Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers: Age of Ultron, nor do I own any of the characters. This is purely a work of fiction, not meant to break any rules or to gain money.
Rating: T for violence
Author's Note: I've been really sad lately so I wrote this...enjoy! (the title of this piece comes from an Imagine Dragon's song, "Demons")
Unless You Show Me How
Wanda wakes up, the covers warm and heavy on top of her. She feels so tired despite having such a good night's sleep. Oh well, she'll just have to go down and see the kids. They'll help her get rid of the last few traces of sleep.
She slips out, pulling her green robe around her shoulders over her pajamas and lightly walking across the hall to the kitchen. Inside she can hear the laughs and quiet conversations, the smell of eggs and bacon frying, and the aroma of hazelnut coffee (Laura's favourite) drifting through the ajar door. She pushes it open and steps in, warmth and light surrounding her.
Clint and the kids are sitting at the table, Lila perched in his lap, and Laura is at the stove, wearing her purple apron and flipping eggs over the skillet. They turn at her entrance and greet her with a chorus of "Good morning!"s. Wanda sits in her seat and looks around, trying to locate Pietro. He's leaning against the sink, and at her glance he curls up his mouth in a smile, his white hair disheveled. She'll make him get at least a trim soon, or else she won't be able to look into his blue eyes.
Laura finishes the breakfast and serves everyone up a plate, everyone except Pietro. He says that he'd rather get breakfast on his daily morning run. He explained that it was because he didn't want the Barton's to spent as much money on food as it took to feed him, but Wanda knows that he just gets two dozen doughnuts from the bakery every day.
Boys.
Wanda eats quickly, helps with the dishes, then retreats back to her room. Pietro managed to beat her up there, and he's perched on her bed, legs crossed and a bored expression on his face. "Seriously, you take forever," he remarks as he enters.
She gives him a pointed look. "How you managed to do anything before you gained your powers is beyond me," she replies, picking out her clothes for the day. She chooses a blue off-the-shoulder sweater, black leggings, and black combat boots. Then she makes Pietro leave as she steps into the shower (yes, she's lucky enough to have a bathroom connected to her room).
As the hot water pounds on her back she can't help but think how lucky she is. After the battle Barton had invited the Maximoffs to stay with his family. They help out around the house, and in exchange she and her brother have a kind and welcoming family, good food, and comfortable and warm lodging. Growing up, Wanda had always struggled for food, and there had been no such thing as a home. Well, not growing up so much as after the incident.
Her parents had always tried hard to make sure there was food on the table at least twice a day. Winters were hard, with work being difficult to come by and not being able to afford heating, but they managed. They survived, and they were happy, because they had each other. Then Stark came and her parents perished, and her and Pietro's lives changed drastically. With only each other and a shared need of revenge with a side effect of bitterness, they forged their own way in life. It wasn't an easy way of life, however. Often they went hungry, sometimes almost starving before managing to steal food. They traveled often, too, to avoid government workers. If the government had it their way, the two would have been stuck in an orphanage and separated. It wouldn't happen, though; it never could. Pietro and Wanda were prepared to fight for the death for each other.
Finding a place to sleep was difficult, too. Dark alleys often had shelter, but who knows what's hiding in those dark alleys? They never had a house, and certainly not a home, but they had each other, so nothing was too bad for them to endure. Many cold night they would curl up together, holding each other close. He was the only reason she survived, and vice versa. Things were rough, and things were dark, but they survived because of each other.
Then the experiments came. They volunteered for human experimentation with heavy hearts, though they knew it was the only way to get their revenge. Their bitterness and anger almost cost them their lives, but once again they survived because they had each other. Through dark hallways and evil men - and evil means the worst men in the world evil - they endured because of each other. Sometimes it was a held hand, or a brush against the other's arm, or even just a voice, but it was the little things that kept them alive and well.
Then they joined Ultron, believing that any way to kill Stark was the right way. They honed their powers and fought against the Avengers, speed beating their combat skills, their worst nightmares beating their hard shields. They dug into the heart of who the Avengers were and forced them to face it. Then it turned out that Ultron was actually bad, and he was using them. They had done all this evil and it was for the cause of a greater evil. Pietro had picked Wanda up and taken her far away from that robot, far away from what he had made them do. Luckily the Avengers had accepted them (well, most of them had) and together they had fought well.
Now they are living together with the Bartons and making the most out of their life. Playing with the kids, helping Clint do manual work, washing the dishes and laundry - all things normal people take for granted. Wanda and Pietro relish in this lifestyle, doing the small chores with gladness in their hearts and smiles on their faces. Nothing can ever tear them apart, and nothing can make them unhappy. They truly are only two steps from heaven here.
Wanda turns off the water and dresses, then heads downstairs to help watch the kids while Laura and Clint go to town to get supplies for his next house renovation and the new baby.
Cooper and Lila come up to the twins, a board game in hand. "Play with us?" Lila asks, and Wanda can't help but smile at the precious little angel in front of her.
"Of course," she agrees, and the four sit down to play. It's a kid's version of monopoly, and Cooper's obviously winning. Wanda rolls and moves, pays rent to Cooper, and before she can pick up the dice, Lila's already rolling.
"Hey, it's Pietro's turn," she chides lightly. "Can't skip him, can we?"
Lila smiles and nods, and the game continues. Cooper does end up winning, and when they finish packing the game back up he and Pietro head over to his room to play with legos. Wanda and Lila check up on Nathaniel, who is taking a nap, and then go to the kitchen to begin cooking lunch for the three of them. Pietro isn't going to eat with them, as he's going on his daily noon run to the McDonald's (how he isn't fat yet Wanda has no idea).
The afternoon goes by in a blur, the kids playing and laughing, Wanda checking up on the baby and finally settling to the couch to read. She curls up on it, and seconds later she feels Pietro's weight on the armchair. She shoves him off, saying, "That's not allowed, and you know it."
Pietro sticks his tongue out from where he's still sprawled on the floor. "I am older, you know. And you should respect your elders."
Wanda looks down at him and raises an eyebrow. "You sure you want to go there?"
He flashes a smile before flashing away, and Wanda returns to her book. Lila wanders in a second later and climbs up onto Wanda's lap. "Who were you talking to?"
Wanda smiles down at the innocent little face. "My brother. He ran away though, super fast."
"Okay," Lila says, and she settles herself on Wanda, her own little book in her hands. She's just starting to become old enough to understand the concept of superpowers, but even she gets confused by Pietro's coming and going so quickly. All in due time, though, all in due time.
Clint and Laura call later to announce that they won't be home for another few hours, so Wanda begins to start with dinner. Pietro leans against the sink and teases her as she tries to find and put together all the unfamiliar American ingredients, and she flicks flour and water at him before telling him to go check up on the kids.
"If they burn the house down I'm blaming it on you," she teases, draining the noodles.
Pietro snorts. "I won't get in trouble, though," he replies.
She laughs in disbelief. "Why not? Because Clint will be happy he has an excuse to rebuild?"
Her brother just looks at her seriously and says, "You know why."
She sighs. Of course, because she's the responsible one. Pietro is like a child at heart, always messing around and making a mess of things. Yelling at him would be like kicking a puppy. It just doesn't happy. So Wanda usually takes the blame for everything.
When Clint and Laura return that evening they find Wanda and the two kids passed out on the couch in front of the TV. Cooper and Lila are snuggled up to her, one on each side, and Netflix is still running a marathon of all their animated Disney movies.
"Get up, Wanda, it's a big day!" Pietro crows, jumping on her bed. Wanda groans, pulls her covers over her head farther, and turns over. That doesn't dampen his spirits in the least, and he plops right next to her after a running start - and, because of the momentum he gets from his speed, it throws Wanda up high in the air. When she falls back down she bounces right off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. Pietro peers over the edge of the bed at her, his eyes wide. "Oops," he mouths, and suddenly Wanda is pouncing back up right onto him, trapping him underneath.
"I am going to kill you," she threatens, slowly pushing him off the bed. Once he's off she slides to the floor and pulls on a mid-thigh length black ruffled black skirt to go with her green tank top. He pops his head up and tosses her something black. His jacket, the one with the white zigzags down the sleeves.
"It might get cold," he tells her.
"You're not coming?" she asks. "It is the beach."
Pietro shrugs. Lately he's been around less, and he definetly has been talking to her less. Why? She has no idea. It isn't like Pietro to be an introvert. "Sand isn't good for running on," he replies.
Wanda worries about him, but she doesn't say anything. He's a big boy, he can handle himself. And if he doesn't want to come then it's his loss. She won't hold it against him, nor make him come. But the protective sister part of her still shines out, and she reaches a hand to lay against his cheek. "What's wrong, brother?"
Pietro shrugs again. "It's fine. Enjoy yourself. I'm just a burden to you."
Horror fills her with his words. A burden? Does she really treat him as such? Doesn't she understand that she loves him unconditionally and that she's only alive because of him? He's all she has left from her past, and she loves and enjoys his company so much. He's not a burden! He's never been a burden!
And it explains why she has been seeing less of him lately. If he thinks she doesn't want him around then of course he'd have spent less and less time with her. Wanda steps up and pulls Pietro into a hug, holding him so tight he can never escape. "Oh, Pietro," she whispers into his ear. "You're not a burden. You'll never be a burden."
"But you're happy here," he says. "You don't need me."
A tear slips down her face as she firmly takes his hands in hers. "I will always need you."
There's a knock on her door and she keeps her gaze on Pietro for a second longer before letting go to walk past him to the door. It's Laura, and she's wearing a tank top and shorts, sunglasses perched on the top of her head. "Ready to go?" she questions.
"Yeah," Wanda replies, though she can't get the bad taint of her revealing conversation with Pietro out of her mind. "I'm ready. Just give me a second."
Laura nods and heads back, but by the time Wanda turns to face her brother again he's gone. Wanda sighs, wondering where this sudden behavioural change came from, then headed down to help load everything in the car. The car ride to the beach is a quiet, lonely ride for her, and all she can think about is her brother. Why is this happening right when she achieved paradise? Must she have to choose between a good life or her brother?
In Wanda's mind there is only one choice, and she knows it. She's just not quite ready to accept it.
At the beach she plays with the kids for a while, building sandcastles with complex levels and spreading moats, evil helping Cooper bury Lila. Laura and Clint lay out in the sun, sunglasses flipped down to protect their eyes. It's peaceful, and the sky is clear, though the wind whipping across the ocean is chilly. They're in a secluded spot so there aren't any other people out, except a few fishermen off the shore, but even they are pretty far out.
Wanda finally decides to walk a walk by herself, clutching Pietro's jacket closer to ward off the chills that keep running up and down her arms. She doesn't know why they're there; it isn't that cold out. She walks about a mile before she stops, and she only stops because Pietro is right in front of her. She screams in horror, and her face fractures.
"Pietro!" her voice is hoarse as she runs to him, pressing her hands against him. "What happened?"
He's wearing some sort of jogging sweater in varying shades of blue and grey, and there are spots of blood, about a half dozen of them. Underneath the excessive bleeding are bullets embedded deeply into his flesh.
Despite the enormous amount of pain he must be in, Pietro just looks at her calmly. "You know what."
Her mind is racing, her thoughts frantic and messy. She's openly crying, trying to fix him, but it's too late, and there's nothing she can do. He's too injured to survive. But how did he get here? Why is he just standing there casually, watching her? He's always had a high pain tolerance, but not this high!
"Tell me!" she begs. "Is it because you think you're a burden? Please, Pietro, I'm begging you!"
He cups her face with his hands, getting all her attention. "You're lying to yourself, Wanda. You don't even notice because you're embedded so deep into the lie. I never made it out of Sokovia alive, but you can't let go."
"No, Pietro, stop lying," she cries. "Stop saying such awful things. You've been with me, I know! I see you all the time!"
"Let me go, sister," he insists. "I'm only a burden to you, keeping you from moving on. Let me go. Please."
Wanda swallows, wishing he will just stop and let her help him, but something clicks and suddenly everything makes sense. Why Laura doesn't set out a plate of food for Pietro. Why the kids skip his turn in games. Why she is the one who gets blamed for accidents he causes. All the pieces just connect.
"You've never really been here," she realises, and with that he nods and just disappears. Disappears like he'd never been there. Wanda holds his jacket tighter around her as her legs give out, and a scream of pain and agony rips from her throat. She falls onto the sand, right as if his body is there. She tries to cover her ears, tries to block out the sound, but pain is just everywhere. She closes her eyes, the colour of the ocean and the skies reflecting the light that once was in Pietro's eyes.
"I want to let you go," she sobs to Pietro. "But I can't, not unless you show me how!"
Suddenly he's there again, holding her tight as she cries, and she falls back into his embrace, his jacket still smelling of him. It's different, this time; it's different, because she knows he's not really there, but it just feels so real. She needs him so much, so she can never let him go.
In that moment, though, Wanda remembers something she had thought earlier. We truly are only two steps from heaven here. A tear slips from her eye because two steps from heaven is hell.
A fisherman passing by sees a strange girl in an oversized jacket crying on the beach, clutching to empty air as if someone is there.