Chapter 16

Django

Django Maximoff had done many things in his life, many difficult things: stolen to live, been attacked by strange beings, even moved from his home country to the United States by less than legal means. And none of that compared to the difficulty of raising a teenager like Pietro. It seemed overnight that the hyperactive child had become a moody teenager. Granted, Django supposed it had been overnight. Wanda being taken away had affected the boy deeply, even if he'd never admit it to himself.

Thinking about Wanda always put Django in a bad mood. Magnus had taken his daughter and sent her away, without so much as consulting him or Marya, and he was completely sickened by it. Django had forbidden Pietro from having any further interaction with Magnus, though he doubted the boy went along with it. Despite the deep resentfulness, Django was fairly certain that if Magnus were to tell the boy to jump, he would ask how high and where to land.

Still, that definitely did not excuse the way Pietro had been acting throughout the past few days. Django was sick of the attitude and determined to do something about it. He knocked on the door of his adoptive son's door. "Pietro?"

"Go away," the teen's voice came from the other side of the door.

"I'm not going to do that," Django replied. "Open the door, we need to talk." Django was fairly certain he heard a disgruntled sigh come from the other side of the door, followed by a click and the door opening.

"What do you want?" Pietro demanded. Django could tell the boy was trying to hide that he was upset over something. He'd learned to read the teen's emotions over the years, and he liked to think he was pretty good at it, though he was certain he wasn't nearly as good at it as Magda would have been, or Marya if she hadn't been so freaked out by the whole mutant thing.

"May I come in?" Django asked. Pietro sighed and stepped aside. Django came into the room, closing the door behind him. "What happened today?"

"Results from try-outs happened," Pietro huffed.

"And how did that go?" Django asked.

"JV," Pietro said, as if he were swearing.

Django could understand why the boy was so upset; after all he had been working hard and had been hoping for a varsity slot. Still, Pietro was only a freshman. He was lucky not to be placed on the C team. "That's not horrible," he chose his words carefully, knowing even the slightest thing could have set Pietro off.

"Yeah, except stupid Daniels is on the same team," Pietro crossed his arms. There it was. Django sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. That rivalry had gone on since the two were little, and it seemed to have only gotten worse with age.

"I guess you'll have to learn to work with him, then," Django replied.

"Are you insane?" Pietro demanded. "I can't work with him."

"I don't think you'll have much of a choice," Django replied. "But anyway, that's no excuse for you to treat me and Marya the way you did earlier. Watch your temper and your attitude."

"Yeah, fine, whatever," Pietro sighed. "Can I be alone now?"

Against his better judgment, Django agreed to let him be alone for awhile, with the exception that Pietro come down to eat with them later that night. God knew they needed some family time in that house, even if not much would be said.

Things had been strained between Django and Marya ever since Wanda had been taken away. Marya, of course, was thrilled that the 'demon child' was out of their hair. Django, on the other hand, wanted her back, wanted to help her get through whatever problems she was facing. He was glad Magnus had had the common sense to stay away from him. There was no doubt in Django's mind that he would strangle the mutant, or at least attempt to, if they ever crossed paths again.