Abandoned- {Pietro Maximoff}

Before- Chapter 1

"Kids, breakfast!"

Mornings were slowly becoming less chaotic, or maybe Alex was becoming more used to them. She flipped the fried eggs over, letting them cook for a few seconds before taking them off the heat completely and sliding them onto the pieces of toast laid across the counters.

"Kids," she repeated, yelling this time, "Breakfast."

"Kosher?" Pietro asked, finally appearing and kissing Alex's cheek.

"Shit, I forgot to ask. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I'll go shopping tonight. Everyone's up, few issues with the bathrooms but it's sorted. Need any help down here?"

"Yeah, like I'm letting you help after you burnt the toast."

"Okay," his hands slid down Alex's body, fingers slipping into the hooks on her jeans and he pulled her against him. Alex grinned, moving her hair out of the way to let Pietro kiss her neck, "What about down here?"

"Oh, Jesus fuck, my eyes. Get a room!"

"Don't be jealous, Rich," Pietro called, stepping away from Alex. The teenager flipped him off as he slouched towards the counter and grabbed two pieces of toast, "You only get one."

"I see dead people, you're lucky I don't start eating for them all."

"Rich," Alex said, in a tone that sounded awfully close to Steve's parent voice. She cringed and Pietro patted her back soothingly, having noticed it too. Rich rolled his eyes,

"Fine, it's for Bobby. Can I go?"

"Yeah, just make sure everyone else is coming down."

"Do it yourself. I don't fucking care." He walked out and Alex slumped against Pietro.

"You okay?"

"No, I was about to language him. Me, fucking queen of inventing fucking swear words almost Steve Roger-ed a guy two fucking years younger than me."

"I know, my love, I know."

"Little bitch."

"I know, Alex, I know."

"Gonna fuck his bastard mother."

"Alex!"

"Sorry!" Her nose suddenly twitched, smelling smoke and both she and Pietro turned in unison to find the eggs burning.

"Well, good morning."

<<>>

"And how are you doing?"

Alex startled, accidentally teleporting away from the window she'd been looking through,

"Jesus, Nat, give a girl a warning."

"If I did that, I would be a terrible spy."

Shrugging, Alex went back to looking out the window. Through it, she could see a few of the kids running about on the grass, exploring what would hopefully be the garden of their new home.

"Tony picked a nice place."

"Yeah. Still hasn't called me or texted though."

"You know what he's like," Natasha patted her back sympathetically, "He'll either turn up raging drunk or painfully sober to the family dinner, you'll fight and then we'll be back to normal."

"Dad gonna be there?"

"Clint? He'll do his best but it's Cooper's birthday the next day."

"Right. Forgot he had different priorities."

"That's not fair, Alex."

"I think it is. We're meant to be his family as well and yet I've spoken to him like three times since I got out of the coma. Thor and Bruce are both off-world and Steve and Tony are in the off-phase of their relationship, we need him back before this family fractures completely."

"Not possible, not while you're still around."

"Hence the family dinners," Alex said, rolling her eyes, "Any topics I should avoid? How's Pepper?"

"Doing very well running Stark Industries. Tony, on the other hand, is alternating making breakthroughs with astrophysics and having a sex life that would make a rabbit ashamed."

"Astrophysics?"

"Trying to track down Thor and Bruce. I've tried helping but it just made me feel worse," Natasha shook her head and looked at Alex, "Hopelessness is one of the worst feelings you can experience. The uncertainty of what could happen and the desperation that slowly creeps in is like a poison."

"Bruce will be alright. We'd know...I know we'd know, feel something was wrong if he got hurt."

"Yeah. Well, in better news, we've received confirmation from Wanda that she'll be able to join us for our mission to Nigeria on Monday."

"Not Kore?" It had only been two weeks since Alex's old best friend, Kore De Luca, had been accused of stealing the Crown Jewels in London. Natasha had decided upon meeting her that she wasn't capable of such a thing, and so a temporary alliance had been made between them all.

"Wanda said she was dealing with a C.R.Y.P.T. loose end."

"Oh," Alex said carefully, "Those two seem to be...getting along well."

"I suppose. It's good to see Wanda finally having a friend her own age."

"Yeah. Pietro spent an hour on the phone with her yesterday, she's never talked so much to him."

"Pietro's still invited tomorrow, I think it would be fun to have a proper family dinner with him."

"By fun, you mean a train wreck, right?"

"Of course. Sam, Rhodes and I have already placed bets and I think you're more likely to throw a drink if Pietro's there."

"Give me thirty percent and I'll do it."

"Deal," they shook on it, and with a final glance out the window, Natasha muttered, "God, tomorrow is going to be interesting,"