The Soul Reason (Wanda & Billy) 20 September 2016
Charles Xavier’s school for young mutants could only ever be a temporary solution to a complex problem. Wanda had the nagging feeling as she watched a few teenage mutants in the lawn dodging laser grids and jumping over exploding bombs in preparation for war. What else could it be? They were preparing the same way she had been prepared--whether they were on the same side was up for debate. Here they were, away from their families, away from the rest of civilization. They were being kept cloistered. It was for their own good, of course, but for how long? This solution to keep them in the middle could never last. Her father believed mutants could and should take over the world. Wanda herself had tried to live amongst them--happily for some years. In the end, this had failed. How long could Charles Xavier’s school stay in the middle, not part of a Mutant Triumph, and not integrated with the world at large? It couldn’t be permanent. Wanda would be interested to see what happened to it when one side ultimately prevailed over the other.
Silver spoon clinked against porcelain cup as Wanda stirred her coffee and tapped the extra drops off. The first day of fall had arrived with a chill that bit her skin and made Wanda wish she had packed something heavier when she had left the Avengers Facility. She would be back soon enough, if she returned at all. She hadn’t yet called Vision, for fear he would track her location from the phone. Perhaps when she left, then, she would make contact, then leave for her next location. Back at home, he was probably lonely without her. She was certainly lonely without him. Since he had come back from his time away, this week was the first he hadn’t been by her side. She had underestimated how used she was to having him around the house and in her bed. Then again, it may be the new house that had her up in the middle of the night and needing coffee so badly. Or maybe it was the uncertainty of what she was doing.
A young woman tripped over something in the grass--a sprinkler, perhaps--and fell towards some flagstone steps. Wanda flicked her wrist towards her, meaning to set her upright, but instead the lawn flattened itself out. The steps disappeared and the pathway extended down an even landscape. That was quite possibly the most difficult way to keep someone from falling down the steps. Wanda waited to see if anyone would notice. The girl got up, shaking and relieved.