Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They don’t expect anyone to get stuck in any memories when they try out Tony Stark’s newest invention. The man had used it himself several times without issue so there had been no reason for worry, and thus they’d decided to try it out and show each other some funny or cute memories. Some of the best so far had been 8 year old Clint learning how to shoot a bow, or young Steve laughing so hard at a joke Bucky told him that he snorted milk out of his nose.

Everyone had shown at least two memories, even Natasha who was fairly private about her life, and they were all having a great time.

But then Wanda had been up to show another memory and when she’d put the helmet on, something had gone awry.

At first the memory had begun and it has shown Wanda and Pietro back in Sokovia, perhaps thirteen years old. They’d both been wrapped up in several layers, with dirty hair and cheeks, but the memory wasn’t bad at all. The twins seemed to be laughing about something as they sat in what seemed to be the church from Novi Grad in which they’d all fought Ultron month ago. Pietro whispered something and nudged Wanda, to which she began laughing harder.

But then the memory had turned sour and shifted to show another memory... a different one that was less savory.

This time showed just Wanda herself, walking through Sokovia, in a similar state to what she’d been in the previous memory. She was a little older now too, around eighteen. Pietro didn’t seem to be around in this memory.

They watched Wanda walk between buildings, arms bundled with foods such as bread and canned stuff, until she turned a corner and collided with something. Or rather, someone.

They heard her mutter an apology in Sokovian before trying to sidestep the tall man, but the latter only blocked her path. She tried again, frowning, but only met the same result.

Silence fell around them as Wanda and the man stared at each other. Then Wanda turned on her heel and tried to run, but the man quickly grabbed her and pulled her back to himself. The food fell to the floor in a pile, quickly forgotten about in favour of the dire situation.

Then began to shouting and the screaming as the pair struggled against each other.

“Pietro!” Wanda yelled, so loud it echoed around them. “Brate! Help!”

The man soon clamped his hand over her mouth and they began to fight again, the man trying to subdue Wanda and the latter desperately clawing at his hands to escape.

It continued for an intense couple of minutes, the ceaseless fighting as Wanda refused to give in, until suddenly, out of nowhere, something crashed into the man and he and Wanda both fell to the floor.

Wanda took her chance and scrambled up, away from him as he gathered his bearings. Then the same thing that had crashed into the man grabbed Wanda’s hand and she startled before noticing her brother standing there.

“Run!” He ordered.

Without needing to be told twice, Wanda ran in the opposite direction, dragging Pietro with her. He quickly caught ip and soon they were sprinting side by side, dipping in and out of buildings to put some distance between themselves and the strange man.

Eventually, just as they were running out of breath, they reached the same church from the previous memory and they collapsed in a heap on the dirty floor.

The two remained there for a few seconds before Pietro sat up and pulled Wanda into him, resting her head on his chest. He pressed a quick kiss to the top of her head.

“My bilʹshe nikoly ne zalyshayemo odne odnoho,” Pietro muttered. “Okay?”

“Yes,” Wanda breathed out shakily.

“Good. You’re not hurt, no?”

“No. Prosto vrazhenyy.”

Pietro squeezed her hand, and in anger muttered, "я убью его."

Wanda shook her head quickly. "Pietro, no. оставайся здесь, оставайся незамеченным. We will be okay... I am okay."

Pietro looked at her for a long moment before sighing and pulling her closer. "Okay. Вы выиграете сестренку. I will stay."

"As long as we're together," Wanda whispered, and Pietro finished,

"we are safe."

The memory suddenly began shifting again. The Avengers had been standing around in horror, watching the scene unfold.

"Tony!" Nat yelled, as soon as the scene began to shift, "stop it! Turn it off!"

"I"m trying!" He grunted back, fiddling with the device. "It's not working! I don't know why it's not... it's not working!" his voice hiccuped, and Nat was certain she could hear that Tony was close to crying. She knew that he only showed his true emotions in a desperate state of fear or grief... and Nat bit her lip worriedly.

"G-guys? It's showing another one..." Sam whispered, pointing. All of them turned to look, and Nat could feel a pit in her stomach. She knew the others felt the same.

The scene formed, showing Wanda alone in a dark room. As the scene began to form more, Nat realized she was sitting on a little cot, her knees tucked in closely to her chest. She was in a cell...
HYDRA.

Nat could suddenly feel Steve gripping her fingers, something he only did when he got really nervous. She softly squeezed back.

Wanda looked perhaps a year older than the last memory, but she was no cleaner. Her hair was long and greasy, looking as though she hadn't washed it in weeks. Her skin was paler than they had ever seen it, with dark bags under her eyes. She was so thin and small, and she looked exhausted. It was then that Nat noticed she was shivering, and Nat assumed it was probably freezing in that cell.

She was rocking back and forth on the bed, muttering Sokovian under her breath. Nat couldn't quite make out all the words, but would hear a mumbled, "Pietro" every once in a while. Nat felt her heart break a little.

"What's going on?" Nat heard Clint whisper, and Steve muttered, "I'm sure we'll find out."

It was then that suddenly, the door to Wanda's cell flew open. She jumped a little, shrinking herself into a small ball as several armed guards approached her. They yelled at her, their voices muddled in the memory, but it was enough to scare Wanda. She began to shake, and rapidly shake her head.

"пожалуйста, не надо... please... больше нет, я болен." she rapidly began pleading to them, shaking her head as tears slipped down her cheeks. However, the guards paid no attention to this, and they roughly grabbed her off the cot and dragged her out of the cell. Wanda began to scream... ear splitting screams. The Avengers team all winced, and Nat felt Steve squeeze her hand even harder.

They watched as Wanda was dragged down the hall of the HYDRA lab, kicking and yelling the whole way. They approached a new room, to which the guards roughly dragged her into and threw her into a large, metal chair with restraints on it. They quickly fastened the restrains on Wanda, making sure she could not get out of the chair. She whimpered, trying to struggle out. Suddenly a new person entered the room.

"Hello Miss Maximoff," a heavy, German accent said. "Are you ready for today's test?"

Von Strucker.

The German scientist walked in the room, with Dr. List following behind him.

Wanda squirmed in her seat. "You...monster," she panted in-between heavy breaths.

Von Strucker snorted. "Monster...please. You and your dear brother signed up for this kleines Mädchen," he said, spitting the last two words out at Wanda.

"What does that mean?" Clint whispered, asking Nat. Nat softly whispered back, "he called her a little girl. But I think he meant it in a diminishing way."

"And what of my brother?" Wanda's heavy accent came though, her eyes pierced on Strucker.

He shrugged. "And what of him indeed. Disobedient kleines Mädchen like you don't get to ask the questions around here Wanda. You should know that by now."

Wanda began to squirm, and it was obvious she was frightened.

"I have done nothing wrong... I've participated. I take the medicine. I do what you ask!" her weak voice protested.

"Oh really?" Strucker growled, walking towards Wanda.

"What do you say then, when I find out my prized experiment tried to escape her cell a few days ago?"

Stucker towered over Wanda now, and her eyes were full of fear. "I-I wasn't going to escape! I-I wanted to see Pietro... to make.. to make sure-"

Stucker cut Wanda off with a loud slap to her face. She froze, staring up at him.

"I. Do. Not. Care. Mädchen. You signed up for this, you get it. Do not disobey the rules again."

He then turned around, leaving a trembling Wanda. He turned to the Doctor. "Set the level to 5 today. I want to make sure we finally get somewhere with her experiments... and make sure she doesn't try anything again."

The doctor nodded, and brought some equipment over to Wanda and started hooking her up to it. Wanda began squirming and pleading again, but it was no use. Within moments, the Avengers watched as they flipped the machine on and Wanda screamed.

The scene went black for a moment, and the team all let out a collective breath they didn't realize they were holding. Nat realized that she had been completely tense the whole time.

"Is it over?" Clint weakly asked, glancing at Tony. Tony groaned. "I-I don't think so. It still won't come off or power of-"

He was cut off by a return of a memory. It was Wanda in her HYDRA cell still, completely curled up on her bed. She was covered in sweat and Nat realized several bandages on her arms now.

But then the scene expanded, and they could see into the cell next to Wanda. It had a boy... Pietro.

It was then that the Avengers realized that Wanda and Pietro were talking to each other, even though they were in different cells.

"This must be after they got their powers," Nat muttered.

The twins muttered back and forth to each other in Sokovian. Nat caught something about experiments, asking if the other was alright, painful, hating Strucker, and plans to leave.

"Don't worry sister. One day we'll leave and save our people. We will take down the Avengers and those filthy Americans and Sokovia will become good again. We will become its Heros. This will all have been worth it." Pietro whispered, and the Avengers all squirmed at this.

Wanda hummed back, and Nat could see red in her eyes. "As long as we're together..."

"we are safe."

Chapter Text

After showing the memory of the twins in the cell, the scene shifted once again.

It was Wanda, in a large, dark room with several large men. They could see Von Strucker and some other doctors standing next to him watching the scene unfold. The large men in the room would charge at Wanda, and Wanda would try to blast them away with her powers. She was doing okay, although she looked almost dead. Her skin was soaked with sweat, her hair long and tangled. She was wearing large, baggy clothes that seemed made for the purpose to train in. The team noticed she had several wires on her arms, as if the scientist were monitoring her power usage as she trained. Again and again, the large men (who seemed to be guards) would run towards Wanda and fight her, and she would defend herself with her powers and blast them away.

Suddenly, one large guard ran towards her, and the exhausted Wanda didn't notice him in time. He slammed her to the ground and landed a harsh punch to her face. Wanda screamed in pain. The team watched in horror as he continued to beat her up, and Von Stucker said nothing. Suddenly, Wanda's eyes glowed bright red and she screamed, blasting the guard (and every other guard in the room) far away from her and into the wall. The team could hear sickening cracks as each man hit the wall, and it was obvious that each had died.

Von Stucker smiled.

Wanda collapsed into a heap, crying, as Von Stucker said, "Now that's the weapon we needed."

A few moments, some guards grabbed the bloodied and bruised girl and dragged her from the room.

The scene shifted suddenly again, giving the team no time to react at the change.

Now it showed the twins standing together, in a dark room. It still looked like HYDRA headquarters, but now the twins were wearing actual clothing, and looked slightly healthier. Pietro's hair was much more white, and Wanda slightly taller. Pietro had gained much more muscle mass, and the team assumed this was due to the experiments. A few scars were noticeable on the the twins arms, and on Wanda's face, but otherwise they looked unharmed. The twins hands were intertwined, and although they weren't speaking out loud, the twins were having a silent conversation.

Nat figured they were speaking through Wanda's mental connection.

It was then that Nat began to focus on what exactly the twins were trying to communicate with each other. Pietro kept nodding, while Wanda shook her head. Wanda looked terrified, while her brother looked angry. The scene suddenly expanded to show Strucker and several HYDRA guards. Strucker shouted at the guards to rally, and it was then that the Avengers realized that this was when they stormed that HYDRA base. Another glance at the twins showed Wanda biting her lip and giving a reluctant nod, and then suddenly Pieteo picked her up and they were gone.

Nat heard a muddled Strucker yell, “Where are the twins?” Before the memory changed again.

There was hardly a moment for anyone to think, let alone try to stop the device before rapidly switching to a new one. Nat figured that the device was going to stop once Wanda subconsciously was able to stop.

Small moments flashed before the teams eyes, Pietro and Wanda fighting the Avengers and escaping. Pietro and Wanda laughing as they ate traditional Sokovian food for what must be the first time since before HYDRA, the twins snuggled together under a doorway watching snow fall, Wanda teasing her brother as he filtered with girls poorly, Pietro stealing clothes and medicine for the poor Sokovian citizens, and Wanda chastising him. The last scene lingered longer than the rest, and the team heard Wanda say, "you keep stealing, you're going to get shot," in her heavy Sokovian accent.

The team unknowingly flinched at this phrase, knowing that Wanda then had no idea that her brother would meet his death at a spray of bullets. Instead, Pietro rolled his eyes and muttered a cheeky comment in Sokovian. Wanda glared at him, but squeezed his fingers before the scene dissolved. The team knew that Pietro had a good heart, and poor Wanda was so worried about him.

"I didn't realize that the twins were so close..." Clint muttered, and Nat could hear some humming responses.

"Yeah why wouldn't they be? I mean, I killed their parents..." Tony muttered bitterly.

"Tony... it wasn't your fault," Steve said, but he didn't get to continue as the scene changed once again.

"Ты неправ," Wanda whispered to Pietro. The two were huddled in an alleyway, wearing the clothes the team had met them in. Pietro must have stolen them.

In response to what Wanda said, Pietro shook his head hard. "Нет сестры, я прав. Он не прав. Ты такой хороший, такой милый. Как мама."

"Nat.... what are they saying?" Clint whispered. The rest of the team looked to her and she translated as the twins spoke.

"She said "you're wrong." He said, "No sister, I am right. He is wrong. You are so good, so sweet. Like mama." Nat said. The twins continued.

Wanda's eyes filled with tears, and a bit of red as she cried, "Нет, Pietro! Замолчи! Я не хороший. Я УБИЛ ИХ! Мама меня ненавидит. Папа тоже!"

Nat translated quickly, "No Pietro! Shut up! I am not good. I KILLED THEM! Mama would hate me. Papa too."

The team fell silent at this translation as Pietro said, "сестра, ты не монстр. ты не оружие. Независимо от того, что сказал Стакер. Он сделал тебя. У тебя не было выбора. Твой красный - подарок сестре, мама и папа все равно будут любить тебя. Я все еще люблю тебя. Вы не просто свои ошибки. Вы тоже все хорошие. И у тебя столько хорошего." Pietro took Wanda in his arms and held her, as she sobbed. Nat took this time to translate.

"sister, you are no monster. you are no weapon. No matter what Stucker said. He made you. You had no choice. Your red is a gift sister, mama and papa would still love you. I still love you. You are not just your mistakes. You are all the good too. And you have so much good."

Wanda cried more and then nestled into her brother's arms. "Thank you... I am sorry."

"Don't be сестра. You had a nightmare, you cannot control that."

The twins hugged each other as the night descended upon them and the scene faded away.

"She must have had a nightmare about killing those guards for sticker..." Sam muttered.

"Please tell me it's over Tony," Bruce piped up. "I don't know how much longer I can watch this for."

"I...I think it's almost over. I think there's one more left..." Tony muttered as another scene formed.

"I hope you're right," Nat said.

It was a fast forward to when the twins had run from Ultron in Seoul. Wanda had tears streaking down her face as her brother held her. She exclaimed, "We should've known! Ultron was lying! We should've known! We are monsters брат... just like Stucker said we were. I...I..."

Pietro hugged his sister, and they notice a few tears leak down his face too. He said nothing, and the Avengers suddenly realized he must have felt the same way.

"I am sorry... so sorry сестра. I convinced you... I thought we could finally save our people.... protect others from our fate and mama's and papa's..." his voice trialed off and a few more tears slipped away.

The scene fast forwarded again to the battle of Ultron, yet Wanda was alone in the church. It took a quick heartbreak among the team to realize what was about to happen to Wanda. Suddenly, Wanda fell to the ground, screaming and red going everywhere... like it had with the guards.

*Her brother had died*

Wanda was suddenly with Ultron again. She exchanged a few angry words with him, and then suddenly, his heart was in his hand. Her eyes glowed an angry red, and as they did the team saw flashes of memories from Wanda's mind.

Wanda and Pietro helping mama bake a small meal for the family. Wanda and Pietro racing each other to school. Wanda and Pietro screaming for their parents when the bomb dropped. Wanda and Pietro together on the streets. Wanda and Pietro protecting each other. Always Wanda and Pietro, Wanda and Pietro, together forever.

And now he was gone.

Suddenly the device exploded in a fury of red, and Wanda gasped awake. She fell to the ground, the team just noticing she had been levitating a few feet in the air. The visions were no longer there, all that remained was a broken pair of glasses, and a panting Wanda on the ground. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was shaking uncontrollably.

The team all moved towards her at the same time, and she looked up at them, as if just seeing them for the first time. She gasped, and quickly shuffled away from them.

"что случилось? то, что ты сделал для меня? Pietro ... он ... где? что случилось?" Wanda shrieked, her eyes beginning to glow red. She looked around the room in pure terror and the team stood around, completely dumbstruck.

"Wanda..." Nat began slowly, as she was the only other one there that spoke Sokovian. "ты знаешь, что случилось?"

Wanda shook her head. "Pietro?"

When no one answered right away, she quickly stood up and ran from the room.

"Wait... Wanda!" the team yelled, everyone beginning to run after her.

"Wait..." Nat said, and the team stopped to look at her.

"I'm going to get her alone. Stay here."

And with that the black widow went after the young witch.

***

Nat found Wanda in her room. Wanda was curled up on her bed, sobbing.

Nat came next to her and sat down. She said nothing, only allowed Wanda time to cry and to think. A few minutes passed when Wanda finally muttered, "I am sorry. I...I remember putting on the glasses and it was like there was no control....I only remember wanting Pietro so bad that I couldn't stop it."

"It is okay маленький... you were frightened, you were grieving. It was not your fault. Come here," and with that Nat enveloped Wanda in a large hug. Wanda began to cry again, and Nat whispered comforting words in Sokovian to her.

"I...I just really miss him..." Wanda whispered suddenly.

Nat was quiet for a moment. "I know Wanda. We saw how close you two were. You will always feel a pain of him being gone, but you always will get to cherish his memory."

Wanda was quiet for a moment. "Thank you Nat."

Nat smiled and hugged her tighter. "Of course маленький. I know what it is like to loose a sibling."

Wanda sat upright. Her eyebrows furrowed. "You do? You had a brother?"

Nat shook her head. "no... a sister. I... she... we haven't talked in a long time." Nat looked away, and Wanda knew she didn't want to go beyond that. Wanda grabbed Nat's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Mama and Papa taught us that even when someone dies...or is gone... they are still with us. I guess I forgot about that until now. I really miss Pietro, but this made me realize that he protected me then, and he is silently protecting me now. I am sure your sister is doing the same."

Nat smiled. "I am sure she is Wanda."

***

When the team came together to watch a movie that night, no one directly talked about what happened... everyone knowing that Wanda didn't want to go to into it after her discussion with Nat. But everyone was extremely kind to her, and making sure that she was okay. Wanda finally felt, for the first time since her brother died, a sense of family.

And she knew Pietro was watching over her. She smiled as she sat with her new team, knowing Pietro was smiling too.