[1] 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 | 𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨

! 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹: 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴

TWO YEARS PRIOR; POST BLIP

His soft heartbeat drummed against her eardrum, and a fry smacked against her lips.

"Printessa, you need to eat." he gently scolded and continued to poke her with the fry, his opposing hand resting on the top of her head of unruly curls.

Galina simply groaned in response and tilted her head away from the fry, inevitably, she didn't get too far because of his hand.

He sighed in defeat and tossed the fry the short distance ontop of the coffee table with the rest of the fast food meals scattered.

"Since when do you not eat McDonalds?"

Galina tilted her head up lazily to look up at him, choosing to ignore the way he gently stroked the top of her head.

"Since I ate real food in Wakanda." she retorted. "Not this American garbage."

"Well, you better get accustomed to American garbage soon because when I force feed you, I don't want you to barf all over me."

Galina screwed her face up at him in a deep pout. "I do not consent to being force fed."

"It's either that, or you get a tube down your nose." he fired back in quickness, quirking a challenging brow.

Steve let out a deep sigh from the couch a little bit beside them, shutting his eyes in disappointment for a moment. "We're eating." he emphasized.

"I don't know what's worse — hearing about your vomit or seeing you practically in his lap making me want to vomit."

Abruptly, Tony's voice comes barreling into the living room which caused for everyone's head to whip to the side at his dramatic entrance.

Well, mostly everyone...except Galina.

She uncomfortably shifted away from Pietro and sat up on the couch before scooting away towards the leather arm and curling up against it.

The Sokovian's confused expression fell for a moment as he whipped his head to eye her, but he quickly cleared his throat and snuffed a fry down his froggy throat.

—
➸ 2021
📍MADRIPOOR
╰─────────╯

"STEVE AND NAT MISS YOU, YOU KNOW."

"Don't say that to me."

Galina is stood in the kitchen, now in a pair of joggers and an oversized hoodie sipping from a glass of dark liquor.

She glared faintly at him before turning around to have her back at the man, slamming the drink down against the counter.

"They do." he argued back from the living room.

"Well, I don't miss them."

Sensing that he wasn't gonna get much of a conversation out of her on that line of discussion, Pietro simply nodded his head to himself.

He took a couple of nonchalant steps into the kitchen, eyeing the walls surrounding him. "Nice place — how long have you been here for?"

"Two going onto three years." she told him as she turned around to lean against the granite counter to finally face him. "I've been here ever since I left New York."

He nods, as he leant against the fridge beside her. "You wanna tell me why you've got a kid?"

Galina inhaled a sharp breath and diverted her eyes elsewhere, shaking her head. "It's none of your business." she muttered before taking an aggressive swig from her glass.

Pietro looked towards the living area at the sleeping child bundled in blankets and gently sleep in the corner of the loveseat before looking back at his friend.

"Is this why you ran away?" he questioned softly. "Is he Buck—"

"Don't say that name." she interrupted in a small uproar, causing for her to take a couple of deep breaths. "No, he's not his — when I miscarried I lost both of the babies." she took another breath before turning around to face him with a half-hearted smile.

"It was nice to see you, Piet, it really was...but you need to go." she said, neck craning to look up at him. "I am okay...I promise."

Pietro looked at her blankly as they stood there in silence for several beats — Galina felt a sliver of hope at the silence, maybe he's processing that he's not needed—

"I'm not going anywhere."

Galina let out a loud and audibly groan as she threw her head back with her hands over her eyes in frustration. "Pietro—" she tried to growl out.

"No, but i'm serious...I legitimately cannot go anywhere." he shook his head from side to side as his hands hovered above her stiff shoulders. "My flight isn't until tomorrow morning and I didn't rent a hotel."

She let her hands fall onto her hips, looking at him incredulously. "What moron forgets to rent a hotel?"

Pietro's eyes narrowed at her as his arms crossed against his chest. "What moron kidnaps a child?!"

"Who said I kidnapped him?!" she retorted.

"Lina, I know you." he said in a deadpan.

"You don't know shit—"

A loud crash distracts them from their back and forth argument, which forces them to redirect their attention to the sound.

In the living room is where it came from, and the sleeping little boy was the only one accompanying that area.

But now, he was awake...wide awake.

The spot on the couch that he was sprawled out on was empty, and instead, a blur was speeding around the living room knocking things over.

One of them, being a random unused vase.

Pietro's mouth opened and close repeatedly in shock while Galina's mouth was pursed together tightly as she looked on at the miniature speedster with wide eyes.

The bigger speeder turned his head slowly, a vein popping out of his neck as he did this.

"You're coming with me to New York." he stated in finality.

Pietro then walked off and no, not to control the newly smaller speedster, but to literally just leave.

Galina slowly nodded to herself as if she was accepting the current events, feeling her jaw clench a bit at the sound of the front door slamming shut.