First they lock her up, think about killing her, and now they just turn her out? And then they let her fall into the hands of The Toad? The three of them should be hung. Especially Magneto.

Furious as well as fearful for his sister, Pietro ran to the address Xavier had given him. He had just come from Genosha, where he’d gone to see Wanda. When he had arrived there, he’d found her room empty. When he found Magneto and asked him where she was, he told him she’d left weeks before.

Left.

They just let her go. When she’d needed him, Magneto just turned her out to the world. Pietro had demanded he tell him where she was. The story went that she had been living somewhere, but now she would be living in a place Xavier provided. Tearing through the building, Pietro lifted Xavier out of his chair when he found him. He just wanted the address. But neither man would give it to him until they’d told him something else.

She was living with someone.

Who?

Someone he wouldn’t like. But he’d -

Pietro’s mind raced through all the possibilities.

- have to be understanding, for Wanda’s sake.

Who was it already?

Mortimer Toynbee. But Dr. Strange says -

Dr. Strange spews nothing but stupidity all day long! Dr. Strange said Wanda’s children would be fine! Dr. Strange said Wanda’s mind was lost. Where was his sister living now?

In New York.

Give me the address!

Still seething as he replayed the scene in his mind, Pietro slowed just enough to find the street. He was at the front door. He knocked, and waited.

And waited.

Finally, the door opened and he saw his sister.

“Wanda!” he said, embracing her.

“Pietro! What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.” he held her at arm’s length to look her over. “How are you? How’ve you been? Where’ve you been? Are you all right? Has anything happened?”

“I’m fine, Pietro. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Magneto told me you left. Where have you been?”

“I was living in Pennsylvania, up until today. Now we’re moving in here.” Wanda caught herself at the word ‘we,’ but Pietro noticed.

“Wanda, what are you doing living with him? He doesn’t mean you any good!”

“No, Pietro, please calm down.” Wanda moved his hands off of her arms. “Listen to me for a moment.”

“He’s taken advantage of you, Wanda. You have to get away from him.”

“Pietro, listen to me. I am not a little girl, and I have not been deceived. Mort’s not who you remember him as - ”

“People like that don’t change! Look at our -”

“I’m not finished, Pietro. Mort wouldn’t hurt me anymore than you would -”

“Don’t compare me to that slimy Toad! I have to get you out of here. You don’t need Xavier’s help. What’s he done for you in the past fifteen months? Nothing! Wanda, come with me to where it’s safe.”

“And where have you found a place that’s safe?”

“The moon. The Inhumans will have us. You still hold Crystal’s favor, even if I don’t, and you’ll be safe there.”

“Pietro, you don’t understand.”

“No, you’re not listening.”

“Pietro.” She took hold of his hands. “I have to fix this. I have to gain control over it again. Hush. Listen to me. You haven’t been here for some time, and you don’t understand what’s taken place. Do you really think I couldn’t hold my own against Toad if I needed to? I would like to go to the moon with you someday and see Crystal and Luna again. But not now. Now I am where I want to be. You can come see me here, and things will start to get better. I think they will. Come inside.”

“No, I have to leave. I have another engagement.” He dropped her hands.

“Don’t be angry with me. I have to do what’s best.”

“I’m not angry. I just have to be somewhere. But I’ll come back to see you, Wanda.”

“I love you, Pietro.”

“I know. I love you too.”

Wanda watched her brother’s form disappear in a streamline blur. Dear Pietro. Despite his apparent hostility, she knew he really was a gentle man. One who was always trying to do what was right by everyone he cared about. An impossible task that had cost him dearly, but he tried.

- - -

After he left Wanda’s new home, Pietro thought to go talk to Lorna. She was only a few seconds away, though it took him several moments to be allowed inside and to find her room. She said ‘come in’ when he knocked.

“Lorna?”

She got up immediately, surprised to see him. “Pietro. What are you doing here? Oh, hang on. Are you here about the Scarlet Witch?”

“No. I just came from seeing her. I came to say hello to you.”

“Sorry, then. I’m glad to see you.”

“What made you think I was here about Wanda?”

Lorna gave an effortless half-smirk. “Magneto contacted me the other day, wanting to know about her. Since you’re here today, I thought it must be for the same reason.”

“What did he want to know?”

“He asked if I’d heard from her, or if I knew where she was.”

“He didn’t even know where she was? The bastard.”

“Pietro, how long have you known that Magneto was alive?

“Since last year. When he took Wanda to Genosha. Why?”

“I only just found out the other day. And that was only because he wanted something. Something that had nothing to do with me. I spent all that time with him, learning from him, and I’ve even defended his ways. I fought with him and for him, even when I knew he was wrong. And then he treats me like this.”

“You don’t need to talk about my father’s morals to me, Lorna. You think you’re the only one of his children whom he’s treated like an expendable pawn?”

“I know.”

“Don’t take it personally, Lorna. He doesn’t have favorites. One of the advantages of having a father who could care less unless it involves him.”

Lorna didn’t say anything.

“You care about him, though, don’t you? Don’t wait for him to return your loyalty or love. You’ll be wasting your time.”

“I know. So, since I’ve been hearing so much about her, or so little I guess, what’s going on with your sister?”

“She’s living nearby now. With the Toad.”

“The Toad? That’s ... a little unexpected.”

“Actually, Lorna, I would like to talk to you about her. Would you do me a favor? Check in on Wanda now and then. Make sure she’s all right.”

“Pietro, I hardly even know her. I still think of her as your sister, not mine. I don’t even know what’s wrong with her or what the big deal about where she lives is.”

“Just look after her for me. I’ll come back within the month.”

“Wait -”

“Please, Lorna. I can’t be here and I need to know she’ll be alright.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Just stop in or something. Take her out to lunch. Do sisterly things. Make sure she’s still alive.”

“Okay, Pietro. I’ll stop by and see her sometime.”

“Thanks. I have to go.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in a month?”

“About.”

“Well, what else -”

Pietro was gone.

Sisterly things, huh? Well, a few re-runs of The Waltons should help her figure out what those were. And Wanda had always seemed like a well-grounded, reputable woman. The sisterly thing couldn’t hurt to try.

- - -

Entirely unaware of Pietro’s presence, Mort was also leaving the school. Five minutes earlier he had been in The White Queen’s office where she’d personally offered him a job as an engineer. Out of the clear blue, someone from the school had called him and said that Ms. Frost requested his presence. Twenty minutes later, he had a job.

Leaping over the school grounds, he was already planning what he’d tell Wanda when he got back to her. She’d be impressed by news like this, right? Mort jumped onto the side of the building and propelled himself off. Just before he landed on the ground, he heard a noise and saw a cloud of smoke.

He was aware of hitting something and falling painfully to the ground. And something stank. Pulling himself to his feet, he looked down at what he’d landed on. Blue and furry, it was none other than The Amazing Nightcrawler. “Where the hell did you come from?”

Nightcrawler sat up on his haunches, rubbing his arm. “I’d like to ask you the same thing. You landed on me, you know.”

“You teleported right where I was landing.”

“Why are you jumping around the mansion anyway? I’ve never seen you here before.”

Mort sneered at his scrutiny. “I’m The Toad King.”

He seemed to recognize the name. “You were in Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.”

“Glad to see my reputation precedes me. But I’ve been solo for quite a few years.”

“And you’re here for ...?”

“I was invited. Meet your new head engineer.”

He stood up. “My apologies. My name is K-”

“I know who you are. The circus monk. Nightcrawler.”

“Then I see my reputation precedes me as well. Are you becoming a member of the X-Men, then?”

“Not in this lifetime. This is just a day job. I don’t have any affiliation with you other than the fact that I’ll be upgrading your jet pretty soon. If you’re done with the third degree, I have to be getting home.” Without waiting to be excused, Toad set off again.

Nightcrawler, meanwhile, went to find Emma to make sure what the Toad had told him was true.

- - -

Surrounded by stillness, Wanda sat in the kitchen of her new ‘home.’ She’d been there for two days already, and with Mortimer currently out trying to transfer his bank accounts, and with nowhere for her to go, she was bored. And lonely. She didn’t know anyone to talk to. She didn’t have anything to do. She had, like a disobedient teenager, a curfew.

The house reminded her of a hospital waiting room in all of its uptight sterility. Emotionless, pastel still lifes hung on her walls, and carefully set flower vases stood on the tables. Even the flowers were fake. Artificial flowers, she firmly believed, should not exist. ‘I should erase all the silk flowers on the planet just to give Stephen a stroke.’

It would have been nice to go out and get some real flowers, but she didn’t like the thought of going out alone. She would have felt like a fool trying to get one of the X-Men to go with her. She didn’t really know any of them anyway. Well, there was Polaris. Yes, Polaris, her father’s favored child. The one who had instantly accepted him and inherited his control over magnetism.

So, nevermind Polaris.

Something in this arrangement would have to give before another day went by. Wanda had never been accustomed to sitting on her hands. She would simply have to get another job, or something, regardless of what Stephen thought was good for her.

The door opened, and Wanda went to greet Mort. “Hello, Mort. How - ”

Mortimer stood by the closed door, holding something in his arms. Something that was moving.

“What is that?” Wanda asked, cautiously moving closer.

“I found it. I thought you might like it, or might like to at least take a look at it.” The small thing mewed and lifted its head.

“Oh, Mort, you found a kitten? Where? Look at how small it is. It shouldn’t be away from its mother yet.”

“Yeah, well, it was alone when I found it.”

Wanda lifted the kitten out of his arms. “Did you look around? Maybe it wandered off.”

“It didn’t wander. I found a few little snots on the street throwing cans at it on my way back. I checked for other cats, but I didn’t find any.”

“Mort, that’s horrible.”

“I did my best to scare a little empathy into them.”

Now holding the cat on its back, Wanda examined it. “You poor thing. What a horrible first few days you’ve had. Are you hungry little one?”

“Do they take milk?”

“Yes. It should probably have formula, but milk will do for now. Though it looks too little to even drink from a bowl.”

Mort poured a little milk in a shallow bowl anyway and handed it to Wanda. She set the cat down and let it sniff the milk, but when it tried to drink it ended up snorting it back out. Wanda lifted the cat in her arms again, dipped her finger in the bowl, and let the cat suck from her finger. It was a time-consuming process, and Mort watched wonderingly at how Wanda seemed to know these things.

When the kitten finally stopped drinking, Wanda let it stay in her arms. “I suppose we’ll keep it for tonight,” she said. We should find it a place to sleep where it can’t crawl off and get itself hurt.”

“Right. Should we put it in the bathroom?”

“That’ll be good. And we should put some towels down for it to sleep on and to keep warm. I guess it isn’t litter-trained...”

Wanda looked down at the kitten. She noticed, for the first time, its markings. Mostly black with white and orange on it’s paws, face, and chest. And an orange tip on its wispy little tail. “I wonder if we could keep it.”

“I don’t see why not. They didn’t give you a ‘no pets’ rule, did they?”

“No, not explicitly. And I’d hate to put it through any more than its already endured. I couldn’t give it up to the humane society.”

“It might never find another home,” Mort offered.

Wanda smiled. “How would you like to live with us, little cat?”

The cat didn’t respond, so Mort went to set the bathroom up. He had hoped Wanda would like the cat.

- - -

That night, Wanda was drifting off to sleep when she heard the cat mew from across the hallway. At first, she ignored it, but it didn’t stop. About a minute passed and Mort lifted his head.

“It probably doesn’t like being left alone,” Wanda said.

“Oh.”

Another few mews and Wanda sat up.

“Do you want to let it out?” Mort asked.

“Yes. I can’t listen to it cry all night. I suppose we’ll have to keep it in here for tonight.”

“It’s pretty little to be left alone anyway. I’ll get it.” Mort flung the covers back and left the room. Wanda listened to him cross the hall, open the bathroom door, and pick up the kitten. “You’re making a lot of noise for such a little fur ball,” she heard him whisper.

Mort came back in the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and set the cat on the carpet. It had been quiet while being carried, but as soon as Mort started walking back to the bed, it began meowing. He looked at Wanda for direction.

She watched the kitten crying and tripping after Mort on its short, awkward legs.

“Here,” Wanda said, “bring it up here. It can sleep on a pillow for tonight.”

Mort did as she asked, lifting the kitten up awkwardly but gently. As soon as it was being held, it was quiet. Wanda pulled an extra pillow out from behind her own and set it between Mort’s and hers. Mort knelt on the mattress and carefully slid the cat off of his hand and onto the pillow. It mewed a few times, but Wanda stroked it while Mort settled back into bed. Once things were still, the kitten pulled itself into a tight sphinx position and was quiet.

Wanda smiled at Mort over the sleeping cat and laid her head back on her pillow. A new addition to her uncertain family. Tomorrow she would figure out what gender it was and give it a name. She’d ask Mort to buy some kitten formula and maybe some litter so they could train it. Always able to fall asleep easier if she had plans for the next day, Wanda was soon in a relatively peaceful slumber.