MHA #2 | Wednesday Morning

[knife_bender]

Diego tried his very best to not be That Guy and demand he know his wife's every move. She was an adult, he knew she was with friends, and she was fine during that whole Rey thing back in August. He was sure she was fine.

But come on, a phone call would be appreciated!

He was just going to be pacing the apartment, trying to think of logical reasons of why she hadn't called rather than convening an emergency meeting of The Umbrella Academy to solve the mystery of "where the fuck did my wife go and why hasn't she called me?".

[For one! That Annie came home looking rough is fine for broadcast but specifics on Wanda's shenanigans are NFB]

Comments

[knife_bender]

Yeah, but before the moon blew up he had very purposely lifted up his brothers with his life sucking tentacles and tried to kill them.

"You can miss her," Diego said. "Missing her doesn't mean you forgive her. Nobody's going to judge you."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Yeah, those hadn't been accidental tentacles, had they? Whoops.

Annie could not fathom ever forgiving Wanda, right now -- but she also knew, without having to think about it too hard, that she eventually would. Forgiveness was in her nature, even if her faith had taken a beating. It was just going to take a long time. All of this would.

"Don't tell anyone?" she requested softly. "I mean, not that you would, but like...I don't want this to be other people's memory of her."

[knife_bender]

"Of course I won't," he assured her. "It's not my place. I didn't really know her."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I don't think it's really my place, either," Annie noted with a little frown, reaching up to rub a hand across her forehead tiredly. "I mean, maybe it is. People should know. She had a lot of other friends here. But no one but us needs to know the -- details. Right?"

Abruptly she remembered that she had told Steven she'd say hi to Wanda for him, and everything suddenly felt very overwhelming. She could deal with all of that in time. Wanda wasn't going anywhere.

[knife_bender]

"Right," he said. "But you don't have to do anything right away. Just focus on yourself first, okay?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Okay." Annie could agree with that. "Then...that bath sounded nice. And maybe a snack? I'm not sure when I last ate, actually."

She could see to her immediate needs right now -- which also included another White Claw -- and then, after getting clean and eating and sleeping and probably incessantly touching her husband for reassurance through all of it...maybe then she could see about dealing with how all of this felt. (Or maybe she'd just not -- but that didn't seem like a great way to move forward, and the fact that she even had that impulse was a great reason to get in touch with a mental health professional, right there.)

[knife_bender]

"Bath," he said, reluctantly pulling away so he could stand. "And I will order you food while you're relaxing."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You're wonderful," Annie told him, her tiredness coming through on the emphasis of how wonderful he was as she stood and wrapped an arm around Diego's waist. "This never gets easier."

Alex, then Maeve, then Wanda, all over the course of one year. It had been a hard year for losing friends -- not to mention the friends who hadn't died (or 'died,' in some cases), but she'd lost anyway.

[knife_bender]

"I know," he said. "We should put bubble wrap around Summer."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I was just thinking that," Annie told him with a tired little laugh. Especially since she was redheaded, and didn't things come in threes? "I kinda want to go the bar tonight to see her, but I also...."

She shrugged. She also didn't want to try to muscle her way through complimenting jello shots and making small talk with anyone else at the bar. "I don't know if I can be normal enough."

She might not be normal for awhile, and that was okay. (Or, at least, she'd tell herself it was.)

[knife_bender]

"Nope, you're not doing anything tonight," Diego said, tugging her along to the bathroom. "Summer gets enough people at the bar that someone would sound an alarm if she didn't show."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Maybe," Annie agreed, allowing herself to be led. "That conversation is probably not one for, like, Tino's ears, anyway."

Because Annie was likely to start crying again, and she didn't really want to do that where everyone and their jello shots could see.

(She was probably going to do a bit more if it in the tub, as it was.)

[knife_bender]

"Yeah, Tino doesn't need to hear shit. Or Tiny for matter." No NPC bartenders!

He moved to sit Annie down on the toilet so he could move to turn the water on in the bathtub. "You craving anything in particular? I can just do a Doordash roulette and let my finger just stop somewhere on the list."

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie actually gave it some real thought for a moment as she reached up to pull her hair out of its bun with a slight wince. Her right shoulder hurt more than she'd initially thought, and there was probably going to be a lot of that in the next few days. "...carbs? Something with lots of carbohydrates. I'm not picky otherwise." She was already tired but the idea of just eating bread or pasta until she fell asleep also held a whole lot of incredibly comforting appeal.

The way Diego was maneuvering her around and taking care of her was also very sweet, and something she found appealing in a way she couldn't quite articulate at the moment. Maybe it was just one of those things where after everything she'd gone through, and all the emotional pain she'd witnessed -- Wanda's, yes, but also America's and Stephen's -- it was nice to be so openly, transparently loved.

And this was all a good reminder not to take any of that for granted.

[knife_bender]

"Carbs it is," he said, standing up straight now that the tub was being filled. "Do you have one of those weird fizzy bombs for the bathtub around? "

[defenderofdesmoines]

"You're so cute," Annie told him, weirdly maybe about to cry some more over how cute he was? Or maybe it was more just that his cuteness was making it easier for her to shoulder the weight of everything else that had happened. Something like that. Feelings were messy and stupid, sometimes. "In here."

She reached over -- moving as little and as gingerly as she could -- to open a drawer and reveal, voila! A ridiculous number of bath bombs.

(Look. Annie had her coping mechanisms, and at least two of them were fizzy. Her other coping mechanism was tree nut-based, hidden in the kitchen on a shelf she'd have to stand on a chair to reach, and she was probably going to eat the whole bag tonight.)

[knife_bender]

"Holy shit we've got a treasure trove." How did he miss that?

(Easy, he took showers, not baths.)

Diego took one at random and unwrapped it, unable to keep amused look off his face when he dropped it into the tub. That was so cool.

He did turn his attention back to Annie after a moment or two. "Need help getting your clothes off? What hurts the worst?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I'll never say no to help undressing," Annie told him, the flirtiness of her comment probably tempered a bit by her overall appearance and demeanor, even if she was trying. She hesitantly stretched, just to see, and the way pain bloomed outward at the movement told her that her instincts were correct. "It feels like my back and shoulders got it worst? My left hip is kind of fucked, too. No weights for Annie for awhile."

Lots of knocking into stuff with her body, the last couple of days. Even when someone hadn't been actively throwing her -- it wasn't like she and Stephen and America had hit the ground lightly in New York-838.

[knife_bender]

"I'm going to hold you to that," Diego said, already reaching for the hem of her shirt. "You want to talk about how it happened?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"It was when she had me," Annie explained quietly, hissing out a wince as she lifted her arms to assist. (Thankfully Diego was an expert at removing her bra, because that was going to be the real trick with how much it hurt to contort her shoulders around.) "I mean, most of it. The woman Wanda put me up against was kind of similar, power-wise? Like, she could fly and had blasts like mine, but without the siphoning part so she had a real advantage. But like -- I think if it had been me in charge of...me, I probably wouldn't be as hurt? Like, Wanda was remote-controlling that universe's version of herself, too, and she was really beat up."

Sincerely -- Annie hoped that 838-Wanda had gotten herself some medical care after everything. Her poor feet, if nothing else.

[knife_bender]

"It's insane how one person could do all that," Diego said, gently lifting her shirt up and off. "Control two people like that. I mean, now I know she could do a whole town but still. With powers and everything."

Maybe it really was for the best that someone that powerful couldn't hurt anyone anymore.

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie had felt like that before, about other overpowered people. Homelander needed to be put down like a rabid animal. Soldier Boy and Viktor had both needed to be confined for everyone's wellbeing (even if, like, maaaaybe one of those had been the wrong call.) But she'd always been confident that Wanda understood the responsibility that came with such an amazing gift. She'd always thought Wanda knew better -- especially after having made the mistake once, already -- than to abuse it.

So yeah. Maybe it was for the best?

(It did not feel like it was for the best.)

"She's amazing," Annie told him, soft and sincere. "She -- was. But maybe that's too much for anyone. Power corrupts, and all that."

Maybe when you could create your own reality, all the rules got fuzzier. She could see that.

[knife_bender]

"Yeah, I guess it's a saying for a reason." Though he didn't like the idea that Viktor was at risk of becoming like that again.

He tossed aside Annie's shirt, moving momentarily to turn off the water before it could get anywhere. He knelt down when he moved back to her, getting in a better position so he could get her bra off without hurting her.

"You said you flew again?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I did," Annie told him, watching all of this care he was taking with a soft, slightly watery smile. She hadn't really realized how much she'd need to be cared for, after all of that; Diego's gentleness right now was doing as much good for her as the bath and carbohydrates and rest would, eventually. "But like, way better than I did before. So that's kind of cool. I know with enough practice, I probably can actually move around and stuff."

Probably gonna be a while before she felt up to practicing, but that was okay, right? (It was going to have to be.)

[knife_bender]

"We need to get you your own power grid or something," Diego joked as he unhooked her bra and pulled it off. "Pants next. You stand, I'll stay down here."