II
Wanda and Pietro never really asked what had gotten their mother killed. Erik never talked about it. The twins never knew what kind of people they were involved with when they were babies. Since they went to live in New York with their father and made themselves comfortable, they tried to push away the bad memories from their childhood, so they barely talked about it, expect when each one of them was in therapy, to overcome the traumas.
Although Wanda did find out what his father was involved with on the night of 10th December 2021. 28 years after they moved to America, their past came to haunt them. Erik and Magda also did not had an easy life, in order to survive they started to get involved with drug lords and criminals and if you let them down, there was no turning back. They gave Erik and Magda a home and food, but they had to give them something in return, so they wanted the couple to do some of the dirty work for them, and that involved getting some people killed in the way, people that were considered ‘’enemies’’ to these criminals. They did it, in order to survive.
They tried to keep Magda’s pregnancy a secret, but since she was pregnant with twins it was practically impossible to hide her huge belly. As soon as she gave birth, they tried to escape, many times, but it was impossible. One day, when the twins were almost one year old, the boss who was a very tall and strong man named Ultron, said if they wanted out they would have to get rid of one more target for him. That target happened to be a father of four children, the day they were supposed to kill him they saw the target walking with his kids, thinking about their own kids and imagining what it would be like to live without a family, they could not do it, so they ran away. Ultron quickly realized that they had betrayed him and went to get revenge, it only took him a few weeks and he eventually found Magda at a grocery shop, he waited until she was near a dark alley and cut her throat.
Erik knew they were being hunted down, so he made the difficult decision to give his children away, to a family that would at least give them the basics. He could not risk losing them as well, and besides, he was not at the best state of his mind to take care of two babies. When he found out Oleg and Irina died at an explosion and that now his children were living at an orphanage, he took them back. Before that, Erik managed to work two jobs and he had enough savings for when it came to take his two kids to America.
They never had any problems on the new country. Erik still had to work a lot to feed the twins, but he tried to be present and to make up for the time lost, and the kids appreciated it.
Eventually, Wanda found a person that she loved and was ready to spend the rest of her life with him. They had kids, first came Tommy and Billy in 2008, then twelve years later, the couple got pregnant again, Vivian and Vincent in 2020, these two were not planned, but they came as a very nice addition to their family, both Wanda and Vision always wanted to have a big family. However, four children were more than enough, and a few months after the twins were born Vision went to get a vasectomy, since both already felt like they were too old (Wanda being 36 at the time and Vision 40) to have any more kids.
At the same time, their eldest sons were going through puberty and each one of them reacted differently to it. Billy was patience, quiet and would not act so much as a pre-teen, he resembled his mother, since she was also very quiet growing up. While Tommy was more like his Uncle Pietro, extremely extrovert, very easy going and electric, he would not stand still. Not only that, but a medical condition that came from Erik started to have effect on him, his hair started to turn white, very quickly. The same condition also affected Pietro when they were practically the same age. Tommy started to feel extremely insecure, would always have a cap or beanie on, no matter how much his parents tried to make him feel better about his new look. He felt like Pietro was the only one who understood him, since he also went through that.
‘’Everyone calls me grandpa at school.’’ Tommy says as he and his uncle are walking down a street eating ice cream. Tommy, of course, wearing a beanie even if it’s very sunny outside.
‘’Champ, people your age can be mean,’’ He puts his hand of Tommy shoulder. ‘’You know what I did when I was going through the same thing?’’ Tommy looks up at him. ‘’I embraced the grandpa, if you show that you are bothered by it, it will only give them more power, but… if you show that you accept who you are, they will lose the power.’’ Tommy looks upfront, thinking about what his uncle had just said, ‘’Besides, not anyone can look as good as us with this hair, have you ever seen anyone like you?’’ Tommy says no with his head, ‘’We are awesome,’’ Pietro says as he takes the beanie off his nephew’s head. ‘’Grandpa Erik always had white hair as well, and women would always be head over heels for him,’’ He whispers the last part and Tommy laughs.
‘’Really?’’
‘’Really, Tommy.’’ He leans in to kiss his head. Pietro had a great relationship with his nephews, but he and Tommy bounded instantly. He would always take his nephew to do something fun, go to the movies, to a baseball game or even bowling, especially since the new twins were born. So, Wanda and Vision could have a little help and a break from having to deal with four chaotic children all at once.
On the night of 10th of December 2021, Wanda had planned a dinner with her family, including her twin, her father, Mrs Dane and her little sister Lorna.
‘’Oh, P! Damn it. I forgot to buy salt, freaking salt!’’ She says after she gets all of the supermarket shopping out of the bags and realized that she had forgotten a very important spice.
‘’Who forgets to buy salt?’’ He asks as he gives her a small chuckle.
‘’Exactly.’’ She signs. Tommy climbs down the stairs and approach the kitchen counter, with his beanie on,
‘’Mom, have you seen my Xbox controller?’’
‘’Have you tried looking under the huge pile of clothes you never tidy? And honey,’’ She approaches him and takes his beanie off. ‘’You don’t have to wear this, especially not at home.’’ She caresses his hair and kisses his head. ‘’P, can you go get the salt please? I would go but I have to prepare everything, it won’t be long until everyone is here.’’
He signs ‘’What I don’t do for you sister? And I will steal this,’’ He takes the beanie from her hand. ‘’Because it’s December and my head gets cold.’’ He looks at his nephew asking for approval to take his beanie, Tommy nods. (Pietro would steal it anyway).
‘’Thanks, I promise I won’t forget the salt next time.’’ She says and Pietro leaves her home, it was the last time she ever saw her brother alive.
One hour passed and Pietro hadn’t come back. The supermarket was not so far away from her home. She thought the traffic was keeping him stuck, but at least he could answer her calls, she kept thinking. Eventually Vision and Billy arrive home, he went to pick him at his theater classes after work.
‘’Hey baby, how was theater today?’’
‘’It was fine mom! We are rehearsing for the spring play, so we did a lot of exercises today.’’ Wanda was happy to hear that. They decided to enroll him into a theater school because it would help with his communicating and socializing skills, and they noticed it has improved a lot. Billy was a bit more extrovert and learning how to make friends without the help of his brother.
‘’Hello darling.’’ Vision says before leaning in to give his wife a quick peck on her lips. ‘’I though Pietro was already here’’ he says as he looks around the house looking of any signs of the other twin.
‘’He was, but then I sent him to buy salt because… I forgot’’ She shrugs her shoulders. ‘’But that was like an hour ago… I called just now but he did not pick up.’’
‘’Weird. He should be fine though. We’ll wait a little more.’’
‘’Yeah…’’ She agrees and tries to contain her worry. ‘’Could you please set the table for us? And also check on the babies’’
‘’Of course, love. Just let me change.’’ He goes upstairs and Wanda notices that Billy moved to the couch and now was doing some homework. It was at times like these that she could notice the different personalities from her first twins, while Tommy was upstairs playing some video games, Billy would do his homework first and enjoy the rest of the weekend without having anything to worry about.
Erik arrived an hour later accompanied by his youngest daughter and her mother. Of course, spoiling his eldest grandchildren with some Hotwheels cars, one for each. ‘’Where’s P?’’
‘’I don’t know dad. I told him to pick up salt because I forgot to buy, but it has been like two hours. I am really worried…’’ She admits to her dad quietly, not wanting her children to hear her. One second after she had finished the sentence, blue and red lights invaded her home, as a cop car parked in front of her house. The whole family was gathered on the living room, the two babies were in their playpen as Lorna talked to her nephew and Mrs. Dane and Vision chatted.
Wanda could already feel her breath hitching, she was trying to oppress the bad feeling that had washed over her an hour ago. She stood there watching the cops leave the car through the front window, she felt like this moment took hours. She was not sure if she should go on and open the door. She knew the course of her life would change if she opened the door. Still, she tried to pull some positivity off of her, the fact that the cops came to her house did not mean that something horrible had happened to her brother. He could still be okay… But the odds were not in her favour.
The family share looks. Erik is the first one to approach the door, his oldest daughter and Vision came behind, they opened the door as the two cops approached the porch. ‘’Something wrong officer?’’ Erik asked.
Before one of them could say anything, they notice the children on the living room, ‘’It is better if we discuss it outside, if you don’t mind.’’ The three adults leave the house, but not before Vision giving a look to Mrs. Dane, and at the kids. She understood the message.
‘’There’s no easy way to say it.’’ Wanda took a deep breath, probably the last one before she knew what peace was like, Vision takes her hand and caresses it. ‘’There has been a shooting. You need to come to the hospital and confirm that the body belongs to Pietro Maximoff.’’
Just like that, Wanda world falls down. She chokes on air and she feels her husband pulling her close to his chest, as he tries to suppress his own shock. Erik does not react, he simply turns to his daughter and embraces she and Vision.
The way to the hospital was not easy, Wanda could not control her sobs and Vision tried to help her breath and calm her down. When they reach the morgue and the diener shows Pietro’s pale, soulless face she breaks down. Both Wanda and Vision cannot stand being there, Vision helps his wife out of the room. They both sit outside the door not being able to contain their cry, he tries to be strong, he had never seen his wife like this before, the image and the sounds scared him. Erik trembles as he covers his mouth and give a delicate touch to his son’s check. Just below his face, there was a gunshot on his neck that had been cleaned. He managed to escape and protect their children since they moved to America, why now? Why was he being punished just now? The image of his boy laying down lifeless made Erik feel what he had not felt when Magda was killed. This now was rage. Need for revenge.
<>
After Pietro’s funeral, Erik wrote a letter to his oldest daughter, explaining everything. Everything she did not know about his life, everything she did not know about her mother.
‘’(…) Everything I did in my life was to keep you and Pietro safe. I would not change a thing. What I am going to do now, is to protect you, Victor, Thomas, William, Vivian, Vincent and Lorna. You do not have to forgive me, I will not ask you for your forgiveness. I will probably not deserve it. I am doing this because I love you and I cannot stand anymore losses in my life. You are a wonderful mother, I look at you and I see your mother, I imagine this could have been what she would be like for you and your brother. (…)’’
The same letter demanded them to move to the West Coast. Which they did. They felt too scared after they learned the truth and what had gotten Pietro killed.
The first days were the worst ones. With Wanda having to be sedated after seeing her brother at the morgue and having to deal with his funeral. She was out of her mind. Two days after the funeral she received the letter from her father, he had abandoned them, she truly felt like he did not deserve her forgiveness, not when he left her to grief by herself (she had Vision and her kids, of course, but having her father’s support would be different, they could have overcome the pain together, but now she felt like she was not only grieving for her brother but also her father).
Vision got an invitation from Tony to work with him at Start Industries in California. Wanda had decided to fully dedicate her attention to ‘’mom duties’’, she had two years old children to take care of as well as two teenage boys.
Tommy did not take the decision to move well. He had many friends in New Jersey, he also felt sad that he had to abandon the place he grew up in. The kids obviously did not know the real reason why they had moved out. The excuse Wanda and Vision gave them was that they needed a fresh start.
It was a miracle that Wanda did not fall hard into depression. The help from her husband made her strong. Besides, she had to babies to raise, she could not project her sadness into them. Of course, that was only managed through heavy therapy four times a week, help groups and her own desire to be well for her family, because they all needed each other at times like this.
<>
It was almost the one-year anniversary of Pietro’s death. They all were feeling a little bit stressed and sad.
Wanda had just finished changing Vin’s diaper when she received a call from the boys’ school. ‘’Hello?’’
‘’Hello Mrs. Maximoff. This is principal Winston. Could you pass by the school now?’’
Wanda closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, ‘’What has he done now?’’ It was not the first time she had been called to the school, the boys had been transferred in February and she lost track of how many times she had been called because Tommy had done something wrong. And this was already the second school they had been enrolled on the West Coast, because at the end of their 8th grade, Tommy had ‘’been asked to leave’’ the school, due to his problematic behavior.
‘’It is better if you come here so we can talk.’’
‘’Alright. I’m on my way.’’
Wanda arrives at the school with the babies on their double stroller. She makes her usual way to the principal’s office and spots not just Tommy but also Billy sat next to him by the door. He should be in class right now so she realizes that both her kids must be in trouble.
They share a panicked look when they see their mother approaching, ‘’Watch your brother and sister for me.’’ She says with a neutral tone of her voice before knocking on the principal’s door. Enters as he gives her permission to do so.
‘’Hello Mrs. Maximoff, please sit down.’’ She sits by the chair in front of his desk. ‘’It gets harder every time to say it. Thomas is suspended…’’ It does not surprise her, it has happened before. ‘’For two weeks,’’
She frowns her eyebrows ‘’Two weeks!? What did he do now?’’ He had never gotten two weeks. The maximum was three days for misbehavior in the classroom.
‘’Mrs. Maximoff… he sent a kid to the hospital.’’ She closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath and takes her hand into her face, ‘’He punched Mister Hayes in the face, enough times to make him get some stitches, as his parents just called to tell me.’’
She takes another long breath again. ‘’I- I understand. Me and my husband will pay for the boy’s medical bill… I’m sorry this happened.’’ They stay quiet for a moment. ‘’Is William in trouble too? He is supposed to be in class.’’
‘’They both were there when the incident happened, Thomas took the blame. William is not suspended or anything like that, but they were both somehow involved… If this happens one more time, I will be obligated to expel him from the school.’’ Wanda nods and she exits his office. She looks at her eldest son and starts pushing the stroller without saying anything.
They stay quiet the whole way home. When they arrive home, Vision is already there. She is thankful that she will not have to deal with it alone.
‘’You guys are home early.’’ Says Vision as he emerges from the kitchen with a mug of tea on his hand.
‘’Well, yeah. Thomas is suspended for two weeks.’’
‘’What?’’ He puts his mug down and approaches his family crossing his arms, ‘’What happened?’’ He asks Tommy.
They remain silent, while Billy is looking down on the floor, Tommy is looking up to his parents, ‘’He sent a boy to the hospital. He got 3 stitches on his eyebrow! How and why could you do something like that?’’ Wanda raises a bit the tone of her voice, she tried to be calm during the whole way home but could not contain her anger anymore.
Tommy shrugs his shoulders ‘’Well, that boy was…’’ Billy looks up at him and pleads him no. ‘’… he was pissing the fuck out of me! That’s what happened.’’ Both parents are shocked by the statement. Firstly, because they never heard him curse like that, secondly, the vague answer they receive that definitely did not justified his action.
‘’HEY!’’ Now it was Vision’s turn to raise his voice, something that rarely happened. ‘’That’s not an excuse and definitely not the way to talk to your parents.’’
‘’Whatever’’ Says Tommy.
‘’So, you just don’t care that you sent a boy to the hospital?’’ Wanda asks, she was used to his child rebellious behavior, but his disregard to the topic was making her uncomfortable.
‘’He deserved it!’’ He spits back.
‘’Oh, just because he was pissing you off?’’´
‘’Jesus mom! Do I have to justify everything to you?’’
‘’Yes! I am your mother,’’ She emphasizes the last world.
Now Wanda was really getting on Tommy’s nerves. His patience (which was very short, by the way) was over and he wanted to attack her now, he had enough of his parents looking at him like he was a menace, so he exploded, ‘’I DON’T CARE! You got Uncle Pietro killed! If YOU had not forgotten the fucking salt, he would be here with us!’’
Tommy knows the statement was not true. But he was a teenager, his emotions were all over the place, he was going through a tough phase. He was not fitting into school, he missed his uncle, people in the West Coast would bully him just as people in New Jersey would. He was angry at his parents from moving. He missed his grandfather and was not able to control his anger anymore, it has gotten to the point where it got physical. Not just that, but he had said something horrible to his mother. Something that he regretted immediately, especially after his brother and father scolded him, he heard his two baby siblings crying, probably scared from all the screaming and he saw a look in his mother’s eye that he had never seen before.
‘’That’s enough. Go to your room. NOW!’’ Vision points to the stairs ordering him to go up, which he does without protest. Billy goes after him. Vision breathes in and out before turning to Wanda and seeing that she was already making herself distracting by trying to calm down the babies. ‘’Babe…’’ he puts his hand on her shoulder as he kisses her head, she keeps talking to Vin. ‘’What he said-‘’ She interrupts him before he can finish.
‘’I’m fine Vi-‘’ Now it has his turn to interrupt her.
‘’What he said it is not true…’’
‘’I SAID-‘’ She stops and recomposes her tone, ‘’I said I’m fine-‘’ Her voice and breathing trembling as she puts Vin on Vision’s arms. She was not fine. ‘’I’ll be fine. Don’t let them see me like this.’’ And before he can protest, she had gone to the bathroom. Just like Tommy, she knows that what he said was not true, he touched a weak spot, but she would be lying if she didn’t regularly think how things could have been different if she had not forgotten the salt. If she had not asked him to go buy it for her. Sometimes she could not even season the food without thinking about her brother. For the past year, the family had gotten used to eat their meals without salt, because it was hard. Wanda knows how pathetic the situation is. She feels pathetic when she can’t season her food, because the situation is still very triggering to her. His death anniversary was coming up and it was all overwhelming.
After Vision goes upstairs to put the babies asleep. He returns downstairs half an hour later. He noticed that his wife has changed to some robes and put her hair on a bun while she is already preparing dinner. When she noticed his presence in the kitchen, she turns to him and says: ‘’I’m sorry I screamed at you.’’
He pulls her into a hug, noticing how red and puffy her eyes look. It hurts him to know that while he was taking care of their babies, she was crying her eyes out in the bathroom, because of something one of his children had said. He kisses the top of her head and then hold it with both palms of his hands as he looks down at her, ‘’It is okay, my love. Do you want to talk about it?’’
She takes a deep breath, ‘’It is just, so overwhelming. I-I… It’s hard. The anniversary is coming up. I wake up every day not knowing if Erik is alive or not… then I pray for our family not to suffer the same fate as my biological mother and Pietro… We have to deal with Tommy’s problems at school, it is all coming together,’’ She falls into his embrace again.
He's loss for words. He knows that nothing he will say will make her feel better, so he just holds her, like he had always held. ‘’We will be fine, love. All of us do therapy individually, maybe if we go together as a family, that might help.’’
‘’It might.’’ She looks up at him giving a small smile before kissing him. They stay like this for a few minutes before she goes back into cocking.
Vision goes upstairs and stops by Tommy’s door. He knocks it twice, ‘’Tommy, son?’’ He waits for an answer that never comes, he enters the room. His room is not tidy, like always. He spots his son laying down on the bed looking into the wall in fetus position. Vision sits on his bed, ‘’I am not here to fight with you, son.’’ He puts his hand on his hair and starts to caress it, Tommy does not complain.
‘’I’m sorry.’’ He admits. Vision notices that his voice is hoarse and that he also spent the last hour crying, regretting what he had said. Vision and Wanda always educated their sons to be honest with them, and also created a safe environment where they could always trust them. ‘’What I said wasn’t true.’’
‘’You are right. It was not.’’
‘’You can take my allowance away until Hayes’ medical bill.’’ Vision smiled. It was very humble of him to offer to ‘pay’ for his bill.
‘’We will see about that kiddo. Now, why don’t you wash your face, come down and tell your mother what you just told me?’’ Tommy nods with his head and Vision kisses his head before leaving his room.
And just like that, Tommy comes down and stands by the kitchen doorway, ‘’M-mom…’’ Wanda turns to look at him and smiles. Tommy starts walking into her as tears start to stream down his face again, ‘’I’m sorry… I didn’t mean that. I didn’t mean to make you sad,’’ She opens his arms and pulls him for a tight hug. She kisses his head.
‘’It’s alright baby, I know.’’ She holds him for moments as she strokes his white hair.
‘’I just miss him so much and I’m mad he’s gone. I also miss grandpa… I feel sad that we do not talk about it enough…’’
‘’Me too baby… I’m sorry I don’t talk so much about your uncle. It is very hard for me, for everyone. And regarding your grandfather…’’ She pulls away so she can look at him. ‘’There is a reason why he left, and I promise, with capital P, that I will tell you why. One day. Just not right now, I hope you understand. I’m doing it because I love you guys.’’
‘’Okay mommy… I love you too.’’
They cried together on 10th December 2022. They started having therapy together as a family. The pain did not go away but it helped, Tommy stopped having problems at school. He started tidying up his room regularly, without his parents having to tell him to do so. Their mental health started to improve after having a very tough year, it was not their happiest time. But they got through it together.