<<< With Eyes That See, Pietro

[Simon Williams]

August 19th

There used to be a million decisions that fell into Simon's wheelhouse in the run of any given day. Running a company, or helping run one, was a hard job. Complications were numerous and, just like in life, things never seemed to go the way you would have thought or hoped they would have.

These days, Simon's list of responsibilities had been shaved down to just one: guard the prisoners. Now, to be fair, these were no ordinary prisoners. These were perhaps the most dangerous super powered people on the planet. His job meant something. Yeah, it paid peanuts compared to what he had in his old life, but money had never been important. His time, the way he could help shape himself and the world around him, that was what was worth something.

Simon's key card hung loosely from the strap around his neck. He was making his hourly rounds. Of course, every hour wasn't nearly frequent enough to keep tabs on Pietro. He was never in the same position, not even close. Simon often thought he was going to circle around and the man was going to have grown a beard.

"Mr. Maximoff," he said, stopping in front of the cell. "How are we today?"

He had not spoken to Pietro aside from short snippets of commands, and he was sure the mutant would find this inquiry to be either curious or bothersome, likely both. But he had promised Wanda, well promised without speaking it, that he would do his best with Pietro, try to keep him company when she could not. For some reason, he found he did not want to disappoint the woman.

"I trust you..uh...slept alright."

Well, this wasn't going well. What exactly could he talk about with Pietro? It's not like they had a lot in common. He turned, a bit embarrassed away from the cell and toward a window.

He could see everything there, all of Mutant Town. The shops, the housing, the streets, the giant orb of red energy encircling the place.

"Wait...what?"

He did a double take as the energy closed the town in a rounded sphere.

"What the hell is that?""

He grabbed his walkie talkie.

"Agent Williams to Warden. There seems to be a sphere of glowing red energy circling mutant town. Are you seeing this? Over."

He looked out again, letting the speaker drop from his mouth.

"Are we..are we doing this?"

[Quicksilver]

Tedium. Complete and utter tedium. But, Samson had been incessant on seeing what would happen if a violin was brought to him, after their last talk. Pietro had ignored it for some time, and refused to play it. It was not his violin, it was not the place to play music. But eventually, the boredom had gotten to him, and Pietro had found his gaze turning again and again to the little instrument that he had been allowed. Of course, were he one of these other monsters, he would have spent his time figuring out how to make a weapon of this violin.

But Pietro had proven more trustworthy as any man who was a high security prison could be expected to be, and so he had received the 'reward' of being allowed this little toy of his. It helped to have the green hair doctor's recommendation that this was crucial to his rehabilitation.

True to his isolationist nature though, Pietro only played his violin in the training area during his 'recreation time' far enough from their cells that the others were not 'disturbed' by his playing. He played well, he played beautifully actually, but he did not kid himself that his teammates would appreciate the unique music that he played.

"Mr. Maximoff," said that guard who had been oh-so-attentive lately, "How are we today?"

"I have no idea how we are, Agent Williams," Pietro said, not lowering his violin, but lifting his bow, "I, however, am doing as well as I suppose I can be."

"I trust you..uh...slept alright."

"Yes, Agent," Pietro said, not able to keep the impatience from his voice, "All three hours were pleasant, and I dreamed of peaceful things, no hint of my father's agenda creeping into my subconscious, so I suppose I will not be committing genocide today. Perhaps there is hope for me yet."

The Agent did not seem to know if he was joking or not, and so he turned away to look elsewhere, out the window that faced New York, and Mutant Town. There was a reason Pietro spent time in this room whenever he could. His sister was almost in sight from here. He imagined that when he played, she could hear him. The Agent gasped out something, and Pietro came to the cell bars to look out at Mutant Town, his eyes going bright and wide when he saw the scarlet dome that had been called into existence over his former (home)... place of residence.

"Agent Williams to Warden. There seems to be a sphere of glowing red energy circling mutant town. Are you seeing this? Over." the pathetically human Agent Williams called instantly for help, stammering in confusion and horror, "Are we..are we doing this?"

"Oh," said Pietro, playing a funeral dirge on his violin, "You are not doing this. My sister is." He lifted his chin, and lowered his instrument to his side, "I am sorry, Agent Williams, it seems I was wrong. I just might be committing genocide today, after all."

[Simon Williams]

Pietro was not as open to Simon's olive branch as he would have hoped. Who could blame him though. He was being kept in a cage during what was turning out to be a very decisive time for, not only mutants, but the people around them as well.

"What are you talking about?!" Simon shot out, his voice carrying a bit too much urgency. "What do you mean Wanda is...your sister is doing this? How is that even possible?"

His face stayed plastered to the window, watching as the energy enclosed around the heart of Mutant Town. Whatever was going on, whatever was after her, Wanda must have felt like she needed to go to extreme measures to stay safe. Or maybe it wasn't her she was trying to keep safe at all.

"Why would she do something like this Maximoff? You know her better than anybody, tell me her motives here. If Wa- your sister felt this was necessary, then that must mean she's in danger, correct?"

Warden to all available agents. Repeat, this is to all available agents. Simon's walkie talkie blasted through the tension. We are in a state of emergency. All hands with either medical or field training are to report to dispatch immediately for further instruction. Code Black people. This is not a drill. Repeat. Not a drill. Over.

Simon stared at the communicator in his hand. He had been trained for combat. Sure, he hadn't been able to use it, but the training was there nonetheless, and that meant he was heading down to Mutant Town, to Wanda and to whatever made her feel she needed to do this. But, he wasn't going alone.

Punching in a series of digits, Simon brought down the energy wall between him and the speedster.

"You're coming with me Maximoff. We're going to get to the bottom of this."

[Quicksilver]

Williams was upset a little too much and he referred to Wanda by her first name which made Pietro more than a little irritated. Who was this human to address her so familiarly? But he did ask the right questions. What had caused Wanda to do such a thing, for there was no doubt in his mind that this was his sister's power. He had seen it in manifestation since they were sixteen, and now, so many years later, he knew the color and light of it as much as he knew the white of his hair. "Someone has threatened Mutant Town and she protects it. She is a hero, far more than her unworthy brother," Pietro said, his voice dark. "But who protects her? I must get to her, Agent... I must stop this before she does what should not be done, or before something is done to her that I will have to... fix."

Shield suddenly called Williams to arms, and Pietro narrowed his eyes, "Williams, what is a Code Black? Let me out of this cage. She is my sister. She is my blood. I cannot let anything happen to here. Do you have family, Agent? Do you know what it is like to be helpless while they suffer?"

Williams seemed to understand, because he brought down the field to release him from his imprisonment, saying he was to come with him.

"No, Agent, you must come with me," Pietro said, "You must talk to Maverick, please, I need you to make him allow me to come with you. None of you know how to handle Wanda. If she is threatened, and she chooses to change the world, all of us may suffer. Those fools at X-Factor, perhaps only Summers could have protected her from the world, and the world from her nearly as well as I, and you fools took him and threw him in a cell. I must be allowed to speak to her. Do you understand that? She will not listen to anyone else..."

Pietro looked to him, desperately, "Agent, I have obeyed every rule, every order. If I am kept here while my sister is in trouble, I will, make no mistake, make every last one of you suffer."

[Simon Williams]

The wall was down. For what was perhaps the first time, Simon was standing face to face with Pietro, with nothing standing between them. The new SHIELD recruit had always felt uneasy around the mutant. There was an air of haughtiness about him that seeped into every pore, that rubbed the former poor little rich boy in all the wrong ways. But meeting Wanda had complicated the situation. She had a pull about her, a gravitation that affected the man's way of thinking. If she was in trouble, and he had little doubt she was, then Pietro's pleading was unnecessary. He was going to do all he could either way.

"This isn't necessary. If your sister is in danger then we'll do what we have to in order to get things under control. You want to go see Maverick? Fine. We'll do it, but we do it my way. If we go in there talking about how fire ad brimstone and how much the world will suffer....Well, this isn't the best political climate to go reminding people in power just what Wanda is capable of now is it. "

His mind was racing. This dome, nothing good could come of it, not in the long run. Someone who could flip the script on reality with as little as a finger wiggle, given enough cause for alarm, even the most level headed of people might be tempted to want to put a bullet between that person's eyes. Whether her intentions were noble or not, and even though he hadn't known Wanda for long, there was no doubt in his mind they were, she had just out herself on every watchdog list in the free world. This was a delicate situation, and it had to be treated as such. If Wanda was going to have a life to speak of afterward, that is.

"I'll convince Maverick to let you go, but when we get down there, you defuse this situation. And do it quickly. I don't have to tell you that the further this spreads, the worse it is for everyone."