Sorry about the wait. It was just taking me a little bit to write this up.
This is more of a filler chapter; things should start to get more interesting next chapter.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited! You guys are all awesome :)
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Enjoy!
"Are you ready to go?"
Wanda nodded, examining the car display in front of her carefully. Pietro ran a hand over the dashboard almost lovingly, fingering more buttons and switches than she thought would be necessary for an hour long drive into New York City. Of course, Pietro didn't have a car of his own so he'd had to borrow one from Tony Stark, who had driven up that morning to check on the new facility. Given the fact that it was Stark's car, it had a few…enhancements and upgrades along with the normal four wheel drive. Tony hadn't told them where the button for turbo engines resided-which was probably good given that Pietro was going to be driving. "I think so."
"Don't look so nervous. I'm a great driver. Granted, I haven't driven since my test last year, but not to worry. My instructor said I passed with flying colors." They practically flew out of the driveway with the squeal of tires on gravel. Little pebbles flew everywhere.
"You know, it would be nice if you could make it to the city in one piece."
"Don't you trust me? I will be fine."
"You're beginning to drift, Pietro."
"Oh, right." He corrected his trajectory just before the car smashed into a convenient stand of trees on the side of the road. Wanda was just glad there was no one else on the road with them. Things would probably go downhill fast, and the last thing the new Avengers team needed was a lawsuit.
"Watch out for that rabbit."
"Too late."
"Why are we driving a good twenty miles over the speed limit?"
"Because I like to go fast. Now just sit back, relax, and decide what we should do today." He handed her an entire sheet of brochures for various establishments-the Met, the United Nations building, the Empire State Building, and Central Park. They had a day off of training and they'd decided to spend it sightseeing together in New York City. Unfortunately, they hadn't had the time or the patience to plan too far ahead. They had tickets to a couple museums just in case and Rhodey had secured them tickets to a Broadway show later that night. Other than that, their day was completely and totally open.
"Why don't you decide?"
"Because I'm driving and I don't want to look at any brochures."
"Would you like to make suggestions?"
"I would love to make some suggestions, but as you can see I'm also driving and trying not to get us both killed."
"Fine. How about we start at the Met? That should take the longest. If we have time, maybe we can go to the Empire State Building or Central Park for a while until our dinner reservations roll around. After that, we have to get to the theatre. How does that sound?"
"Whatever you think would be best." Pietro seemed entirely focused on trying not to hit any more rabbits.
Wanda had to smile as she pulled out her book. She'd never been in New York for a pleasure trip and she was excited to see some of the things she'd only read about in brochures. This is going to be fun.
~V102~
They began to see the city about fifteen minutes before they officially started to enter it. Pietro had his job cut out for him-not to cause an accident on the freeway.
Of course, they soon got stuck in a massive traffic jam. Pietro groaned as they crawled along at a snail's pace. "I hate this."
"That's New York for you. People everywhere."
"I know. In Sokovia, the traffic was always going out of the city-never coming in."
"New York City is just a little bit different than Sokovia."
They passed by a huge glass and steel skyscraper that towered into the clouds like a massive giant. "Yes. Just a little bit."
~V102~
After about thirty minutes, they managed to move past the initial crush of cars, find a place to park the car for the day, and enter the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pietro had never imagined he would ever get here, to a place of this much fame and prestige. Even when he was just a little boy, he'd known it wasn't possible for him to do so. International travel was wildly expensive and his parents couldn't miss a lot of work. Yet here they were, ten years later with tickets in hand, being waved inside.
Wanda unfolded a map to reveal gallery upon gallery of fine art from all sorts of artists and time periods. It was overwhelming-there were so many things they could see that Pietro didn't know where to start first. "Should we start with Renaissance?" his sister asked, quickly taking charge. She'd always paid more attention in school and probably had a better idea than he did about what they were going to see.
"Sure." They passed through rooms of religious icons and pictures of angels and saints, all the while discussing their new team. Slowly, they worked their way through gallery after gallery of arts from all sorts of cultures. Pietro didn't recognize most of the artists' names but occasionally he saw a painting he'd seen in one of his art textbooks. Occasionally, Wanda would know the story behind the artwork and tell him about an ancient artist or an interesting technique.
It was midafternoon by the time they were finished. Pietro didn't think he'd be able to see another painting without his eyes getting burnt out of his skull. However, they had just enough time to visit the Empire State Building.
This late in the afternoon, they were able to relatively quickly catch an elevator to the top floor. The building seemed far more ornate than it seemed from the outside, paneled in more wood and precious metals than seemed strictly necessary.
But then again, everyone in New York seemed grand compared to Sokovia.
The elevator was filled with other people who also wanted to experience what it was like to be on top of the world.
"You ever been up to the top of the Empire State?" the man next to Pietro asked him casually. He had the practiced ease of someone who had made the journey up hundreds of times before.
"No. This is my first time." Pietro replied. "My sister and I are new to the city and we're trying to get around to seeing everything."
"You're in for a treat. I'm a lifelong New York resident and the view gets me every single time."
Just then, the elevator rattled to a halt on the top floor and the metal doors opened with a loud crack so everyone crowded into the elevator could file out. A minute later they emerged onto a small balcony high above the city. Everything was covered in an almost hushed silence, as if the entire world was holding its breath.
Almost reverently, Pietro stepped to the edge of the balcony and looked down-and down and down and down. The ground swam below him, filled with commuters on their way to their plays and dinner reservations. The cars and cabs that clogged the streets were smaller than his fingernail-so small that he could barely see them. Even most of the other buildings were below him; he felt like a king in a castle surveying his lands. Across from him stood the Chrysler building, all metal, chrome, and steel; beyond that the green expanse of Central Park, the blue river, and a sprawl of other buildings that covered the ground like a carpet as they jostled for space and precedence.
"This is amazing." Wanda said as she found a place to stand beside him.
"Yes. This was the tallest building in the world for a while." Pietro was reading straight from the flyer; he didn't know much about his new home, but he was determined to learn as much as he could. "Do you think I would get in trouble if I were to drop something from this height?"
"Probably. You're not seriously considering it, are you?" He was looking at the support screen with an almost contemplative look in his eye as if wandering whether or not he could pull off this prank.
Right. Because the last thing they needed was an arrest warrant from the NYPD for throwing things off the Empire State Building. What a great way to start off their lives as Avengers-and American citizens.
"Do you think I could get away with it if I just dropped a pebble or something?"
"No. Someone would see you and want to see some ID-and pretty soon they'd see that your driver's license is only valid in a place that was blown up last year."
"Fine." He took a step away from the railing, hands raised in mock surrender. "If you insist."
They stayed up there for a long time, feeling as if they were on top of the world itself. Eventually it started to rain and soon they were soaked through as wave upon wave of rain drenched them totally and completely. But it didn't matter. There was always something new to see and something interesting to point out.
Finally, Pietro pointed out Avengers Tower. Its solitary A blinked a bright red in the weak sunlight. "So what do you think? Can we live here-with them? Can we make it work?"
Wanda thought about it for a minute. New York City was so big-she felt like she'd just jumped into the deep end of a pool with barely any idea of how to swim. And yet she knew she couldn't give up now. She owed too much to the other Avengers-especially Pietro-to just leave everything behind.
Besides, even if she had wanted to leave, where would she be able to go?
She felt that, given enough time, she could one day call this city her home. Maybe not today or tomorrow-maybe not even in a year-but someday. "Yes. I think it will."
She was just starting to shiver when Pietro checked his watch and swore so loudly that a lot of people looked their way with disdain. "We're going to miss our reservation-and it took me forever to find us a table!"
~V102~
Luckily, the restaurant wasn't far away so they could walk instead of having to bring out the car and find another parking garage. The restaurant Pietro had selected for tem happened to be very high end-he felt more than a little out of place in his sopping wet clothes.
They were shown to a table near a large floor to ceiling window so they could look out over the buzz and bustle that was Times Square-even at six o'clock on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.
"Natasha says we're going on our first mission in a couple of days." Wanda said once they had placed their orders. "Breaking up a drug smuggling cartel in lower Manhattan. Apparently it's just routine."
"Yes. Sometimes I feel like they tink we know more about this than we actually do. I'm not really an expert at being an Avenger yet, although I'm trying. There was just never a need for it in Sokovia. Back home, you looked out for yourself. You couldn't care about anyone else-you couldn't afford to. If you so much as gave away an extra crust of bread, you would spend that night hungry. It's incredibly hard to be generous when you have nothing to give. I can survive on the streets. I've never had to fight drugs lords before. Do you think it's kind of the same thing?"
"I'm sure it will be fine." To be honest, Wanda was a little nervous herself-although she tried not to show it. "None of us are completely inexperienced. I've been remembering tings-little things, really-bit by bit."
"Like what?"
"What our father's coffee used to smell like on cold winter mornings-warm and sweet, comforting almost. It smelled like home. I remember our mother playing on the old piano we had in the apartment lobby. She played it every evening, didn't she? Even though the keys creaked like they could give out at any moment."
Pietro smirked. "We always worried she would break the piano-but a group of militants broke it instead. They used the wood to build barracks outside the city to house all of their rebels. The woman in the apartment next door tried to stop them, but they shot her right there in front of us. In my mind she was the first casualty of the revolt-though certainly not the last." He knew too many dead people.
They changed topics back to the upcoming mission for the rest of the meal. Some things were better left untouched.
Finally, it began to edge closer to performance time and they started making their way to the theatre. After a long and heated discussion that had ended up taking a lot longer than it should have, they'd decided to see Les Miserables. It was a short walk to the theatre, while Pietro rummaged in his pocket for their tickets.
"We should hurry. The show will be starting soon." Wanda said impatiently. She glanced longingly at the lit theatre lobby-which was a stark contrast to the gray and wet day outside.
"Hold on a second..." Pietro rummaged in his pocket for another minute until he pulled out a couple of bedraggled tickets he'd purchased that morning on his daily coffee run. "Here you go."
"They're wet."
"You can still read what's written on them." Pietro answered. "Come on. Let's go inside." He was eager to get out of the rain as well. He turned to go but noticed that Wanda wasn't following him. "What is it now?" He tried to keep his impatience out of his voice but he was soaked through and even starting to shiver a little bit.
Wanda shook her head and followed him into the lobby. "Nothing. Sorry. I just thought I saw something…" Surrepitiously, they both glanced out the window. Rain was still coming down in sheets, observing most of their view of the outside world.
"I'm sure it's fine.' Pietro said with a growing sense of disquiet. It was ridiculous. They weren't in any sort of danger…
So then why did he still feel uneasy?
He shrugged it off and chalked it up to an aftereffect of the rain. She's just getting you paranoid. You're just seeing things that aren't there. It's fine.
"Did you have a good day today?" he asked as they found their seats.
She nodded. "Yes. It was….amazing. Especially the Met."
Just then, the lights went down and a hush fell over the crowd waiting with bated breath to see the play. Pietro could feel himself slowly relaxing as the minutes passed without any sign of hostiles. Just a shadow. That's all it was.
He managed to enjoy himself for the play's first act-until he saw the figure watching them from the top balcony. It wouldn't have bothered Pietro all that much-except for the insignia carefully stitched onto the man's baseball cap.
HYDRA.
We have company….
Like I said, this was just a filler chapter. Sibling stuff and all of that. Anyway, the action will pick up next chapter.
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