"What the hell, Wanda? What are you doing!?" Pietro shouted, visibly straining.
His legs were frozen in place, and his arms trembled as he tried and failed to move forward. To him, it could only be one explanation—Wanda's doing.
But Wanda looked just as confused. "What are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"
Pietro's frustration mounted. "You're lying! Why can't I move, then? Is this another one of your weird tricks?"
"I swear, I didn't do anything!" Wanda insisted, her brow furrowed.
But then her gaze slowly shifted to the calm figure standing across the room—Shawn.
"You… it was you, wasn't it?" she asked cautiously.
Shawn gave a small nod. "That's right."
He made no effort to deny it.
In front of normal people, Shawn would never expose his powers so carelessly. But neither Wanda nor Pietro were ordinary humans—and at this point, hiding his abilities served no purpose.
Immediately, Wanda's expression shifted. Her eyes flared red.
A surge of primal energy began to swirl in the air.
Origin Magic Power.
"Who are you really?" she asked, now fully alert. Her voice had a cold edge, and her fingers began to tremble with restrained energy.
Red sparks danced between her fingertips like lightning waiting to strike.
"I forgot to properly introduce myself earlier," Shawn said, smiling casually. "Name's Shawn. Psychiatrist, occasional surgeon, and full-time meddler."
Wanda's frown deepened.
Psychiatrist? That only irritated her further. To her, it sounded like mockery.
She thought he was playing with her.
Beside her, Pietro tensed again.
"He's here to arrest us!" Pietro snapped. "This guy's some kind of agent—S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, whatever. We need to get out, now!"
At those words, Wanda didn't hesitate.
The swirling red aura around her erupted outward—Origin Magic Power unleashed.
The entire room shimmered as crimson energy rushed toward Shawn like a tidal wave.
In the blink of an eye, he was engulfed in red.
Harsh, wild, and unrefined—Wanda's raw power surrounded him from all sides.
A moment later, a quiet mechanical chime echoed in Shawn's mind.
Ding! Origin Magic Power detected. Would the host like to absorb it?
Shawn didn't answer right away. He remained still, curiously observing the energy around him.
He extended his senses, analyzing it.
The power was impressive—but not nearly strong enough.
At least not yet.
It was like watching a flame try to burn a volcano.
Not enough to harm me, he thought.
"Absorb it," he confirmed mentally.
The crimson aura that had enveloped him vanished in an instant, absorbed into his being like it had never existed.
Wanda blinked. Her mouth slightly parted.
The magic was gone.
Pietro stared, stunned. He looked back at his sister, then at Shawn, completely at a loss.
Wanda took a step back.
She had never seen someone resist, let alone absorb her magic like that.
"Impossible," she whispered.
Shawn remained composed. "Not impossible. Just inconvenient for you."
Before either of them could respond, Shawn's eyes narrowed. In a flash, he sent a thread of spiritual energy toward Pietro's mind—subtle, surgical, and silent.
Within seconds, he had full access.
Let's see what secrets you're hiding.
And then he saw everything.
Images flooded in—memories, fear, desperation.
Wanda and Pietro had recently escaped from a genetic experimentation facility. A hidden base run by HYDRA. The same organization that had been using the stolen Mind Stone—embedded in Loki's scepter—for human experimentation.
The Maximoff twins had been their prized subjects.
Genetic alterations, mental conditioning, artificial enhancements—it was all part of HYDRA's long game. They had used the Mind Stone to awaken latent abilities in the twins.
Pietro's mutation had evolved into super speed.
Wanda, on the other hand, had something far more dangerous: Origin Magic Power—a form of magic that predated sorcery itself, raw and unfiltered.
They had escaped only weeks ago and had been on the run ever since.
But being fugitives required resources. Food. Clothes. Shelter.
And money.
Pietro had used his powers to steal from unsuspecting guests at the hotel, believing it was their only option.
Wanda had followed him here, desperate to stop him before they got caught.
And now, here they were.
The entire situation was out of sync with what Shawn remembered from the original timeline.
This was supposed to happen later—after the Avengers first assembled, after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., after HYDRA's exposure.
But clearly, the threads of time had twisted.
The world was unraveling in unpredictable ways.
Wanda began to gather power again, her hand glowing once more.
Shawn raised a hand—not in aggression, but to pause her.
"Don't," he said calmly. "I'm not your enemy."
Wanda's eyes narrowed. Pietro still looked like he was one insult away from running at full speed again.
"If you want to survive," Shawn continued, "I can help you. I know what HYDRA is, and I can offer you a place to hide."
"Why would we trust you?" Pietro spat. "You broke into my head!"
Shawn didn't deny it. "You wouldn't have told me otherwise."
Pietro took a step forward, fists clenched.
But before he could speak again, Shawn turned to Wanda and said something that stopped both of them cold.
"You're a telepath. Why don't you check my mind? See for yourself if I'm lying."
That made Wanda pause.
She stared at him for several seconds, trying to determine whether this was another trick.
Then, slowly, she nodded.
She closed her eyes and extended her mind toward him—expecting resistance.
But what she encountered was far worse.
She wasn't met with walls or barriers.
She was met with something vast—endless.
His consciousness was like a cosmic sea, deeper than anything she had ever experienced.
She couldn't even reach the bottom.
She couldn't influence him.
She couldn't even scratch the surface.
When she opened her eyes again, she was trembling slightly.
"He's telling the truth," Wanda said quietly. "He doesn't want to hurt us. And… he's much stronger than either of us."
She didn't elaborate, but her voice was filled with something Pietro hadn't heard in a long time—fear.
Or perhaps, respect.
"Then what do you want from us?" Pietro asked warily.
Shawn looked between them.
"I want nothing—for now," he said. "But I know what's coming. You're in danger. And you won't survive it alone."
He extended a hand toward them.
"I can give you protection, resources, and time. Enough to decide what kind of future you want. But if you keep running on your own, HYDRA will find you. And they won't be as merciful as me."
The room fell into silence.
Pietro looked uncertain, but he didn't argue again.
Wanda finally spoke. "Where would we go?"
"I have safehouses," Shawn said simply. "Pick one. Lay low. Let me deal with HYDRA."
Wanda exchanged a glance with her brother.
This was a risk.
But so was everything else.
"Okay," she said finally. "We'll come with you."