Chapter 14
Going back down to the communal floor in the morning it was clear that Bucky’s plan for them to all get sleep to be prepared for today hadn’t gone the way he had initially intended, and it made Wanda smile. She understood that last night was not the best time to go looking, but she also knew that all of them, including Bucky himself, wanted to set off right then and there.
They were ready to go now, Stark had the Quinjet ready and they were just all getting ready, making sure they had everything they would need. Wanda kept trying to reach Peter, kept trying to get to his mind to speak to him but he wasn’t letting her, he wasn’t allowing her in, and it hurt, he believed what they had told him. Strucker was supposed to be dead, they were all aware of that, but she wasn’t surprised that somehow, he wasn’t. She feared him once, but now? Now that he’d laid his hands on Peter there was no fear there anymore, just hatred. This time, Wanda was going to make sure he was dead.
She was one of the first ones on the jet, Bucky and Natasha being the ones there first, when Bucky saw her enter, he smiled towards her then turned back to Nat. Wanda couldn’t imagine the pain Natasha was in right now, yes she saw Peter as her brother and it killed her that he was hurting but she knew Nat had been holding onto the hope that he would just come home, that he’d turn up one day and ask for help. She never allowed herself to hope before Peter came around.
Trying again to connect with Peter she tried her best to just push through one message, we’re coming, Wanda just hoped he was listening. Eventually the rest of the team piled onto the jet, even Bruce reluctantly walked up following behind Tony. She knew from experience this probably meant Tony was trying to persuade him to come with them, so she decided to take pity on the man who looked absolutely terrified.
“You okay Bruce?” Her question was what finally got Natasha to turn around, she too looked towards Bruce. They all knew that despite the communication between Bruce and the Hulk was getting better that Bruce was still scared of him.
“I – yes? No? I don’t know I know why I’m needed so I can smash through anything in the way, but Peter is probably already scared enough without seeing me.” Why would he think Peter would be scared of him? Wait, the letter. Quickly Wanda turned back to Natasha and accessed her mind, Tell him about the first letter. Natasha nodded at her before turning back to him.
“Bruce you remember the first letter Peter left?”
“Yeah?”
“Here.” Wanda didn’t know Natasha had kept it on herself since she got it, but she passed it to Bruce. “Peter doesn’t think you’re a monster, he was never afraid of you and he won’t be now. If he does show fear it won’t be because of you, it’s all on them. Give it back to me when you’re done.” With that she walked back to the front, “Everyone get ready I’m setting off!” She yelled back to the team.
Bruce sat down next to Wanda, the letter gripped in his hand, she could see that what Peter said had got to him, no one had ever called the Hulk nice before, but then again Peter wasn’t wrong.
“Peter’s right you aren’t a monster Bruce.” She whispered to him, he slowly got up, making sure Natasha had levelled the jet before walking to her to give her the letter back before coming back to sit down next to Wanda. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“No not really, I knew he was a good kid. I just – I guess I underestimated it, he was running from all of this and one of his main concerns was that I live my life. You know I remember when I first met him.”
Bruce had been back a few days now, Thor not staying after dropping him off, going god knows where. When the lab doors opened he heard Tony’s voice, and normally the man spoke to himself but not like this which was what made him turn around.
“Right here you will see Brucie-Bear, Underoos meet Bruce, Bruce meet Peter.”
“Hello there it’s nice to - “
“Omg Mr Stark! It’s him! It’s him Mr Stark!” The boy, Peter, looked at him with such wide eyes. How old was he?
“Yes, Peter I know I literally just told you that.”
“Hello Peter, before you ask yes, I am the Hulk.”
“Huh? I mean yeah, I know that, but I’ve read so many of your papers! Did you know your picture is up at our school, you’re a genius! You know so much even my teacher acts like a fanboy over you, not that I can blame him you’re so cool!”
Peter’s words caused Bruce to feel as though he would tear up, and a quick glance at Tony ensured Bruce that Tony was aware of it, but unlike how he would usually make some kind of comment about it he just looked back at Peter as if this was just how it was. Bruce knew then that Peter was someone the team needed to keep.
“He was so happy about meeting me, he followed me around the whole day after constantly asking me anything he could think of, when he finally got his voice back, then when he had to go back to his apartment, he actually apologised for it. Told me he was sorry for being a bother, I remember just telling him it was refreshing having someone want to talk to me for me and not to learn all about the Hulk. Looking back this idea’s been in his head from the very beginning hasn’t it, this feeling of not belonging, of being annoying. How did we not see it?” Bruce asked her.
“I think because that’s how we knew him, it’s how he’s acted since day one. How would we know any different? But I think his Aunt May is the reason for that, you remember what Nat and Buck told us about what she said, there’s no way she just turned horrible one day, there had to have been something underlying all these years. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the root of his confidence issues. I mean I’m not saying she’s been outright awful Peter’s entire life but with what she told Nat and Bucky, that resentment didn’t grow in a few months.”
“I just I wish he felt like he could have told us.” Bruce whispered, looking at him Wanda didn’t know what to do. She felt exactly the same and she had no answers for him, she didn’t know why he didn’t speak to them, no one on this jet did. She couldn’t make this better, but he shared his story so maybe she should share hers?
“I remember when I first met Peter too.” She whispered back at him, causing him to look back at her.
She didn’t want to be here; she didn’t belong here Wanda knew that. She had hurt all of them and yet here they were giving her a home, a home without Pietro, the loss of him still felt heavy.
They had brought her up to the communal floor while Stark got her floor ready and Wanda wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself, the others had left and she just sat on the sofa silently, not knowing what to do or where to go. That was when she heard movement and turned around but there wasn’t anyone there, the shuffling sound continued though so she followed it, her eyes glowing red. Wanda wasn’t going to allow an invader in her new home, especially not with everything the team had done for her.
Wanda reached out with her powers to sense the other person and the moment she reached their mind she heard a crash. Turning around, there was a young boy sprawled out on the floor, clearly falling from somewhere. She couldn’t contain the laugh at seeing him like that, making it pretty clear he wasn’t a threat, his wide eyes staring back at her, how young is he?
“Who are you?” She asked him, holding out a hand to help him, a smile gracing her features.
“I – I’m – Well – Sorry hi, I’m Peter Parker.” The child – Peter, managed to get out. He looked afraid, at what she wasn’t sure. Was it her? Is she scaring him? It would make sense, there’s a high chance he recognised her, especially after she just used her powers on him, but she still wanted to know where he had fallen from.
“Are you okay?” That fall must have hurt, looking at him he didn’t seem to be in much pain, but that thud sounded painful.
“I – Yeah I’m fine, I’m really sorry.” He mumbled; his shoes seemed much more interesting than her. Wanda wasn’t sure how to comfort him so she just asked him what she wanted to know, maybe asking him questions will get him out of his head.
“Where did you fall from?” Her question clearly confused him, his head shot up to look at her, his eyebrows scrunching together.
“I fell from the ceiling?” What? How did he fall from the – No how did he get on the ceiling?
“The ceiling?” Her confusion clearly confused him even further, was she missing something.
“Oh! Oh wait! Sorry I’m Spider-Man, I got bit by a spider and it made me sticky, I climbed up the ceiling. I didn’t see you there though I’m sorry, when you reached out it freaked me out because Mr Stark says I need to be aware of my surroundings and stop crawling across the ceiling when other people are here, please don’t tell him!” Peter rambled, he was younger than her that was clear, and she wanted him to feel safe.
“Don’t worry, I won’t say a thing. I’m sorry about trying to get into your mind, I shouldn’t have done that I just thought –“
“It’s okay! It was actually really cool, could you maybe show me what else you can do? Only if you’re comfortable with it of course!”
“You – Why aren’t you scared of me?” Hasn’t Stark warned him of her? Of course, he would have right, he wouldn’t want a child around her.
“Should I be?”
“I’ve done a lot of bad things Peter, I’ve hurt people, a lot of people.” He continued to just stare at her with wide eyes, innocence shining through them.
“A lot of people have done bad things, half the people on this team have. But they’re better now, the fact you came back with them means you want to be better to. Wanting to be better, in my opinion, already means that you are. So, I’m not afraid of you, because I know I don’t have to be, you wouldn’t hurt me, not intentionally at least. Do you want to watch a movie?” Peter asked her before walking away to the living room turning on the TV, turning back to look at her.
“Peter was the one who made me realise that I could belong here with all of you, he made me realise that I could be better, and I could do good. I just wish I had done the same thing for him, I thought I had but apparently not.” Wanda sighed, “When we get him back I’m going to do my absolute best to do that this time, I know Natasha and Bucky will, maybe he’ll believe us this time.”