Now in Color

The sensation of Señor Scratchy jumping straight onto my stomach causes me to jolt awake. A groan leaves my lips as I throw him off of me. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" I mumble while sitting straight up.

It takes a moment for me to realize that the sun is already up and that I probably overslept. I have a quick look at my alarm clock: 9.30 in the morning. Not a complete disaster but I'm normally not one to sleep in. Besides, I have work to do. It's like every time I come a little bit closer to fixing Wanda's mystery, she creates a new layer of secrets. Like she doesn't want her past to be found. I have a quick look at their house and can see them moving around behind the curtains. But what really attracts my attention is the fact that the entire world is back in color, the way it's supposed to be. Well, not exactly… It's still like we are in a 70's show. Assuming the other people from Westview won't even notice the difference, seeing the kind of spell they are in, running up to their house and screaming "Why is the world in color?!" did not seem like the best thing to do. It would be suspicious to say the least. So my plan was to take a shower, get dressed, and most importantly: have some coffee. While having my breakfast for champions I can check the things I want to look into today and make a list. Makes it easier to keep track of everything. Then I can go and have a secret look at Wanda and Vision's house by using my camouflage spell. Satisfied with having a plan of attack, I change the bedrooms surroundings for that of the bathroom.

I enter the kitchen with my hair wrapped in a bath towel and use my magic to make me some much needed coffee. Next I make my notepad appear and sit down at the table with a content sigh. Let's get this day started. I click a couple of times with the pen I'm holding while I'm trying to collect my thoughts. What are the answers I'm the most in need of right now? I already know that Vision is an android created by Tony Stark and that he was killed by Thanos in his hunt for the infinity stones. And yet he's here, standing in the house right next to me. Did Wanda resurrect him from the death? Is this a new Vision? Is he just an illusion, like so much in this world is? Or did Wanda actually create him? And last but not least: Why is he always in his human form, instead of looking like the android he actually is? Thinking about all these questions makes me wonder whether Vision himself knows which scenario is the right one. I'll see if I can trick Vision into giving me a glimpse of the knowledge he holds. For now I want to go and have a look at what's going on in the Vision residence. I put my spell into place before I leave the house so that they won't see me coming, and give Señor Scratchy one last pet. "See you soon my darling."

Looking through the window there is one thing that immediately jumps into view: Wanda is pregnant. And not the I-just-discovered-I-am-going-to-have-a-baby-yeey-me pregnant. It's like properly 4 months pregnant. And I may be a couple of hundreds of years old, but I'm pretty sure she did not have a baby bump yesterday. Since humans do not get 4 months pregnant overnight, she has definitely used her magic to create this baby.

I can see Vision leaving the house together with Doctor Nielson, who apparently just finished his check up on the supernatural baby. "I'm just glad you caught me in time, I'm taking the wife on vacation this afternoon."

"Oh! Have a nice holiday!" Vision responds, his cheerfulness present in his voice.

The sound of Herb trimming his hedge cuts through the conversation.

"Hey Herb!" Vision calls out, putting his hand in the air as a form of greeting, with his so called friend returning the gesture. "Hey buddy!"

Secretively he turns back to the doctor, and with a voice that's just a whisper he says: "Listen, can you keep the news of Wanda's…" He makes a big belly gesture accompanied by a trumpeting sound. "…you know, just between us. Because, I don't know, everything's happening so quickly. We'd like to keep the news just in the family for right now."

What family? There is no family in Westview they can turn to, to share their exciting news with. Well except for me of course, but since they don't know who I am, it doesn't count.

"Of course. Mum's the word." The doctor answers, accompanying his words with his finger pretending to zip his lips.

Vision laughs at the expression and seems genuinely happy.

"I'm off. Bermuda, baby!"

The doctor leaves but I know that there's no way he will be going on a holiday today, Wanda simply won't allow it. Vision and mine's attention gets drawn back to Herb when we hear a screeching sound, and as I turn around I see that he is no longer trimming his hedge, but that he is actually cutting into the wall. It seems that Vision has noticed this bizarre detail as well.

"Hey Herb! Think you might've taken the hedge-trimming a little too far there, old chum!"

Herb looks down with a puzzled expression on his face, looks back up and gives Vision the biggest smile while continuing anyway.

"So, I have. Thanks buddy!"

Vision stares at his friend, obviously confused about why he's not stopping his actions.

"Yeah… Don't mention it."

He walks back into the house while looking back a couple of times.

Still hidden by my magic spell I walk closer to the man, who continues to cut into the stone wall. This is not my doing, so it has to mean that being pregnant messes with Wanda's control over Westview. Maybe it's because she's no longer here with her thoughts, or maybe this amount of magic is just one step too much for her. In any case, there's a little bit of her control fading. But for how long, that is the real question. It's a very real possibility that she will have everything fixed again by tonight.

I walk back to the window looking into their living room and use some more magic, allowing me to listen in on their conversation. I feel like a stalker, and am absolutely enjoying it. Vision closes the door behind him, obviously still lost in thoughts.

"Huh… The strangest thing just happened outside with…" He turns towards his wife and I follow his example.

The both of us notice at the same time that Wanda's belly has grown a lot bigger in the couple of minutes Vision has been outside.

"Whoa, Nelly! Have you gotten bigger?!" He yells in surprise, while pointing at her stomach.

"Have I?!" Wanda calls out, turning around quickly and bumping against the fruit bowl which causes the papaya it was holding to fall to the floor.

Her husband uses his super speed to catch it before it hits the ground.

"I can't tell from this angle." She says while looking down.

It doesn't matter how this baby was conceived, I can see she is beyond the moon with joy. Seeing her glow like this warms my heart, but I can't help but have an ominous feeling. If this child is made by her magic, in Westview, it means that it will be tied to this twisted world she created. It she would decide to let the people of Westview go, she would lose the baby too. And I'll gladly wish anyone that kind of pain, but her.

Vision looks at the papaya he's holding for a second and a mischievous grin breaks through. "I can't wait…" He chuckles softly. "… to be a proud papaya." He makes sure to put the emphasis on the papa.

Wanda places her hands on her hips and looks at him with eyes filled with love.

I decide that that's enough for now. I've discovered a very important event, obviously I'm talking about Wanda being pregnant, and saw a strange thing going on with Herb. Going back home to make notes about everything that has transpired seems like a smart thing to do, and besides… I'm in desperate need of more coffee. I turn around on my heels and leave the lovey-dovey couple behind, knowing I'll probably see them again soon.

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, my notes are covering all the free space it has, and the Darkhold is floating in the air next to me. I'm busy drawing a timeline of Wanda's life, or at least of what I know of it, when suddenly all of the electricity goes out. Since it's still daytime there is enough natural light going through the windows, but I frown nevertheless. What is Wanda up to this time? I was making a perfectly fine timeline before the power went away and this inconvenience annoys the hell out of me. I close my eyes for a moment and use my powers to check on the other houses, but since Wanda's chaos magic is everywhere it's hard to 'see' through it. So I walk to the kitchen to do it the old school way and look out of the window to see whether the same thing has happened to the neighbors. As I'm standing here though, a sudden wave of water hits me in the face. The water pipe has burst and caused the tap to come loose. Within 5 seconds I'm absolutely soaked and my clothes are ready for the garbage. Hearing the sounds coming from different spots in the house, I assume the other pipes must have suffered the same fate. I mumble a couple of Latin words accompanied by some hand movements and am very grateful when the water stops.

"Urgh!" The frustration is clearly present in my voice, because I just hate being wet. I wonder what Wanda is doing to cause all of this, and immediately I connect the dots: Her water broke. Oh my god, how I wish I can be with her, hold her hand and whisper her all these disgusting supporting things that people seem to love. But the situation is what it is and I am not capable of doing that just yet. So I'm going to go dry myself off, get some fresh clothes and go back to the house of the daughter that doesn't remember me.

As I'm walking to their house, once again hidden from people's sight, I can see electric sparks are dancing over the wires. I quicken my pace, and when I arrive to their window I see Wanda lying on the floor with a pillow beneath her head, her face twisted in pain. However, seeing who is sitting with her, makes my hair stand on end. Geraldine. She's breathing rhythmically, trying her best to get Wanda to do the same. Immediately I want to teleport in there to take that woman's place, but I would be giving away my secret if I did that. There's just something about this Geraldine that doesn't make sense. The way she acts, it's like she's slightly out of tune with the others. Like she's not following Wanda's script, but is just pretending to. I send my energy out to her once more but again the only thing I feel is Wanda's magic, especially now that I'm this nearby. I don't trust Geraldine being this close to my adoptive daughter and her baby, but there's nothing I can do about it. Wanda's scream snaps me out of my thoughts and draws my attention back to her. Everything around us is going crazy, from the vacuum cleaner inside the house, to the streetlights outside. Then all of a sudden, it all stops and calmness returns to Westview. The sound of a crying baby is what fills the air next, and Geraldine is holding a baby wrapped in a blue blanked.

"It's a boy." Gently she passes Wanda's son to her and I don't recall ever seeing the little witch this happy.

"Hi.." She says with a softly voice. "Oh, he's perfect.."

At this point Vision arrives with the doctor, leaving the door of the house wide open, which I happily use to my advantage. I make sure magic takes away all of the sounds I make, including that of my shoes, and I enter the residence after her husband. I walk towards one of the arm chairs and rest against it, watching the situation unfold in front of me.

"Oh, no, I missed it…" Vision whispers, sadness filling his voice.

Wanda gives him the warmest smile, which he happily returns. Geraldine picks up the need of privacy of the couple, and tries to distract the doctor.

"Hey, doc, why don't you help me out in the kitchen there?" The man walks down the stairs, obviously not entirely sure yet about where he is.

"We went so fast, it was like we were flying.." Geraldine supports his arm and helps him to the kitchen. But me? I'm not going anywhere.

"Well done, Wanda." Vision's voice is soft as he slowly walks down the stairs.

"Well, don't you wanna meet your son as yourself?"

Vision looks around suspiciously, but when he sees that neither Geraldine nor the doctor is nearby, he changes into the red android he actually is. As he's bending down to take over his son from his wife, Wanda softly says: "Oh. He's strong."

"Hello there little Tommy." Vision whispers to his child, a big smile on his face.

"Tommy?" Wanda asks, love present in her voice.

"Yes, Tommy." I assume they must have had a discussion about the name, and apparently has Wanda won.

Vision bows down to give Wanda a kiss, but before he can, she starts screaming again with him following her example in confusion.

"What?!" He yells, but when he looks down it's followed by a: "Good heavens! There's another baby coming!"

Twins? Who would have thought… Not me, that's for sure. How do you go from 0 to 2 babies in 1 day time? The only kind of magic I can think of that's capable of that, is chaos magic indeed, but in a very advanced stage… And that would make her…

"Billy?!" Wanda yells, cutting off my chain of thoughts.

The most frustrating thing about all of this is that I am capable of helping her, but not without giving away my witchy-ness, something I'm not willing to do just yet. I remember her reaction when I arrived very vividly.

"Wanda, push! Push!" Vision yells, with Wanda doing exactly that.

And before you know it, there is a second baby in Wanda's arms. I decide it's time for me to get out of the house before Geraldine and the doctor come back, and very quietly I do exactly that.

As I leave the house, I can see Herb is still busy trying to trim his hedge. A little idea forms in my head, a chance to plant some doubt into Vision's mind and simultaneously push that Geraldine away from Wanda. To see how he reacts, how he responds. With a small wave of my hand I take over Herb's control from Wanda, she won't even notice it with all the commotion there is right now. As soon as I'm the one pulling his strings, I remove my invincibility spell and wait for Vision to leave the house.

When he finally appears with the doctor by his side, I know it's time to start my puppeteering act. He already looks very confused about something the doctor said, so the seed is already there. All I have to do is water it.

"What is she doing in there?" I whisper to Herb, but loud enough for Vision to hear me.

"I don't know…" Herb's looking at me with empty eyes.

"Howdy neighbors!" Vision calls out, with the both of us returning the greeting.

A big smile is on my face, playing the role as the nosy neighbor perfectly. As he's walking back towards the house, I start my way-too-loud-whispers once more.

"Did you see her go inside?"

"She went right in!"

My plan is working, because Vision turns around and is walking in our direction now. His curiosity is obviously peeked.

"Remarkable day we're having, no? Did you lose power too?"

Irritation fills me when I think back of the electricity going out and the water draining me, but I hide it and cover it with friendliness.

"Oh, sure did! But Ralph looks better in the dark, so I'm not complaining!" I chuckle carefree and Vision joins, though I can hear a hint of worry in his voice.

"Hi Herb…" "Hi buddy."

A tension is hanging in the air, but apparently it's not enough to trap Vision because he claps his hands together and turns back to the house.

"Well, I'll get back to Wanda."

I need to raise his doubts, this is not nearly enough, so I call him back.

"Vision!" He looks at me expectantly.

"Is Geraldine inside with Wanda?" I put on my best worried face, and seeing the expression on his, it's working.

"Yes. Why?" Honestly it's cute to see how worried he is about his wife. If it was not my daughter we're talking about, I would find it pathetic. But she deserves some good in her life.

"She's new to town. Brand-new." Herb says, listening to the thread I'm pulling without having any control over himself. But he should be used to that by now.

"There's no family." I continue the set up. "No husband."

Vision gives us a soft smile. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that."

I shrug and look into the distance with an ominous expression. "Hmm…"

To increase the drama of the entire situation, I slowly turn my eyes back in his direction and say: "No home."

Vision takes a moment to let this sink in. "What? What do you mean she has no home?"

I force Herb to start talking once more. "She came here because…"

A small silence falls and he looks back at me, after which he repeats the same sentence. "She came here because…"

I sigh and softly shake my head, as if I don't want him to continue. Acting has always been one of my specialties

"She came here because we're all…" He stops talking once more, executing the job I give him perfectly.

"She came here because we're all what? What are you trying to tell me?" Confusion and doubt is present on Vision's human face, so clearly my plan is working.

"She came here because we're all…" I quickly turn on my heels so I can face herb. "Stop it!" I hiss while shaking my head. This should confuse the hell out of the robot, and feeling the tension in the air it is.

I turn back to Vision with the biggest smile on my face. "Well, I better get going!"

I grab the bike that was standing next to me, I had conjured it here before he had left the house with the doctor, and ring the bell twice.

"That macramé is not gonna hitch itself!" A big over the top wink accompanies my words and I walk away without looking back. There's no need for me to check what Herb is going to say, he's still under my control and the moment I let him go, Wanda will have her claws back in him and he won't be saying anything of value either.

As I'm walking to my house I feel a blast of energy going through the air, and as I look up I can see Geraldine being thrown out of the Westview bubble by force. A smile crosses my lips. That's my girl.