heard her name. She stopped and stared for a long moment.
"Stephanie?" She called out toward the other woman's back, a bit of hope suddenly rising in her chest.
When she first heard the voice, Stephanie didn't bat an eyelash. She'd figured she was just hearing it in her head, as usual. That thick, yet undeniably sexy accent. It hit her then however, that it came not from her head, but from behind her.
She turned around, eyes wide. She knew there were other versions of Wanda here (god knew it broke her heart to hear one of them was with Bucky), and just figured one of them was here now, needing something.
"I... hm? Oh. S-Sorry. I was lost in though, I suppose. Still getting used to seeing a version of you that's.... not the one I know. Sorry."
She said, a sad smile on her lips. God, why did she have to be so beautiful? It was like a dagger to the chest every time she saw her.
The woman turned and Wanda's breath caught in her throat. A thrill of relief swept through her and she had to resist the urge to bolt forward and throw her arms around her friend. She didn't stop herself from closing the distance between them though. She moved forward hastily, but her brow creased in confusion as Stephanie's words sank in. "What? Stephanie? What are you talking about?" English was a confusing language at times and it still tripped her up. "Version? What do you mean? Are you unwell?" She had reached the blonde at that point and reached for her hand.
It hit her like a ton of bricks... this was her. Really HER. Her Wanda. "Oh my god..." Stephanie said, eyes widening and immediately brimming with tears. "I... this place... it just... I didn't think I'd ever see you again...."
This was Stephanie Rogers. Captain America. World War II veteran. Leader of the Avengers. She was strong as steel, physically and emotionally... and yet here she was, blubbering like a high school girl. "It's... it's really, really you..."
Having next to no information about the place she'd ended up in, Wanda hadn't a single clue what any of Stephanie's words really meant. What she did understand, though, was Stephanie's tears. She immediately shoved her confusion aside and wrapped her arms around the woman standing before her. "I'm here." Her voice was thick with emotion and concern. She closed her eyes for a long moment and ran her hand softly over Stephanie's beautiful hair. "I'm here," she repeated. "It is me." At that, she pulled back just enough so that she and Stephanie could look in each other's eyes. "Stephanie, I need you to explain. Why are we here? What is this?"
"This place is... some strange alternate reality. It's so hard to explain... There's different versions of the same people, there's versions of me that are a man..." The blonde tried to explain, looking deeply into Wanda's eyes through her own tear-filled ones. "Oh, Wanda... I missed you so much..." She repeated, still in shock, lovingly hugging the woman. "There was so much I thought I'd never get to tell you..."
She still didn't understand, but at that moment knowing the specifics of what had happened seemed less important. They didn't appear to be in any immediate danger, and Stephanie was upset. Wanda decided fixing the latter was her first priority. Everything else would come later. On instinct, she reached a hand up and gently wiped away a tear with her thumb. "I'm right here. You do not have to miss me anymore. And you can tell me anything you wish. Come," she pulled Stephanie with her toward a nearby bench. "Let's sit."
Stephanie walked on wobbly legs toward the bench, sitting as she felt a little dizzy. This felt like a dream of some sort. Something she'd wanted for so long, but had resigned herself to never getting: a second chance. "I... this place is magic, of some kind. People are brought here from all kinds of differing worlds. People that are characters in one world's literature or film are real in other worlds, and they're all combining here. It's so confusing, and it's not a BAD place, but... I just couldn't bear never getting to tell you...." she trailed off, still hesitant to say the words she'd been feeling for so long. It was hard for her... she'd never really HAD those feelings before, much less confessed them to someone.
Wanda kept her expression blank as she listened to Steph's explanation. It wasn't exactly what she expected to hear, but she could see the truth of it in Stephanie's mind, and so she nodded solemnly.
"Never getting to tell me what?" Wanda probed softly as Stephanie's words trailed off. There was a twisting in her stomach then. Of nerves. And anticipation. Possibly even excitement. In the wake of her brother's death, Stephanie had become the most important person in Wanda's life. But what had started as friendship and teammates went far deeper for her now. She yearned for more, but was too afraid to say anything, lest her feelings not be reciprocated. She wouldn't risk losing their relationship. There were several times she thought that Stephanie felt the same way, but she'd always been too afraid to ask or say anything herself. And so she waited.
Stephanie paused, nearly choosing to lie, to say something, ANYTHING, else. But then she remembered how long shed waited for this chance, and knew she couldnt risk it. Not anymore. She took a deep breath, unable to meet Wanda's eyes as she said the words. "How I feel about you. I know, I know... it's probably out of nowhere, and completely inappropriate but... I've been in love with you for a while now. I just didn't want to ruin our friendship, or god forbid, the team dynamic..."
Wanda felt a rush of lightheadedness wash over her at Stephanie's confession. She'd been waiting so long to hear those words, and now that she had she was speechless. Part of her never really believed that Stephanie could love her back because she still didn't feel as if she deserved that kind of love. Especially not from someone who was as good and pure-hearted as the blonde sitting next to her now.
"You...love me." She repeated the words slowly. There was a long silence afterward as Wanda processed everything. After a moment she reached over to take Stephanie's hand in hers, a smile turned up the edges of her usually dour expression. "Look at me please." She waited for Steph's eyes to find hers before she continued. "I feel the same way."
Stephanie, who'd always been an emotional rock, finally broke down at hearing Wanda say that. She hugged the woman tightly, light sobs finally escaping her. "I never loved anyone before... not like this..." she said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. "And I tried, here. I tried so hard... I tried going out with a few people... but nobody was YOU." She said, realizing that while her life here felt a little empty with being an Avenger... it was not having Wanda that was what made it almost unbearable.
Wanda felt a large lump of emotion rise in her throat in response to Stephanie's tears. She swallowed it with some difficulty and returned the hug fiercely. She was shocked at the stab of jealousy and anger that appeared as Steph admitted she'd tried going out with other people. It ebbed away just as soon as it had appeared however, at the admission that Stephanie had only wanted her in the end. Wanda's smile widened and she slipped her hands over to run themselves lightly down Stephanie's arms. "Can I say I am glad the others did not work out?"
She'd have been even more jealous had she seen them, particularly Lilly... Stephanie placed her palms gently on Wanda's cheeks, just taking a long moment to gaze at her, as if still expecting this to be some kind of cruel dream. "I swear, I think I forgot just how beautiful you are..." She said almost to herself, before shaking it off. "It was so hard... there's a version of you here that's dating a version of Bucky. That just... god, it was just being stabbed in the heart every time I see them together."
Despite the rush she was feeling, Wanda stilled as Stephanie cupped her cheeks. She dropped her hands into her lap and gazed back at her. Until the compliment came. Then Wanda's skin flushed scarlet and she dropped her eyes downward. Stephanie was the beautiful one. Wanda was just...Wanda.
"What?" She started, her eyes flying up again. "I am with Bucky?"
"Yeah... one of them, anyway." Stephanie added, scrunching her face cutely. "There's... several versions of Bucky here. And you, honestly. And like I said, apparently most other versions of me are a man. It's such an unusual and weird place, and considering everything we've seen? That's saying something."
She paused again, almost laughing at the irony: she was brave to a fault. Always the first to rush into a dangerous situation, to risk her life for others without a second thought. Yet here she was, scared to death to do the one thing she'd been thinking about since first realizing this was her Wanda. Time to rectify that.
"Wanda... would you... I mean... would it be out of line if... wow. May I kiss you?"
Wanda's brow furrowed again. It wasn't that she didn't like Bucky. He was a good teammate, but she'd never remotely considered him as anything else. It made her feel odd to hear about it now. As did knowing that there were other versions of herself. She was dangerous enough on her own. To have multiples concerned her. She was lost in her own thoughts on the matter when Steph's voice broke through to her again.
She blushed again and shyness caused her to look down again, but nothing could stop her smile from breaking through. She nodded her head. "Yes," she said in a low voice, already feeling her heart rate begin to speed up.
Steph felt a little grin pull at her lips, as Wanda's occasional sheepishness had always been so damned adorable. "I've wanted to do this for... longer than you probably realize." She said, before bringing her lips to the other woman's, and taking a few moments to merely revel in the feel of those lips... so soft and sweet and even more amazing than she'd imagined.
As Steph leaned in, Wanda felt as if her entire body was vibrating. Despite the coolness of the air outside, she felt the warmth coming off her skin. She said nothing, but instead closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly in anticipation. It was only after the kiss began that Wanda's last bit of apprehension melted away. Her hand found Stephanie's waist and urged the other woman closer, deepening their kiss. Her other hand reached up and tangled itself in Steph's hair.
Whatever had happened to them, Wanda decided, wherever they were- it was worth it.