Cosmic Mix Up

chapter one

Pietro's POV
I arrived at Mount Justice with two minutes to spare, so I slowed my sprint down to a light jog as I approached the daunting landmark. I had been running everywhere lately, rather than using the zeta tubes, just to think and clear my head. It had been an...interesting...two years without my sister on the team. And I needed all the alone time I could get without the sympathetic looks I would get from my cousin and his newest brother, Tim, or the tense atmosphere in the team.

Things had been so rough when we first lost Wanda, we almost disbanded the team. Wally and Artemis had quit for a bit of time, only to come back when they found they couldn't sit back and watch the world go to crap. Kaldur went back into his shell a bit, becoming more distant and even cold at times. Roy was even more AWOL then he was before Wanda...died. Conner and M'gann threw themselves into their relationship and academics, M'gann becoming the head of her class. Dick was depressed all the time, he had no motivation to mess with the English language or crack jokes. He was an empty shell of who he was. Jason...as much as I didn't like him making moves on my sister, he really did care for her. He took it pretty hard, going even rougher with missions to the point Batman was going to pull him from the team. And then me, well, I was as to be expected. Peachy.

Not. I was heartbroken, it felt like someone had taken half of my soul and crushed it, leaving it inside of me to decay and rot. At times I couldn't even use my powers because I just didn't have enough energy, I was so drained of life. But somehow, I pulled through. We all did.

Wally and Artemis came back to the team after a few months of self reflection and time to settle in their new apartment. Kaldur, given his time and space to mourn properly, eventually was back to his own quietly sassy ways and determined leadership role. Roy was still going AWOL every now and then, sometimes bringing Jason along with him, but the two of them had found solace in a brotherhood with each other. They were still a part of the team, but they had their own side business as well that let them grieve. Conner and M'gann were still active in their school community, but they also took about eight months to come back to the team full time with renewed hope. Dick still was depressed when he thought no one was looking, but he was slowly but surely getting back to his old self. And so was I, mostly. It still ached, always will, but Wanda would not want me to throw my life away to mourn. She would slap me silly if she saw how useless I was to the team for the first year.

Snapping out of my thoughts with a sad smile and a soft shake of my head, I punched in the code to access the mountain from the outside. Within a minute I was sitting on the couch in the lounge with an apple in hand, munching loudly and scaring the living daylights out of one of our newer members, Garfield. "Geez, dude, a little warning next time!"

I smirked, tossing the core of my apple in the bin. "What, you want me to yell 'incoming' or something?"

Garfield rolled his eyes, shaking his head without answering my question. "Come on, Pietro, Batman has a mission for us. Let's go."

With a very over dramatic sigh, I stood up from the couch and followed the green teen to the mission room to see the rest of my team there, all of them greeting me in various ways. I just nodded at all of them, waiting for the dark knight to start the debriefing. "Alright team, today's mission will require under cover work. We have gotten intel that someone very dangerous, a titan named Thanos, has found out the properties of Wanda Maximoff's memorial." I instantly bristled, feeling everyone's eyes on me as I glared at the floor in front of me with clenched fists. "Your mission is to go under cover as tourists at the Hall of Justice and protect the memorial and the gemstone, understood? You leave in fifteen, I suggest you find suitable clothes."

Once Batman dismissed us to our rooms to grab our civvies, I was the first one to speak. "We are stopping this Thanos no matter what. Anyone with the gall to try and deface my sister's memory will answer to me." I growled, storming into my room to change. I came out a moment later to be greeted by a scowling Jason. "What is it?"

"I don't know what a 'titan' is and I don't care, but this Thanos dude is going to answer to both of us." Jason narrowed his eyes, patting his hip holster. "If you know what I mean."

"I like the way you think." I high fived my friend, both of us taking off towards the bioship.

When the whole team was aboard the ship, M'gann took off towards Washington D.C. About ten minutes into the flight she gasped, turning to Conner with a look of slight panic. "Isn't today the day where the sophomore class goes to visit the Hall of Justice?"

"Crap." Conner groaned. "How are we going to keep a whole grade of teenagers under control while fighting some alien dude and protecting Wanda's memorial?"

"We split up into teams." Kaldur said simply and decisively. "M'gann, you and Superboy take the high schoolers. Pietro, Jason, Roy, and Tim will protect the memorial while the rest of us try to find and stop this Thanos figure. Got it?" We all nodded, falling into our own train of thoughts for the rest of the flight.

My mind wandered to the last time I was here, probably six months ago now. I don't come here as often as I should, the atmosphere feels like it suffocates me and all I feel is her and all I can think about is if I had been faster, if I had been there for her, she would still be here.

And then I reprimand myself because no, Wanda would not want me to think that. She made her own choices, she knew what she was doing. Superman told me a few weeks after her death that he had heard what her last words were.

"No more Scarlet Witch."

And then nothing. My sister and her evil clone from hell were no more. Poof. Ceased to exist.

I know she did it to save the universe, but what I wouldn't give to hug my sister one last time...

Once we landed on the ground at the far side of the Hall of Justice I was jolted out of my moping. We went over the plan one more time and then we were off to work to protect my sister's memory and punch some titan in the face. Y'know, a Tuesday.