彡 CHAPTER FOUR
❛ new person, same old mistakes ❜
( episode five, season one )

Ellie hit her head on the wall for the hundredth time today.

Taking care of two babies was definitely easier said than done. Ellie just wanted to jump put the window and call it a day but the second she looked at Tommy's or Billy's little faces, she was under their 'spell' again and she wanted to be with them all the time.

But they've been crying for ages.

"Sweet, sweet Tommy, don't you wanna sleep?" Wanda asked as she held Tommy in her hands, rocking him back and forth. Wanda's hair was a mess - a big, curly mess - she looked like she hadn't slept in a while and she's been wearing pajamas since the twins were born.

Ellie wasn't different, her hair was in the messiest bun ever, she was wearing the biggest shirt she could find along with some pajama pants and bunny slippers and she had a pair of sunglasses on to disguise the bags under her eyes. She was miserable.

"Mommy wants to sleep." Wanda practically whined. "If you go to sleep, I promise you will be my favorite twin."

"Oh come on now darling." Vision suddenly said as he came down the stairs. "You know we love them both equally."

"Well don't tell him that." Wanda exclaimed. She looked towards Ellie. "Ellie, my favorite person in the world-"

"Give him here." Ellie said softly, her eyes rolling as she extended her arms towards Wanda. Wanda smiled gratefully as she handed a crying Tommy to Ellie.

Ellie rocked her baby brother back and forth but it was no use, he kept crying and crying. God, she's never going to have children.

"No luck with Billy?" Wanda sighed as she put her hands on her hips as she looked at her husband.

"Tried reading to him but for some reason, Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man made him cry even harder." Vision said with furrowed eyebrows.

"Jesus Christ." Ellie put a hand on her forehead as Tommy buried his face in her neck and cried even more.

"Vis," Wanda started as she looked at her husband. "Would you mind grabbing their binkies?"

"Oh. 'Course not. Binkies all round, I think." Vision stated as he put Billy down in his crib while Ellie put Tommy in his.

They started crying harder.

"Now, I know parents aren't supposed to take shortcuts, but I think this situation calls for one, don't you?" Wanda asked with wide eyes.

"Yes!" Ellie shouted from the spot where she collapsed on the ground.

Wanda rolled her eyes with an amused smile. "So, go to sleep my babies." Wanda waved her hands at the two babies. And nothing happened.

Ellie groaned loudly as she covered her face with a pillow.

"I said go to sleep." Wanda waved her hands. When nothing happened again, she put them on her hips. "Well I don't think it's very funny. Why won't you do what I want?"

"What's that, dear?" Vision asked from the kitchen.

He entered the living room with the binkies in his head. Ellie was watching the twins, hoping they wouldn't have Vision's sense of humor.

"That is not where does go!" Wanda chuckled as she took the binkies out of Vision's head.

Vision raised an eyebrow. "Noise cancellation is not their primary function?"

"If only it were." Ellie muttered again to herself as she rocked one of the baby's bed.

Wanda sighed as she gave the two boys their binkies and Ellie almost screamed in relief when they stopped crying. "Look, I think it's..."

They spoke to soon.

Almost immediately, the binkies shot out of the boys' mouths and they started crying again.

"Vis?"

Vision hummed as he looked at Wanda. "What are we doing wrong?"

Vision shook his head. "Oh, don't worry dear. We'll figure it out. Ellie's turned out alright, you see!"

Ellie's figure slumped slightly. "Well, as the doctor said, I'm not your daughter... not really."

Vision's face grew serious as he crouched down in front of Ellie and took her hands in his. "You are our daughter Ellie, and nothing will ever change that. Remember it."

Ellie smiled slightly as Vision squeezed her shoulder and got up. Wanda gave her a warm grin when their eyes met.

The doorbell suddenly rang and inside came a very...sporty Agnes. Her hair was in big curls, she was wearing some bright pink leggings and very tight shirts.

"Hiya kids!" Agnes exclaimed as she entered their house.

Vision quickly went next to Ellie on the couch and got a pillow that covered his entire face. He quickly changed his face back to normal as he puffed the pillow. "Oh Agnes, I was just fluffing this pillow. With my face."

Agnes payed Vision no mind as she came next to Wanda. She ruffled Ellie's hair as she started speaking enthusiastically. "Oh, I was just on my way to Jazzercise when I heard your new little bundles of joy were on a sleep strike!"

Ellie frowned. "How could you have heard? I mean-"

Agnes waved her off with an impatient smile. "Doesn't matter dear!"

Vision put his hands on his hips as he pressed on. "Who told you that?"

Agnes laughed as she pointed to her ears. "Uh, my ears." she stated as if if were obvious. "Anyway, Auntie Agnes is here and I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

"Um I think we can manage on our own, Agnes." Ellie stated uncomfortably as she got up from the couch and stood a little closer to the twins, her protectiveness coming in.

"Oh," Wanda waved Ellie off as she faced Agnes with an easygoing smile. "Agnes, you're a lifesaver."

"Very well," Vision started cautiously. "But be very careful of their belly buttons and remember to support their heads and when was the last time you washed your hands? Actually, you know what? It would be... Just... Maybe we better not."

Vision shook his head as the three girls in the room faced him confused.

Agnes was quiet for a moment before she faced Wanda again. "Do you want me to take that again?"

Wanda looked at her confused as she shared a look with Ellie and Vision. "Uh, I'm sorry?"

Agnes pointed at herself and then at the two babies. "You want me to hold the babies. Should we just take it from the top?"

Vision chuckled awkwardly as Ellie frowned. "What? What are you talking about?"

Wanda chuckled dryly. "Oh, don't be silly. Els, Vision, let's let Agnes give it a try."

The small family chuckled awkwardly before Agnes started laughing, as if nothing ever happened. "Fussy babies, meet buns of steel. We dare you to stay awake." Agnes threatened jokingly.

Wanda chuckled while Ellie shared an uncomfortable look with Vision. Agnes went closer to the two babies as Vision ushered Ellie and Wanda to him.

"What was that about?" he asked cautiously, in disbelief. Ellie nodded her head, as a signal that she was confused too. The both looked at Wanda for answers.

Wanda looked between the two with raised eyebrows. "What was what?

"What was what? That with Agnes, just now." Ellie stated in a hushed but furious tone."

Wanda looked back at Agnes who was rocking the babies' cribs... weirdly. "Well, I think she just got confused for a moment. She seems fine now."

"But what she said, the way she looked at you..." Vision continued as Ellie looked at Wanda questionably.

Wanda smiled as she looked at the two. "How did she look at me?"

Vision stuttered before he looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Agnes spraying lavender perfume over the two babies. "Lavender. It's supposed to have a calming effect. Ralph sprays it on me every night. But there's no taming this tiger."

Wanda's eyes widened as Agnes chuckled. "It's so strange." Vision murmured.

"Oh, that's not fair." Wanda whispered. "It's not Agnes' fault that she has an unusually high libido."

Ellie choked on air as Vision totally ignored her comment and grabbed Wanda's shoulder. "Wanda? Did you really not see what I saw? What we saw?" he gestured to himself and Ellie.

A small thud was heard and the three thrned to see Agnes looking for alcohol in their cupboards. "Don't mind me. I'm just looking for your dark liquor."

"What?" Ellie asked alarmed.

"Not for me." Agnes rolled her eyes, amused. "For the twins. What kind of babysitter do you think I am?"

Wanda chuckled again as Vision and Ellie looked uncomfortably as the bottle of liquor in Agnes' hands.

"I'm just gonna go and check in there." Agnes continued as she wandered off in their kitchen.

"Ellie, Vision, the boys haven's slept in days. The three of us need a break and Agnes is just being neighborly, that's all." Wanda reassured them.

"Neighborly my ass." Ellie muttered as Vision lightly slapped her arms as he whispered 'language' under his breath.

The three suddenly realize that the crying had stopped.

"Do you hear that?" Vision whispers.

Wanda raises an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

"Absolutely nothing." Ellie and Vision declared in sync as they turned to look at the silent cribs.

Wanda gasped. "They finally fell asleep!"

The three rushed towards the cribs, only to find them empty. "Where are the twins?" Ellie asked alarmed.

"Mommy? Daddy? Sissy?"

They turn around quicker than possible, only to come face to face with two adorable toddlers.

"Kids." Agnes sighed nostalgically from where she sat on top of the counter. "You can't control 'em. No matter how hard you try."

The trio turned around and looked at the little boys. "Well hi." Ellie started and that's all it took for the boys to come to them.

Wanda took Tommy in her arms while Vision took Billy, all the while Ellie leaned on Vision to play with little Billy. They all laughed as the boys smiled before Tommy put his hands out, demanding to be in his sister's arms.

Ellie chuckled as she took Tommy in her arms, peppering his face with kisses while he laughed.

━━━━━

"Look, just for a little bit, I promise."

The twins gave her puppy eyes and Ellie sighed. "I'll be back before you know it."

Billy jumped in her arms as he tackled her, Tommy following close behind. "But we'll miss you!"

"I'm just going into town to meet my friend!" Ellie said exasperated as she hugged the boys.

They let go of her as Wanda came down from upstairs and looked at the three siblings with raised eyebrows. "What are you up to?"

"Ellie is going out with a friend!" Tommy immediatly rushed out.

"Snitch." Ellie muttered before giving Wanda a bright smile. "Oh yeah, I was just gonna go...now?"

Wanda frowned slightly as Ellie got to her feet. "You never spend time with us anymore, Ellie. You're always out, always doing something, always with Reggie..."

Ellie sighed as she took Wanda's hand. "I know, I know, I just..." she trailed off, not coming up with a better answer than just seeing Reggie.

Wanda pulled her in a tight hug. "Just be careful."

"I will." Ellie assured her as she hugged her back before pulling away. She ruffled her brothers' hair before she went to the door, adjusting her overalls on the way. "Also, Wanda?"

"Yes?" Wanda looked curiously at her.

Ellie's lips quirked up into a smirk. "Can you please not be pregnant when I come back. I know you said about Agnes' libido but yours is just-"

"Get out." Wanda laughed as she pushed Ellie out the door.

Ellie chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "I meant what I said." she yelled before closing the doors.

Ellie rushed out on the street, her eyes searching for Reggie's figure. It seemed that nowadays he was always close, always hovering around their house. It gathered a lot of suspicion from Ellie but it all fell down the drain when he sent her that winning smile through their kitchen window when he passed their street.

She quickly caught sight of him, walking with his back to her and with a smile, Ellie ran towards him and jumped on his back. Reggie shouted a quick 'holy shit' before he took ahold of her thighs and held her tighter against him, so she wouldn't fall.

He looked back at her with a teasing grin while a small blush rose to Ellie's cheeks. "Well hello there."

"General Kenobi." Ellie muttered back cheekily before her eyebrows furrowed.

Reggie almost dropped her in shock. "What did you say? Just now?"

Ellie shook her head, confused. "I don't know, it just...came." suddenly a smile light up her face. "Doesn't matter. What are we doing today?"

"I don't know? What are we doing today?" Reggie asked with a raised eyebrow as he continued to walk with her on his back.

"Is there something interesting in this town?" Ellie asked with a frown only for it to fall when Reggie's expression brightened.

"Well... there is a haunted house." he stated with a teasing grin.

"Really?" Ellie gasped, excitement filling her. "Well what are you waiting for, let's go!"

Reggie shook his head with a chuckle. "Let's go then."

━━━━━

"This is the haunted house?"

The two stood in front of an old house, it's window were already fallen off, half of the porch was nowhere to be seen and a lot of bushes surrounded it. It was a deep black color, several cobwebs covering it and Ellie could hardly make out a rose bush somewhere in that garden.

"Pretty lame."

Reggie looked at her with raised eyebrows before he stated in a dramatic voice. "Be very careful Elora, no man that has gone in there has come back alive!"

Ellie smiled teasingly at him. "Good thing I'm not a man." she then frowned. "How did you know my full name?"

"Huh?" Reggie looked at her as he cracked his knuckles. "Wanda mentioned it."

Ellie's eyes flickered to his knuckles before she hummed and smiled. "Sure." she sighed as she looked at the house. "Well, see you when I see you."

Reggie caught her arm before she could enter. "You're actually going?"

Ellie shrugged his arm off of her. "Yeah, what's the worse that could happen?"

She payed no mind to Reggie's worried face as she avoided the bushes and entered the house. Ellie almost fell over when she entered it. On the inside, the house looked... new. It was all renovated, everything was clean, no speck of dust. Ellie walked back outside to look at the house.

It looked the same, windows shattered, porch broken. "You okay?" Reggie called out, making her jump.

Ellie turned to him with an easygoing smile. "Of course!" the smile fell as she faced the house again. With a shaky breath, Ellie entered the house once again, the bright colors still suprising her.

She looked out of one of the windows, expecting to see Reggie. But he wasn't there, only a big lake, a small playhouse somewhere on the property, a bunch of toys spread on the ground, including an iron mask.

Ellie's eyebrows furrowed as she surveyed the room. There was a big bed with blue covers, an electric piano in a far corner of the room, a dresser and some other essentials. It looked like a teenagers room, or maybe a young adult. It looked like something she would like.

Ellie then realized that there were several pictures on the walls and with hurried steps, she crossed the room so she could see them.

The first photo was of Wanda, Reggie and a silver haired boy. Ellie's eyebrows furrowed as she recalled Wanda telling her that she had a brother named Pietro. And yet, that didn't explain why Reggie was in the picture.

"I'll always take care of you guys."

"We're not little kids anymore, Reg."

The next picture was still the three of them, but Ellie was in there too. A smile was on her face as she looked at Wanda, who looked ready to laugh at something. Pietro was holding his stomach as he leaned back because of his laughter and Reggie, he was looking at her.

"That's such a bad joke Ellie!"

"But you're laughing!"

The next one was of Ellie and a man. He wore some very high tech glasses and he had an arm protectively around her shoulder. He was kissing her temple as she hugged him.

"You know I love you, Cherry."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"Not my fault you had an obsession with cherry flavored candy when you were ten."

The next photo was with her and the man again, only there was a younger boy with them again. He looked so proud to be with them, the biggest grin on his face.

"You won't regret this, Mr. Stark. I promise."

"Yeah, yeah..."

The next was of her and a lot of people. She could see a redheaded woman, a man with a metal arm, a man in a patriotic suit, the man with glasses that called her Cherry, Wanda, a man with a Hammer, the young boy and so many other people. No Pietro and no Reggie though.

"Avengers Assemble."

The last picture was of her and the man with glasses again. But this time, a woman with slightly red hair stood beside the man and a little girl stood on Ellie's lap with a bright smile.

"You'll always be my sissy, right Ellie?"

"I would never leave you, M."

Ellie stumbled back, successfully falling on the bed in the room as she struggled to breathe. She couldn't talk, she didn't know what was happening. Who were those people? What was happening?

She barely registered falling on the floor and the colorful furniture the house had disappearing as Reggie came in. He rushed to her and crouched down beside her. "Ellie, Ellie breathe."

Ellie tried to take a breath but she couldn't. She couldn't. "Come on. Hold your breath and then let it out. Do it again and again." Reggie instructed her.

She did as he said and finally she could breathe. She never had a panic attack before. Or did she? Could she not remember it, like she didn't remember the photos?

Reggie wiping a tear from her face brought her back to reality. "What happened, El?" he asked softly.

"There was, the photos-" she stopped just as she was about to tell her. She didn't trust Reggie, he lied to her. "There was a spider, I got scared of a spider." she muttered as she put some hair behind her ear.

Reggie's shoulders deflated as he breathed out a chuckle. "You got this scared because of a spider?"

Ellie tucked some hair behind her ear as she smiled at him. "Yeah, yeah."

Reggie sighed. "Come on, let's leave this place." He helped her out and the two left the house together.

They got back to walking, in silence this time as Reggie's mind wandered off.

Ellie always tucked hair behind her ear when she lied.

"Sparky! Sparky!"

Ellie and Reggie looked towards where the sound was coming. When she saw some red curly hair, Ellie quickly ran towards Wanda and embraced her. She didn't know what those photos were but she just felt like hugging Wanda.

Wanda gasped in surprise but hugged her tightly anyway.

"Ellie!"

Suddenly two small boys hugged Ellie and she almost passed out when she saw her little brothers were... not so little anymore.

"Holy-"

"We're looking for Sparky!" Tommy interrupted her.

"Sparky?" Ellie looked at the two questionably.

"Our dog. Sparky." Billy cleared it up for her. He looked behind her. "Who's that?"

Ellie looked at Reggie who was awkwardly swaying on his feet. "Oh that's Reggie, my friend."

Billy and Tommy shared a look before shrugging. They proceeded to ignore Reggie as they continued to look for Sparky.

Wanda sent Reggie a glare as Ellie walked with her brothers. Reggie looked away from her glare.

Suddenly, Agnes appeared with a bundle of something wrapped in her arms. Ellie soon realized that it was Sparky. "I didn't want to come until I'd wrapped him up." Agnes said hesitantly.

The two boys gasped as Ellie put a hand on their shoulders.

"What happened to him?" Wanda asked as she walked forward.

Agnes sighed. "Found him in my azalea bushes. Don't know how many leaves he ate. I didn't find him until it was too late. Tommy, Billy, I'm so sorry."

The two boys looked at eachother as they slightly nodded before Wanda stopped them. "Wait. Don't. Don't."

"Don't what?" Tommy asked with a frown.

"Don't age yourselves up." Wanda stated as Reggie's eyes widened from beside Ellie. "The urge to run from this feeling is powerful. I know."

"It's too sad." Billy cried.

Tommy perked up. "You can fix anything, Mom. Fix the dead."

Wanda stood up straighter as Ellie stilled. "You what?"

"No." Wanda shook her head.

"You can do that?" Agnes asked, an expression of bewilderment on her face.

Wanda crouched in front of the boys. "I am trying to tell you that there are rules in life, okay? We can't rush aging just because it's convenient. And we can't reverse death. No matter how sad it makes us. Okay? Some things are forever."

"You said family is forever." Billy cried.

"He is family." Tommy agreed with his brother. "Bring him back, Mom."

"Bring who back?"

They all turned to look at Vision, who was looking confused at the sad atmosphere. When he saw Sparky, he brought the boys in a hug before he gestured for Ellie to join the hug. She smiled slightly as she joined them, while Reggie deflated slightly.

━━━━━

"I'm going to my room."

Wanda sighed as she looked at Ellie before nodding. Ellie sent her a small smile before turning to Reggie.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked hesitantly.

Reggie sneaked a glance at Wanda before he looked back at Ellie, his hands in his pockets. "See you tomorrow."

Ellie smiled at him before she ran up the stairs.

Once in her room, she sat on the small armchair she owned and thought of the photos. Of the haunted house. What did it all mean? What did those pictures mean?

She didn't know how long she stood there until she heard the doorbell ring. Ellie frowned when she heard noise from downstairs and worry clouded her.

She opened the door to her room and walked down the stairs, only to stop in her tracks when she caught sight of a familiar silver haired man. "Pietro?"

The man, Pietro, looked at her with a wild grin as she walked down. "And there's little Ellie!"

"And there," he said almost immediately as he pointed at Reggie - who hadn't left and who looked as pale as milk. "There is my stinking big brother."

Ellie's heart dropped and then fury filled her eyes as she looked at Reggie.

"Big brother?"

━━━━━ antonia speaks ━━━━━

and the plot thickens! also can you tell i got lazy at the end? anyway, just realized you guys are only gonna find out about ellie's past and how she got ger powers in episode eight so we have a long way to go - well not that long. there are gonna be some more hints in the next chapters but everything you need to know you'll find out in episode eight.

you can still leave theories of ellie's powers if you want, i love reading them!

hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you for the next one!

ALSO im like 🤌 this close to publishing a kaz brekker fic. i also want to make an aleksander morozova fic and ugh i just love them i can't wait for the show