Winter is Coming

The alarm sounded but the twins were already long gone from the HYDRA base, into the forest beyond.

Pietro skidded to a stop and set his sister down before collapsing on the ground, leaning against a tree. He was gulping breath back into his lungs from the amount of running he had just done, how much he had pushed himself. He waved off Wanda as she kneeled down to check on him, saying between breaths, “I-I’m fine. Just g-give me a minute.”

Wanda nodded and looked up in the direction of the base. “We actually got out of there.”

“And we’re s-staying out if we can h-help it.” He took another deep breath before getting to his feet, helping her back up. “Let’s go.”

She nodded, holding his hand tightly as they started to walk. “Let’s go back to Nova Scotia. Yes, we’ll be back on the streets, but at least it’s an area we know.”

“As long as we stay away from the Vipers.” His voice was a growl as he squeezed her hand. “They were lucky we didn’t have powers before.”

“We’re staying far away from them.” Her tone was clear: no more talking about the subject. Just the mention of the infamous gang made her skin pale, her heart race, and her anxiety to increase. “We can get back to selling my paintings on street corners.”

“And what money are we going to use to buy the stuff with?” He looked down at her.

“We’ll raid the art store trash and find dry paint and ruined pictures I can work with.”

“I could steal what you need, you know. They won’t be able to catch me.”

“Yes but if you get caught, you could get shot. When you’re moving, nothing can touch you, but standing still-” She shook her head. “No. No stealing.”

“Alright, we’ll do your way first. But if that doesn’t work, we do mine.”

She sighed but knew there was no point in arguing. “Fine.”

XXX

They have been gone from HYDRA for about a week. They had gotten what they needed and Wanda worked her magic with turning the dry paint to something she could work with. They got some money and while it wasn’t a lot, it was better than nothing.

The two were always watchful. They knew HYDRA would be after them. That was no debate. But how they would look for them was a different matter. Pietro believed that it would be by them sending footsoldiers, which they could easily handle. Wanda, on the other hand, knew that they would be sending the Winter Soldier after them.

They took refuge in their old apartment building that had been destroyed due to the shells. It was with heavy hearts they stayed there but considering the place had been abandoned for so long and it was so disconnected from them, they thought it would be alright.

One evening, Wanda was shifting through what had been an old bookshelf, seeing if there was anything scavangable for money. She came across a book...that looked like nothing had touched it at all. Curious, she picked it up. It was a book their mother had. She felt her throat constrict as memories flooded her mind of her. She opened the book, seeing on the inside cover “Property of Natalya Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch”. That drew her attention even more. She looked at the cover again. It was a spellbook.

“A spellbook?” she whispered under her breath, looking at the lore in the book. “‘For centuries, the line of female Maximoffs have also proudly bared the title the Scarlet Witch. Their magic is quite elite, having known to cause catastrophic damage if not wielded correctly. Their origins date beyond the Salem Witches.’”

Suddenly, Pietro came zipping in from a day of pickpocketing on the streets and wrapped his arms around her waist, picking her up and spinning her around a few times before setting her down. “Dear Sister, today was extremely successful!”

Wanda laughed, the book dropping to the ground before he put her down. “As has mine. I’ve completed seven small paintings today and I found a book that belonged to Mama.”

“You mean it’s survived this long?!” He looked surprised as he watched her pick up the book and show him the page she read. “‘The Scarlet Witch’?” He pondered it for a moment. “It suits you. Why not take it?”

“But I don’t know magic, just whatever it was that HYDRA gave me.”

“Yet. And how do we know that isn’t magic? You can keep the line going, Wanda. If this is as old as the book claims, it can’t stop here.” He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you can do it.”

She nodded slowly, closing the book and running her fingers along the spine. “You’re right. I can learn. I have this. And...maybe I can find another magic user here! They could train me in magic! Or…” She gasped. “What if I sought out the Ancient One? We’ve heard mention of them in HYDRA.”

“I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He smiled, glad to see her so excited. It faded, though, when he heard something and turned his head around. Before she could react, he had suddenly tackled her to the ground and used his body to protect her as gunshots rang out. “I didn’t know the civil war had reached here!”

Wanda instinctively covered her head with her hands but froze when she felt a familiar mind approach moments before it disappeared and a headache took its place. “It’s not the war! We have to get to the Underground! It’s HYDRA!”

Pietro cursed in Sokovian as he got to his feet and picked he up to run when he suddenly found himself unable to move quickly. He tried his best to go but he was going at a snail’s pace. “Wanda, run! Get out of here!” He managed to get her on her feet and shoved her away.

Wanda stumbled and turned back to him. “I can’t leave you!” She turned as she heard a piece of wood break, seeing the Winter Soldier approaching them. She backed up as he neared, seeing the cold look in his eyes as he strutted forward.

“Go! As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters to me!” Pietro’s voice begged for her to go. “Please, Sister!”

She shook her head, pushing by her fears and stepping between him and Barnes. “I’m not going without you!” She formed a hex bolt, her eyes glowing a dangerous red. “You may’ve hidden your mind from me but I have other ways to bring you to your nightmares.” She sent it at him with as much force as she could muster.

It hit him and sent him flying back, slamming into a metal support beam. It didn’t do much to stop him, though, as he got back to his feet and pulled out a gun. He fired at her, causing her to create a shield to defend herself. He stepped up to her, still shooting to force her on the defensive. The moment be reached the shield, he dropped his gun and slammed his metal fist into it.

She growled, baring her teeth as she kept the shield up. The bullets were nothing to her. When he approached, she could see the hostility and lethality in his eyes but it only caused her eyes to grow even more fierce. She didn’t care what kind of things he did to her as long as Pietro was safe. She was forced to give ground when he started to hammer on her shield, feeling her knees give slightly but still forcing herself to remain up.

Despite her best effort, cracks started to form, expanding the more it was hit. Her hands started to shake.

Suddenly, she changed tactics, dropping the shield as he brought his fist down again and stepping to the side so he lost his balance.

Though it was slight, she noticed how he stumbled but then regained composure. She took full advantage of that and spun on her hell before kicking him as hard as she could in his side.

That didn’t work as well as she wanted. Though her kick did land its strike, he grabbed onto her leg as she pulled back, throwing her across the room.

She struck another metal beam, letting out a yelp of pain as she fell to the ground. Her back flared up with pain and her breathing was jagged now. She knew she had at least two broken ribs; every time she moved, her sides screaming in protest.

“Sister!” She heard her brother call out to her and snapped her head up just in time to see him get hit with a metal fist, the force being enough to knock him out.

“PIETRO!” She forced herself back to her feet, staggering as her body told her not to. Not even adrenalin was working as a good enough pain killer. Her entire form glowed red, however, as she crossed her arms in front of her to form an X. “You have come after the wrong people. Now, you face the Scarlet Witch!” She broke the link and sent a wave of Chaos Magic at Barnes.

Barnes was sent skidding back and stayed on the ground a few seconds longer than before but he still got himself back to his feet. His eyes flashed anger as he drew his knife and charged at her. He knew she was hurt by the way she held herself.

Wanda slid a foot back to get into a fighting stance as she sent a flurry of hex bolts at him. They did little in stopping him before he was upon her, thrusting the bladed weapon to her. She managed to sidestep and grabbed his arm, biting down on his hand to get him to let go of the knife.

Instead of doing that, he punched her with the metal hand, causing her to let go and stumble back, falling onto her back in a daze.

She struggled to get back up, rolling gingerly onto her hands and knees before she felt a foot stomp down onto her back. She cried out in pain, involuntary tears coming into her eyes.

A hand grabbed the back of her shirt and yanked her up. She just had enough time to process a blur of silver racing to her face before she was knocked out.

XXX

She slowly opened her eyes, feeling pain course through her body with each pump of blood. Her eyes came in to focus on a familiar bare room except a set of blocks in the corner.

She softly groaned. They had failed in running away.

They were back with HYDRA.