a/n: I totally disappeared for a hot second my bad but college is so cool!
please comment, vote, and react!
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8 AM THE NEXT MORNING.
Spencer is enjoying a nice cup of coffee. Pietro had run out and gotten them some pastries from the bakery for breakfast, and currently, they're sitting in the meadow behind the house.
And everything is still perfect.
"This one is good," Pietro says, through a bite of a flaky sweet. He holds out to Spencer, who leans forward to take a bite.
Pietros trying not to stare at her lips. Spencer is blissfully unaware.
"Is that raspberry?" she asks.
Pietro focuses. "Maybe," he answers with a shrug, going for another bite.
"I think this is blueberry," Spencer says, tasting the one in her hand again. It melts on her tongue. "Yeah, it is - here, try," she urges him, extending the treat to him.
Pietro gladly takes a bite out of this one, too.
"It's good," he agrees.
Spencer smiles. "Thank you," she tells him. "For breakfast. And everything."
"Always, draga," he says, almost like a promise.
And maybe it was meant to be a promise. Maybe Pietro gets exactly what Spencer's feeling - complete and utter peace. They could stay here, she thinks, for a moment. They could stay here forever and ever. She could be happy here. With him. Alone. Without...the mess of everything else.
But their nice, calm, happy moment is interrupted by a shrilling ringing - one that makes Spencer almost drop her pastry.
"Shit," she groans, looking at the screen of her phone. "It's my mom."
"Oh," Pietro laughs out. "Have fun."
"Don't be rude," Spencer chides him, shoving his shoulder. Her stomach is doing flips - she's not good at lying.
"Your parents, your problem," he tells her with a little shrug. His eyes are back on the meadow in front of them, the back to his pastry. "I have no parents, so no problem."
Wanda hates when he says stuff like that. Spencer's face scrunches up, ready to scold him, but suddenly, there's a vibrating noise.
"Who's that?" Spencer ass, pulling her attention away from her phone.
"No one," Pietro replies.
Spencer grabs for his phone, but he's quicker - holding it just out of reach. He's not smarter, though, because now Spencer can see the name on display.
"Even worse than Nicole," Spencer laughs out. "Have fun with Clint."
"Shut up," Pietro groans.
Both answer the phone at the same time.
Spencer starts, "Hey, Mom-"
At this same time, Pietro demands, "What do you want?"
"Where am I? Good question-"
"Where do you think I am? At home-"
"Okay, before you-"
"Do not yell at me. I am not a child-"
"Hey, mom, remember I'm like, 18-"
"I said I am home. I never specified which home-"
"This is not a joke," Clint shouts through the phone. It makes Spencer turn her attention to Pietro, whose eyebrows are furrowing. "Listen to me, carefully - Raven's out of custody. She escaped last night-"
"Spencer, baby," Nicole calls, and her attention shifts. "Tony's saying Raven's coming for you. It's a long story, but she won't be alone-"
"She's alerted HYDRA," Clint tells Pietro, and both Spencer and Pietro watch each other with wide eyes.
"Listen," Nicole says, and Spencer's face feels like it's on fire. "I have to hang up, now. We don't know what kind of surveillance she has on you - you're with Pietro, right?"
Spencer glances over at the said boy. His smile has faded, and his expression has hardened considerably.
"Yeah, yeah, he's right by me," Spencer tells her softly, and Pietro flickers his attention over to her just for a moment.
"Okay, good," she says, with a sigh of relief. "Stay safe - okay? Nothing stupid."
"Yeah," Spencer agrees. She wonders if her mom can hear her voice trembling. Mostly, She's wondering if she'll ever get a moment of peace.
The line goes dead. Spencer listens to the tone for a second, letting the fear be over her skin with a green tint.
Pietro beside her lowers his phone. Spencer follows suit.
"We need to leave," Spencer says. "We should run-"
"No," Pietro disagrees. Spencer looks at him like he's crazy. "We stay here," he tells her. "If she told them, then HYDRA is in all the surrounding towns - we have nowhere to go."
"But they're coming, right?" Spencer demands, scrambling to follow as Pietro stands from the grass, grabbing the blanket and the food, and all proof of their nice moment. "Clint, Natasha - my dad - they're coming?"
"Of course they are," Pietro assures her. Spencer's not settled, and he can tell, so he takes her arms in his hands. "We are going to be just fine, Spencer," he tells her seriously, surely.
Spencer lets herself believe him. She did before, all that time ago in this same cabin, and he got her away from HYDRA. Maybe, he can do it all again.
You know, skipping the part with the kidnapping and near-death - if Spencer's lucky, that is.
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AN HOUR AND A HALF PASS.
Spencer has yet to be kidnapped/maimed/tortured/killed.
Which is a pleasant - and welcomed - surprise. She's not sure if this is purposeful - if Raven's just waiting it out, spiking Spencer's nerves, so when she finally does attack, Spencer's defenseless.
Or if the blue girl is just really shitty at tracking her down.
As much as she wants to be convinced it's the latter, the first idea seems more likely. After all, HYDRA's raided this area before. They might not know exactly where the cabin is - if James kept his mouth shut - but they know the vicinity. And they should be preparing to attack.
"Stop that," Pietro tells her, seriously, pulling her hand off of the table. She'd been picking at the wood for the last 45 minutes, and has made some serious damage.
Spencer assesses him again. His face is still set with that hard expression, but now, he seems a bit paler than before.
"You should eat something," she tells him.
"I am not hungry. Are you?"
"Not at all,'' Spencer mutters in return, her eyes moving to the window. There's no point though - it's mostly muscle memory. The window has been covered in blankets and curtains to block anyone from seeing inside.
"Have you noticed I'm the world's worst luck charm?" Spencer mentions, after a second. Pietro's eyes flicker to her in confusion. "Like, wherever I go, there's always some kind of mess-"
"Do not be so full of yourself," Pietro tells her. "I am very valuable. They go through all this trouble not just for you."
SPencer laughs out of disbelief. It makes Pietro break into a grin.
"I seriously hate you."
"You wanted me to marry me yesterday-"
"I did not say that!" Spencer shouts, which makes Pietro grin some more.
They settle for a moment. It's a small bit of peace and quiet, but for some reason, it puts them more on edge than before.
And it only takes another minute for Pietro to lose his patience.
"I am going to check the town," he says, abruptly, standing from his seat.
"Absolutely not," Spencer shots down, standing up with him. "First off - HYDRA, idiot. Second off, the last time-"
"The last time was different," Pietro tells her. "I found them. Then, I tried to kill them - this time," he corrects. "I will not kill without you. Promise."
Spencer appreciates the effort to compromise.
"I just need to check the town," he tells her "There are innocent people living there."
Pietro's right. Someone does need to check that the town isn't being massacred/raided/burnt to a crisp right now. And a much as Spencer doesnt want that to happen, she thinks it's very important to Pietro tht the people are okay. After all, he spent a long time in that cabin without her, and they seemed to care for him.
"Let me go with you," Spencer says.
"I am so much faster alone," Pietro tells her, and Spencer pulls a face.
"Fair, I guess," she mutters in response. Pietro would be back in a few minutes - if even that. And what are the chances that in those few moments, someone would come and kill her? Slim to none. Hopefully.
When Pietro's gone, Spencer reaches under the kitchen sink, pulling back the cabinet doors. It's where Pietro had hidden all the weapons he chose not to mention he had hidden.
She grabs a random gun, but by the time she is straightening out again, Pietro's right at the door.
"Oh," she says, placing the weapon on the table, safety still on and everything. She watches as he closes the door behind him, taking a few silent steps in. "I thought you'd take a little longer," she admits with a shrug. "Thought I should be prepared," she laughed out loud when his eyes trained on the gun in front of her.
"Pietro?" she calls. He looks really serious. His eyes are all focused and his face is pretty expressionless. "Did something happen?" she asks, stepping away from the counter (and the gun), and closer to him.
"Hey-" she starts, comfortingly, half expecting him to say something like, 'we have to go' or 'everyone's dead'.
He doesn't though. Pietro doesn't say a damn word - instead, he reaches forward, locking his hand around Spencer's throat.
And there goes that emotionless expression. Pietro's grinning, now - but not in that cute, irritating way that he always does. No, this is pretty close to psychotic. This is terrifying to see.
Her airway is restricted, and Spencer, having not prepared for this, is instantly breathless from the attack and the shock. Airflow to her head is cutting off slowly, and her thinking is draining.
But this is Pietro. Pietro never makes Spencer scared or worried or fearful, and her body's having a hard time processing this whole thing - it's not even turning a shade of green. She trusts Pietro. That's the problem.
She trusts him. Completely. Pietro Maximoff is the only person Spencer has never lost. He's the one person who never took pity on her or hated her - and she trusts him, entirely, with her whole being. And if he kills her... then okay. Because her mind and body doesn't know how to fight against him - she doesn't think she can do that, anymore.
It takes longer than it should for Spencer to realize, this is not, in fact, Pietro Maximoff. While his blue eyes, silver hair, and ability to run really fast seems like a dead give away, this can't be him. Pietro Maximoff isn't supposed to kill Spencer.
And yet, here she is. Held against a wall by her throat, struggling against his hold, trying to figur out what the fuck is going on.
But when he speaks - when he says these next few words - Spencer knows this isn't Pietro.
"Die, you bitch," Pietro growls, his hand constricting against Spencer's throat.
By the time the words are settling in her head, and the realization is hitting her, the pressure against Spencer's throat is relieved, and Pietro has a haze of red around him, slowly rising in the air.
"I told you not to run," Wanda hisses from the front of the cabin.
The two girls lock eyes.
Spencer's tosses a drawer open on her left, and grabs out the first thing she sees - a knife. She swipes it against her assilaint's arm, hard and quick.
Blue. The skin is turning blue.
But before Spencer can say anything at all, she's no longer standing in the cabin.
Whiplash hits her before relaxation does, and when her eyes actually land on Pietro in front of her, she shoves him away.
"What the hell," Spencer spits out. "What the-"
"It was Raven," Pietro tells her, raising his hands in a good show. They're in a clearing, and Spencer is still struggling to catch her breath. "She is convincing, is she not?"
Spencer's brain feels like it's short circuiting. "Shut up," she grumbles, but the rest of her is all like, yeah that was really convincing. I take back everything I've said about you.
"Are the rest of the Avengers here?" she asks, and Pietro nods, watching as she slowly straightens back into a standing position. "I need my gun."
Pietro pulls a face. "Your gun?"
"Get me a damn gun," Spencer growls, and Pietro rolls his eyes, but zips away.
When he's back, he holds the gun out for her, lazily.
Spencer grabs it irritatedly.
"Where's Raven?" she demands.
"She is being handled," Pietro promises, grabbing Spencer's shoulder to keep her from running back to the cabin. "Wanda is throwing her around like a ragdoll. Come on," he tells her, gesturing for her to get closer. "We have another fight."
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IN PIETRO'S DEFENSE, THE "OTHER" FIGHT WAS MUCH MORE INTERESTING THAN RAVEN GETTING HER ASS KICKED.
Clint hadn't been joking about Raven allerting HYDRA - there was a whole swarm of them in the forest just beside the town. But luckily, the Avengers actually managed to be on time - Tony's in the air, Clint and Natasha are on the ground, and Steve is probably avoiding Spencer...
And Pietro. He's just standing by Spencer, who's pulling the safety off her gun.
"Go," she tells him when she notices his hesitation.
He presses a kiss to Spencer's forehead, and speeds off.
Spencer focuses on the fight. It's been a while since she's actually be in a real ambush like this - of course, in HYDRA control. But it's all like muscle memory; the stance she leans into, the angle she holds her gun, the way her eyes flit around the scene, trying to submerge everything.
First thing she notices : HYDRA agent having a clear shot on Hawkeye. Immediately, Spencer pulls the trigger, hitting his shoulder before he could hit Clint.
"Shit!" Clint shouts, his head snapping over to Spencer as the body falls beside him. "Who gave you a gun?"
Spencer shrugs, turning to her next target. Someone is in the act of strangling Natasha, who look's like she's kinda got it handled. Spencer shoots, anyway.
Natasha's attention whips over to the younger girl as the body collapses nice to her.
"Good shot," she praises with a nod. Spencer grins at her.
Everything goes smoothly - for like another two minutes. Which is more than Spencer expected, to be fair, but when she looks back to Natasha, just to make sure everything's A-oK, her heart sinks.
Natasha's not dead, or anything, it's just... Steve's there. Steve Rogers. And while Spencer knows she just literally fell victim to Raven's illusion ten minutes ago, there's still that subconscious, sinking fear that he's going to kill her.
But he's not. Steve is helping Natasha, and he's not going to hurt her.
But the HYDRA agent that tackles Spencer to the ground, might.
"Spencer!" Steve shouts from where Natasha is, but Spencer literally rather die then get Mr.America's help.
She's quick to channel all her strength and shove the man off of her, sending him five yards away until his back hits a tree.
Her head whips over to where Steve is watching her, concerned. His eyes match hers with a small nod. "Uh," he starts, squinting at the body falling to the ground. "Nice job."
Natasha's eyes float over to where Spencer is brushing off the dirt. "Your dad's looking for you," Natasha mentions.
"Let's hope he doesn't find me!" Spencer calls back, aiming her gun at another agent.
"I think he already did," Steve admits, his eyes trained behind Spencer.
Spencer turns to see what he means.
The Hulk locks eyes with Spencer. She doesn't know how she missed him before, but this forest is pretty big, there are a lot of HYDRA agents, and her ears are ringing.
"SPENCER GOES INSIDE," Hulk demands,
"No, I'm fine! Tell my dad-" she body checks a six-foot-tall HYDRA agent, "I'm perfectly fine!"
The Hulk grumbles something that Spencer doesn't grasp, but she's pretty focused on what she's doing - and from the looks of it, he goes back to whatever he's doing, too.
And everything's fine for like... another three minutes. All the visible HYDRA agents are down, by now, and the Avengers are reassembling. Natasha and Steve are already by each other, Clint is heading towards them.
Spencer feels relief rush through her. Thinking this fight is over, Spencer drops her gun and takes a step forward.
But she freezes when she hears a clicking noise, and feels the warm barrel of a gun presse against her skull.
Steve, Natasha, and Clint all look over to where Spencer is standing, petrified.
A cool, consdensceing tone calls out, "Put your hands up, and turn around. Slowly."
Shit, Spencer thinks. She forgot about her and Wanda and Pietro.
Her eyes shoot to Natasha, who's watching her wairly. Then to clint, who gives her a small nod to follow directions.
So, Spencer does. She turns, as slowly as possible, to face Raven.
But... she's not blue anymore. She's not taking someone else's form, either - she's someone Spencer's never seen before. She's got brown hair and perfect skin, and she's really, really pretty.
And behind her, yards behind her, the twins are standing, shoulder to shoulder. They don't move, afraid to irritate the situation.
"It was never about you," Raven says, esaperatedlly. "It was about him," she spits out, jutting her chin to Steve. "About being a deadbeat, about avoiding responsibility. But you," she laughs out, her eyes back on Spencer. "You had to make it all about you."
"You got me tortured," Spencer shoots back with out even thinking about it. The gun of the barrel is shoved against her skull, tighter. Spencer tries not to stumble back.
"Collateral," Raven replies, her eyes fickering back to Steve.
(Spencer's eyes are trained forward, and she sees something in the trees. When her eyes focus in, the figure shifts a little, but Spencer can't tell who it is.)
"You could have stopped all this," Raven guilts him. "By just being there for your own child."
"Alright," Spencer interrupts, currently unphased by the gun against her head. "That's not-"
Raven shoves the gun against Spencer, grabbing her shoulder and pulling her against her chest. Spencer doesn't bother to fight back, not particularly wanting to get shot in the head, or antyhing.
"Shut up," she growls at Spencer.
Spencer does, in fact, shut up.
"I thought what I was doing was right," Steve confesses, stepping forward. "Please, don't hold Spencer accountable-"
"You don't get to ask for favors," Raven denies, the barrel of the gun brusing Spencer now. She doesn't want to summon her strength, not in this position... "You screwed up Elenora's life, Steve."
"Why do you have more of an issue with it than she does?" Steve questions, calmly. "If Elenora is upset-"
"She's a child!" Raven exclaims. "You betrayed her mother-"
Spencer decides to give a little tug to the hold. "I really dont't think I need-"
"Shut up," Raven tells her. "I won't say it, again."
Spencer's eyes flicker down to the ground. She's trying to think about how to get out of this herself, but the gun she'd abanonded on the floor is moving? By itself?
"Let her go, Raven," Pietro speaks up, and Spencer's being pulled around with raven to face the twins.
Leaving your back to superheroes, Spencer thinks. Horrible idea. Also, how the fuck has the gun disppareared?
"Peter," Wanda says, "Now."
Spencer's eyes grow wide as that blur from the trees early comes swinging at her.
The gun is off of Spencer's head, flying away with a white web. Spencer turns to attack Raven, only to see that she's already gon a gun against her school.
"And this is why Uncle Charles never lets me train with you," Elenora stays, her finger steady on the trigger. Spencer can't see, but she's sure Raven looks horrified right about now. "You always play dirty."
"Oh shit!" Peter exclaims. "That was awesome!"
"I know, right!" Elenora exclaims with an equally excited expression. Spencer shoots her a look as she grabs Ravens arm, twisting it behind her back. Elenora sobers up, quickly when Spencer shoots her a look.
Spencer looks at the younger girl. "Give me the gun," she tells her, and Elenora brugundlingy hands it over.
Natasha and Clint come to get handcuffs on Raven. She struggles, a lot, but Spencer kicks the back of her knee which forces Raven to comply, and Natasha to hide a proud smile.
Putting the safety back on the gun, Spencer drops it too the floor again, turning back to the twins. Peter appears at her side, and Spencer lazily hangs her arm around his shoulder.
"Power team, huh?" Spencer plays, grinning over at the twins, and down at Peter. She turns her head to smile at Elenora, too, but the younger girl is watching as her aunt is carried into SHEILD custody.
And then Spencer notices the way that Steve is watching Elenora. Carefully. Sadly.
"Well," Spencer says, pulling her arm off of Peter. "I'm gonna go find my dad," she says. "Anyone up for a walk?"
Both the twins nod, following her lead.
Reluctantly, Peter follows too, leaving steve and Elenora in the clearing, alone.
"I didn't need her to fight my battles for me."
"Dad!" Spencer shouts out, cupping her hands around her mouth. Pietro grins at her and shakes her head. "What?" Spencer demands. "I'm trying to be a good daughter."
"SPENCER!"
The volume of the Hulk's shout makes Spencer stumble, to which Pietro lets out a booming laugh. Even Wanda beside her lets out a little chuckle.
She gives him a shove and Wanda a look before calling out, "I'm coming, Dad! Everything's fine..."
She trudges forward, ahead of the rest.
"Pietro," Wanda calls, and her brother matches her eyes. "Did you ask yet?"
Pietro's cheeks go red, and he turns away. "No," he replies shortly.
Peter jogs up between them. "Ask what?" he questions.
The twins pretend they can't hear him.
When Spencer finally gets to the clearing where Bruce is, she's only half surprised to see Natasha already there.
"Hey," she greets the woman, and Natasha sends her a small smile.
"Big guy's kinda freaked out," she explains, watching as Spencer cautiously comes to a stop. The Hulk is staring down at her like he's scruntizing her every moove. "Raven shapeshifted into you and tried to shoot him."
"Well," Spencer says with a shrug, her eyes meeting Hulk's again. "You don't think I'm that stupid, right?"
"SPENCER NOT STUPID."
"Jesus, dad," Spencer mumbles putting her hands over her ears. "I think I've got a concussion," she tells him. "Can you keep the yelling to a minimum?"
Natasha smiles at her. "Alright, Big Guy," she calls, and the Hulk looks over to her. "Gonna let Bruce get a chance to say hi?"
"BRUCE SAYS HI."
Natasha sends the Hulk a look, to which he grumbles something back in reply, but starts shrinking down, anyway.
Spencer turns away. She's learned pretty recently that Bruce actually does not shift back with clothes - which was an uncomfortable conversation between her and the twins.
"What the hell are you talking about? He literally has purple shorts on-"
"Draga, are you stupid?"
"Pietro! Don't say that - Spencer, just think about it..."
"Spence!" Bruce calls, and when she turns around, Bruce is - thankfully - fully clothed.
"Dad," Spencer calls back, rushing forward, and tackling him in a hug.
It must be the five minutes of relaxation, or the fact that Spencer's miracioulosy not dead, that makes her overly emotional.
"Hey kiddo," Bruce mumbles, holding his daughter tightly. "I'm so glad you're alright."
"Yeah, me too," Spencer agrees, grinning up at him. "Totally didn't think I was gonna make it out of that," she mentions, breathlessly, falling back a few steps. "Hey -- I never asked, but does the Hulk think I'm like his daughter or something-"
Bruce looks down at her, amused, and he's almost going to answer, but then Spencer loses her her balance, a sideeffect of kicking ass.
"Woah, woah," Bruce breathes out, holding on to Spencer's arms. She's feeling uncharacteristically lightheaded and weak right now. "Natasha," Bruce calls, warningly.
Natasha glances over, concerned, but Spencer waves her off.
" 'M fine, dad," Spencer promises, but Bruce is clearly not convinced. He keeps his hold on her arms as the twins come into view.
"Banner," Pietro greets with a nod, Wanda just a few feet behind him.
Wanda notices the interaction and eyes the two of them carefully.
"Yeah, dad?" Spencer says, tightening her grip on Bruce's arm. His eyes dart back over to her. "I feel sick."
"Yeah," Bruce agrees, her weight slacking on him some more. He doesn't fight to hold her up, but he does look down at her with concern. "I think we should get you to the Helicarrier," he says, meeting eyes with Natasha.
"Right, yeah," Spencer's agrees, breathlessly. Everyone starts making their way out of the clearing.
Even Spencer takes a few steps forward -- but then, her knees buckle, and Bruce's hold on her tightens.
"Not gonna..." Spencer starts, but her words die off.
And so does her consciousness.