-Authors' notes-
Life-of-L.A. & Silverwolf: Let us start off with apologies for the late chapter. Took us almost two months, we know. Life-of-L.A. has just finished a round of tests (blasted mid-terms), and is completely exhausted. Who the hell said school was fun? Meanwhile, Silverwolf has been busy with 'college crap', as she likes to call it. Again, who the bloody hell said school was fun? Not to mention the fact that Silver's in the fall play of the school she goes to, and has been busy with rehearsals, while Life-of-L.A. is being her usual social self and quite busy organizing club events, doing extra curricular activities, and etc. in her school. In short, we're damn busy these days. And our muses are drowning in all the work, not getting a chance to get creative.
But really, we are sorry for the delay; Seta Kaede has been so punctual and despite the fact that there are two of us and one of her, we're always the late ones. So, in conclusion- sorry Seta. And sorry, readers.
We'll make it up with Wanda's entrance.
Seta Kaede, you're on in five; four-three-two- cue
Seta Kaede: Blinks at the flash of light. Big smile. Hi everybody, sorry about the long delay and just for the record you two are officially forgiven. The chapter rocks and I will get to work on our next chapter as soon as possible. Anyway, my damn midterms are finally done, hoorah! I thought they were never going to end. The human body has an excellent capacity to go without sleep when necessary. That is the lesson for this week boys and girls. Now to sign off. (until next time)
The reviewer responses will begin in five-four-three-two-cue opening title
Review Responses – as done by Seta Kaede
Cammy Don't know exactly how Pietro and Wanda are gonna interact quite yet. But you can bet they are gonna have some major issues!
Kapparan Majic Here is the chapter with you favorite character!
Wanda just happens to enter in this chapter. She is going to be an actual part of the story! I hope you keep reviewing.
ray1 Reactions galore in this chapter and I am frantically working on the next one. Please keep reviewing!
LadyEvils Thanks for the review I hope you like this chapter, more of Wanda will be explored in this chapter.
Bronwen Thanks for the review and updates are coming, just slowly because of school.
Gianna Here is another chapter, sorry about the long wait, don't blame me!
Let the story begin – lights-camera-action!
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Chapter 3. Reunited but for what cause?"...Your sister?"
Three voices echoed the words identically.
"My sister," Pietro sighed.
"But you told us-"
"I know," Pietro looked away, averting his eyes to the ground. "I'm sorry. I just... I just couldn't tell you guys the truth. I- I didn't know until it was too late... I abandoned her. Just like that. She never ran away... I... I let him lock her up! I let him lock her up," as his voice fell, the three didn't hesitate to move closer. Lance quietly pulled him close, putting his arm around the younger boy.
"It's all right Pietro."
Nodding over to the more shaded area around the gates, Tabitha gently led her brothers to a spot under a tree. Todd silently took Pietro's hand after the teen sat down, along with the rest of the Brotherhood.
"It wasn't her fault- it was her powers, they were so uncontrollable, but that wasn't her fault, she didn't have any choice- I didn't stop him- I just let him lock her up so he wouldn't have to deal with anything. It wasn't her fault. He just didn't care. He just locked her up. I didn't do anything. I didn't help her. It's my fault," his voice broke, and sobbing, he held on to them.
"Pietro, it's not your fault," Lance assured softly.
Knelt close to them, in front of Pietro, Tabitha nodded. "Don't blame yourself, Pietro. None of it was your fault."
On the white-haired teen's left, Todd never let go.
It was several minutes before Pietro managed to calm down, and to the Brotherhood this was a lengthy period of time, as they were always to complete everything in the least amount of time possible- sometimes even impossible times.
Breathing steady once more, Pietro had explained to them the whole story- the twins' powers had emerged on the same day, a month before their fourteenth birthdays; that much the Brotherhood had known.
What they had not known was that, after discovering their powers, Pietro and Wanda had gotten different reactions from their 'father'. As Wanda could not control her powers at the time, he had simply locked her up in the asylum, while leaving Pietro to continue living with the Maximoffs for further observations.
"I need to get her out. I should never have left her..."
"It wasn't your fault Pietro," Tabitha reassured, brushing the boy's bangs out of his face. "Believe us."
As Pietro nodded slowly to the three, Lance turned his attention on the building of the asylum. Clearing his voice, he changed the topic to the subject requiring immediate attention, now that they were ready.
"All right, we're breaking her out, then. Pietro, do you know anything about the structure of the building?"
Even before Pietro shook his head, Todd and Tabitha were shaking theirs. "Lance, don't do anything too big," Todd reminded, worry overtaking his features, barely having had time to leave after Pietro's minor breakdown.
"We need to be discreet; if any of this gets out as more than an accident, it won't be hard to point it to us," Tabitha continued. "No evidence left behind."
Nodding, Lance sighed. "How much power do we have?" he asked after a moment, looking around.
"Not much..." Pietro admitted, followed by Todd's silent nod.
"I can take a little," Tabitha murmured.
"I think the most I can do is find her. So we'll have to go the old-fashioned way from there."
The three nodded to Lance and with that, he closed his eyes, the strain visible. It was a minute till he opened them again, a light coat of perspiration glistening on him.
"She's in one of the rooms by the east wall."
"...So what do we do?" Todd asked.
Wanda Maximoff had just returned from a meeting with a certain Professor Xavier, and she was not in a very happy mood. Not that the scenario played out that way very often.
What she hadn't been expecting was another cause to leave her cell, at least not until much later that day, in the evening.
Nonetheless she wasn't about to let the surprise deter her from putting up a fight as the workers came to get her. Scowling, she glared at the door as it opened, but was actually taken aback to see that only two people were there.
And they seemed surprised to see her.
Things were getting strange... maybe they were new employees. Or maybe she was just going crazy at last. After staying in an asylum for two years, it was a distinct possibility, though she was almost positive she hadn't been insane when she was first placed in this state of captivity. No, she hadn't...
"Wanda... are you Wanda?" the first of the two spoke, uncertainty clear in her voice; her voice was oddly calm and somewhat... comforting. But then again, that wasn't possible, was it.
Nothing was comforting where she was.
Glowering still, she nodded. So they were new. Mindless as well, to come in without any aid from the more experienced the employees.
"Don't do anything," as if they had guessed, "we're here to help you," as if they could. "Please, just trust us."
The female stepped closer, and just as Wanda melted away the metal locks on her restraints, she slashed out at the pale green uniform-clad woman. Only to have her wrist caught with ease... gloved hands? That had never happened before.
The second of the two quietly approached, his voice equally gentle as he spoke. The only thing Wanda noticed that didn't have a comforting air about it was that he had beads of sweat running down his face.
"We want to help you, Wanda. You have to trust us on this. Don't fight. We'll explain everything later."
Wanda merely glared. As she struggled against the grasp, the side of her hand scraped against something...metallic.
The other had seemingly noticed this as well, for she quickly let go, jerking away... almost... defensively?
The male reached for the other, but she only shook her head, looking at Wanda still. There was something about her eyes that reminded Wanda of someone... someone... but who?
"Give us a chance. We're on your side. And we're getting you out of here."
Wanda didn't know why, but she found herself lowering her arms. Finally she spoke. "If this is a trick-"
"It's not," the male assured. "Are you with us?"
After a moment, Wanda nodded. A relieved look immediately crossed both the others' faces.
"Good, then we'll get going now. I'm going to have to ask you to be silent however."
As she narrowing her eyes, distrust obvious, the male sighed.
"Please, just believe us for now. We don't have much time, and this is the only chance we have."
"...Fine."
The hallway seemed to be never-ending, but the tension only increased as the three approached the exit- and the guards.
The first of the two guards looked over with a grin and a greeting. "Hey, how're you doing?"
"Fine, thanks," as the male of their company spoke; Wanda's eyebrows knitted in confusion- the guards didn't seem to notice her at all.
The other guard cocked his head however, looking at them. "Hey, I haven't seen you three around before- you new or something?"
"Yeah, we're... filling in..." the female trailed off, but the guard seemed not to have noticed.
"Oh, for Jake and Billy, eh? They finally went on vacation?"
"Uh, yeah, I think they were the ones; we didn't get that much information. We just finished out shifts, so-"
"Man, I need my vacation," the guard said wistfully.
"Who doesn't? Boss doesn't like us to go off so much though," the other guard agreed.
Wanda didn't say anything though she was thoroughly confused now. The confusion didn't keep her from noticing the male starting to sweat more profusely however. Nor was she the only one, apparently, because the female was getting tenser and even the second guard was peering at him curiously.
"Hey man, you all right? It's not that hot in here, is it?"
"No, I just sweat easily," the male smiled sheepishly, but there was a definite hint of nervousness in his voice.
"It's taking so long. It shouldn't take this long, should it? It shouldn't take this long..."
"Relax Pietro. You're going to bring a rain shower or something over here. They'll get here any minute now."
"No, my power's cut off right now. I couldn't get a single drop of rain even if I tried."
"Still, worrying makes you tired."
Looking over at Todd's concerned face, Pietro sighed, looking away.
"Sorry Todd. I didn't mean to make you worried. I'm just anxious..." He nodded over to the trees by the beginning of the forest. "Let's wait over there; we'll be less noticeable. Just in case someone does look out or something."
"I'm thinking about going on vacation myself, after this job. Where would you recommend?" Tabitha interrupted, looking at the guards.
As she had expected, numerous enthusiastic suggestions flew at her, and Lance was forgotten.
Without hesitating Tabitha reached over to Lance discreetly, tapping him lightly once, making him turn to look at her, though she was still looking at he guards, nodding to their words.
Silently she moved over to the counter, taking Lance's place as Lance and Wanda moved further towards the wall.
I'll handle them. Phase out.
What? No! Tabby-
I have it! Phase out while you can! Go!
At the commanding urgency in her telepathic voice, Lance clenched his fists, closing his eyes for a second. Finally he grabbed Wanda and turned to the wall.
"Really? So you wouldn't recommend Florida at all?" Tabitha pretended to be surprised, thought she hardly cared about the orange juice-producing state.
Behind her she mentally felt Lance leave with a very confused Wanda, past the wall. Sighing, she quickly adjusted the telepathic mirage she had around her to imitate their presence along with hers- three uniformed employees of the asylum.
"Right, so how about... whoa, what's going on over there?"
The guards' eyes turned to see what she was pointing at- one of the camera screens showed that a small fight had broken out in the cafeteria.
"Oh man."
Tabitha shook her head, giving them a sympathetic look.
"You'd better go. I'll check myself out," she suggested.
"Yeah, thanks," the first of the guards nodded, heading down the hall already.
"Why always on my shift?" the second murmured to himself as he followed.
As soon as they turned the corner, Tabitha swerved around to the nearest room, quickly entering and closing the door behind her.
Relieved to find the window she had been hoping for, she ran over to it and climbed out.
"Who are you?!" Wanda demanded, trying to jerk away from Lance.
"I'm a friend of Pietro's. He's waiting for you outside the gates," Lance replied, letting go of her.
"Pietro?!"
"We have to get out of here. We'll explain everything later," as he broke out into a run, Wanda found herself running alongside.
"Where are we going?"
"Just out to the edge of the forest."
"Lance!"
Todd jumped up from the rock he had been sitting on, and Pietro scrambled off the ground. "Where's Tabby?"
"Change of plans," Lance replied, finally allowing himself to catch up with his breath, taking in gasps of air after running so hard.
Eyes widening, Pietro looked at Lance with frenetic blue eyes, reverting once more to panic.
"What do you mea..Wanda." Freezing at the sight of the latter, whom he had only now noticed, Pietro stared.
"...Pi-Pietro?"
"What I miss?"
Everyone turned at the last voice, relieved sighs leaving each.
"Tabby! That was horrible, leaving you there alone! Why'd you-"
"Everything went fine," Tabitha interrupted, looking at Lance as she stepped closer to the nearest tree and leaned on it. "It's all right Lance. We couldn't have followed the original plan anyhow. I couldn't wipe out all the cameras, even when I was leaving by myself," she said between deep breaths. "...Shit, I think I'm crashing..." she mumbled.
"Tabby!" Todd cried out as she collapsed.
Lance caught her before she could fall down completely onto the ground. "Tabby? Can you stay awake? Is it bad? Damn, I should've stayed behind and you should have taken Wanda out."
"I can't phase," Tabitha murmured. "And you were worse off than I was, trying to handle everything alone like that. You know better. You should have told me you were reaching limits. But we have to get away from here. They're going to notice that some of the cameras are out, and I didn't do a very good job of things."
It was only then that Wanda found her voice once more. "...Who are you all?"
"This has got to be the weirdest thing to ever happen here- who'd want to take that kid anyhow?"
"Maybe she just managed to get past us somehow. Who knows what happened."
Clenching his fists, a third guard turned around, heading towards the security room. Upon reaching it he promptly closed the door, locking it.
Quickly he moved, sitting down and looking through the different tapes, rewinding and fast-forwarding for something that could be of aid in his search.
It wasn't until he got to the fourth tape that he found something worth looking at.
For just before the camera short-circuited, he spotted a certain person in the background. Before he could check the other tapes, he heard footsteps.
Getting up, he grabbed all the tapes, shoving them into the bag he had brought with him. Unlocking the door he quickly left the room, hearing the approaching person come down the hallway just as he turned the corner.
Proceeding on, the guard managed to get outside the building with no more encounters. Once outside, a gray-haired old lady met him. But merely shaking his head quickly, he motioned to the car, and both got in.
As they drove off, Mystique finally took her own form once more.
"Someone made it here before I did. But luck seems to be on my side," Mystique smirked, tossing the bag with the videotapes onto the floor of the car as she recollected the face in the background- a familiar face.
A certain earthquake-creating mutant to be exact.
"I know who they are."
"How did things go?"
"Not very well. I haven't made much progress with her," Professor Charles Xavier sighed. "I'm afraid Wanda is too blinded by the desire to hate that she won't let anyone show her otherwise."
"She just needs a little time, I'm sure."
"Let's hope so, my friend."
"That's not the only thing troubling you, is it?" Hank asked, noting the tone of the telepath. "What's on your mind, Charles?"
"As I left, I felt some strange presences... they had a familiar feeling about them, yet they were distinctly unlike anyone else I have ever met."
"Do you think they were mutants?"
"Perhaps. I'm not certain. They had a dulled aura about them, and I couldn't identify them... it was almost as if someone, or something, was preventing me from discovering them."
"...So, back to the question you asked earlier," Lance said, breaking the silence as he put a few more branches into the undersized fire. The five were sitting around circularly in a small clearing, having determined that they had little choice but to camp out in the woods nearby the asylum for the night.
Everyone looked up, and the tension rose as millions of unspoken thoughts and questions crossed their minds.
"You asked us who we were," Lance elaborated, though they already knew which question he had been referring to.
"TyraÄ... Lance. Lance Alvers," he corrected himself, his voice falling down to a murmur as he looked away. "My name is Lance Alvers."
"...Wanda Maximoff. Though you already knew."
Noticing the correction Lance had made, Tabitha sighed mentally, pushing herself up off the tree trunk she had been leaning against and walking over. Sitting down next to Lance and taking his hand, she spoke, continuing the introductions.
"...Tabitha Smith... I'd put more of a bang in the intro, but I'm out of power right now," she grinned a little, a veiled attempt to thaw some of the tension.
Nodding, Wanda turned to Todd, the only person yet to be introduced.
"I'm Todd Tolensky," Todd said simply, putting some dried leaves into the fire, listening to it crackle. "Nice to meet you."
Lastly Wanda's gazed stopped at Pietro, whose eyes were downcast.
Until now, she had been so angry, so mad at him. For leaving her there. For leaving her alone.
For leaving her.
But... seeing him now... something had broken in him. Two years had passed since they had last seen each other, and now it seemed that she hadn't been the only one seeking a different life.
She couldn't bring herself to be mad at him, to hate him as she had so often wished in the time spent in her cell.
"...Wanda... I... I... I don't..."
"I'll be right back," Wanda murmured as she got up, turning around and heading into the woods. She needed to go for a walk.
Looking up and watching her leave for a second, Pietro's eyes clouded, and his gaze fell.
Tabitha shook her head as Lance started to move towards Pietro, motioning to Todd, who was obviously exhausted after the rescue, having distracted the first pair of guards with Pietro while Lance and Tabitha had made their way in.
His eyes portrayed his every concerns and worries all to clearly; nonetheless the youngest of the family was barely shaking off the sleep,
"Get him to sleep- there's those two blanket we have in the duffle bag still, and we have a few more clothes he could use."
Hesitating because he knew that Tabitha had worn herself out more than anyone else power-wise, Lance finally nodded.
"Are you going to be all right?"
"Lancey, I'm fine. You worry about yourself, okay? I know you're almost down too."
Lance sighed, but didn't deny it, as it would be useless. "We're going to have to avoid trouble more than usual tomorrow; Pietro's not well either. Try to get him to get some rest; I'm going to see if I can get Todd to sleep a little too," Lance said as he took the blankets and an extra sweater, walking over to Todd, who was sitting close by the small fire.
Pietro looked up as Tabitha sat down next to him, the action taking her a little more effort than it should have.
"Hey, you all right?"
"Yeah...sorry Tabby. You're drained and I'm making you worry about me when you don't even have to."
"I'm fine. How're you doing- not just powers and health, but how are you feeling. No lying."
"Pero me gustan mentiras," Pietro murmured.
"La verdad, Pietro."
"All right. Truthfully? Crappy as hell. But physically I'm good- I didn't really use powers today, so even with the block, things were all right. I think Todd was pretty strained though..."
"Pietro..." Wrapping her arm around the teen, Tabitha pulled him closer. "She'll understand."
"No... No pienso tan."
"¿Por qué Pietro?"
"...Porque...porque no entiendo también... If I don't even understand me most of the time, how could she? I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't even want to breathe the same air as me. She always stuck by me... she was the one that always protected me. But I... I..."
"Don't say that. She'll understand. Just give her a little time. She's your sister, and nothing will change that. She loves you. She's just mixed up right now."
"I think she hates me. I would hate me... and blood means nothing in our lives, haven't you noticed that?"
Tabitha shifted a little to let him lean more comfortably onto her, his head on her shoulder.
"Give her a chance Pietro. And give yourself a chance."
"They'll be fine Todd, don't worry. Now, I'll be here with you; I want you to get some sleep."
"I'm not tired..." Todd mumbled, but his eyes were half-closing already.
Placing the blanket on the ground, Lance gently picked the younger teen up, putting him down cautiously.
"Go to sleep, it'll be all right," Lance reassured as he wrapped the other blanket around the teen, tucking it close.
"Lance... what about Pietro? And his sister? Wanda?"
"I don't know Todd... Pietro's going to need some time to adjust. I don't know what Wanda is going to do. We'll know in the morning, probably. Get some sleep."
"You too... night," Todd fell sleep, more out of exhaustion than anything else.
"Good night Todd," Lance murmured.
Only after Pietro closed his eyes did Tabitha let a soft sigh escape her. She looked over to Lance and Todd, the first of whom was convincing the latter to sleep.
She could see the fatigue on them, and again the thought of how old they were struck her.
They were only teenagers, true, but their spirits were far beyond that, too old for their bodies.
Creases of worry forever crossed Lance's features, and Todd, who had once been the most cheerful of them, constantly feared for their health, not to mention other things. On Pietro the scars were not as physical, but the Brotherhood could see them all- scars that would never disappear.
Scars that decorated their own souls.
They would never heal.
Even now, though they had escaped Magneto, they were bound to him; and his control, his power over them remained- too strong for any of them to fight, too inconspicuous for them to be able to extract it from their lives.
Their subconscious still told them they were his, and she knew that to be true for certain.
Lance had automatically referred to himself, not as Lance, or even Avalanche, a name long forgotten to them now, but as TyraÄ.
And Tabby knew that, had he not corrected himself, making them aware of it, they too would have introduced themselves by the new names recently given to them... the names forced upon them. The names that were too prevalent in their lives now, and they mechanically fell back to them.
They were no longer Tabitha, Lance, Pietro and Todd.
They were Rovinata, TyraÄ, Títere, and Faible.
They knew themselves by the names Magneto had bestowed upon them; so powerful had the repercussions of anything otherwise been that they could not allow themselves, even now, to do otherwise.
A vague smirk fleeted across her face at the thought.
From behind the trees, Wanda looked on as Lance moved over to Pietro and Tabitha, carefully taking Pietro from Tabitha's arms and putting him down.
She watched as they placed some of the extra clothes around him, doing the best they could to keep him warm.
Not even when Tabitha and Lance took seats by the two and finished a short conversation, both starting to drift off against resolves, did Wanda walk out.
It wasn't until the dying fire threatened to let the darkness envelope the four, the shadows already shrouding them, that Wanda Maximoff walked out, taking a seat by the Brotherhood, putting a few branches in the fire.
Non-English Dialogue Translations:
Pero me gustan mentiras. But I like lying.
La verdad, Pietro. The truth, Pietro.
No... No pienso tan. No... I don't think so.
¿Por qué Pietro? Why Pietro?
...Porque...porque no entiendo también. ...Because... because I don't understand either.
Note: As for the switching of languages mid-sentence and such- it does happen. Trust us, it does happen naturally to most (all those we know, anyhow) people that are fluent in more than one language. Especially when the other person in conversation is also fluent in the same languages.