So, yes, I know, I have a bunch of stories I should be updating. But I just barely saw Age of Ultron a couple days ago and loved the characters. I came up with this fanfic late one night and there was no way I wasn't going to write it. That being said, I did write this in a sleep deprived state of mind so tell me how it goes...
It was hard for her to become an Avenger. Wanda had accepted her fate the moment she stepped out to join them in battle but now... She hadn't ever imagined doing anything without him. Her brother was the true Avenger, he had stepped up to the challenge like he was born to join them. He had saved lives. It seemed wrong to do it without him. It seemed wrong to even live without her twin.
She remembered watching him die. He died saving a child- of course he did, there was no kid in the world he wouldn't risk his life to save. Through his death he had managed to save Hawkeye as well, saving the man's family the pain of losing their father or husband. In turn, Pietro had put that weight upon her shoulders. She was almost crushed- in fact she was crushed- by the unbearable pain accompanied by his death. Wanda had fallen to her knees, her anguished cry probably heard for miles. She didn't know, the only thing that occurred to her was that her brother had just died. In front of her. Leaving her on her own.
She was so selfish, even thinking about being angry at Pietro for leaving.
Wanda couldn't remember anything very clearly after that. It was all a blur. People were quickly boarding shuttles that would take them off the floated island that was once her beloved home country. None of them wanted to die. But Wanda didn't care what happened to her after that moment. She found Ultron and smashed his heart just like he had done to hers. He seemed confused as she made no attempt to flee her doom.
"If you stay, you'll die," Ultron had said.
She had already died. And she told him that.
Wanda had been fully prepared to fall with the rest of her country. She would rejoin Pietro. There should have never had to be one without the other. But the Vision had other ideas. She made no attempt to get away as he lifted her to safety, the shock of her brother's death fully catching up and hitting her with a hammer, causing her to think of nothing else. It barely even occurred to her that she had been flown away until her feet hit solid ground once more.
Stepping onto the Avengers complex was like a betrayal. A betrayal of her brother who deserved to be here more than her. The fact that she got to be here and he didn't. Wanda had betrayed him by surviving. It was a ridiculous thought, he would want her to live, but without him here it was empty. It was unfair.
The rest of the day was spent locked in a guest room. Just less than half of her time was spent weeping and screaming into pillows. Pots and decor shattered against the wall as anguished bursts of red light flew from her glowing hands. The rest of her time was spent in mournful silence. No one came to visit her, apparently they had gotten the memo that she was not to be bothered.
After a day or so, Vision was the first to attempt to console her. She had eventually let him in and sat down across from him by the window emptily. The Vision had stood behind the opposite chair, not comfortable with sitting down because then it would seem too casual. As if someone hadn't just died. Wanda sensed it as well and said nothing against his chosen position.
"You miss your brother," He stated after a couple seconds of silence. "You are sad."
Wanda nodded vacantly. "I don't suppose you'd understand."
"I suppose I understand the idea of mourning," The Vision considered.
She found it hard to contain her anger at the idea. The Vision was sweet, naive and yet very smart but when it came to emotions, he would never be able to feel them with the intensity she did. Every step she took without her brother by her side was like stepping on knives. Her heart weighed her down like an anchor; caught on the memory of Pietro collapsing to the ground. The comment rubbed her the wrong way.
"You will never understand," She snapped, launching to her feet. Red energy buzzed at her fingertips. "You will never lose a loved one like I have! He has- had... been there my whole life and I never spent more than an hour away from him! And now he has been ripped away from my life and you think you'd understand!?"
The Vision stepped away, holding his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "I just meant-"
"-No!" Wanda cried, interrupting him. "You just meant what? What else could you have possibly meant from that!?"
He looked as if he would respond but before he could, she fell to the ground in tears. She had shed more tears that week than she ever had in her entire life. She considered it weak and normally she wasn't one for tears but that was before her brother died. Wanda cursed herself for crying in front of The Vision and tried stopping but it was just too much to hold back. As she wept, The Vision came up next to her and gently wrapped his arm around her shaking shoulders. It was a comforting gesture but not one she needed at the moment. She needed to be alone with her thoughts.
"I wish you hadn't saved me!" She cried hysterically, shoving him away and shakily making it to her feet as she glared at him through wet eyes. "You should have left me to die with my brother!"
"I could not have possibly left you to die," The Vision informed her kindly, watching her as if she was someone to be pitied. She hated it.
"You should have!" Wanda growled. With a flick of her glowing hand, the door to her room swung open and with another gesture, The Vision was pushed out of the room. The door closed on him and she found herself collapsing on her bed in mental exhaustion. The was a silence for a minute or so before she heard his footsteps leave the hallway.
It only took her a couple minutes for her to calm down after that, all her tears had been shed, her words spoken. Then she was left to herself and the quiet as she stared out the window. Pietro would have loved the view. Too bad he wasn't there.
It was another day until someone dared to knock on her door again. With a mental examination, she discovered it to be Steve Rogers, an Avenger she decided she had nothing against. There were worse people in the world.
"Training starts tomorrow at eight," He informed her through the wood. "Are you going to be ready?"
There it was. Her call to duty.
She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breathes. She didn't respond to Steve until another, knock knock.
"Wanda? Are you okay?"
She nodded before realizing he couldn't see.
"Yes," She informed him through the door. "Yes, I will be there tomorrow."
Wanda hadn't even known she had made the decision until she said it out loud. But hearing her own confirmation, it was as if realizing that there really was no other option she'd choose. After the war against Ultron, there was really nothing else she could picture herself doing- even without her brother. She was an Avenger herself, after all.
She could practically hear Steve's smile through the door. "Good. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning then."
Wanda found herself smiling, just a little, at the idea of being an Avenger. She was going to their training. She let out a small chuckle, how ironic it was that only a month after first fighting them, she had officially joined her ex enemies.
Turns out, Steve Rogers got to see her before the next morning. She took a shower, brushed her hair, and made herself presentable once more. She didn't do anything fancy but it wasn't an I've-been-crying-in-my-room-the-last-couple-days look. As she exited the room, Wanda caught sight of the jacket her brother had tossed her before battle, thrown hazardly across the room. This time, seeing it didn't bring sadness, it brought comfort. She pulled the warm scarlet leather over her arms and exited the room for the first time she had entered the Avengers compound.
The crew had been laughing in the living room as she entered. They all seemed to freeze one at a time as they slowly began to notice her presence. After a couple seconds of everyone watching her, Natasha took the initiative to save Wanda from having to say anything, calling her over to the bar.
"Wanda, come join me! You like vodka?"
She nodded slightly, sliding into the chair next to Natasha. The first time she had tried vodka was on her and her brother's 23rd birthday. There had been a bottle and what else were they to do with it but drink? The memory brought back pain but she forced a small smile as the other woman poured her a drink. Eventually conversation returned to normal in the room but occasionally Wanda caught a few comforting smiles shot her way. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Downing a small shot, she couldn't help but feel like this could be her new family. Not like they could ever replace Pietro and it wasn't as if a couple days in her room could tame her pain over his death. But this group- they were probably as close as she was going to get to another family. Another home at least.
"To Wanda Maximoff," Natasha announced to the Avengers, holding up her glass in a toast.
"And to her brother, Pietro Maximoff," Steve added, lifting his glass as well. "May he serve others as well in death as he did in life."
She watched as the room echoed back the cheer solemnly, tears springing to her eyes. They weren't tears of mourning, she decided. Not really.
"He sure did save lots of our asses," Natasha commented after a swift drink from her vodka and an agreeable length of silence to mourn for Wanda's brother.
"Language," Someone scolded and Steve shot them a glare. Either way, everyone laughed and Wanda had the feeling there was some inside stories she'd have to catch up on.
She exchanged a glance with The Vision, who seemed to have forgiven her for her outburst earlier and luckily, had not taken her comments to heart. She would probably have to apologize for that later but right now he was smiling with a roll of his eyes at the Avenger's behavior. Wanda cracked a smile, glad that someone would be new to this group as well.
But even though she was new, and maybe didn't understand as many inside jokes as she would like, she never felt more like an Avenger. Like she belonged somewhere.
Her brother probably would have been a great addition to the team, she admitted. But there was no way in hell that she was not going to stick with this group.
She would avenge him, helping to fight Hyrda for what they did to her and her brother.
After all, Wanda was an Avenger.