Maximoff Anomalies

Kamala II

It was harder than Kamala had anticipated. Bruno was so different. He barely flinched when Kamala broke the news of his nana's heart attack, merely asking if the cafe was still doing cheese scones. Kamala was more worried about his living situation.

Luckily, her parents agreed to let Bruno stay with the family, taking Aamir's old room. Not that Bruno minded. The way he'd acted, he wouldn't care if he was thrown out on the street. But he moved in, all of the memories of Muslin culture still in his brain, and he still joined all of the events they did.

Kamala had taken it upon herself to fix the holes in his semantic memory. She educated him fairly on all of the heroes. Okay, maybe she focused on Captain Marvel more than necessary, but what's wrong with having all the information?

Bruno was mostly listening, half zoning out for most of the Avengers, but seemed to pay slightly more attention whenever Vision, Wanda Maximoff, and Pietro Maximoff were mentioned or were related to them. Maybe it was interest, or something more. Kamala didn't think he even noticed the way he straightened slightly when they were brought up.

Eventually, after a month and a bit, they seemed to be getting back into their old flow. Bruno was more sassy and laid back, but he was still Bruno. 

Except for when he became weirdly obsessed with conspiracy theories. Given Kamala had her fair share, she didn't judge. His theories usually surrounded other teenage medical miracles - Kamala walked in on him stalking some boy from the UK and promptly walked away, not getting into that whole situation - or something related to the Maximoffs and Vision, or someone named Agatha Harkness.

His one about Westview was the weirdest. He became strangely obsessed with some town nearby since she'd mentioned it when they were getting gyros. And yes, Kamala had gone down the rabbit hole of conspiracies (training exercises are never training exercises), but not to the extent of Bruno. He seemed determined to find out everything about it. The so-called runes, stuff about witches in the town, the whole shebang.

Kamala had come through the window after going out as Ms. Marvel to find him searching through runes (Kamala had seen the post and declared it insane, but Bruno didn't hold the same judgment). She'd settled on her superheroine persona after her Abbu told her that Kamal meant Marvel, and she shared a name with CAROL FREAKIN DANVERS!

"Are you looking at the Hex again, Bruno?" Kamala laughed.

"I was bored," Bruno spun around on his chair, closing his screen. "How was patrol or whatever it was you were doing?"

"Fun. Got a free gyro," Kamala threw a napkin in his rubbish bin and collapsed on the bed. Najaf insisted on giving her one every time she passed by, and Kamala wasn't about to complain. "No Damage Control, which is good. How is your studying going?"

"Thankfully, I still have most of my semantic memory intact, and Bruno was a literal genius, so other than history it's a breeze. Which reminds me - no it doesn't, I was already thinking about it, but anyway. Where did you get that costume of yours?" Bruno leaned back. He often talked in the third person when referencing pre-amnesia Bruno, as if he didn't even consider them to be the same person.

"My mum got it from some guy called Luke Jacobson," Kamala shrugged. "Why?"

"Curious," Bruno shrugged, before turning back to his computer. 

Kamala's attention got pulled away from all the weird conspiracies a month or so during a fire at an apartment building. People were still trapped inside, and Ms. Marvel had turned up to help, using her powers to create a way down.

"Is that everyone?" she asked as a small girl slid down, lowering her hands and removing the glowing slide. 

"I think so. Thank you for your assistance," a firefighter told her. 

"Wait!" a woman with dark hair ran over, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please, my daughters are still in there! Floor six, I just popped down the road for a minute, I didn't mean to leave them, please!"

A group of firefighters ran in, and the lady collapsed to her knees. Kamala's heart wrenched, and she waited, holding onto the woman to comfort her as she cried. After ten minutes, the voices of the firefighter came across a walky-talky.

"We can't find anyone. It's empty," her voice carried. The woman howled with grief, and Kamala pressed her hand against her mouth. That poor mother. Kamala understood how she was feeling, and had to press her lips together roughly to hold back a sob

"Lady, you need to learn to take better care of your kids," a teenage boy said, and Kamala turned to glare but froze, her eyes widening. The boy had brown hair and was wearing a superhero costume. It was green with white linings and a white-and-silver lightning bolt across his torso, and a dark green mask.

"Excuse you? Who do you think you are? Her daughters just died!" Kamala exclaimed.

"You mean these daughters?" The boy stepped to the side to reveal two blonde girls drenched with soot. The girls ran into the woman's arms, sobbing. "You're welcome."

"Are you insane?" Kamala dragged the boy away from the reuniting family. "You can't just run into fire!"

"You have. Multiple times," the boy raised an eyebrow.

"I have my powers to protect me," Kamala folded her arms.

"So do I, partner," he smirked.

"Partner?" Kamala repeated. "Since when?"

"Since now."

"I didn't agree to this."

"You don't have to."

Kamala's mouth was agape, and she shook her head. The audacity of this boy. "Who are you?"

"Tommy, but you can call me Speed. Lovely to meet you, partner," Tommy held out his hand.

"What's the point of the mask if you reveal your identity immediately?" Kamala raised an eyebrow.

"Well, my name is Tommy, but not legally. It's complicated," Tommy shrugged. "Anyway partner, what's next on the agenda?"

"We're not partners," Kamala huffed, turning around. Her mouth dropped open when the boy appeared in front of her. "How did you -"

"Super speed, partner. Thanks to the amazing genetics that make me related to that attractive Avenger-"

"Captain Marvel?"

"No."

"Natasha Romanoff?"

"Nope."

"Thor?"

"You think I'm attractive enough to be related to him?"

"Not a chance. Hawkeye?"

"He has a family. Are you saying I'm a bastard?"

"Ugh! Wanda Maximoff?"

"Eh," the boy shrugged. "Close enough."

Kamala rubbed her temple. "Knowing you-"

"You've known me for two minutes-"

"And you've been insufferable for both of them. Knowing you, the relation is rubbish, but whatever. I'm guessing even if I refuse your 'offer' to be partner, you will still follow me around and act as partner until I stop arguing?" Kamala folded her arms.

"Aw partner, you know me so well!" Tommy smirked.

"I'm just not gonna bother," Kamala sighed.

"Makes our lives easier. Anyway, partner, how do you feel about having a social media presence?" Tommy suggested.

"This conversation is over," Kamala started to leave, jumping from platform to platform when she heard his voice yelling at her.

"See you next time partner!"