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Pietro watched from the window as the lights grew closer and he glanced towards Wanda who was pacing around the room. They were in a small cabin they had rented a week ago in the middle of a forest, hoping they could hide here for awhile but clearly that wasn't an option. He had wanted to run the second they knew people were getting close but Wanda had insisted that after three years they couldn't run anymore and that they needed to send a message. Pietro couldn't believe that for the first time he was now in the role of the responsible twin and he had begged Wanda to reconsider, but he quickly learned that he would have a better chance of convincing a lion to become a vegan and instead waited with her for the soldiers to arrive.
"So do we have any sort of plan?" he asked Wanda, who looked at him as if he asked the most obvious question in the world.
"Of course not. But running isn't working and I'm tired of it, so we have to try fighting back. Stark has the full backing of the United Nations and the Sokovia Accords, and with that he's been able to chase us with every legal authority. How much longer do you think we can last?" she asked and he reluctantly nodded as he though back to three years ago when they had briefly fought alongside Stark.
They had joined the Avengers once they saw how insane Ultron's plan was, and had been there when the android Vision was created. They had gone to Sokovia together with the ones who had saved New York from an alien invasion: an assassin, an actual god, a man who turned into a green monster, a super soldier and the man responsible for the death's of their parents. He distantly remembered how one of the Avengers had died in New York and according to Wanda when she used her powers on Black Widow, her failure to save this man from being killed by the god's brother was one of her biggest regrets.
Pietro had hated working with the Avengers but he wanted to protect his country and that's what he did, until he found Wanda hiding in a building and muttering to herself about how she was to blame. In an instant his priorities changed and he grabbed Wanda before running them as far as they could from the fight, ignoring his guilt as he did and focusing on trying to calm Wanda down. Thankfully the Avengers were able to stop Ultron though it apparently resulted in Widow being killed during the fight, and since then Pietro and Wanda have been moving across Europe doing their best to avoid drawing attention to themselves. They haven't spoken about what happened but Pietro knew Wanda blamed herself for what happened, that if she had been able to control themselves they could have helped save Sokovia and they might not be in this situation. Pietro however firmly believed that while perhaps Captain America would have tried to help, they would have been arrested and locked away for the rest of their lives for being part of HYDRA and helping Ultron.
As the vehicles got closer he and Wanda left the cabin to confront them, and Pietro recalled how it had been easy to stay hidden until the Sokovia Accords. He didn't know the details but apparently the Hulk went out of control one day and the UN demanded the Avengers sign some documents that would make the Avengers work for them, which Captain America took issue with and that somehow led to a short lived fight at some airport where the captain was arrested along with a guy who controlled ants, a guy with wings and someone with a metal arm who killed a king. After that things really changed as the UN saw how successful Stark was in enforcing the Accords and now everyone with powers were being tracked down and identified if they were peaceful, but if they were deemed a threat like Pietro and Wanda they were hunted down to be taken somewhere. Nobody knew what it was but the logical conclusion was either a prison or a lab, and the twins quickly agreed they didn't like the sound of either one.
"Whatever happens Wanda, I need you to know something." Pietro said quickly when he noticed something moving quickly through the air above the military jeeps and trucks, giving his sister a small smile as he did. "I don't regret anything and I wouldn't change a thing."
She looked at him for a moment with a critical eye before a small smile formed. "You really mean that don't you?"
He nodded just as the flying thing from before landed in front of them just as the vehicles skidded to a halt, soldiers coming out and aiming their guns at them though Pietro remained focus on what had just landed. He was both disappointed and a little relieved when he saw it wasn't Stark, but that other armoured man they had heard on the news who strangely had two codenames. Out of the two Pietro liked War Machine, though he supposed Iron Patriot was an accurate name for an American. War Machine stared at them for a moment before the mask opened to reveal a wary but patient face, who looked like he would rather be anywhere but here which was a feeling Pietro shared.
"My name is Colonel James Rhodes. Nobody here wants to hurt you." he told them calmly.
"Really, because we're not exactly getting that feeling." Wanda responded as he gestured at the soldiers.
"Listen I understand that you don't have any reason to trust me, but the soldiers here are just a precaution. I'm actually here to offer you a deal."
Pietro didn't believe him and one glance at Wanda told him she didn't believe him either, which apparently Rhodes also noticed as he kept talking. "Something happened in New York and we might need as much help as possible. I can't go into too much detail right now but at the moment deals are being made with Captain America. The UN doesn't care what you did, all they care about is that you-"
Rhodes voiced trailed off as he suddenly looked confused, and to Pietro's surprise he saw similar looks on all the soldiers. Then to his horror Rhodes suddenly vanished before his eyes, his hand becoming dust before the rest of him followed, and not a second later the soldiers disappeared one by one. One or two seemed to be fine and were just as horrified as Pietro, yelling to their friends as they turned into nothing, but before Pietro could even begin to react to what was happening he was interrupted by a weak voice that scared him more than anything else.
"What's happening? Pietro..." Wanda gasped and Pietro turned just in time to see the look of horror and realisation on her face before she was gone.
Pietro didn't cry or scream, he didn't yell in rage at the unfairness of the universe or beg for his sister to return to him. He simply fell to his knees without taking his eyes off the spot where his sister once stood, and ignored the few soldiers that had survived as they made futile attempts at either calling for back up or trying to figure out what happened. He simply sat there in defeat, bitterly wondering why he thought life could ever go easy on him and give him a chance at some sort of happiness.