Variation - W.M.

Chapter 29 - November 25, 2016

"Please let me go. I'll get you donuts for breakfast" I tried, tugging at the ropes the two had skillfully wrapped around me, fastening me to a chair.

The occurrence had started after I had put Nathaniel to bed. At first it was innocent; Lila had sweetly asked if she could show me a magic trick. Me, being the person I am, figured this would be a way to get the girl to like me. I sat down in the chair and closed my eyes.

A terrible decision when the children in question both didn't like me and had an ex-assassin aunt.

I ended up strapped to the chair while the two decided that bedtime was not going to happen, sitting far too close to the tv and shoveling marshmallows in their mouths.

"No!" Lila screeched around a mouthful. I groaned, wiggling around.

"Ollie?"

I sighed in relief at the sound of Pietro's voice, the Barton children's heads whipping around to look behind me.

"In here, Pietro" I yelled, craning my head in an attempt to see behind me. "The little demons tied me up."

"That's what you called me down here for?" The silver haired twin asked, appearing in front of me. "Just get yourself out."

"I tried that but it's tight" I whined, straining against the ropes.

"You can phase" a new voice deadpanned and my heart fluttered at the familiar sound. It took me a couple seconds to realize what the words meant and I sighed, feeling stupid.

I phased through the ropes, standing up and shaking myself out while Lila and Cooper stared wide eyed, realizing the inevitable consequences for their actions.

"Lila and Cooper, bed. Now" I demanded, my face steeled and my voice firm. The two gulped, dropping what they had and sprinting to the stairs, their footsteps thundering loudly. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, turning to the twins. "Sorry, I kind of blanked. I didn't want to ruin Clint and Laura's trip so I figured you'd be able to help."

"How did you even end up tied to a chair?" Pietro questioned, cocking his head slightly as he looked from me to the chair.

"She wanted to show me a magic trick. Just, it's a long story." I glanced at my watch, the screen displaying an overwhelming number of 1s. "Sorry to call you out so late."

"It is fine, we were awake." Pietro assured me and I shot him a grateful smile before following after the Barton siblings up the stairs.

The door to Cooper's bedroom was left cracked, light and hushed voices traveling out into the hall as I approached.

"I'll tell her it was my fault, okay?" Cooper assured his sister and I slowed. "I promise you won't get in trouble."

"But it was my idea, I should be the one in trouble" Lila argued and I sighed, stepping up to the door and pushing it open.

Cooper shot to his feet upon seeing me, opening his mouth to begin taking the blame but I cut him off with a look. "Sit down, Cooper. Neither of you are in trouble."

The boy did as he was told, sitting back down on the bed beside his sister. "You're not mad?"

"Oh I'm mad" I assured him, pulling the desk chair into the center of the room so I could face the two. "But if I called your parents they would come home and it would ruin their vacation."

I sighed and looked between the two who both looked guilty at the prospect of ruining their parent's trip. "Listen, I get that you would rather have Nat here but, unfortunately, I'm what was available. I can be fun too if you give me a chance, so can we try and have a good weekend?"

The two glanced at each other and nodded, earning a smile from me. Lila leaned forward slightly, curiosity shining in her eyes. "Can we see your powers?"

I chuckled. "If you go to bed now without any more problems then I'll show them to you" I propositioned, leaning forward with a grin. "And guess what?"

"What" they both asked, entranced by the suspense.

"I have super speed, so we can go anywhere in the world for breakfast."

The two scrambled to get ready for bed, arguing about what it was they wanted for breakfast as they brushed their teeth and eventually separated for the night. I bid them both goodnight before heading back downstairs, finding Wanda in the process of cleaning up the mess.

"Where did Pietro go?" I asked, not seeing the speedster.

"He went back to the compound to help with a mission tomorrow. I said I would stay to help you" she explained, dropping a stray marshmallow into a trash bag.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that" I said, moving to help her.

"After tonight I'm worried you'll end up shoved in the oven" she deadpanned, although the silly fairy tale reference made me laugh.

"You're the witch here. They'd be more likely to shove you in the oven" I shot back jokingly, grinning at the smile that crossed her face. "You can take the guest room."

She raised her brows at my offer. "Where would you sleep then?"

"Sleep is for the weak" I scoffed, dismissively. "That's why they make coffee."

"Olivia."

"Actually I think the slogan for coffee is 'do stupid things faster', but I like the idea of doing stupid things with no sleep" I rambled, moving to pick up the remote. Red mist surrounded it, jerking it from my reach.

"Olivia" Wanda said, her tone unamused by my jokes. "When's the last time you slept?"

"I slept last night, thank you very much" I scoffed, hand to my chest in offense as though I hadn't been awake for 72 straight hours before that.

Wanda eyed me doubtfully and I rolled my eyes, shooting her a look. "If you must know, my plan was to sleep on the couch. I appreciate the concern though."

Wanda scowled at my cheeky smile, flicking her wrist so that the trash in my hand floated into the bag before she closed it.

"Where's the guest room?"

"Last door on the right" I informed her and she nodded, handing me the bag of trash before walking past me. "Goodnight" I yelled after her, not truly expecting a response.

I suppose it was good that I didn't expect one, because I didn't receive one.