- CHAPTER FOUR -
❝ BITTERSWEET REUNIONS ❞

"Vis?" She whispered, but it sounded more like a plead than a question. He was back, he was here.

Without a beat of hesitation, she threw herself into his arms, and he accepted her gracefully, hands rubbing comfortingly down her back, as she let red hair spill over his shoulder like blood.

"Hi," she laughed, tears travelling down her neck as she smiled up at him, and he returned it. Behind her, she listened to the relieved sobs and laughs. God, it hadn't been like this in ages. They needed this.

"Thor, is that a robot?" A voice snickered, and she felt as defensiveness brewed in her stomach. Turning her head, she found a man with long black hair, dressed in an all green costume with a golden cape waving behind him. Narrowing her eyes, she heard Vis reassure her it was fine. With a huff, she let it go. She didn't care about some random prince's opinion anyways.

Despite it, a single thought swirled in the back of her mind as she hesitantly let go of Vis, a pang in her chest as she clenched her jaw in determination.

Opening another portal, she felt her eyes burn, and she couldn't tell if it was the scarlet now illuminating them or the tears pooling in her eyes. The first sight she was met with was the barren landscape of her home country, the area surrounding the large gap in place of where Novi Grad should be now desolate and abandoned. No one wanted to be around it. No one wanted to be reminded of the loss of the city. Neither did she.

She had other things to worry about now though, and she stumbled through the portals, lifting her arms to rest against her chest as her nails subconsciously pierced the skin against her collarbone. She could hear her own breathing, the sound of her shoes softly patting against the ground as she took small, hesitant steps forward.

"Wanda?" She spun so quickly she almost fell off balance. Her mind spun, every thought she had about her brother over the last few years all slamming into her heart at once, as she solidified all of her strength, and twisted her body around.

And she was met with the face of none other than Pietro Maximoff.

The strangled sob which escaped her throat sounded distant to her, and she slammed into his body, a desperate attempt to be closer to him as he held her.

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay, I'm here, I'm here," and he was. Her heart burst as every tear that had built up over the years reached the surface, the dam shattering all over his shoulder.

Amidst her sobbing, she didn't notice how long they had sat their before her cries died down, and she let out a chuckle. Normally, she wouldn't allow this level of vulnerability in front of anyone, let alone the whole team, but everyone seemed too distracted to care in the moment.

"Oh my God, you're here, you're alive," her voice broke halfway through, and she grasped at the sides of his face as she shook him gently.

"Never," she warned, her fist coming to slam against his chest, "- Fucking. Do. That. Again."

Hands gently capturing her wrists, he pulled her hands away, assuring her he wouldn't as he dragged both of them through the portal, the witch still clinging to him.

"I'm sorry, Sestra, it won't happen again," he whispered, a smirk etched on his face, as he teased her softly, gaining another harmless punch against his chest. As the portal closed before her, she caught Clint's eye as they widened at the sight of Pietro.

She wanted nothing more than to be selfish, to clutch Pietro all to herself and stay wrapped in his arms, but she decided that the archer deserved to thank the man who saved his life. Hesitantly, she untangled herself from Pietro, nodding reassuringly as he quirked a questioning brow at her.

The archer unwrapped himself from where he held Natasha, chuckling as he clamped a hand onto Pietro's back, pulling him into a hug.

Wanda pulled her gaze away, heart blooming with an emotion it had been missing for years. The exhaustion tugged at her limbs, eyes heavy as they threatened to fall shut. Shaking her head, she forced herself awake, it had been too long, she would appreciate every last minute of this. Dragging her feet, she approached where Clint, Nat and Pietro were, leaning into Pietro's side as she attempted to keep herself up right.

"You okay?" He whispered to her, and she wanted to cry all over again. Her brother, the one whom had been dead and just came back to life, was worried if she was okay. Laughing dryly, she nodded, assuring him that she was just tired.

"Rest then, Wanda," Nat ordered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world (which to be honest, it was), but Wanda just shook her head.

"I've rested for five years Nat, I think i've had enough," she waved her off, a weak smile tugging at her lips before she watched Clint's face fall slightly into a frown, his face creasing.

"God, I missed this, I missed all of you," he whispered, voice shaking. Sure, Wanda had lost Pietro, and it carved out her heart, but Clint lost all of them, at the same time. Gently laying a hand to the mans shoulder, she ran it down his arm comfortingly as Nat pulled him into another hug.

"-Stupid, reckless, fool," a string of colourful curses rung behind her, and she instinctively looked over her shoulder to find Thor shaking his brother, whom seemed utterly uninterested.

"Yes, yes, I'm alive now, aren't I?" He snarked, and Wanda thanked her lucky stars Pietro had been more open-minded.

"But you weren't," Thor stressed, looking more hurt than she'd ever seen. The trickster just rolled his eyes, whispering something to Thor which seemed to satisfy him as he pulled away from his iron grip.

"Fuckin trickster," Clint breathed under her breath, and she snapped her head around, not noticing that he had followed her gaze as it landed on the brothers. "You know he almost made me kill Nat? Got into my head, controlled me."

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shook her head. No, she hadn't known that. Anger bloomed in her, tore away at her insides. But as soon as it came, blazing in her soul, it fell to a spark. Had she the right to be so mad, when she'd done the same? She'd fucked with their minds, hadn't she?

Moodily, she released the inside of her cheek from her wrath, eyes flitting away from the avengers in front of her, as she inspected every inch of the wall, body failing her as she fell further against Pietro.

Natasha, noticing the younger woman's state of exhaustion, suggested once again she rest, claiming that they all needed it. Wanda gave in this time, nodding in agreement as Nat's words caught the attention of some of the other avengers scattered around the room.

"Yes please, as great as this was, I'm exhausted," Sam groaned, but the smile plastered on his face showed the lack of malice in his statement.

"Thor, is he staying?" The question stilled the room, a silence falling into the atmosphere as all eyes averted to the man in question. A dazzling smirk fell over his face as he watched everyone's expressions fall slightly at the sight of him, and it gained an elbow in the side from Thor whom clearly wanted to fight his case.

"Yes, he is. He is my brother and has just regained his life," Thor declared, causing a few of the avengers to cringe at the volume of the statement.

"Don't look so sad, I've been told I'm very amusing," his voice slithered, and she quenched the urge to roll her eyes. Nothing more did she want than to wipe that infuriating smirk off his face. The audacity he had, to attack her team, and then expect to be welcomed with open arms? At least she had offered to fall into the gaping hole which had been Sokovia.

Cringing at the painful memory, she redirected all her attention to her rage, and she couldn't help as she snapped out, "I'd beg to differ."

Eyes snapping to hers, he raised a brow, the curl in his lip not wavering as he tilted his head and examined her. It made her skin crawl, the way his eagle eyes scanned her.

"Why not?" He challenged, stepping forwards slightly, ignoring the way Thor's glare burnt holes in the back of his head. "I think I deserve a reasoning behind your claim."

It was apparent he was trying to appear intimidating, and it seemed to be working on some of the other avengers, including Clint who wrapped an arm around Natasha's shoulders protectively. Pietro hovered behind her, but she brushed out of his grasp. She wasn't afraid of him. Not in the slightest.

"Reasoning? How about being a decent person?" She seethed through her teeth, matching his smirk as she mocked him. "I'm pretty sure attempting mass murder isn't exactly amusing."

"Ah, well it wasn't attempted mass murder, the goal was to rule them, not kill them," he corrected, pushing away Thor's hand as it landed on his shoulder.

"All semantics to me," she snapped back, malice lacing her tone as his smirk dropped and grew into something more menacing, more evil. It was then, that brought all the avengers to see him, the Loki they knew.

The Loki prepared to bring New York to its knees, the Loki which was capable of taking over. The God of Mischief she had been told so much about, the man who's name would cause people to cower in panic and burn with anger. Wanda wasn't afraid. Her blood thrummed with the same rage fuelled energy that his did, the same destructive, explosive power that people would regard as a curse from the devil. And maybe it was, maybe it was destined for nothing but destruction, maybe the people it was bestowed upon were destined for-

Wanda bristled as she suddenly became aware of the tension in the air which had become so thick you could cut it with a knife. The room had fallen silent, everyone's gaze tearing between the two sorcerers as they stay frozen in time, glaring at one another. Wanda wouldn't look away first, wouldn't allow him that victory.

With a tilt of his head, his eyes flashed green, the green. There it was. Anger bubbled back up in her with more intensity this time as she returned the motion, bringing her own scarlet to illuminate her irises.

"Witch," he whispered, slashing the silence with a sword, before shooting a glance to Pietro as he drawled, "No wonder."

Rage slammed into her at full force. What? What? The team seemed confused at what he was insinuating, but Wanda wasn't, she knew. As soon as she caught sight of that God awful smirk which presented assholery in all its glory. She would not allow this pompous prince to accuse her of causing her brothers death.

"Takes one to know one," she shot back, voice dangerously low as the realisation seemed to dawn on everyone as Loki's features sharpened and his jaw clenched. Good, she thought, she intended to anger him the way he had her.

"Loki," Thor interrupted, pushing the man down onto a sofa beside him. Allowing the motion, Loki strung an arm across the back of the couch, ankles crossing over eachother as his gaze didn't shift from the witch.

Pietro all but dragged her away after that, his hands protectively over her shoulders as everyone recovered from the situation, slowly ducking away one by one. Pulling her down the lengthy corridors, the man suddenly realised he didn't exactly know where he was going as he stopped abruptly, twisting her to look at him.

"Wanda, are you alright?"

She nodded curtly, jaw still clenched as her nails clawed at the fabric covering her thigh. Noticing the motion, his hands gently came to pull her own away, drawing her eyes to his.

"You know he's wrong, Wans." And she did, of course. Despite all the doubts she had after his death, everytime she had lapsed and considered that maybe, maybe it was all her fault. For the first few weeks, she was sure of it. If she hadn't done this, had done that, everything she could've changed to undo his death. But now? She wouldn't allow this- this fool, to make her spiral into her own self-deprecation.

"I know," she muttered, but immediately softened as he saw concern seep into his features, "I'm fine, Pietro. Just pissed."

"Yeah, I noticed that," he laughed gently, stringing his arm over her shoulders.

She'd only noticed later that night, as she tugged the covers further around her shivering body, that she was more than that. It was a searing anger that she hadn't felt in so long. Anger that nipped at her insides, nails scraping against a chalk board. Even as she firmly shut her eyes, trying to wipe away the chalkboard of the day, leaving a pile of dust and memories in its place, she couldn't.

Despite her hardest efforts, her rage didn't seem to settle throughout the night.

a/n: ive been waiting to post this one for a whileee, they met and they hate each other ppl. and so it beginnssss

anyways thanks for reading, love you always