Freaks||Wanda and Pietro Maximoff

Chapter 12

Clint sits in the library, hiding behind a book, eyeing Thor and Loki as they argue over who deserves to pay their fine. All around the library, people chat, working happily. Fitz stands in the corner looking at the comic books, muttering to himself slightly. Bruce stands at the other side at the non fiction section, eyeing him every now and then. Natasha sits next to Clint, scribbling down her homework.
"Any news on the twins?" She asks, biting down on her pen
"What...oh...no news" Clint shakes his head
"Nothing?"
"Nothing bad has happened so no" Clint shrugs
"You can't back down from the plan if something bad happens right?" Natasha eyes him sceptically "even Fitz has agreed in the name of safety "
"Yes, yes... please don't talk about this now Nat" Clint sighs "Please? They're perfectly nice people. They don't deserve anything else horrible"
Loki is now laughing at Fitz about something. Looking hurt, Fitz turns on his heal and stalks out of the library. Thor starts to yell.
"They're drawing attention" Clint mutters
"It's funny though" Natasha grins
"Nat, Loki bullies people!"
"That's why he deserves Thor yelling all that crap at him" Natasha giggles as Thor storms out, Loki making an incredibly obscene hand gesture towards him.
There's a crash as Bruce drops all five books he is carrying. People start to laugh.
"Sometimes I just want to curl up in a corner and cry" Clint groans, getting up to help Bruce.
                                  *
Wanda walks through the forest, colours of red and brown blurring around her. Pietro walks next to her, clutching her hand. They constantly have to change direction because of how many trees there are. The leaves crunch under their feet, and drops of water drop down on them every now and then.
"I constantly feel like a bird is pooping on my head" Pietro grumbles "why the hell did you want to come here?"
"It's peaceful" Wanda grins up at him "and don't worry, I won't see it in your hair"
"Shut up"
She giggles and looks around. A small squirrel hops up on to a tree and scuttles up in to the remaining leaves.
"Ew"
"What do you mean ew?" Wanda asks
"Wild animals" Pietro crinkles his nose
"You hated it when I brought bugs home didn't you?" Wanda laughs
"It was unsanitary!"
"I wanted a pet! You're such a clean freak!" She giggles, pushing him sideways playfully.
He regains his balance, scowling. The setting sun makes his hair look lighter than it already is and his face healthy with a small stubble growing.
"You need to shave" Wanda grins
"You don't think I pull if it off?"
She shakes her head, laughing and he starts to laugh with her, his eyes shining before abruptly stopping. He looks around nervously, his eyes ten times larger.
"Did you hear that?" He whispers "it sounded like... talking"
"Crap" Wanda mutters "we should go... quickly"
But before she knows it, Pietro drags her behind a tree. Her back hits the trunk sending a pain shooting up her spine.
"Owww!" She hisses "what was that for?"
"Shhhh!"
Pietro looks around the tree and then quickly falls back.
"It's Clint and Natasha" he whispers
"Oh thank god" Wanda sighs
"Is here okay?" Natasha's voice rings through the clearing
"Yeah thanks for coming with me" Clint responds "it's relaxing to practice here"
"What are friends for?"
Wanda looks around. Natasha is sitting down on a log while Clint pulls out a bow and arrow and aims at a tree. Natasha's hair is in two small red plaits that wave around her head whenever she turns. She looks more pale than usual and the normal glint in her eye is faint.

Clint pulls back the bow and shoots. The bow lands in the centre of the tree. Pietro excels a breath in amazement. Instantly, like a whip, Natasha's head shoots up and she looks straight at where they are hiding, her eyes narrowed. Wanda pulls back behind the tree hurriedly, her head making a hard snapping noise as it collides with the bark.
"Did you hear that?" Natasha says to Clint
"It's probably just your imagination" Wanda hears Clint say "you hear everything"
"No I definitely heard something"
The sound of breaking twigs indicates Natasha standing up. Pietro instantly grabs Wanda's arm and in a flash they are back at the outskirts of the the woods.

"You could of done that earlier" Wanda snaps up at her brother
She sways slightly at the shock of moving so quickly.
"I'm nosy" Pietro shrugs "but I didn't want to get caught" his face falls "oh god guess who's here"
Wanda looks in to the direction he is looking to see Peter strolling down the field in a black top and skinny jeans, his goggles pushing his silver hair in awkward directions. He grins at them, waving his fingers. Pietro growls angrily under his breath and Wanda kicks his leg.
"Woah!" Peter giggles "that must of hurt"
"Don't worry" Pietro scowls "it's just a little sibling rivalry"
Peter eyes Wanda up and down. Well as up as possible. Despite being smaller than Pietro, he is still taller than Wanda. Like everyone else.
"You're swaying a bit" he frowns then looks up at Pietro "you didn't hold her neck to stop whiplash did you?"
"What?" Pietro looks confused
"Wheeeep-laaash" Peter grins, his black eyes glinting
"The English language is confusing" Pietro shakes his head "I'm on the second Harry Potter and I don't understand half of the words"
"That's because they're made up or are Latin words changed slightly" Peter keeps grinning
"You know Latin?"
"No I can't even speak English properly" Peter laughs "but I do have the internet. But man are you enjoying Harry Potter? Because I would love to hear all about it"
They start walking back to Steve's house, Peter and Pietro chatting animatedly about how they both think that Ron is underrated. Wanda follows a few steps behind them, smiling slightly. They are actually getting on. Not arguing. Not competing. Just chatting. For six years all Pietro has had is Wanda so, watching him smile and laugh with someone else makes her feel happy and almost proud.

When they get back to Steve's, the twins make their way round the back and enter the shed to find Fitz standing by the chest of draws. Peter stops in his tracks before winking at Fitz and walking out. Fitz smiles slightly,shaking his head and looking down at his shoes.
"Oh hi Fitz" Wanda smiles, kicking her shoes off "what are you doing here?"
"Oh I just wanted to meet your brother" Fitz smiles at Pietro and extends out his hand "hi I'm Leopold Fitz. Engineering."
"Pietro" Pietro smiles "what do you mean by engineering?"
"That's normally how I introduce myself" Fitz laughs slightly "I'm a scientist you see"
"Oh" Pietro grins "well it's nice to meet you"
Fitz frowns as Pietro takes off his shoes like Wanda and sits down on his bed with a tired sigh.
"You're not much like Peter" Fitz shrugs "I guess everyone was exaggerating"
"Excuse me!" Pietro splutters as Wanda giggles hysterically "I am not Peter Maximoff!"
"Okay okay" Fitz grins and then pauses for a second "now I see it"
"Shut up!" Pietro scowls "you're very sassy Leopold. Especially with that accent"
"I'm Scottish" Fitz smiles proudly "nobody has called me Leopold for ages though. It's... it's... sorry I can't think of the word"
He looks shyly at Pietro as if he is expecting to be judged but Pietro just smiles up at him.
"Join the club" Pietro laughs "This language is confusing... hey have you read Harry Potter?"
"Off course" Fitz looks more comfortable now "what house are you in? I'm a Ravenclaw"
"I think I would see myself as a Slytherin" Pietro shrugs as Wanda groans, flopping down on her bed.

In a few minutes, listening to Fitz and Pietro's chatter, she falls asleep.

She stands in the same clearing they had heard the noise. The sky is pitch black,twinkling with stars and the only source of the light is the shining moon. A sudden rustling comes from behind her and Wanda jumps in shock, backing slightly.
"Hello?" She calls out then mentally hits herself for doing something so stupid.
But to her surprise the voice responds.
"Hello" it repeats
"Who's there?" Wanda steps back against the tree ready to make a sudden run for it.

A small boy steps in to the clearing. He looks about 11 with messy brown hair and rings under his eyes. He wears a small jacket with silver buttons and a pair of shorts that go down to his knees.
"Aren't you cold in those?" Wanda manages to say before she is surrounded by a black fog.
She starts to cough as the fog burns her throats like fire. She flails around trying to get the fog away from her but it starts to sting her body with agonising pain...
                                  *
Wanda sits up with a sudden cry and Pietro turns away from Fitz in a instant. She is deathly white. Deathly white apart from the tears running down her cheeks. She gasps loudly, clutching her heart and looks over at Pietro and Fitz with utter fear in her eyes.

Pietro jumps off his bed and sits down on her's.
"Wanda?" He says quietly "are you okay?"
Still gasping, Wanda nods her head and  collapses in to his arms. She's shaking. Fitz is looking panicked as he stands up awkwardly.
"Does she need medical attention?" He asks hurriedly "Because Jemma taught me some stuff that can calm down ptsd and panic attacks"
Pietro shakes his head and Fitz falls silent.

After a few minutes Wanda stops gasping and she looks up at her brother, her breathing steady but her body still shaking.
"That...that wasn't a dream" she mutters
"What do you mean it wasn't a dream?" Fitz asks hurriedly
"I felt... everything" Wanda whispers "It was nothing like a dream. It felt as real as sitting here right now"
"Do you think it's a side effect of your powers?" Fitz looks interested but still empathetic. Wanda had never seen that in Tony or even Bruce
"It's... it's never happened to me before" Wanda shakes her head
"What did you feel?"
"It was like my whole body was on fire" Wanda shakes her head "I couldn't do anything to stop it"
Pietro pulls her into a tight hug again just as Bucky walks in. He looks disheveled and distraught, his brown hair everywhere and he runs a hand through it before saying:
"I just had the weirdest dream"