Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Sixty-Two: In Heroes

Music is "Unleashed" by Two Steps From Hell.

Picture is Glory Maximoff.

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"There was an idea--Stark knows this--called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes."

- Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD

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CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

"Do you think the universe fights for souls to be together, Piet?"

"I have no idea." His reply is soft and quiet, the darkness around us not a frightening sight but a kind and warming embrace. "What about you? What do you think?"

"I think it does. Whatever you call it--God, the universe, quantum mechanics--I think that something out there fights for certain people to meet, for certain people to find each other. Some things are too strange and strong to be a coincidence. Look at us; we're example number one."

At that, Pietro smiles. He turns his gaze towards the building in front of us. It's a small, brown brick apartment building on the outskirts of Baltimore. I moved into this building when I was barely sixteen, an emancipated teen that had gotten away from her horrible family life thanks to Aspen Penrose. If there was one thing I learned in the three years I lived in this place, it was what genetics do not make a family. Vlad and Aspen were more of a family than my father ever was.

We've come back here--to the place where we met, the place where it all began--one last time. I had to lay my eyes on it one final time, a time that I know now will be my last. Traveling through the multi-verse is actually easy for me now, thanks to Tony's tech, but I don't want to come back anymore. This universe was my birthplace, but it is not my home. My home is in Sokovia, in the Marvel world, with my new family and friends.

Glory Northern isn't here. Neither are Vlad or Aspen. From what I know, they've all moved on from Baltimore to New York, seeking better things and living their fullest lives out of college. They're free from aliens and gods, heroes and villains. They're thriving, away from all of this madness that I carry with me. Pietro and I have come alone, hand-in-hand, to see the place where we met and that's all. We aren't here to stay or linger. We aren't here to make friends or share our story. Who would believe our fantastic and tragic story anyways? We've come back for one reason only.

We've come back, together, to say goodbye.

"You asked me once, on our way to Paris, if I believed in a god," Pietro says. I glance up at him, tearing my eyes from the apartment. His face is serious and firm. "I still do not know if I do, but I know one thing I believe in. It will sound cheesy and love-sick, but it is true. If there is one thing I believe in, возлюбленная, I believe in you."

A loving smile spreads across my face. I reach down for his hand, lacing his fingers through mine. "I believe in you, too, Pietro. I always have."

Pietro leans in with a boyish smile, pressing his lips to mine. I kiss him back, slipping my free hand around his neck. I remember the moment I first kissed him. It was here, in that apartment, after a bad dream. I told him I loved him after only a week of knowing him, but that was the utterance of a nineteen-year-old girl. I liked Pietro, a lot, but I don't think I loved him until much later.