171 A chat with the employees.

"You are free? Of this Death's influence?" Wanda asked, sipping on her coffee.

We were sitting in living room after lunch, and Star was playing Mario Cart on the holoscreen with Pietro.

"Are you sure?" Riley added, her eyes red.

She had clung tight to my chest cried her heart out in relief once she found out that Lady Death wasn't going to be an issue anymore.

Even now, she refused to let go of me, as if I would vanish into thin air the moment she looked away.

It was cute and heartwarming.

I ruffled her hair, and nodded.

"Yup. 100 percent. Besides, we have the reality anchor now. As long as that is active, the whole ship is an absolute safe zone. I even activated the immortality matrix all across the ship. It's literally impossible to die in here now, even if the universe outside disappeared instantly."

Though, it does make certain viral experiments a bit more tedious.

But then again, small price to pay for the security of my family.

"Alright, now it's your turn. How was your training today? The Ancient One didn't try to fill your head with her spiritual mumbo jumbo did she?" I asked.

"Uh...no. She was....the training ....I don't have words for it. She pushed me and then ...it was like I was swimming ...no falling through an infinite hole." Wanda paled as she spoke.

"It felt like forever, dimension after dimension just zoomed past me. It felt like drugs. Like I was on drugs. I vomitted after and then she gave me that tea....it was bad. I know I should feel more, and I shouldn't nitpick but that tea .....it was just so bad."

Wanda smiled a little.

"I know right? And you know she's loaded! She can afford better tea. But she still serves people that shitty leaf juice for no reason. One scan of her cup and I knew to ask for coffee."

"It's healing tea, she said." Wanda elborated, "Made me feel better, but still...."

I laughed.

"Well it's good to know that you're taking well to it. Other dimensions can be nightmare inducing. So if you ever feel like you're having trouble with dreams, immediately come and report to me, okay?"

Wanda nodded, before she remembered something.

"I just want to be clear..... you're being... nice. Too nice. And you haven't asked us to do anything yet. Even after we got powers. And you let us stay here...." She frowned as a serious look took over her face

"It's suspicious. What do you really want?"

"Like I told you before, I want loyal, trustworthy and competent agents in the field to do some odd jobs for me. And right now, you are neither. In time though, with training....." I said, sipping my coffee.

"You can fight Death. And God. And you have droids. I saw Star training. Those droids are strong. They can do anything we can and better.

You don't need us." She empahsized, "You want us. But why, I don't know." She laid out.

"Smart, aren't you?" I smiled.

She was smarter than I had expected.

I was expecting a boring, easily manipulated side character I could use as a conduit for Chaos Magic.

Seems like I was wrong.

But that's even better.

I like smart people.

But I wonder, exactly how much has she deduced?

Let's play with her a little.

I raised a calculated eyebrow.

"What do you think I want?" I asked, "As you said, you two aren't anything much, compared to what I can accomplish alone. And in normal circumstances, I wouldn't want to bother with you. So why do you think I chose you out of all people to bring aboard?"

She leaned back and fell into thought, the hamster wheel in her brain no doubt running overtime.

It wasn't particularly obvious, after all. I myself wouldn't have gotten it right in her position. Not instantly at least.

She looked up at me after a moment, and scryed my face for some hint, something she was searching for.

I just smiled back, keeping up the mystery.

"Is it ...me?" She finally said.

I waved my hand.

"So-so. You're close. But not quite. Try again."

"So it is me! You want my body?" She asked, shrinking back.

I almost spat out my coffee, coughing as laughter overtook me.

"What? People have tried...before." She insisted.

"Yes. Indeed, they must have. You are quite attractive." I let my gaze roam across her form.

It was fun to see her squirm uncomfortably.

Hehehehehe.

"But no." I continued, "That is not what I am after. Try again. Go on."

Once more she racked her brains, to no avail.

She sighed.

"I don't know."

"You're not going to guess again?" I asked.

"I have no guesses. Magic maybe." She shrugged.

I clapped.

"Bingo."

"Wait, really? You want me for magic? Can't you learn it too?" She asked.

"Yes. But not just that, of course. I have a goal. One I want you to help me achieve. Ever since I was a kid, 5 years old I have always wanted to be a god. And I will need your help with that "

I can and will learn magic. Sure.

But once I get to the Magicians world and steal a god seed, I will need two people for the Apotheosis Transplant Spell.

The spell in the show was a two person spell, after all, unless a god helped out.

And I doubt Hades will just sit there and say, 'Oh you want to kill me and steal my divinity? Why, of course I will help you out!'

So I would rather have someone trustworthy help me with it.

"I thought you wanted to revive your wife?" Wanda asked.

"Yes, that too. But more than that. Call it a dream." I said, leaning back into the couch, staring into the middle distance.

"Tell me Wanda. What do you want. From life that is. What do you want to accomplish while you still draw breath?" I asked.

"I ....I just wanted to change the world. Save my country. But then you came and saved it." She snapped her fingers.

"Just like that."

I nodded and she clutched her hands together and crossed her legs, looking down.

"And I was angry. I am angry. At Stark. At the United States. They took our parents from us. Our family. Left us to die. Broke our country in three.

But now....after that....that fall. Into the hole. Through all those dimensions. I don't know. I feel like it's so small. So useless...I don't know the word in english."

"Inconsequential." I supplied.

"Maybe." She let out a breath she had been holding and her shoulders slumped down.

"Now...I don't know. I don't know what I want. I don't know what to do. I'm just... it's uncomfortable. But I just don't know."

"Surely you must have a dream? Something you've always wanted." I pushed, "Think back to when you were little. When you were in the orphanage first. When your parents were still with you. Before all of it even.

What did little Wanda want to become when she grew up? A Teacher? Astronaut? Hero? Police Officer?"

Wanda looked lost for a minute and thought of something as a small smile sprouted on her face.

"Oho! Looks like you found something." I poked.

"A housewife." She said, nostalgic.

I raised an eyebrow.

Now I am not up to date with my marvel backstories, but did she always want that?

"A housewife?" I asked.

"Yes. When I was little, our family...we used to sit together in front of the tv and watch these american sitcoms.

Dick Van Dyke Show. Like that. The tv was still new to Sokovia. And they were expensive. My father, he saved for months to get us one, second hand. And they didn't have a lot of channels." She swayed happily, lost in nostalgia.

"But every night. After news. They showed The Dick Van Dyke Show. And even in the middle of war, the sitcoms...they were a happy time. When nothing could go wrong. When everything was good and happy. And all the problems got solved by the end of the episode. It was all I could ever want and dream of. To be an american housewife. With two kids. A white picket fence. Nice neighbours. And then..."

Suddenly her face soured.

"...the bombs dropped. And you know the rest." She shook a little bit.

"Three days we hid under the bed. In our parents blood. And all there was....was that bomb. And the big yellow printing.

Stark Industries." She said that last part with barely contained venom before she caught herself.

"We left on the third day. But the war didn't.

Everyone else in the orphanage, they were just like us. Sad. Little. Hungry. And cold. Always ....so cold. This one boy...he had spots on his face. On his hands. He died there. First winter.

And all I could think was...how happy I was that I would get his portion of the meal now. Little more soup." She laughed in self depreciation.

"The war was hell. What came after...was somehow worse. No jobs. No food. Bandits roaming the streets. I saw kids get taken. Never saw them again. Except one. This girl, small. Eight, maybe. She came when we left the orphanage. Pretty blonde hair. Nice, bright blue eyes."

I could see her eyes glaze over as she continued, the memory haunting her to this day.

"I remembered her." Wanda continued, shivering as she spoke, her voice cracking, "I saw her after. On the streets of Novi Grad. Her eyes had been scooped out. She was posted on the streets, near the tourist spots. Forced to beg."

I gulped.

This was quite a common situation. I had heard of it. Seen it even when I visited the old country for weddings and holidays.

"And you know what I did?" She asked, looking at me with tearful eyes.

"Wanda!" Pietro zipped over, grabbing her in a hug.

"It's not your fault. We couldn't have done anything. You know who was behind it al-"

"I left her." Wanda cried, "I left her on the street. I didn't save her. I didn't even give her change. I just walked by and ignored her. It was ...it was just...."

She ground her teeth.

"She died a week later. On the street. And they left her body there. In frozen piss and blood till the dogs were nibbling at it."

Wanda broke into tears, and Pietro held her close.

"We drove the dogs away. We gave her a funeral. It's the most we could do." Pietro finished.

"That was the day we decided. We couldn't just sit by and watch our country fall apart. We had to do something. Anything. So we joined the movement. It was all we knew to do. We had no money. No influence. No powers." He said, his eyes widening as a realization occured.

"Wanda...." He patted his sister's back, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What?" Wanda sniffled, confused at first before.

"Ah!" She exclaimed.

"Those people. We couldn't do anything because we didn't have power before. But now?" He zipped around the room like a bolt of lightning.

"Now we can take them out. We have the power!"

Wanda's eyes slowly regained their light as the realisation set in for her as well.

She turned to me, as if to ask for permission and I sighed.

"Fine. Go. Do what you must. It's not like you won't try doing this behind my back, so you might as well do this with my backing." I snapped my fingers as two palm sized devices fell into their laps.

"They're forcefield generators. Clip them to your pants and they'll protect you from bullets and such. Return them once you're done. And return alive." I smiled, amused at their surprised looks.

Were they expecting me to say no?

How cute!

I wasn't allowing it just because I cared sooo much.

This would be an effective field exercise for them.

It would let me see how they'd react to live combat.

I snapped my fingers, opening portals to Sokovia for them, " Don't look so surprised. I'd rather my investments not go to waste."

They nodded as Wanda muttered a soft 'Thank You' and Pietro pulled me into a bear hug.

"You're the best boss ever!" He laughed.

"Yes, yes. Don't state the obvious. Go. Just don't go bringing back any baggage or I will turn you both into hamsters and make you power my perpetual motion machine." I teased, but they both suddenly shivered in fear and stepped back, nodding vigorously.

Sheesh.

Am I really that scary?

I shook my head.

No.

I'm a decent person. They are the weird ones.

Yup.

I turned back to see them disappear into the portal, and closed it behind them, before getting up and stretching, Riley still latched onto my arm.

"Riley. You have to let go sometime." I smiled, poking her cheeks.

"No!" She pouted, "I need to stick to you or else Papa will go around doing something stupid again!"

"Me too!" Star added, jumping onto my other arm, as if this was a game.

"Excuse me?! Need I remind you, I'm the smartest man in the multiverse!" I pinched Riley's cheeks.

"Umu!" She cried, "You still risked your life to fight Death. Like an idiot! Did you think what would happen to us if you died?!"

"Yes. The A.I. would take care of you till you were ready to be on your own. It's not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me Papa! I don't want to lose...my family again." She insisted, sniffling.

I smiled and rubbed her head.

"You won't. Papa is immortal already. Didn't you see how I beat Death? I'm not going anywhere."

Riley nodded

"So let go. I have some things to take care of."

Riley perked up.

"I'm coming with you!"

"Me too!" Star repeated.

"To the toilet?" I teased.

"Papa!" She protested as I laughed.

"Alright fine. Come along. It's about time you both learnt some responsible world travel. But first let go of me."

Star and Riley let go of my hands and fell onto the couch, as I opened a portal.

"Now come. Let's go return some things. And meet a new member of the family."

"Saraswati?" Riley asked, " We met her already."

"No. The one who helped me with the reality anchor. A new sister for you two."

"Another sister?!" Riley exclaimed, as she looked at me with suspicion.

"What?" I asked.

"I will need to watch out." Riley smirked, "Or Papa will turn the ship into an orphanage."

"Gah!" I swooned dramatically, and Star twirled, copying me, "Such little trust in your Papa's cold dead heart."

"Cold? Pfftt! Papa, you're lukewarm at best." Riley chuckled.

"Uhuh?" I picked Star up onto my shoulders.

"But I like warm Papa best." She added, with a bright smile.

"Glad to know." I said, ruffling her hair.

_________________

A wholesome chappy with binding time for Wanda and MC.

MC is a good boss apparently!

Who knew!

See you later!

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