"Being cut off is so much harder than I thought it would be!" Kate whined, practically collapsing against the cold plastic of the table top,
"You were the one who wanted to go out and get a job" Teddy reminded her, "You didn't want to keep relying on your dad remember" he added as he took a sip of his coffee,
"I know! I know! But if I don't get another story to the paper soon they're going to fire me! It's so unfair!" she complained, mostly to the table.
Herself and the blonde were sat opposite one another in a diner, drinking foul tasting coffee that Kate was beginning to think she wouldn't have the money to pay for. It'd been four weeks since she insisted that her father cut off all of her allowances so that she might try and prove herself in the real world… it wasn't going well.
"The real world isn't fair Kate" Teddy said, putting down his empty mug,
The girl in question frowned and looked up at him, "Help me Ted, please" she whispered, hoping that she was giving him her most convincing puppy-dog eyes,
"I'd love to, but what can I do?" he asked.
"Heard about any drug dealers in your area? A string of muggings? Cat's stuck in trees!?" Kate asked, becoming more and more desperate by the moment,
"Afraid not" he answered,
The ravenette let out an unamused chuckle, "Then maybe you'd do what a real best friend would do when his favourite person was in need of a new story?",
"And what's that?" Teddy asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously,
"Go out and commit some crime that I can report on?" she suggested.
The blonde smiled softly, "No can do, sorry",
Kate groaned once more and reacquainted herself with the table.
"I might have something…" Teddy spoke after a moment,
"What!?" the girl exclaimed, looking up at him with such speed who was surprised that she didn't have whiplash, "What is it?!",
"No, forget it, it's a stupid idea" he said shaking his head,
"No!" Kate insisted, now standing, not caring that she was creating a scene, "There are so stupid ideas!",
"Really? 'There are no stupid ideas'?" he countered, "I'm pretty sure at this point we can call you practically begging your dad to cut you off, a stupid idea",
The ravenette shot him a deep frown, "I swear to god Altman" she began, finally sitting once more, "You better tell me your stupid idea right now" she hissed.
Teddy sighed, "You know the Maximoffs right?" he said looking around the diner briefly, checking that no one else was listening to their conversation apparently,
"Err, yes" Kate answered, rolling her eyes.
Everyone in the city knew about the Maximoffs. They were the richest (and possible the most attractive) family in the city (maybe even the state- as they technically didn't live in the city).
"Well… I can get you into their house to interview them… maybe",
"No, way… No way! How?" she asked, now smiling uncontrollably,
"I know William Maximoff, he's a… he's a friend" the blonde shrugged,
Kate's expression dropped a little, "How on Earth do you know William Maximoff?", she was becoming a little sceptical of this idea now,
"Not important, do you want the interview or not?" he said dismissively,
"Of course, if you can in fact get it for me" she challenged him, folding her arms and sitting back on the booth.
"Give me a minute, I'll just drop him a text" Teddy got out his phone and tapped away at it for a few seconds, it buzzed after a short pause and he smiled at whatever response he'd gotten,
A few more texts were exchanged apparently, until Teddy was smiling widely and his phone was being pushed back into his jeans pocket.
"Come on, let's go" he said as he stood, picking up his jacket from the booth and putting it over his shoulder,
"What?" Kate asked, watching him with a confused expression,
"You want this interview? We've got to go now" the blonde shrugged,
"Oh., okay" she answered, standing quickly and following the man from the diner, slightly in shock at the pace of how everything was going.
"I can't believe you got me this gig! Teddy… I honestly, one hundred percent love you, for real" Kate squealed as the two of them walked together up the long gravel drive that led to the Maximoff mansion.
Kate's surprise that had started at the diner had increased tenfold over the last twenty minutes; firstly of course there was the prospect of getting this job, secondly there was the peculiar little details Teddy knew about the family, like where they would be when during the day, thirdly (and slightly less impressively) there was the fact that Kate could actually afford to pay the cab fare to the mansion, and lastly there was the wonderful surprise that they had been allowed to enter through the front gate when the guard had seen Teddy.
"This is just a trial, we'll see how it all goes" Teddy smirked,
"Either way, thank you" Kate smiled, looking over to him,
The blonde blushed lightly and shook his head.
The two of them continued up the hill until Kate found herself stopping in her tracks, the sight ahead of her too just shocking to take in.
Coming down the drive towards herself and Teddy was the rich -and therefore powerful- teenage grandson of Erik Maximoff, William Maximoff
And he was wearing quite possibly the dorkiest outfit that Kate had ever seen.
The dark haired teen was wearing a shiny grey shirt with all of the buttons fastened and a pair of skinny black jeans that showed just how skinny his legs were. His shoes were made of blue canvas, but the rubber soles were bright red, matching the vivid bowtie that he also wore around his neck.
"Teddy" William beamed as he approached them,
"Hey" the blonde in question smiled,
They embraced in a friendly hug and Kate couldn't help but stare as they pulled away, she couldn't be sure, but she thought she had seen at least one of them blush.
"You must be Kate" William said with a bright expression, offering a hand to her,
"…Hi" she replied slowly, still having a hard time believing that this was all happening, she took his hand all the same and shook it softly,
"Kate this is Billy" Teddy said gesturing to the teen,
"Billy?" Kate asked, a small smile spreading across her lips.
"Oh yeah, everyone calls me Billy" he nodded, "Apart from my granddad" he added, scratching the back of his head nervously,
"Noted" she nodded,
"Let's get up there then" Teddy smiled,
"Let's" Billy agreed.
The three of them then started towards the magnificent house once more, their feet crunching across the gravel,
"How much will I have access to then?" Kate asked as they neared the front door,
"I figured you could take a tour around the house, and get interviews with my family" Billy replied,
"That's be great but… who exactly would I be talking to?"
"Well there's me and my brother, my dad's not about much because of work, but my mom is, and so is my uncle, we don't see much of my aunt either… I guess that just leaves my granddad, he's always about",
"That's a lot to get through" Kate commented, slightly worried by the prospect of having to talk to the real Erik Maximoff,
"Hey, you wanted a job" Teddy reminded her,
"True" she agreed.
They had almost gotten to the ornate front door of the house when the roar of engines flared behind them. The three teens turned and were greeted with the sight of two motorcycles coming up the drive; the bikes were sleek and large, one an electric blue, the leather clad figure a top it clearly an adult, and the other bike a gaudy bright green, a slightly smaller figure on top.
The two bikes stopped and the riders took off their helmets in unison, revealing two men, one young and one who must have been in his late thirties or early forties; there may have been an age gap between the two, but they clearly shared looks.
The first was Pietro Maximoff, Billy's uncle, and the other was Thomas Maximoff, Billy's almost identical twin brother.
"You're getting pretty fast Tommy" Pietro said plainly, dismounting his bike and unzipping his leather jacket,
"Fast enough to beat you any day" Tommy replied with a laugh as he did the same,
"Not yet" his uncle said simply, beginning to push his bike towards the large garages at the other side of the driveway,
"Yeah right" the white haired twin snorted as he followed him,
"And that would be my uncle and brother" Billy said folding his arms,
"Right" Kate nodded.
The most glamorous woman Kate had ever seen was descending the stairs.
She was dressed in a tight red dress that exaggerated her hips and breasts, a thin layer of pink lace then spread up over her chest and shoulders. Her tumbling brown hair was held back from falling on her face by a red scarf, showing off the large earrings that dangled from her lobes. Lastly, her lips were painted with a dark burgundy colour, making her skin look even paler.
"Hey mom, this is Kate, the journalist friend of Teddy's" Billy said with a smile, gesturing towards the girl in question,
The ravenette couldn't help but shrunk under the gaze of Wanda Maximoff as the woman approached her with a look of cold indifference.
Wanda's expression became warmer as she reached out and tucked a piece of Kate's hair behind her ear however, and she ran her palm across the girls jaw affectionately,
"Very pretty" she said softly, she then looked to her son, "Is your brother back?",
"Yeah, he just got home" Billy nodded, pushing his hands into his pockets,
"Good" Wanda replied, she then looked back to Kate, "I'm sure we'll talk again soon",
And with that, she glided from the room before the girl could answer.
"Wow" Kate commented when she was sure that the woman was out of earshot, "Your mom is like really intimidating"
That earned a laugh from the two boys,
"I know, I live with her" Billy laughed.
The front door of the house then opened behind them and the head of Thomas Maximoff popped out from behind it,
"Billy!" he hissed at his brother
"What?"
"Where's mom?"
"She just went into the living room, she was wondering if you were home" he replied,
"Crap" the white haired teen frowned, "I was meant to be grounded but I snuck out for a ride, was she pissed?" he asked entering the foyer properly and closing the door behind him.
"You know it's hard to tell" Billy answered with a shrug,
"True" Tommy nodded, his eyes then fell on Kate, "Who's this then?" he asked, a charming smile covering his face,
"This is Kate" Teddy answered.
The teen took Kate's hand into his own and he kissed her knuckles softly, "Enchanté",
Both Billy and Teddy rolled their eyes at this display; Kate on the other hand did not know how to react.
Tommy certainly lived up to the attractive label that all Maximoffs did.
The teen had a head of platinum white hair that was shaved at the sides to reveal pierced ears with large plugs. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and a green jumper, a white horizontal stripe across the front of it, like his brother he also wore a pair of skinny black jeans, but he also had a pair of bright orange sunglasses hung from one of the back pockets.
"Billy, why is this lovely creature here?" Tommy asked, his eyes focused entirely on Kate,
"Kate's a journalist, she's going to ask some questions and have a look around" his brother answered,
"She's going to write a piece on you guys for the gazette" Teddy added,
"A journalist?" he asked softly, "Interesting",
Kate could feel herself blushing.
Tommy opened his mouth to speak once more, but a muffled call came from the next room and his eyes widened,
"Was that mom?",
"I think so" Billy answered looking at the door that the call had come from, he then turned back to look at his brother, but the teen was already rushing up the stairs, the dark haired twin shrugged and looked a Kate, "Want the tour then?".
"…And this" Billy said is the downstairs study opening the doors,
"Wow" Kate nodded, walking to the centre of the huge room,
She drank in the impressive decoration, thinking that she'd have trouble counting the back cases, let alone the books. As the girl pivoted on her heal she noticed a patch of wall free, "Family portraits?", she asked pointing at an area covered in framed paintings and photos,
"Err, yeah, take a look" he nodded as he watched Teddy perch himself on the back of a couch, facing the pictures as well, smiling fondly at the as if he'd seen them before,
Kate walked to the wall and began to look over the pictures.
The first portrait she laid eyes on depicted Wanda Maximoff and a man that Kate had seen before, many times in fact when reading and watching the news, but had not yet met.
It was Victor Shade, Wanda's husband who while originally from England, spent most of his time now travelling between America and Europe, acting as the third in command at Stark industries, one of the country's biggest technology firms. In the picture both Wanda and Victor were considerably younger than they were now, and they were clearly dressed for their wedding.
Wanda wore a beautiful, sleek white dress that hugged her body with the silky fabric, her waved brown hair was covered by a glittering veil, and her eyes were lined with elegant flicks of black. Victor was dressed in a crisp suit, his pale blonde hair thin as it always had been, but neat all the same. Both were smiling, stood as if they were posing for one of those awkward prom photos, his hands resting on her hips.
On the wall around the outside of the portrait were smaller photographs of Wanda and Victor, her dressed in a white hospital gown and sat in a bed, covered waist down by a blanket; and he looking surprisingly bedraggled compared to how he usually appeared, his shirt unbuttoned showing his clavicles and his sleeves rolled up to the elbows revealing his strong forearms. In each image one of the two of them held a child, or supposedly one of two children, as Kate assumed that the pictures were taken not longer after the birth of Billy and Tommy, and that they were in fact the children.
Kate then looked to the next image. It was photo, but it had been blown up and printed on a canvas.
The image showed Wanda and Pietro with the young faces of Billy and Tommy acting as their peculiar smaller doppelgängers. Tommy sat on his uncle's shoulders, a large smile on his face, and Billy stood in front of his mother, her body hunched down so that she could embrace him from behind.
The largest image was another painted portrait, showing apparently the whole family.
The back row was the adults, Wanda, Victor and Pietro.
Wanda wore a red dress (as was her usual aesthetic), and Pietro was wearing a blue turtle neck, Victor stood between them, dressed in a black suit jacket and tie with a red shirt. Billy stood in front of his mother, dressed in yet another grey shirt and red bowtie combination and Tommy was also wearing a green jumper that was not too dissimilar to what he'd been wearing when Kate had met him. The lighter haired of the two was resting his hand on the back of a tall winged chair that was covered in red leather.
Sat in the chair was an imposing grey haired man.
It was Eric Maximoff, the head of the family.
He wore a dark purple suit and a burgundy cape slung over his shoulders, a waist coat of the same colour fastened under his jacket.
Kate opened her mouth to speak, but her eye was caught by what must have been the smallest picture, it was hung by the side of the huge family portrait and the quality was grainy, but she could just about make it out,
It showed a man who could only have been a young Eric Maximoff, his piercing blue eyes were far too recognisable.
On his right, gripping his hand was a little girl wearing a pretty pink dress, her brown hair in mad curls around her face, on his left was a boy of the same age with a head of white hair, wearing a pale blue shirt. Finally, nestled in Eric's left arm was a baby, it's head sparsely covered with yellow hair.
"Is that your aunt?" Kate asked pointing at the baby,
"Oh, yeah" Billy nodded, glancing at the image she pointed at,
"What's she like?" she then said, looking over to Billy whose concentration was on something else,
"Lorna?" he replied, "She's… nice… I guess, we don't see a lot of her" he shrugged,
The girl also lifted her shoulder, "Some pretty impressive pictures here" she added, taking a step back from the wall,
"Yeah, granddad likes us to get portraits done" Billy nodded.
Kate gave the pictures a final look and then joined Teddy leaning against the back of one of the sofa's, her arms folded over her chest; she smiled at the dark haired teen "So when do I start interviewing?".
(Author's Notes. The outfits I describe are somewhat based on the work of Kevin Wada, his stuff is awesome, check it out. Also I described the outfits so much because I thought it was kind of funny imagining what dorky stuff Billy would wear, and from there I just thought about everyone else. I used Vision's alter ego for his name, but I made him look like Paul Bettany, best of both worlds, so you're welcome ^^ And the brief mention of Lorna is because I guess she's family and all, but I really hate Polaris XD).