The Adventures of the Stark-Rogers

Chapter Seven: Wanda and Stephen talk magic and tragic pasts

Everyone spent their time in the Soul Stone differently. Besides the orange sand there was nothing there and though the time seemed to pass quickly it still didn't stop them from being bored.

After fighting the bandits and everything calming down, Wanda went over towards Stephen. She began talking to him about powers and he started to train her. Though their powers came from different sources, there were still tricks Stephen could teach her. He also ended up learning a lot from her to. He sympathized with her. After they tired themselves out the magical duo sat on the ground and talked.

"We were having dinner. My dad- he- he had left us. We were five when he left." Wanda's voice cracked. She was taking a moment to collect herself and Stephen decided not to make it awkward.

"Shitty dads. I know what that's like." He thought back to his family in Nebraska. They were excited and thrilled when Stephen told them he was going to be a surgeon but when he told them he was gay they shunned him.

"My mom tried so hard to care for us. Being a single mother in that economy trying to care for two young kids. She did the best she could. One night we were having dinner when there was a loud explosion two floors down. It made a big hole and our mom fell in." Stephen could feel the lump in her throat and it seemed like the cloak could too because it wrapped itself around Wanda. Wanda flinched before relaxing. "I stood there. Petrified. But not Pietro. Pietro was brave. He quickly grabbed me and took me to our moms bedroom. We hid under her bed. We were so scared but Pietro kept trying to play the big brother and protect me. He held me and kept repeating 'it's okay.' I'm not sure if he was trying to reassure me or himself. There were more bangs and we covered our ears. Because Pietro couldn't hold me, he would put is leg on top of mine. So we were connected. We were so scared of losing each other. There were explosions straight after one another. Another shell hits. It's three feet away from us but it doesn't go off. It just stays there. I cry harder than before. Pietro moves us carefully not to set it off. He made us face each other rather than the bomb. 'Look at me. Keep looking at me.' He would say. Every time I averted my gaze he would have me look at him. He cradled me in his lap." Wanda looked to the distance as if she was seeing the scene on fold in front of her eyes again. "He was such a great brother." Tears ran down her face. Stephen placed his shaking hands on top of hers. "We waited for two days to be either blown up or rescued. Every small shift in the rubble would make us cry. Finally the bomb was disarmed and we were rescued. We were placed in an adoption home." Wanda took another deep breath. Stephen shakily tried rubbing her hand. "Pietro was the best brother. Before that night we would always argue. Before our dad left he would tell us we were strong individually, but together we were unstoppable. Our mom would tell us we're brother and sister. We're twins. We would have to be with each other. We realized what they meant after they were gone. Pietro became more protective of me." She let out a light laugh and looked at Stephen. "In the orphanage we were always together. The older kids would pick on him but Pietro wouldn't care but as soon as they would pick on me he would get angry. He would fight them but he would always lose. That is until we were thirteen."

"Is that when you got your powers?" Stephen asked.

Wanda nodded her head. "We tried hiding it from the rest. We were always distant. We would play in the playground away from the rest and show our powers to each other. One day, the kids ganged up on us. Pietro got so angry he attacked them. A couple days after that a couple of guys took us. They did experiments on us. We later found out they were HYDRA." Wanda said, ashamed.

"And then you teamed up with Ultron?" Stephen had heard this part of the story from Tony before.

Wanda looked at ground ashamed. "We were so filled with hatred for Stark we wanted our revenge for our mom, for our life." Wanda said. "After that, it went kinda okay. I mean, there was that whole Berlin airport incident but besides that- Tony Stark helped me. He is a hero." She said and Stephen couldn't agree anymore. He had cocky attitude but so did Stephen. He was deep down the nicest man Stephen had met and he was proud to call him his boyfriend.

"He is." Stephen said smiling thinking about him.

"You love him, don't you?" Wanda said. "I'm sorry. It's just- sometimes I can hear people's thoughts if it's strong enough." She said shyly.

"Don't apologize for your powers. It's true. I do love him." He smiled.

"Can I ask how you got them? Your powers I mean." Wanda asked.

"Well I wasn't born with them. Actually, the only 'power' I had" He put air quotes over 'power'. "Was that I have a photographic memory and that I have a pretty high IQ." Stephen bragged and he allowed himself to. His life had gone to the shits and he was considered dead. The only thing that he could brag about was his high IQ. Okay, also the fact he was dating billionaire Playboy philanthropist: Tony Stark. "I became a neurosurgeon and I was damn good at it. Had a perfect track record and made loads of money. I lived a successful, cocky life. That was until I was driving besides a mountain area and a car hit. I went completely off the rail and the mountain." Wanda gasped and he winced. "Shattered every bone in my hands." He showed Wanda his shaking hands. "Had every surgery done. Spent all my money on it and nothing. It couldn't be fixed. Until I heard of a patient I had refused of Kamar-Taj."

"Why refused?" Wanda asked.

"I was too cocky and he was a hopeless cause. Thought if I were to take him in he would destroy my perfect streak." He answered. "But that's the thing. He was cured. It was impossible to cure him and I should know I was the best. But he was playing basketball like nothing had happened. He told me of Kamar-Taj. How he went there and they fixed him. So I used the last of my money and booked a plane to Nepal. I thought there was going to be a doctor. The last thing I thought there would be was wizards. I didn't believe at first but the... lets say head leader: Ancient One. She showed me stuff. I finally believed and I began studying and practicing. At first I couldn't do anything I was about to give up when the Ancient One, the hardass that she was, threw me to a cold, snowy mountain and make me open a portal back. It took ages but I finally did it. After that I kept practicing. I would steal books from the library and read them."

Stephen told her more about what happened. About fighting, Ancient One dying, Dormammu. Everything. And Wanda listened intently.

"That's so cool. Do you think you'd be able to train me more?" Wanda asked.

Stehen got up, lending a hand for the young girl. "Lets begin." He said, giving the girl a smile. Wanda smiled and took the offer. Stephen Strange may be an asshole to other people but he sympathized with Wanda. He knew what it was like losing everything.