You Didn't See That Coming? ~Hawksilver~ #Wattys2015

I

"...you didn't see that coming?" Pietro said shakily as he fell to the ground, and I stared in terror. I gently put the kid in my arms back down to the ground, and checked Pietro for a pulse. Cap ran to him.

"...any luck?" Cap asked, looking down sadly at Pietro.

"He has a pulse," I muttered, "Hey, I'm gonna take him back to one of the boats. Wait...no, you take him back. Just lay him down somewhere, I'll come back for him, I have to take this little boy to his mom." Cap nodded, and I rolled Pietro over on his back so Cap could scoop him up in his arms like a child. He and I hurriedly moved to one of the boats. "Here you go," I said, putting down the small boy in his mother's arms, and they cried and hugged each other tightly. With a nod, I moved over to where Pietro had been laid. "It's been a rough day," I said, laying on the bench and staring at the sky. I turned to him. "You okay? Can you hear me, kid?" When there was no response, I slapped his face and his eyes opened. He gasped for air, looking around in fear.

"What happened?"

"Hey, thanks for being my human shield," I said, looking down at him from the bench. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm alive?"

"Yes, you're alive. Don't move, though, we still need to take care of you."

"Where's Wanda?" he asked, wincing a little.

"I dunno...oh wait, there," I said, and I saw Vision carrying her onto the boat.

"Pietro!" She screamed, jumping out of his arms and running to us. She knelt down next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Your brother was shot down by a machine gun," I said, "He's lucky to be alive. Kid, don't get me wrong, I really, really appreciate it. But don't you ever scare the hell out of us again."

"Oh, I will. Sorry, but I'll be scaring you all a lot more in the future-" he started coughing up blood, and I got up and knelt next to him and Wanda.

"Hey, shh, it's okay. Try to relax...I'm going to sit you upright. Don't move, just let me move you. I don't want you to get hurt any more than you already are." I lifted him just enough where I could set him back down sitting upright, and he cried out in pain.

"Damn it," he said, "no, never mind, don't let me get shot again, please. Hurts too much. I think I can get the bullet in my arm out just fine, but this one," he put his hand on the bullet hole on the left side of his chest, inches beneath his heart, "I might need help with."

"No, you won't be doing anything," Wanda said, pressing her hand against his cheek, "You'll be sitting here patiently as I take the bullet out of your arm. Don't move." One of her hands held Pietro's, while the other swirled some sort of magic and the bullet suddenly flew out of his arm and into her hands. She dropped it to the floor, ripped some fabric off of my sleeve, and wrapped it around his bicep. I didn't even say anything about her ripping my swag jacket's sleeve.

"Thank you," he said, closing his eyes.

"Hey, stay with me," I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face so he'd stay awake. "You're going to be fine."

"I'm tired."

"I know you are, but you aren't going to close your eyes and freaking die right in front of us. You're just gonna sit here and chat with us until we can take care of those nasty bullet wounds. Okay?" He nodded, winced, and rest his hand over the deep bullet wound on his chest again.

"Damn it," he repeated, and Wanda hugged him, trying to avoid his many injuries.

"You'll be okay," she said.

"How is all of this real, anyways?" He looked around. "We're in the sky. Sokovia's flying."

"Pietro," she said, probably remembering my speech about doors, bows and arrows, and becoming an Avenger. "We're heroes. We're Avengers." They smiled brightly at each other as if their entire future was ahead of them, and I couldn't help but smile as well.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Vision said, flying back onto the lifeboat, "But I've just broken the last Ultron." All of us cheered and applauded. Tony landed on the lifeboat, and Steve was on the one next to ours with Thor. Natasha was in the Helicarrier.

"Where's Bruce?" Tony asked, looking around, and we all froze.

"Nat," I said into my earpiece, "...Where's-"

"He's off our radar," she said, and we all looked around at each other.

"...Nat, I'm sure he's okay," I said.

"Yeah, Bruce is a genius and the Hulk is indestructible. He'll be fine, and we'll find him, radar or no radar," Tony said, probably just trying to convince himself his best friend was okay.

"Where will we take Pietro?" Wanda asked. "I don't know if a hospital will be such a good idea."

"Agreed. It could jeopardize the safety of other patients. No, we're taking him somewhere else, and I think I have just the place in mind," I said.

"And where is that?"

"A safe house." The boats started moving.