To think that the night would go undisturbed was honestly quite foolish. Pietro maybe made it an hour or two before darkness started to seep from the recesses of his mind into his dreams. This time it wasn't about getting shot. It was before that. Before they brought him back to life. He was in Strucker's lab again. Away from Wanda. Away from everything he knew. He was alone.

The room was poorly lit. A single bulb dangling from a chain was the only light source to be found, and the door was locked, but he could still hear it. Screaming. Harsh, raw, guttural screaming. Wanda's screaming. Had he not been tied down to a cold metal table, he would have been throwing himself against the door to get to her. This hadn't been what they signed up for. This wasn't what he wanted.

The young Sokovian knew what they were doing to her. He always got the treatments first, so the suffocating ache in his body was fresh to remind him of every ounce of agony his twin was going through. He could practically feel it all over again himself. This would continue until they either began to show powers, or died. The latter was the more likely. Every other volunteer had quickly met their end, and now it was just him and his sister.

The screaming stopped abruptly. He'd been keeping track of time. It hadn't been nearly long enough for them to be finished already. Surely that didn't mean? No. He couldn't stomach the thought. Panic was quickly blooming in his chest though, and he strained harder against the straps around his wrists. The technician had been lazy with checking them. One rough tug gave him enough purchase to slip his hand free. Then the other bindings were off and he was off the examination table and at the door, shouting for his sister.

Back in reality, he had grown tense in his slumber. His whole body wound tighter than a spring with his fingers curling tightly in the fabric of the pillowcase as he turned over in his sleep. The shouting in his head translated to incoherent muttering. Most of it was in his native tongue, it sounded just as panicked as he felt inside, but far quieter.

Again. And again. And again. Pietro crashed into the door, throwing his whole weight at it in an attempt to break down the solid barrier. She wasn't dead. She couldn't be. He'd promised her he would always keep her safe. As he slammed his fists against the reinforced glass window, he became aware of a strange sound. Constant. Like a long whine. He was breathing harder now. The world around him felt like it was frozen, but that sound kept stretching on.

It only took one more slam for the door to come down, and boy did it come down. It practically flew off its hinges and crashed into the wall opposite it. The strain of repeated, rapid force had been too much for it to handle. Pietro didn't pay any attention to that though. He didn't even notice the Hydra guards at the end of the hall who looked like they had only just noticed the whole thing, and even then they hadn't moved a bit.

He didn't know what room she was in, but he'd find her. By god he would. Pietro paused only for the briefest moments to peer in the windows on the doors of every room in the hall before he got to the right one. No one had caught him yet. No one had even tried to stop him. He had no idea why, but the whining sound was louder now, and he could see the doctors surrounding a table inside the room. He flung the door open, but none of them even flinched.

Wanda was on the table with an expression of pain frozen on her face. She was alive. But she wasn't moving. None of them were moving. He felt his stomach drop. Had he gone insane? Finally had it all just been too much? No. It was promptly proven to him that that was not the case when the world seemed to resume its motion again. That whine turned into the tail end of her scream, and everyone in the room became aware of his sudden appearance.

He was where he hadn't been moments ago. The doctors looked alarmed, and started shouting for him to be restrained. Wanda was hurting too much to even know what was happening. Just as she started to scream once more, and a handful of guards were at the doorway everything stopped again. No, not stopped. Slowed. They were all hardly moving. What the hell was happening to him?

That train of thought was abruptly cut short when two prongs of a taser struck him in the back. Amidst all the chaos going on in his head, he hadn't noticed one of the technicians pull it. The pain stung for longer than it should have before everything when dark.

When Pietro woke, he was in a different cell. One of the walls seemed to just be a large window. His eyes scanned around the space and he sat up, feeling nauseous. The speaker on the was across from him crackled to life, and the feminine voice of one of the doctors sounded out.

"The treatments have proven to be successful. You will be kept in this holding cell while your new abilities manifest and settle into your physiology. We have determined so far you have been gifted with enhanced reflexes, speed, and stamina. Other aspects may surface in the coming hours. We will be watching. Hail Hydra." Then it went quiet, and he felt the world start to close in around him again.

The room was too small. The world was too slow. His eyes darted around the confined space, panic flaring up once more. They'd been able to be with each other between treatments before. Now they were apart and he had nothing to keep him grounded. He had to move. His muscles were twitching in stillness. Energy was building up in him and he had to get it out or he'd go crazy. He didn't know what was going on but it was terrifying. Suddenly he was slamming into a wall, breathing faster and harder than he ever had before. Not moving ached, and his body lashed out in small bursts of speed as he practically ping-ponged around the tight little space. He was alone and out of control and scared out of his mind.

That's what finally woke him. Pietro's eyes snapped open and as far as he was concerned, he was still in that damn little cell. The doctor's voice was echoing in his head and he felt trapped. A sudden twisting motion had him tumbling out of the bed and on to the carpeted floor. With his chest heaving, he was instantly on his feet. "No... No.. No, no, no, no.." He muttered hoarsely, not able to process the images around him with the panic he was feeling and the low light in the room. He was a blur for a fraction of a second and managed to back himself into a corner, trying to cling to some semblance of sanity. He was shaking, so violently it seemed that he was vibrating in place. His breaths left him in harsh uneven gasps. This wasn't the first time this happened and it wouldn't be the last.

Barely a few minutes had passed before the door to his room was flung open. The light from the hall poured in and confused the speedster. Wanda was at her brother's side in an instant. She had felt his distress from her room across the hall. This had been one of the few nights they decided to sleep apart. He'd been training late again and decided to go it alone for the evening. That never was a good thing. She had just as much inner turmoil to deal with as he did and they needed each other more than anything else.

"W-Wanda.. I-.." His eyes were unfocused as he finally was able to realized she was there. She was shushing him softly, her hands linked up with his to help quell the trembling.

"I know. You're safe, Pietro. I'm here. It was just a dream. We're safe." Her voice was as gentle as could be, though her expression betrayed just how worried she was. "Focus on me. Let me help you."

She didn't need her powers to calm him. Wanda just had a way about her. She was the only one who could ever put him at ease like this. Wanda pulled him close to her chest, feeling his arms snake around her waist. Second. Minutes. Hours. Neither of them knew how long it took, sitting there like they were children again. He finally ceased his trembling and his breathing evened out. A silence set in between them. No words were needed. She knew what he was thinking and he knew she knew.

"Come. You need your rest." Finally she tore the blanket of quiet that had settled on them and he nodded, pulling away from her. His hand found hers and stayed there as they stood. Pietro didn't want to be in his room anymore. It felt foreign to him now. She seemed to pick up on that and led him out and across the hall. Wanda could tell he was already starting to unwind a bit more just from being in her space. Her room always smelled sweet. She kept a dozen candles burning whenever she was there in her waking hours, but even when they were extinguished the soft scent stayed behind.

A twist of her hand had the door shutting behind them, the residual red glow being the only thing that illuminated their path to the bed before fading away. Wanda always used to tease her brother about how he slept. Much like an octopus would, he splayed himself out against the mattress. Also much like an octopus, whenever there was someone else in bed with him he managed to curl his limbs around them. He had his arms wrapped around her out of instinct. Protective to the very end, even as she helped guide his mind back to a state of restfulness. She would remain awake for an hour or so, just to be sure his slumber wouldn't be interrupted again, and if the darkness started to creep up once more she would be there to banish it back. Keeping him safe now in ways he had for her their entire life.