This Is Home

Disclaimer: I don't own.

Chapter 3: Laura's Opinion and Younger Sibling Bonding

After lunch, Laura and Clint took the kids to their rooms, leaving them alone to rest for a while. That gave the three adults (since Cooper was also taking a nap) time to talk. "So…am I still in trouble?" Clint asked Laura hopefully.

"Well…maybe. They're certainly sweet kids."

"They also have some pretty stunning powers," Natasha prompted.

"Yes, what can they do? You haven't told me."

"Well…" Clint said, trying to figure out how to express it. "He can run fast. And she…has telekinetic and telepathic powers."

"What?" Laura asked. "I mean, I get running fast. But what can Wanda do, in plain English?"

"She can move things with her mind and manipulate other people's minds."

"So…she's a Jedi."

"No-well. Yes, I guess she basically is."

Laura sighed. "Well, I'm certainly not going to turn away from a nice girl (and boy) like that for no reason."

"Many people would say superpowers is a good reason," Natasha pointed out.

She shrugged. "Maybe. I welcome two ex-assassins into my home on a regular basis, so…you can't really say I'm normal."

Nat laughed. "Fair point."

"What are we going to do? I mean, do you have a plan to raise them, in the real world, you know, where superpowers are considered dangerous?" She gave her husband a pointed glance.

"Well, you and Coop are already hidden pretty well, so we extend that to them."

"And how are we going to explain this to the school system? 'Oh, my husband found two superpowered orphans in Europe, and he brought them here…no, no, they're not actually here legally. I don't know how fluent they are in English, I don't know how much schooling they've had in the past, and they could snap and possibly kill everyone.' I don't think that would work, Clint."

"I'll…see what Fury can do. I imagine he could pull some strings." He hesitated. "Still, we might want to consider homeschooling them. They can get into less trouble that way, and they'll be harder for anyone to track and find."

"That's a good idea, especially since HYDRA might be wanting their superpowered twins back," Natasha added. "They'd be harder to find if they weren't in school."

"And…public schools are stressful places…I think I'm the only person here who actually went to regular school, yes?" Laura asked.

"Yes," Clint answered with a chuckle.

"Right. They…it would probably be easy for them to snap in a school."

"So, homeschooling?"

"We should look into it, anyway. As long as Fury can set up some legal documentation for them, because I'm sure we'll need that no matter what."

"I'll ask him when I go back," Natasha said.

"And when will that be?" Laura asked. "You're welcome to stay as long as you want, you know. You always are."

"Thanks. I think I'll be here for a day or two, but Fury wants either Clint or me around most of the time, so I'm going to have to go back."

"All right. We'll miss you, but thanks for doing it."

"I'm always glad to take things like this for you, you know that."

"Yes, well, thank you anyway." She sighed, laying her head on Clint's shoulder.

*T*I*H*

Wanda shot up in bed, gasping, tears streaming down her face. Wha-where am I? she thought, her heart racing. Even as she recalled what had happened, she basically fell out of bed and stumbled toward the door. Pietro, I must make certain Pietro is all right. However, her motion wasn't quiet enough to not draw the attention of anyone else, since a board creaked under her feet. She winced, knowing that someone would hear it. She opened the door and slipped down the hall. "Wanda?" she heard from the other end of the hall, where the staircase was. "Is everything all right?"

She turned to face Clint. "I-I have to check on Pietro."

He opened his mouth before snapping it closed and nodding. "All right." He led her down the hall, swinging a door open and gently guiding her in. She broke away from him and tiptoed toward the bed, smiling to see her brother sprawled on the bed, sleeping soundly. She let out a sigh of relief before slipping out, not wanting to disturb him. Clint closed the door behind her. "Feel better?"

She nodded. "Thank you."

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't sleep, not after the nightmare I had."

"Want to talk about it?" he asked as he, despite her answer, guided her back toward the room she had been sleeping in.

"No. No, I don't want to even think about it."

"I understand." He hesitated for a moment as they entered the room. He seemed to come to a decision as he sat on the bed, with Wanda climbing onto the bed beside him. "Who's older? You or Pietro?"

"He is, but just by twelve minutes."

He laughed. "Very important detail."

"Yes, well, he always reminds me that he is older."

"Oh, I'm sure. My…my brother did that, too."

"You have a brother?"

"I did. His name was Barney. We…we didn't exactly get along."

"What happened to him?" Wanda asked.

"He died. He had done some very bad things, and the consequences finally caught up with him."

Wanda swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's not your fault."

"I can only imagine how terrible it would be to lose Pietro for any reason, but particularly because he did some dumb things."

He laughed. "What he did was a bit more than dumb."

"Still, I'm sure it hurts."

"It does." He sighed. "But it's in the past."

"I guess." She sighed. "Clint?"

"Yes, Wanda?"

"What's going to happen to Pietro and me?"

"Well, if you'd like…Laura and I would like you and Pietro to stay with us, and maybe even adopt you, if you want, I mean."

Her eyes lit up. "You…you mean you want us? Even though we have these powers?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't we?"

"Since our parents died, no one really wanted us. HYDRA just wanted to…what's the English phrase…advantage us?"

"Take advantage of you."

"Yes, that. We lived in an orphanage for a while, and no one there wanted us."

"Well, we certainly want you."

She smiled. "Pietro might not be ready for that for a while, though. He might need some time to adjust."

He nodded. "Take all the time you two need; we'll be here for you, no matter what."

A/N: Guess what? I haven't abandoned this story! And I do plan to finish it (believe me, I've planned through Civil War; getting there is going to be the problem). So...yeah. Let me know what you think!