002 - Memory Share

[minus1twin]

The scene that began to play was an innocent one.

A family sat around a small table in a small one room apartment. They aren't rich by any standards but they were happy. Two children sat at the table, twins, laughing and eating as they told their mother and father the story of their adventures that day. The boys arms were up in the air as if to indicate that it was 'this big!' while the young girl giggled at the exaggeration.

The point of view flickers between the girl and the boy as if unable to make up its mind on who to watch. Static echoes gently as a soft whistling sound begins to rise above the laughter.

That's when the first shell hits.

A loud bang reverberates through the building as the floor beneath their table quickly cracks. Screams could be heard as the table tilts, the floor quickly falling, disappearing in a cloud of rumble. The scene is now from the little girl's point of view. She's reaching out towards her mother and screaming, nearly falling into the large whole in the floor in the process. There is a hard tug on her waist as her brother picks her up but she doesn’t notice. She just watches as her parents disappear into the hole.

The view point switches again, now looking out from the boys eyes as he rolls him and his sister beneath the bed. The entire building is coming apart and you can feel it beneath your palms and knees, hear your sister's cries, "MAMA! PAPA!" You hold her tight and hold back the tears stinging your eyes. For a half second the echoes of the falling building seem to settle. You wonder if it's over. If your parents are somehow alive.

That's when the second shell hits.

It slides through their home and stops three feet from their faces. The crying has stopped but voices rise in the distance as people begin to search for those who haven’t died. The bed is covered in debris. There is no way out and the air is choked with dust.

You both lay there. Ten years old. Reading the one name that haunts your nightmares for years to come, 'STARK' painted in large letters on the side of the shell. You both call out and there is a rise of voices speaking in another language trying to find you. The rumble shifts and the little girl curls beneath her brother's arm as the shell remains in view. Another shift of rumble and another. Each one sending trickles of dust and cinder down on top of you.

You know that it will take time to clear away the rumble and at any moment the shell can go off.

The views switch again and you hear your brother's voice speak gently in your ear. The words are in another language but the meaning is clear. "I'm here."

Comments

Private to Wanda and Pietro - UN: Minimoff

[doubled_speed]

[Somehow never occurred to him that he might end up briefly in the memories of his not-mother and not-uncle. But here he is anyway, shaking after experiencing it. It's not real, he didn't experience it, but damn if he hadn't wanted to be there to take them both away from that.]

You know, in your position, I probably wouldn't have rested until Stark was dead. I get it. I...

I wish I could take this away. Give you a life that had been happier. Hell, even tell you that you had happier back home. But it's a lie. I don't think the universe likes Maximoffs very much.

So, uh... yeah. I'm just going to buy some beers or whatever. You know. For having. For you guys. Yeah.

Private to Wanda and Pietro

[minus1twin]

Thank you Tommy.

[She knows that he means well, even if his words are a little awkwardly phrased.

It is a sad moment in her life but it'd happened a long time ago. She hasn't completely forgiven Stark for the death of her parents but she knows that it hadn't been his intention and he's trying to make up for it now. The least she can do is give him the chance.]

Are you old enough to buy beer? [Wanda's voice is just a little lighter.]

[doubled_speed]

I mean, it depends on the country you're talking about. I don't know what the laws here are.

[minus1twin]

I'm not sure you can here but thank you for the thought Tommy.

[Wanda smiles.]

I'll be alright. [It's her brother that she's worried about.] I know I've told you a little about my past. I wish you hadn't had to see it like this.

[It's worse, feeling the frightened terror of the two ten year olds.]

un: walkeditoff

[soundspeed]

[it’s one thing to talk about what happened - pietro hadn’t hesitated to recount this story to ultron as an explanation for why he wanted tony stark dead, why he didn’t want to wait, didn’t want to spend any more time on toying with him and the other avengers instead of simply destroying them. but it’s another thing to see it happen all over again, to see through his sister’s eyes, to relive the fear and the grief for their parents that he’s never fully processed. and it’s even worse to know that everyone else in this place can watch the worst day of pietro’s life, on display like some american film spectacle.

wanda is older than pietro. she’s had years to make her peace with stark, work with the avengers, let her anger fade. pietro isn’t as forgiving. his voice is taut, smoldering with barely contained rage and sorrow and pain.]

It won’t help.

[alcohol does nothing for him, thank you speedster metabolism. well-meaning words and wishes don’t soften the pain of loss.]

[doubled_speed]

Yeah, the downside of our damn metabolisms. If I had something Asgardian I could at least get us buzzed. But I guess that's something we have to live with.

[See, there's some complication there, right? Has to be, because that is what their family is.]

Not going to offer to talk. That so isn't us. But seriously, I could see about maybe teaching you how to blow things up with your speed. See if you can do that.

[soundspeed]

I don't want to blow anything up.

[he's had enough of things blowing up, as this memory has shown. and hey, trauma flashbacks might be a thing.]

UN: Hawke

[lovelylaica]

[ The method of warfare is far beyond anything Laica has ever experienced. But the results are the same. War never changes. ]

It's hard, isn't it? Losing not just your family but your home all of a sudden like that. I suppose this is the worst sort of club to be in.

un: walkeditoff

[soundspeed]

It’s not a club. This is what happened to our entire country.

[as for hard it is to experience - well, pietro isn’t going to comment on that bit. he and wanda are survivors, and to him, that means showing no weakness.]

un: witch

[minus1twin]

[The thing is, it hadn't been their war. Powerful countries used their home as a battle ground without caring about the innocent families who got caught in the crossfire. It hadn't been their citizen's so no one had cared.]

No one expected the war of other countries to reach us.

We were a peaceful nation.

[lovelylaica]

Such things are no less distressing no matter how many times it happens. I apologize, as my offer of sympathy due to our similar experiences seems to have caused some kind of offense to you and your brother.

[lovelylaica]

And of course, yours is the only country in all of the multiverse in all time where anything like that has ever happened.

How foolish of me.

[soundspeed]

Ah, you find this a joke? Very funny.

[his extremely tense tone says otherwise. sorry about him, he's just ready to fight the world sometimes.]

action.

[bamboozlement]

[it’s a horrible memory. he can guess it’s wanda’s without the comments to it - she told him about losing her parents at age ten, that she had a brother. the children in the memory are about the right age, their accents are about the same. he didn’t know they were bombed, and that makes him angry in ways he can’t put into words. he’s only ever lived through metaphorical wars - against crime, against the world at large, against himself - but surviving the kind of war depicted in the memory is something else entirely.

he doesn’t know what to say that could offer even a shred of comfort, so he says nothing. not because he doesn’t care - because he cares too much.

and he’s still thinking about what he’s seen when he finds himself in the same bar as wanda at the same time. he’s not as bloodied and bruised as he was in his most recent memory, and he’s not wearing his battle armor, but wanda should still be able to recognize him.]

action.

[minus1twin]

[It takes her a moment to recognize him from the memories she'd seen play within her head but there is no mistaking him from anyone else.

Her lips part gently as she leans back from the bar and lifts her hand in a silent hello.] Wasn't expecting to see anyone I knew. [Both her brother and Tommy can't really get drunk so this is a past time that she enjoys on her own.

The glass in front of her is empty but it's obvious that there had likely been some kind of whiskey in it before.] Join me. I could use the company.

[bamboozlement]

[jason returns the handwave of greeting with one of his own and shifts course toward her, sliding into the empty seat next to her. he offers her a small, sedate smile.]

Guess I'm full of surprises.

[seeing wanda here is also a surprise, and not an unwelcome one. jason hasn't had the chance to get to know her yet but would like to - maybe this is an opportunity for just that.]

Let me get your next drink?

[minus1twin]

[Her lips twitch into a smile but the warm expression doesn't reach her misty green eyes.] So, I am learning. [She isn't an avid drinker but sometimes it's nice to get away and relax. It's hard to relax with either Pietro and Tommy, both of whom are speedsters and incapable of getting drunk or relaxing themselves. It isn't the only reason why she's here alone but it is one of the more prominent reasons.]

Thank you.

[She glances up at the bartender and lightly taps her empty glass. The man behind the counter nods and fills the tumbler with a light auburn splash of whiskey.]

What would you like?

audio UN: Nemesis

[wasinnocent]

Some loses you never forget, huh? [ Well, at least she gets a part of it now. There's an intense amount of sympathy in her voice. They were so young for something so big to happen to them. ] It's a shame people choose to fight with such cowardly weapons. [ That was something about humans she was never going to get. ] You were both very brave through that.

audio UN: witch

[minus1twin]

[Her accent is pleasant but no longer overbearing like her brothers.] It is but it happens more often than not.

[It really bothers her and it's why she works so hard to get better.]

I want to protect them. Children and families, so that no one has to know what this feels like.

audio

[wasinnocent]

Among humans. [ Her tone is neutral. She doesn't really have anything against humans, despite their shortcomings. ]

Noble goal. A lot of people would have hidden away from the world after what you went through.

audio

[minus1twin]

[Wanda only really has experience with humans.]

I know but someone has too and I've found that hiding away from the world doesn't mean that it won't eventually find you. [She has far too much power for that.]

[winebending]

I'm sorry for your loss.

[minus1twin]

Thank you.

That day changed everything.

[winebending]

The death of loved ones often does.

I've been told that ice cream tends to help with sadness. Would you like to get some?

[minus1twin]

[Wanda feels herself smiling despite the weight of the memory.]

Yes. That would be nice.

Do you think they have peanut butter ice cream here?