Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers: Age of Ultron

Rating: T for violence

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, I've just been incredibly busy. I hope you like this chapter. It's set several years after the last one. This focuses a lot on them being together and never leaving each other (inspired by "Stand By Me", which I've been listening to recently...you should really look up the Imagine Dragons cover of it, it's amazing!)

Story 4: A Deal with the Devil

Pietro races back to the hidden alley in which he and Wanda have been hiding out in. He clutches the paper tightly in his hands, knowing it might be the answer to all their problems. It's a long shot, but maybe this is the answer they've been looking for all their years. Maybe this is what the stars have written for them.

Wanda stands when she sees him running, and instantly concern passes over her face. She holds both of his arms, rubbing them up and down gently as he breathes deeply to regain his breath. She notices the paper but does not say anything. They've made an unspoken pact over the years; neither assumes anything and instead allows the other time to explain.

When he finally straightens up she speaks immediatly. "Are you okay?"

He nods, over enthusiastic. "More than okay." He shows her the papers, and she lets go of him to read them. He watches her carefully, but she does not show any of the joy he felt. Instead her expression is quizzical and slightly horrified.

"What is this?" She's angry, that much he can glean from her tone. Her hazel eyes flash and he feels his heart drop.

"Answers, Wanda. This is the answer to our problems." She turns away from him and rakes her hands through her hair, a habit she's created from worry and frustration.

"This is not an answer!" she yells, though not harshly. Wanda turns again and locks eyes with him from a few feet away. "Have you forgotten our ancestors?"

Pietro drops his hands in defeat. "No, I have not forgotten them. But have you forgotten our parents?"

She swallows, and her eyes harden. "How could I forget?"

Now he's getting through to her. After all this time, now that they've found an answer, he's finally convincing her. "We can avenge them."

"It won't bring them back," she replies quietly, and her words hit home. No matter what vengeance they can wreak, no matter who they kill or who they make suffer, nothing will bring their parents back. That's the ugly truth, and he doesn't want to accept it. Though both he and Wanda want to take revenge, she has always known it won't change anything, while he has always hung by a thread of hope. Of course, it's a foolish and stupid hope, and he is realizing it more and more every day.

"Then what are we to do?" he asks quietly. "Stand by and do nothing? This is our best choice."

Wanda glances at the papers, still in her hands, and looks up at him in disbelief. "Human experimentation is never a good choice, let alone 'our best choice.'" She walks toward him, her eyes softening at the hurt expression in his blue ones. "It even says here that it's dangerous and possibly fatal. We are selling ourselves to them. We are selling our bodies, our minds, our souls. We are making a deal with the devil."

He holds her close, knowing their time together might be limited. She is slowly being convinced to do this, and while he wants to go through with it, he knows it can mean the end of their dynamic duo. "You are my soul. We're going to be in this together, no matter what."

"I still don't think it is a good idea." She looks up at him, her innocent eyes pleading. "These...monsters, they are Nazis. They invented the meaning of genocide, and our ancestors were victims of their cruel experiments and their tortures. You've heard their stories. And now you want to give yourself to them?"

"It's HYDRA, not Hitler," Pietro protests weakly, though he knows it isn't much of an argument.

"Doesn't change what they've done," Wanda says, and buries her face in his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, and they embrace, letting the world fall away, and lettign all their problems disappear. All they need is each other; they're two halves of the same person. Pietro is the heart, Wanda the brain, and together they're a force to be reckoned with.

After a few minutes, Pietro tentatively prompts her. "So..."

"I love you, brother," Wanda answers. "And I trust you. Whatever you do I'll do, wherever you go I'll go, and whatever you say I'll back up." She looks up at him. "If you think this is the answer, then I'll support you. As long as we're together."

Pietro can't hide the relief on his face. "We will be. We'll get through this, and we'll make it through whatever they put us through. After all, we do have an advantage over them, over everyone on this planet."

She tilts her head. "And what is that?"

"It's just us against the world," he replies. "And no one can defeat us. And when the experiments are over and physically we're the strongest humans ever, then we'll avenge our parents, and after that we'll destroy them, for our ancestors. No one will ever be able to separate us."

Wanda smiles softly. "I guess I'm stuck with you for a little while longer, huh?"

"I lived twelve minutes without you, so you'll have to live twelve minutes without me. No more, no less." He grins cheekily. "After all, what's a twin without their other half?"

She laughs and pulls away from him. "They'll be the worst twelve minutes of my life, I guarantee it. Just like those twelve minutes without me were your worst minutes."

He grabs her hand. "Come. Let's go do something special for once."

She raises her eyebrow. "Like a last meal?" Pietro rolls his eyes. "You're too uptight. This is exactly why you need me; I'm the fun twin. And the attractive one. And-"

"You better not be saying the smart one," Wanda threatens playfully. "That's one thing I can lord over you."

"True. Otherwise I wouldn't have even thought about 'selling my soul' as you so kindly put it." He wraps an arm around her shoulders, and the two walk off, leaving behind everything that they know and love. Because, really, there isn't anything that they're leaving behind; all they have is each other, and that's all they will ever have.