Chapter 2
“Wanda Maximoff? I’m Maria Hill, investigating detective in this case.”
“Hello,” Wanda said, her eyes fearful and never leaving the policewoman.
“Can I offer you something to drink? Water or tea?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” Wanda declined, her voice thick with some Eastern European accent.
“Okay.” Maria nodded, telegraphing her movements as she slowly sat down as to not scare the girl. “Wanda. You were at the party, weren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re one of the three students that received a grant to attend Shield Academy.”
Wanda nodded, “Yes,” she said, “My brother Pietro, Steve, and I got scholarships.”
“And have you found many friends at Shield?”
“A few.” Wanda shrugged. “Pietro is better in finding friends that I.”
“Why don’t you tell me about the school a bit? About how you and your brother settled in?”
“Ehm…Our old school collapsed, so we had to be distributed between the other schools in the area. Our parents are very proud that we managed to get into Shied Academy because it will give us an opportunity. They came to America about 20 years ago? And they want us to have a better life. A rich life…”
Wanda was nervous.
Ever since she’d been a child, it had been Pietro who had been the loud one, the popular one. Confident and outgoing. Sometimes people were surprised to learn that they were twins, and Wanda couldn’t blame them…on first sight, they were quite different, she supposed. And while Pietro had made friends as easy as he had breathed, Wanda had tagged along and it had never been a problem. Until now. Now they were at this posh school and she knew that if she started hiding behind her brother, she would paint a target on her back, be seen as weak…and Wanda might be many things, but weak had never been one of them.
“Holy shit,” Pietro breathed as they approached Shield Academy.
Holy shit, indeed.
Their new school was a highly modern building with large glass facades and sleek steel pillars, the path outside looked as if it was made from white marble, and everyone around them was so obviously rich that Wanda immediately felt uncomfortable and out of place.
She could practically feel the other students looking at them. Judging them.
Maybe this was a bad idea, she though, how am I ever going to fit in here?
Stupid, she chided herself, I’m not here to fit in. I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to finish school. I’m here so I can go to college.
Because the thing was that their family would never have the money to afford a good education that could get her out of their current neighbourhood. Because the thing was that she needed this scholarship to get somewhere in her life that wasn’t the counter of their parents convenience store.
There was a shift in the atmosphere and the general attention was directed away from them, towards a beat-up truck that might have been black once upon a time but was now covered in dust and dirt and dents. More than one person wrinkled their nose as the passenger door was opened and a small boy with short, blond hair jumped out.
“Hey, isn’t that the guy from our school?” Pietro whispered into her ear, “Steve or something?”
Wanda nodded, yes, that was Steve Rogers.
The guy in question turned around to say something to the driver before shaking his head with a laugh and shutting the door, flipping the guy behind the wheel off as he drove away.
Steve Rogers had been somewhat of a celebrity at their old school. Everyone had known him or at least known of him. It had been hard not to when he had gotten into fist fights every other day while also keeping his place as best of the year and with an overprotective, good-for-nothing boyfriend.
Completely ignoring the dirty looks he received, Steve walked up to Wanda and Pietro.
“Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” Pietro greeted him back while Wanda only smiled. She didn’t really know Steve but what she had seen of him, she liked. Steve was kind and passionate and his heart was in the right place.
“Weird, right?” Steve asked, nodding towards the school behind them, “You can practically smell the money.”
“It’s not a bad smell,” Pietro joked and Steve chuckled.
“That it is not,” he admitted, “Shall we?”
Together, they went inside, always followed by watchful eyes from the people around them.
“Was it hard for you to adjust?” Maria asked gently.
“At first, yes,” Wanda confessed, “Everyone was suspicious of us. They kept their distance. Some were very rude, saying that we didn’t deserve to be there.”
“Can you tell me who that was?”
“Well, Tony Stark, for one. He and Steve got into a fight on that first day. Brock Pierce and Jack Rollins hated us. Still do, I think…”
“What was the fight between Tony and Steve about?”
“Oi! Rogers!”
Wanda, Pietro and Steve all turned around at the shouting, as did everyone else around them.
“Rogers!”
It was just after their last period and everyone was on their way outside when Tony Stark stormed through the doors towards them.
“Stark,” Steve replied curtly. Wanda could see the tense line of his shoulders and the way his hands balled into fists.
“So you know I am?” Stark asked, his voice filled with something Wanda couldn’t quite identify. A kind of animosity. Rivalry.
“Everyone knows who you are, Stark. It’s hard not to.”
By now there was small crowd assembled around them. Watching. Waiting.
Wanda recognized a view people from their class, there was Natasha Fury, the daughter of the principal, her boyfriend Clint, there were Sharon and Peggy Carter the granddaughters of the founder of Shield Academy, there was Brock Pierce, son of one of the sponsors of the school and owner of the biggest building company of the city.
“And you know who my father is,” Stark went on.
Howard Stark, owner of Stark Industries, another sponsor of the school.
Wanda frowned, not sure where this was going and even less sure whether she wanted to find out.
“Yes,” Steve snapped, “I know who your father is. What’s your point, Stark?”
“You had a good weekend, then?” Stark suddenly asked.
“What?”
“Did anything exciting? A bit of light protesting here, a bit of latent vandalism there?”
“What?” Steve asked again, sounding thoroughly confused.
“I know what you did, Rogers,” Stark hissed, stepping closer to Steve while Steve squared his shoulders, “I might not be able to prove it but you’ve been at the top of the protests against my father since day one, and surprise, surprise! Yesterday someone left a message for him, written in pig’s blood.” Steve made a sound, like choked off laugher and Stark narrowed his eyes dangerously. “You think that’s funny?”
“I think it’s fitting,” Steve shot back, “After all, your father is responsible for so much bleeding. And like you said, you can’t prove anything. So if you don’t mind, I have places to be. And who knows, maybe I’ll go, pick up some more pig’s blood.” And with those words, Steve whipped around and walked away, Stark close on his heels.
“You think you’re so tough, don’t you?” he yelled after the blond, “Well let me break it you, you’re not! There’s nothing special about you, Rogers. You’re just another poor guy at end of the food chain. The runt of the litter. A nobody.”
“What happened then?”
“Steve’s boyfriend was there,” Wanda answered.
“Bucky?” Maria asked and Wanda nodded in confirmation, “And what did Bucky do?”
“I’d take that back if I were you?” A good few people jumped at the coldness of the voice and quickly moved away as a tall guy with long, dark hair stepped forward. Wanda distantly recognized him as Bucky Barnes, Steve’s boyfriend, and if looks could kill, Stark would have dropped dead right then and there.
“Buck,” Steve tried to cut in but Bucky ignored him.
“Who the hell are you?” Stark asked, looking up at the other man who towered over him, big and intimidating.
“Someone who doesn’t appreciate the way you speak.”
“Oh yeah? I don’t appreciate the way you look, but do you see me complaining?” Stark retorted.
Bucky stepped even closer, his hand closing around the front of Stark’s shirt, pulling him forward, “You listen to me, Stark, you can insult me all you want but I hear you speaking to or about Steve that way again, pig’s blood will be the least of your worries.”
Wanda felt a shiver run down her spine at those words, at the undeniable truth behind them. She’d heard of the things Bucky would do for Steve, to keep him safe, keep him happy.
“Is that a threat?”
“Oh, you bet it is.”
“What did you hear about the things Bucky would do for Steve?” Maria asked.
“There was a guy in our school. Gilmore Hodge. He used to bully Steve. One day Bucky heard about it and we never saw Gilmore again.”
“Thank you, Wanda.”