WHO Billy Kaplan, Tommy Shepherd, and Wanda Maximoff (The fam :') ) WHERE A little diner that is retro-ing hard in the 50s style WHEN Wednesday, April 21 (backdated) WHAT Billy and Tommy go hang out and drink milkshakes with their AU-mom Wanda, who now knows they are actually her kids (thanks, memories!!) STATUS Complete WARNINGS Sadness, but bonding :( SPOILERS for WandaVision
When Billy woke up in his room of monochrome, admittedly his first thought had been ‘what did I do now?’ It...wasn’t outside the realm of possibility for Billy’s magic to glitch out, even though their post-Mother adventure had Billy feel more in control than ever. And it wouldn’t have surprised him, given that the entire world of Vallo was rooted in magic, if Billy’s magic didn’t play well or played too well. The magic altering his room, altering his clothes, altering everything around them, had felt like Billy’s own chaos magic.
But while Billy and Tommy were eating Cocoa Puffs out of popcorn bowls, the gallon of milk pixelated in front of their eyes. In its place, a milk carton, and on the side in black and white, twin boys. Billy and Tommy Maximoff. Marked missing.
Billy’s heart went straight into his toes and then back up into his throat, and then down into his toes again. Text messages from Darcy confirmed it: Wanda knew. Worse than Wanda knowing, was Wanda having to live through what had happened to her version of Billy and Tommy. William and Thomas Maximoff in their universe had been absorbed by the demon Mephesto and...ceased to exist. That loss had shattered their Wanda, sending her in a downward spiral with ramifications that she was blamed for, but had never been her fault. With the little they knew about the hextown, it seemed that trend continued across universes.
As soon as Darcy had told them Wanda wanted to see them, Billy had grabbed Tommy’s arm and said “I want to find Wanda.” This was one time, he thought, Tommy wouldn’t give him (much) grief for speaking a spell into being.
Billy and Tommy had embraced Wanda in Latveria and known who she was to them and who they were to her. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t their biological mother, and it didn’t matter that the Wanda in Vallo wasn’t the Wanda they were most familiar with. What if she was mad at them? What if it was too hard to see them, what if just seeing them hurt her all over again?
But then they appeared in front of a diner straight out of a black and white tv show. Billy half expected cheerleaders in poodle skirts and greasers in leather jackets to walk by. “No freaking out,” he told Tommy, with a weak smile. Okay, yes, Billy was the one who was much more likely to bend over and breathe into a paper bag. “Should we go in? Or...ask her to come out?”
Teleporting would never get old. And as much crap as Tommy gave Billy, it was probably the fastest way to travel, even as someone with superspeed. There would have been time wasted trying to track down Wanda, then going back to grab Billy, and then to bring him to this diner. Billy's powers tended to cut out all the bullshit.
Well, the traveling bullshit. It didn't do anything about this explosion of chaos magic from their mom from another universe and the complications that brought with her knowing. Tommy was relatively useless in situations like this. At least he didn't panic like his twin, he just simply worried that Wanda would think they lied, would hate them, would refuse to acknowledge them as her sons even if they weren't exactly and were exactly. But you know, other than that, useless. And definitely not bracing himself for the ultimate parental rejection.
He slapped Billy's back, a bit too hard. "How about you don't freak out, and we get some milkshakes with her." Tommy pointed to the window where they could see Wanda doing just that alone. Tommy appreciated that they weren't overdressed or rocking some kind of leather jackets and pompadours. Billy would never be cool enough.
Grabbing Billy's arm, he made the decision for them, speeding in and pulling them both into the booth across from Wanda in a flash. If she was going to tell them to leave, better to get it over with now. Like ripping the bandaid off. "Hey, sup—" That was said to Wanda, so painfully casual, before Tommy raised his hand. "Can we get some service over here? Two milkshakes, whatever she had?"
Wanda was tired.
A few winks of sleep had been caught after reverting the Sanctum back to its original state last night, and in regards to magical hijinks ensuing she thought that would be the end of it. That was wrong. Terribly, horridly, stupidly wrong. Like in Westview her emotions had run rampant, thus having her powers run rampant in ways she wasn’t even aware of but thankfully it hadn’t snowballed to a more dangerous extent. No one was being mind controlled, children weren’t unknowingly stowed away in some stasis until it was made convenient for a scene (oh my god what had she done), there was no rippling red anomaly encasing Vallo.
It was almost like - a gag to people? Which, truthfully, was probably for the best. That didn’t mean she hadn’t tried to undo what she had done, except this magic of hers was tightly wound up in Vallo’s and she knew it’d take more time to undo it all. Plus, her feelings were all out of sorts because there was so much to sift through between the Visions (yes, plural, because also what the fuck), what this Scarlet Witch role even meant, that literal book of the damned, the twins (her current priority).
Plopping down somewhere in sweatpants with her hair tied back in a messy bun, sipping through what was definitely her third milkshake was how she was coping after an exchange of emotional texts with Darcy. Wanda didn’t intend to budge from her spot. Billy and Tommy (oh my god she made them??) were said to be looking for her and she assumed Billy would do - something? Something to find her, and his magic seemed like an echo of hers.
Then, in a blink, they were there. Right there, right across from her, and for a split second all she saw were the two little boys that she had kissed goodnight before the Hex collapsed around them, erasing the family she had made for herself.
The server was a centaur with a glorious, shimmering mane of hair that scoffed at Tommy bit scribbled down the orders (extra whipped cream and cherries had also been part of what she had) and went off with hooves click-a-clacking on the checkered floors. Wanda took a moment to wipe the bit of chocolate she knew was smeared on the corner of her mouth. This wasn’t the best look for the mythical Scarlet Witch, but.
“Hi,” she replied back with an uncharacteristic hoarseness to her, blue eyes blinking wide. Words, she needed to say words but what was she supposed to say? Wanda didn’t know how to approach this. What she really wanted to do was scoop both of them in her arms despite them having clearly outgrown them and say sorry over and over. That’d be a good start for her.
Probably too bold, though.
Billy was somehow simultaneously horror stricken, relieved, and saddened at Tommy’s cavalier greeting. Horror stricken because oh my GOD Tommy, you can’t say ‘sup’ to the Scarlet Witch, relieved because he had broken the ice, but saddened because...Billy knew what that meant. Tommy put on armor of devil-may-care nonchalance as a way to protect himself, and Billy. If this went sideways? Tommy would be out in a blink, dragging Billy behind him while insisting they needed to go out for ramen and never talk about this again, while Billy would still be gaping like a fish.
Sweet Black Goat of Quhor, don’t let this go sideways.
“We’re really sorry, Wanda,” Billy said in a rush. “It might feel like we kept this from you, or we lied, and I guess,” he ran one hand through his hair, the other drummed on the laminate of the table. “We did. But it was never to hurt you or trick you or anything like that--when we found out you didn’t know us, and you didn’t know about us, it didn’t seem fair to tell you, and we didn’t want you to think that we expected anything. We didn’t. We don’t,” Billy added, to clarify.
The milkshakes arrived with a huff and a pointed look from their waiter, but the lump in Billy’s throat was too large to swallow around so instead he took the straw wrapper and wound it around his finger. “What we said before, about being close with you back home? Is true. It’s all only recently come to light, but you know and we know and it’s a little awkward, but really good. My parents want to invite you for Thanksgiving.” Which wasn’t a surprise, for all the eye rolling Billy did about the healthy food situation, Jeff and Rebecca Kaplan really were the best parents. They accepted everything and everyone, and even converted an office to make room for Billy’s boyfriend and Tommy to move in.
Tommy slurped down the milkshake so fast and maybe too hard that he nearly choked on the straw when Billy mentioned Thanksgiving and the Kaplans. He certainly coughed a bit, but that might have been more for the word vomit apology Billy was giving Wanda and not the fact that he mainlined an insane amount of lactose. Tommy grabbed for Billy's arm squeezing hard. "What did I say about being chill?" Tommy whispered very fast, and very hard, and very not subtle.
"What this dorkasaurus meant to say was look, we know you know. And shit sucks, and we felt it was better getting to know us through sitcoms and tiny pizza foods then forcing responsibility of parenthood on you. We've done this before, so I'm pretty sure we messed up somewhere since we should already know how this works. Kind of." Did anyone really know how to explain their situation, let alone to their own mother despite it being another version of her?
Tommy could make a ton of money just talking about how absolutely strange and fake-sounding his life was.
"We—" Tommy gestured between himself and Billy, "—didn't even grow up together. Some kind of weird soul magic stuff that I do not understand because magic is for..." Oh Tommy almost said losers, but he didn't really mean that. Bad habit, considering the two people with him were the most powerful two magic users on the planet. Maybe in the universe? Tommy didn't like to think too hard about that sort of stuff.
"People not me. But I don't know, do you even want us around? We're like your kids but not your kids, or kind of are. Again, magic. Again, rules that are probably dumb."
Oh no. Wanda should have spoken first. The last thing she wanted them to do was to apologize. They did nothing wrong, the situation was impossible and strange and just - not something there were written rules about. Her mouth opened to say something, anything, and then snapped back shut. No, she needed to listen. They had been simmering in this for a while now and obviously needed to let it out.
So she listened and observed, taking in every detail of their mannerisms. Billy’s nervous antics with the straw wrapper. The way Tommy took over, a little more in control of the situation (dorkasaurus, god, that really was Tommy) but clearly insecure about the situation too. Wanda inhaled deeply through her nose, squaring her shoulders. The diner around them flickered, the layer of chaos magic that rearranged the atoms into this retro aesthetic almost shifting back to normal. Almost.
“I’m not mad,” was the first sentence her lips formed after Tommy said his piece. Wanda’s hands came up from beneath her table so she could hold them out with her palms up. One hand for each of them, if they wanted. “And no one messed anything up. I am sure the way I made you two in your version was also very… unconventional.”
Wanda took a second to slowly exhale. There was a tremble there, and a fresh wetness to her eyes as she wrinkled her nose to try keep those tears away. Her new memories were intimidating to unpack and so was this (clearly they were reborn to others??), which meant the next set of words were very important ones. She wanted to lay it all out there as a foundation if they were to move forward.
“But the different versions don’t matter to me. Family is forever. And that is what you two are; that is what you two will always be. You’re still my Billy and Tommy, and I do want you around. Please don’t ever think otherwise.”
In spite of the emotion and nerves running through Billy, he couldn’t help but look over at Tommy, an eyebrow arched expectantly, as if to say ‘magic is for who, idiot?’ They were brothers through and through, which was exactly what Wanda was saying. Somehow, they had found each other again, even though the Avengers Failsafe program could have identified any number of super powered individuals it had targeted the two of them and brought them together. They had found Wanda when no one else could, and drew her back to herself. The three of them were a family, across universes and realities.
He took Wanda’s hand, knowing that Tommy would do the same. Billy felt the ripple of chaos magic run through him, so similar to his own. Tommy may have claimed to not know much of magic, but his speed manipulated time and space, just as Billy altered reality. But tell Tommy that and he would insist Billy was thinking too much about nerd stuff. Which, true. “We want to be around,” he said, earnestly. “We will be. You’re Wanda--you’re our mom. And, I mean, you already saw how Tommy eats, you’ve sat through my obnoxious pointing out Easter eggs in shows, there’s no going back now.”
Tommy seemed a little cowed, a little somber; people crying or about to cry—especially his family—stirred up something in his cold dead heart. But Tommy always cared, even when he pretended he didn't. And it was Billy who could call him on it. And Wanda now, always. It was like both of them, no matter the universe, had some kind of secret handbook to unlocking Emotions-capital-E in Tommy. And it wasn't so bad, because he would make them swear on penalty of death that he was not a hugging or hand-holding person.
But like Billy did, Tommy took her other hand. He'd make his threats to secrecy later, when he didn't feel like a plate of spaghetti inside his heart. "What Billy said," Tommy added, sliding a glance to his twin, then back to Wanda. "You're stuck with us. Like you could have said no, and it would have sucked, Billy would have cried, a lot, like so much, it would have been really ugly, he does not look good when he cries. You should have seen him at the end of Return of the King, ohhhh man, snot everywhere."
And Tommy was going to leave it at that, because putting context to his feelings was hard. He scowled, angry at the words trying to escape. "I guess what I'm sorry for is that it came out crappy, you finding out all at once and having your memories all insta-uploaded in your head. This is you, right?" He meant the diner and the city and the retro.
But it felt a little too close to be asking now, so Tommy immediately backpedaled. "You don't have to explain it, we can just sit here and drink milkshakes and keep you company. That's cool too."
Wanda hadn’t expected to practically snort out a laugh but that’s exactly what she did. The anguish that had cinched her heart - that made her magic run amuck until it mirrored (in a more benevolent way) what she had done to Westview - had eased up. Having them take her hands was a gesture she needed more than they’d ever know. These boys were hers, and it was almost as if they just somehow aged up years again right before her eyes.
But they hadn’t, technically. What she remembered last night was tucking them into bed, kissing them goodnight. Saying goodbye. Part of fixing what she’d done was removing them from reality and all she wanted to do was to find a way to bring them back permanently. What that would lead to, Wanda had yet to see.
“Yes, this is - this is me,” she breathed out, squeezing both their hands before slowly pulling hers back. Shame bled into her voice in admitting that. Obviously this wasn’t intended, and while there were no reports of people having ill side effects the guilt festered on. “I wanted too strongly, I guess? Back home I wanted Vision back, I wanted a family. And part of me was in denial about what I’d done because I never knew I could do… that.” Wanda gestured vaguely. That, of course, was reference to her altering reality and the spontaneous creation thing that resulted in the two of them. “To set it right I had to undo that magic, and that involved the magic I had used to create the two of you.”
She winced. It was something she had to get off her chest because - well, it was the reason why she had told Darcy they had every right to be mad at her. “I’m going to fix this. I suppose I just… need more than a minute.”
“Because Frodo left Sam to go to the Undying Lands! And, I’m sorry, Aragorn telling the hobbits that they bow for no one? Forget it!” Billy bit at the very obvious bait from his brother...although yes, it was true, he had been a glass case of emotions (while comparing the movie to the original text with two different editions in front of him).
His hands freed again, Billy went back to toying with the straw wrapper. So much of what Wanda said resonated with him, so much sounded like exactly Billy’s own experiences with his powers. That was a part of the reason he and Tommy had gone to find the missing Scarlet Witch in the first place, because Billy’s magic was something the Avengers feared. “I have a problem with wanting things too much too,” he said, with a wry twist of his mouth. It wasn’t all that long ago that Billy and his boyfriend broke up because of the fear that Billy had created him. “But you didn’t hurt anyone here, Wanda, and we can fix it. I can help you, when you’re ready.”
That was for later. Right now, the most important thing was giving Wanda the forgiveness she so desperately needed. Whether or not she had anything to be forgiven for was besides the point--William and Thomas Maximoff had a different means to the same ending, and Billy and Tommy didn’t know of it at all. But that didn’t matter. Wanda had just lost her children, she had just lost them. “Wanda--Mom,” Billy started. “You did what was right and what could do the most good. I can’t imagine what you went through, and I’m so sorry. But I promise you, Tommy and I, we’re okay.” He glanced over at Tommy and squeezed his shoulder. “We found each other, we found you. Ask Tommy, there’s nothing that will ever keep us apart.”
It was a hard pill to swallow—making tough judgment calls about losing family or losing everyone, right and wrong, and all the messy grey area in between. The people by Tommy's side had to make those choices all the time ("Great power comes great responsibility, Tommy!" Billy had once screamed in his face, but that was when Tommy was holding the Star Bomb in Super Smash Brothers, but it probably applied here too.) And Tommy was really good at being backup, moral support, nodding appropriately when Billy said that they were okay.
"If anyone gives you crap, you have us now. Well, you had us before, but now you have us double time to kick their asses. Not everyone can be put in that situation and do the right thing when the right thing is, you know, shitty," Tommy said, then immediately slurped more of whatever dregs of the milkshake were left. He wanted another one, but he also didn't want a surly waiter to give them the stink-eye during their impromptu family reunion.
"Also, anyone who gives you crap is a hypocrite because who doesn't want something? Who wouldn't do what you did but you know in an evil bad Doctor Doom kind of way," Tommy said, giving Billy a look then added, "Some people are just better than others." That was said pointedly to Wanda, completely unsubtle. Tommy was not known for his tact, good or bad.
"And like Billy said, no one is hurt with this. Everyone digs old timey shit. Nostalgia." The diner they were in playing some quiet doo-wop from the jukebox in the back was not terrible. "We'll be okay. All of us, me, Billy, and you. We'll get through it."
Wanda found herself laughing again. It was a tight, strangled sound but nonetheless genuine. Their antics as children (while albeit at times exasperated) always yielded that same reaction from her too, as short-lived their existence together in her pitiful fantasy was. She wished it had been different - she wished that some reality where she had them and they grew with her existed, and with Vision they’d have this spectacularly suburban life. A white picket fence, a dog (that wasn’t killed by a witch wanting to absorb her magic, RIP Sparky), movie nights and dinners where they dramatically bickered about the most insignificant details.
Obviously their lives were too complicated for such a thing in more than one reality. They were both right though - Billy in saying nothing will ever keep us apart, and Tommy with we’ll get through it. A bit backwards to have her children offer her words of assurance and comfort, but there was no question that she needed it. The boys are okay. Wanda had to believe that.
Her hands went to wipe at her cheeks, her splotchy eyes. Around them, the magic that had filled the diner rippled again. “What now, then?” she asked them. “I suppose things could be worse with my magic responsible for all of this, but - is there anything you two wanted to while it lasts?”
There were arcades with what she knew were at least very ‘old school’ games, and she had passed up a drive-in theatre - and even a circus? An older, slightly creepier one. “I have so many questions to ask but I am also okay with simply spending time with you today.” And really, having them present would make it easier to fix everything. They were the ones leveling her feelings, bringing back that confidence needed to reign in her chaos magic.
Billy took the plain white paper napkin that had been wrapped around the silverware. With a burst of fluorescent blue light his magic turned the napkin into a handkerchief, delicate green and red flowers delicately embroidered along the edge. It looked somehow vintage and fit in well with their surroundings, and yet crisp and new at the same time. He handed it over to Wanda, something that would stay even after her magic faded. It made Billy feel better, at least.
“The good news? Is that we have time.” he said. “We have time to talk, and we have time to be together.” Billy had tried to leave, and couldn’t, the effect feeling like a car’s engine revving and roaring, its tires stuck in the mud. He couldn’t think too much about home, anyway, too afraid of what would happen if he wanted it badly enough. So while they were here, he wanted to make that time count. “I think I saw a fair somewhere close by? And Tommy’s going to lose his mind if we don’t get him a corndog and a funnel cake.”
The Maximoff family tree might have been a complicated one. But it was theirs.