Disclaimer: Potential spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron
Synopsis: A short story set before the events of Age of Ultron in which the Maximoff twins are let out a few days after surviving Strucker's successful experiments. They revisit places from their childhood and enjoy themselves, having a bit of fun with their newly enhanced abilities. That is...before everything starts to go horribly wrong.
A/N: It's sad that I won't get to see the further adventures of the twins together in future MCU films. So I'm going to pretend that they have had several different kinds of experiences before the tragic events of the movie, and maybe I'll write about a few more. I honestly don't know how this turned out, but I wanted to post it anyway. I added sentimental value to things that are not really anything special in the film (like the ruby necklace Wanda always wears). The twins essentially start off looking the way they do in the mid-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and end up looking the way they do at the beginning of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
:Coming of Age:
[Part One]
Panic spreads throughout the Hydra facility in Sokovia. Soldiers run through the halls in a hurry, checking every room. Security personal scurry over their setup of monitors, desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything.
The head German scientist paces back and forth through the hectic control room. "Finds them! How could they have escaped!?"
"Escaped? What's all this about?"
Everyone stops what they are doing to look up at Baron von Strucker as he makes his way down the flight of stairs.
"Sir? Y-you are back? Uh…you see…"
"Doctor?" He stops directly in front of the old scientist with his hands clamped behind his back, awaiting a truthful response.
"The twins…they are missing…"
A deafening silence radiates off of Strucker's stern expression. Fearful tension fills the room full of Hydra employees. Then Baron's face relaxes into a spontaneous laugh.
The head scientist is confused. He nervously asks, "Sir…?"
"I let them out before I left."
"You…you did?"
Strucker begins to walk towards the window, motioning his men to calm down and cease their needless search. "After months of rigorous experimentation, we finally stuck upon success. How painfully strenuous it all was…I figured I'd let them stretch their legs."
"But…we still do not know the full extent of their abilities."
"They will figure it out." He looks out onto Sokovia with a calm smile. "They have a whole playground out there to do so."
"What if?"
"No worries doctor, I gave them a curfew. The twins will return home by nightfall."
A blue and white static blur dashes through the afternoon street market. The sun casts a warm orange hue over their homeland. Pietro carries Wanda into a tight alley, setting her down on her feet.
"Pietro…" she cannot shake the smile off her face due to her exhilarating excitement, "That was incredible! You brought us all the way out here in less then what, a minute?"
She places her hands on his chest as he pants a few times. "It was nothing, sister." After quickly regaining his breath, he peels back the white bindings on her hand. "Does it still hurt?"
Wanda looks down at her hands surprised "Actually, no…" she removes her wrappings completely, revealing the faintest hints of the scars that were down her wrists from the experiments. Her brother checks the back of her neck, where they drilled into her as well. The marks have faded down. "The pain on my flesh is gone, but…the pain in here," she laid her hand on her chest, "will forever remain."
He gingerly rubs her arms, "I know…I know…" then pulls out a wrinkled little picture from his back pocket. They stare into the image of their parents holding them when they were kids. It is the only family picture Pietro managed to recover from the wreckage. "But what we volunteered for…it was worth it."
"I know," she says wiping a tear.
The brother puts the little picture away and turns to find one of those large steel, green donation boxes were people throw in old rags they no longer want. He yanks out a pair of long, black acrylic arm warmers to hand to her sister. She slips them on contently. He also sets a warm, red drape over her shoulders. She fixes it around her arms, wearing it to her liking.
"Hungry?" He runs out and immediately returns with a fresh apple from the market.
She shakes her head with a smile, letting out a motherly tone. "Pietro, we have to pay for that."
He tosses it to her and she catches it with her telekinetic abilities. "Says who?"
She gives him the look.
"We'll repay them later. It's not stealing, it's…borrowing." He smirks.
Wanda goes ahead and bites into the apple. Then she notices his grey, sleeveless tee. "Oh no, your shirt,"
Pietro glances down at its tears across his torso. "Can't sustain my speed." He disappears in a split second and skids back in a clean blue V-neck.
She throws her arms into the air. "Now where did you get that?"
"Thrift store on the other side of town. Now one will notice it's gone."
Her smile fades away as she runs her hand throw his hair, noticing a sudden change. "Pietro…the more you run the more your hair…"
He rushes down the alley, fishing out a small, cracked mirror. He grunts out, "Ah c'mon!"
"I think it looks nice." She inches up behind him.
"Don't patronize me."
His sister places a hand on his shoulder, leaning in. "Those in the west have far more ridiculous colors than you."
"They do?"
"Yes, I saw it in magazine. Apparently it's "trendy" to have the stupidest hairstyles."
He feels a little better.
"Now come, let us walk around the market."
"No Wanda, I cannot be seen like this."
She takes small bite out of her apple and pulls him by the arm. "Get over yourself,"
"But I-"
"Don't make me force you, you know I can now, so come."
"Alright, alright,"
They walk out onto the lively streets of the open market arm and arm. She smiles up at him, "If anything, you should be upset the tests couldn't fix that face of yours."
He pretends to laugh. "Very funny. We're twins, genius."
She giggles into his broad shoulder.
The twins enjoy their stroll through the diverse market. Its blocks are filled with freshly smelling foods and custom-made fabrics and imported items of all kinds.
They remember wandering through this local street market when they were little. It was only a few blocks from where their home used to stand. They would find sneaky ways to take whatever caught their eye. Their mother would have come find them and they would run away laughing, but she would always catch them. Then she would make them return everything they took and apologize. If they were good the next week, she would bring them back to the market and buy whatever it was they wanted in the first place.
The Maximoff twins turn the corner with free samples in hand that were offered to them. Pietro snacks on his small cup of chopped fruits. Wanda sips through the straw of her refreshingly natural beverage.
"Oh great," Pietro turns to avoid someone.
"What is it?"
"That girl keeps looking over at me." He glance back to catch the young woman whisper something into her friend's ear. "They must be laughing at my hair." He gets jumpy in an aggressive manner. "I'll show them what to laugh at."
Before the hot tempered brother can take his first step, Wanda grabs his arm. "Wait no," she stares over at the pretty young woman sitting at the bench by the pond with her widened eyes of fascination. Wanda finds it fascinating what she is able to hear her. She hears…her thoughts.
Pietro demands. "Is she, is she not?"
His sister tilts her head as she reveals, "Pietro, no, she…she has interest in you."
"She does?" Suddenly his perception of the woman changes to a far more positive outlook. "Well, she seems nice."
"She is," Wanda finds out more about her. "She is a bit odd though…"
"How so?"
She looks up at her brother with a playful grin. "Because she finds you handsome."
He shoots her a cold look, but her smile made him end up cracking a smirk.
The woman's friend hugs her goodbye and leaves. Wanda taps her brother, seeking his full attention. "Here, I have an idea. I'm going to try something…"
Pietro confidently struts up to the young woman by the pond. She is beautiful with her letdown hair and dark complexion. Wanda has opened up a mental connection where Pietro is able to hear her initial thoughts without her knowing.
She thinks: Finally he approaches me.
Pietro smiles and introduces himself. She quickly gestures him to sit beside her. They start off with some fun small talk. She mentions she likes his hair, boosting his ego. Knowing just what to say to her left an excellent impression. He makes her laugh by appealing to her type of humor. Wanda then sends him flashing images of the woman's favorite things and fondest memories that he can subtly ask her about later.
"Are you hungry? I'll treat you to a…fruit tart. The ones from the place down the block."
"I'd love that. Those are my favorite! How'd you?"
"Lucky guess, c'mon." He takes her by the hand and they walk passed the pond.
Pietro hears his sister tell him in his head: I'll leave the rest to you.
He replies with: Don't go too far and be careful, sister.
Wanda smiles from the fence she is leaning on as she watches her brother go: For once, don't worry so much about me. Try to enjoy yourself for today. We don't know if we'll ever be given another chance like this. And good luck.
She ends the telepathic connection, and ventures around on her own.
Arriving at the local shop, Pietro opens the door for his date. But a rude man yapping on his phone cuts her off and bumps into him.
"Hey!"
"No, it's fine. Let him be."
Pietro ceases his tense scowl, and walks her in with a smile. Inside, he pretends to check his pockets. "I think I dropped my wallet. Just have a seat, I'll be right back."
She nods and finds a nice table for two by the window as Pietro leaves.
The obnoxious man suddenly gets hit with a blur that he assumed was just a strong gust of wind. He dropped his phone flat on its screen, lifting it up to find it all cracked.
Pietro returns to the shop, looking through his new wallet. He tosses out the man's photo I.D. and uses the wad of cash to pay for the fruit tart and drinks and anything else his date might want later.
Wanda parted through a beaded curtain to step into an old gypsy woman's little jewelry shop. She greets the old owner, as she continues to look around the candle lit room.
"Care to take a look into your future?" She asks.
"I'd rather not know, thank you."
Then she notices something familiar on the counter; a small, uniquely crafted, hickory-brown chest. She does away with the lock by streaming out red energy from her fingertips. Her face silently gasps at the treasures uncovered. She lifts up a medallion containing a ruby…it was her mothers. Inside there is also a long necklace and several different kinds of rings; all of which also belonged to her mother and were handed down to her from relatives.
The old woman steps up to her in concerned shock. "How did you open that?"
Wanda clutches the ruby to her breast and shuts the box filled with her family's belongings. "Where did you get this?" She asks sternly.
"Put that down, you shouldn't be playing with it. Its-"
"One of a kind? I know. It belonged to my mother."
"No it absolutely did not."
The Maximoff steps up to the short old gypsy, intimidating her. "She wore it every day."
"Young lady, I personal picked that medallion up on a trip to Latver-"
"You're lying!" Her furious eyes flare a pale red. She forces herself into the memories of the terrified old woman. The gypsy screams at the sharp, intruding pain in her head. Wanda sees the true story. This vulture plucked the pieces of Maximoff jewelry from the wreckage of her childhood home – she picked the ruby right off her mother's scorched corpse. In fact, she has scavenged all the items she sells.
Wanda's red eyes pierce not the woman's soul, putting the fear of god in her. "After the wreckage, you…" Waves of her red energy start to steam off of her entire body. "You looted my dead mother?"
"I-I'm sorry, I-"
Wanda's unstable power knocks over the many candles scattered throughout the small shop, setting the whole place on fire. She realizes what her emotional anger has caused and tries to help the fallen old lady, but a piece of flaming debris prevents her. She then hears the screams of the people outside.
Wanda uses her power to get herself to safety. She drops to her knees out on the street. She cannot stop hearing the combination of people's screams and their even louder thoughts. The burning flames have spread down the block.
The locals see that she came out with the small chest and is still holding onto the ruby. They accuse her of stealing and of starting the fire. Their hateful words and judgmental thoughts are too much to take in all at once. Wanda cannot shut them out. Her powers are getting out of hand without stop just as the raging fire is.
An angry man gets too close to her. "Stay away from me!" A red blast knocks him back into the crowd. Her unintended action of self-defense only brought on more hate from the mob of people.
Their thoughts are too much too bare:
What did she just do?
The fire, oh my heavens, the fire!
She's one of those enhanced!
She did all this.
She must be one of those Avengers freaks!
Always causing death and destruction where ever they go.
It's all her fault.
Monster!
She's a monster!
A damn filthy witch!
Wanda tries so hard to control her powers but sudden bursts spike out, hurting more people. She balls up, hugging on tight to the small box of what little treasure her family did have...of what little she still has.
At the food shop, Pietro and his date are halfway through their delicious meal. He has really enjoyed this. It is the only sense of calm normalcy he remembers having in a very, very long time.
"So it's just you and your sister?"
"Yeah, we're all we have left."
She smiles. "Well I think it's sweet. You're a good older brother."
He shies away from the compliment. "Thanks,"
"Family is all anyone really has anymore. Those so called superheroes have ruined so much for people like us. Just look at the state of our once great Sokovia."
Pietro chuckles as he lifts his fork up for another bite.
She bats her eyelashes. "What?"
"It's just nice to meet someone else who hates them just as much as me."
A warm expression of understanding spreads across her face as she slides her hand across the table to hold his.
Then they here all the commotion outside. They both look over to the edge of the window where the fire and smoke are clearly visible in the distance.
"What on earth is going on over there?"
"Let's find out." Pietro leaves a tip and they both leave to go see for themselves.
Most individuals are running away in a panic as they make their way towards the flaming smoke. Once they almost reach the area, Pietro hears his sister call out to him in his mind: Pietro please!
"Wanda!" He shoves everyone out of the way to witness his twin sister balled up on the ground being cussed at and having objects thrown at her.
His date is right behind him. She sees spheres of red magic protecting the enhanced from the various projectiles. "Is that your…?"
The brother is about to rush in, but the young woman pulls on his arm. "No, you can't! She's one of those monsters."
Pietro glares back at her and roughly yanks his arm away. "A monster? She's my sister." He rushes in with his super speed.
The woman sees that he is one of them too. She quickly turns and joins the hateful crowd.
Pietro knocks out all the people that were chucking stones and such at his sister. Then he quickly speeds in, sweeping up Wanda in his arms, and carries her off to safety. They leave the flame engulfed street market behind.
The lightning fast blue and white trail ends at the top of a green mountain just outside the city, looking over the nation. Pietro sets Wanda down on the soft flowery grass. He took her far enough away so that she could clear her head of everyone's thoughts.
"What happened?"
She utters in guilt. "I…I messed up, Pietro…"
He hugs her close. "No, no you didn't. Whatever it was, you were just defending yourself. They provoked you."
She cries into his chest. "That's no excuse. We're supposed to protect them and instead I let myself hurt them."
"Stop it. You can't blame yourself. You're still new to this. We both are. It will take time to adjust."
She inches back, seeing his blue V-neck got shredded and his hair has turned even more silver-white. Only his roots remain the same color the rest once was. She stares at her hand. "What we became…are we really just like them now? Are we monsters?"
He cups her face in. "No we're not. You know that."
She lifts up her red drape to wipe her tears. "Tell me it's worth it."
"It is. It will be. Promise."
She gets a hold of herself and smiles down at her possessions. Her brother takes a look. "What's all this?"
"Do you recognize it?" She raises the ruby medallion up to his eyes.
"Mothers…" He holds it in his hands with such love and care.
"This as well," she opens up the brown shaded chest, "It all belonged to her, some passed down from generations."
Pietro takes the medallion and carefully places it around Wanda's neck. Both their fingers trace along the ruby.
"Hey," he calls for her gaze.
She looks up to see him give her a smile that washes all her troubles away, "Worth it."
Wanda wraps her arms around her twin brother, embracing him lovingly. He hugs her back, letting it last up on that beautifully grassy mountaintop. They have been on their own ever since that tragic day. All they have ever had to rely on was each other. Even with their enhanced abilities, that has not changed. They are all they will ever need.