Gauntlet || Maximoff Younger Brother

Chapter 2

Avengers Tower, New York

Maria Hill stood beside doctor Helen Cho on the balcony, now turned landing pad, of the Avengers tower. They both awaited the arrival of earth's mightiest heroes. From the edge of the skyline appeared the Quinjet, rapidly approaching the building, before slowing down and landing on the platform. The jet's wings folded upwards as the vehicle slowly moved towards the two women. The moment the cargo door had fully opened, Natasha pushed Clint out of the jet in a stretcher, Helen Cho following behind them, talking to her medical staff. As Hill entered the vehicle the Asgardian prince stepped out, the scepter's containment package under his arm, an ever-so-stoic expression plastered on his face.

"Lab's all set up boss." she announced to the man in the pilot's seat.

"Oh actually he's the boss, I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler" Tony answered, not missing his window of opportunity to brag.

"What's the word on Strucker?" Rogers asked Hill,  crouching as to not hit his head on the low ceiling of the jet's bunks.

"NATO's got him." she answered matter-of-factly.

"The three enhanced?" he then asked.

"Twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, along with their younger brother Gabriel. Orphaned at ten and seven when a shell collapsed their apartment building. Sokovia's had a rough history. It's nowhere special but it's on the way to everywhere special." Hill explained, having handed her tablet to the Captain.

The tablet played a video of a protest, three red squares identifying the siblings.

"Their abilities?" Rogers continued.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation." she spoke, perhaps too fast for the Captain. He gave her a confused look.

"He's fast and she's weird."

"And what about the kid?"

"He can control the density of objects he touches." Hill spoke, dumbing it down to avoid repeating herself.

"Well, they're gonna show up again." he affirmed, handing her back the tablet.

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts." Hill spoke.

"Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" the Captain bantered, having entered the elevator.

"We're not at war, Captain." Hill protested.

"They are." he said dramatically as the doors closed before him.

*  *  *

Novi Grad, Sokovia
Three days later

The three siblings walked through the streets of Novi Grad. Pietro led the way through the twisting turns of the roads, as Wanda and Gabriel stayed behind him. Gabriel looked around at the city. The stone brick buildings brought him a certain comfort that nothing else gave him, except for his siblings of course. However, the damage from the aftermath of the battle made him uneasy. He noticed a puddle near the sidewalk formed from leaking pipes. In the clear water he saw his reflection.

His short hazelnut hair was combed to the side, messy strands at the back of his head barely reaching his nape. The deep green in his eyes was washed out and faded. His white t-shirt was clean for once, and over it was an unzipped aviator jacket, adorned with the Sokovian coat of arms on the back. Loosely hanging from his neck was a pendant adorned with an ornate symbol, a skull with various tentacles. HYDRA's logo. I don't really care about HYDRA, their logo does look pretty cool though.