R͟u͟t͟h͟l͟e͟s͟s͟ {Q͟u͟i͟c͟k͟s͟i͟l͟v͟e͟r͟/ A͟v͟e͟n͟g͟e͟r͟s͟}

Chapter 20: Revelation

"Where do I start?" Pietro mustered carefully.

"Just tell us everything we don't know." I said, shivering slightly. Cold air vented into the room, and the floor was almost literally covered in ice.

"I don't know what you don't know!"

"Then guess." I huffed loudly, hugging myself to keep warm.

"And don't leave anything out. I'm just as confused as her." Tony put in.

"Well..." Pietro shifted awkwardly in his cell into a cross-legged position. "How much do you know, Tony?"

"I know everything that was in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, which wasn't much." Tony's voice came nonchalantly.

"Why were you in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files?" I asked distrustfully.

Ignoring me, Tony continued, "I know you were experimented on in a H.Y.D.R.A. base in Sokovia with Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, and their powers, Crimson."

Pietro made a noise of dissatisfaction loudly, letting me know he was with me in still not trusting Stark. I don't think either of us were particularly thrilled he was with us.

"Oh, and did I forget to mention?" Tony sounded smug, "Banner's here too."

"What?!" I exclaimed fearfully, "Tony, that's kind of important! Isn't he dangerous?"

I heard Tony laugh. "'Course not. They put him to sleep. With the kind of thing they put on him, he could sleep for a year."

"Aren't they feeding him?"

"Can't really see that well. Possibly."

"Do you guys want to hear this or not?" Pietro interrupted impatiently.

I turned my attention back to the silver-haired boy. "Yes, sorry. Start from the beginning. When I left, I mean, and Wanda started going..." I trailed off uncertainly.

"Crazy? Senseless? Deranged?" Tony suggested, "Psychopathic?"

"You could put it that way," I admitted slowly. I hated how deathly silent and confining these cells were. Our voices bounced off the walls in echoes, like we were in a horror movie.

"That wasn't until later," Pietro argued, "Or, I didn't notice anything different until later."

"When you left us, both of us were angry, of course. Wanda was in a rage, all she did was talk about how you were a traitor, a monster, for leaving us. She would screech at the top of her lungs terrible things about you and how you'd abandoned us to be killed by the scepter." Pietro broke off momentarily at mention of it, "She kept going on and on about how you had promised. I, on the other hand, kept my anger to myself. I didn't hate you..." His words were poignant, "I just missed you. You don't understand how it felt Evgeniya. We were so alone, with no plan of escape. You were our only hope, and then you left us." He sounded crushed. "Wanda was determined to get back at you. Every time she got back from the experiments, or when she was in pain, she would curse you."

I felt my chest rise up and down guiltily. I really was the cause of this whole war. I was a murderer. I felt hot tears well up in my eyes as I pictured Pietro and Wanda huddling together, alone in that dark cell, in pain and totally, and completely alone. I should've been there. "Pietro, I'm so sorry..." I managed, feeling defeated. "This is all my fault. I should've been there for you. I don't know why I let myself get to the point where I could be shoved off, I should've-"

He shook his head, "It's in the past. I've gotten past it, while Wanda has not. Every day, she got a little angrier, a little closer to taking action than just sitting around wailing. Sometimes she'd yell at the guards terrible things."

"All I did was watch, comforting her, calming her down when she needed it. She was destroyed, mentally and physically, and, to make it worse, the experiments began to work. Being exposed to the scepter... Wanda would glow red sometimes at night, and she always had excruciating pain in her head. I was out of control. Every time I got the least bit emotional and moved, I would speed out of control, smashing into walls and other things in my way. I always was covered in bruises."

"One day, it got so bad, the men, H.Y.D.R.A., they had to separate us. I could hear Wanda crying, all the time. We would talk through the walls, but it wasn't the same. I couldn't hug her, calm her down. She became... crazy. She was entranced with her powers. They would watch us through the glass, watching how the effects of the scepter were finally evolving in us. The more we were exposed, the more powerful we would become, but it hurt worse every time, to the point where I would go unconscious by myself and wake up with an agonizing headache that wouldn't go away until the next time I went under."

"Every time I saw Wanda... She changed. It was like she began to enjoy it. The pain, I mean. Every moment she talked of her revenge, she desired more power, more ways to see these destructive people suffer. One day, she was talking to me, and she said was talking about her revenge on you, on H.Y.D.R.A., on Stark...-"

"On me?" Stark put in, sounding confused.

"Yes." Pietro said, sounding annoyed, "She mentioned that she was in control of someone. I didn't understand what she meant, but I came to realize she had possessed one of the guards. She could speak through him. Every time she used him, it was sickening. It was almost... pleasure."

"She hated everything, except her brother and controlling people's bodies..." Tony spoke uneasily, trailing off slightly. "That's.... strange."

"On a night about 2 years ago or so, Wanda broke us out. She'd possessed everyone in the building, and we walked out of the compound, completely unharmed. There was only one guard, out of the 300 in the facility, who couldn't be possessed. He ran away as we walked out of the building, with Wanda's first 300 followers. While we were camping out one night, Wanda began creating a plan. She wasn't just angry with the people who'd hurt her, she wanted to make sure nobody was hurt anymore."

"So, what's her plan?" I asked anxiously, pulling my legs closer to me. It was cold in here.

"She wants everyone under her control." Pietro shook his head in the darkness, making me stare at him blankly in surprise.

"Doesn't that seem... Over the top?" I asked, confused.

"She was tired of conflict. She just wants everyone to be peaceful, and she believes the only way to do that is to control everyone into being peaceful."

"That's stupid." Tony said, just as I said, "I guess that makes sense."

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Pietro asked.

"No. Just give me a second," I said, "It's a lot to process."

EEEK im sorry I had literally NO TIME to do this update today so it's not the best I could've made this chapter, especially since it's soooo important...

Vote and comment if you think this story is annoying *cries*

~Emily <3