What he’d reiterated, after several nights of long introspection?He didn’t want to be like his father.As if wielding MC would turn him into a skirt-chasing letch.Something else he’d discovered?He didn’t want to admit his father might be right about who should rule Asgard.
He was so busy running in the other direction, he’d never, in all these years, stopped to consider the reasoning behindwhyhe was running.Add in that he was angry with his father for leaving MC with him to begin with and abandoning them both to their own devices, and you had a wrecking ball of simmering emotions.
But there was still the why of it all.
Harvey had spent all his life trying to pick up MC.Whyhad it happened now?What did it mean?
Wanda dropped down beside him, handing him a steaming mug of cocoa, giving his shoulder a nudge.“Though you might need something to keep you warm.It’s gotten cold early this year.”
His smile of gratitude was vague.“Thanks, Wanda.Appreciate you and all the work you’ve put into helping Dom.Into helping us.”
Her laughter tinkled in the cold air, a puff of condensation escaping her lips.“Well, to be fair, the world is at stake.Hot cocoa’s hardly going to solve the pending apocalypse.”
He took a long sip of the rich cocoa Arch brewed and nodded.“But it’s a nice way to go, don’t you think?”
She winked, her cheeks pink, her nose red.“I do.Now, what’s got you so glum?You’ve been quiet since we came back from your beautiful Asgard.Why?”
“The idea of the end of the world doesn’t makeyouglum?”
Wanda inhaled deeply and shook her head, a frown marring her forehead.“It invigorates me,” she replied, her tone fierce.“It makes me want to fight that much harder to prevent it from happening.We’ve taken part in many battles, Harvey.Maybe not involving the end of the world, but we’ve fought long and hard to get where we are today, and it makes me dang angry that someone wants to take something that’s mine—take something from my children, my friends.The life I’ve built over all these years.Why doesn’t it do the same for you?”
Dom had begun to master the spin with MC, making a wide circle of her arm as she whipped him into a frenzy, releasing his power in a frenetic zap of color and motion.
The result?A whole lot of burnt-up maze hedges.Oh, shit.
“By the looks of her progress, it’s invigorated Dom and MC.”
Wanda tipped her head back and chuckled as the smoke from the fire Arch was dousing with a garden hose drifted toward them.“That’s because Dom is one tough cookie and there’s nothing that will stop her from keeping Stavros safe.So tell me why you don’t feel that same fire?Your people, your home is at stake, too.So what is it?Are you resentful of her connection with MC?Mad that she was chosen by the gods for this insane task?What’s bugging you?”
Setting the mug down, he shook his head.“It’s absolutely not resentment.I’m not egotistical enough to be angry that Dom is the only person in the universe who can use MC.I think what’s bugging me is that my father, my flesh and blood, has abandoned us and left the responsibility up to someone who was blindsided by all that wielding MC entails.It wasn’t enough that she was a mortal with zero knowledge we existed, but then to carry this burden, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to help ease it for her?That bugs me.It bugs the hell out of me.I’m angry that my father had the gall to leave this all up to an unsuspecting human.It was irresponsible.”
She gave him a questioning glance.“You know, I wondered about that.Can’t Heimdall see where he is?If he can see everything in the universe, why can’t he find your father?”
Harvey lifted his shoulders.“There could be a million reasons.Sorcery being one.Heimdall sees much, but there are things that slip by even him.But what makes me angriest of all is the threat the giants have made.My father must have known his absence would leave a hole in protecting Asgard.He left us open to all manner of war, knowing full well at the time that he was the only being who could pick up MC.How could he evenconsiderleaving his people at risk?”
“That’s a question for your father, Harvey, wherever he is.Did he say anything when he left MC with you to babysit?Did he give you or MC a reason for why he’d be so irresponsible?”
“No.But I thought it was to pressure me into taking over Asgard’s rule.”
Wanda wrinkled her nose.“Does that make any sense to you at all?Your father knew you couldn’t pick up the hammer.What would be the point of leaving him with you?No amount of pressure can give you the power to wield MC.”
“Fair point.Regardless, look at what his leaving has done.Look at what’s it’s done to Dom, to her life.”
Wanda’s tone softened when she pointed out, “You’re falling for her, and you feel helpless that you have to stand by and watch this play out.”
He was definitely falling for her.“It’s not just because I’m falling for her, Wanda.I’d be angry if the universe had chosen some accountant from Timbuktu.It’s wrong to leave the fate of the world to someone virtually unequipped to take on the task.If my father hadn’t taken off, at least we’d have someone with some battle experience under his belt to handle this.And it’s bigger than simply being irresponsible.It’sbullshit,” he spat.
Wanda patted his thigh with a smile, the wind tugging at her chestnut hair.“There’s the fire I was looking for!”she declared with excitement.“So your father is the root of this discontent?Which I totally get.Itwasirresponsible of him to disappear and leave MC in your hands when even a remote hint of war was on the table.However, you said things had been quiet for some time now.So in all fairness, it seems he didn’t know there was a war brewing.”
Harvey scoffed.“There’s always a war brewing, Wanda.Or the potential for one.And he must know the gods spoke to MC and sent him to Dom.If the giants knew MC was with Dom, Thorhasto know.He’s the God of Thunder, for the love of Odin.”
And that left him irate.His father was many things, but flaking on MC?That had never happened before.
“But I feel like there’s more you’re not telling me,” Wanda coaxed, looking off into the distance, where Marty and Carl were helping Arch beat out the last of the flames with brooms.
He rasped a sigh, letting the cold air inflate his lungs.“When Dom was fighting the serpent, and I was behind her on the table?IheldMC.It lasted maybe a half second, but it happened.I’ve never been able to do that.Never.Whynow?And why didn’t I just admit it happened when Dom asked me?Why did I tell her she must have imagined it?”
Wanda cocked her head, her eyes soft and thoughtful.“First, the universe is a strange and wonderful place, isn’t it?Full of mysteries we may never solve.Maybe you’ve had some kind of breakthrough.Maybe the worry that this end-of-the-world business has fallen on a novice’s shoulders gave you whatever you needed to wield MC.Maybe your feelings for Dom, your fear for her safety, played a role.In the heat of the moment, you never know what can happen.”
