"Brave New World"
Chapter 6
by darthelwig
*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun. ***
A/N: Chapter update 3 of 3 for today. Enjoy!
Pietro really didn't want to come off as an asshole. He considered himself a pretty decent guy, even if he was a bit abrasive at times. He just had a hard time trusting people, and though he was working on it, it was definitely still a work in progress.
It was hard enough for him to think about life before he and Wanda got their powers, much less talk about it with a complete stranger. Life hadn't been kind to them, and who would want to hear about that anyway? The newspaper girl would want some sort of happy story to tell everyone, and he had nothing like that to share, not since before they were ten years old, and those memories were precious treasures that he refused to trot out for other people's amusement.
What else did he have to talk about? Their time with Hydra? That was definitely off limits. Even if he wanted to relive that, the Avengers would have a fit. There was no way he was telling anyone about the things they'd suffered, times when the days ran together as he lost track of everything except the pain.
That left what? Their time with Ultron, fighting against the Avengers? The time he spent recuperating from his life-threatening wounds? All he really had to talk about was their time in Clint's home, and they'd been there less than a week.
So maybe it was his own frustration that he'd taken out on the newspaper girl. Maybe it was him wishing he had something other than bad memories he could talk about. Maybe he was an ass for being defensive and taking his anger about their lives out on her.
Maybe he needed to consider being nicer to this girl if his sister liked her. Maybe. Time would tell if she'd be good for Wanda or not. People had mistreated his sister before. He would hurt anyone else who did so.
This entire line of thought was making him miserable.
He turned his thoughts away from the hurts and problems of their past, and focused instead on the sight of his sister sitting across from her crush in the little coffeehouse he'd recommended. The place had good coffee and even better food, something he'd discovered a couple days into their new school routine. Best of all, though, it had huge glass windows through which he could check on his sister as he deemed necessary.
As if he would let her go out on her own in a strange place without scoping it out first. He snorted. His sister was powerful, but he was her older brother, and it was his job to protect her. It was a sacred duty he took very seriously, and one of the great joys of his life was being able to fulfill it.
She and the newspaper girl seemed to be doing okay. They were smiling at each other as they talked, anyway. He would probably need to learn the girl's name. Calling her 'newspaper girl' wouldn't fly with Wanda for very long.
How long had it been since either of them had gotten involved with someone? He honestly couldn't remember. It had just never seemed to be a priority for either of them, though he was the bigger flirt, he had to admit. He'd had a few one night stands and illicit encounters, though not nearly as many as people tended to assume from his flirtatious ways. He just hadn't found anyone before who held more of his interest than their revenge did. Now? Now, he wasn't so sure what was holding him back, but things had changed for him. Maybe almost dying really did change a man.
He snorted again as he leaned back against the bus stop bench, then snickered as he saw the newspaper girl get whipped cream on her nose. He was still chuckling as he glanced at the woman next to him, who was obviously looking uncomfortable next to the apparently crazy guy who was laughing at nothing. Pietro rolled his eyes, but decided it was time to leave. Wanda was fine, and wouldn't welcome him looking over her shoulder the whole time.
Besides, if Wanda needed him, he'd be here in moments. That was probably the best part about his powers. No matter how far he went, he was never too far.
He settled into a nice mosey on the way back to Clint's place. He'd told Clint not to bother picking him up, since he could make his way home faster in his own two feet if he felt like it, but right now he just wanted to relax and enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. No one at the Avengers complex would believe it if they saw it, Pietro Maximoff taking it slow and enjoying it. Sometimes, though, you just wanted to stop and smell the roses. Wasn't that the saying? He'd almost died out there on the bloodied streets of Sokovia. He'd fought for his life amidst machines and doctors determined to help him. Now was the time to take it slow and enjoy what he had.
And hey, this was the Midwest, right? Wasn't moseying a whole thing out here? Maybe that was just in the movies, but he liked the thought of it.
He laughed to himself, not even caring if anyone saw.