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According to Pietro's calculations, Clint and Laura must have been speeding the entire way back from town. They'd made a journey that should have taken them forty minutes in only twenty five.

"Daddy! Mommy!" Lila cried as soon as they came inside, rushing to hug Clint with Cooper close on her heels. Even Nate squirmed to be set down, though Pietro was holding him as firmly as he possibly could.

Clint hugged Cooper and Lila tightly, while Laura took Nate and rocked him a little bit to calm him down. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, fine." Cooper said. "Who were those people, Dad?"

The adults exchanged a look. "No one you need to worry about." Clint replied. "Did they take anything?"

Pietro shook his head. "One of them was looking through the file cabinets in your office, but I don't think he found what he was looking for."

Immediately, Laura began to check him over for wounds. "And what about you? Pietro, you're all cut up!"

He shrugged away from her careful touch. "It's nothing. Really." I've been through worse.

Clint scanned the room again, carefully. "Where's your sister?"

"She's been upstairs since…it happened. She won't let me in…I thought I should give her some space." Honestly, he wasn't sure how to react. He'd seen her upset many times over the years-but tonight had been different. For once, she hadn't been upset at an outside party or a common enemy-she was angry at herself. Pietro wasn't sure what he could tell her that could possibly make things better. It had been self defense-they all knew that. She couldn't possibly be in any trouble with the police or anything-but of course, he knew that wasn't her problem.

She'd killed someone-someone who had friends, maybe a family; who had had a past and had been looking forward to a future. And now that was gone. All of it was gone.

Clint swore. "You said she broke her wrist? We're going to have to go to the hospital, get it checked it out…I'm going to see if she'll let me talk to her."

"What happened?" Cooper asked. "Did Wanda get hurt?"

"She broke her wrist." Pietro said. "But she's going to be fine." At least, he hoped that would be the case. "I'll come with you."

"Give me five minutes, kid." Clint said, petting Chocolate Chip absentmindedly as the cat twined herself around his legs. "I know what she's going through."

~IT~

At first, Wanda had been determined never to leave her room again.

For about ten minutes, she'd just sat in the middle of her bed trying not to think. Every time she tried to close her eyes and block out her thoughts it just came back to her in a rush-the blood on her hands, the sound of her wrist as it had cracked under the pressure of the HYDRA agent's hand, the way she'd lashed out and ended his life without meaning to. Then, when she'd realized that hadn't worked, she'd started to pack the rest of her things at an almost feverish pace-birthday presents, clothing, and knickknacks alike had been piled into the two suitcases the Bartons had given her to replace her old one, which was almost falling apart. It was too dangerous for her to stay here-not when she had the power to kill. What kind of role model would she be to Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel when she could barely even tolerate herself?

Just then, there was a knock on the door and she shoved the suitcases under the bed in one fluid motion. "What is it?" she asked, kicking the final corner out of sight.

Clint stepped inside. "Is it all right if I talk to you for a few minutes?"

She nodded. It wasn't like he would go away if she told him that no, it wasn't all right. He'd just persist until she finally let him talk just so he would stop annoying her.

His eyes flickered to her arm; she was holding it at an angle that was less than comfortable so it wouldn't jostle so much when she moved. "How's your arm?"

"It's been better."

"We should get it checked out by a doctor."

"No. It'll heal on its own."

"Wanda, I'm not about to argue this with you. We're going to go to the hospital as soon as we can. We don't need to tell anyone what happened; SHIELD agents are going to be here any minute to collect the prisoner." She could clearly hear what he wasn't saying: And the body.

"How much do they know? Did you tell them…?"

He looked away. "I had to. I didn't want to, but…it's protocol in these sorts of situations. No one blames you-and you shouldn't blame yourself."

"But I killed him-"

"Because he was holding a knife to your brother's throat. Your protective instincts kicked in, just like they were supposed to. You did what you had to do to keep your family safe-and in the end, that's what we all have to do. We have to protect the people we can't live without no matter what the cost."

For the first time she hated her powers. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for the power to kill. And I know I killed dozens of robots in Sokovia-"

"But that wasn't the same. They weren't sentient beings."

She sighed. "What if the man I killed had a family waiting for him to come home? What if I just did to them what Tony Stark did to me? I don't expect you to understand-"

"But I do. I understand perfectly. You think you're the only one who's killed accidentally. It happens to all of us at some point. At some point, all of us have to make the choice between saving a life and taking one. In this business, it's something you get used to."

"How do you get over it?"

"It takes time. I'm not going to lie; it's hard. But acceptance will come-"

"I didn't want this to happen. I thought I'd be able to do something…subdue him some other way…but things were happening so fast-"

"Had you not done what you did, your brother would have died. I'm not justifying your actions-I know you don't want me to-and I'm not trying to detract from the seriousness of taking a human life. But in this business…it happens. Sure, it's terrifying at first…but it'll get better. You just can't close yourself off. Don't shut yourself away from the people who want to help you."

"I can't be around Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel."

"Bullshit. You risked everything-including your very life-to keep my little girl safe. That makes you a hero in my book. You should be asking for a raise-"

She tried not to snap. "Would you stop seeing everything as a joke? This isn't funny. I don't know how much I can trust myself anymore. What if something like this were to happen again? I can't be trusted."

"These circumstances were extraordinary. Wanda, you're a very good person-but even good people can make mistakes in extraordinary circumstances. You kept your family safe-and you kept my kids safe. I just wanted to say thank you. I'm so glad you were there to help." He gently examined her arm and Wanda tried not to show that it was still sore. "We should get this looked at."

She sighed. "I guess so." She needed an excuse to talk to Pietro anyway. They had plans to make.

~IT~

By the time they got back from the hospital it was close to two in the morning and everyone was just exhausted. Wanda managed to get about three hours of restless sleep before she gave the whole thing up as a lost cause and went to find Pietro.

He looked so peaceful when he was asleep; you couldn't see the worry lines that had started to appear on his forehead and he didn't look like he was ready to bolt at any given moment. She almost felt bad for having to wake him up. "Pietro?"

He jumped awake like he'd been shocked and was on his feet in seconds. "What is it? Wanda, do you even know what time it is?"

"I know, I know-but I have to talk to you about something."

His expression clearly stated that he would rather eat nails than have to play therapist at five in the morning. "All right then. What did you have in mind?"

"I'm leaving tonight."

"What do you mean?"

"If I can't even trust myself, how can I let myself be trusted around the kids? We'll be going back in a couple days anyway…I'm just going to speed up the process."

"How are you planning to get there? Are you going to steal a car?"

"Of course not. I found an airport that has flights upstate. I just wanted to let you know…in case you want to come as well."

"Of course I do." He was rubbing sleep out of his eyes; Wanda wondered just how much he really knew what he was committing to. "You think I'm just going to let you go alone?"

"It might be safer that way."

He sighed. "Wanda, you can try and isolate yourself from anything and anybody except for me. I'm your brother. And if you think I'm going to leave you-ever-then you have another thing coming. Understand?"

She nodded, trying to ignore the relief she felt. Really, she hadn't wanted to do it all on her own. "The Bartons have done so much for us-but sooner or later all that we bring is trouble. It's…better for all involved parties that we leave before things get worse."

He hesitated for a moment as though debating whether or not he wanted to talk sense into her.

"They knew we were here. They attacked the house-went after their kids-because we were there. What if it happens again? What if, this time, we don't get to the bunker in time?" she replied.

"It's just a few more days-"

She shook her head. "No. I can't. If something like that happens again…I don't want to be a killer. And I don't know if I'd be able to control my actions, if worst came to worst." She kicked her suitcase, as if to emphasize her point.

"Fine. Do we have enough money for tickets?"

"We have those credit cards Tony gave us once we said we were going to be on the team permanently."

"He said those were only for emergencies."

"I think this qualifies as an emergency." She booted up the computer, waiting impatiently for the blue load screen to subside. "Let's go buy some airline tickets."

~IT~

Pietro was good at keeping secrets. He was good at telling lies. He'd learned how to say one thing but convince people that he meant another. He could keep his heart rate steady even under pressure.

That didn't mean he liked lying to the Bartons. That didn't mean he wanted to go about his day pretending that everything was normal.

"Let's play a video game." Cooper said just after breakfast, setting up the TV expertly.

"No." Laura said, washing up the waffle iron. "It's a beautiful day outside. You should all go get some fresh air."

Cooper and Lila both groaned. "Please? Just half an hour?" Lila asked.

Laura glanced at Wanda, who was sitting as far away from the rest of the family as possible. "I think it'll do everyone some good."

Eventually she got Pietro, Cooper, Lila, and Wanda outside and into the sunshine. Pietro could definitely tell it was fall; there was a nasty chill in the air. He noticed how Laura held his sister back for a moment, probably asking how she was holding up. Wanda muttered something-probably something vague-and Laura let her join the others, looking extremely dissatisfied.

"What did she ask?" Pietro whispered as they followed Cooper and Lila to the swimming pool. It was too cold to swim but that didn't mean it wasn't still a quiet place for them to hole up for the day.

She shrugged. "Just…how I'm doing."

"And what did you say?"

"Reasonably well, considering the circumstances." Another lie.

"Wanda, she wants to help."

"I don't need it. I just need to get out of here-and go somewhere where I can think about things."

"You just killed somebody. That would be hard on anyone-"

"I'm an Avenger. I'm supposed to know better."

"You've been an Avenger for one summer. You can make mistakes."

"I don't want to talk about it." She went to join Lila, who was inspecting the leaves changing colors on the nearby trees.

"I hate to tell you this, but sooner or later you're going to have to talk to somebody."

She didn't look back at him; it was impossible to know whether she'd heard him or not.

~IT~

Wanda thought they would have had more time.

Of course, that would have been too easy.

"Daddy, why are there red stains in the carpet upstairs?"

All the adults stiffened; she stopped stirring her chicken noodle soup abruptly. Clint and Laura exchanged a look and Pietro kept his eyes firmly fixed on the neat white tablecloth.

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Clint asked carefully, taking another piece of bread from the center of the table.

"There are red stains outside the bedroom door. What are they from?" Cooper looked curious now too.

"It's just a stain." Laura replied. "It happens sometimes."

"Not if there's nothing to stain it." His voice dropped about three octaves. "Something happened last night, didn't it?"

"What do you mean? Everything's fine, Cooper."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not buying it. You guys are all acting too secretive. What happened?"

"Nothing." Clint said quickly-too quickly. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

"Why won't you tell me what's going on?" Cooper's voice was quickly rising as he got more and more upset. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Cooper, it's fine. It's all going to be just fine."

"I just want to know. I'm not too young."

"It's not that-"

"Then what is it?" The little boy was practically screaming by now. "Dad, tell me what's going on! Why does no one ever tell me anything? During Sokovia, when you almost died-you said nothing happened. But I know what happened. I know you were in trouble-and you didn't tell me about it. You almost didn't come back! You almost left us alone. You almost left me alone. And you didn't tell me! I hate it whei9n you lie to me! I hate it when you keep secrets. That's all you've been doing, every day of my entire life. You've kept me a secret to everyone outside our immediate family. I have to be careful what to say to kids at school, to people I meet on the street…do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I like having to live my life pretending I'm normal? Do you know how many times I want to tell my classmates that my dad is an Avenger? But I don't-because that's what you told me to do. I do whatever you tell me to do. I just don't want you to lie to me-and that's what you're doing right now. You're lying. You're lying and you're expecting me to not realize it. But those men came into our house yesterday and they tried to kill us. I think we all deserve an explanation."

The kitchen was silent. No one seemed to know what to say; even Cooper looked shocked at his outburst.

Laura looked like she was going to say something-but Wanda spoke before she could. "The red stains are from blood-the blood of a man that I killed."

The reaction was instantaneous: both Cooper and Lila turned to look at her. There was something in their eyes she'd never seen there before-at least, not when they looked at her.

Confusion-and even fear.

Before she quite knew what she was doing, she was standing up and pushing in her chair. "I'm sorry. I'm very, very sorry." She had to leave; the room seemed to press down on her uncomfortably. She could barely breathe, much less think. "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry about last night. I'm sorry for bringing you trouble you definitely didn't need." Then she left; if Pietro was telling the truth her bags were already in the car; all they had to do was turn the key in the ignition.

Clint was trying to say something and Laura was trying to tell her not to go but she didn't look back once. If she did, she worried she wouldn't be able to go through with the plan-but she had to. The Bartons had given her so much more than she had ever asked for-more than she had even imagined she could ever want. They'd made her realize how much she had been missing-and how normal she really was under all her powers.

Now she had to do something for them.

The car was waiting in the driveway, just where Pietro said it would be. She climbed into the driver's seat and set the GPS to take them to the airport, waiting impatiently for Pietro to join her. After a few seconds he slid inside the passenger seat; Wanda started driving as soon as he slammed the door.

"Clint tried to stop me." he said. "He thinks there's a better way than this-but I can't see any."

"It's for the best." she replied. She didn't want to leave on these terms either-she hated unfinished business-but it was the only thing they could do. It was their responsibility as Avengers to keep people safe. And this was the only way they could accomplish that goal.

She floored the accelerator; the car shuddered from the initial velocity before it zoomed away into the night.

~IT~

Damn it. Clint pulled out his computer, waiting for it to load. "Shit." He knew it had been a good idea to have that tracking device installed in the car a couple of years ago-although he'd never suspected he'd have to use it to track down two super powered twins.

"Where are they going?" Laura asked, looking over his shoulder at the tiny red dot making its way across the darkened screen.

Lila looked about ready to cry. "Mommy, what happened?"

"I don't know yet, sweetheart. Daddy's trying to figure it out." He admired how calm she sounded, like this was something that happened every night. He certainly wasn't calm. In fact, he was pretty much the exact opposite. He should have done more. He should have seen that something wasn't right. He knew what Wanda was like-he should have known that she wasn't rebounding as well as he would have liked. They'd been so close…almost there…and then HYDRA had ruined it all again. They'd destroyed everything; everything he'd tried so hard to accomplish. All summer he'd had to fight hard for every inch of ground he'd taken with the twins-every secret they'd given him, every smile he'd managed to tease out of them…and now everything was gone. He was back to square one, back to dealing with two kids who didn't trust anyone except each other.

"Shit." He massaged his temples, trying to find something-anything-that would clue him into their destination.

"I'm sorry." Cooper said. "I shouldn't have said that-"

"No, you're right. We need to talk about these things and we don't. I'm sorry. This is my fault. Not yours." He managed to hug his son with one arm. If it wasn't for him this wouldn't be a problem. "I'm so sorry."

"Why did they leave?"

"I think Wanda thinks you hate her. You have to understand that she didn't want to kill that person. She did it to protect you, Lila, Nathaniel, and Pietro and…I think that you confirmed her worst fears. I think they left because they felt their presence put us in danger."

"We don't hate her. She did what she had to do, we all know that. We know she would never murder someone intentionally-"

"Tell her to come back, Daddy!" Lila cried.

"That's what I'm trying to do." He looked at the schematic again-and then realized the dot was heading into the city…

Towards LaGuardia airport.

He stood up and headed to the door. "I'm going to the airport. With any luck I'll be back in about two hours-with the twins."

They couldn't leave thinking they were hated. They couldn't leave like this.

Unfortunately, he was running out of time.

~IT~

They ditched the car a few blocks from the airport. Pietro trusted Clint would be able to pick up the car eventually; they even paid the parking rent for four days to give him a head start.

"We're late." Wanda said, checking her phone. "We'll be lucky if we get on the plane at this point."

"Don't worry about that. Just go." His phone was vibrating every five minutes; he had six messages from Clint, three from Laura, and one each from Natasha and Steve. Clint obviously worked fast.

The airport was crowded like always as they went to their kiosk; they passed families heading back from vacations and international travelers staggering out to the waiting taxis looking like zombies due to the time change. His fingers drummed a nervous tattoo on the side of his leg; he didn't like this, not at all. But the whole experience had made him wonder; if it came down to putting a bullet in someone's head or losing his sister, he knew the decision he would make. He would kill; intentionally or not.

He didn't mind getting out of town.

"Two tickets for flight 422 upstate?" the overly peppy clerk behind the desk asked them, fingers flying over the keyboard as she searched up their reservations.

"Yes. They should be under Witten." Pietro said, sliding his ID across the counter. "Pietro and Wanda."

The girl smiled. "Ah yes. Here they are." She printed out their boarding passes and took the handful of wadded up bills Pietro pressed into her hand. "You're all good. Security is down the stairwell to the right."

~IT~

"Have you been able to get a read on them yet?"

"Still driving." He was flooring the accelerator and still Clint worried he would be too late.

"You'll get there in time." Natasha said, almost as if she could read his mind. He hadn't meant to call her-but he'd ended up calling anyway. The car was too quiet; he needed another voice to distract him from his thoughts. "Don't hit a deer or anything."

"Nat, that was one time-"

"Its brains scattered all over the highway-"

"Gross. Why are you bringing that up?"

She sighed. "Because I know you're blaming yourself for the whole thing."

"It's my fault. I have a right to."

"No you don't. Of course it isn't your fault. How can it possibly be your fault? Did you invite the HYDRA agents over for tea? Of course not."

"I shouldn't have left them alone." He'd thought they'd be safe; he thought he and Tony had accounted for every eventuality the last time they checked the house's security measures. Obviously, they'd missed something.

"There's nothing you can do about what happened. We all know how that first kill feels; she just needs time and some therapy. We can take care of that at the base."

"I know-but I want them to leave when you come to pick them up, not because they think they've lost our trust."

"I know. You'll find them-and you'll be able to talk some sense into them."

He sighed, reluctant to bring up what else was on his mind. "Nat?"

"What is it?"

"There's something else that's been bothering me."

"And what might that be?"

He tried to find the right words. "What if I manage to get to them before they get on the plane but they don't listen? What if they just leave anyway?"

For a few minutes she didn't say anything and he started to wonder if she'd hung up without telling him. "Nat?"

"I'm still here."

"Why haven't you said anything yet?"

"I'm thinking."

"That's never a good sign. How bad is it?"

"No, it's not like that." She sighed. "Okay. I've only been down a couple of times this summer-but I've seen how you interact with those kids. I've seen the way they look up to you-whether you see that or not. I know they genuinely care about you and your family. They act like you're the father they haven't had in far too long. You don't need to worry about them not listening to you. They already do that anyway. Just tell them what you want them to know. They'll hear it. And if they still want to get on that plane…you can't stop them. But I think the chances are a lot higher that they'll come with you-because I think as much as they pretend to the contrary, they really don't want things to end like this either."

He nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him over the phone. "Thanks, Nat."

"Anytime. Now go stop that plane."

~IT~

"We barely even said goodbye."

"Now you're having second thoughts?" Wanda didn't have time for this. Airport security was hard enough without having to worry about your brother sabotaging everything you were trying to accomplish.

"It's not that. I just think we took things too hastily."

"Lila and Cooper were scared of me."

"Because you just said you killed somebody."

"No." She said it too loudly; half the people waiting in line for screening looked at her. "There was something….different. They looked like they didn't trust me…I don't want to see that look in anyone's eyes ever again. I thought we moved past that. Besides, what if HYDRA comes back? At least we'll be somewhere else. You know I don't want to leave either-"

She felt him put an arm around her shoulders and pull her close. "I know, Wanda. If this is going to make things better…You know I trust you. If this is what you want to do…" He placed his carryon on the conveyor belt with a thump. "I'm not going stop you."

~IT~

Clint practically sprinted into the departures terminal and made a beeline straight for security.

"Sir, you can't go past this point without a ticket-" a guard said at the security checkpoint-at least until he waved his Avengers card impatiently.

"Important Avengers business." he replied. He was able to move past unimpeded. So Tony was right. The damn card is good for something after all.

Of course, then he saw just how full security was at seven o'clock on a Friday night-and the line that stretched around the room. He groaned inwardly as he checked his watch. He had his work cut out for him.

Let's see if I can find them before they get on that plane.

~IT~

"This is the final call for flight 422, with service to Syracuse. Repeat: this is the final call for flight 422. All passengers are required to be in their seats at this time-"

Pietro reached the desk just as the flight attendant stopped speaking, practically forcing her to take their boarding passes. "We're here."

She nodded, clicking them through. "Everything looks in order. You're welcome to take your seats."

He waited for Wanda to follow him onto the jetway before he started to walk down to the plane-until she tugged gently on his wrist to get him to turn around. "What is it?" he asked impatiently. "Wanda, we have to find our seats-"

"I know. I just…felt like we needed to give this town a proper goodbye-or at least a moment of silence. After all…it was the closest to having a home we've gotten in a long time."

He nodded. She had a point there. They stood there for a moment, glancing out a nearby window at the darkened runway. Somewhere, not too far away, the Bartons were probably finishing dinner, maybe going to watch a movie…it wasn't a school night, so Cooper and Lila would be clamoring to do something fun…

If he'd been there he would have suggested they watch Star Wars. Then again, that was just him.

The flight attendant brushed past them on her way to the plane, looking confused as to why they were still standing at the entrance to the jetway. "Is there a problem?"

"No. We're leaving now." He started to head down the ramp, making sure Wanda was following. He'd managed to pull a book out of his bag for the ride over; hopefully that would do something to drown out the roar of his thoughts-

"Wait!"

Automatically, he spun around. Clint was standing in the center of the waiting area, holding his Avengers card. "What are you doing here?" Pietro asked. He hadn't been expecting this; he would have thought Clint would be happy to see him go so he could have his archery range to himself again.

"I could ask you the same question."

"We're leaving." Wanda said. "I'm sorry we brought you so much trouble-"

He actually laughed. "You think that's what this is about? You make a mistake and you get kicked out? Because that's not how it works at all. That's not how family works."

That word again. She hated it; she felt like she didn't deserve to be part of such a nice family. "I should have left after the attack. I don't know why I didn't-"

"The kids don't hate you. They know why you did what you had to do. They want you to come home. They don't want you to leave without saying proper goodbyes."

"You've done so much for us." Pietro replied. "We wouldn't want to force you to do more for us than you already have."

"You think this summer has just been for laughs? We like having you two around. It's our pleasure to fix things when you mess up-or vice versa. You know, this is my fault. I should have done more. I shouldn't have made you feel like you're responsible for the behavior of psychos-because you're not. Psychos are psychos. You don't have to leave. Just come back; spend a couple more days relaxing. We'd love to have you. Believe me, I wouldn't have driven all the way out here if I wasn't committed to taking you two back with me."

"Then you're insane."

"Maybe. But family does weird things for each other. So, what do you say? Will you come back?"

Pietro glanced to his sister. "Your decision." It had been her decision to leave in the first place; he would go wherever she went.

"Clint, I appreciate the sentiment and everything you've done to make Pietro and I feel welcome…but I can't trust myself around the kids. After what happened…I think it's best if I just take some alone time."

"Trust me-that's the last thing you need. The kids want to see you-and you think just because you accidentally killed somebody means you're a terrible person? Because that's bull shit. Everyone makes mistakes-you, me, everyone. And we all deserve second chances-and even third or fourth chances. I've done worse than that and you seem to think I'm some kind of saint. But I'm not. I'm human. So are you. Humans make mistakes. It's what we do. We mess things up-sometimes, we mess things up really, really bad. But we're there for each other-and I want you to know that I'm here for you. I know things are confusing right now but this doesn't make you a bad person. You don't owe anything to anybody or have anything to prove. Understand? It's okay. You can let it go. You don't need to let the fear control you. Just…let it go. It doesn't have to weigh down on you. Trust me. There are other options-lots of better options."

"He brings up some good points." Pietro said quietly, shifting from foot to foot as he watched his sister carefully to gauge a reaction.

For a minute she looked like she was going to refuse-in fact, she almost looked ready to take that next step down the jetway. And then something seemed to come over her-something that looked suspiciously like peace. She even managed a smile-a small one to be sure, but a smile just the same. "So you drove all the way out here just for us?"

"Like I said-family does weird stuff."

"I guess we wouldn't want you to waste all that gas mileage for nothing…"

Just then the flight attendant cut in to say "Are you going on the plane or not? We can't wait forever."

"You've been very helpful…but I don't think we're going to Syracuse tonight." Pietro said, walking back to the waiting area with Wanda close on his heels.

Clint grinned broadly the entire way to the car. "Come on, kids." he said; for once Pietro didn't protest that they were technically legal adults. "Let's go home."

Sorry about the obscenely long chapter. The words just kind of got away from me; you know how it is.

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