{Author's Note: Thank you again to everyone who has left a review. sortakindamaybeperhaps: I'm so happy you're enjoying the story! So here's the crazy thing…I originally thought about having it be the Avenger's universe, but now I'm having an internal struggle because I don't know if I have enough motivation to take the story in that direction. I know where the story will go if I take them back to the X-men universe, but I'm also still considering going the Avengers storyline route. I'll just have to wait and see if inspiration strikes. Hopefully, I'll have more time to write in a couple of weeks once finals finish up, until then I'll brainstorm. It might appear in this chapter like I'm set to send them back to their own universe, but nothing is set in stone. Please feel free to comment again. I appreciate the input.}

Chapter 19

AL POV

It had been strange these past two weeks, sharing his home with other people again, but maybe that's just because the people he had been sharing his home with were a little…strange.

Nevertheless, he had been enjoying the company, but there had been times, mostly in the morning when he wasn't quite awake yet, where he had to remind himself that the young man coming down the stairs in the early hours of the day to help out on the farm wasn't his son.

And whenever that realization fully formed in his mind, he felt a twinge of sadness, but the young man currently residing in his home was a father too, who it seemed had also lost his son, though fortunately, unlike Al, he had not lost him forever. Upon further discussion with his daughter, Wanda, when he'd ask if she and Pietro had other siblings, she had mentioned a younger cousin who was like a sister and an older sister whom she and her brother never met.

The way Wanda talked about their older sister, it was clear to Al that the reason she and Pietro hadn't met her was because she had died. Al didn't press for details or inquire the circumstances of their sister's death, but it didn't matter. Either way, Al discovered that Erik had known the loss of a child, so in a way, he felt the two of them understood something about the world that others did not.

Even though Al barely knew the kid, Al was glad the boy was recovering, but he could tell that psychologically, Pietro still had a long way to go. He had been around enough soldiers with PTSD, and he himself had struggled with it, to know that boy had been through something that wasn't just going to go away. He just hoped that Wanda and Erik would be able to help the kid get back to the here and now, because Al, who had never quite gotten over his own experience with war, certainly wasn't equipped to be a therapist.

Even so, he'd tried to help out the worn down family the best he could. He'd given Wanda some books to share with her brother, thinking maybe they'd offer the boy an escape. She'd seem genuinely grateful, and he'd heard her reading out loud to Pietro on occasion, but he never heard the boy comment, chuckle, or give any response at all.

Just like her father, Wanda seemed completely focused on her brother practically 24/7, but hoping she'd maybe take some time for herself to unwind, Al had also told the her that she could use his laptop to surf the internet, watch Netflix, or whatever else the kids do these days, but she had just given him a blank look like she had no idea what he was talking about before kindly replying, 'thank you but the books will be fine.'

The lack of knowledge of technology and current references—even less so than Al's 65 year old self—not to mention the incident with the flying tractor frame and the couple of coffee mugs getting obliterated with red energy, all supported Al's theory that his house guests were aliens.

Frankly, Al found himself feeling a tad idiotic to have been so closed minded before to never really entertain the idea that there were other beings out there besides humans, but whatever the case may be and wherever these people came from, Al felt a connection to them in a way he didn't think he would ever have with people again since his wife had passed, his son had been killed in action, and his daughter had moved half-way across the country.

Al's lip twitched into a hint of a smile as he set out some plates on the kitchen table. It was nice to be setting a place for four, rather than one. Al went to retrieved the sizzling bacon he had been cooking from the stove top. It was a Sunday morning, but despite the early hour, Al wasn't the only one awake. His house guests seemed to be early risers too, well…that is, except for Pietro who never really seemed to want to get up or out of his bedroom, unless Wanda or Erik gently forced him to move and join them for meals and such.

Erik was outside fixing a portion of the fence Al had around his horses but as Al flipped some pancakes, he heard the back door open, presumably by Erik who had likely finished his task and decided to come back inside the house. At the same time, Wanda entered the kitchen.

"Perfect timing. I'm just finishing breakfast." said Al handing a plate to Wanda. "Help yourself."

"Thank you, but Erik, will you help me get Pietro downstairs? I know it's not that late, but I think it's better if we wake him up. He barely got out of bed yesterday. I don't think all that sleep is good for him, and he seems to do be a bit better if we get him up and moving earlier in the day."

Erik. That was another thing Al noticed. Wanda never called her father dad or father for that matter.

"Yes. I agree. Just let me wash my hands first." said Erik as he headed to the sink. "I'm glad you're up already too, I wanted to tell you, last night Pietro actually said—"

Erik stopped speaking and Al looked up from what he was doing as he heard a plate crash to the ground. Turning his eyes to the source of the noise, he saw that Wanda had dropped her plate. Following her gaze, Al noticed that she wasn't looking at the ground. Her eyes were focused on the kitchen entry way, where Pietro stood leaning on his crutches.

"H—h—hi sis." said Pietro rapidly, but still fumbling over the words a little.

Wanda was motionless for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes before she stepped over the forgotten broken ceramic plate and threw her arms around her brother, who awkwardly patted her on the back as best he could while leaning on his crutches.

Al was surprised Pietro didn't tense up at the sudden physical contact because the boy had been extremely jumpy the past weeks whenever anyone touched him. It was almost like for Pietro Wanda's rapid movement wasn't so quick to him, but Al just wrote it off to the fact that for the first time, the kid actually seemed aware of what was happening around him rather than being trapped in his own head.

After about a minute, Wanda, smiling with unshed tears in her eyes, finally pulled away from Pietro, but kept a grip of his shoulders between her arms. "I missed you, Pietro. I missed you so much."

Shrugging with a small smile on his face, Pietro responded, "Yea…well what can I say? Guess I just have that affect on people."

Al watched as Wanda just smiled in return with watery eyes, even Erik did not look completely unaffected by the exchange as he stood a little ways away from his children, appearing in Al's mind as if he did not feel worthy of sharing the same joy Wanda had at seeing Pietro alert and up and about, but his eyes shown with pride and love for his children all the same.

"How are you doing? Did you sleep better? Is your leg causing you much pain?" Wanda asked her brother at a rate that—had Al known what Pietro's normal demeanor was—he would've said she'd given him a run for his money in terms of vocal speed.

"Easy Wanda." Said Erik. "Don't overwhelm him with questions. Why don't you both come sit down and get something to eat. Okay?"

The teenagers both nodded, and went to sit down at the table where they helped themselves to the food Al had prepared. Throughout breakfast, Wanda, Erik, and Al kept the conversation lighthearted trying not to overwhelm Pietro. They discussed the current book—Harry Potter—Wanda had started reading that morning, which she thought Pietro would enjoy, along with other activities Erik had helped with on the farm. The boy was still fairly quite, mostly nodding or shaking his head when appropriate, and we he did speak it was in quick short fragments. But it was more progress than Al would've thought possible just earlier that morning.

As Al cleared the table after they finished eating, Wanda spoke up, "So would you like to do something today, Pietro?"

Pietro looked down at his left arm, his gaze locking on a tattoo there that Al noticed read mutant and had the number 713 etched below it. The tattoo reminded Al of how the Nazi's marked those in prison camps back in World War II. He'd also observed that Erik had a similar tattoo even more reminiscent of the Nazi regime, and Al wondered what the stories behind those tattoos were. Whatever the tale, Al was sure it wasn't a happy one.

"What is Pietro? What do you want to do?" asked Wanda hopefully.

Looking up, Pietro answered, "I—I want to go home."

"You—you do?" asked Wanda.

"Pietro, are you sure that's what you want?" asked Erik. "You don't have to pretend you want to go back just because you think Wanda and I want to. We could stay here. Well maybe not here…we may be reaching the limit of Al's hospitality, but we could find some place. Start fresh."

Before Pietro could answer, Al jumped in, "Hey, you all can stay here as long as you need to or want to. Honestly, I appreciate the company."

"Thank you, Al." said Erik. "Pietro, really you don't—"

"I want to go back." Said Pietro. "I do. I want to see Mila again and Alex, and I have to find out if Alex's brother is okay. I—I am scared…of going back there, but I want to stop those people and make sure other mutants never have to go through what I did. I can't hide here…not forever. I'll have to go back eventually. .It'sTheRightThingToDo." Pietro finished taking a deep breath in to calm himself.

Though Al had been a bit thrown at the speed at which Pietro had spoken, he could still tell the boy didn't like discussing this. He looked worn out from being so vocal and as though he wanted to retreat back inside himself.

"Okay, Pietro. It's okay. If that's what you want, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're going to rest, perhaps go to Charles' school. This is not yet your fight. You still have a lot of growing up to do, and you're going to enjoy it. Maybe when you're older, things will be different, but right now, you're going to have to let others help you. Alright?" finished Erik.

Pietro sort of half nodded half shrugged. Al didn't exactly follow everything the kid was saying, but he followed it enough to be grateful that he didn't have to parent the two teenagers in his home. Not that he thought they were bad kids. Quite the opposite actually, as strange as they may be, he just had a feeling that in the coming years their father would have a difficult time stopping them from growing up as fast as they might want, especially with whatever had already occurred in their lives.

"Wanda." Erik began. "I know we briefly discussed our journey home earlier, but do you think—

"I can do it." Said Wanda with much more confidence than she felt. "I brought us here, I can get us back. I can. Do you…when do you want to go, Pietro?"

Pietro looked at Wanda with his dark brown eyes through a layer of silver bangs and answered, "Now. I want to go now.…I just…can you do something for me first?"

PIETRO POV

"Pietro, I really don't think I'm qualified to do this. This is a mistake waiting to happen."

"No." replied Pietro. "asking Erik to do this would've been a mistake. You'll figure it out."

"Well thanks for the vote of confidence, but I still don't think it's a good idea. And are you sure you want to cut it. I mean, you've had long hair for practically forever."

It was true. Pietro had had long hair since he was old enough to decide for himself how he wanted it. He hadn't always liked his hair, being that it was the color someone at least three times his age might have. He'd even tried to dye it when he was younger, and he still found himself wishing he'd been born with his sister's hair color from time to time, but more recently he had come to accept it. As he'd grown older, it had acted as somewhat of a comfort, something he could hide behind when—despite all of the bravado he displayed before he was taken—he actually had felt a great deal of self-doubt in a world where after his sister had left, he had felt so alone. But he didn't want to hide anymore, and he was different now. He needed a change.

His hair was longer than it had ever been before too, just grazing the top of his shoulders.

Guess that will happen when psychos want to examine everything that makes you so different from them.

"Just cut it, Wanda. I trust you."

"But you haven't even said how you want it cut!" said Wanda in exasperation. "I know you're fast, but might I remind you that your speed doesn't crossover into rapid hair growth. If I cut it, it's going to stay that way for awhile."

"I know, Wanda. I just…I just want it to be different. I need…I need to see a change when I look in the mirror. Okay? Just surprise me."

"But…okay, Pietro…I just wanted to be sure that this is really what you want."

WANDA POV

Wanda sighed. This was scarier than the prospect of having to get them all back to their own universe. Okay, maybe not, but it was a bit nerve-racking. Pietro never liked anyone messing with his hair, and now he wanted her—someone who was definitely not a beautician, and whose own hair management style went about as far as running a brush through it in the morning, or putting it in a pony tail to braiding it, if she was feeling particularly motivated—to cut it.

But if this would help Pietro get better, and it was what he wanted, then she would do it. She would do anything for her brother.

Setting to work, she picked up the scissors and electric hair clippers Al had provided. After a bit of experimentation, she figured out how to turn on the clippers, but when she turned her gaze back to where her brother sat on a stool in the middle of the bathroom, his eyes were wide and she could see fear radiating from them.

"Peter?" she asked cautiously.

"Pete, are you okay?" Wanda asked a little louder, her anxiety rising when her brother didn't respond. The fear had gone from his eyes now, and what was left was a blank stare, the blank stare she had lived with for the past couple of weeks, and she felt her own fear build up inside her.

No. We can't go back to this.

"Pietro!" pleaded Wanda, her voice even louder yet as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Suddenly, Pietro jumped, and for a moment Wanda thought he was going to fall off the stool, but he did not.

"Wh—what?" said Pietro.

"You weren't answering me! I told you; this was a bad idea. I'm not going to do this." Stated Wanda, turning off the clippers and placing them back on the bathroom counter.

"No! No, please. I'm fine! Really! I just…maybe don't use the clippers, okay?…the noise…it just reminded me…just stick to the scissors, please. And I think I'm just gonna close my eyes while you work."

Wanda rubbed her temples with her fingers in frustration and defeat. "Okay, but if you zone out like that again, I'm stopping."

"Just get to it Picasso." said Pietro.

"You know, Picasso was an artist not a hair stylist, right?"

"eh, same difference."

Chuckling softly at her brother's remark, happy that he had recovered momentarily from whatever memory that had haunted him, Wanda picked up the scissors this time, and went to work on Pietro's hair. She did her best to cut it in a style that she hoped he would like. Drawing inspiration from the haircuts she had seen on some of the younger workers around the farm, and some of the styles she had seen worn by people on the few excerpts of tv shows or commercials that Al had left on the tv, which she'd vaguely paid attention to when she'd needed a moment of reprieve from worrying about Pietro. Wanda cut away at Pietro's hair. She trimmed the sides down quite a bit but left his hair longer on top.

While she worked, she tried to engage Pietro in a more serious conversation, "Pietro, I just want you to know that I'm sorry I left home. I never should have done that to you, or Mila and Marya. Maybe if I would've been there, I could have changed what happened, maybe not, but either way, I just want you to know that if you want to talk about it, I—"

"Wanda. Stop. You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault, and I get why you left. You thought you were doing what was best for everyone. I'm not gonna say it didn't hurt because it did. It hurt like hell when you left, but the rest of it, that's not your fault, but I don't want to talk about. So just don't."

"But, Pietro—"

"Don't, Wanda. I don't want to talk about it. I barely want to talk at all, maybe one day I will, but not now, so please….just don't."

Wanda sighed again, but she realized that talking about the past was what she wanted, not what was necessarily best for Pietro. "Okay, Pete. You don't have to talk about it now, but please don't keep it inside for too long. And…and if God forbid you ever feel like you're going to do something drastic, please talk to me…or…or to Erik, okay? I can't lose you again. There's no me if there's no you. Okay?"

"Okay." Said Pietro quietly.

And with that damper on the mood, Wanda put the finishing touches on Pietro's haircut. She didn't it make it as drastic as some of the haircuts that people she'd seen on television in this world sported, opting to let the shorter hair on the sides of Pietro's head flow naturally into the longer top.

It was a little unsettling at first. With the new haircut, Pietro looked…well he looked a lot more like Erik. His cheekbones appeared more prominent, especially with his weight loss, and she expected that when he opened his eyes, those dark orbs would be just as piercing and as haunting as their father's.

I wonder if Erik will notice the similarities between them.

It was kind of a scary thought to think that as Pietro grew older, he might look more and more like their father. She knew Pietro still had a lot of growing up to do before he got there, especially with all he had been through making him look skinny and younger than he was, but she was a little worried that she was speeding along the process with this haircut.

What if people start to notice how much they look alike?

Wanda knew Erik didn't want it advertised that he had children for obvious reasons. He was likely afraid their connection might endanger them, which—noting current events—was a legitimate concern. All in all though, in the end she was actually pleased with the result, as striking of a change as it may be.

"Okay. I'm done." said Wanda.

Pietro opened his eyes, and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

"Well? What do you think? Do you hate it?"

"No…It's perfect." Said Pietro, and Wanda felt overwhelmingly happy when a legitimate grin lit up Pietro's face.

{Author's Note: credit to Supernatural again. I used their line, "there's no me if there's no you," from that show because it just seemed so appropriate. Also, not that it matters, but sense watching the trailer for the tv show The Ranch on Netflix, I've started to picture Al as Sam Elliot.}