Flashback 1: The Witch & the Speedster

So, I decided to explain the layout of these chapters.

I've decided to publish the chapters in groups of two; the first covering present day Aurelia, and the second are 'flashbacks.' In these are her past- particularly with a pair of Sokovian twins.

THIS IS IMPORTANT AS THE TWINS COME IN LATER.

Just a heads up

Have fun!

LittlePond

Flashback 1: The Witch & the Speedster

Without hesitation, Aurelia Tempest opened the door to Whitehall's office, "You asked to see me?" 

One of HYDRA's heads grinned, congratulated her on her latest kill; Victim #100, and handed over stark white a file; most likely from being printed at the office to the northeast of Whitehall's lair.

"Aurelia, your new mission."

Beaming at the thought of subtracting another agent from S.H.I.E.L.D, though recently was going through what she called a 'killing slump,' the assassin practically snatched the file off Whitehall.

But as soon as she saw the location, her triumphant grin fell, it didn't look to be a place where the liars would congregate and she knew; the assassin had tracked enough of them to know their ways.

"Sokovia? Where the hell is that?" she asked, looking up from the file questionably.

The man who raised her sighed, standing up from his aged leather chair. "Somewhere in Eastern Europe. You're needed to help train the Enhanced that we've created."

Enhanced? They'd really managed to make them? Already, ideas on how to train such powered people and lists of possible abilities filled her mind, her mouth watered at the thought of how large a dint they'd make in S.H.I.E.L.D's armour.

"Brilliant."

Whitehall smiled a knowing grin, one that she had no doubt he'd used at the ends of several deadly business meetings. "You're going to be dispatched from June to September," he added, "once you've packed, we have a plane ready for your use."

Had she no self control, Aurelia would have danced around the office; she was not, surprisingly, in the mood to kill someone.

So, with the world seemingly in balance, she packed too many suitcases full of summer and spring clothing, toiletries, her weapons and other knick knacks before boarding the plane that had been prepared for her and flew off to the base's coordinates.

~~~

"Miss Aurelia, what a pleasure," the leader- Von Strucker, if her research was correct, welcomed from his place below the metal stairs.

Aurelia walked down the steps, white tank top fluttering from the dying plane's engines.

The Sokovian research base was placed secure in a mountain range, the sunlight in the remote country was weak, as the summer months had only just begun.

Aurelia considered outdoor training sessions once summer's grip tightened on the area.

Besides the mild cold, she immediately liked it here in the Sokovian base. The stone construction was much larger than she expected, the main building being 4 storeys high, she could instantly tell it belonged to HYDRA as it held that homelike, bittersweet aura around it.

Full to near vomiting from potato chips and Doritos, she smiled sourly as she shook his hand, "Let's ditch the formalities."

Von Strucker complied and led her to the observation rooms within the base, discussing her students; twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

They were having issues with controlling their abilities, which was why she'd been called here in the first place. Their abilities though, were beyond cool.

"May I see them?" she asked, as they entered the observation rooms. Von Strucker turned, observing his agents moving her plane through a window, and it was then she got a good look at his appearance.

If Aurelia could guess, she'd say the man was in his 30's or 40's, with practically no hair surviving on his scalp, and she thought his one lens in front of his left eye was peculiar.

"Of course; this way," Strucker and Aurelia entered the rooms, which were filled with all kinds of machinery, scientists and items HYDRA had collected over the years.

The room itself held a very different feel to the areas outside. Whilst everywhere else was cold and drab, the observation rooms were warm and bustling.

Seeing what she couldn't exactly comprehend, the assassin stopped dead in her tracks, "Is that-"

"Yes. The sceptre of Loki. The Asgardian that tore down New York."

It was beautiful.

The sceptre's silver metal was unexpectedly bright curving maliciously around the gem in its centre shining entirely by itself.   Tendrils of azure fluorescence shone out of the jewel.

"I wouldn't say he completely tore down New York," Aurelia sighed, turning away.

The older man lead her through the masses of agents until they stood before the twins' rooms- more like cells.

The left cell held the male twin, who sat against the wall nearest to his sister's cell, who sat directly opposite, the only thing separating them was the thin wall.

"They're separated?" Aurelia asked as Von Strucker lead her closer. "The twins perform better when they are."

"That's cruel."

Von Strucker held her arm firmly, the one lens of his glaring, "Or would you prefer we achieve less than satisfactory results?"

"May I meet them?"

"Yes, but you must leave when I give the command." Out of his pocket, he produced a small black object- an earpiece. Feebly, Aurelia nodded and placed the device in her ear.

Without making a creak, Aurelia opened the glass door to the girl's cell. "Hello?" she asked, being sure to be cautious; this was all about impressions.

The female twin, Wanda, looked up from where she sat, her green eyes already sizing her up.

"Who are you?"

Her accent was beautiful, Aurelia thought, perhaps she could teach her how to hone her femininity as a weapon.

The Maximoff's grey dress was filthy from the cell, and her wavy brown hair stood at all angles; it desperately needed a wash.

"My name's Aurelia Tempest. I'm here to help." If she had no filter, she would've added 'I'm here to help you help me enact my vengeance.'

"Your name is Latin- golden storm."

"You know Latin?"

The Enhanced remained silent, hugging her knees.

"What's your name?"

She still remained silent; the twin clearly didn't want her here. Too bad. She was assigned here for four months.

"Come on, it'll be hard to help you if I don't know your name." Of course, Aurelia already knew her name, she also knew her parents died from a bombing, orphaning her at ten.

But Aurelia needed to earn the Enhanced's trust. Otherwise there'd be no hope.

"Wanda Maximoff."

At last- the name that Aurelia was sure her enemies would learn to fear, one that'd be written across the skies in scarlet, either way, Wanda Maximoff was a name that was born for great, beautiful and terrible things.

"That's a brilliant name."

The Enhanced shot up, her voice a needle, "Do not treat me like a little girl."

"You're not. Though your file says you're 12 minutes younger than your twin." Wanda's eyes grew at the name of her twin as the assassin became poison to the touch. "You know about Pietro? How is he?"

Aurelia smiled, a short stab of pain made her think of how relieving it would be to have a sibling.

She shook the whimsical wishes like dead leaves in autumn, "I haven't spoken to him. But you're not worried you have a file?"

"I volunteered for this."

"You and your brother are the only survivors apparently."

Wanda's voice dripped in an ageless venom, "We want to enact our vengeance." That, was something the file did not address. "On who?" she asked, wishing on every star, every spirit and every god that they had to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Tony Stark."

Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, founder of Stark Industries, also known as Iron Man; an Avenger.

A dream come true.

"We have a common enemy," she stepped back to form a friendly space between them. Wanda crossed her arms and stared her down, "He killed your family too?"

Tony Stark didn't kill her family. S.H.I.E.L.D laid waste to her village, and left a child not even a day old to die from starvation, or cold. Whichever came first.

"S.H.I.E.L.D killed my mother."

"They are allies?" Wanda uncrossed her arms, she looked comfortable now.

"Very much so. HYDRA calls me the Strategic Hazard Assassination Directorate Operation. S.H.A.D.O for short. I've taken down 100 agents."

Wanda grinned, at her fingertips, scarlet energy swirled, much like how the light twirled off the stone in Loki's sceptre. The twin noticed and shook her hands, making the energy disperse.

"Sorry about that. The energy projection is hard to control," she grinned sheepishly. If Aurelia had her way, she'd beat Von Strucker for treating her this way, even if he was HYDRA.

"No, it's fine. Your powers are pretty damn cool."

The two of them laughed, perhaps they were already on the way to the trust she was after, the trust that could teach Wanda to control her abilities, despite her hatred for the man encased in iron. The earpiece in her ear crackled, causing her stomach to become a magnet, and the floor became one too.

"Agent Tempest, it is time to leave the Enhanced. Move on to the other."

"How can you help me control them?" Wanda asked eagerly.

Sighing, Aurelia began to walk toward the transparent door, she could feel the laser glare of Strucker through the glass. "Where are you going?" Wanda questioned, her accent particularly powerful. At this point, Aurelia wanted to murder the man, despite her killing slump.

"I'm sorry. Von Strucker; I have to." Aurelia felt as if there were hands sorting through her mind, the assassin looked up to Wanda, whose eyes had now turned red,  nod, "It's alright. I don't know if this file you speak of says this, but I can basically read minds. I get it."

Aurelia counted herself lucky that Wanda was giving her a break for this incident, as she didn't seem to do the same for others, particularly Tony Stark. The handle of the door was cold underneath her hand, she'd miss Wanda until it was allowed to see her again.

Before she left, the assassin turned around, and added, "Oh, also, don't..tell anyone that I'm S.H.A.D.O. It's a...secret identity thing."

Wanda nodded, "Go."

The amber lighting of the observation rooms washed over her as Von Strucker approached making her blood cuddle, "You did not leave as soon as possible."

Aurelia's fists clenched, "Can I see the other twin?"

She was ignoring his question but Von Strucker directed her into Pietro Maximoff's cell anyway.

Immediately, she was attacked by a blue blur, pushing her against the glass wall, her hands strained for a weapon that wasn't there from above her head. Her nerves shook like the glass underneath her guarded frame.

"What the hell!" Aurelia exclaimed, squirming against her assailant's strong arms. "Who are you?" asked an accented, male voice.

Aurelia blinked away the brightness of the room and beheld Pietro Maximoff. She wasn't expecting him to be wearing the flimsy dress Wanda wore, but Pietro was clothed in a pair of pants and a shirt without sleeves, made from the same rubbish material. In terms of physical looks, Pietro was much like his sister- they had same curly brown hair, but in the place of green eyes, his were electric blue.

"Aurelia Tempest, I'm here to help you control your abilities."

He let her go, and she wiped off any non-existent dirt from her white shirt. "You are like me? You have powers?" he asked, well muscled arms crossed, which she tried not to stare at.

Keep it together, Tempest.

"Not exactly," she sighed, trying to focus on the Enhanced's face, and not his arms.

Thankfully, Pietro didn't notice her struggle to concentrate or didn't care. "How can you help then?"

Aurelia walked around the room, surveying the conditions which he was forced to squander in. If she ever got the chance, if Von Strucker was ever found guilty of a crime, he'd have to run faster than light itself to escape her.

Luckily, the ear piece had not crackled yet; she still had time.

"I have a few ideas up my sleeve. Though I only have a few months here so we'll have to move fast."

"Fast is my middle name."

"Noted. You pushed me against the wall as soon as I stepped foot in here," she smirked, circling back to her original position.

Silence fell between the two, as Aurelia wondered what to say. Wanda had kept the conversation flowing, either from intuition or her mind abilities, but Aurelia never had much talent for small talk.

It was a weakness Whitehall often picked at.

"Wanda was very worried about you," she shrugged, out of other conversation starters since the weather didn't seem appropriate.

Much like his sister, Pietro grew alert at the mention of his twin, and assaulted her with an army of questions, "Is she ok? Dealing well? Is she injured?"

Despite herself, Aurelia giggle at the vibranium level strength of their affection. Though the assassin had never had something like that, despite being 22.

"She's fine, Pietro." Her heart beat a little faster knowing what she was saying was true. It had nothing to do with the fact he took a step closer. She wasn't feeding him lieslike S.H.I.E.L.D.

Pietro stiffened at the mention of his name, and Aurelia realised her mistake- Pietro didn't know she knew his name.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, looking around the room for cameras or bugs. He was smart then. "Well, Wanda told me for starters, and you have your own file."

The Enhanced grinned, "I do?" Had it not been for that adorable grin on his face, Aurelia would have groaned in frustration; these were the sort of questions new recruits asked.

"Kind of in the contract when you signed up for this." Pietro huffed, crossed his arms again and looked away, Aurelia did too; it was hard not to stare.

"So you know I volunteered too," he hissed.

Thinking of Von Strucker, whose ear piece had not yet crackled, she sighed, "HYDRA's like that. I would know, since I'm one of their assassins. They call me S.H.A.D.O."

The speedster grinned, and she did too, knowing the bridge to trust had finally begun it's construction,

"When do we start?"

As if he could have had worse timing, a crackle in her ear sounded, "Agent Tempest, your time with the Enhanced has finished."

Thanking some higher power, Aurelia realised she placed a finger on her ear as soon as the ear piece became active. She looked up, and apologised, "I'm sorry. Von Strucker said I've got to go. Also don't tell anyone I'm S.H.A.D.O."

Pietro Maximoff nodded, "Until the next time."

Aurelia nodded, silently thanking him forsaying that without his arms crossed, or else she was sure her knees would have gone weak.

"Right, see you."