The Twins

Prologue

Sokovia; Fourteen Years Ago...

The streets were empty that cold autumn night. A young woman, draped in a cloak wrapped tightly around her body and the two small bundles she held tightly to her chest, scurried through the streets of Sokovia with tears prickling her eyes. She blinked them back, stopping at a street corner to look up at the night sky and thank her lucky stars for the opportunity that has been presented to her.

The young woman makes it to her destination after another twenty minutes of walking, the small bundles in her arms keeping her warm as the wind chilled her to the bone. She looked around the field, spotting the helicopter at the far side. The woman began to jog, holding the bundles tight to her chest to prevent them from moving too much. She made it to the helicopter, the door opening to reveal a red headed woman only a few years older stepping out in a black body suit.

"Are you Agent Romanoff?" She asks, her English a bit choppy and her accent heavy.

"I am. I presume you are Wanda Maximoff?" Agent Romanoff counters, taking a few steps closer to Wanda as the young girl nods her head. Romanoff looks at Wanda's arms. "Are those the twins?"

Wanda looks down at her arms, her cloak opening to reveal her still sleeping sons. She nods, a sad smile on her face as the tears return. She looks up at Agent Romanoff. "You promise they will be safe in America? Protected and cared for?"

Agent Romanoff nodded. "I have a family picked out already. The boys will not be separated, as per your request." Agent Romanoff held her hands out. "I must be going now, SHEILD doesn't know about this, this was strictly my doing."

Wanda nodded sadly, leaning down to kiss both of the twins on the forehead. "La revedere William. La revedere Thomas. Te iubesc." Wanda sniffled, handing her twins off to Romanoff.

She turned and ran, and kept running until she made it back to the little shed she shared with her brother, Pietro, who was waiting outside. Pietro got off the ground and ran to Wanda, wrapping her in his arms as she cried. He held her until her tears stopped, brushing away the remaining streaks with his sleeve.

"Are you sure about your decision, sister?" Pietro watched as Wanda nodded sadly.

Her eyes began to glow a soft scarlet as well as her hands before she spoke again. "My boys are better off with a caring family than with...a monster."

Sokovia; Four Years Ago...

Natasha Romanoff cornered Wanda Maximoff as the young woman was about to alter Tony Stark's mind. She grabbed Wanda's wrist, dragging her to the side. When Wanda saw who it was, her eyes went from murderous rage to shock and sorrow.

"Wanda, think of your children. Would William and Thomas want you to be doing this?" Natasha asked, still holding Wanda's arm gently.

Wanda broke down at the sound of her boys' names. "You...you remember their names. Do you check up on them? Do you see them? How are they?"

Natasha pulled the broken woman in for a hug just as Pietro rounded the corner. "I watch them from afar. They are doing well, Wanda. And they are such good kids." Pietro walked up to the two woman and took Wanda from Natasha's arms, silently thanking her for saving his sister from making huge mistake. Natasha nodded in response. "We could use your help in destroying Ultron. What do you say? Feel like making up for your past mistakes?"

Wanda and Pietro nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes as they followed Natasha towards the door, ready to start a new chapter of their lives.

Upstate New York; Present Day...

Wanda and Pietro were strolling through the Avengers complex in a serene silence, observing the beauty all around them as they had the place to themselves. The rest of the Avengers were off in outer space on a preemptive mission against an aggressive alien force that could potentially threaten the Earth, so they appointed the Maximoffs as the Earth bound Avengers in case of emergencies.

Little did they know, an emergency was about to befall one of their own.

As Wanda and Pietro were wrapping up their walk, Wanda suddenly stumbled, clutching her head. She let out a low moan, alerting Pietro to her distress. He turned around and was at her side in an instant, asking what was wrong.

"I-I don't know...my head feels like it is on fire." Wanda slurred out, her vision doubling as she collapsed to her knees. A wave of scarlet energy exploded out of her as she screamed in agony, shaking the whole complex with its force.

"Sister!" Pietro cried out, trying to fight against the blasts of energy to get closer to Wanda. "Wanda!"

Wanda turned to look at Pietro with a flood of tears falling from her eyes. She watched in horror as the Avengers complex began to collapse around them from the waves of energy still emitting from her. She grit her teeth, trying to control her energies only to find she could not.

"I'm sorry, brother, but I must." Wanda gasped out in a ragged breath, her eyes glowing a haunting scarlet. She whispered a spell and the waves stopped as she fell completely over. Pietro climbed his way through the rubble to Wanda, finding her struggling to keep her eyes open. She grasped his hand tightly, mumbling one last thing under her breath before going into her comatose state. "Find...my boys. Keep them...safe."

Pietro nodded, lifting his sister off the ground and into his arms. With the Avengers off world, he only had one place to turn.

He just hoped they would listen.