The Avengers Weakness

Chapter Eleven

"Penny...what did they do to her?" she asked.

"Wanda..." Pietro cut in, giving his younger sister a warning tone as he tried to pull her off of the topic.

"It's okay..." Peter responded as he fell silent again, the heavy words dancing on the tip of his tongue as he tried to force them out.

"Well...." Wanda asked, trying her best not to make the younger boy uncomfortable.

"They were awful Wands..." Peter's breath hitched, he looked up at the redhead with mist eyes, "I don't know everything...but when Happy brought her home, she was dirty and....covered in bruises..." he paused, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to push away the image of how she looked when she first came to the compound.

Wanda looked over at Penny who was sound asleep on Peter's back, a pained expression on her face.

Peter continued, "Sh-she had this bruise on her neck...i-it looked like someone had put their hand around her throat...but she wouldn't answer me when I asked her what happened...sh-she'd just stare at me with this expression that felt like it was ripping me apart from the inside." he sucked in a deep breath, "She told Pietro that they'd get angry all the time...for little things like being late from walking home from school...not doing the dishes on time...asking for food..." he replied, the last word held so much emotion that Kate had to turn her attention away from the boy next to her, "th-they hit her....with anything really...their hands...a fist or a spoon...sometimes and extension cord o-or other things....But that wasn't all, they did more than that....they'd kick her, push her around, throw her down the stairs...yell and scream at her for doing nothing other than breathing..." Peter's eyes started to fill with tears, "that's why she cries when I get upset with her o-or when your voice changes in the slightest bit...you don't notice it b-but she does...It's why she worries that we'll leave her if she doesn't rush herself, why she always asks permission before doing something...even if it's just getting a simple shower or getting up to go to the bathroom...i-it's why she has that awful look in her eyes. I-I hate that look...I hate it when she looks at me like that...like-"

A small sob escaped from Kate, as she scrubbed at her cheeks with the palm of her hand.

Wanda and Kate didn't say anything, the tone of the group had changed; the slightly somber tone of the group had changed to one of sadness with a tinge of anger. Peter stopped walking with the group, causing Kate to bump into him; thick tears were streaming down his face as he tried his best to collect himself. The brunette spun back around and walked towards him, gently hugging him, even though he couldn't hug her back; she just wanted to comfort him. Both teenage girls felt themselves starting to cry; Wanda had turned herself away from Peter and Kate, not wanting them to see her cry as she buried her face into her twin's chest. Pietro hugged his twin tightly, rubbing soothing circles on her lower back while doing his best to assure her that the younger teenager would be fine with time; something that both of them knew might not be true. Peter had stopped talking once again, it had become too hard for him to continue talking about it, the words were slowly dying in his throat every time he tried to continue what he was saying. The ash-blond looked over towards him, asking for permission to finish for him since he knew a little bit about the situation himself; Peter nodded at him, wanting the others to know the rest of the story if they wanted to hear it.

Pietro started to speak, "You want the rest of the story....?" he asked softly.

Kate turned around, "T-there's more?" she asked.

"Yeah...unfortunately blue eyes..." he replied, referring to the blue-eyed sixteen year old who'd slightly loosened her grip on Peter, "They were all around mean...assholes in my opinion..pri-"