-Life-of-L.A. & Silverwolf-

We were actually pretty fast with this update, weren't we? And in this chapter, we have a relatively happy Brotherhood- for once! Poor guys needed a break.

-Seta Kaede-

Jeez you two just make me look bad! Alright I promise to be faster on the next update, definitely a rockin' chapter. Onto reviewer reviews (there's a tongue twister):

MeLaiya: Thanks for not losing us! I hope you'll keep reading! Hopefully you haven't died yet or you will miss this chapter.

LostAngel2: Your wish is my command, here is the next chapter and thanx for the review!

crazy-lil-nae-nae: Please keep reading and tell us what you think!

Karai & Renet: Sorry about the long wait on the last chapter; here is chapter 5 for you!

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Chapter 5. Being a part of something.

"I'm baaack!" Pietro proclaimed proudly, walking out of the bathroom with the bottle of gel in hand. A rare, fleeting smirk found its way back to him as he joined the waiting Lance and Todd, his hair now back in what had become his signature style.

"Tabby's turn with the hair gel... where'd she go?"

"She's helping Wanda with the new clothes and stuff," Lance informed, a small grin on his face at seeing Pietro better than he had seen in months. His reunion with his twin sister had done Pietro wonders to marvel at. Some of his confidence had returned, as well as his sly but playful joking mannerisms. Even Todd, Tabby and himself had benefited from this, feeling a little lighter themselves at seeing Pietro in decidedly better conditions. Wanda herself had been trying hard to reconnect with him, as well as start connecting with the rest of them. And if Lance wasn't completely mistaken, she was finding it easier than she had expected. Indeed, the newest to the group was fitting rather well into their formation already.

Now the girl was in the girls' bathroom to don the new outfit she and Tabitha had selected from the nearby store, with Tabitha to help; after all, Wanda's previous outfit had been almost as out-of-place in the streets as their uniforms had been.

"Introducing the beautiful and powerful Wanda Maximoff!" Tabitha declared with a grin as she emerged from the bathroom, leading a hesitant Wanda out by the hand. She was now clad in a black tank top with pants of the same colour, a red belt, and a red trench coat. A pair of simple black boots and black earrings with stones of scarlet completed the ensemble.

"...Wanda," Pietro breathed, surprise on his face- but, for the first time in months, it was of the pleasant sort. "You look... so... right."

Wanda shuffled her feet, uncharacteristically nervous. "You-You think so?"

"You look great," Todd supplied, as it seemed the middle brother of the family was lacking in adjectives at the moment.

"You don't think the hair's... messy?" Wanda fingered the fine black strands, and it was then that Lance realized that even her hair looked different. Most noticeable of the changes was that the bottom half of the almost-reaching-shoulders-length had been dyed.

But Lance noticed something else, something few would know to notice- her hair definitely looked glossier- healthier. In fact, Wanda's general appearance looked clearer and less mal-nourished. His eyes fell on the girl standing next to the raven-haired one, but the blond responsible didn't give him a chance to catch her eye.

"It looks perfectly fine! I'm telling you, the dye worked out well. And I can too work with hair and scissors; I trimmed out all the messiness- I did! Girl, you're a heartbreaker," Tabitha replied. "Now for the finishing touch- tada!" Her gloved hands held up a necklace, and without giving the girl a chance to respond, she had fastened the necklace around her neck. It was a black choker of velvet, with a simple but beautiful crimson gem falling from the middle. A silver rim adorned the gem, shimmering lightly.

"Perfect or what?" Tabitha grinned.

They had to agree.

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They were on the bus now, all crammed into the back seat, the last row of five.

Pietro, uncomfortable in enclosed space, had taken the window seat, needing the view outside, and Wanda- now also calling herself 'Hex', as she had felt a bit left out at the lack of a codename, despite all their assurances that it really wasn't necessary to have one- had seated next to him. In the other window seat Todd sat, leaning into Tabitha, who had an arm around him. Sitting in the middle, Lance saw that the he was fast asleep, as were the Maximoff twins.

"Tabby, you feeling all right?" he asked, his voice slightly lowered, both to keep from waking their friends, and to keep from anyone overhearing their conversation, though the bus had few other passengers, and most were sitting up front.

"Hm? Yeah- you?"

"Could be better," Lance admitted. "But not as bad as I could be."

She offered him a small smile of not only sympathy, but also empathy. "I know. This-," she fingered the metal collar on her with her free hand, "-bothering you too?"

"It's not terribly comfortable. But I'm more worried about you."

She raised an eyebrow at that. "I know that you have a hangover from yesterday's power overuse too, but I think you're worse off than I am, so don't worry about me, okay?"

"Well I can't help it," Lance murmured. "Besides, you used your powers again today- and may I mention that we've been almost completely cut off all day, which makes me completely lost as to how you even managed so much?"

"I did n-" Blue eyes faltered at the steady gaze of the deep brown, and she sighed. "Fine, Mr. Omniscience. I did. But she needed it, Lance," another sigh left her. "She's been so... trapped. She's never been out in the world before. She needed a little shopping and some pretty jewelry. The kind of stuff you expect to do as a teenager, as you're growing up. It made her feel more... normal. You know?"

"Yeah... yeah, I know," Lance sighed. "But you shouldn't have used your powers-"

"My powers can recharge. She just needed a little health boost. Besides, I'm used to feeling out of power, and she's not. Don't worry about it, all right Lance?"

"Only if you stop doing that," he replied with a half-grin, catching her hand from his shoulder and putting it down.

"Pardon?" she grinned, knowing he knew, but playing the game for laughs.

"Miss Tabitha Smith, I do not need a 'health boost'," he stated. "So please stop slowing the decimation of my physical particles, and go to sleep now, so I can take first watch."

"Oh fine. You sure you don't want me to take first watch? Not that many people here."

"Oh no you don't. I'm taking first watch, and you are going to get some rest, whether you want it or not."

"Wake me in half an hour, okay?" she smiled, knowing that he was too stubborn to change his mind and also knowing that he knew she was too stubborn to not wake her after the designated time.

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"You sure this is a good idea?" Wanda asked for the third time, still uncertain.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Don't worry," Tabitha replied nonchalantly.

"We've done this a million times," Pietro assured.

"But... it's... stealing," Wanda stated hesitantly.

"...Yes. But we don't really have a choice right now," Lance replied.

"And we need to get a room for the night," Todd added.

"Definitely- storm's coming," Pietro nodded. "I can feel it without even concentrating. Big storm."

"You don't have to do it- 'Tro and I can go," Tabitha continued. "You can stay with Lance and Todd. Pietro and I usually do it anyhow. You guys can go get some food with the money we do have."

"Yeah- Wanda, you must be really hungry- sorry about that. We're more or less used to one meal a day now," Lance sighed apologetically. "And you haven't had anything since those two sandwiches we split back around noon."

"No, it's okay, I wasn't really thinking about food today," Wanda replied, a little taken aback at the statement that they were used to one meal a day. She was kind of hungry, but it was true that she hadn't been thinking about eating all day. Her mind had been much too preoccupied with other things to think of food.

"Still, we all need dinner. You guys can go get some food for all of us and we'll meet back here, how's that," Tabitha suggested.

"Sounds good. Half an hour all right?" Lance looked at the two as they started walking off.

"Got it," Pietro nodded. He gave an encouraging look to Wanda, and a brief one to Lance before they left. To be quite frank, Pietro was a little worried about leaving Wanda behind- not because he didn't trust Lance and Todd to take care of her, but because, well, it was separation anxiety.

He had been away from her so long that it bothered him to leave her for even the half hour.

"C'mon Pietro, don't want to make them wait later. And we need this- I don't think it'll be a good idea to stay out for the night for a while, at least not until Wanda's more used to this."

He nodded. It was definitely true- Wanda had been locked up, yes, but that also meant that she had relatively sheltered living conditions- in the physical sense, and also, she had been kept from the rest of the world. It would do little good to expose her to the outside world suddenly and without warning. He wished they could have been in better situations, so that Wanda would have an easier time adjusting- not running, for one- but that couldn't be helped.

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"So, Wanda, what do you want to eat?" Lance asked as they walked.

"I don't care," she replied.

"You sure?" Lance repeated.

"I guess," Wanda shrugged. "What do you usually eat."

"Usually we just eat anything," Todd replied. "But it's the first time we're eating dinner with you- it should be special," he stated.

"Yeah- can't you think of something you want to eat? This dinner is to celebrate your joining, and it would be better if we got some food that you like," Lance agreed.

"Well... um..." Wanda hesitated. She wasn't sure what to make of this situation. She had never been a part of something before, and the idea of celebrating the joining of one had not occurred to her. Nor did she think that they had much money to use, and she felt uncomfortable at the thought that they would have to steal more just to get some food for the evening. But on the other hand, being part of something... it felt kind of nice. And she kind of liked it, being welcomed into the group.

"Anything is fine, really. So long as we have enough for everyone."

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Getting a room had been significantly easier than two nights earlier. Indeed, this time, they had not needed to pretend to be a country band.

It had likely been due to the fact that now they were dressed in normal, society-accepted clothes, and did not stand out as anything more than a bunch of teens on a road trip.

In any case, they had relatively clean and safe lodgings for the night and some dinner. They had made some progress with the 'road trip', on the boarders of New York now. All in all, it hadn't been a bad day at all.

"We have soda? Soda?" Pietro's voice did not hide the surprise and excitement, as he continued to take out their dinner from the paper bags.

"Well, special occasion," Lance replied with a grin at Wanda, who was sitting on the bed.

"And you got me pineapple! My favorite."

"We haven't had soda in a while," Todd whispered to Wanda, next to her. "And Pietro loves soda."

"It's like giving candy to a baby. Or, as the case is, giving candy to Pietro," Tabitha supplied as she handed each a plate of food, taking a seat on the bed as well. "Hey, orange soda! Nice."

"And lime for Todd, cheery cola for Wanda, and regular cola for me," Lance finished. "Can we eat now?" he chuckled, handing them out before taking a seat on the couch, the last piece of furniture in the room.

"Yes, yes, don't let my admiring of the soft drinks keep you waiting," Pietro joked as he sat down next to Lance.

"Don't worry, we won't," Tabitha chuckled, taking a bite as she spoke.

"Yeah, it's not like-" Lance stopped short, suddenly very aware of some people outside their door. Hesitantly, Lance got up and headed for the door, signaling for them to be silent and ready. Nodding, the three more battle-experienced of the remaining got up, Pietro moving to stand next to the rest while Tabby shielded both Todd and an uncertain Wanda. But before Lance even had a chance to reach the door, it burst open.

Lance immediately backed away at seeing the ones responsible it was.

"Fuck."