𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 | 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒍

disputo

Pietro, Bucky, and I are sitting down and sharing a pack of rations, the three of us silent as we eat for the first time in the arena. I pick a splinter from out of my hand that I got from rebuilding the fort that Pietro had made last night, the contraption now much sturdier and able to withstand at least some wind. I'm not sure what Pietro and Bucky did, but I spent the last couple hours rebuilding the fort and if I'm on track with my internal clock, it's around twelve-thirty or one by now.

"So," I start after about five minutes of us eating in silence. "What did you want to talk to us about?"

Pietro finishes his bite of dried meat before speaking. "I found my sister when I was looking for you." He doesn't meet my eyes and continues to eat as if what he told me is nothing. My eyes widen and a million questions race through my mind.

"Oh my God, Piet," I say quietly, sympathy dripping from my words. "Is she..."

"Dead? No," he says quickly. "I only saw her quickly. I didn't stop."

"Why?" Bucky asks softly. He and Pietro aren't that close, but he knows how much Wanda means to Pietro.

"I was looking for you," he starts, directing the words to me, and I'm about to lecture him on not stopping for her when he continues. "And she was with someone else."

"Who?" I ask, not sure of who would make Pietro keep running instead of stopping to see his sister.

"Clint."

The name hangs in the air. Bucky points his eyes to the ground, and I wait a second before speaking up.

"She could be trying to help him, Piet. You heard Nat yesterday; she said he was different, maybe they did something to his head and Wanda's trying to fix that," I say, trying to come up with some sort of explanation.

Pietro shakes his head. "Nope," he says as he finishes swallowing his bite of food. "She wouldn't do that. She and Clint are close, but not the type of close for her to go out of her way in a death arena to try to help him. My guess is that she was messed with too."

The way the words flow off his tongue so easily makes me feel a little sick, and I find that I no longer find the food in front of me appealing. I watch Bucky slowly put his food away too, and I feel a little better seeing that I'm not the only one a bit off-set by Pietro's nonchalance about this topic.

"And you're fine with this?" I can't help myself from asking the question. "You don't care?"

"I care, Ave," Pietro says, finally meeting my eyes. "But there's just nothing I can do about it. You know the powers she has. I have a slight chance of winning against that when she's right in the head, but if she was messed with like Clint was, then I've got nothing. She'd kill me before I could even try to reason with her." He explains this with such an ease that I have to look away for a moment, letting everything settle.

"Pietro, you know that's not true," I start, but he cuts me off.

"No, Ave, you don't understand. Have you seen her take down buildings with hundreds of people in them with a flick of the hand? Kill people without even looking at them? Rip people apart, limb by limb, until they tell her what she wants to know, before finally killing them? You don't know what I've seen her do. Her powers terrify me when she has control over them. I don't even want to imagine what she'd do to me if she doesn't have control."

Neither Bucky or I say anything after Pietro stops talking, both of us stunned into silence. After a few moments, Bucky takes a breath and speaks up.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave her like that?" Though the words are a bit harsh, Bucky's tone doesn't bite.

"What other choice do I have? I'll die if I try to help her, and I know I won't be able to get through to the real her." Pietro looks to Bucky with slight annoyance, as if he's explaining this to a small child.