The Ghost [Marvel | Steve Rogers]

Chapter 19

Novi Grad, Sokovia

Spring 2015

One definite drawback to suddenly being able to move at super-speeds was that sitting still was a huge drag. There was no masking his impatience to be going even as the doctor finished up his tests, gesturing that Pietro was free to go.

Which meant he was waiting just as impatiently for Wanda to finish up with her daily exam. It was taking long enough that he was seriously considering popping off for a quick run to burn off some of his restless energy from being cooped up in the lab all morning.

But he resisted the urge. He'd promised to stay by her side just as she had promised to stay by his. They were all each other had left in the world. And she had asked him to wait for her. Wanda hated the exams. She loved her new abilities. They both did. After what felt like a lifetime of feeling powerless? Their new powers were a gift unlike anything they could have ever dreamed of. Although, Pietro could tell the telepathic aspect of Wanda's powers had driven her nearly insane at first, almost completely overwhelming her. And she still sometimes seemed, well, off because of them.

But she hated the poking and prodding that came with their gifts.

They would soon be free of it, though. The techs and doctors just wanted to make sure their abilities were stable and weren't harming them. At first the Twins had been put into isolation as their powers manifested in order to protect themselves and others. It had been a horrible time; the first time Pietro and Wanda had really been truly separated since the deaths of their parents. They hadn't been able to let go of each other for days after they'd been let out of those horrible cold cells.

So he waited, settling on one of the rolling stools that littered the lab. One of the lab techs kept shooting him an irritated look at the way he kept spinning and fidgeting, his leg bouncing in his eagerness to be gone, to be moving. He merely smirked back at her. He'd never been one to sit still before Strucker's experiments, and after? Definitely not one to sit still.

It was then that a handful of Strucker's for-hires came stomping into the lab, their irritability nearly tangible. Pietro didn't need Wanda's mind-reading to tell him that something had them defensive and tetchy.

But that wasn't what really caught his attention. No, it was the slight girl they were carrying into the lab. Pietro couldn't help but stare, curious about who she was, why she'd been brought here, and what on earth three of Strucker's mercenaries were doing bringing in a girl who was, at most, a year or two younger than him and his twin. The fact that she was rather pretty didn't hurt either.

"Another volunteer," he threw out curiously, not bothering to care how patronizing he sounded. No one on the base could touch him or Wanda, and not just because of their abilities. They were Strucker's shining successes, his only surviving test subjects. Even before the experiments had taken hold, he and Wanda had been untouchable, and ever since he'd figured that out, Pietro had been taking full advantage...much to Wanda's exasperation.

But as the men carrying the new girl in all but dumped her on the waiting exam table, Pietro was suddenly sitting straighter, his brows beginning to draw into a concerned frown. She was restrained, strong zip ties securing her wrists and ankles. This was not normal, not if this girl was going to be another test subject like him and Wanda. One of the men turned and glared at Pietro as soon as the girl was on the table, giving the younger man a good view of the fingernail scratches down the side of his face. Pietro's eyebrows rose of their own volition.

It was then that he noticed all three of the men bringing the girl in were arrayed with a collection of spectacular bruises, scrapes, split lips and one even a freshly broken nose. Frowning, Pietro straightened further before finally standing even as Wanda reappeared at his side, an uneasy frown of her own marring her face. His twin laced her fingers with his, unconsciously exchanging comfort and support as they had since as long as they could remember.