Quick note! flashbacks will be between ---s, mmkay? And if dialogue is between < .. > it means it is translated from Sokovian. 

Gotham City

August 27, 06:17 EDT

The majority of the team was knocked out, leaving just Aqualad and Quicksilver still conscious and fighting against Clayface. Clayface formed a sledge hammer with his arm and began hitting Aqualad with it, knocking the team leader into the warehouse door. Aqualad fell to the floor, looking up at the creature from his position on the ground. 

Quicksilver sped in front of Clayface's swinging arm, taking the hit for Aqualad and being tossed into a crate across the warehouse. He landed harshly, watching through double vision as Batman showed up to take down Clayface. 

Batman electrocuted the creature, causing him to lose his form before turning to Aqualad. "Let's go."

Mount Justice

August 27, 07:58 EDT

After Batman talked with Aqualad and sent everyone to the showers, Kaldur, Robin, and Wally all went to their respective cities, leaving M'gann, Pietro,  and Superboy at the mountain.

Superboy and M'gann were in the lounge-kitchen area whereas Pietro stayed in his room, sitting on his bed staring at the ceiling. He felt his mind wandering  to the past and he sighed, bracing himself for the emotions that came with the memories. 

- - -

Nine year old Pietro and Wanda huddled together in the closet, hands over their ears as tears streamed down their faces. 

<"I wish they would stop fighting."> Wanda whispered to her brother. Pietro nodded, tugging Wanda closer. 

<"They will...eventually."> Pietro tried to assure his twin. They both flinched when a crash was heard. 

<"Maybe...maybe if they saw how it was affecting us, they will stop!"> Wanda exclaimed, jumping up to her feet and opening the closet door. 

<"Wands, no!"> Pietro yelled, reaching for his sister as she dashed out of the small space. He stayed for a moment, torn between staying hidden to protect himself and chasing after his younger twin. 

The decision was ultimately made for him when Wanda let out a scream. He ran out of the enclosed space, finding a scene that both terrified him and baffled his mind. Wanda stood over their parents, both of whom laid on the floor unresponsive with a red haze to their eyes, the exact same one Wanda had to her eyes. 

Pietro approached his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder. <"Wanda, what happened?">

She shook like a leaf as she turned to her brother. <"I-I don't know...I just wanted them to stop."> More tears burned down her cheeks. <"Are they - are they okay?">

Pietro tore himself away from his sister to crouch next to his parents, whose eyes stopped glowing and were now glazing over. He  forced himself to snap his fingers in front of their faces, not getting any sort of reaction. Next, he clapped his hands close to their ears with no result. Finally, with trembling hands, he checked for a pulse. 

Pietro stood up, looking at Wanda. <"Go pack a bag, we need to go. Now.">

Wanda's face crumpled. <"Oh, god. I-I ki-">

Pietro grabbed Wanda's arm, tugging her to their room. <"Don't think about it, we need to move. The authorities will be here after hearing all the fighting and your scream. We need to get out of here.">

She nodded, inhaling shakily. <"Where will we go?">

Pietro stayed quiet, shoving a few changes of clothes into a bag. <"We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to scram. I'll go grab food. Finish packing some clothes, but keep it light enough to carry."> Running to the kitchen he began to grab canned food, tucking it into another bag. That's when he heard the knock on the front door and his heart skipped a beat. Sprinting to their bedroom, Pietro grabbed their bags and Wanda, tugging her towards the window. <"We need to go, now. They are already here.">

<"Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, g-">

Pietro put Wanda on his back and leapt from the window, landing on the ground below before he started sprinting away from their apartment building. He noticed he was running a lot faster than he could before but didn't question it, instead deciding to push it, running faster and faster until Sokovia was well behind them. Only then did he set Wanda down. 

<"Pietro."> He hummed, looking at his sister. <"What are we going to do now?">

He was silent for a beat, looking at their surroundings. <"Survive.">

- - -

Pietro sat up from his position on his bed, staring blankly at the wall across from him. He hated that memory with a passion. It made him feel sick to his stomach with guilt. If he had allowed Wanda to properly process what had happened, rather than shut her down every time she tried to talk about it and their parents,  perhaps things would have turned out differently.

His stomach churned.

The one thing he did not regret was taking her away from the apartment. The police in Sokovia don't take too kindly to meta-humans, especially those that inflict harm on others, however intentional or not it was. So if Pietro and Wanda had stayed...he dares not think about what would have happened to Wanda if the police had gotten their hands on her. At least now they have some semblance of freedom and their lives. And for that he was grateful, however frustrated he may get with their circumstances. 

Deciding he needed to get out of his head, Pietro made his way to the lounge-kitchen area of the mountain to find M'gann and Superboy staring awkwardly at each other, Superboy covered in cooking ingredients. Pietro raised a brow, leaning against the wall. "Am I...interrupting something?"

The duo leapt back from each other, their faces flushing as they avoiding looking at the silver haired speedster. "N-no! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I mean, what would could you be interrupting? Nothing." M'gann spluttered out, lowering her arm that held the wipe. 

Superboy smiled softly. "No. M'gann spilt while cooking. That's all."

Pietro nodded. "Ah, and here I thought my roomies were having fun without me." He made his way further into the room, plopping down onto the couch. "So, what are you cooking, Miss M? Anything good?"

M'gann hummed, using her telekinesis to lift the mess off of Superboy. "Oh, I'm just trying out a recipe I found in a cookbook that Wally got me. To be honest, I think the present was more for him than it was for me as he wants me to cook the food for him but still. Now I have all these recipes to cook and bake and practice my skills with. The thought was nice as well."

Pietro chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

M'gann walked back behind the counter and resumed slicing the tomato. "Are you alright, Pietro?" He looked at her with a confused expression. She looked away, back to her work. "I mean, it's just, I'm sensing some...emotional turmoil from you. And I just wanted to let you know that I'm here for you. We're a team but we're also friends, you know. We've got each others backs, no matter what. If you're dealing with something or going through a hard time, I'm here, whatever you need."

Pietro's stomach turned with guilt and he hung his head to hide the burning shame on his cheeks. "Thanks, M'gann, but really. I'm alright."  

"Are you s-"

"Positive." Pietro forced a smile on his face, looking up at his teammates. They looked at him for a second longer before nodding their heads as if to approve of his cheery mood before looking away and changing the topic. Pietro let out a low sigh, turning to the television and flipping it on. He surfed the channels to find a distraction, stopping on a random cartoon as he let his mind zone out once more. 

- - - 

<"C'mon, Wands! Let's go!"> Eleven year old  Pietro tugged on his sisters arm as they maneuvered their way through the crowded streets of  the city. 

<"Pietro, I'm tired. We've been moving for days, can't we rest?"> Wanda whined at her twin. 

<"Not in this city. I overheard that they aren't too friendly here, especially to metas."> Pietro whispered. <"Here. Let me carry you.">

Pietro picked up his twin sister and began running, zipping in and out of the crowds and traffic towards the edge of the city. He stopped in an alleyway to catch his breath, putting Wanda down next to him. Reaching for their water bottle, Pietro tensed when a shadow fell over them, turning up to see the man he had heard whispered about so much, the infamous Batman descend upon them. 

Wanda, who got startled, set up a shaky forcefield around her and Pietro. <"W-who are you? What do you want?">

Batman narrowed his eyes at the twins, walking closer to the forcefield. "You two are homeless. Orphans. And your twin meta-humans. Not from around here."

Pietro swallowed thickly, speaking in broken, heavily accented English. "How...you know...so much?"

"Facial recognition software caught you two. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Originally from Sokovia. Wanted for the mysterious murder of your parents."

Pietro and Wanda exchanged a look, terror on their faces. "Was accident. Did not mean to hurt them. Just wanted the...the fighting to stop."

"I'm still going to need to bring you to the proper authorities." Batman looked at the twins regretfully. 

"No! No, they will...kill us! Hate metas in Sokovia!" Pietro cried out, stepping in front of Wanda. "Please...Batman...help us. Do not send us to Sokovia. Please."

Batman sighed. "Alright. I'll help you. But only if you tell me the full story. Leave nothing out. I can't help you if you aren't completely honest with me."

<"He's lying, 'tro. He is trying to gain our trust to lure us in just to hand us over."> Wanda's eyes were glowing red. <"Get ready to run.">

<"W-">

<"Just do it.">

<"Okay.>" Pietro picked Wanda up and she lowered the forcefield. 

Batman took a step towards them and Wanda pointed at him, her eyes completely red. <"Forget you ever saw or heard of us. We are just another face in the crowd."> Batman's eyes turned red for a moment and Wanda looked at her twin, nodding. <"Go. His mind is wiped of any trace of us.">

Pietro took off out of the alley with his sister, heading out of Gotham to a new city, this time a much more accepting place. 

The twins made it to Metropolis and slowed down to search for a place to rest. As they were searching a crash sounded nearby. They looked to the place the crash sounded and saw the infamous Superman fighting an impressive looking gorilla. They screeched, making their way away from the fight. 

Not looking where they were going, they crashed into a well dressed bald man, who was observing the fight. He stood up, helping the twins to their feet as well. "Well, you two were certainly going a bit over the speed limit, wouldn't you say?"

<"Wanda...stay behind me."> Pietro stood in front of his twin as the man looked them over. "You going to turn us to Sokovia too?"

The man chuckled. "No, no. I haven't the slightest idea what your talking about, as I'm sure your sister can confirm for you." Wanda's eyes widened. "Yes, I can feel you poking around in my head. You aren't the first telepath I've come across, young lady, but you certainly are strong for your age."

"What do you want?" Pietro bit out. 

"Me? I don't want anything from you. But I have a feeling I can offer the two of you something." The man stuck out his hand. "The name is Luthor. Lex Luthor." Pietro and Wanda shook his hand, introducing themselves. "Well, Maximoffs, here is my business card. The payphones in Metropolis are free, which makes their name kind of silly, but anyways. Call me if you are interested in what I have to offer the two of you."

"What are you offering?" Wanda asked, taking the card and looking it over. 

Lex smirked. "Protection."

- - -

Pietro's eyes snapped open when he felt someone shake his shoulders, not having realized he dozed off. He sat up, instinctively looking around for Wanda before reminding himself that she wasn't there and that he was on his own and will be for the foreseeable future. 

Robin stood above him. "Hey. We have to report to the mission room. Gear up."

Pietro nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem. And Pietro?"

Pietro stopped in the doorway, turning to look over his shoulder at the youngest team member. "Yeah?"

"Who is Wanda?"

Pietro kept his body language and face neutral. "My cat. She died along with my parents in Sokovia."

Robin's smirk fell off his face. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

Pietro hung his head, turning back to walk away. "Me too, Robin. She was so sweet and now...now I hope she's happy wherever she is."