Wanda managed to wake up before her alarm went off, as usual, despite setting it an entire two hours earlier than her usual wake-up time. She needed extra time this morning to go to the grocery store and back before going to work. That was her chief concern. The fight she'd had with Pietro the day before, all the nonsense going around this Nick Fury situation, was the farthest thing from her mind.

Being as it was quite early Wanda knew none of the others would be awake yet, and it wasn't overly chilly in the house, so she didn't bother grabbing her house coat on her way to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.

Wanda trudged down the stairs, rubbing her eye with the heel of her hand. She let out a none-too-ladylike yawn as she rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Wanda's hand automatically found the light-switch next to the kitchen door. Meanwhile she allowed herself to enjoy the delightful sensation of her vertebrae popping back into place as she stretched out her arms and twisted her torso slightly to the side.

The lights made their usual buzzing sound as they came on. Wanda's eyes automatically clenched tight until her pupils were ready to adjust.

"G'morning."

Suddenly Wanda's eyes snapped open, despite being unprepared for the bright light in the kitchen. Her attention fell on a blurry figure sitting at the far side of the small table in the corner of the room. It didn't take long for the blurriness of her vision to pass, and she was able to clearly make out the face of the newcomer named Pyro.

"Jetlag is a real bugger, let me tell you." Pyro said conversationally. "I know it's only… five o'clock here but," he glanced at his wristwatch, "it's eight in the evening in Brisbane." He was giving her an odd look, like he was trying very hard to focus on her face and fighting back a grin, all the while trying to stay casual and nonchalant.

Wanda was too shocked and confused to move.

"I was actually just sitting here, in the dark, thinking about how I'm going to get back to Aus." The fight against the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth finally ended in a loss for Pyro's composure. "I think that might be too hasty. Would you like some coffee?"

It was then that Wanda remembered she had slept in her underwear.

Nick Fury returned to the boarding house early the following morning to get his answer from the Brotherhood, with Pyro included. He had one of his operatives in his company to assist him should things get out of hand. He turned to her as their car pulled up to the dilapidated Victorian style manse that had likely once been a lovely family home… at one point in history. "Ever dealt with hostile children, Danvers?" he asked the blonde-haired woman at his side.

The woman's lips curled into a smile. "I thought you said these mutants were between the ages of twenty to twenty-five, sir."

"Mere babies, Danvers. I'd rather not have to drag you into this as well, but judging by what we witnessed during yesterday's observation, young Miss Maximoff might prove to be a problem."

Danvers put the car into park and glanced out the window. "So you needed to bring in a Super Soldier. I see. Planning on using me as an indestructible meat shield in case she-"

Whatever Miss Maximoff might have become was lost on Danvers' lips when a loud bang issued from the house, and something was ejected violently from the kitchen window.

"I had hoped Pyro would at least live to see his first briefing. Come along, Danvers," Fury unlocked his door and pushed it open with a shove. "The sooner we get this over with the better."

John's head was throbbing and the bag of frozen peas that Fred had provided wasn't being of much help. He could recall the events leading up to getting thrown out of the kitchen window, but the time between then and getting extracted from the bushes by Combat Barbie was a complete blank.

Nick Fury had them gathered in the living room. Wanda, sadly, had gotten dressed. She seemed rather perturbed (Lance explained later that she was forced to excuse herself from work indefinitely) and gave the old eye-patched man such an acidic look that it threatened to eat a hole right through his head. The blonde-haired woman who had gotten John out of the bushes was now holding Wanda's arms behind her back. John didn't understand why Wanda couldn't just shake herself loose and blast HER through the window.

Pietro was glancing nervously between Wanda and Fury. John couldn't blame him. The two probably scared Pietro witless in equal measure.

"No doubt you've already be informed of our proposal." Fury began to say as he crossed the room, staring down each of them in turn with his good eye. John resisted the urge to respond with 'AHOY! Yar yar yar!'

"Vaguely…" Lance grumbled.

Nick Fury turned to glare at Pietro. Pietro gulped. "They wouldn't listen to me," he complained, holding up his hands defensively.

Fury smirked. John found that to be more disturbing than the man's stern glare. "I suppose they have their reasons, Mr. Maximoff." Fury said with amusement. "You don't exactly have the best track record, as you might recall."

Todd began to snicker until Fury turned his attention to him instead.

"We're offering you the opportunity to use your abilities for the greater good." Fury's gaze fixed on John for a moment longer than he felt comfortable with. "The six of you have been keeping a fairly low profile for the last few years. I'm sure some of you are likely getting a little restless."

John didn't want to admit it, but he was right. He often found himself setting small fires. Normally he'd stick to abandoned buildings, but lately Pyro was itching for something more thrilling. A museum, a fancy restaurant, a retirement home… the only problem was he ran the risk of killing a lot of people. He didn't need to get that kind of attention.

Fury continued. "I'm not surprised that you all opted to decline Xavier's offer to let him take you on as X-Men-"

"I'd rather put a hole through my head." Lance snapped. "It didn't matter that we all helped taking down Apocalypse! Xavier's cronies still acted like they were too good for us!"

"He's just sore 'cause Kitty took up with that big Russian guy instead of him." Todd said quietly enough so that only John could hear him. John blinked. Magneto AND Colossus went over to Xavier's?

"Be that as it may, Mr. Alvers. SHIELD has opened a base of operations in New York City. Major Danvers and I are here to assist in moving the lot of you into the new facility. Once there, you will be briefed on your first mission as our new Mutant Task Force."

"And if we refuse?" Wanda hissed with venom. John could see now that she was straining against Major Danvers' grip, but it must have been impossible to break.

Fury approached Wanda with an air of authority and confidence. He towered over her. "If you refuse, then we leave you here." His eye never left hers. "You will carry on with playing at being human until Robert Kelly sends his Mutant Registration Enforcement Officers after you. The only reason he hasn't done so already is we've been keeping an eye on you ourselves."

"Are we supposed to be grateful to you?"

"You're supposed to understand the situation you'll be in if you stay, Miss Maximoff. Once we leave, and you're still standing here, the least of your problems will be finding another part-time job."

In the end, Wanda grudgingly agreed to Fury's offer. Her wrists were still throbbing from being held back by Major "call me Carol" Danvers. Wanda glared at the other woman as she easily lifted Wanda's mattress up with one hand and set it, leaning against the wall, on the other side of her room. She then set to work at dismantling Wanda's bed frame.

Wanda had refused to speak to her for a long time, but after watching Carol pick up her dresser and carry it down the stairs without so much as a look of effort, she got curious. "Are you part of this Mutant Task Force too?"

Carol glanced up from the headboard and smiled at Wanda. "No, unfortunately I'm not qualified."

Wanda regarded her with confusion.

"Mutants aren't the only ones with special powers. I just wasn't born with mine. Can you hand me that screw driver? Thanks. I'm a product of the Super Soldier program. The government decided to revisit it after leaving it buried for over fifty years. I suppose you guys are partially to blame for that."

Wanda watched as Carol easily twisted each screw out of her bed frame and left the sections in a neat pile on the floor. "What are you capable of?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Super-strength, indestructible body, flight… Not much to write home about."

Wanda found Carol's false modesty to be a bit grating, but she didn't let that show. "And you volunteered to let them do that to you?"

Carol leaned back and brushed her hands against her thighs after dismantling the last of the bed frame. "Not exactly. I was selected for the program, and when they explained to me what the risks were, I figured the pros outweighed the cons."

"Sounds like they were planning on using you against the mutants. And now you're helping us."

"My loyalties are with SHIELD, and we've got bigger priorities than fighting over which race is superior." Carol got to her feet and turned to open Wanda's bedroom window. "It's probably faster if you throw the pieces out to me. I'll come back in for the headboard." She suddenly lifted herself off the floor and floated out the opened window.

"I must say, this is much more enjoyable than the first trip you took me on, Nicky." John said with mock sincerity to nobody in particular. Nick Fury was in the leading car, while the brotherhood (save for Fred, who was stuck in the moving truck with their belongings) were crammed into a van that followed. Pietro had wanted to ride shotgun, but the front seats were taken by two more SHIELD agents who didn't speak to them the entire time they were moving.

John was bored. He had never been a good traveller, which was likely why Fury had him sedated in the first place. When it seemed that nobody was paying attention he reached into his rucksack and took out a small stack of papers, which he rolled into a tube. He lifted the tube to his left eye, closed his right, and peered through it at his fellow passengers. "I spy, with my little eye, something that is…" he pointed the tube in Wanda's direction, "… irritable."

Todd apparently was the only one listening. "Oh! It's Wanda!" He made a grab for the tube. "My turn!"

Wanda shot a look at John. With a motion of her hand the papers exploded in Todd's face into a million bits of confetti. It was the end of their short-lived game. John slumped back in his seat while Todd tried to spit out the stray bits of paper that he accidentally inhaled.

Pietro turned around in his seat. "Would you quit goofing around," he snapped irritably. Clearly the two hour drive was getting to him as well. John grinned.

"Are we there yet?"

"Pyro, don't start-"

"Are we there yet?"

This was going to be the best two hours of John's life.

And there's chapter three. Honestly I didn't know if I was going to carry on with this story. The block was just too much. As always, please let me know what you thought of it in a review.

I might be making some good progress.