Quietus

pity party...

I just realized I have three active stories starring Wanda and Pietro...Nice.

Pietro made his way down to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He placed a few slices of bread in the toaster before turning to the coffee pot as Clint walked into the room.

"Hey, kid. You look like hell."

Pietro scoffed. "Thanks, old man. I had a rough night of sleep last night. Kept dreaming about...someone. I can't remember what she looks like, though."

"Oh, la, la. A special someone?" Clint picked up an apple, biting into it.

"No, no. She was more like a sister to me. She was my imaginary friend when I was younger, back in Sokovia. At least, I think she was. She seemed so real, though." Pietro groaned, taking a slice of toast out of the toaster and biting into it. "My mind has been so jumbled lately."

"Well, this time of year is hard." Clint commented, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "When our emotions are all over the place, it is easy for our minds to become confused."

Pietro snorted. "When did you become a therapist?"

"Hey now, no need to get snippy." Clint chuckled. "Just trying to be a good teammate, that's all."

Pietro nodded. "Thanks." He poured his coffee and took a sip, watching Clint. "What's the day look like?"

Clint shrugged, biting the apple once more. "Dunno. You'd have to ask Cap. I think - and don't quote me on this - I think Nat wants to go back into the city. She thinks that the Scarlet Witch is still there, waiting for another chance to take out Stark."

Pietro tensed. "I want to go with her."

Clint tossed the apple core into the trash. "Pietro, kid, is that really a good idea? I mean, you yourself admitted your head isn't clear-"

"It is clear enough." Pietro glared, taking his coffee and walking past Clint. He went in search of Natasha, finding her in one of the conference rooms with papers spread out in front of her. He knocked on the open door to announce his presence, walking in and taking a seat across from her. Pietro reached for one of the papers, only for Natasha to smack his hand. "Ouch. Rude."

"I have them laid out in a specific order. Don't touch anything." Natasha mumbled, eyes scanning the papers.

"Care to explain what this is?" Pietro gestured to the papers, sipping his coffee.

Natasha glanced up at the speedster. "I am making a timeline of all of the Witch's confirmed and suspected kills."

"I thought we already had a timeline?"

"We do. I am just going over it again, seeing if we missed something, seeing if there is perhaps more to this puzzle." Natasha pointed to one of the papers. "This was one of her first kills. I have a colleague of mine trying to pull up surveillance footage from around that area the week of the killing."

"Why the week of?"

Natasha smirked. "When killing someone, you need to be prepared. You need to learn everything about them. Their schedule, their patterns, their friends, their family, where they go and when. You need to know where and when and how to strike to be the most efficient."

Pietro gulped. "Sometimes I forget you were once an assassin, Nat."

Natasha chuckled. "Anyways, since this was one of her first kills, she would be sloppier. She wouldn't know to avoid cameras or to take out the ones she couldn't avoid. I'm thinking if we can get an image of her as a child, we can figure out her identity, more about her. Hydra will surely have tried to erase her from all known existence, make her a ghost. And they may very well have come close to it. But they underestimate how good I am."

Pietro nodded slowly. "You're thinking if we have her identity, we can use it to our advantage? Psychological warfare?"

Natasha smiled. "Exactly. She has always counted on being invisible. I say it is time we bring her some attention."

Pietro smirked, sipping his coffee. "I knew I liked you, Natasha."

Natasha stood up, gesturing for Pietro to follow her. "I am waiting for my colleague to get back to me on this one, so what do you say we see who wants to head into the city to search for our little Witch?"

Pietro chugged the rest of his coffee, jogging after Natasha. "I thought you'd never ask. I'll go ask around."

"Meet me in the hangar in five?"

"You got it, Widow."

Pietro sped off to the kitchen, placing his mug in the sink. He then went in search of his fellow Avengers. He found Sam and Bucky training, both of whom decided to join in on the search. Bruce was in the lab with Thor and they declined, saying they still had some research to work on. Clint agreed to go, along with Steve and Rhodey. Tony was still at the hospital being treated for his internal injuries from his encounter with the Scarlet Witch.

So the majority of the Avengers geared up and met with Natasha in the hangar, piling into various vehicles to conserve their energy for a potential confrontation with the Witch. They took off in the direction of New York City in silence, everyone mentally preparing themselves.

It wasn't long before they arrived in the city and they split up to cover more ground. Pietro jogged through the city as to not draw attention to himself, keeping an eye out for anyone who looked like the Scarlet Witch.

"Hey, I'm going to check in on Tony and Pepper while we are here." Rhodey spoke through the comms.

"Alright, but be vigilant. She could strike at any moment." Natasha replied.

Pietro realized he should be patrolling closer to the hospital because, like Natasha said, she could strike at any moment. So he changed his course, heading closer to the hospital where Tony and Pepper were.

He was approaching the block the hospital was on when he spotted someone that looked like the Scarlet Witch. He narrowed his eyes, jogging closer to her. She kept her back to him, weaving in an out of the crowd. Pietro put a little more speed into his jog, coming up upon the woman. He was right behind her when she stopped suddenly. He skidded to a stop as she whirled around, revealing scarlet eyes and a smirk.

"There is a high probability that you will sleep now." She lifted her hands next to his head and everything went black.