R A N D O M || OS

83. (MCU) Pietro Maximoff - Choosing Destiny

When he was in his cell all alone, he'd take it out and look at it, study the intricate patterns on its wings, and then tuck it back into his pocket, his fingers fiddling with it.

He remembered the day when his transformation happened, although he didn't like to think about it often. It stirred up weird emotions in the core of his being. Being...altered in a way like that. Changed into something he was never meant to be. Most of the moments from that day, his brain had tucked away, had hidden from him, but when he first stepped into the room with the stone, it had seemed to...come alive.

He watched with wide eyes as it released itself from the staff it had been held inside and floated in front of him. And in the glow of the stone, a figure manifested herself in front of him, a girl who was a bit shorter than him. She had giant butterfly-shaped wings spread out behind her and she landed in front of him, as real as he was. Vivid and beautiful. He stared at her for a long time, waiting for her to speak.

And she did.

"Pietro..." She'd spoken, her voice soft and sweet, but also...worried? He couldn't tell. "I need you to be okay for me. Breathe, alright?"

"I...I don't understand. What do you mean?" He asked, but she didn't respond. It was like she was separated from him somehow, somewhere different in space and time although she was standing right there in front of him.

She reached forward and rested her hand against his cheek. "I'm here, now. Just breathe..."

And then everything went black.

When he came around, everything started...changing. For a few days, every step he took was at superspeed. He'd run into walls without really meaning to, rush forward feet at a time when he'd only meant to move a little. He was hungrier than he'd ever been in his life. He'd always loved food, but now, he felt like he was starving all the time when he was eating more than he ever had. His enhanced body burned through it like it was nothing. His hair started to turn blonde and then white, leaving the top half of his head a silvery bleached color that rivaled the snow. He barely recognized himself in the mirror anymore. Barely recognized this person he'd become.

The choice he'd made, the choice he and Wanda had made together, had sent him on a different path, had altered his destiny. And he wondered if he'd ever pay the price for it.

***

The day came, as he knew it would. His home town in Sokovia was being hoisted into the air, higher and higher every minute. The air was thin and he had trouble catching his breath. He was used to running, now. It was part of him, his speed. It was a gift. A blessing. A "miracle" as the scientists at Hydra had said. He couldn't help but believe them.

He heard something approaching the border of the city, something big, and when he ran to the edge to see what it was, he was surprised, but pleasantly so, to see a Helicarrier rising, a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo emblazoned on it. He looked around and spotted Captain Rogers standing nearby with the Black Widow, so he ran over.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" He asked.

"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be." Rogers nodded, looking on proudly.

Pietro considered it for a moment before replying with a smile, "this is not so bad..."

It was then that he spotted her flying across the gap. The girl with the butterfly wings. And he couldn't stop staring, his blue eyes fixed on her for a long moment. She said something, but he didn't hear her, so distracted by her presence. He knew it had to be her, the girl from his vision.

"What?" He asked, blinking a few times. She giggled and the other two Avengers standing beside them chuckled knowingly.

"I said, I'm (Y/N)." You offered your hand and Pietro shook it, squeezing it slightly as he did so, and hesitant to let go once he was finished. "Fury reached out to me. Figured you could use all the help you could get."