Vanished {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 28

"So Avengers tower was captured, along with all of the Avengers apart from two teenagers and a scientist. Those teenagers proceeded to teleport to Italy, become friends, break into a hotel room, steal a plane and fly here. Where you committed arson and threatened someone."

"Si," Alex responded, the single word garbled by the cheeseburger stuffed in her mouth.

"Fuck off," Sam muttered, making Pietro snort and clap a hand over his mouth, as though horrified he'd made such a sound.

Sam had noticed that he'd been quiet most of the time, only interrupting to correct Alex on certain things and ask if he could get something to eat that didn't contain pork. Aside from that, he'd just been restless; alternating between taking apart and reassembling a pen, running around the room and casting small looks at Alex when she wasn't looking.

Alex hadn't seemed to notice it, except once where she stuck her foot out and almost managed to trip Pietro up.

"Me and Pietro want your help. Don't we?" There was no response and Sam took a glance at Pietro. The boy was resting his chin on his hand and looking at Alex with a slight upward tilt to his lips.

Alex didn't see this. She raised her voice instead, examining the painting on the wall. "Maximoff, you've spaced out."

It was only because Sam was still watching Pietro that he saw him startle slightly. His glazed eyes focused into a glare as he retorted, "Maybe don't be so boring then."

Alex clutched a hand to her heart as she collapsed into the chair next to Sam, "No, no. Perdonami, papino, perché ho peccato."

Reaching out, Sam cuffed Alex on the back of her head. When she faced him, lips pursed in the same way Steve's did when he was about to lecture someone, Sam shrugged.

"What did you do that for?"

"I know what papino means." Alex's eyes widened for a moment before she forced her features back to casual.

"Oh, does that mean you asked out that waiter from the Italian restaurant?"

This time when Sam went to hit Alex, she grinned at Pietro and smoothly vanished away.

"What does—"

"No." Sam interrupted before Pietro could finish asking.

"Okay."

Stretching back, Sam examined Pietro. He was glaring at an apple slice and the expression aged him at least five years.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen. In a month."

Sam whistled under his breath— he'd guess the boy was at least twenty. Then he realised, "You must have been, what— sixteen when they experimented on you."

"When they had the scepter, yes. They approached us to join them before that, at fifteen but when they found out we were underaged, they refused to let us, no matter how much I begged."

"Probably said you were too young to make you want it even more."

"Probably."

"And it worked."

"Yeah."

Pietro wasn't one for conversations then. Sam felt awkward and based on how Pietro kept looking between the door and the clock, he felt the same.

Clearing his throat, Sam tried to sound casual as he said, "Alex may get pissed, but if you or Wanda ever need a place to stay then you're welcome to come to mine."

Pietro didn't react and Sam thought he must not have heard. Then he saw Pietro's shoulders had hunched up and jaw tightened, his face turning away from Sam's offer of safety.

It was the same way Alex acted when Sam had promised her a home.

It was stuff like that which reminded Sam they were just children. Not literally, but they'd been burdened at a young age due to the faults of adults and forced to repress their real feelings.

It wasn't their fault that life had been cruel to them and they'd been raised on hatred for years. Sam had been reminded of a documentary when Steve explained the situation to him; it was on a cult and how people, usually teenagers were indoctrinated into them.

They found those who were weakest and manipulated them until they were ready to die if it meant the cult— or H.Y.D.R.A. could thrive.

Steve had described them as radicals but they weren't, they were just children.

"I don't want your pity." Said Pietro.

"That's alright."

"And it's not like we'll be staying in America anyway. We have a home."

"You...don't want to stay here?" Maybe Sam's suspicions about Pietro's feelings towards Alex were wrong.

"Why would we? It's an awful country."

"Says the person from Sokovia."

Pietro stood up, "At least us Sokovians take care of each other. Americans wouldn't know selflessness if it bit them in their corrupted, fat asses. I'm going to find Alex."

Sam blinked and the boy was gone. What looked like blue smoke floated up from where he had been but apart from that, no one would have been able to tell that he was there.

"I hate that I find that so cool."