Changing Reality - W. MAXIMOFF

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"Give me the stone or she dies," The girl said again.

"This isn't gonna bring them back," Pietro warned.

"Yes it is, now give it or I will kill her"

"Put the knife down, we can talk about this."

"She's losing blood, Maximoff, clock is ticking."

"You already-"

"I swear to God-"

"Amber, enough!" He shouted, causing her to flinch. "This is ridiculous, and you know it. Put the goddamn knife down so we can talk this through."

"Don't. Yell. At. Me, Maximoff. This is your fault-"

"Oh, grow up! We all lost our families! We're not going insane! That is no reason to hurt her or anybody!" Pietro screamed.

"Give me the stone and I'll heal her." The girl, Amber, apparently, said angrily. "If not I let her die."

"I will never give you that fucki-"

"Heal her first." We all turned to see Doctor Strange standing in the doorway.

"What?" Pietro demanded. Strange just held up his hand.

"Heal the girl, and you can have the stone." He opened the locket around his neck to reveal a bright green stone. Amber gritted her teeth before throwing the knife to the ground, and moving to stand over Wanda, who was drifting in and out of consciousness. She placed her hand over her stomach and a bright golden glow came from her palm.

"There, it's done." Pietro ran into the room and picked up his sister, immediately taking her away from Amber. "Now the stone."

Before Strange could do anything, Pietro had moved Wanda into Archer's arms and charged at the girl. In a blur of blue, Amber was on the ground, knocked out, and everyone stood frozen. Archer breathed heavily, and shifted Wanda in his arms, checking her over for any injuries. But she was fine. It was like she was just sleeping on the couch again.

The past half hour had his head spinning.

___

When everything calmed down, Archer began to process. Wanda was in the Medbay, and Amber was in the basement in a holding cell. Archer was sat on a plastic chair beside Wanda, waiting for Pietro to come back from his 'word' with Amber. The constant ticking of the clock was driving him insane, and he knew he wouldn't last much longer. Fortunately, Pietro came strolling in, hands in his pockets, like there was nothing wrong.

"Ivanov," He greeted, his accent thick. "Did she wake?"

"Not yet, but I, uh, wanted to ask you something," He sighed.

"I know."

"Pietro, today has got me reeling. I need an explanation or maybe not, maybe I just need to sleep, or talk to the Captain, if I'm being honest I don't know what I need," Archer was on the verge of tears, panic evident in his voice. He really didn't know what was happening, he was an agent, a killer, an assassin and here he was about to weep because he didn't know what happened.

"Расслабься, Ivanov (Relax, Ivanov)" The Russian calmed him immediately, and he cleared his throat. Pietro sat on the edge of the bed that Wanda was laying on and took her hand. "That girl was another one of HYDRA's experiments. We were in the same testing group, way back when. Her family was killed in an explosion, and she wants the stone to bring them back."

"Why Wanda?" He breathed. "It's my fault" Pietro sighed.

"Because we will always be the other's weakness. She doesn't know of any weaknesses of the rest of the team, she was playing it safe." Archer opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by a soft moan. Wanda stirred, groaning as she rubbed her eyes.

"How are you feeling, does anything hurt?" Pietro asked immediately. She shook her head.

"What happened?"

"I think you know what happened," Pietro said softly.

"Where is she?"

"In a holding cell downstairs. I talked to her."

"And said what?" Wanda groaned.

"Got a few punches in before the guards dragged me away." He smirked.

"She doesn't have the stone?"

"No," Pietro sighed. "But Strange was going to give it to her."

"Why?"

"To save you," His voice was soft and full of gratitude. "I'm going to eat, if you're alright here."

"Yes, I'm fine," She assured him.

"Watch over her, Ivanov" Pietro warned before strolling out. Wanda turned to him and sat up.

"Hey,"

"Hey," He breathed. "You alright?"

"No lasting damage," She stated. "Are you?"

"No," He whispered. "You were just tortured, almost killed in your own home."

"Home is a bit of a stretch,"

"Whatever, okay, I was supposed to take you into the city and all of the sudden you were bleeding.  And it was my fault! Marie's been interrogating the girl downstairs for hours, everyone else is shaken and you and your brother are acting like nothing happened!"

"Ivanov, really, I'm alright. She healed me."

"So you're telling me that you aren't at all upset about what happened today?" He demanded. She sighed, visibly chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Ivanov, the wounds may be gone but the pain will not be forgotten." Her melodic voice sounded like music, almost lulling him to sleep. Was he really that tired? "But I can't dwell on it. If I dwell on every time I am hurt or betrayed, I would never be able to function."

She stood from the bed, taking his hoodie from the back of the chair he was sitting on and pulling it over her head.

"I'm exhausted, has my room been cleaned?" He could only nod. "I'll be going to bed then. See you tomorrow, Ivanov."

He watched her leave with astonishment. Everything about her impressed him. Her magic, her beauty, her mindset. And every new thing he found out about her made him want to know more.

He just couldn't get enough.

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Hey guys! Wow, that was some chapter, eh?

Let me know what you think!

Talk later,

-Harmony✨