Between Time- MCU

Three days after the incident, the Tower felt quieter than usual. Or maybe that was just how Alex felt inside — pulled inward, like her own mind was tiptoeing around itself.

Classes were still going, she hadn't dropped anything. In fact, she'd done more than usual: caught up on assignments, requested a new course for next term, even started outlining her final project early.

It wasn't distraction. It was control. Something steady when the world felt unstable.

But every time she opened her laptop, the news cycle buzzed in the background, blurry footage of a girl who paused time, people arguing over whether it was real, over who she might be.

Alex wasn't in the headlines. But she was in the shadows of the story. And Fury had made it very clear: stay in the shadows.

She didn't argue. She didn't want fame. But some part of her, the part that still felt the stroller wheels under her fingertips, wanted to exist.

That quiet ache followed her into the Tower library that evening, where she meant to study but ended up just... staring at her laptop screen.

She didn't notice Wanda at first.

The woman didn't say anything, just settled gently into the chair beside her. When Alex finally glanced over, Wanda smiled softly, like she already knew.

"You did something important," Wanda said simply. "I saw the footage."

Alex blinked. "You can't even see my face."

"No. But I can see you," Wanda said, touching her own chest. "In here."

That should've sounded cheesy. It didn't.

"I didn't mean to be seen at all," Alex said, rubbing her palms together. "Fury thinks I screwed up."

"He's scared for you," Wanda said. "He's seen what attention does to people who aren't ready for it. And maybe he's right, maybe it's not time. But that doesn't make what you did wrong."

Alex stared down at her notebook. "It's just... I finally did something good. I wasn't a problem, or a risk, or a project. I was just a person who helped. And now it's like I'm supposed to disappear again."

Wanda tilted her head. "Is disappearing the part that hurts... or is it being told that your power only matters when it's hidden?"

Alex opened her mouth, then closed it.

"...Yeah."

Wanda leaned forward, elbows on her knees. "You're building something. With school. With your own control. With how you carry yourself in this space. That's not nothing. That's foundation. The world will try to tell you that you're only useful when you're flashy or powerful or dramatic. But don't believe it. You're not here to impress anyone."

"I'm just... trying to be something," Alex said, quiet now. "Something that matters."

"You already are," Wanda said. "Your progress matters. Your education matters. The way you think through what kind of person you want to be, that matters."

Alex looked at her for a long second. "You really believe that?"

"I do," Wanda said. "Because I had to learn it the hard way. When everything went wrong for me, all I had left was who I chose to be afterward. That's what you're doing now. Choosing who you are."

Alex exhaled, shaky but real.

"...Thanks."

Wanda smiled again. "You don't need to disappear to stay safe. You just need to stay true to what you're building. And I think you're doing that better than you realize."