"Doctor? Are you there? Can I come in?" A clear female voice sounded at the door.
Tony, Steve, and Natasha, the three busy bees, had already left, leaving only Loki, who sat at the dining table helping Shiller hang all the coffee cups on the rack by color and size.
"Come in, ma'am."
Wanda walked in, her red long hair still fluffy and soft, loosely draped down her back. She was wearing a high-necked black dress and carried a dark green small leather bag with a silver chain, perfectly fitting the image of a witch from a fairy tale book.
Danny followed behind her, looking completely wilted and much more haggard, forming a stark contrast with the radiant Wanda.
Shiller quickly stood up, supporting Danny to sit on the sofa, then said, "Sorry, things happened suddenly yesterday. I had to get rid of that troublesome guy first, so I had to leave you with a colleague of mine for care."
Then he introduced Wanda to Danny, "This is Miss Wanda Lansheer, an excellent nurse and a former colleague of mine. I believe her care will help you recover faster."
Wanda appeared a bit uneasy because she actually hadn't become a nurse yet, and her name wasn't really Wanda Lansheer, although it was true that Magneto was her father, she belonged to Maximoff.
But sometimes she did go by that name, especially when certain people found out she was a mutant and were unfriendly to her. Having the same surname as Magneto helped her avoid a lot of trouble.
However, what Shiller said wasn't entirely wrong; she had indeed played a nurse in a game and had become a colleague with Shiller in a previous game. Plus, her care indeed helped Danny get better.
Danny nodded and said, "Yes, this lady took me to the hospital. I haven't had the chance to thank her yet."
"So now you are..."
"I realize I can't control myself either," Danny sighed helplessly, "Maybe I'm no different from Johnny, we're both monsters serving the devils."
Shiller tilted his head slightly, looking at Danny with a somewhat complex gaze. If you were to say he was foolish, he wasn't exactly someone who was double-dealing. He started reflecting on himself as soon as something happened, even before causing any harm.
Yet if you were to say he was smart, he was nothing like Johnny. His symptoms of losing control were influenced by Dario, and he felt he had no position to criticize Johnny at all.
At that moment, Lady Francis appeared again, pointing at Danny's nose and said, "Are you planning to give up like this, Danny? Is this what I taught you? You're not the kind of person who would sink into depravity; you can control the devil within you. Now is not the time to give up!"
"On Earth, only you and your brother are Ghost Riders, and only you can stop him. If you give up now, who will stop him when he works for Mephisto and kills more people? This is your responsibility; you must take it up."
Shiller had already noticed some issues between the mother and son. Lady Francis had too strong a desire for control, and Danny was taught to have little opinion of his own. Shiller even suspected that the ghost of Lady Francis now was imagined by Danny, unable to accept the fact after his mother's death.
Of course, for ordinary people, it would be impossible, but Danny is, after all, a Ghost Rider, and the Spirit of Vengeance within him is quite special. It was heard that when he died initially, Angels even intervened, so such a bizarre situation might occur.
"Alright, Lady Francis," Shiller quickly advised, "Danny hasn't decided to give up; maybe he's just soul-unstable and a bit tired, needing rest. Right, Wanda?"
Wanda, seeing Shiller's eye signal, quickly nodded and said, "Yes, his spirit is very exhausted and needs a good rest."
"I can prescribe you some sedatives; there's a lounge here. You can take a good nap, and everything will be fine after you wake up." Shiller went to write the prescription, meanwhile letting Wanda take Danny to the lounge.
After writing the prescription, Shiller went to the basement to get the medication. By the time he returned, Wanda had already poured some warm water, and she helped Shiller give the medicine to Danny and coaxed him into taking it.
"God, I wouldn't know how easy it would be for me if I had an assistant like you at my psychology clinic," Shiller laughed and praised Wanda.
"Really?" Wanda clearly became happy. She said, "Recently, I've been studying nursing psychology. Is it really effective?"
"Of course, getting him here safely is already a milestone success. Once you complete the nursing exam, I'll be waiting for your resume."
Wanda's eyes lit up with a girlish joy, she said, "If you'd let me work, I'm sure all of New York's hospitals would accept me. Then I'd have to choose carefully."
"Promise me I and Steven have priority, won't you?"
Wanda laughed cheerfully, shaking her hair, and walked to the dining table. Loki stood up to pull her chair, smiling at her as well.
"In light of the friendship between Earth and Asgard, perhaps the Fairy Palace should also have the opportunity to recruit outstanding talents. What do you say, ma'am?"
Wanda burst into laughter, saying after a while, "It's really hard to imagine you two are still single. I really don't know how many girls have fallen for such sweet words you've turned down."
Loki sat opposite with a smile, saying, "Surely not more than the number of gentlemen who have fallen for your beauty."
Shiller went to the kitchen to pour her coffee, operating the machine as he said, "JARVIS surely celebrated countless times for creating such a handsome face when he molded his body. I'd bet it was his own idea; if Tony designed it, that'd definitely be a disaster."
Wanda seemed to imagine that scene and started laughing again, choking on herself midway. At this moment, the hot coffee was just laid in front of her, with the sweetness and temperature she liked.
"Oh my, Doctor, I really don't know how you can be so considerate," Wanda marveled, "Before meeting you guys, I had never had hot coffee — it was always warm or half-cold."
Then she said, somewhat sentimentally, "You guys treat me so well, is it because I'm your friend or because... I'm very dangerous and if I lose control, it could bring trouble to Earth?"
Shiller's fingers paused, he asked, "Did someone say that to you? At that community college you attend?"
Wanda scratched her head, "Not exactly, I just suddenly thought of it... never mind, just pretend I didn't ask."
"It's a very complicated question, ma'am. Yesterday, when I asked for your help, were you just purely wanting to help a friend, or did you think if you didn't help me, the other means I might use to achieve my goals would be very dangerous and threaten your current peaceful life?"
Wanda blinked and said, "I hadn't thought that much."
"Then why did you give me the car keys?"
"Because you needed help."
"What if it was a stranger?"
Wanda thought carefully, then shook her head, "I wouldn't lend a car to a stranger because they might use my car to commit a crime. Too many things like that happen."
"If they did, and the police tracked it back to me — and I'm a mutant — they'd think I'm very suspicious and bring me in for questioning, ignoring what my neighbors say. When I return, neighbors would point and whisper, 'I knew people like that would eventually commit a crime.' They might even band together to drive me out of the community, and I'd have to move again, disrupting my peaceful life."
Wanda's words were incredibly fluent, clearly indicating she had experienced similar situations many times. Even Loki couldn't help but give her a sympathetic glance.
"Then what about me? Why do you think I wouldn't use your car to commit a crime?"
"Because there's no need, even without my car, you could... what I mean is, you'd have no reason to borrow my car specifically for a crime, right?"
Shiller laughed and said, "In fact, yesterday I was speeding for twenty minutes in your car with the police in pursuit and PITed a stretch Lincoln."
Wanda was a little surprised, slightly opening her mouth, but immediately said, "That must have been an emergency you encountered, forcing you to do so. You wouldn't have borrowed the car if it wasn't urgent."
"And if the police came to find you, what would you do?"
Wanda was a bit tense, but not overly anxious. She swallowed and said, "JARVIS is always monitoring the community police system. If the police come, he'll warn me in advance. I'll just say my car was stolen, and they shouldn't be too hard on me."
"And if you had to move again?" Shiller seemed to be testing Wanda's breaking point, speaking only pessimistic guesses.
"Then I'll just move," Wanda pursed her lips, "It's not like I haven't moved before; I'm really good at finding houses."
"What about the community college? Classes disrupted, your exam date might get pushed again. The kids grow up, become more unruly, do you still have the energy to continue studying and taking exams?"
Even Loki couldn't help but elbow Shiller, signaling him to stop provoking Wanda. But Shiller had no intention of stopping, his eyes locked onto Wanda.
Wanda avoided his gaze but could still feel his piercing stare. His look evidently put a lot of pressure on her, and she began leaning away from Shiller's side.
"I'll get through it," Wanda said, "Maybe I can also go to the Andromeda Galaxy, the Professor might welcome us, probably."
Suddenly, the pressure dissipated. Wanda realized that her whole body was sweating, her fingertips trembled, her chest caved inward, as if slowly hollowing out something, realizing the pain only now.
Then she was a bit in a daze, looking at her hands, then looking around in confusion.
Shiller was wiping a cup, Loki pouring himself a second cup of coffee. The tranquility and chaos of the Brooklyn Area street outside mapping New York's graffitied deep autumn.
No shocking red glow, no explosion, no scream, no stretch of ruins, nor suddenly realizing she had destroyed everything.
She turned her head to look at Shiller, he smiled at her and said, "I apologize for my offense, but I'm also someone who occasionally wants emotional support from friends. Thanks for being willing to give so much for me, even if only hypothetically."
Wanda's shoulders relaxed as an inexplicable anger surged. She grabbed her bag from the side and hurled it at Shiller.
"No wonder you're so sweet-talking today! You used my car to elude the police! That car is brand new! I thought the bumper felt a bit off when I drove today! Damned JARVIS even colluded with you to hide it from me!!!"
Wanda's rant echoed in the clinic. Loki gave Shiller a helpless look. Shiller just placed the bag to the side and said, "But I did fill up the gas for you; it cost me over a hundred bucks."
Wanda suddenly paused and exclaimed, "Over a hundred?! But I still had half a tank of gas left. Has the oil price in New York gone up again?!"
"Yes, even though oil prices have dropped, New York's gas price keeps rising. You'd have to ask some monopolistic energy companies how much more they want before they're done."
"Damn vampires!" Wanda cursed, "New York State's gas prices have spiked to second-highest in the Federation! They've risen over 30% compared to this time last year! What the hell are they up to!!!"