Chapter Text
Wanda had never really thought of herself as a hero (she aided a homicidal robot in his path to human extinction for Christ's sake), but she never really thought of herself as a villain either. She'd struggled with what to call herself for a while (was she an Avenger? Or was she just a mutant?) and she didn't like being told what to do (especially by Tony or Steve). So it was really only a matter of time before she broke off from the team, not that any of them noticed what was going on with her anyway. They still acted surprised when she left, even if it took a few days to even notice.
"Where's Wanda?" Steve asked. It had been a few days since she'd left and this was the first time she'd been brought up.
"In her room, probably," Tony replied. "Teenagers, I swear. All they want to do is eat and sleep,"
“She’s not there, that’s why I’m asking,”
“Nat probably knows,” Tony replied, sipping his second cup of coffee of the day. “She knows everything,”
“I guess,” Steve sighed. “I just feel like something’s wrong,”
Tony shrugged. “Probably just moody,”
Steve rolled his eyes. He felt like Tony had approached the whole situation around Sokoxia poorly. Yeah, it had been tough on the whole team, but Tony seemed to brush it off like it was nothing. He also didn’t seem to care about what happened to Wanda and he brushed her off because she was only 16. Steve hated that, but he couldn’t do much to change Tony’s opinion.
“Morning you two,” Natasha said as she walked into the room. “What are you making?”
“Eggs,” Steve replied. “Do you know where Wanda is?”
“In her room?” Natasha replied, grabbing a cup for coffee. “She rarely leaves. I haven’t seen her in a few days. I’m trying to give her a little space,”
“She’s not there,” Steve replied.
“What?” Natasha hissed. “Where is she?”
“FRIDAY where’s Wanda?” Tony asked.
“It appears that Ms. Maximoff is not in the building, currently,” FRIDAY answered.
“FRIDAY where did she go?” Natasha asked. “When did she leave?”
“It appears Ms. Maximoff left three days ago with a packed bag,” FRIDAY replied. “She has not returned since and I do not know where she has gone,”
“For fuck’s sake,” Natasha mumbled, putting her coffee mug down.
“She’s gone?” Steve’s eyes widened.
“I’ll have FRIDAY scan the city,” Tony said, taking his phone out. “I’ll grab my suit,” He stood up, walking towards the elevator.
“Wait,” Natasha stuck her arm out. “That’s too obvious. We have to go stealth,”
“She’ll see you from miles away, Tony,” Steve replied. “Nat and I will look around for her,”
“I’ll text you if FRIDAY picks her up anywhere,”
“She couldn’t have gone far,” Steve replied.
“She’s been gone for three days. She could be in Pittsburgh by now,” Natasha replied. “Let’s go,”
Wanda, in fact, was not in Pittsburgh. She was still in New York, living in an abandoned warehouse she’d found. The windows were boarded up and the only way in was a hole in the roof, which she could get to by floating up (she was very careful to make sure no one was around). She’d been smart enough to grab a blanket when she’d left and a lot of money (which she may or may not have stolen from Tony. It’s not like he’d notice, he’s rich).
What she’d failed to realize, however, was how hard it was to make it on the streets. She’d figured out she could take showers at a gym in the city as long as she bought a membership (which had been rather cheap), but she also had limited money which worried her. She knew it was going to be difficult to get a job (because the Avengers were after her) so she didn’t try, so instead, she’d started pickpocketing a little bit. She and Pietro had picked up the skill in Sokovia, where living on the streets was significantly easier because that’s where almost everyone lived and people who lived on the streets didn’t look so different from regular people. In New York, however, people who lived on the streets looked very different from other people and they looked down on you if you were homeless, although it was easier to pickpocket people who weren’t paying attention. Wanda thought it was better than living with the Avengers, even if she didn’t eat or sleep enough. Anything was better than living in the Compound, at least in her opinion.
She’d also left her phone at the compound because she knew they could track it. She also left anything else that she suspected they could track her with, including some of her clothes. She’d taken everything she’d brought from Sokovia, which wasn’t a lot, but she knew they couldn’t use it to find her. She did often walk through Times Square to hear the latest news and pickpocket a little (it was the easiest location to get away in). She also frequently picked up newspapers that didn’t look like anyone was reading (she liked the crossword puzzles a lot).
“Another successful day,” Wanda mumbled as she counted the money in her hands. “This is probably enough for a few days.” She’d thrown the wallets away as soon as she’d taken the money out, making it harder to get caught.
It had been about four days since she’d left and she was getting into a routine. She was starting to make the warehouse feel a little bit more like home. Sure, it didn’t look super nice, but she had a sleeping bag, blanket, and a pillow, plus she’d picked up an old coffee machine that she figured she might be able to use to heat food. Wanda hadn’t really figured out how to fix it yet, but she had all the time in the world. Kind of.
She’d heard about a new vigilante called Spider-Man that morning as she walked through Times Square. He spent most of his time in Queens (she had no idea where that was so it didn’t affect her) but he seemed like a nice guy. Most of the stories had been about him saving cats from trees or helping people cross the street, but some of them had been of stopping more serious things, like muggings and bank robberies.
Wanda yawned, lying down on her makeshift bed. “Bedtime,” She mumbled.
----
Peter sighed as he took off his mask; it had been a long day. First, he’d been pickpocketed in Times Square (which really sucked because he needed all the money he could get). Then, he’d been attacked while he was trying to prevent a mugging which resulted in him getting a stab wound (he’d argue that it was a minor stab wound but it was most definitely not). Finally, he hadn’t been able to find a place to stay for the night, so he’d been patrolling almost all night. It was nearing sunrise and he was exhausted.
Peter was currently sitting on top of an office building, his legs dangling off the side. He loved to watch the sunrise over the city and higher places gave him a better view (plus everything was quieter from up higher which Peter found awesome). He didn’t really know what he was going to do, knowing he’d lost the last of his money and he didn’t get to sleep all night. He figured he might try to pickpocket some people, just because he was in desperate need of money (Spider-Man wasn’t exactly a paying job). He pulled his mask back on, swinging off towards another building where he’d left his backpack.
Once he found his backpack (he thanked God that it hadn’t been stolen, even though he hadn’t been religious for a long time), he grabbed it and started swinging again, this time towards Times Square. It took a few hours to walk there, and he could go infinitely faster while swinging.
Peter got there in about a half an hour, changing in an alleyway once he was close enough. He walked the rest of the way until he got to the middle of Times Square, which was teeming with people, as always. He started by formulating a plan on the most effective way to pickpocket people, eventually realizing it was probably easier just to go with the flow.
He’d successfully grabbed about two wallets so far and he was proud of himself. He picked his next target, a girl who looked about his age. He could see a wallet in her jacket pocket and he took the opportunity.
“Sorry,” He mumbled, ‘accidentally’ bumping into her. He sneakily grabbed her wallet and walked away, deciding he was done for the day.
He didn’t get very far out of the square before someone pulled him into an alleyway.
“What is the big deal?” It was the girl from earlier. She had an accent that sounded vaguely Eastern European to him.
“Huh?” Peter asked, trying to sound confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cut the shit,” the girl growled. “Give me back the wallet,”
“No,” Peter replied.
The girl narrowed her eyes. “Look, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way,”
“Hmm, let me think,” Peter pretended to think. “Still no. I need this,”
“Yeah, well I need it to,” she hissed.
“Oh really?” Peter asked, taking the wallet out. “Is that so,” He squinted, reading the ID. “Mr. Lee?” He furrowed his eyebrows. “You stole this,”
“No shit,” she hissed, “Now give it back. That’s the only one I’ve gotten today,”
Peter sighed. “Can we just split the money?’
“Why?” The girl cocked her head.
“I need this money,” Peter replied. “I got stolen from yesterday so I have nothing,”
“Fine,” The girl sighed.
Peter took out the cash, splitting it up. There were 64 dollars, and Peter split it up best he could. He gave her $35 and took $29 for himself because he felt bad about taking to bigger chunk.
“Thank you,” The girl muttered.
“Of course,” Peter replied.
“By the way, you’re not very good at this,” she said. “You’re way too obvious,”
“And you’re any better?” Peter scoffed.
“Yes, actually,” the girl replied. “I’ve never been caught. At least, not in New York,”
“This is the first time I’ve been caught,” Peter replied proudly.
“It’s also clearly your first day,” she replied. “I can tell.”
“So?” Peter crossed his arms. “Practice makes perfect,”
The girl rolled her eyes. “You’re an idiot,” she sighed. “You’re going to get caught and get in huge trouble,”
Peter scoffed. “Why do you care?”
“Because you’re far too young to be on the streets,”
“Last I checked, you look the same age as me,” Peter shot back.
“I’ve been on the streets for years,” the girl sighed. “You look like this is your first week,”
“Okay, fine,” Peter replied. “I’m Peter,” He stuck out his hand. “I’m 16,”
“Wanda,” She replied, shaking his hand. “I’m also 16,”
“Sorry for pickpocketing you, you just looked like an easy target,” Peter apologized.
“It’s okay, I understand that you need the money,” Wanda replied. “And besides, I’m supposed to look harmless. It makes people less likely to suspect me,”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Peter replied. “I have to get going,”
“To where?”
“Queens,” Peter replied.
“That’s a long walk, I think,” Wanda replied. “Is that where you’re from?”
“Kind of,” Peter replied. “I used to have a place there, but I’m still looking for somewhere else to stay,”
“Oh,” Wanda replied. She debated with herself for a minute, trying to decide whether she should invite Peter to stay with her. “If you’re ever in Times Square again look for me,”
“I will,” Peter grinned. “Bye Wanda,”
“Bye Peter,”
Wanda watched him walk away, smiling. That was probably the first person she’d talked to that was her age in a long time (not including Pietro). She walked back into Times Square, pulling her jacket hood up. She was going to try and get at least one more wallet because even though she had some money, she wanted to stockpile it so she could maybe afford some new clothes or maybe a phone.
As she walked through the square, she knew something was off. She could feel someone watching her and her instincts told her to get the hell away from there. So that’s what she did. She tried not to look suspicious as she left the square, taking turns through alleyways and down streets to try and shake whoever was following her. She figured it was either the Avengers or just some creepy guy (it was totally one of the Avengers). She decided it was way too risky to go home, so she decided to just aimlessly walk down a few streets, pretending to window shop and blend in with the crowds.
After a while, the feeling went away. Either she’d shaken whoever had been watching her, or they’d decided she wasn’t worth it. She didn’t care which, she was just glad she was away from them. The problem now, however, was that she had no idea where the hell she was. She tried to find her way back to Times Square (which you think would be easy) but was actually rather difficult.
“Fuck,” Wanda muttered as she took another turn down a street. “This place is too big,”
She heard some kind of commotion as she passed by an alleyway, so she quickly backtracked and looked into it. Peter was there with his hands raised and someone else was pointing a gun at him. The guy with the gun had his back turned to her, and she decided she should probably do something. She wanted to avoid using her powers, but if it came down to it, she was willing to risk it.
Wanda quietly walked behind the mugger, ignoring Peter’s silent pleas for her to stop. She didn’t know what to do next, so she took a leap of faith and used her powers to remove the man’s gun, throwing it towards the dumpster.
“What the…” The guy turned around to face Wanda and Peter moved fast to hit him on the head, knocking him out.
“Thanks,” Peter muttered, grabbing something from his backpack. “But I had it handled.”
“You clearly did not,” Wanda replied, crossing her arms. He attached some kind of device to his hand, shooting it at the mugger. It shot some kind of white substance, gluing the mugger to the side of the alley. “You’re the Spider-Man,”
“Yeah and you have powers,” Peter replied nonchalantly. “I noticed something was off with you when we first met,”
“I noticed something too,” Wanda replied. “Your mind is very loud,”
“My… mind?” Peter asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I can read minds, although I don’t like to,” Wanda stated. “You think very loudly, it was distracting.”
“You can read minds?” Peter’s eyes widened. “That’s so cool!”
Wanda was taken aback. No one had ever reacted like this, most people called her weird or ran away. “Thank you?”
“What are you doing all the way out here anyway? I thought you were near Times Square,” Peter asked. “It’s about a thirty-minute walk to Times Square,”
“It’s a long story,” Wanda sighed. “I was being followed, I think. And now I’m a little lost,”
“I thought you’d said you’d been on the streets for years?” Peter asked, confused.
“Not in New York, in Sokovia,” Wanda replied, rolling her eyes. “I would have figured you’d have noticed the accent by now,”
“I did, but I thought it was rude to ask where you were from,”
“I don’t really care,” Wanda replied. “Do you mind showing me the way back? I can only really get to where I stay from Times Square,”
“Yeah, I don’t have anything better to do,” Peter shrugged. “I can just swing back to Queens later,”
“Thank you,”
The two walked in silence for a while, Peter occasionally saying something about where they were. They arrived back at Times Square faster than Wanda expected, but Peter probably knew most of the streets around here better than she did.
“Here we are,” Peter said. “Times Square,”
“Thank you again,” Wanda replied.
“Anytime,” Peter grinned. “I have to get back to Queens and find somewhere to stay, but I might run into you again.”
“You could stay with me,” Wanda blurted out. “I mean, there’s a warehouse by the river that you can only get in through the roof, which pretty much means only people with powers can get in,”
Peter thought about it for a second. On the bright side, he’d have somewhere to stay. On the downside, it was probably about a 20-minute swing back to Queens for patrol. But, he’d also probably be able to pick up some pickpocketing tips from Wanda if he agreed.
“Sure,” he replied. “Lead the way,”
Wanda grinned and grabbed his hand, leading him towards the river.
----
“I’m telling you!” The guy exclaimed. “There was this girl that floated the gun right outta my hand!”
“What should we do, Captain?” A detective asked. “He’s insisting we call the Avengers,”
“Then call them,” Captain Stacy replied. “Maybe they can talk some sense into this nutjob,”
“On it,” The detective walked back towards his desk and picked up his phone. The department had one number for the Avengers and it was almost never used.
“Hello? It’s Tony Stark,” Tony said as he picked up the phone.
“Hello, Mr. Stark. I’m sorry to bother you but there is a guy down at the police station claiming he saw a girl float a gun out of his hand with magic. He wants to talk to an Avenger,”
“Was the magic red?” His tone of voice changed from relaxed to serious in an instant.
“What?”
“I repeat: Was the magic red?” Tony asked, but slower.
“Yes, uh, I believe that’s what he said.”
“I’ll be down there soon,” He hung up the phone, confused.
“Well, what did they say?” Captain Stacy asked.
“Tony Stark is coming to talk to him,” The detective replied. “I think they know who the girl is,”
About ten minutes later, an Iron Man suit landed outside the building and Tony Stark walked in.
“Where’s this guy?” He asked as soon as he walked in.
“Thank you for coming in Mr. Stark, if you’ll just follow me,” The detective replied. Normally people had to sign in, but they waved all that for the Avengers because they were the Avengers. “He’s in here,”
Tony nodded and opened the door.
“Iron Man!” The mugger exclaimed. “I knew someone would come,”
“What did the girl look like?” Tony demanded.
“Well, uh, she had long brown hair and was slightly pale. She looked young and I think she was about my 5’6 or 7,” The guy replied, clearly scared.
“Dammit,” Tony sighed. “Where did she go?”
“I don’t know!” the guy exclaimed. “I barely got a look at her before someone knocked me out and I woke up tied to a wall by Spider-Man’s webs!”
“Spider-Man,” Tony mumbled. “Thank you,” Tony said before leaving the room.
“Well?” The detective asked. “Was he telling the truth.”
“Yeah,” Tony replied. “But don’t worry, the Avengers have that girl covered, she’s not a threat,”
“Okay,” The detective replied as he walked away. “They totally have no idea where she is,”