The clan members and the clan-less prepared for the battle. Both the teams were fully equipped with weapons. Hope started her bike and set out to the harbour. The clan-less followed her in Scott's van. Natasha got behind the wheel and Steve sat in passenger seat. The Maximoffs looking scared and shaken were sitting in the back seat along with Tony. They held each other's hand and consoled each other. They drove off to Jiaying's residence. Natasha looped through New York instead of taking the shortest route.
Steve peered out into the dark night and confirmed the doubt he had. He saw shadows lurking in the corners as they were being trailed. Natasha tried to shake them off their tail but she wasn't fortunate. As a vampire jumped on top of their car, the Maximoffs let out a scream. Natasha served the car trying to ditch him but he held on. Natasha hit the brake suddenly and sent the man flying forward. She stepped on the brake and revved the car to full speed. She let the brake and dashed forward. She ran over the vampire and flew past without slowing down. Natasha drove to the outskirts of the city.
"Do you all have properties outside the city?" asked Pietro. "Is it some kind of vampire thing?"
"Most of us who don't want to attract attention have. Some divas like having large buildings in the centre of the city with their name written on it" chuckled Natasha earning a sideways glance from Steve. Tony shrugged
They were almost near Jiaying's house but their path was blocked by a large truck. On the top of the truck, Stane and Toomes were standing. Natasha hit the brakes. Rumlow gave a sly smile as he loosened the latch and joined the others on the top. Natasha, Steve and Pietro heard slight growling sound from inside. The back door of the truck flew open followed by the ferals flowing out in mass heard.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck" shouted Wanda. "Turn around" she added.
Natasha turned her car and drove it down the muddy path which cut off from the main road. The uneven road was making them slower and the ferals were gaining on them.
"Drive faster. Drive faster"
"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP."
"Where the hell are you going? The city is certainly not this side" Wanda asked.
"We can't lead the ferals back to the city. It will be a disaster."
"Then where are we going?"
"To my safe house."
The bushes become so thick for the car to pass through. Natasha hit the brake and got out. She shouted for them to follow her as she ran along the trail. The twins ran behind her followed by Tony and Steve. They reached her house before the ferals caught up with them. They ran inside and closed the door.
"The house can't hold them off for long. We need to fight them." Natasha said as she took out guns from her backpack and passed it on to Tony and the twins. She and Steve equipped themselves with a gun and stakes. Steve called Howard and asked for back up. Natasha grabbed a small remote control from the table draw. She pressed the button without further delay. An electrical buzz filled the room; even though it was low it would be audible even to human ears.
"What is that noise?" asked Pietro peeking out of the curtained window. The sound was emitted from the electric fence circled the house. The hordes of ferals trying to get past were burnt by the electricity. The burning smell of rotten skin flooded Pietro's nose as he tried block it with his sleeve of his shirt.
The fence did slow down the ferals but they found a way to reach the house. The remaining ferals climbed on the burnt corpses of others and ran towards the house. They started banging on the walls, trying to break through.
"Ready" Natasha asked looking at Steve. He gave a nod. The five stood in the circle as the ferals were tearing the house from every side.
One feral tore down the kitchen window and the rest followed it. They piled into the house through that gap. The twins shot at the ferals. Pietro training came in handy as he delivered each bullet precisely to its head. Wanda struggled but was able to keep up. Steve and Natasha slashed through the ferals and took down as many as they can. One feral escaped their notice and ran towards Wanda who was facing the other side. Natasha noticed it and caught the feral by its neck and slammed it into the coffee table. She took the broken glass and cut off its head.
Natasha and Steve moved with speed and agility. The ferals were no match for them. Soon the ferals numbered reduced and the tables turned. Steve ripped the head of the last standing feral. He looked up at Natasha and smiled.
"It's been long since we fought together" he smiled as he wiped the sweat form his eyebrows. She gave a small laugh.
The five heard the sound of the truck and walked out. Rumlow was driving the truck directly into the house. The four jumped to the side and were able to barely escape being crushed by the giant vehicle.
"Can we kill these bastards and get this over with?" Natasha said through gritted teeth.
"We sent a nice gift for you Steve" Rumlow laughed. "Did you receive it?"
Steve growled and said nothing. The three men jumped out of the truck and made their way towards them.
"You both. Stay back" Steve barked. "Tony, guard the kids" he added looking at the billionaire.
Wanda and Pietro backed away. They held hands and looked at each other. "We will get through this" Pietro whispered.
Steve and Natasha squared off against the three men. Toomes took two knifes from his belt and threw at Natasha. She dodged the first one but she wasn't so lucky with the second. It grazed her stomach drawing some blood from her. Natasha took out her dagger and ran towards Toomes. She came close to him but didn't strike. She leaped over him and landed behind his back. Before he could turn around to face her, she drove both knifes into his shoulder blades. He screamed in pain.
Stane and Rumlow attacked Steve at the same time. Stane kicked Steve in the stomach. He doubled over in when Rumlow grabbed him by his collar and punched his face. Steve blocked him and returned a punch. Steve caught Rumlow's neck and crushed his windpipe. He threw him to the ground. Stane came from Steve's side and delivered a kick to his torso. Steve blocked the kick and caught his leg. He twisted it making Stane lose balance and fall down. He stomped on his knee and broke it.
He heard Pietro shout his name. He turned to the kid standing close to him. At first Steve didn't know what had happened but then he noticed the stake protruding from his back.
"Old man, you didn't see that coming" Pietro said
Steve caught the kid by his shoulder. But before Steve could react, Rumlow drove the stake even further. As the wood ripped through Pietro's heart he turned to dust in Steve's hands.
Bucky along with the clan-less rushed into the clearing to witness the death of the young man in the hands of Steve. Howard and Coulson weren't much behind. The forest trembled with the gut-wrenching scream of the dead man's sister. Her concealed power, out of her control emanated from her body. Every vampire's mind in the clearing linked as one. The hive mind prevented them from acting as they stood planted to their spots. Wanda's whole life flashed in front of her eyes.
"Pietro, don't cry" cooed the small girl looking at her elder twin.
"He called me an idiot" replied the six-year-old boy through his sobs.
Wanda hugged her brother trying to console him.
*****
"You can't lock him in the storage closet"
"I can and I already did" smiled the girl proudly.
"That was ten years ago" Pietro tried to argue.
"Yeah and I got my revenge. He is afraid of closed spaces and spiders. I needed time to get to know that asshole" she stated a matter of fact.
Pietro shook his head in defeat, not able to argue with his twin.
*****
"Come on, Wanda you got to help. The prom is near" Pietro pleaded staring at her with puppy eyes.
"Since you ask nicely, I might"
"Tomorrow, in English class you're sitting near Danny. When the class ends, I will casually come over to talk with you. Then I will ask them out"
*****
Slightly older Pietro was sitting in his bed, staring at the wall when Wanda entered.
"Hey, sis"
"Hey, I heard you're going to accept the offer letter" she stated without beating around the bush.
"Yeah, I don't think it well suited for me"
"Bullshit" she snapped. "You just don't want to go 'cause I didn't get through"
"No shit Sherlock. That was the plan, wasn't it? Both of us going to America together."
"I am not going to allow you to throw away your opportunity like this"
"I have made up my mind. I am not going alone"
"Okay, what if I get an offer from another place and leave your sorry ass here"
"You wouldn't" he said confidently.
"Keep wishing" she smiled as he played punched her on the arm.
*****
The twins squealed in delight holding Wanda's acceptance letter into the University. Their parents looked at their celebrating children with pride. Their dad pulled the whole family into a group hug.
*****
"We can't live here, Pietro" stated Wanda looking around their childhood home.
"Yeah, reminds me too much of them" he said, voice slightly breaking.
Wanda stood in the living room, looking at the photos hanging on the walls. Pietro slightly placed his hands on her shoulder making her turn towards him. He engulfed her in a hug as they both broke down crying.
*****
Pietro made his way to the kitchen where his sister was fixing herself a mid-night snack.
"I got a good no no great news. Guess what?"
"You are hired?" she said excitedly.
"Hell yeah" he shouted.
*****
Wanda walked into their shared apartment to see Pietro chatting with another man in the dining table.
"Hey" he called out seeing his sister. "Wand, meet Thompson" he said introducing her to his new acquaintance.
*****
Wanda wrote a note 'Don't skip breakfast. Love, Wanda' as she left the cooked food inside the hot pack and left a note on the table on her way to work.
*****
The twins stood in the safe house of Natasha holding each other's hands as they heard the feral being burnt by the electric fence.
"The fence won't hold for long" noted Tony looking out of the window.
The twins exchanged a grim look preparing for the looming threat. Pietro kissed the top of her head as he whispered, "We will get through this." She nodded silently.
In present time, Wanda's legs gave away as she crumbled to her knees. She pulled her hair in such force that they could come off. The heart that was beating since her own had stopped. It felt like a piece of her own heart had died. There was a large ache in her. She wanted to destroy everything. But she couldn't move. He knees seemed planted to the ground. For the first time in her life she felt alone. She wanted to end herself. She had a yearning to join her brother. It felt unusual to breath. She felt guilty of surviving. It was overwhelming.
Everyone except Coulson stood dazed not understanding what happened there. They had seen every aspect of the twin's life. No one moved unable to comprehend the situation. Rumlow and his men were the first to snap out of it. They tried to escape the place before the others recovered. But they weren't so lucky as Coulson shot down Toomes and Stane. The bullet sound zapped everyone out of their trance.
Steve shouted like a mad man as he advanced towards Rumlow who was retreating. He threw punch after punch beating Rumlow's face to a pulp. Bucky saw Steve going mad and beating up Rumlow. He had never seen Steve this angry before. Lincoln secured Toomes and Stane with Howard's cuffs. while Howard ran towards Wanda to check on her.
Bucky shouted at Steve to stop beating Rumlow but his words fell on deaf ears.
"STEVE" Bucky shouted again. Steve stopped beating Rumlow and turned to look at Bucky. "He is almost dead Steve. Stop it" Bucky with a lower tone but his voice was firm.
Steve looked at the disformed face of Rumlow and back at him. He repeated, "Stop it."
Steve slowly raised and got away from Rumlow while Bucky tied him. He saw Wanda kneeling in the distance and Howard was consoling her. He walked to her and slowly kneeled down in-front of her. Wanda looked up to see it was Steve. She hugged him and cried into his chest. He held her close as his blood-stained hand caressed her head. He rested his head on her shoulder and the tears streamed down from his own eyes.
*****
Sorry for this chapter guys 😭😭😭 Didn't want to kill that adorable idiot but had to do it for the story.