Work Text:
Billy waited.
He could still sense her presence. The enormous energy ball of power and secrets that is Agatha harkness slowly emerging from the soil.
He rolled the sigil around in his hand. The little piece of wood and magic he hung on for dear life for so long. The sigil he could trace in his sleep. The comforting Familiarity. A thread to hold onto within all the unknown.
He closed his fist on it for the last time. He could feel the crack of the woods breaking beneath his hand. He opened it. The sigil now laid there, broken in pieces.
Good, he thought. He has no need for it anymore. The pieces dropped on the ground like rain that washes the earth clean.
He knew she was there now. Undoubtedly so. He took his hood off. No need for cover anymore. They both knew who each other were now.
" That was quite a debut, " Agatha said.
He didn't mean to do it. Not really.
And if he didn't know better, he would say that Agatha sounded... proud.
" a sigil, what's that? " she mimicked, her voice drenched with bitterness. " power is what im missing "
His lie. The ‘reason’ he was there in the first place.
Agatha scoffed. " Hardly, " she said astounded.
No need to lie anymore. " Power doesn't interest me, " he said, his voice solemn. Distant. Strong. in a way he didn't feel like he could've been with agatha before.
" keep telling yourself that "
He ignored it. He wasn't going to let Agatha blindside him. And no matter what Agatha says, he's not like her. Not like-
" when did you figure it out? " he asked
" I had a feeling when we first met, " she said. " even with the sigil in the way you and your mother had the same tell "
His brow furrowed. What is she talking about?
He got up and faced her. " Which is? " he asked, still not sure if she's bluffing.
" Very inconvenient for you, " she said.
Of course. There's always mind games with Agatha.
" I wasn't 'sure' sure until...you..." her eyes grew as she mocked his... outburst earlier.
He felt guilt prickling up his throat as she chuckled. He turned away. Just another thing that meant nothing to her.
" it's nice to see you again... Billy "
The words echoed through his head. His name. His own name. The name he was looking for, for so long. The name that represented what he tried to push away futilely for so long until he gave up. He rolled it around in his head, twisted it. It felt like water to the dying. So easy. So natural.
Oh how good is to finally be known.
And yet it felt so foreign to him at the same time. Is that all he is? Billy?
No. that doesn't feel right.
But she still could still say it .
" Billy, " he said, and he knew he was finally free of it. Agatha smirked as her eyes sparkled, watering up. " William, " he said once again. Even if the piece of him didn’t make sense, it was still his name. And she could still hear it. He chuckled " you can hear me now "
“ Every witch with a beating heart can hear you now, " she said.
He knew what she was doing. But the guilt was still there, now more nauseating than ever.
" Ah " Agatha said with a 'tsk'. " Lilia and Jen. Yeah, well, what you did was... " she didn't finish the sentence but he knew what she meant.
They didn't deserve that. Even if he couldn't control it. The guilt swerved around like bile.
" but life goes on. Yours, anyway. I mean, I've killed... " she started counting, mumbling, like one counts grains of sand. Small and unimportant. She snickered as she lost count and he wanted to scream.
" my share " she finished. Billy scoffed at her audacity. " but you don't see it holding me back "
He recoiled from the comparison. " I'm not like you " he said, but he started to think he was trying to convince himself more than her.
She laughed. " Where have I heard that before? " she grinned. She didn't need to say it. The name of… that woman, haunted the air like the smell of rotten fruit.
" But tell me... " she said as she approached him, callously, a snake making its way slowly to its prey. " I just gotta know.. "
He knew where she was going with it. " Where did you come by this fresh body you're wearing? "
He looked down. He didn't know. He didn't know so much about what happened to him. Just that he wanted to live.
" ok, you don't wanna tell me, that's fine. But... don't you dare feel guilty about your talent "
What?
" you survived... like witches have been doing for centuries. You saw an opportunity, an empty vessel and you moved in. "
Is that what happened? Did he just... see an opportunity to save himself and took it?
Is that who he is?
" So you broke the rules, big deal! " she exclaimed passionately. "That's what kept you alive! That's what makes you special "
He looked at her. She meant every word.
" that's what makes you a witch "
Is that what being a witch is? Surviving? No matter the cost?
Being selfish and opportunistic and cruel...
Being like Agatha?
No. It can't be. Because he's not there for him.
" now, if we're gonna make it to the end- "
" we? ". He's finally strong enough. He will not let her string him along . " But I don't need you anymore, " he said. She looked at him, surprised. " I don't know if I ever did " He said, as his hand slowly clenched.
He tried to find it. The power he channeled earlier. The power he still felt he had within him. But as he tried it once again, the energy faded, the fuel lost. He looked at it confused. He tried again. Still nothing.
Agatha guffawed at his failed attempt.
It didn't matter though. " whatever. " he said coldly. " You know it's there " . He didn't need to prove anything to her. She saw what he could do.
"I can finish the road on my own ". He turned away, but he knew he fooled no one.
“ Oh sure, with all that power you can’t control without throwing a temper tantrum, “ Agatha said dismissively. It made him angry. The way that she can read him so easily, the way that she knew him, in a way he could never know her.
He was sick of it. “ I’ll figure it out! “ he yelled as he faced her.
Agatha gasped, unimpressed. She squinted as the same sly grin spread on her face. She approached him again, a finger pointed at him. “ What does Billy Maximoff want at the end of the road? “
She already knew. But of course, she had to make a show of it.
“ Big magic is already in the bag, “ she said, as she stood in front of him. “ is it ‘ find mama’ ? “ She japed, circling him.
Mama. No, she was not his mother. He already had one. A devoted and adoring mother that he loved dearly. One that would do everything for him.
He wasn’t sure what Wanda was to him.
“ No. She chose a town full of strangers over her own flesh and wires. “ Agatha continued to mock with her sickly sweet voice, as his blood boiled.
She continued to circle. A shark smelling blood in the water. “ What about robo papa? “
Vision. Billy didn’t even remember what he looked like. He’ll probably never know now.
Agatha scoffed in fake dismay. “ Lord knows where he is,” She said as turned . “ or in how many pieces? “
He refused to meet her eyes. It was all just part of her taunt.
“ So who is left? “ She asked, clicking her tongue as she “contemplated “
Tommy. His brother. The reason. The only thing he wanted out of the road. A limb, severed, that he could still somehow feel.
“ oh! right! there’s two of you! “ She exclaimed.
There were two of them. But he spent the last few years alone, feeling like he lost something he doesn’t even completely know.
He doesn’t even know if Tommy remembers him.
“ You’re after Toby! “
She knew his name. She always knows their names. And he was going to make her say it. “ Tommy “ he said, and for a second, he felt like the same scared kid he was 3 years ago.
She retorted. “ that’s what I said “
He ignored her. “ He's out there somewhere, “ he said. Even in this place he felt it. “ I can sense him, I just… can’t find him “
“ Gosh you really are a Maximoff, “ she countered, “ otherwise none of this would be nearly as dramatic”
Of course, he’s the dramatic one.
“ He’s my brother, “ He said, furious. Furious at Agatha and Wanda, and the world, who made them like this. And for a second he saw something in Agatha’s face he couldn’t recognize.
He was done caring. “ If you really wanna finish this together, Just know that I do not trust you. At all “
Agatha chuckled a little, but the same look was still there. “ ever “ he finished.
She could hide behind masks of taunts. She could hide behind walls to protect herself , But he saw it now.
She cared. She actually cared.
And He hurt her.
“ got it, “ she said.
He really did hurt her.
“ got it “. And there was a sincerity to it that surprised him.
But it didn’t last long. “ Let's go find the next trial “ She said, with the same bitterness.
“ last one there is a nice person, “ she said, and started walking away.
But he knew now. She is not going to underestimate him ever again.
“ I am not that nice “