Wanda stared at her plate, her dinner untouched before her. How could Magneto- how *dare* he- just show up like that?! Glancing at the stairs, her stomach flip flopped. Pietro had been in his room all evening. Wanda knew how hard it was for him to keep still in a room like that for that long. As children, he'd even been a little claustrophobic at times in tight spaces, where he couldn't move around a lot. It had gotten worse when his powers first showed up.
"Wanda, aren't you gonna eat your dinner?" Fred looked a little shocked that anyone would just sit there while food was still on their plate.
"I'm not hungry," the young girl muttered.
"Not hungry?" Fred stared at her in amazement. "How can you not be hungry? You've barely touched the food! Man, I've had three refills and I'm still starving!"
Wanda snapped. "Fine! Take it! Here's my plate, now you've had FOUR refills! Are you happy now?!" She glared at him. "Is food all you care about?!" she demanded. "What's the matter with you people?!" She stood up so suddenly that her chair fell back with a thud. Wanda glowered at them all, before turning on Lance. "You said that the Brotherhood look out for each other, Lance, stick up for each other. You told me that this afternoon. And yet," At this, she rounded on Fred. "you'd take FOOD over Pietro?!" Wanda looked at the group in disgust. "Excuse me," she muttered, heading for the stairs.
"Where do you think you're going Wanda?" Mystique demanded.
"To bed!" Wanda snapped. "Where does it LOOK like I'm going?" She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. Trembling with anger, she sat down furiously on her bed. How COULD they?! If there was one thing Wanda *hated*, it was people who talk double meanings. Hypocrites. She sat on her bed for a long time, glaring at the wall. The seconds ticked. One by one, Wanda could hear the others going into their respective rooms. The minutes passed by. The house was silent now. Glancing at the old and rusty clock on the wall, she noted the time. It read 9:30. Wanda sighed, then got up and opened her door a crack. Making her way down the hall and to the right, she came face to face with Pietro's room. She took a deep breath, held it, then slowly turned the doorknob. It opened with a click.
"Pietro?"
It was eerily similar to the exact same scene that played itself out nearly one week ago, except this time, the roles were reversed. But before Wanda had a chance to think, she heard a lightswitch flick on, the room was suddenly flooded in light, and Pietro was blinking at her.
"Wanda?" There was a strange expression on his face that Wanda couldn't interpret. "What are you doing still up?"
Wanda shrugged. "I dunno. Couldn't sleep, I guess," she said dully. She glanced around the room, which was now bare. "So.. I guess you're really leaving tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Pietro sighed, also glancing around the now empty room that he'd called home for the last year. He gave a hollow laugh, his eyes travelling back to the duffel bag that was lying open on his bed. "Well, guess that's that."
"Pi, you don't have to do this, you know," Wanda said quietly, plopping down on his bed. "I mean..." she trailed off.
"Yes, yeah I do Wanda," Pietro chucked his bag on the floor and flopped down on the bed. "More than you'll ever know. Do you know how often I kicked myself for letting Ma- er.. Mr. Unpleasant lock you up in that asylum that night? I still remember." He bit his lip. He hated more than anything in the world to admit his weaknesses. But they were all in the past. Or where they? Pietro fidgeted nervously, casting his mind around for any other topic.
"Pietro?"
The speedster looked up. "Yeah?"
"There's just still one more thing I want to know, Pietro," Wanda said. This had been troubling her every since she'd woken up in her asylum cell a month ago in a cold sweat.
"Shoot, sis."
"Do you... remember something about a 'wady-bug'?"
Pietro looked startled. "How'd you know about my dream?"
"Your dream?"
"Yeah, for about a week before you showed up, I had dreams about us as kids. In one of them, you were saying something about a wady-bug, but I can't remember what you were saying exactly."
"Whoa..." Wanda muttered. "That's just freaky..."
"What?"
"I had that dream around the same time."
Pietro gave a faint grin at his sister. "Guess the twin thing really does exist, huh?"
"Yeah..." Wanda felt a new surge of fury toward Magneto. How *could* he just take that away from them AGAIN? And so nonchalantly too! "I'm gonna get him one of these days..." she growled, almost to herself.
The white haired speedster sighed. "Wanda, you can't just tackle him by yourself," he said in a tired tone.
"Pietro, when I do go up against him," Wanda said in a quiet voice. "I ask that you don't get in my way."
"But-"
Wanda gazed levelly at him, with a don't-test-me-on-this look on her face. "Pietro, I'm serious. You may be older, but I can definitely take care of myself. I AM going up against him, and if *anybody* gets in my way, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to them."
Pietro sighed. "Okay, okay, I get the point. I just-" *I just don't want to see you get hurt.* "Just don't go overboard with the whole revenge thing, okay?"
Wanda stared at a spot past Pietro. "I can't guarantee that," she said. "That's like- like asking Freddy to don't go overboard with eating up the house. I can't do that, Pietro. You know I can't."
Pietro sighed again. He'd expected such an answer from Wanda, but it still kinda hurt to hear it from her, not that he would ever admit it. "Yeah. Okay." He looked around his empty room. "Never thought I'd actually want to stay here longer in this pigpen with my crazy housemates doing crazy things," Pietro mused to himself. His tone was hard to describe. "Well, it's been fun while it lasted. Guess this is it. Adieu, sayonara, au revoir, finito, bye bye."
"You don't have to do this to yourself, you know."
Pietro groaned. "Work with me here, Wanda, let's not go through that again. It's hard enough having to do this without having to go through second thoughts." Biting his lip, he looked away. "I just- feel that I have to do this. It's not fair that you had to go through all those years in that place, while I had the high road here. Trust me, I'm far from thrilled about having to do this, and quite frankly, I'm scared shitless, okay? Yeah, let it be known to the world that Pietro Maximoff is scared. I don't care who you tell, just not the guys and definitely not Daniels. I prefer you not tell anyone though. I'm telling you cuz- well- now that we're on good terms again and I don't have to worry about you killing me," Pietro gave Wanda a grin. "and hey, c'mon, you're my little sis-"
"Let's not forget the part called 'four minutes apart'" Wanda said dryly. She hated the thought of being younger and inferior to anybody, especially only by four lousy minutes.
"Fine, four minutes, whatever. But I'm still older- Ow!" Wanda had kicked him in the shin. "Okay,okay!"
Wanda smirked, but then grew serious again. "Trust me bro, whatever you tell me, I'm definitely not going to blab it out to those Xlosers." She scowled. "I'd like to wipe that sorry group of overpriviledged geeks to Kindom Come," she muttered. "Permanently."
"Yeah," Pietro laughed. "Just don't let Lance hear you say that. He may hate that group with a bloody passion, but he kinda goes into LaLa Land and somehow always gets lost in there whenever his precious little Meow Meow enters the scene."
"I've noticed. It's kinda hard NOT to notice." Wanda snickered.
Pietro grinned at his sister. It was great to get Wanda on his side again. He had missed that closeness, that bond, more than he was willing to admit. "Hey, you remember that time in preschool? You know, when we stayed up way longer than we were supposed to, rehearsing so we could make the other kids think we could read each other's minds?" he laughed a bit at this. "They believed us, too. It was great..."
"Oh yeah," Wanda smirked. That particular memory had lain half forgotten, dormant in the back of her mind for all these years. Suddenly, surges of childhood memories with Pietro surged back to her. Wanda and Pietro, doing this. Pietro and Wanda, doing that. Her early life flashed past before her. Pietro and Wanda as children, running around outside all day, being... children. Images flashed by of them climbing trees, making forts, playing King of the Mountain. She had always been somewhat of a tomboy growing up. The images were happy ones, the siblings were always together. Then, it suddenly reeled to a stop on that cold dark and rainy night when the twins were nine years old, like an old film projector that stopped working in the middle of an important lecture. *What's the rest of the story?* Wanda thought. The broken part of the projector, of her life, her years at the asylum, had been pretty much a blank.
"Hey Sis, you okay?" Pietro looked at Wanda with a question mark in his dark blue eyes.
"Huh?" Wanda blinked, and was surprised to find tears in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away impatiently, praying that Pietro hadn't seen it. "Yeah, I'm fine." Nothing could be further from the truth, but maybe Pietro had the right idea in switching the topic to that particular memory. Maybe it *was* better to think and talk happy thoughts for the few hours that they still had together.
They talked well into the night and into the early hours of the morning. After countless yawns, Wanda finally fell asleep. Pietro bit his lip, watching her. Was he really doing the right thing? Even he wasn't so sure now. But he *had* to be. For the sake of all.
"Wanda, aren't you gonna eat your dinner?" Fred looked a little shocked that anyone would just sit there while food was still on their plate.
"I'm not hungry," the young girl muttered.
"Not hungry?" Fred stared at her in amazement. "How can you not be hungry? You've barely touched the food! Man, I've had three refills and I'm still starving!"
Wanda snapped. "Fine! Take it! Here's my plate, now you've had FOUR refills! Are you happy now?!" She glared at him. "Is food all you care about?!" she demanded. "What's the matter with you people?!" She stood up so suddenly that her chair fell back with a thud. Wanda glowered at them all, before turning on Lance. "You said that the Brotherhood look out for each other, Lance, stick up for each other. You told me that this afternoon. And yet," At this, she rounded on Fred. "you'd take FOOD over Pietro?!" Wanda looked at the group in disgust. "Excuse me," she muttered, heading for the stairs.
"Where do you think you're going Wanda?" Mystique demanded.
"To bed!" Wanda snapped. "Where does it LOOK like I'm going?" She stomped up to her room and slammed the door. Trembling with anger, she sat down furiously on her bed. How COULD they?! If there was one thing Wanda *hated*, it was people who talk double meanings. Hypocrites. She sat on her bed for a long time, glaring at the wall. The seconds ticked. One by one, Wanda could hear the others going into their respective rooms. The minutes passed by. The house was silent now. Glancing at the old and rusty clock on the wall, she noted the time. It read 9:30. Wanda sighed, then got up and opened her door a crack. Making her way down the hall and to the right, she came face to face with Pietro's room. She took a deep breath, held it, then slowly turned the doorknob. It opened with a click.
"Pietro?"
It was eerily similar to the exact same scene that played itself out nearly one week ago, except this time, the roles were reversed. But before Wanda had a chance to think, she heard a lightswitch flick on, the room was suddenly flooded in light, and Pietro was blinking at her.
"Wanda?" There was a strange expression on his face that Wanda couldn't interpret. "What are you doing still up?"
Wanda shrugged. "I dunno. Couldn't sleep, I guess," she said dully. She glanced around the room, which was now bare. "So.. I guess you're really leaving tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess..." Pietro sighed, also glancing around the now empty room that he'd called home for the last year. He gave a hollow laugh, his eyes travelling back to the duffel bag that was lying open on his bed. "Well, guess that's that."
"Pi, you don't have to do this, you know," Wanda said quietly, plopping down on his bed. "I mean..." she trailed off.
"Yes, yeah I do Wanda," Pietro chucked his bag on the floor and flopped down on the bed. "More than you'll ever know. Do you know how often I kicked myself for letting Ma- er.. Mr. Unpleasant lock you up in that asylum that night? I still remember." He bit his lip. He hated more than anything in the world to admit his weaknesses. But they were all in the past. Or where they? Pietro fidgeted nervously, casting his mind around for any other topic.
"Pietro?"
The speedster looked up. "Yeah?"
"There's just still one more thing I want to know, Pietro," Wanda said. This had been troubling her every since she'd woken up in her asylum cell a month ago in a cold sweat.
"Shoot, sis."
"Do you... remember something about a 'wady-bug'?"
Pietro looked startled. "How'd you know about my dream?"
"Your dream?"
"Yeah, for about a week before you showed up, I had dreams about us as kids. In one of them, you were saying something about a wady-bug, but I can't remember what you were saying exactly."
"Whoa..." Wanda muttered. "That's just freaky..."
"What?"
"I had that dream around the same time."
Pietro gave a faint grin at his sister. "Guess the twin thing really does exist, huh?"
"Yeah..." Wanda felt a new surge of fury toward Magneto. How *could* he just take that away from them AGAIN? And so nonchalantly too! "I'm gonna get him one of these days..." she growled, almost to herself.
The white haired speedster sighed. "Wanda, you can't just tackle him by yourself," he said in a tired tone.
"Pietro, when I do go up against him," Wanda said in a quiet voice. "I ask that you don't get in my way."
"But-"
Wanda gazed levelly at him, with a don't-test-me-on-this look on her face. "Pietro, I'm serious. You may be older, but I can definitely take care of myself. I AM going up against him, and if *anybody* gets in my way, I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to them."
Pietro sighed. "Okay, okay, I get the point. I just-" *I just don't want to see you get hurt.* "Just don't go overboard with the whole revenge thing, okay?"
Wanda stared at a spot past Pietro. "I can't guarantee that," she said. "That's like- like asking Freddy to don't go overboard with eating up the house. I can't do that, Pietro. You know I can't."
Pietro sighed again. He'd expected such an answer from Wanda, but it still kinda hurt to hear it from her, not that he would ever admit it. "Yeah. Okay." He looked around his empty room. "Never thought I'd actually want to stay here longer in this pigpen with my crazy housemates doing crazy things," Pietro mused to himself. His tone was hard to describe. "Well, it's been fun while it lasted. Guess this is it. Adieu, sayonara, au revoir, finito, bye bye."
"You don't have to do this to yourself, you know."
Pietro groaned. "Work with me here, Wanda, let's not go through that again. It's hard enough having to do this without having to go through second thoughts." Biting his lip, he looked away. "I just- feel that I have to do this. It's not fair that you had to go through all those years in that place, while I had the high road here. Trust me, I'm far from thrilled about having to do this, and quite frankly, I'm scared shitless, okay? Yeah, let it be known to the world that Pietro Maximoff is scared. I don't care who you tell, just not the guys and definitely not Daniels. I prefer you not tell anyone though. I'm telling you cuz- well- now that we're on good terms again and I don't have to worry about you killing me," Pietro gave Wanda a grin. "and hey, c'mon, you're my little sis-"
"Let's not forget the part called 'four minutes apart'" Wanda said dryly. She hated the thought of being younger and inferior to anybody, especially only by four lousy minutes.
"Fine, four minutes, whatever. But I'm still older- Ow!" Wanda had kicked him in the shin. "Okay,okay!"
Wanda smirked, but then grew serious again. "Trust me bro, whatever you tell me, I'm definitely not going to blab it out to those Xlosers." She scowled. "I'd like to wipe that sorry group of overpriviledged geeks to Kindom Come," she muttered. "Permanently."
"Yeah," Pietro laughed. "Just don't let Lance hear you say that. He may hate that group with a bloody passion, but he kinda goes into LaLa Land and somehow always gets lost in there whenever his precious little Meow Meow enters the scene."
"I've noticed. It's kinda hard NOT to notice." Wanda snickered.
Pietro grinned at his sister. It was great to get Wanda on his side again. He had missed that closeness, that bond, more than he was willing to admit. "Hey, you remember that time in preschool? You know, when we stayed up way longer than we were supposed to, rehearsing so we could make the other kids think we could read each other's minds?" he laughed a bit at this. "They believed us, too. It was great..."
"Oh yeah," Wanda smirked. That particular memory had lain half forgotten, dormant in the back of her mind for all these years. Suddenly, surges of childhood memories with Pietro surged back to her. Wanda and Pietro, doing this. Pietro and Wanda, doing that. Her early life flashed past before her. Pietro and Wanda as children, running around outside all day, being... children. Images flashed by of them climbing trees, making forts, playing King of the Mountain. She had always been somewhat of a tomboy growing up. The images were happy ones, the siblings were always together. Then, it suddenly reeled to a stop on that cold dark and rainy night when the twins were nine years old, like an old film projector that stopped working in the middle of an important lecture. *What's the rest of the story?* Wanda thought. The broken part of the projector, of her life, her years at the asylum, had been pretty much a blank.
"Hey Sis, you okay?" Pietro looked at Wanda with a question mark in his dark blue eyes.
"Huh?" Wanda blinked, and was surprised to find tears in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away impatiently, praying that Pietro hadn't seen it. "Yeah, I'm fine." Nothing could be further from the truth, but maybe Pietro had the right idea in switching the topic to that particular memory. Maybe it *was* better to think and talk happy thoughts for the few hours that they still had together.
They talked well into the night and into the early hours of the morning. After countless yawns, Wanda finally fell asleep. Pietro bit his lip, watching her. Was he really doing the right thing? Even he wasn't so sure now. But he *had* to be. For the sake of all.
