a conversation
It had taken Pietro a few minutes to collect himself, but when he did he returned to his sister's side. Though he was still ashamed of what he did after he woke up, he didn't want his sister to face all of their questions on her own.
So now they were all seated in the living room area. The twins sat closely next to each other, holding hands, while Clint occupied the armchair to their right with Natasha sitting on top of its armrest.
Steve was sitting on another couch to their left and Tony was making coffee a few feet away. Giving the twins space had been a conscious decision made by all of them.
For a while none of them said anything until Clint spoke up. "So you guys got powers?", he asked, earning a jab in the ribs from Natasha. "What?! I'm trying to start the conversation!", the archer defended himself, rubbing the spot where the spy had hit him.
"Yes, we do. Strucker gave them to us.", Pietro answered for both of them. Out of habit, he was the one talking while Wanda stayed silent.
The last part of Pietro's answer made Tony perk up. "He gave them to you? How?", he asked curiously, walking over to the rest of them with a cup of coffee in his hands.
While Pietro tried his best to describe his encounter with, what the team told him, had been Loki's scepter, Natasha was busy watching his sister.
Wanda stayed silent throughout her brother's explanation, though she nervously played with the rings on her fingers.
After Pietro had finished his story of walking into the room, touching the blue stone at the center of the scepter and feeling a burning sensation run up his arm before falling unconscious, Natasha addressed the younger twin directly.
"Did you experience the same thing, Wanda?", she asked, watching her closely. She noticed the younger girl freeze for a split second, which went unnoticed by everyone else except the trained spy. She knew that whatever came out of Wanda's mouth next, would be a lie.
"Yes, I did.", Wanda said as convincingly as possible, which worked for everyone except for Nat. She watched as Pietro took his younger sister's hand, looking at her with understanding in his eyes. He knew Wanda had lied. Of course he did.
"So after that you got what... Superspeed?", Steve spoke up, looking at Pietro, who nodded. "Yeah... I can run super fast. But I always need to eat a lot afterwards.", he explained, making Tony nodd. "Makes sense, your body probably needs a lot of energy.", he said, making Pietro nodd.
"What about you?", Steve now asked Wanda, who tensed. "It's uhm... It's complicated.", she answered without looking at the super soldier. "Complicated in what way?", asked Clint, looking at her as well.
"It's uh... Not just one thing... I can move stuff around, read people's minds...", she said truthfully, still not looking up.
"Wait a second, you read people's minds?", Tony interrupted, making Wanda look up. "Yes. I know that it's an invasion of uhm...", she tried to explain, struggling to find the right word. "Privacy?", Clint helped her out. Wanda nodded, shooting him a shy, thankful smile.
"Yes, that. I try to shut everyone's thoughts out but sometimes they're so loud that I just... Hear them.", she explained. The team looked at each other, making Pietro frown.
"Hey, it's not her fault, okay? She tries her best.", he said, a hint of anger tainting his voice. Wanda rubbed her thumb over the back of his hand. "Upokoj sa, Pietro. (Calm down, Pietro.) It's okay.", she said, before he tilted his head to look at her, his face filled with worry.
"No, I won't let them punish you for something that isn't your fault!", he told her determinantly, making the team frown. "Woah woah woah, calm down, speedy.", Clint said. "Nobody is getting punished here.", he added, while Pietro turned his gaze back to him.
"Really?", he asked, not convinced at all. Steve nodded. "We don't do that here, kid.", he promised, which seemed to make Pietro relax slightly. "Right... Sorry.", he murmured, scratching the back of his head.
"Would it be okay if Banner and I made a few tests when you go down to the medical wing?", Tony asked, making Natasha sigh and the twins tense. "You don't have to say yes.", she quickly assured. "These two science nerds are just too curious for their own good.", the redhead added jokingly.
Wanda smiled slightly. "I know someone else with that same trait.", she joked back, surprising everyone in the room. Pietro shot her a confused look, clearly not understanding the joke. "Really? Who?", he asked, which made his sister breath out in disappointment.
"You, idiot.", she said mockingly, which made Pietro gasp. "Excuse me?! I'm not that curious!", he defended himself, making his sister roll her eyes. "Sure.", she said, smiling to herself.
After that the air in the room became a lot lighter. Most of the team got back to their own plans and left the twins with Nat and Clint, figuring that they could handle it.
"I know you guys don't want to hear this, but we still gotta take a look at you.", Clint said after a while, making Pietro wrap a protective arm around his sister.
"No you're not, we're fine.", he said, reacting similarly to his sister when Natasha had talked to her on the roof earlier.
Before one of the agents could say anything, Wanda spoke up. "I already agreed, Pietro.", she said, before Pietro whipped his head around to look at his sister in shock. "You did? Why?!", he asked in disbelieve.
"Because they're only trying to help us, okay?", she answered, making Pietro huff. "That's what they told us as well.", he tried to reason with his sister, but she took his hand.
"They're not going to separate us. We can be there for each other the whole time. We can make sure they don't try anything.", she told him. Pietro turned to look at the two Avengers. "Is that true?", he asked, to which both of them nodded.
"Okay. Fine. But no man.", he requested, making Natasha frown. It wasn't a good sign if the twins didn't want a man to take a look at them. Natasha knew that all too well.
"Helen Cho is going to check on your health. She's really good at her job. We all trust her.", Clint assured the twins. Wanda and Pietro looked at each other, apparently speaking without having to say a word.
Pietro turned back to Nat and Clint. "Okay, let's get this over with."