Skies Clearing (Maximoff Twins fanfic)

Chapter Nineteen

"My brother. My hero."

RED

As long as my brother and I have been alive, I've known him better than anyone on this earth. From chasing each other around the apartment building, to playing pranks on the soldiers in the streets, to protesting them and then to signing up for HYDRA - we've always been together.

When he was Quicksilver, I thought he'd become a stranger, but it turns out he was still himself, and he's still himself now, with any name attached.

I still can't help but call him Pietro every chance I get. I think the sweetness of the name will never wear off, no matter how many times it crosses my lips.

His black book is always with him. Sometimes I see the picture peeking from the front pages. Maybe it's a reminder for him. I know it's a reminder for me - that he's there, and still my brother.

One day he races off to the training room to answer Bucky's challenge, and he leaves his book behind.

"Pietro!" I call after him, but of course he's already out of earshot.

So I pick up the memories, intending to take them back to him in case he has a moment he wants to add. If he forgets where he's left it, he'll be frantic, leaving blue speed all over the facility and trying to hold on to the memory that made him reach for it in the first place.

The pages flutter slightly when I pick up the corner, and I catch a glimpse of something shaded darker, in blacks and greys.

Slowly, and knowing I shouldn't, I flip the book open to that dog-eared page.

A bombshell sits in the rubble of our apartment building, branded with Stark's name.

I'm suddenly acutely aware of how little air there is in the room. "No...."

It is exactly how I remember, and the fear, that's the same. In the drawing, three drops of blood sit dark near the side of the bomb - those were mine, from a cut on my head. Just past the edge there is something else that has fallen, dark and wild. That was our mother's hair, as her still body lay not much further from us than the missile itself.

Nausea rises in my stomach and I drop the memory, covering my mouth.

How can he have remembered this and still be happy, maybe happier than ever? Just looking at the drawing feels like a knife to my chest, and he drew every line, he filled in every shadow.

A burst of air throws back my jacket, and then there he stands.

"Pietro."

"Wanda." He turns to the book, and sighs lightly. "I'm sorry you saw that one."

"You're-" I shake my head, and my chest feels tight. "I shouldn't have looked. But you- you remembered."

"Yes."

"And you're okay?"

"I spoke to Tony."

"'Tony'? That's friendly."

He gives me a look.

"Sorry." I cross my arms and rock back a step. "So you spoke to Stark. To Tony."

"Yeah." He sits on the edge of the couch and flips the book closed, pulling it on to his lap. "And... we are all right."

"It's that simple?"

"He has changed, Wanda," Pietro says. "I remember this-" he taps the cover of his memory book "-and so does he. It haunts him. I think he is different now than he was."

"How can you forgive him?"

"I haven't."

"No?"

"No, I haven't forgiven him. I may never forgive him. But I can't hate him." He pushes back his hair. "I think I am tired of hate."

I don't know how to respond. I don't think I understand him. But I love him. Finally I sit down next to him, and let my head fall on his shoulder. "Pietro. You were always... more loving than me."

He smiles. "I'm not sure I believe that."

"Well, you wouldn't like to admit it."

His laugh rumbles through his chest and makes my head shake on its perch like he is an earthquake. He takes my hand with both of his.

"I'm sorry I looked at your memories."

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about them."

"It's all right. They belong to you. Your mind belongs to you."

He looks down at our hands and gives a little smile. He says nothing.

Without even a touch of red, I can feel the deep tones of secret slipping from his mind, and I remember the place where the first page was ripped out of his memory book.

I don't say anything either.

A/N why is wattpad trying to tell me that Pietro is a typo, no I don't want to correct it to Pierrot, thanks

this chapter is especially for dragonink7 who has been my #1 fan from the beginning and reminds me to update (cos I might never do it otherwise). love you <3

have a beautiful day, everyone :)