Elementals

The Date of Returning Home

"We're their any casualties?"

"A few injured, but none dead. Pietro cleared the entire area in record time." Wanda chimes in.
I briefly talk with all of them and they all wish me well. But the most interesting thing I hear is why the attack happened.
"The police captured the guy who planted the bomb, and interrogated him. Apparently he placed to bomb because this idiot"
Tony nods to Pietro "Went on a date with the guys girlfriend and he got real pissed."
Everyone glares at Pietro and he holds up his hands in defense. "I had no idea she had a boyfriend! She told me she was single, I swear!"
The glaring dies down and Tony changes the subject, though not by much.
"Anyway the city wants to give you a medal or something for acting so heroically. Especially because the mayor was in the restaurant as well. But aside from that..." Tony glances at the team.
"We'd also like to offer you a position."

"Like...as an Avenger?"
Tony nods "We've all agreed. You've proven yourself to be calm in the face of danger and you helped save innocent lives. It's what an Avenger does. So we'd like to ask you to join."
I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.
"You don't have to decide now, you just woke up. Take some time and drop by my office."
Tony turns and heads out of the room.
"How long have I been...out?" I ask, looking to the closest person.
"You've been unconscious for about 3 days," Natasha explains.
"Oh my gods," I mutter.
"We've alerted your family and your teachers so they know what's happening." I nod, "Thank you."
She nods back and makes her way out of the room along with Clint. Pietro watches them leave before quietly speaking.
"Can you give us some space?" He asks his sister. She arches and eyebrow.
"Is that what she wants?"
I smile "It's ok Wanda. It was nice seeing you."
She smiles a little sadly. "It was nice seeing you too. Get well soon."
I nod and she leads herself and Vision out the door. Dr. Cho also follows. That just leaves me and Pietro.
He takes a seat next to my hospital bed.
"That was a hell of a first date." He says, gently taking my hand.
"No kidding." I reply, slowly adjusting my position. Pietro gives a small smile, but he looks away, crestfallen.
"What's wrong?"
He sighs, "I'm sorry I couldn't get you out. I should've but-"

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it, ok?"
He looks at me. "Look, you did what I asked which was clear the area. That saved so many people's lives, and then you went back for me which is an amazingly brave thing to do. And I'm still alive...a little beat up, but alive. Which means you didn't fail or anything. It means you did everything right. And that makes me want to go on a second date, if you want."
Pietro smiles, "I do. And I am grateful for your praise, as well as the fact that your ok...for the most part."
We both laugh though mine is cut short due to the pain. My hospital room door opens and Dr. Cho pops her head in. "I hate to break this up but I need to tend to Pipers wounds, which means visiting time is over."
Pietro nods and stands up.
"I'll hold you to that second date once your all better."
I smile, "I'm counting on it."
He kisses my hand as he walks out, which leaves me blushing and Dr. Cho with a knowing smile.
"What?!" I say a little accusingly as she eyes me. Cho shakes her head and says, "Nothing, nothing."
She begins tending to my injuries and I smile. But not to much, because that also hurts.
———————————
The next three days go by in a blur. It's mostly full of strange hours of the day in between me sleeping and Dr. Cho making sure everything is going well, as well as visits from the Avengers. Which I'm grateful for, but I miss my family and to be honest, I wish my mom was here. I hug from her would be nice right about now. But nonetheless I stay in this room for three days, and it starts to feel like an infinitely worse version of my containment room. But just as I was starting to get antsy Dr. Cho comes in with good news.
"You are free to go."

"I'm sorry what?" I was so taken aback by her words that I didn't know what to do.
"You are free to go. I am going to dress your wounds one more time and make sure you can walk and such, but then you a free to go...oh and I will also be prescribing you with pain meds."

"Um, ok." I say, still astounded. She does as she explained, she dressed my wounds and asked me to see if I could stand. My ribs still hurt, but otherwise I seemed ok. I just had to take it slow.
Dr. Cho then gave me a white bag of prescription painkillers and brought me some clothes.
She left the room as I slowly changed. But once I was done she helped me out of the room until I was able to go alone. I thanked her for all she's done and walked to my room.
When I got there I checked my calendar to see how many days I had left. Counting the days I was unconscious I had...1 day left! I just had to get through tomorrow then I was home free.
But I also noticed a folded piece of paper on my desk. It read
Have you made a decision, deadlines soon.
-T.S
I know what this was referring to. If I had decided to join the Avengers or not.
I think on it and pocket the paper. I sort of hobble out of my room and make my way towards the elevator. I press the floor where Tony's office is and I slump against the wall as It goes down.
Breathing is a little difficult but I make it. The door opens and I'm about to walk in, but I stop myself. Last time I burst in, it wasn't polite. I gently knock on the door and hear Tony say "Come in."
I open the white pristine doors and go inside.
"Hey! Good to see you up and...mostly moving."
He says with an unusual amount of cheer.
I take a seat in one of the chairs and pull out the note. I place it on his desk and say.
"I'm not joining."
He looks at me for a moment with no expression, but proceeds to say.
"Um, ok. If I may ask, why?"

"I have an entire life back in Seattle. I'm almost done with college, I have my band to look after. And my family has been worried sick about me ever since I was brought here. And correct me if I'm wrong, but Avengers do stuff like what I did at the restaurant all the time right? And this is how they end up. Or worse?" I say gesturing to my injuries.
"I can't do that full time. I'm sorry, it's a very generous offer, really, but. I have to decline."
Tony takes all this in and nods
"Alrighty then. You can spend the night here tonight and we will have you on the Jet back to Seattle tomorrow afternoon. Sound good?"
I nod, sensing the slight disappointment in his voice.
I leave the note on the table and stand up, exiting his office.
———————
The next day I pack up all the stuff from my room. I bid goodbye to Bishop since apparently Tony owns him. I take my small assortment of things and bring them out to the hallway where the doors lead to the landing pad. I hadn't really said goodbye to anyone on the team, but when I reached the hall I saw a few them waiting for me.
"Oh, you guys. You didn't have to do this." I say, putting my box down.
"Yeah, we did. You our friend, and we don't let them leave without a proper goodbye." Says Wanda coming in to hug me. I hug her back, "Thanks for everything. I really appreciate it."
She pulls back. "Oh, anytime. Call me whenever you want to talk." She hands me a small index card with a phone number on it.
Natasha is the next person waiting for me. We shake hands, "It was wonderful meeting you Piper."
"You too." I say with a smile. Vision was standing next to Wanda and I shook his hand.
"It was a pleasure to meet you as well Miss James."
I smile "You too. I enjoyed our brief people watching."
The last person was Pietro. He hugs me and I whisper, "Keep in touch. And maybe you can come to Seattle and we can have our second date there."
He smiles. "I'll miss you."
"Yeah...me too." I say, smiling.
I pick up my boxes as I watch the Jet land and It's bay doors open.
Maria Hill walks off the Jet and I walk out the doors.
"Oh, Piper where are you going?"

"Back home. It was nice meeting you Ms. Hill." I say putting my boxes down and stapling in for the flight.
"Oh, well it was nice meeting you. I hope I see you again."
I smile "Me too."
She walks inside and I wave goodbye to my superhero friends as the bay doors close. I will miss them, but I'm not made to be an Avenger. I hold onto my ribs as the Jet takes off and heads back to my home.