Gone.

[thewolfinside]

Jason sits on a burnt out car underneath an interstate overpass, listening to his headphones. He remembers packing a change of clothes, his walkman and a few MP3 discs into a rather small duffle bag and grabbing his cellphone before leaving the apartment. He bypassed Trans in the Nexus and just ...went. He's not really sure where he's at, it looks sorta like LA.

He fumbles around in the pockets of his jacket and comes up with a battered pack of cigarettes. He lights one up and stairs up at the underside of the overpass.

He imagines the stars he can't see due to the cement and smog. Imagines being back with Raina, imagines going back to her, wondering if she would kill him outright. Then again, any pain she dealt him couldn't be nearly as bad as this.

The cellphone vibrates in his pocket and he debates answering it.

Comments

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Life makes her cry. Life upsets her. Of course I want her to stay sheltered you idiot!"

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

"And ten, fifteen years from now, she'll still be crying over life. Why don't you just commit her to a fucking nunnery and get it over with."

He jumps down from the car and runs his hands through his hair. "You are doing her more harm than life is right now. What are you going to do when she starts resenting you for sheltering her so much?"

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"She already does. That will be nothing new. But at least I know enough to leave her alone when she's upset enough that she can't control her powers. Unlike you." He almost spits with vehemence.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason just turns and stares at him. "Ever think that at that point, I didn't care what happened to me."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Ever think that she doesn't like hurting people she "cares" for?" He says the word "cares" with such anger it distorts his entire face and he visibly vibrates. "Did it ever occur to you that it scares her that she can't stop herself from hurting even- idiots such as yourself?"

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason visibly wilts, all anger leaving his body. "She doesn't care about me Pietro."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"It will be best if you continue to think that." He says, looking down his nose at Jason. "That, and don't ever- don't even look at her sideways."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

He glares at Pietro. "Just what exactly is your problem with me?"

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Until recently? Nothing. Until you- started...looking at Wanda? Everything." He can't actually bring himself to say it exactly, and he returns the gaze with equal intensity.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason sighs and shakes his head. "It's not like I woke up one day and said, 'Hey, what's the best way to fuck up my life today'. Falling for Wanda wasn't in the plan, yet everyone keeps acting like I'm to blame for it. Why is that?"

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Because Wanda is innocent and pure. You are the polar opposite, and the exact epitome of the kind of guy I never want her to be around."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

"And what kind of guy is that?"

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"A very-" a light shudder and an intense glare, "A very sexually driven individual."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

He chuckles. "Really Pietro, if sex was the only thing I wanted from Wanda, I could have had that weeks ago."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

Pietro backhands Jason across the face. "Watch it!" he snarls.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason hits the ground and looks up at Pietro. "It's the fucking truth. Everytime she gets drunk she tries dragging me into bed with her. It's not like she'd have remembered it the next day if I had let anything happen."

He rubs his jaw, mumbling. "Fuck, even had JP knock her out the one time because I was too much of a fucking wuss to hurt her."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"You lie." He hisses.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

"Truth Pietro. I refuse to lie where Wanda is concerned."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"And yet you still make her cry. What a wonderful human you are." He snorts, his fists clenched.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

"Like I said, I refuse to lie where she's concerned, and sometimes the truth hurts like a bitch."

He turns and looks toward the city. "Besides this last time, every time I made her cry it was because I told her no."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"If you weren't tempting her in the first place it wouldn't be a problem." He snaps. "Stay. Away. From. Wanda."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason stands up, glaring at Pietro. "First, how the fuck am I tempting her? Second, I left my own fucking home to stay away from her. How much farther do you want me to go Pietro?"

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"I hear suicide's nice." He smiles, cruelly.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason gets really still. "Fuck off Pietro. You came after me, not the other way around. Do me a favor and disappear."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Yes. I did come after you. Because I wanted us to be clear- so long as you have... designs on my sister- even unrealized ones- I will be happier if you're dead." He narrows his eyes. "Also- you made her cry. And I didn't think you seemed to understand the- magnitude of such an action. I was hoping to perhaps help you understand."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

"Novak makes her cry, why aren't you threatening him? Hell, you make her cry, but I don't see you jumping off a bridge. What makes me so damn special?"

He chuckles. "As for the 'designs' I have on your sister. There aren't any unrealized ones."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

He grabs Jason but the Neck of his shirt and yanks him. "What does that mean- what did you do to her?!"

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason goes limp, this position all to familiar to him. "Nothing except tell her the truth. The truth being that I was falling in love with her, but wouldn't be with her because she was with Novak. Oh, and I believed I might have mentioned something about a psychotic brother."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

Pietro bears his teeth. "You touch her- you look at her- you even so much as breath at her in the wrong way and I will be all over you faster than you can even comprehend. You are not worthy of her."

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason gives a harsh laugh. "I kinda figured that out already."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"Don't forget it." He lets go of Jason's shirt, shoving him back slightly.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason smirks. "Funny, she's practically engaged to the lizard who eats human flesh, yet I'm the threat. Amusing how that works out."

He climbs back up on the car and lays down, putting on the headphones.

"Go away Pietro."

[maximoff-boy.livejournal.com]

"I am- dealing with that- lizard as we speak." He sneers before doing a mock bow with a small flourish. "Goodday." And as quickly as he arrived, he's gone.

[thewolf-inside.livejournal.com]

Jason waits until he's sure Pietro is gone, then heads for the Nexus portal. This time, no one is going to find him.