A/N: And so here's the final one.

...

Timeline 2

Wanda raises a fist to the tall, rich dark twin doors, thinks twice about this, swallows her anxiety and pounds on the one on the right. It takes a few moments until the door swings open and she's peering up at a tall stud in a pair of glasses.

Wanda sucks in a sharp breath.

And there's a noticeable pause.

"Can I help you?" Hank is staring and is slightly bewildered, back and forth from Wanda to the cracked open gate far up the trail. He perces his lips. "Um, how did you get up here?"

She watches him clutch the side of the door tightly. Her eyes flicker back up to his and her head tilts. "Yes. I am the one you cut off on earlier. This is that school for gifted kids, right? Owned by Charles Xavier?"

"Well that depends on who's asking."

Now, she forces an honest smile. "I'm here for Pietro. Pietro Maximoff. You might know him as Peter." She did air quotes with her fingers for his Americanized nickname. She sees him look her over once.

"Um..." Hank's fingers drum against the wood once. His eyes squint. "Who are you?" He looks out to the opened gate again. "And how did you get past the—-"

Wanda's eyes narrow. Her head straightens. Behind Hank's back, she sees a teen with a white mohawk walking alongside what looks like a literal blue devil in a red shirt and her eyes grow wide. She looks back up to Hank.

"Is that guy here? The big one with the..." She motioned to style her hair in two horns, and then holding her arms out at her side indicating muscle. "Wolverine? Hogan, I think it was?"

She sees Hank's eyes widen and his tongue darts out again. He wonders how she could have known Logan. "I don't know who you're talking about," he lies, when in reality the last he's heard of the other mutant was from Jean and Scott when the man ran from Stryker's facility.

Wanda's hands fall and slap to her thighs at his response. She looks up and around he door-frame. "But this is the school for mutants, isn't it?"

This time Hank seems to visibly grow annoyed. "Are you with the government?"

"No, I—-"

"Then if you don't have business here and if you're not a parent, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Her eyes widen. But before her opened mouth could speak the more grating words she had been holding back, Hank turns around at the sound of an electric motor approaching. He and Wanda look down the short corridor at Charles Xavier approaching with a deep frown on his features. Wanda blinks, her legs spreading and planting defensively.

"What seems to be the problem here?" Charles glances at Hank before looking Wanda over once, lingering on her eyes. "May we help you, Miss?" He smiles, and she glances wearily between the two.

She starts slow. "Yes...Is...This is the school for mutants, right?" Charles began to object, to sugarcoat it and convince gifted instead, but stops as she continues with more determination. "It said it on the plaque out there by the gate. You really should get that fixed by the way..." She points with her thumb over her shoulder.

Charles, confused and then surprised, glances at Hank.

"And you're Charles Xavier...?" Her hands fidget. She begins picking at the dark nail polish applied just a couple days ago.

Charles gives an affirming yes, and then shakes her hand as he leans on one elbow, fingers touching his temple. Wanda gives her first name, looking accusingly at Hank, and flashes a snarky half-smile.

"Yes, Ms. Wanda," and Charles invites her in. She notices that he visibly relaxes, and then he smiles. "I know exactly why you're here. Let her through, Hank."

Wanda raises a brow boastfully. Hank looks on, incredulously.

Charles calls over his shoulder: "And close the door, Hank! Lest we have more expecting guests."

And the other wants to give an accusation, to state that their concern should be the breached security system and not inviting in some stranger! Hank puts on the four bolt locks on the front doors, catches up and voices his concerns—he states that he doesn't think that this (unknown) woman should be allowed inside after sneaking past their defenses.

Wanda frowns.

"Then I guess you'd better get on to fixing that, yeah?" Charles doesn't even raise a brow or waver his tone.

Wanda bites her lips at Charles' response. Her brown hair is bouncing on her shoulders as she follows the professor. A handful of children pass by.

Charles turns looks to her for a moment, guiding her down the way and leaving Hank behind. She notices that he seems less troubled; maybe it had to do with one of these kids she keeps seeing running around?

"I'm actually relieved that you came."

"You—you are? ...How'd you know I was going to come...?"

"I didn't," he smiles. Charles waves a hand, telling that, "the room is right down this way. I really hope this can be straightened out. We've been running out of food weeks early, there's been complaints, and the bedroom door has been locked for days. No one has been able to get in."

She's looking at a bust sculpture they pass. The hallway is narrow and lined with doors along each side.

"Um, Doctor—-"

"Professor, if you may."

"Um, ok, Professor... I'm not sure if we're thinking the same thing why I came..."

The electric motor of the wheelchair stops and Charles looks back up at Wanda. She can't meet his surprised gaze right away, and instead catches sight of a dual-haired kid who has a nose like a Guinea pig.

"You know Peter, do you not?" He sounds worried now. Wanda nods—she does. "So I assume you can knock some sense into him?"

Wanda shuffles on her feet. "Oh." Then, "how did you know—-" But then she thought for a moment. "Never mind."

Oh, yeah. He's telepathic.

Charles tells that the majority of the students were still out off campus and back home. The two had passed a small lounging room and study area that had been occupied by a few who remained. As they round the corner, this hall was empty, save for a girl kneeling and trying to speak through a keyhole. The boy beside her taps the girl's shoulder as Wanda and the professor approach.

Jean's head is low as she stands. "I tried, but I can't seem to get in. He doesn't want to listen and the door still won't budge..."

Wanda watches as Charles gives Jean's arm a thanking squeeze, and the two teens are asked to step out the way.

The boy in the sunglasses grumbles that this situation has gone on for too long, that "he keeps stealing and eating all the food and I'm pretty sure he stole some of my movies." Scott's pouting like a child.

Jean rolls her eyes to his direction. "You mean your porno movies you stole from your uncle?"

And Scott is flustered. "No! I—I don't have—there isn't anything like that I'd take—-!"

"Yeah sure," Jean cuts him off. Both she and Scott lean against the wall opposite of Wanda and the professor, watching the former press her ear to the door. "Peter's just in distress, Scott."

Scott huffs.

Wanda raps on the door lightly, once, three times. She calls to her brother softly. "...Pietro?"

There's a beat of a pause. "I said GO AWAY!" comes as a choked holler from inside making Wanda jerk her ear from the door. She stands and stares at the closed door and begins biting a fingernail. She knocks again, twice, three times. There's no answer. She calls something in her mother, non-English tongue. Then she glances at Charles. "How long has this been?"

"About half a week, I'd presume."

Jean nods.

Wanda takes a step back as she looks the door over. "Sounds about right," she sighs.

That's when Jubilee walks up, munching on a chocolate bar. Scott marvels at how she had managed to get a hold of any candy. He was surprised that any was left. Jubilee shrugs, revealing that Peter doesn't bother her belongings.

Scott has his hands in his jacket pockets. "I thought you were with Ororo?"

"She's busy in the big library." Jubilation snuggles in the tiny space between Scott and Jean, completely oblivious to the scowl from the former. "What's going on here? Who's she?" She points to the Wanda.

Wanda knocks harder on the heavy dark wooden door. She tries the knob and finds it locked. "Open the door." And she's met by more silence. "Pietro, open the door!" her tongue rolls around his name, "or I swear to God!" She tries not to allow the tiny seeds of panic that are starting to plant, seep into her voice.

A muffled "leave me alone!" is faintly heard before Wanda steps back. She rolls back the sleeves of her light sweater, flexes her fingers. Jean's brows begin to rise; Jubilee and Scott's draw together.

"How long has this been going on again?" Wanda asks Charles.

Jean answers for him. "This is the fourth day. Straight."

Wanda kneels to eye level with the door knob and hums. She raises her fingers to the keyhole. The small audience watches as her fingertips glow a dark fuchsia and thin tendrils of vapor slither in through the keyhole. She flexes her fingers. The tip of her tongue sticks out as she concentrates. And a minute later, the click of the door unlocking sounds. She curls and then quickly opens her fingers, and a small pulse goes through the air. The door creaks open.

Jubilee gives a small clap of praise.

But the mutant practically kicks down the door as she storms inside. There's a chair knocked over and off to the side that she walks past. Seeing the nearest bed—and the massive lump of comforter on top—she pauses. Wanda calls her brother's name again, accent seeping through. She knows that he probably was going through one of his fits again and would possibly not want to see her—he doesn't like seeing anyone during those moments—but what he wants was greatly outweighing by duty and what needs to be done.

The large mass of comforter flinches in response to Wanda's call. He doesn't respond, so she calls again. And when there's still stubborn silence, she brings her hands down, grabs fist-fulls of the thick blanket and shakes the entire bed.

"Get up!"

The bed-frame creaks a little. There's a muffled collection of cursing, and a bewildered "what the hell?"

Jubilee, Jean, and Scott are peeking around Charles to see. The professor calls that he's going to to go attend to someone needing his help in a study. Jean speaks that she doesn't hear anyone and is shushed. She sees the professor give her a look and press his two fingers to his temple. The rest are watching and see Pietro's head pops out from inside the makeshift cocoon, sporting a deep scowl and messy bedhead. And Wanda leans, popping her hip to the side. She's flicks on the room lights and her brother blinks as his eyes adjust.

"Hello, moj brat."

And when he sees her, he's confused.

When he sees her, he's embarrassed—

And when the dots connect in his mind, then he becomes pissed.

His gaze snaps toward the open door, and then he's scrambling to untangle from the bed sheets. "I'm going to murder him! You...have no reason being here," he directs to his sister. And then "...four eyes!"

Jubilee whispers, "I think he means you."

And Scott knows this and immediately stiffens.

Now, Wanda turns a hand in the air and the door slams shut before her brother could hobble outside. The lock clicking into place is loud in the quiet room. "It's not his fault," she breaths. "It's mine."

Pietro had sped forward before leaning too much on his broken leg, crying out, and grappling for the wall. He remains still for a few more moments after she speaks before slowly turning to look over his shoulder.

"What do you mean your fault? This is all theirs because they keep sticking their noses—-you aren't even supposed to be here," he hisses. He's clearly nervous and she knows the situation is now sinking in. He wishes he had at least reached for his crutch before getting up. "Go home, Wanda!"

She watches him struggle to support himself against the ivory wallpaper. She scoffs. "I came here myself. I got a call." She goes to sling his arm behind her neck and help him back to the bed. He protests, of course. "And besides...god you're heavy...you look pitiful."

Pietro sinks to the mattress with a sigh. He runs his hands over the cast as a faux comfort mechanism.

Her fingers drum on her biceps, arms crossed. "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"You say nothing a lot."

Pause.

The professor is halfway down the hallway when Jubilee asks who that woman was who had gone inside the room. As far as she knew, they all would have gotten their necks wrung if they ever woke Peter like that. Now, Jean has that same look and smirk in her eyes just as back at the mall's theater.

"That's his twin."

Jubilee doesn't hold in her gasp then either.

"No one called me over here," Wanda explains. "Well none of them. I came on my own." She looks around the room. There's space enough for two occupants; she notices by the second bed and dresser, but no more. "What happened? Really?"

"Nothing happened. And I don't need a chaperone, and definitely not my sister coming and mothering me." He's still frowning. "Everything here is fine." And his chest puffs. "I don't need your help, Wanda."

Her sight lands on a discarded pile of wrappers, most of them Hershey's products.

"It doesn't look like it," she sighs. "And I'm familiar that you have a record of doing nothing when it's called for, Pietro. Marya told me, by the way." She sees him scowl and his mouth opens to talk. She holds out a finger for him to silence. "Ok, but doing nothing a few times."

He's focused elsewhere in the room. "Good. So now, we've settled this, I don't need everyone thinking—-"

"I know, Pietro. I...I know about what happened."

He's confused, her changing the subject. "What happened? Is Marya okay? Is—-"

"They're fine. ...I...um, Sherry called me."

"Sherry?" He looks back at his cast, tracing over the Sharpie marker images. He remembers and knows who she is, but wonders if Wanda is on the same page and speaking about the same person.

"Sherry from high school," she answers. "She told me that she saw you at the local mall not too long ago." Her folded arms squeeze tighter together. "She also told me about Rainy."

His head turns, meeting her gaze very slowly.

Out in the hallway, the teens are listening through the door. Kurt, having recently walked up, notices the gleam in Jubilee's eye as she goes to press an ear to the door. All were still quite stunned by Wanda's dramatic entrance and are torn between eavesdropping and walking away. The professor is rolling away and Scott taps Jubilee's arm to grab her attention. Jean bites the inside of her cheek, voices that maybe she should go back and say something.

Scott pauses, bounces on the heels of his sneakers. "Why are you so concerned about him?"

Jean shrugs, drumming her nails on her red lipstick.

Scott frowns. "Do you like him?"

She looks stunned and objects. She doesn't catch that he relaxes at her answer.

In the bedroom, Wanda crosses her arms. "This is just like last time," and she grumbles.

"Last time?" A brow snaps.

Her eyes scan the room again, falling on empty boxes of sugar food and Chex Mix. "You've been sulking again." And then of course he objects but she interrupts him as she continues. "Why didn't you do anything about her this time? Don't you want this to be over?"

Her question leaves a chill in the air. Her brother's chest puffs as he silently inhales.

And still he plays dumb.

Why didn't you go after her this time?

"I know why you're scared." She sees his expression lax. "I know how you feel."

And then his expression hardens again. "Oh do you? Like when that douchebag in high school ditched you to go out with that Blondie? Or was it the one who you dropped after, like, a week? Or was it when you had those two guys pawning after you—-you know the two, and you swore it was "forever and ever." But you never really cared, did you? You were always scared." He scoffs, chin tilting. He looks cynical. "Wanda, you don't know how I feel..."

"This isn't about me."

"For once," he scoffs.

"Pietro, I'm serious. Why didn't you...I was told that nothing happened." She swallows her hurt from his words, but then a realization hit. "And you're criticizing me and yet you're sulking over a girl you never really liked! This is just like that Mckenzie situation all over again!"

"I'm not sulking!" He looks angry, purely angry.

"You're not? Then what do you call all of this? This looks really similar like with Rainy... And here she is again, and you still don't do anything about it? Stop lying! And this isn't like those flings you had in Europe. She isn't like that guy from Albania. You're just hurt because you don't really, really like her! Admit it!"

"She left me!" His holler reaches the hallway outside, and the teens turn, hearing it.

Pietro is sitting, hands balled into fists and glaring up at his sister before turning to stare at a random corner.

Wanda's tone is calm now. "And you don't think she felt bad about it?"

"Well you always thought she was a stone-cold bitch. I guess you're right, Wanda." He can't meet her gaze, and the twisted smile fades quickly.

She sighs. Sometimes she deplores her younger decisions. "Well I guess I was wrong..." She grits her teeth.

Pietro's head snaps up. His anger wanes.

"Yeah," she rubs an arm. "She was very emotional over the phone."

There's a second, a beat that passes that he takes it all in. "Bullshit."

In the hallway outside the bedroom, Jubilee is slouched in a large chair across from Scott who has Jean seated beside him. After Pietro's startling yell, all had become utterly silent, and the four waited to hear if it would happen again. Scott sighs. Jean picks at her teeth with a nail. Jubilee and Kurt exchange looks when they hear Wanda's muffled voice, talking about wasted chance and repeats.

"Am I the only one who's bothered by this?" Jean's hand slaps to her thigh.

Jubilee and Scott press their lips in straight lines.

"Well," Jubilee starts, "you are empathetic, right? So...yeah, kinda."

Jean sighs.

Scott raises his hands to rests on the back of the sofa and behind Jean's shoulders. "Why are you so worried about all this anyway?"

Now, Jean is picking at her cherry red nail polish. "Because," and she shrugs. "This was all my fault. ...If I hadn't been so nosy and meddled..."

Then Scott is waving a hand. He encouraged that it wasn't her fault and they all played a part in this.

"But I'm the only one that's worried."

He shrugs.

"Well it's not really any of our business," Jubilee adds. She means this gossip-worthy backstory and argument going on inside.

There's another call, they hear. This time it's Wanda raising her voice, speaking in a different language.

"I wonder what's going on," Jean muses.

Other than Jubilee raising a brow in agreement, there wasn't another word.

Jean remains seated for several more seconds before lurching from her seat. She calls that she has to know what's happening, and goes to press an ear to the wooden door. Jubilee isn't far behind. Jean offers to peek in the twins' minds to get a clearer understanding; Jubilee's eyes widen in agreement.

While Scott is the one bewildered on the couch, he doesn't really want to object. Instead, Kurt does—calling over to the girls, he asks if this was a wise decision. Both girls lock gazes and consider.

"Mind-reading is what started this in the first place."

Both girls begin to reconsider.

Inside the room, they overhear Wanda again, this time interrupting and speaking over her brother. "I'm not saying...good or bad, I'm just saying to reevaluate." He retorted with something about stupidity.

Jubilee and Jean remove their ears from the door and take a seat on the cold floor. Jubilee chides Kurt on "why does he always have to be the noble one?" Sure, the two mutants got along together more than the other ones, but Kurt didn't have to go and ruin this for them.

"So," Jean turns to the other. She makes sure to keep her volume to a minimum. "What do you think about all this?"

"Juicy."

"I meant the ladies, Jubilee. What do you think about Wanda and Rainy? It's kinda—-"

"Weird? Like unexpected?" Jubilee earns a nod in response. "Me too. I'm more interested in the old high school pictures to be honest," she smiles.

In the bedroom, Wanda is leant against a wall, flexing her fingers. Across from her, her brother is almost fuming—face a tinge red and glaring through his eyebrows. "This all goes both ways, you know," she speaks. He doesn't respond. "And I'm quite sure that if you give her the chance, she'll show that she's really sorry." He still doesn't respond; his chest puffs and he looks to his faded socks. "And you know how she is—albeit better than I do—so you probably know—-"

He interrupts, stating that it wouldn't matter, and Wanda asks "why not?" But he can't think of a good enough excuse.

They had been younger and reckless then

That time has changed and so have they

That there's no way they feel the same for each other

That there's no way he should still be feeling the same way

"Then why did you kiss her, Piet?"

He still doesn't have an answer.

Wanda hums.

"Well if you ask me," she says as she pushes off from the wall, "it's obvious that letting this happen a second time would be a worse choice."

This time, he couldn't even glare at her—instead it was more of worry. Pietro leans over his knees, resting his elbows atop the caps and he begins biting his thumbnails. He stares off at nothing in particular.

"I really did talk to her, though." And I remember how close you guys were."

He still doesn't answer.

Back over the phone Wanda had prompted.

"Rainy, you need to tell me the truth."

Rainy had told the story, her side, about the complication of her father, what started this rift, the fault in her wrong—-

"Don't apologize to me," Wanda said.

A black, heavy stone had made home in Rainy's gut.

"But I have to know if you really, really, really mean it, Rainy, because I'm not there. I'm not going to help if you don't." And then she says, " because if you don't you won't hear the end of it from me. If you want to get back with him, you better commit. Because if you break his heart again—Rainy I trust you, but if you break his heart again, I can't forgive you. At least not this easily."

This was easily?

The tension in the room has evaporated and a different kind of heaviness fills it. This one that makes your hands shake and brain indecisive and nervous ticks activate.

"I've been wrong. I admit it," Wanda sighs. "But she promised. She said she was really sorry. And I really think you should go see her again. Straighten it all out, at least."

Wanda had made Rainy promise, more like

Pietro looks up. His face scrunches, nose wrinkling, catching Wanda's stretched truth. "What did you do? What did you say?!"

Out in the hall, Jubilee and Jean are walking back to the couches when the door creaks and Wanda exits. The door is quietly shut and then Kurt speaks up, beating Jean. He asks if everything is alright because he heard yelling.

Wanda forces herself to meet their gazes, and lies—she nods yes. And then she's asked if there was anything they could do to help—but they barely understood the weight of the situation, at least personally.

And Wanda shakes her head. She forces a smile, picturing her brother all too well, knowing he's still in that deciding position then he'd pace for an hour or so. "No. This is something Peter has to resolve on his own."

A/N: Reviews say if this was good or not. Alerts don't say anything. I would really, really, really like to hear your opinions and I can't stress it enough. :)

Ok so this is it for this short! All thanks for the idea goes to Lyra, The Besetest ❤

(I was thinking of writing a smut one-shot. Should I? How, about who, what? Or should I leave the idea alone?)