Chapter Text
“Boys! Boys!” Wanda’s voice rang desperately through the castle corridors, laced with a frantic need to find her sons. Pieces of the walls crumbled overhead, but she paid neither it nor the servants dashing past her any mind. A particularly large piece of the ceiling fell not that far from her and she lifted her arms to block the dust from finding her eyes. “Boys!”
“Wanda!” Suddenly familiar hands fell on her arms, holding her in place and the dust that had been kicked up began to settle. She peered over at her brother, equal parts relief and frantic concern etched into his features. “Thank goodness I found you. What are you still doing in here? It’s not safe!”
“My… My-” Wanda’s throat ran dry in the wake of all this dust and she coughed harshly a few times, trying to find her voice once again. Pietro’s fingers gripped her arm more tightly at this, as if that would somehow help her breath easier. “My sons, Pietro. I can’t leave, without-”
“Okay, okay,” Pietro said, keeping his voice as calm as he could manage for his sister’s sake. “I’ll find them, Wanda, but you’ve got to get out, first. I can’t focus on getting them while you’re running around like this-”
“I’m not leaving them!” Wanda argued, a hint of angry desperation in her voice.
“You’re not!” Pietro insisted, quickly. There wasn’t time for this, the walls already threatening to cave in on them, if the dust didn’t get to them, first, but Wanda wouldn’t be moved unless she was properly reassured. “You’re not. As soon as I get you out I’ll go back for them. I promise. Wanda, I promise. You need to come with me.”
He was so frantic, so certain that she gave a shaken nod. He didn’t wait another second, scooping her up in his arms and taking her away from the danger, only a brief moment of cool air zipping past her before he was gently putting her on her feet, again, this time in a room better fit to withstand the oncoming disaster, aided by the father and sister holding the room together.
“Stay here,” Pietro told her, fingers splayed across her shoulders. “I will be right back with them, Wanda, but I need your word that you’ll stay here.”
“Yes, yes, please,” She sounded so desperate, so broken – Almost as if she’d already lost them. “Please let them be okay-”
“They’re fine. They’re strong kids. Like their mother,” Pietro stayed a moment longer, brushing away the tears forming on her cheeks before he was gone, again; So quick, in fact, that Wanda was still leaning into his nonexistent touch by the time he had left the room behind. Pietro dodged several falling pieces of castle as he kept his eyes out for his nephews, ignoring the less fortunate servants that had already met their end. He didn’t want to think about them. Didn’t want to think about any of his family being one of them.
His velocity almost made him miss them, tucked under several fallen chucks of ceiling. William was breathing erratically, his distress clearly audible while his brother hissed back reassurances, his words clipped in what Pietro could only assume was pain. Thomas must have been hurt somehow. “Boys?”
“Uncle Pete!” Thomas called out, his voice a bit raspy from all the dust blowing around, particularly after Pietro’s abrupt stop. He sounded relieved, no doubt expecting Pietro to take over in comforting his anxious brother. A quick glance at the nearby structure showed that moving anything would only cause more damage than good and trying to blast away the debris separating them would be equally as bad. He frowned, taking a moment to access the situation.
“Uncle?” William’s voice called, clearly shaken by the turmoil around him, “What’s happening?”
“Shhh. Quiet, William,” Pietro answered back, short and determined, focused on a solution. William didn’t give a reply, even his breathing seeming to stop. Pietro glanced at his hand, watching the appendage as it sped up before sticking both directly through the fallen ceiling, each hands grabbing hold of one of the boys and pulling them both out of the structure. “There.”
“T-took... you long enough,” Thomas quipped, clearly strain due to his obvious pain. Pietro released both his nephews, but Thomas was just as quick to grip tightly to his uncle’s bicep and keep his weight off his right leg. “Fuck.”
“You better not be kissing your mother with that mouth,” Pietro chided, distractedly as he tried to access the damage. “What happened?”
“Something fell on it,” Thomas answered. His face was twisted in pain and tears pricked gently at his eyes, through he was making a damned effort to keep them from falling.
“I think he may have broken it,” William added, hovering anxiously nearby.
“We need to get back to the others. Your mother is worried sick about you two,” Pietro stated, finishing his examination of Thomas’ leg and glancing up at his face. “Can you walk?”
“Yes,” Thomas answered, instantly and with a hint of aggression.
“No he can’t!” William objected, “He’s barely able to stand, and that’s with you holding him up!”
“I’m fine, Billy!” Thomas hissed, shooting his brother a glare which was returned with equal determination.
“No!”
“Yes!”
“Alright, shut up… Both of you,” Pietro groaned, rubbing his temple with his free hand. “We don’t have time for this. Thomas, if you’re not able to-”
“I a- Woah!” The ground under their feet shook with the sound of something impact it nearby and more ceiling pieces fell away, one nearly crushing William flat save for Pietro’s quick reflexes pulling him out of the way.
“Alright. Discussions over. Let’s go.” Pietro scooped them both up and tossed one boy over each shoulder, much to Thomas’ dismay. He had no problem voicing his objection, wiggling all over the place in an attempt to get free, but Pietro simply kept a tight hold on him and focused on getting through the palace. He heard the darker haired boy whimper slightly when they paused a moment to avoid a crumbling wall. A quick glance behind him told the other more than enough about what he was upset over. “William, don’t look at them. Close your eyes.”
“They’re dead-”
“Don’t look at them.” Pietro could hear his sister’s voice in his head already, berating him for letting her precious babies see all this. He let his mind focus on that to keep it from going to sadness over the lost lives or a protectiveness for the boys in his arms.
“But-”
“Now is not the time to argue with me.” The witch didn’t respond, seemingly finally accepting his authority, but Pietro was smart enough to know the boy probably still had his eyes wide open. As long as William kept quiet, Pietro would let it slid.
An opening appeared and he was off, again, the palace and it’s disaster ripping past them. He heard a couple cries for help not to far off, but the thought to go assist whomever was calling to him came second to bringing Wanda back her sons. She would likely venture back out again to get them if he didn’t return soon and no rescue was worth putting her in danger. Not right now.
Relief touched him when he rounded a corner and spotted his family waiting in a room at the end of the hall, Wanda’s eyes immediately locking with his and a thankful smile falling over her expression. He was so focused on her, though, that he didn’t see his father glance a moment in his direction, Magnus’ eyes seeming to widen in alarm before he raised a hand and a bubble formed around Pietro, for only just long enough to force him backwards. Almost immediately after debris closed off their entrance, seemingly cutting off Pietro’s breath just as effortlessly as they’d been cut off from their family.
“No!” Pietro looked for an opening, but none was to be had. Everything was crumbling and without his father and sister’s powers holding the disaster at bay, there was no way that he would be able to stay within the walls. A glance outside quickly reminded him that he couldn’t go outside either, a sizable piece of flaming rock crashing into the palace a few floors below and shaking the entire structure. Screaming echoed around the open air, sobbing and shouts of pain acting as accents to it’s constant chime. Maybe he could vibrate the three of them though the fallen debris. The thing was thick as all hell and that much movement would probably make Tommy pass out, but if it meant their lives-
“Iwantustobesomewheresafe. Iwantustobesomewheresafe. Iwantustobesomewheresafe-” All at once the world seemed to slow down, several things happening in rapid succession. The first was that he noticed the imminent approach of a meteor, the rock’s path much more direct this time. The second was the sudden buzz of of red energy that seemed to echo across his skin like electricity. The third and final thing was the burst of blue, that blinded him as the heard the last few words in a chant he was pretty sure William didn’t even know he was casting. “-somewheresafe!”