That and Nothing More

By: FeatherWings

"I couldn't find the answers." Pietro stared across the street from under his hood and through the rain to a large stone building. It was a gray memory that had faded with time but never dulled. "Back then. I couldn't find the answers." a thought that often echoed in the back of his mind. "But...that's because...there were none." He watched Wanda cry out for him and he could do nothing but stare as both their worlds divided and broke apart. As he stared he fell with his world to pieces and wondered if it was the same for his sister.

His head bumped against the cold glass of the limousine window awakening him from his nightmare. It was raining just as it was those many years ago and as he realized this, he found himself watching the many tiny raindrops race down the window. The day was as gray and faded as that memory that never ceased to replay; the thoughts still echoing through time.

"Pietro, are you okay?" a woman's voice asked from the seat next to him. He turned his head to meet his sister sitting calmly. He should have replied to her but he felt drowsy and unable to think properly.

He came to realize there was a duffle bag at his feet and he began to remember what was taking place. Pietro felt like a ghost; a shadow still attached to the barred windows and brick walls. By repeating his past and fallowing his prison; he became stuck in limbo.

"The sky was so blue before." Wanda looked out the back window as she tried to get her brother to talk.

"I never saw a blue sky." she turned her head to look directly at Pietro who only stared, eyes half-closed, at the back of an empty seat in front of him.

Wanda once wondered how each of them would fly if they were able to fly. The only way she would start to fly would be clumsy and pathetic. Yet she knew this was different for her brother. Wanda had watched Pietro since they left the hospital and were now driving to the mansion. Pietro had seemed hopeful when they left but now he looked distressed and bottled up. What was wrong? What happened?

"Pietro?" he cringed at the sound of his name. Hank looked in the mirror to get a look at the twins but said nothing.

"I don't want to go." his white hair hung over and shielded his eyes. Wanda could see him shaking.

Yes, it was different for her brother. Her brother refused to try. He broke his own wings and let himself fall. Wanda felt the anger building in her and she couldn't keep it in check. "Why the hell not?" she almost sounded hurt. She knew she shouldn't yell at her brother but she couldn't help it and she couldn't analyze why at the moment.

Pietro sat shaking and upon seeing thins Wanda's anger diminished. She chewed on her bottom lip searching for the words that would reassure her brother. After letting an idea pass through her thoughts she acted on it.

Wanda slid across the seat to her brother who hadn't bothered to look up. "Pietro? It's okay." she reached to move his hair out of his eyes but he jerked away from her and she pulled back from him. "Pietro?"

"They know of me." Pietro said through his shaking. Wanda stared at her twin. A few moments passed and Pietro shook his head then turned to Wanda. "Never mind. Forget what I said. I'm just tired."

"We're almost there." Hank announced and made Pietro cringe again. Wanda didn't take her eyes off of him. Was it the sudden realization that he would be living with people he'd known made him so upset? Wanda wondered.

The limousine pulled unto the X-mansion driveway but luckily no one was waiting for them at the entrance except Professor X, Logan and Ororo who stood warmly to welcome Pietro. Only Pietro really didn't want to be welcomed at the moment.

The young mutant swallowed hard as he stepped out of the limo and into their sight. The duffle bag of his clothes slung over his shoulder and across his chest. He focused his eyes on the concrete and could feel eyes watching him. Wanda touched his arm and he jumped in surprise then hurried up the steps, stopped in front of the older mutants without lifting his head. The rain beating against him; they let him inside.

"Welcome, Pietro. I'm sure you've already met-" the Professor's words seemed to fade into the background for Pietro.

'Why am I here?' he thought. 'I didn't know what reality was before and I still don't know now.'

"Pietro, come this way." They older mutants walked deeper into the mansion. Pietro was pushed out of his thoughts. His sister stood for a moment then walked ahead while turning to look back as if to ask, "Are you coming?"

"You're sure you feel alright?" Pietro jumped at Hank's voice. The Beast now stood next to him.

"Uh..." Pietro hesitated. "I'm fine."

"Are you really fine, or are you just saying you are so I'll leave you alone?" They started to catch up with the others.

"Maybe both?" he shook his head. "I don't know. I feel mixed up right now." Upon catching up with the others the group continued upstairs, making their way to Pietro's new bedroom. They made their way slowly up the stairs and began their way down the hall of rooms; Pietro took in every detail around him. Rain dripped from his white hair, mussy and knotted from neglect.

When they made it to the room, Pietro walked in then walked straight to the window and stared out. He counted the drops of water that fell from his hair. Ororo and Logan were dismissed. "Okay, Pietro. I'm going to leave you now. If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask." he nodded to Hank who nodded back then turned and left.

Pietro began to wonder if he was some sort of experiment; and inconvenience; a problem that no one wanted to deal with. He was a kid again, being passed from one person to the next. He didn't budge. He stood coldly at the window. He heard whispering then footsteps leaving the room and knew it was Wanda.

"What happened? You weren't acting like this before."

"I don't know what's going on."

"What do you mean?"

"You stick me in a hospital for months and months and then you tare me out of what I knew or what I thoughts I knew."

"Didn't you want this?" the words hit Pietro.

"Yeah...I guess I did..."

"We'll talk about it more after you change. You're soaking wet."

"Yeah. Okay." Beast got up, walked out the door and closed it after him.

Pietro peeled off his shirt then began to rummage through the duffle bag. He pulled out a black long-sleeved shirt with thick white stripes on the sleeves and put it on then changed his pants to a pair of black jeans that were tighter than the other ones. Pietro looked down at his wrist and found several marks slashed across it. He traced them with his fingers.

The boy stepped out of his room to be met with Wanda who innocently leaned against the wall. "Are you okay, Pietro?"

He didn't want to make Wanda worry. "Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine." he smiled.

"Let's go down to the kitchen. I'm thirsty." Wanda told her brother.

"Okay." Pietro hoped there wouldn't be anyone else there but with his luck there most likely was. There would probably be every mutant in the mansion in the kitchen with his luck but he didn't want to say no to his sister.

"Pietro?" Her voice was stern as if she were trying to keep up her bad-ass reputation.

"Yeah?"

"Are you hungry?" Now she was acting strange to him. Why would she be asking if he was hungry? He pondered it for a second before coming up with the explanation that she was thinking of the time he stopped eating. His past had come to bite him in the ass again.

"A little. Why?"

"Because those clothes really show how skinny you are." Pietro's face drained of color. He hadn't thought of that. He had never really gained back that much weight from when he stopped eating that time. His weight now seemed normal to him.

Wanda noticed Pietro's sudden fear and cursed herself for saying anything. She knew what he was thinking too. He wanted to run and hide like he so often did. But Wanda decided she wouldn't let him do that anymore.

Pietro turned around and started walking the other way but Wanda grabbed his arm. She pulled him back in the right direction and she knew Pietro wasn't happy about it. In fact, he was pissed about it. "Let go, Wanda." he said. She gave another tug and Pietro growled. "Do I look that bad?"

"No. Of course not. But you look hungry so come on!" he growled again but this time turned and followed her.

Wanda frowned as she felt how thin Pietro's arm was but she didn't let Pietro see. She couldn't deny that she was worried beyond words for him but she couldn't exactly say it. She was used to bottling herself up.

They entered the kitchen to be met with Kurt and Todd who had actually become friends since the Brotherhood moved in. Everyone was silent for a moment and then the two other mutants smiled warmly to greet Pietro. Kurt was the first to speak.

"Hey. How are you doing, Pietro?" his mind jumped back to the day Pietro tried to end his life. Pietro's eyes wandered around the room. They focused briefly on this and that but did not stay settled on one thing for very long.

"We all missed you. We were hoping you'd get better quickly." Todd tried to tell Pietro who was no longer really listening. His eyes began to focus on the T.V. The news was on and then Pietro began to realize what the news reporter was talking about. The hospital? Abusing a patient? Hyram?

"Hyram?" Pietro said aloud. Kurt, Todd and Wanda looked to the T.V.

"Is that your hospital?" Kurt asked.

"Isn't it?" Todd asked.

"It is!" Wanda gasped.

"I knew him. He was my friend." Pietro stood staring at the screen. His mouth slightly ajar but he was not surprised about the abuse. Of course not; he had known. What he was surprised and thankful for, was that they found out.

-To be continued-

FeatherWings- well, it took me forever to write and post but here's the first chapter of the sequel to Worn Out! Yay! Please review!