OUR LIFETIME « Pietro Maximoff

9 /| the right reasons

[chapter nine]

a few months later

"HOW ARE YOU NOT EXHAUSTED?" Wanda asked incredulously.

Savannah chuckled as she watched the two breathless twins. "You two are just out of shape." Pietro frowned at her, but she just smiled in return. "And you guys are awfully good at wasting your energy."

"Yeah, yeah," Pietro drawled, tilting his face away from the window. "Let's go again."

Wanda shook her head quickly. "Oh no, I'll sit this one out." And she took a seat on a bench on the far side of the mat.

Savannah sighed. "No powers this time."

"If that's how you like it," Pietro said with a smirk. Savannah made a face at him before moving to the center of the mat.

The man threw a punch at her stomach, but she quickly slid away from it. He'd left his entire lower body open for attack, so Savannah crouched, kicking his legs out from beneath him in one agile swoop. Pietro groaned as he landed heavily on his back.

Savannah rose, looking at his body sprawled out on the floor. "Go again?"

She heard Wanda choke back a laugh.

"I would like to go lie down now," he said jokingly, his voice low. Savannah chuckled, offering him a hand. Pietro took it with a sigh. "When do we get to be heroes? Put all this training to use?"

Savannah disconnected their hands, aware of how his squeezed hers when he spoke. "That is a question for Cap really. But I assume we won't have a mission until we get a lead. A good one."

"A lead on what?" Wanda asked, coming closer to the pair.

"On who. Crossbones. Brock Rumlow," Savannah said sourly. She'd met the man only once when he was still impersonating a SHIELD agent. "He's was supposed to be dead, but now he's a terrorist."

"That could take forever," Pietro whined.

Savannah rolled her eyes playfully. "It won't. The man's been scorned by Steve, Rumlow won't let that slide. He'll show up eventually." She patted Pietro's shoulder. "Exercise some patience."

He sighed again. "I'll see you two later." He kissed his sister's forehead and was gone in the blink of an eye.

"You know, I still worry about him," Wanda said as they began to leave the training room.

Savannah nodded. "He's okay for now. Physically at least. I have no idea what's really going on in his head."

"He still sees the doctor Dr. Cho referred him to. His nightmares have lessened. I think talking to someone is really helping him."

"That's a relief," Savannah said as they came up to her room. "Could you help me with something?"

"Are you sure this is okay?" Wanda asked, taking Sav's hands in hers. They sat opposite one another on Savannah's bedroom floor. The room was neat and there were many pictures on the grey walls. Her windows were shuttered, blocking out the afternoon light. A small lamp was the only thing illuminating the room.

"Yes, as long as you're comfortable poking around up there."

"I want to help," Wanda said decidedly.

Savannah watched her in the dim light. "Okay."

Savannah closed her eyes as silence fell upon them. "Just clear your mind, and I'll try removing the block."

She did as she was told. Red light danced beyond her eyelids. At first she didn't feel anything, but then she could feel Wanda pushing through her mind. It was not a pleasant feeling, but it was bearable.

"I've found it but I can't get around," Wanda began. In that moment, Savannah felt slight pressure in her mind. "Nor can I get through safely. It's almost as if—" The Maximoff cut herself off, snapping out of the other woman's head. The latter let out a series of ow's as a headache came on. Wanda apologized profusely.

"It's fine, stop saying sorry," Savannah replied after a moment, rubbing her temples.

"The block is a part of you, meaning you're the one who put it there." That was not such a far-fetched idea as Wanda made it sound. "I think," she added.

"How do I get rid of it?"

"Meditation maybe?" Savannah groaned frustratedly, falling backwards onto her carpet. "I do not know how any of these things work," Wanda finished, slightly defensive.

"No you're probably right," Savannah said with a sigh. "It's just someone else told me the exact same thing."

Wanda looked down at her curiously. "Did it not work?"

"It did—it does. It just—" Sav paused. "It's a slow process."

She saw Wanda shrug, fiddling with a lone thread on her sweats. "Maybe you do it for the wrong reasons. Try meditating with the intention of freeing yourself."

Savannah groaned again. "Bruce—Dr. Banner told me the same thing. He also theorized that the memories I have are from a different life I lived." She waited for Wanda's laughter, but it never came.

"Do you agree?"

"I didn't at first," Savannah trailed off.

"But now..." Wanda trailed off too.

"I'm not too sure." There was no way the memories weren't hers. She wasn't looking in on them; she was experiencing them all over again.

"How can you remember what happened?"

"I couldn't at first, but the memories started coming to me in short bursts at random times." She stared at her ceiling. "I was in civics class when the first one came to me. I thought I was dying."

"So you were born with these powers." It wasn't a question. "You're lucky."

"Not the word I would use," Savannah whispered. "Anyway, none of the memories are cohesive and if I don't want myself to remember, that would explain why." She thought for a moment. "There was a woman though. I can't seem to remember her face but I can remember her voice."

Wanda's eyebrows furrowed. "Well it seems like you've got a lot of meditating to do."

Not if she could help it.

*•.*

hi!!! if you're still with me, you're amazing. i want to say thanks for reading. don't forget to vote and comment.

-syd