[2011 – September]

*DING DONG*

A few days later, as Wanda and I were just sparring against each other and training our martial arts, the doorbell rang. This was somewhat unusual, as we never got visitors and were not expecting any deliveries.

Panting from the hours of exertion, I addressed SILVER.

“SILVER, the feed to the front door, please.”

“Of course, Father.”, she answered readily.

A moment later, a nearby screen lit up and displayed the live-footage of the front door. Through it, we could see an eye patch wearing African-American man standing before our door. Behind him a red-haired beauty was also visible.

“It seems Fury couldn't wait to visit us any longer, after our last involvement.”, I stated, obviously recognizing the man.

“Well, we knew that he would eventually show up.”, Wanda added, her breathing already stabilising.

“True.“, I said in response, before continuing, “Would you mind leading them in, SILVER?”

“I will guide them to your current floor, father.”

“No, bring them to the top floor and tell them to wait. We will take a quick shower first.”

“It will be done.”

Apporaching the mini-fridge, I took out a bottle of water and promptly emptied it, before I used my Superspeed to carry Wanda to the upstairs bathroom.

Once there we stripped ourselves and went into the shower together.

Accelerating my thoughts, I looked at Wanda's gorgeous body as the hot water slowly ran down the gentle curves of her form. Streams of water gathering between her perfect breasts and at the place between her beautiful legs.

Looking up at her face, our gazes met for a long heated moment and I knew that this shower would probably take a bit longer than I initially thought.

Well, I had no problem with letting Fury wait for a bit, SILVER was enough to keep an eye on him.

…

“You can seat yourself at the dining table, Director Fury, Agent Romanoff.”, the child-like voice of the AI, which had introduced itself as SILVER, informed them.

Looking around place, Fury had to admit that the open floor plan was a very good choice for a place like this, even though he would personally prefer as many walls as possible in his home.

But that was just the spy in him talking. More walls meant better cover in case of an attack, but he imagined that the Maximoffs didn't really have to care about that with the powers they displayed up until now.

Anyone that was dumb enough to attack them without a ton of explosives, was bound to be disappointed. Though to be honest, he wasn't sure if even the explosives would do the job.

Choosing a seat that gave him a full view of the room, Fury sat down at the table, Agent Romanoff, seating herself right next to him.

“SILVER, was it? Have you informed Mr. Maximoff and his sister about the urgency of this meeting?”, Fury asked into the room with only the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone, his brows furrowed together.

“My father and mother are well aware of your arrival, Director. They simply chose to keep you waiting for the moment.”, the AI answered without any flowery excuse.

Fury didn't know if this bluntness was insulting or simply refreshing. But given the fact that he found himself in the home of two incredibly powerful enhanced beings, he decided that patience was key for the moment.

Still, when he saw the siblings coming out of the bathroom almost an hour later, his patience was pretty much exhausted.

…

Having thrown on nothing but a pair of grey pajama bottoms, I walked out of the bathroom. Wanda followed behind, wearing some skimpy black shorts, a red crop top and a baby blue hoodie of mine.

“Director Fury, Agent Romanoff. Excuse the wait, we just sparred and needed a quick shower. Come let's sit on the couch, it's quite a bit more comfortable than the dining table.”, I addressed our visitors.

Walking towards my favorite leather armchair, I sat myself on it with Wanda following behind, who scuttled into my lap.

As Fury stood up and approached the leather couch, he answered: “I am not here for a comfortable seat, Mr. Maximoff.”

His tone stern and low as he said those words, while Natasha was quietly glaring at us from the side.

“No, you are here because you need answers for the council, are you not?”, I asked rhetorically, knowing it to be true.

Seating themselves opposite to us, Fury replied: “Well, you do seem to know an awful lot about us. Though I am just here to figure out some things about the two of you.”

“Ask your questions, Fury.”, I invited him.

Wanda meanwhile had rested her head on my shoulder and had taken my left hand into her own. Playing with my hand and fingers, while she listened half-heartedly.

This wasn't like our meeting with Tony Stark. Wanda had absolutely no interest in SHIELD-related matters and was just present so she could spend some time with me.

…

Observing the unusual intimacy between the two siblings, Fury realized the reports about them were most likely true and they had more than just a familial relationship with each other.

Still, he wasn't one to judge such things. He might use that information to his advantage, but he had seen enough to not be prejudiced against them for their relationship.

“If you know about the council, than you would also know that the only reason, you are currently not surrounded by tanks, assault-helicopters and an army of soldiers, is because I promised the council I could get some answers out of you.”, Fury stated, hoping to give the two Enhanced a sense of urgency and make them more willing to cooperate.

Unfortunately for him the two beings in front of him weren't even remotely concerned about facing off a whole army.

The only reaction he got from Pietro Maximoff was a barely noticable quirk of his brow, while his sister didn't react at all and continued resting peacefully against his chest.

It was true though, the council had planned to do exactly that, though Fury had managed to intervene and shut down that idea. Attacking a pair of powerful individuals such as them was not only a risk in itself, they also didn't know anything about their intentions.

Alienating two potential allies, shortly after all that had happened these last few months, including the Whiplash incident, the Destroyer incident and the Hulk incident, was downright idiotic in Fury's opinion.

So he decided not to beat around the bush and directly questioned the two: “What is your purpose? Why interfere with the incident regarding Whiplash and the Abomination?”

…

Thinking for a moment, while stroking Wanda's back with my free hand, I came to the conclusion that Stark hadn't told SHIELD much – if anything at all – about Wanda and me.

Though I wasn't surprised that they had still managed to find us, as we hadn't really tried to hide in the first place. Otherwise I would have tasked SILVER with deleting every recording of us, she could find in real time.

“The Stark Expo incident was a personal matter, that we had to take care off. Nothing that should concern you.”, I replied.

“Personal? You attacked a highly-decorated military officer and a high-profile civilian, while both of them were wearing armored suits, stole an Iron Man Armor, took down one of the best-trained agents SHIELD has in less than a second and turned an army of drones into scrap metal without anyone even catching a glimpse of you. Excuse me, but I am very much concerned about that.”, Fury answered, visibly restraining his temper.

He was clearly not in favor of the power imbalance between us.

“Well, even Stark himself doesn't seem to care about his stolen suit, or he would have visited and tried to get it back. He definitely knows where to find us after all. Your agent also very much attacked first, so I think that counts as self-defense. Along with the hundreds of lives we saved by destroying the drones and shieding the people from their self-destruction. I think you might just have to let that one go.”, I answered casually.

This conversation was rather tedious already and I hoped that it would end rather soon, because there was honestly not very much Fury could do to us, besides sending in the cavalry like the council had planned to do. That may even be more interesting than this little chat.

Fury was definitely a manipulator and those were the kinds of people I disliked the most. They thought themselves always one step ahead of everyone else. What they didn't realise most of the time, was that a simple stab through their heart would kill them like everyone else.

Still, as I reminded myself often enough – patience wasn't a virtue for nothing.

“What about Doctor Samuel Sterns? She killed him in cold-blood and destroyed invaluable research data.”, Fury accused.

"I did. As someone that willingly created the Abomination to satisfy his own curiosity, he wasn't an innocent man to begin with. Showing someone like that mercy, would just invite disaster to come knocking at our door. And as far as the data was concerned? I believe General Ross made it abundantly clear that you are incapable of dealing with such forces.”, Wanda countered calmly, a glint of derision in her eyes.

“Doctor Samuel Sterns' research had the potential to find a cure for every existing disease on this planet. He may have been a madman, but his research could have benefitted the world as a whole.”, Natasha stated, still glaring fiercly at Wanda.

It seemed Romanoff very much held a grudge against Wanda for using her mind control powers against the agent.

“And the concept behind nuclear warheads is used for power plants, but that doesn't make the bombing of Hiroshima undone. Abomination would have harmed or killed an uncountable number of people, if I hadn't cut him down. I thought it best to not give the US Military the tools to create more of them, or you, for that matter.”, I quipped back calmly.

“She still comitted murder, among other crimes, as have you. That could lead to a long time in prison.”, Fury said with a challenging look.

“If you think you have what it takes to arrest us, go ahead.”, I replied, accepting his challenge.

A moment of silence spread between us. I knew that I probably wouldn't be able to convince them to see things my way, but neither could they convince us. And while we had comitted crimes, we had also saved a lot of people, additionally arresting us was pretty much an impossibility for them.

So we were at an impasse, the difference was that we had something that SHIELD, especially Fury, lacked, but desperately wanted – power.

The Avengers Initiative was Fury's 'baby' and I knew that he saw two potential recruits in Wanda and myself, otherwise he wouldn't have come here at all.

“What now? What are you planning to do next? Wandering around and eliminate more people you consider a threat?”, Fury asked in a serious tone.

This I could answer easily enough, as our future plans were rather simple.

“Not at all. We will stay for a few more weeks and then we will fly back to Brussels. It's beautiful there around Christmas time.”, I said lightly.

“What if I could offer you a job, where you can use your special talents for the good of the people?”, he said, baiting us with what he thought our goal was.

Sadly for him, I seriously questioned if he even knew what that meant – the good of the people.

SHIELD might advertise itself as an organisation that was concerned about the safety and well-being of the human race as a whole, but I had no doubt about them watching out for their self-interest. Especially so with HYDRA having infiltrated SHIELD for decades now.

“The Avengers Initiative, is it?”, I questioned, causing a look of annoyance to cross Fury's eyes.

My extensive knowledge irritating him to no end. Even more so annoyed him the fact, that he had no idea how much exaclty I knew, nor my source of information.

“Yes. I believe that would be a good fit for you two. From what I observed, you take the threats to innocent people very seriously. As an Avenger-”, Fury replied, before I cut him off.

“Let me stop you right there, Director. We would have to take orders from you as Avengers and that is not going to happen. You have the same blood on your hands as Ross or Sterns. So, unless this world falls into some serious crisis, we will not even consider lending you our powers. And even if we did, you probably can't afford our help.”

“You want something from us.”, Fury realized.

“I do.”, I replied honestly.

“What is it? Maybe we can come to an agreement.”

We wouldn't, but it was time to sow some seeds.

“I want a piece of the Destroyer, two hundred kilograms should suffice.”, I stated only half-truthful.

The magical metal it was made off would be a great help in finishing my project. It wasn't necessary for me to complete it, but a bit of Uru would make it much easier. Especially if my assumptions about that materials characteristics were anything to go by.

Still, the problem with that was that reforging Uru was incredibly hard, nearly impossible even. The magic inside the material was also problematic, since I had no idea about magic in the first place. Fortunately I had Wanda for that.

“In exchange for what?”, Fury asked.

“You may call for our help, if the need arises.”, I said calmly.

Fury fell into silence at my answer, probably considering the pros and cons of such a deal.

“One hundred kilogram. We can give you no more than that.”, he declared at the end.

“Deal.”, I answered, while smiling slightly as a hundred kilogram of Uru was more than enough.

Fury may think that he had won allies and potential recruits for his Avengers Initiative, but in truth he had just invited wolves into his home.