Many years I have waited
For a gift like yours to appear

With a talent like yours, dear
There is a defint-ish chance
If you work as you should
You'll be making good

The Wizard and I

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff returned to an empty house after spending a day trying to find something to do and failing miserably. It was dark outside, and the night was chilly enough to make them shiver. They got inside, and they turned the lights on, lighting the living room up enough to reveal a figure whose back was to them. They startled, but the figure remained calm.

"Think mutants are the only super-people in the world? You two, you're part of something way bigger than yourselves. You just don't know it."

Pietro recovered faster. "Who the heck are you?"

He turned around, revealing an older man in a long coat and wearing an eye patch. "Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Wanda snapped her fingers. "I remember you. You were at the clearing. You gave us that information on how to find the other mutants."

Fury nodded. "I'm here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

Both of the twins blinked. Fury sighed. "It's a special program, funded by the government to – "

Pietro interrupted. "I'm sorry, I don't know how to start this thing. Should I look at your patch or your eye. Honestly, I'm not even sure if you're really here."

"Oh, I'm here. I'm real, all right."

"Then what do you want with us?" Wanda demanded.

"To make you an offer." Fury said. "To be greater than you are. To be big damn heroes."

"Perhaps you missed that part a while back, but we tried that. Didn't work."

"Only because you were stupid to set up your own fall." Fury said. "This time, you're backed by the government, to find real threats, and to take care of them. To use your powers the way they should be used: to protect people. You two are very powerful, and we could use heavy hitters on the team."

Wanda was startled. "But…but you've seen the news. Why would anyone invest a penny in mutants to protect them?"

"Because the world is facing crazy times. Everything is becoming super – including bad guys. Even the most idiotic politician is getting a wake-up call on getting some real protection. Also, this isn't mainly a mutant thing, for reasons of PR. Just the thought of having the two of you will make this a hot potato politically."

"Forgive us if we don't do a little jig at the thought of being tools of the man." Pietro sneered.

"Very well-paid tools of the man. The Avenger Initiative pays up to fifty thousand a month. If you should choose to back out after a 2 year trial run, that leaves you 1.2 million dollars for the rest of your life, plus a 2 thousand monthly pension. Add that to the massive societal approval for two people that live with outcasts and regects…"

Pietro paused for twenty seconds before replying: "I'll read your contract now, Mr. Fury. Do you have a pen?"

Fury pulled both items out of his jacket before turning to Wanda. "And you?"

Wanda looked down at her hands, imagining it.

Did that really just happen?
Have I actually understood?
This weird quirk I've tried
To suppress or hide
Is a talent that could
Help me be a hero
If I make good
So I'll make good

She looked up again, her eyes filled with determination. "I'm in."

Once I'm with the heroes
My whole life will change
'Cuz once you're with the heroes
No one thinks you're strange!
No friends are not proud of you,
No brother acts ashamed
And all the world has to love you
When by the heroes you're acclaimed
And this gift or this curse
I have inside
Maybe at last, I'll know why
When we are hand in hand -
The Heroes and I!

Wanda imagined it as she packed her bags to leave. Imagined something she'd never truly had, not even during their little stunts: a mass people loving her, plus doing something she'd never really done: something good.

Unlimited
My future is unlimited
And I've just had a vision
Almost like a prophecy
I know - it sounds truly crazy
And true, the vision's hazy
But I swear, someday there'll be
A celebration throughout the world
That's all to do with me!

And I'll stand there with the heroes,
Feeling things I've never felt.
And though I'd never show it,
I'll be so happy, I could melt!
And so it will be
For the rest of my life,
And I'll want nothing else
Till I die.
Held in such high esteem.
When people see me, they will scream
For one of their favorite team;
The Avengers
And I!