~Pietro's POV~
I'd never seen Bruce run so fast before. The Hulk, maybe, but not Bruce. He was old, compared to the other Avengers, and he didn't really appear to join the others in the gym unless he was testing some physics based method of playing basketball with Peter and I a few months back.
Which is why I was surprised that when Tony had suggested I didn't speed-run, so as not to scare the locals, that Bruce swore loudly and took off running ahead of the group. I kept pace with him, so neither of us were alone, and together we chased through the bustling crowds of accented voices to the hotel.
A ginger receptionist behind the desk stood up at our intrusion, bafflement plastered across her face. I'm sure we all looked a state - none of us had really slept since we left the US, and since then we'd flown from London up north to Scotland.
"I..." she stumbled over her greeting, "how may I help?"
Bruce began panting after his sprint through the town, and crouched over his knees as he caught his breath. I glanced over at him before stepping forward. "We're guests of Scott Lang."
Scott never seemed to have power within the team - he had been introduced as 'silly' when I met him the first time, so didn't expect the receptionist to suddenly become serious and direct us to his rooms. The change in atmosphere became tense, and my heart began thumping at an uncomfortable pace.
It felt like whole months had passed since my strained goodbye with Eliza. And so much had happened since then... and even more time had passed since I'd seen Wanda. She was my own sister, and I was scared I wouldn't be able to recognise her.
"Scott afforded this place?" Raven kicked at the carpeted floor as she whistled loudly. "I know I've not met the guy but I've seen the training videos... yikes, an Avenger salary must be fucking huge-"
"Shut up." I muttered.
"Why are you like this?" She turned on me. "I'm here for Wanda, the same as you."
"But-"
"Pietro." Bruce cut me off, his eyes challenging me to stay quiet. I just nodded, guilty that I couldn't hold it together to be kind for a day.
We could hear the Avengers wandering up the stairs behind us, and though he attempted to stay quiet, Thors God-like booming voice was reverberating around the walls of the stairwell.
The light bounced brightly through the newly painted hall, but the silence that loomed over Bruce, Raven and I suddenly made the hotel feel eerie. Small shadows flicked and enlarged, growing wider against the wall and floor as we walked to the door right at the end of the corridor.
"This one?" I checked, watching our reflection in the polished plaque that declared the rooms number. Bruce nodded, and after tapping on the door we fell into silence.
Two pairs of footsteps approached the door as a quiet argument became audible. "But Dad-"
"No, now isn't really the best time-"
"I'll stay with Eliza?"
"I think Eliza will want to stay with Pietro and Bruce, why don't you go out for a bit?"
"Because Mum and Jim went looking for food."
"Scott?" Bruce banged on the door a second time, "for my sanity please open the fucking door."
Biting back a bittersweet smile at hearing Bruce curse so loudly, I tried to look a little more serious. But my resolve shattered as Scott opened the door, and Cassie poked her head around his side. "Pietro!"
"Hey kid," I nodded at her. "You okay?"
"Eliza's in the bathroom." She bit her lip, "she's crying."
"I thought you were meant to be a good liar?" Scott frowned, but I had already walked past him and into the large hotel room he had been sharing with his family. It was empty, besides an open door to the side, where a running tap could be heard.
I hesitantly slowed down, and caught sight of the back of Eliza's head. Her darker hair was damp and messy, freshly washed from the shower that she was turning off.
She wore shorts, even though summer in Scotland felt freezing, and a huge jumper that looked to belong to Scott.
She froze, but didn't move. "Pietro?"
Her voice.
Her sweet, soulful, demanding and angry and passionate voice... cracked.
"Eliza?"
I could see her fists shaking, through the balled up sleeves that were clutched in fists by her sides. I took a step forward, but she was already shaking her head. "Don't."
"What's wrong?" My own voice was a whisper, scaring myself as I saw Eliza crumpling.
"I don't look the same." She mumbled. "I don't mind, but I don't want you to..."
She trailed off, but I let my gaze drop down. She wore purple fuzzy socks up to the tops of her ankles, but as she shuffled, the sock rolled down slightly.
And a green blotch of skin looked to have grown up the back of her leg.
"Eliza..." I paused, unsure of what to say. "I don't have to look. I just want to be here - please, may I hold you?" I bit my lip, "I'll close my eyes."
I squeezed my eyes shut, and lifted my arms up. I could feel myself tense, then shake, with my own nerves. I knew Eliza would be suffering after whatever trauma her father had dragged her through, but I didn't want her to be ashamed of it.
I was beginning to lose hope, finally convincing myself that she wasn't ready, when a featherlight touch skimmed across my chest. Then a more assured grasp tightened around the front of my clothes, and her warmth surrounded my body.
I lowered my arms to wrap around her, pulling her into me and holding her as close as I could without physically hurting her. Her arms wrapped around my body, her head resting gently against me as she slowed my breathing down.
"The Hulk won't leave me," She croaked. "It's not bad, she's helping, but I'm..."
I kept my eyes shut, but lifted a hand to stroke through her hair, an act I knew comforted the both of us. "You are part Hulk?"
Cold hands cupped my cheeks, and her small thumbs brushed over the skin there. "Open your eyes."
I blinked several times, needing to adjust to the light, before I looked down. Speckled green marks were littered over her skin, and one large chunk of her cheek was messily coloured in the vivid, bright colour.
Her eyes were determined though, not glassy with tears like I feared they might be. I believe she'd come to terms with her appearance already, and she was just waiting for my opinion.
"It suits you."
She blinked, frowned, then stroked the mark that covered the tips of each finger on her left hand. "It suits me?"
I nodded, and let a small smile creep over my face. "Yeah." I nodded.
She smiled wider, and leant closer to press her lips to my shoulder. I tugged her towards me, clinging to her hands as I spun her slightly around the small bathroom. "I love you."
Our voices were gentle, coaxing us closer together, before we heard a glass shattering and a broken scream coming from the main room.
I grabbed Eliza and charged out, expecting to see a fight, but was instead met with the sight of Raven sobbing into a girls shoulder.
The Avengers were hovering around the edge of the room, but the door to the hall was left open, and shattered glass and water was covering the threshold.
Knotted red waves of hair bobbed by Ravens face, and delicate fingers decorated with the same green marks as Eliza's hands clutched her back.
Incoherent bubbles of noise spurted from Wanda, and when she finally drew back, her sole concentration was on Raven. A mix of purple and red mist wrapped around them like a thin, veiled cocoon, as Wanda cupped Ravens face just like Eliza had done to me moments before. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Eliza said you were kind of crazy, I thought we'd figured that out, how did you find me? Are you safe?"
My heart shattered.
Eliza pulled me into a hug, and I wrapped my body protectively around her, nestling my face into the crook of her neck, distancing myself from my sister. "Did they inject you?" I whispered.
"Not again, I don't think." She murmured. "Well, Josh did, to knock me out, but I don't know if that was more Hulk or just..."
She suddenly pulled back, "Josh was the one who injected me in the first place."
I frowned, "he was?"
She nodded, then grabbed my shoulders and kissed me, hard. "Where's Bruce?"
I pointed at the door, and seconds later she was dragging me across the floor by my fingertips.
Wanda barely cast me a glance as we charged past.
"There's an army." She gulped, staring up at Bruce as he just blinked down at her with slight surprise.
Then he lurched forwards, and cradled her to his body. "You are never leaving my sight again."
Her giggle was broken by a steady stream of tears, and I suddenly felt torn between the two young women crying on either side of me.
Tony sauntered into the room, but slowed down and scanned his eyes over everyone inside before he nodded approvingly. "We've got the floor. Some will have to share, but Cassie here wants to enjoy the rest of her holiday in peace."
He poked the top of Cassies hair, which she flicked over her shoulder with a fake grumpy pout pushing her lips up. The disgruntled glare she offered Tony was enough to make me laugh, and the relief that flooded my body almost overwhelmed me completely.
***
~Eliza's POV~
Pietro's head lay in my lap as I rested my back against the cushions. His hand would lazily trace patterns around my knee, hovering over the newly coloured skin, before he would lean over and press his lips against it.
"You have to promise me." He muttered again, "promise me if you are in any kind of pain, you tell me."
"I promise." I yawned, stroking his frizzing grey hair between my fingers. "I'm just tired."
"But is the tiredness a side effect -"
"No." I cut him off, and gently pulled on his hair so he would roll off my lap and face me. "I'm tired because my Dad threw me round like a rag doll. Just usually battle scars, okay?"
His lips pursed, almost like he was contemplating a reply, but he shrugged it away and held the hand resting in my lap.
"When you have rested we should leave the room." He declared. His rolling, familiar accent tugged me closer to the depths of sleep I wished to sink to, but his actual words pulled me back.
"We can leave the room now."
His fingers slowed their trail over mine, and I realised that maybe Pietro was avoiding the others for his own reasons. I ignored the Hulk telling me off, and tried to focus on Pietro, squeezing his hand gently.
"She'll speak to you." I whispered. "I'm sure she will."
"That's not what I want." His teary eyes tore at my heart. "She doesn't know me."
I reached out, and brushed away the single tear that had slipped over his cheek. "I spoke to her." I murmured, "on the way to the town. She wants to know you, I'm sure she does."
He stayed silent, but instead dropped to his elbows and tightened his arms around my waist, his head falling lazily back into my lap.
"You're my priority," he whispered. "I want you to feel safe."
The hairs on my skin rose as his words rolled over me. I loved Pietro, truly I did, and his concern for my safety meant more to me than he must realise. But I didn't feel safe with the thought of my father so close to us.
"Can we leave?" I scratched his shoulder lightly, as my nerves bounced to be released. "I want to see the others."
Pietro hesitantly sat back up, "You don't need to sleep?"
I shook my head, lying through the action. I was exhausted, but I needed the security. "I'm fine." I pecked his cheek in an attempt to convince him, but he just smiled weakly, and stood back from the bed.
I twisted our fingers together, and squeezed his hand softly as he pulled me slowly to the door. "Do you need to eat?" He asked, "I am hungry for the..." he trailed off, a pouting frown stuck on his face as he slowed to a stop by the door. "What is the word?"
"I don't know," I smiled, "What is the word?"
"For the red fruit?"
"A strawberry?"
"No."
"Raspberry?"
He shook his head, "the pears friend. Sometimes they are green... oh Eliza, what is the word?"
I felt myself laughing quietly, "an apple?"
He clicked his fingers, and tugged me into his side. "This - this is why I love you."
I rolled my eyes, but his teasing helped me to relax as we walked down the corridor to the room we had designated the 'meeting place'. Several Avengers were sharing rooms all along the corridor, but one room had been chosen to be the place where we would gather to sit and talk with one another.
I gripped his hand tighter as we paused outside, and he gestured to the door for me to open it. With an ache in my chest, I realised he wanted this to be on my terms - he didn't want to make me feel uncomfortable in any way.
I tentatively opened the door, and peeked inside to see Bruce, Thor and Tony gathered around the edge of one sofa, discussing something quietly.
"Hi." I squeaked out, before clearing my throat. "Can we come in?"
"Of course," Thor stood up to his great height, striding across the room with an air of power and familiarity. "Are you feeling better my lady." He picked my hand up, holding it softly before he placed it back by my side.
I smiled at his friendly, gentle gesture, "I am now, thank you."
I followed him inside, after Pietro shut the door behind us, and saw Steve and Bucky on the other side of the room, with a phone balanced on a chair between them. They were waving their hands around, scribbling notes and checking laptops and beeping monitors next to them before relaying information back to the phone.
"What are they doing?" I pointed to them as I sat beside Bruce.
"They're keeping Clint and Nat in the loop." Bruce explained, "they were the ones who noticed your father had bought a ticket to France, and they think they have a tracker on him, to see where he went next."
I shivered slightly, and pulled Scott's jumper back down over my hands. "Can we not call him my father?" I mumbled. "I don't even know his name."
Bucky looked up, pausing in his manic repetition of postcodes in France. "Do you want to know his name?"
I shook my head. The less I knew about him the better, I really didn't want to have to be associated with him for any longer. But it's because of him that I'm destined to be a Hulk, and the planet is now in danger of the impending army he's planning on creating.
"He must not have a plan?" Pietro questioned. "Surely if he does he would have not fled so easily?"
Tony grumbled something about wannabe villains trying to destroy his patience, but the others returned to the work they'd been focused on.
Bruce was typing furiously on a laptop, balanced over his knees whilst he juggled a mug of now-cold coffee in one hand. I took it off him, and walked over to the tiny kettle that came with the room.
Whilst I waited for it to boil I decided to ask what he was up to, as it looked different to Steve's maps that he had on his computer screen.
"It's an... experiment." He mumbled. "I'm trying to see if there's a way to test the concentration levels of the Hulk compared to human DNA. I'll run a few on me, but if you and Wanda are willing, I just need a small sample."
"Of what?" I frowned, "blood?"
"Blood works." Bruce nodded. He didn't look up though, his eyes stayed strained and focussed on the small screen. It lit his glasses up, two small white boxes reflecting in them.
The door creaked open, and Wandas face leant around it. She scanned the room almost nervously, but didn't say anything.
"Everything okay?" I asked, "want a drink?" I gestured to the array of small sachets of coffee granules and tea bags, but she nervously shook her head.
"Is Raven in here?"
"No," Pietro answered, staring at his sister with pleading eyes. "But you can still come in."
She blinked, and her trembling lip gave away her panic. "No, I'll wait for her in our room." She shut the door quickly, and a strained silence settled thickly over the seven of us.
"Has Raven gone out?" Pietro seethed, his words a quiet hiss. "She's the only one Wanda listens to."
"Pietro, I'm sure she just popped out of the room. Maybe she's with Loki?" I suggested, trying to calm the anger that I could see washing over his face.
He shook his head, "Wanda was already taken. Twice!"
"Pietro," Thor stared at him. "Come with me." His large hand pulled Pietro from the sofa by his shoulder, and the pair left the room.
"Kid," Tony looked at me. "Your hand."
I looked down, and saw the veins rippling with the anxiety that pushed through my chest. The tips of my fingers that were now green, grew brighter as if the Hulk levels were growing stronger.
"Is he going to be okay?" I shoved my hand in my pocket. "Pietro?"
Bruce closed the lid of his laptop, and I curled into his side, handing him his hot coffee. "Thor lost Loki a lot. I'm still not 100% sure he's a good guy, but they've been through millennia of losing each other again and again. Hopefully Thor will be able to sympathise with Pietro - get him to understand there's always a chance that things will be okay."
"But she won't even talk to him..." I trailed off, knowing that there was no point arguing. Both were still hurting, and in pain, and as long as they couldn't connect, then they wouldn't be able to communicate with each other.
"He was worried sick about you." Bruce murmured softly, "he didn't stop until we left America. He didn't stop moving on the jet, he was the first one off and running through your old home when we found it. He was the one who found the microphones and trackers... we couldn't have found you without Pietro."
I nodded, knowing that it was all true. I knew he had found me - I just knew that his sister was more important right now, and I completely agreed with him. Before I found out Josh's secrets with the Hulk, he had been my priority too.
"He created a rota." Bruce added in his soft whisper, "like a timetable for you. He'd scheduled in rest and food, and chances to rebuild your strength depending on how poorly you were. Amazing, really."
I couldn't stop the smile that began creeping up my face as I glanced back at the door Pietro had left through.
Amazing was definitely the word I'd use to describe my boyfriend too.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Thank you for those who continue to read this book with the super slow updates. The fact you're still reading, commenting and voting means a huge amount to me and I am forever grateful.
I have a total of 27 chapters planned for the entirety of this book, and that means that we only have six to go! I'm contemplating bonus chapters and extra one off chapters, but once I have finished Quiver I aim to complete a few of my other current books.
Thank you again for the huge support I've received - it keeps me going and I am so happy people are enjoying these stories.
Love you all
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