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Chapter Twenty: Where There Are Villains, There Will Be Heroes

Music is "Eternal Light (Piano Version)" by Future World Music.

Picture is my edit of Ksenia Aspen Wanda and Steven Dmitri Maximoff.

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"Where there are villains, there will be heroes. Just wait. They will come."

- Steelheart

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Hey guys!

First off, OMG I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING FOR A MONTH. It wasn't intentional, otherwise I would've warned you. I've had such a bad case of writer's block, and exams were brutal, and of course the holidays were a craze.

I am back, though! Back and ready to write! :)

Also, I have a new name, as some of you might've noticed. I used to be Save_Pietro_Maximoff, but I thought what the hell? It's a new year, new name! Now I am Save_Kylo_Ren, because Adam Driver is a babe and he did fantastic in the new Star Wars!

Sorry if I scared you! I do hope you enjoyed the Christmas Special! This chapter will be a slow one, but some serious shit is about to down next time, and I swear it won't be a month before I update again ;)

Your friendly neighborhood author,

- Save_Kylo_Ren

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CHAPTER TWENTY

The days after having the twins and Ultron's escape and Magneto's attack were even harder than the hours I spent in labor. That's saying something.

I spent a day, or maybe it was two, in the hospital. The days were so confusing. So much happened. After the fight with Magneto and Ultron, the Avengers reassembled at Stark Tower. They've been there ever since, and true to his word, Tony put the Superhuman Registration Act on hold. How he did it is a mystery. The guy has some serious pull.

Pietro left after a few hours to go help the Avengers fix this mess. Tony's since moved the twins and I to the hospital in his tower, one of the safest places we could be. Why there instead of the X Mansion, you might ask? Tony's has the most advanced technology on the planet. If anyone can find Erik, he can. Even Cerebro can't detect Magneto if he wants to be hidden.

Speaking of, Ksenia and Steven are absolutely perfect. Completely healthy and happy. They sleep most of the time, and cry the rest of the time. Seriously. There's so much crying. Between them and the battles, I haven't slept in what seems like days.

Vision is slowly coming back to us. After Ultron was dumped from his brain, it seems he's finally making it back to the land of the living, much to Wanda's joy.

We lost Magneto and Ultron after he had his Brotherhood attack and give them a cover for escape. We tracked them heading towards Africa over the Atlantic Ocean, but we lost them after they passed the Bahamas. We've assumed that they're heading back to Genosha.

At the moment, it's a rare scene of quiet. The babies are soundly sleeping tin their cribs, the Avengers are getting some well needed rest, and I'm free to lay on my bed and just enjoy the silence. Or let my brain go wild with worry. More likely it'll be the later.

"Glory?" a soft voice whispers. I turn my head towards the door and see Wanda. Her long hair is pulled up into a bun and she's wearing red pajamas. She looks absolutely terrible. Well, exhausted. Wanda has a face that could never look terrible. "I can't sleep."

I nod and sit up, pushing myself off the bed. "Let's talk outside in the kitchen. The babies are finally asleep." She nods and we tip toe outside.

The Avengers have an agreement that we all keep our doors unlocked at night. For one, security, and two, we're all haunted by something. Whether it be nightmares, or dreams of the future, or memories, we all have our demons. For most of us, we can push them away during the day, but at night, they come out to play with our heads. We keep our doors unlocked so if someone were to ever need someone to talk to, or just someone to sit with them, anyone is available.

Lately, it's been Wanda, Nat, Bucky, and I. We're the restless soul squad. Pietro sleeps like a rock, Clint hides his demons better than most, we haven't seen Tony or Thor for some time, and Steve likes to deal with his PTSD alone.

We round the corner to the kitchen where Nat stands with cups of hot chocolate in hand. She smiles softly, a bit sadly, at us both and hands us a cup. "Bucky and I couldn't sleep either." Bucky comes in from the hallway, rubbing his eyes with his right hand.

I sigh and let my body fall against the counter as I sip my hot cocoa. "We should make a club or something. This is getting ridiculous."

Wanda chuckles and sits on the bench beside me, Bucky leans back against the stove, and Nat hops up onto the counter and sits cross-legged. "There are worst ways to spend sleepless nights," she mutters.

We all nod. "How are the kids?" Nat asks.

I smile a bit. "Sleeping, finally. I didn't think I'd ever get them to stop crying. I'm so not ready for this Mom stuff. I... didn't exactly have the best example up until recently."

Nat smirks. "Don't I know. My mother was killed when I was young. I barely remember her."

"I remember my Momma," Wanda whispers, looking down wistfully into her cup. "Whenever I could not sleep, she would make Marikli Bread over an open fire. My brother and I would talk to and watch her."

"Marikli Bread?" Bucky asks.

"It is an old Romani recipe. Both of my parents are Romani, or they were, at least." She sighs. "They were not even my blood, I suppose."

"You are Romani," I say. "Or half, at least. Your mother, Magda, was Romani. Erik is Jewish."

She grips her cup tighter, red light coming off her in waves. "He is the reasons all this is happening. My own father!"

"It's not your fault," Bucky says. "If you blame yourself for everything that people around you do, or force you to do, you'll never let go of anything."

"I guess you would know from experience," a new voice says.

Turning around, I see none other than Tony Stark. "Tony," I say, nodding.

"Glory, Wanda, Natasha, Bucky, it's nice to see you all up at three a.m." He walks over to the refrigerator and opens it, pulling put a taco from the back.

"Looks like we are not the only ones who cannot sleep."

He chuckles. "Since you all left, it's been just me down here at ungodly hours." He pauses. "I've missed you all."

Wanda rolls her eyes. "We miss not being hunted."

"Wanda," I scold, trying to not have a fight break out this late... or early.

Wanda doesn't apologize, which doesn't surprise me, but she doesn't say anything more either. She turns her head away from Tony and crosses her arms.

"She's alright. I deserve worse." Tony takes a bite out of his food.

An awkward silence ensues for what seems like forever. Here we are again, all of us in the same tower fighting the same bad guy and not each other. Under any other circumstances, it might actually be nice.

"Wellllll, this is awkwarddd." In the doorway stands Wade Wilson, Deadpool, wearing nothing but his Spider-Man boxers and his mask.

We all roll our eyes. "Hello, Deadpool. Why are you up so late?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you the same thing, Goldilocks?" He walks over to Tony and takes the taco from his hand. "Don't mind if I do."

Tony's face goes from surprise to sadness as he watches Wade devour the last bit of his midnight snack. "My taco!"

Deadpool belches loudly. "No, my taco."

I chuckle and turn towards the door, hearing footsteps. "I think we're gathering a crowd, guys."

The rest of the Avengers enter the room, from both sides of Civil War: Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, Jessica Drew, Scott Lang, Kamala Kahn, Clint Barton, Peter Parker, Vision, and my Pietro. The looks on their faces are torn, partly tired and partly uncomfortable with the situation. I can't blame them. Each of us is surrounded by the enemy.

Pietro comes over in his blue pajama pants and T-shirt, taking my hand and kissing my forehead. "What have you been up to?" I ask.

"Work," he sighs. "Steve, Barton, and I were trying to figure out where Magento could have gone."

"Any success?"

He sighs once more. "Sadly, no. Not yet." With my nod, that conversation ends.

Tony shifts uncomfortably from foot to foot. As do most of us, actually. Nat is still as a statue, Bucky is gritting his teeth, Steve just glares at Tony. Each of us have our tells. Some of us wish they weren't so obvious.

"Okay, okay, this has to stop," Tony says, suddely, words flying out of his mouth as quick as lightning. "I can't take the elephant in the room anymore. We have to get this cleared up."

"Drop the Act, and then we'll talk," Steve mutters.

Tony groans, rubbing his temples. "Rogers, I did. While Magneto and Ultron are at large, doing God knows what, the Act is null and void-"

"-But what about after?" Steve says, spitefully. "After we save the day and everything is normal for then. What then, Stark? Back to hunting the lesser of two evils?"

"Don't play that card," Tony warns. He inches closer to Steve. "I'm protecting the world, Steve. Why can't you see that?"

"Because you're protecting it from the wrong people! It's just like illegal arms dealing. Congress passes laws to prohibit the law-abiding citizen from getting a gun, but the real criminals are just going to get them illegally." He pauses. "It's the exact same thing with the Superhuman Registration Act. The good people are taken away, and the bad manipulate the system. Just like they always do."

"Not to mention all the good people you have put in danger by releasing their identities," Nat adds. "Good people. People who can't save themselves from the real enemies."

"But we've already gone over this," Steve says, smirking. "There's nothing we can do to change your mind. Why do we bother?" Steve turns and walks away.

"Steve-" Tony starts.

"-Let it go, Tony. I hope your conscience is clear when he bodies start piling up."

I sigh, and from the bedroom, I hear soft cries of a baby. "Great. You boys woke them up." I turn and walk to my twins, ignoring the fact that they break my heart a little more every time they do this.

The room is dark, and the stormy clouds outside don't help with the atmosphere. They say that your emotions reflect the weather, but it seems like more and more that our emotions make the weather.

I lean over the crib and see the smallest twin, Steven, crying his little heart out. His sister, however, is sound asleep still. Gently taking him into my arms, I wrap the homemade baby blanket around him, tightly.

"Shh, shh," I shush him, rocking his back and forth in my arms. I stand to my feet and walk around the room, trying to get the movement to sooth him. "Oh, sweetheart. You're a fussy one, aren't you?" I chuckle as he starts to quiet down. "You're going to be a handful when you're older."

"It is funny how different they are already," Pietro whispers, coming to my side and staring down at our little one. He ruffles his brown curls and smiles.

"It does seem Ksenia is the calmer of the two. She reminds me of Wanda. When she's awake, she's so observant, always looking around." I set a calm and sleeping Steven down in the crib beside his sister. They instantly curl towards one another and their hands rest on each other, Ksenia's over her baby brother's. "Steven is loud and clear about what he wants, and that I find to be the case with you, my love."

Pietro chuckles, wrapping both arms around my waist and placing his chin on my shoulder. "They are more beautiful than I ever thought possible."

"Yeah," I sigh, peacefully. "Perfect."

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The cloudy haze of dreamland always creates a barrier between what I know is real and what I know to be a dream. Until tonight, that is. This dream is more clear than anything I've ever had. It seems that what Xavier said about my premonitions is true.

In this dream, I stand between a waring Steve and Tony, seeing the entire dream as if I'm the person acting out the deeds, a hand on each of their chests as they lung towards each other. Bucky holding Steve back, Rhodey holding Tony back. The menacing look in their eyes show that they might've killed each other, if left alone. But this isn't the part that is the clearest.

I shoot a bolt of space out between both of them using my spacial manipulation. No matter how hard they try, they cannot get to each other, thanks to my powers. "I dreamt this!" I shout in the dream. "I dreamt of this happening just last night! Stop fighting!"

"Too late, Glory," Steve growls, eyes still locked on Tony. "He's going to betray us all!"

"We need to pull ourselves together and fight the real enemy," I tell them both. "There is an evil man out there and he has another very evil man loose with him. A man of metal and a man who controls metal. How can this petty fight be worth more than the world?"

Steve turns and looks at me, as if seeing clearly now. Bucky drops his arms from around Steve, and Steve calms himself. He sighs. "It's not. It's not worth it." He turns to Tony. "Tony, please. Let's work together. The world is about to end if we don't stop Magneto." He extends a hand. "Help us?"

Tony stops fighting Rhodey, and he takes Steve's hand. "In the end, we are heroes. Let's start acting like it."

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I wake to shouting at extreme levels. Not having a second to even absorb what I'd just dreamt, I jump from the bed, Pietro still snuggled up, and literally fly to the door in a hurry.

Outside, I see the exact same scene I saw in my dream. Cue the jaw drop. It's one thing to be told you can do something, but it's an entirely different thing to actual do it.

Bucky grabs Steve as he lashes out towards Tony, and Rhodey does the same. "Calm down, Steve!" Bucky shouts. "It's not worth it!"

"Traitor!" Steve shouts, gritting his teeth tightly.

"Vigilante!" Tony retorts.

I jump between them as Bucky and Rhodey start to lose grip on them. I place a hand on either of their chests and shoot them both back with my spacial manipulation, just as I did in the dream. "I dreamt this! I dreamt of this happening just last night! Stop fighting!"

"Too late, Glory. He's going to betray us all!"

"We need to pull ourselves together and fight the real enemy," I repeat my own words back to them. "There is an evil man out there and he has another very evil man loose with him. A man of metal and a man who controls metal. How can this petty fight be worth more than the world?" I pause. "And I know you're going to calm down because I saw it last night."

Steve looks at me, Bucky drops his arms, and Steve calms himself. "It's not. It's not worth it. Tony, please. Let's work together. The world is about to end if we don't stop Magneto." He extends a hand. "Help us?"

Tony stops fighting Rhodey, and he takes Steve's hand. "In the end, we are heroes. Let's start acting like it."

I smile at them both, relieved that my premonition came true. "Well, that was easy."

"Since when can you tell the future?" Nat asks.

"It's a long story, but now we need a plan. We have no idea where Magneto is."

"That is a lie," Wanda says. "He is most likely at Genosha."

"And does anyone want to try to take Genosha again without a plan?" I ask, and no one speaks up. "Didn't think so."

"We should prepare," Steve nods. "Last time, we were unprepared, reckless, and foolish. It's a miracle we survived at all. This time, we will be trained. This time, we will have help and backup. This time, we're going to win."

I smile as the rest of the Avengers surround our leader. "Where do we start?"

Steve smiles and turns to Tony. "Mind if we borrow your gym? We have some training to do."

END CHAPTER TWENTY

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