Wanda:
this is the part where he LEAVES her. this is the part where she LETS him. wanda had seen this scenario time and time again; the words and emotions may vary, but the end remains the same : he leaves and she watches him go and they don’t see each other again unless some intergalactic or devastating monstrosity threatens all life on earth… or she suffers the banal misfortune of brainwashing or he reverts back into indisputable villainy. he turns and his steps resound in her ears, all-encompassing, deafening, her premonition being self-fulfilled. but despite both body and mind being in agreement that this is for the best, that no good can come of any further communication with this man, that no amount of apologies or excuses could rid away the DISAPPOINTMENT and the ANGER and the HURT that she had felt, that she should not forgive him after everything she had gone through, one single and undeniable word escapes her lips. ❝ …wait — ❞ she says it before she can stop herself, before she recognises that her action has shifted the course of this future from predictability to one of ambiguity. this is supposed to be the part where he leaves her. so why does she want him to stay? ❝ wait. you don’t have to —— ❞ a sigh escapes the sorceress as she crosses her arms. it bothers her that she feels both the initiator and the passenger to her choices, yet what bothers her even more is that no matter the rationality of the mind or the memory of the flesh, she feels no ounce of regret. ❝ look, do you want to… talk? with words bereft of hostility and distrust, i mean. this — isn’t an invitation. this isn’t me accepting an apology or accepting you, but… i came to you once, victor, not that time when i made a plea on behalf of my people, but when i was at my lowest, my most broken and DESPERATE… when i remembered my children. you could have manipulated me then, or you could have easily turned me away. instead you listened to me, you helped me, when no one else did, when no one could even so much as fathom the prison of my mind —— you were the only one. ❞ it is a truth that has endured despite the betrayal, one that she thought would never admit, to herself or aloud. and yet there it was, out in the open, like so much she cannot deny now. ❝ and… and if you say you have changed from the man who i believed in then for the better… or from the man i agreed to marry… perhaps it would be WORTH MY TIME to properly meet that man FOR MYSELF. do you think that could be arranged? ❞
Victor stops at once when she speaks. With his back still facing the sorceress, he looks down at his feet. Is she halting him to humilliate him even more? It is the first thought and yet he knows Wanda is not that kind of woman. She is nice, she is compassionate, and she is forgiving, which is exactly why he’d expected a different answer today. He turns around to look at her face again and what he sees is something else. There is no rage or hatred in her eyes, there is regret, and Victor allows himself to hope once again as he listens to every word that comes from those lips that he always considered perfect. Doctor Doom has always been terrible at showing emotions, he would rarely smile or show any weaknesses, he would put up a scary facade before revealing his true self. And now... well, now he is the same man. As much as he has tried to change, it is not easy to suddenly switch a personality that has predominated for almost his whole life. He struggles every time he is about to insult someone, yell at people, but Victor von Doom possesses the willpower Captain America would wish to have, an indomitable will that has made this outer appearance possible. And so, even though he can feel a shiver running throughout his body when he learns that Wanda is willing to give him a chance to get to know him better, his expression remains impassive. He closes his eyes as if trying to contain such emotion and nods his head once. “I am sure that can be arranged,” he answers in a formal tone. His actions in the past are finally recognized. It is always good to know that what you did for someone out of love finally means something for that person. Not that she is acknowledging his intent to save her from the men who sought to kill her, but she remembers exactly what their lives in Castle Doom were like for at least six whole months. It is as she describes it: when she needed someone to trust, Victor was there, ready to selflessly help her and give her a home and protection. The way Wanda puts it this time makes him consider a theory: is she saying this because she is in need of assistance once again? Is this her way to request for support or for someone to talk to? “Wanda... if you need me, if you need anything... I am here for you. If there is something troubling you, we can converse about that instead. You may open up to me the same way you did before. You may trust me.”
