"Borrow… borrow?"
Linen was stunned when he heard Wanda say that.
"Oh—no, I mean… uh…"
Wanda fumbled for the right words, then simply shrugged. "Anyway, you understand what I mean!"
"I think I do."
Linen set down his utensils and looked at her calmly.
"But have you thought about one thing?"
"What thing?" Wanda blinked, genuinely curious.
"First, I don't even know the Wanda from this universe yet."
"Second, how do I know you're not lying? No one can predict the future with absolute certainty. Maybe this whole 'I'm Wanda's future husband' thing is just something you imagined."
"Third, I don't know who Loki is—but something tells me he's fooling you. How could he know my future?"
Of course, in this timeline it was still more than ten days before 2011.
The Battle of New York hadn't happened yet.
So it was normal that "he" didn't know Loki.
And no one knew that Linen was already familiar with the whole Marvel universe.
As for whether Wanda could read his thoughts—Linen wasn't worried.
After all, he'd just gained an ability yesterday that prevented mind reading.
He didn't expect to use it so soon.
Wanda listened quietly and then smiled, her beautiful eyes curving.
"I understand why you don't believe me. Everything I said really does sound unbelievable."
"But the future I spoke of will happen. And this morning, aside from that moment of shock when you first saw me, you stayed calm the whole time."
"I think I see why the Wanda of this universe would fall for you."
Wanda sat up straight, her expression serious.
"I can't reveal too much about the future. When crossing timelines, the first rule is not to disrupt the natural flow of this universe."
"As for Wanda being your future wife—I'm certain. I've seen the future through the TVA."
"And even though Loki is the god of lies and trickery, he wouldn't dare deceive me about this."
"Because he can't afford my anger."
Scarlet light flickered in Wanda's eyes as she rose from her seat.
Magic gathered in her palm, wrapping around Linen's body and lifting him off the ground.
"What are you doing?"
Linen's instincts tensed, ready to fight—
—but Wanda laughed lightly.
"Since you are the future husband of the Wanda from this universe… and the father of her two adorable children… why can't you also be the father of mine?"
"That's why I came to you. I don't want any other man touching me."
"And don't worry—I'm not interfering with this universe's development. Otherwise, the Sorcerer Supreme would've already shown up."
"Before Sylvie and I leave, dear… I hope you'll give me a real child."
Scarlet energy carried Linen toward the bedroom.
Wanda leaned in close, her voice warm against his ear.
"Don't think about using your magic to open a portal and escape. It would be very dangerous to refuse me."
—
Brooklyn — Steve Rogers' Apartment
"What's on your mind? You don't like the breakfast I brought?"
Natasha leaned across the table, smiling as Steve stared blankly at his plate.
"It's not that," Steve murmured.
"Still worried about that Skrull from last night? I didn't expect aliens to be living on Earth either."
"That's not it. Fury said he can keep the Skrulls in check, so I'm not worried."
Steve looked up at her, eyes full of something heavier.
"Bucky is still alive… but he's in Hydra's hands."
"I'm thinking—I should go find him. I can't just sit here."
"Even if I lost everything before… I still had Bucky."
"And now that Hydra has brainwashed him… when he needs me most, how can I pretend nothing's happening?"
Natasha shrugged with a teasing smirk. "You two are really close. If this were the UK, I'd assume you were a couple."
Steve couldn't help laughing.
"It won't be easy to find the Winter Soldier," Natasha continued. "I've fought him before. I tried tracking him too. No luck."
"So it's going to be hard for you to find him on your own."
"What do you think?" Steve asked.
"No—unless S.H.I.E.L.D. mobilizes to search for him. But doing that would alert Hydra immediately."
"Didn't that Skrull transform into Alexander Pierce? Fury said he carries Pierce's memories."
"Then let's ask him."
Natasha pulled two photos from her pocket.
"These two are Hydra agents. They'll be on a mission today."
"Our job is to quietly eliminate them after they finish."
"Two today, two tomorrow… sooner or later we'll wipe Hydra out completely."
Steve picked up the photos—but all he could picture was Bucky's face from the theater screen.
—
Noon
Linen stretched and lifted the quilt, hearing Wanda humming while cooking in the kitchen.
One glance at the wrinkled bed sheet made him rub his temples.
No wonder this Wanda had created children with magic in her universe.
She was… overwhelmingly strong.
And that was an understatement.
Her power was definitely beyond the Darkhold Wanda.
She might even have mastered true chaos magic.
But then—why did Loki and Sylvie need her help?
Wanda thought he knew nothing about the TVA.
But Linen had watched the Loki series.
He knew that Loki didn't need Wanda's help before becoming the God of Time.
And she also said she and Sylvie came to this universe looking for something.
On the day the sun "hung" in the sky, he and Natasha had seen a chibi-like Loki variant wearing a TVA uniform.
That Loki shouldn't have become the God of Time yet.
Unless…
The Loki they saw that day wasn't the Loki Wanda was talking about.
This world was getting more interesting.
Linen got dressed, stretched—
"Hiss… my back…"
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