They shake hands. An armistice between former allies and former enemies, in a quiet library.
It would be an easier thing, a pat and simple thing, if they could simply patch over this grievance and instantly go back to how things were. But they can’t; not when he still feels that jolt of fear as Wanda’s palm touches his, not when her eyes are still red-rimmed with grief, not when that trust between them is cracked and eroded and lying in ruins.
(Can she still dig her fingers into his mind, considering how their abilities change going through that rift? Can she still splinter his psyche and make him see what she wants? He’s read that blood magic can control the minds of others, see into their dreams, summon demons. It might be possible.)
Once upon a time, he would have tried to comfort her. Extended that hand out of friendship, rather than chilly professional practicality. But it’s that brute pragmatism at work when Stephen says crisply, “We have bigger problems at hand. They’ve told you about Corypheus?”
If hundreds of heroes on Earth could set aside their grievances and all haul in the same direction to take down Thanos, then as far as he’s concerned, they’re just going to have to do the same for Corypheus.
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It would be an easier thing, a pat and simple thing, if they could simply patch over this grievance and instantly go back to how things were. But they can’t; not when he still feels that jolt of fear as Wanda’s palm touches his, not when her eyes are still red-rimmed with grief, not when that trust between them is cracked and eroded and lying in ruins.
(Can she still dig her fingers into his mind, considering how their abilities change going through that rift? Can she still splinter his psyche and make him see what she wants? He’s read that blood magic can control the minds of others, see into their dreams, summon demons. It might be possible.)
Once upon a time, he would have tried to comfort her. Extended that hand out of friendship, rather than chilly professional practicality. But it’s that brute pragmatism at work when Stephen says crisply, “We have bigger problems at hand. They’ve told you about Corypheus?”
If hundreds of heroes on Earth could set aside their grievances and all haul in the same direction to take down Thanos, then as far as he’s concerned, they’re just going to have to do the same for Corypheus.