Legacy - Past and Future- Snapshots to the past (Billy/Tommy/Luna)
Billy and Tommy were over at their uncle's penthouse spending time with their cousin (babysitting as Luna has called it with an eye roll that would have given her father a run for his money or "quality cousin bonding time" as everyone else had called it).
It wasn't often that Billy got to spend time with both his twin and Luna. Part of that was to do with living with his husband in space and running an empire but if he was being honest, having grown up with a loving and stable family with the Kaplans he still had conflicting feelings about managing his time between them and the Maximoff side. He loved Wanda, she was his mom as well but she also was only about a decade older than him – so there was a lot to unpack there with the dynamics but Wanda had always respected his boundaries (and he loved her for it). He didn't need his magic family the way Tommy did but he still wanted to spend time with them (without feeling like he was being disloyal to his birth family – also another minefield to unpack and good therapists were not the easiest to find in space).
In any event (and as his mum, Rebecca, liked to remind him) having more family was always a good thing – it was nice to learn about and connect with his Romani heritage and magical lineage, have a support group to talk about managing the craziness of their superhero lives, coming back from the dead (apparently that had something to do with why no one was talking to Grampneto again but he decided he'd rather not pry because it felt the old man died and came back to upset at least one of his children every few months at this point – gosh his family was so wired) and being married to space royalty.
Luna loved to remind the twins that she was technically born first and so should be in charge during these little gatherings– Tommy usually went along with it because he absolutely adored Luna and Billy was fine with it mostly because she was his primary source for useful tips about managing space politics and etiquette (Pietro had offered some advice to him eventually after an awkward talk about his then upcoming marriage to Teddy – "Tata's a bit traumatised" Luna had offered by way of explanation – "please understand, it's from a place of love and concern, we only don't want you to repeat the mistakes we made… you're so young! at least promise me you'll give it a few years before you consider children" had been Wanda's) but also because he found it funny. Today however she was off her game and the babysitting quality time was off to a subdued start.
Luna had been unusually quiet when they arrived and alternated between fiddling with her phone or staring out of the window, which in turn had put Tommy in a sombre mood, staring blankly at Mr Dibbles in his tank, the quiet sending him spiralling into thoughts about David (Billy set a mental reminder to hex David the next time he saw him – petty revenge for breaking your twin's heart – now that was something he and Pietro could bond over no problem) and so it was up to Billy to take charge and get things back on track…. And what better way to do that than a little friendly game of Mario Party?
A purpose in mind Billy wondered over to set up the PS5 when he noticed an old picture of his magic mum and uncle during their "Kooky Quartet" days out of the corner of his eye and instinctively moved to pick it up.
“What are you looking at?” with a sudden gust of wind Tommy was leaning over his shoulder trying to grab the picture. The squabble attracting Luna's attention.
“Don't break it you idiots! That's my Tata’s!”
Billy took the second he had to grab the picture back while Tommy was distracted telling their cousin to respect her elders and looked at it more closely.
He'd seen variations of this picture before, it was iconic but he never really studied it before. He would glance at it and see the legends, the heros, but not the people. He always looked at it and saw Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch and not Pietro and Wanda. His mother and uncle.
They looked out at the picture with big smiles where they stood between Captain America and Hawkeye. Skinny and small next to the older members of the team but they stood proud with their large hopeful eyes and curly hair but he noticed for the first time he could just about make out his uncle clutching his mother's cape for comfort while she lent against him in turn. The two of them standing as close together as was acceptable for the American media. They looked so excited…they looked…
“Damm mum and Uncle Pete really look like babies here!” Exclaimed Tommy from where he'd propped his chin on his brother's head.
“They were 16 I think - Auntie Lorna told me, said this was just a few years before I was born.” Luna said softly by his shoulder, finger softly tracing her father's face “it's wired thinking of them as kids, of being anything other than my dad and auntie Wanda…”
“Billy and I were sixteen when we joined the Young Avengers - we got lots of lectures about being young and unprepared, a bit rich of them honesty!”
“Uncle Clint got drunk and told me they'd lied about their ages, caused a big media commotion at the time! Tata got really grumpy about it!”
“Ha! Like you couldn't have just googled it!” Snorted Tommy and honestly it was nice they had snapped out of their previous moods.
Billy for his part had mostly tuned them out, mesmerized but the picture. They looked so young and hopeful and for the first time Billy found he sort of understood what the elder Maximoff twins were trying to get at before his wedding (he appreciated the concern but he wasn't them and Teddy was not Crystal or the Vision - he was the best partner someone could ask for. Just because they made mistakes in choosing their first partners didn't mean Billy had).
A flurry of flicks forehead by Tommy broke him out of his musings.
“Earth to Billy! You ok bro?”
“Stop it and yes I'm fine I was just thinking.”
“Don't hurt yourself!”
“Why you little ….” Billy shrieked as as he prepared to hex his brother but Luna was not having it.
“Hey! Stop that do you really wanna explain to Monet why her expensive furniture got broken?” Luna demanded with a stomp of her foot prompting hasty apologies from her cousins before the trio lapped into an awkward silence and Luna glanced between the twins in front of her and the ones in the picture.
“Is it hard being compared to them? ” She asked the twins
“Eh…. Could be worse. They went through a lot of stuff but they broke a lot of barriers to - first immigrants, first mutants, first reformed villians, first people of colour on the team - it took a while to accept but I'm glad to be a part of this family” replied Tommy with a shrug “and don't tell your dad this…but if he asked I wouldn't mind being the next Quicksilver but I refuse to adopt lighting bolts!...so stereotypical”
“Says the guy called Speed!” Billy scoffed “but to be honest I don't know….I think I can honour Wanda's legacy without being the Scarlet Warlock…I'm not just a Maximoff so I want to be my own thing…”
“Like Aunt Lorna is Polaris rather than Magnetrix?”
“Yeah something like that Luna…”
Tommy had started fidgeting again “What about you Lulu? What's this really about?” he asked her (he'd always been more perceptive than he let on)
The preteen had gone quiet again, the blue eyes she had inherited from her father and grandfather contemplative “I heard my dad and Monet talking about how terrifying their children would be…they were mostly joking…but I could see from their colours they weren’t completely joking if that makes sense…”
“Oh Luna…do you not want that to happen?” Billy asked gently as Tommy wrapped his arm around her.
“I donno, there's been a lot of changes and it's hard enough getting used to sharing him with Nicole and Claudette even if I do like them…I feel so bad because his and Monet's colours are so happy but I don't know if I want siblings anytime soon and if I could even be as dedicated a sibling as he is”
Billy might not be the closest to the Maximoff side of his family, might feel a little distance but he wasn't going to let his little cousin doubt herself “Look Lulu like you said, they were mostly joking and even if it does happen is it so bad if it makes you're dad so happy? You’re your father's daughter and I know you'll be an amazing big sister!”
The shy smile Luna rewarded him with was more akin to the brightness of the sun than the moon she was named after “thanks Billy”
“Yeah your the “big cousin remember!” You look after me and bozo over there!” Tommy chimed in before a cheeky grin that promised no good came over his face “plus aren't you just a little curious that any kid they have may just basically turn out to be Sonic the hedgehog?”
Billy gave him a swift kick in the shin for that one but the peals of laughter that brought out of his cousin and brother made his clumsy attempts at family togetherness feel worth it (and honestly the mental image of it was hilarious).
With a smile he gently placed the photo of his mother and uncle back on the console, knowing that despite all the struggles and hardships his family came out the other side stronger and would keep doing so.
(And if they spent a good hour joking about which sonic character Pietro and Monet's hypothetical kid would look like or the likelihood of there being another set of twins born into the family - well what they didn't know wouldn't kill them)
—++
Bonus Legacy Story 1: Something to remember me by (Bucky and the Maximoff Twins)
Bucky Barns was getting used to being in the 21st century, luckily enough he had Steve here to be his mentor just as he had during the war time.
He really appreciated Steve's presence, more than the technology or the change in fashions the things that unsettled him the most was that everyone he knew except Steve was gone or in their twilight years having lived a full life and unable to relate to him anymore.
It was a difficult pill to swallow but he had Steve as his rock and was…optimistic…to meet the new team
“You might wanna brace yourself for this Buck…” Steve said with a reaffirming pat on his shoulder as they made their way into the Avengers recreational area after Bucky's introduction to Hawkeye and Black Widow.
“What do you mean Steve? Isn't it just the twins left for me to meet?” Bucky didn't know much about them outside of them having defected from Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants and that they immigrated to the US from Transnia (thinking of the country sent pang of sadness through him - he hope Sofia got to live the life she dreamed of).
“Well you remember Andrei and…” Steve began but Bucky had stopped listening the moment he saw the two teenagers decked in red and blue on the sofa.
The girl looked so much like Sofia Maximoff, his friend from Transnia and first kiss (maybe even first love if he was being honest).
“Anything we can help you with or are you just gonna stare at my sister like a complete pedo?…” the boy sneered , protective hackles raised, and once again Bucky was reminded so much of Sofia - the accent, the smirk, the attitude.
It was a lot and poor Bucky could only stare at the twins dumbly as Steve awkwardly tried to descalate the situation and introduced him to Pietro and Wanda Maximoff aka - the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.
Bucky knew in his heart they were Sofia's descendants - Sofia had survived the war! - Sofia's Legacy lived on....
“I'm sorry I need a moment!” Bucky blurted out before starting to march away, getting to the door before stopping running back round to embrace the twins (and it was a testament to how shocked and confused they were that Wanda didn't hex him and Pietro didn't cuss him) “I won't let anyone call you that horrible g-word ever I promise you and I promise Andrei and Sofia!” he cried before running back into the hallway, Steve shooting the twins and apologetic look as he ran off after his former sidekick.
The twins watched them leave and listened to the sound of sniffing completely lost as to what had happened.
“Sister…”
“Yes Pietro….”
“What the fuck just happened? Did Magneto shoot us both in the head again?”
‘I am as clueless as you are brother”
It was at this point, Clint, having witnessed the whole exchange while loitering by the coffee machine, made his presence known by sauntering up to his younger teammates and casually slinging his arms accross both their shoulders pulling them in close.
“Bet you twenty bucks he fucked your grandma!”
—-
Bonus story 2 - A helmet by any other name (Pietro/Wanda/Lorna)
Their father was dead….again
This time they hadn't even been invited to a funeral or gotten his ashes (for all they knew their father's body was probably stashed in one of Charles Xavier's many basements awaiting a miraculous resurrection) instead all they got was his current beat up helmet in a box with a note from Magik that simply read “soz - he kicked the bucket again LMAO - wanna make bets on when he'll be back? 😁”
To be honest Wanda was greatful that was the only form of written communication they had gotten. After the fiasco the last post humous letter from their father had caused, Wanda was happy to never receive more than the occasional text from him again. Lorna on the other hand hadn't received a letter at all but she had no complaints after hearing what Magneto had written about their brother.
And so it was that the siblings found themselves on a cliff in Poland overlooking the sea, near where Max had grown up and met the twin’s mother. Wanda recalled him telling her how the family would take day trips here and he would later visit it with her Mother and Anya after the war. It was hard at times to reconcile the man they knew with the man he may have been before their older sister died.
Despite everything Wanda and Lorna had wanted to pay some sort of respects for their father as complicated as their feelings for him were.
Pietro had given them the lift and made it very clear he was only there for that reason (and to support them but he didn't need to admit it) and was sitting on a nearby rock catching up on an anime his daughter enjoyed so they could watch the final season together while Lorna and Wanda either sood in silence or deliberated over what they wanted to do.
“So Wands…maybe we should say something about dad?” Lorna suggested as she shivered near the cliff edge, her father just had to kick it in the middle of autumn as the colder breezes of winter approached. If it was summer at least she would have been warm and able to wear a cute outfit, maybe get Wanda to take some pictures of Lorna and the beautiful scenery as it had been a while since she posted on Instagram (because Pietro was absolutely hopeless when it came to taking pictures unless it was of Mr Dibbles, Luna or Monet….speaking of…)
“Did you have to bring your looser turtle? He keeps hissing at me!” Lorna snapped at her brother as Mr Dibbles once again wondered up to her hissing.
“Number one yes, he's my emotional support turtle and he deserves to see the world!” Pietro snapped back at her “plus he's not hissing at you, he's hissing at Magneto”
Mr Dibbles at this point had started attacking the Amazon delivery box containing their father's helmet, the symbol of his legacy, with a fervour and viciousness only seen in hungry attacking predators or Americans at the last black Friday sale before Christmas.
Looking for an ally Lorna turned towards her sister seeking help only to be met with an eye roll and a turned back. Wanda had not been in the best of moods since Vision tried to claim child support from her that morning (“but Wanda you said Viv could be your daughter” “Hypothetically! I didn't raise her and we've been divorced longer than we were ever together! Where's my child support for Billy and Tommy?” “Tilly and Bommy who?”).
“I don't know, what is there to say about father we haven't already? He loved us and he hurt us. We're glad he's gone but we'll miss him and then he'll be back and the cycle will start all over again.” said Wanda, eyes fixed firmly on the horizon.
“Only if you keep going back. Cut him out is what I say! My life is the better fit it” said Pietro having finally decided to join them. Scooping up his turtle he ran a finger over Mr Dibbles soft leathery head “I say we follow M's suggestion and just toss this helmet and everything it stands for into the ocean”.
That had caused a squabble between the siblings but in the end Wanda was outvoted (Lorna wanted to see if she could make her third of the helmet skip on the water) so the helmet was split into thirds and after a moment of silence they got on with it (“some of us have to pick our kids up from school in a few hours you know”).
Pietro, impatient as ever, decided to take the initiative. He looked at his piece of the helmet, poetically the piece with the massive dent and some dried blood, and thought of all the pain the man who wore it caused him and his family, how the monster from his teen years had crashed him introducing Wanda to Luna and revealed a face so much like his own, how people associated him with it, how his own father wanted him to have stayed dead (we'll look who was laughing now) and how despite everything that had initially bothered him. At the end of it all he could try to do is learn how to be a better man and what not to do as a father and with that Pietro decided to let go even if he would never exactly forgive or forget. He was tired of hating a man that wasn't worth his time and energy.
“Meh” he muttered with a shrug before tossing it into the ocean like a peace of trash and going back to petting Mr Dibbles. He felt lighter for it. Like a burden had been lifted from his heart and followed the helmet into the ocean.
Lorna went next, her piece was all sharp edges and shiny - beautiful, cold and deadly - just like her father. She thought about how she was his forgotten unwanted child, how if he thought of his children he focused attention on the twins and as toxic as that relationship could be he never stopped trying to reach out to them, to declare them as his and only ever focused on her when they weren't interested or an option. How she was ment to be his successor but she also thought about the more tender moments between them. She was his clean slate, his heir but all she really wanted to be for him was just Lorna, his youngest daughter.
“I love you so much daddy but seriously fuck you!” Using her powers she remoulded his helmet to form a discus, channelled all her hurt into and flug it towards the ocean as hard as she could. It skipped at least 10 times earning a high five and laugh from her brother and an impressed whistle from her sister. It felt vindicating and empowering.
And then it was just Wanda, she ignored her siblings expectant gazes to stare at her piece of the helmet. One side of it was caked in dried blood while the other was pristine. It felt fitting for the man who could treat her with such tenderness but also such immense cruelty. He abused her, pimped her out, traumatized her and killed her brother, didn't regret killing the person closest to her. Left her to die and talked down to her but he had also changed and helped her, looked after her when she was sick and took the fall so that she may try at redemption. She didn't really want him around her children but she still wanted him in her life. They had both lived through the grief of loosing children and meeting them again when you'd missed so much. Had both done monstrous things out of grief and worked so hard for redemption. She inherited his charisma, she inherited his rage.
Her siblings may have his looks or powers but fundamentally Wanda knew that she was the most like their father. That she was his favourite (living) daughter.
There were some things she couldn't forgive him for but she was ready to for so many others. If not for her father's sake, than for her own.
If he was beyond redemption and forgiveness - than what about her? Who would the twins be without Magneto? Would they have just died that fateful day? Or would they have lived quiet lives, married different people and had different children? Would the world have been better without them or would it have burned? She didn't want to let her father define her but he was part of the reason she was where she was today (good or bad).
She took in a deep breath and let herself be invigorated by the salty sea smell, stabilised by the grounding scent and presence of her brother (the one constant in her life), soothed by her sister’s perfume (the sister she was so excited to build a relationship with and one thing to always be greatful to Magneto for) and allowed herself to feel both sad and angry at the metallic fading sent of her father on the helmet.
“Until next time father” and with that Wanda enchanted the remaining portion of Magneto's helmet to shoot into the air and explode into a beautiful fireworks display. Lorna excitedly hollered and clapped to Wanda's right while to her left, Pietro reached out and held her hand.
She felt at peace.