Endearment – Pietro Maximoff – Part Three

Darkness consumed me and I began to float away from the faint light that shone above me. I couldn’t feel anything. Strange noises echoed around me faintly and the darkness was becoming increasingly difficult to hold back from. I just wanted to let go, forever. But I wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t, not when I had so many responsibilities.

I woke with a gasp, the beeping sound of what I assumed was a monitor of some sort ringing in my ears like an alarm clock. My head was resting on something soft and my arms lay on either side of my body. Was I in a hospital?

“And she’s awake.” I heard a feminine voice speak.

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t do so, I realized that my entire body was incapable of moving at that moment. I could hear a faint buzzing noise, like a laser or something. I began to panic, what the hell was happening?

“Don’t worry Charlie, you’re absolutely safe.” a voice called out to me like a soothing balm and I instantly stopped worrying.

Oh well, I guess I was alive which meant something at least. I took deep breaths and attempted to open my eyes once again, slowly. It was so bright at first but my eyes began adjusting to the light. I was in a very bright room, obviously, and the walls along with the ceiling were completely white with the exception of lights hanging from above. Those were just bright little suckers. Tired eyes wandered over to my bashed up body and I saw something almost resting on top of my abdomen, it was just hovering there while a neon light swiped left to right. I looked around slowly and came face to face with a woman, she smiled at me warmly but I knew she was in pain due to the bruises on her skin. She was also the one whose voice I had been listening to moments ago. She had very unique features despite the bruises. A perfect round face, porcelain skin and a full fringe covering her forehead. She was so beautiful.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Helen Cho. How do you feel?” she spoke to me, eyes genuinely concerned.

I attempted to speak but was unable to, my mouth was dry and it hurt. I swallowed hard and tried to reply back, voice croaky and barely recognizable.

“Like…I’m dying.” I whimpered.

She smiled sadly at me. “Well, you’re not wrong with that. Practically all of us were.” she murmured, eyes wandering around the machine above my abdomen.

“Where…are my sisters?” I asked. It was killing me, it was the only thing going through my mind. I wanted to know if they were alright, and also. How long had I been asleep?

“I’m sorry, you needed to rest for a while so I told them to take a break and offered to stay here myself.” Dr. Cho replied.

“..and exactly how long have I been asleep?” I asked, almost fearing the response.

“You were brought here about 3 days ago.” Dr. Cho responded.

My eyes widened in surprise, those two numpties were here for three whole days? Thea, I understand why she would stay with me but Maira too? I was seriously going to have a word with those two.

“Please tell me they didn’t stay in here the whole time, bathroom breaks not included.” I groaned, pressing my head into the soft pillow.

Dr. Cho smiled at me softly and then turned away as she scanned through some papers.

“I’m afraid they did, but I wouldn’t be too hard on them. They were worried sick for you, rightfully so. You were in a terrible condition when they brought you here.” Dr. Cho began to explain exactly what parts of me had been badly injured.

I had been shattered, sort of speaking. I remember feeling a lot of pain but not being able to pinpoint it anywhere other than my back. But I had fractured my right arm, sprained my wrists, broken a couple of ribs, sprained my ankles and most likely suffered a concussion. I was prohibited from moving.

Wow.

Dr. Cho mentioned a few more injuries but everything she said went over my head after a while. How was I even alive? I should have dropped dead the moment I suffered that many injuries, but I didn’t. Okay, I might have been exaggerating but somehow, this was a miracle. I was actually a miracle, sort of speaking.

“I can’t believe I’m even alive right now..” I blurted out.

“The world of science is forever discovering. You’re alive because you’re not going anywhere any time soon.”

“Now, I won’t be a bother to you. Your recovering really well at the moment, everything seems normal, including your heart rate.” Dr. Cho stated, turning away suddenly and facing me with a smile on her face.

“Thank you Doctor Cho.” I murmured, closing my eyes. Suddenly I felt extremely tired.

“Don’t thank me, it’s the Avengers that saved us all..” was all I heard before I dozed off.

–

.

–

I couldn’t remember how long I’d been asleep for but it felt like a long time. I felt a little bit better than I initially did when I had regained consciousness. My body was aching just a bit and I knew that I was dosed with a high amount of medication to feel that way. My eyes wandered around the huge room and caught Thea pacing back and forth, but Maira wasn’t to be seen anywhere. I moaned softly, causing her to stop pacing and look directly at me.

“Oh thank god!” She whispered, almost running towards me.

“I can’t believe I landed in a hospital bed at 20..” I mumbled, throat hurting me.

“Yeah.” She laughed, grabbing the glass of water on the side table next to me. She pulled the bed up via the remote control and set it slightly higher so I could drink properly. It was still hard as I was unable to move. Thea placed the glass near my dry lips as I began to take little sips of water.

“Not just any hospital, it’s the Avengers’ private hospital. Also known as the Avengers Tower.”

Wait, what? We were…what?

“I know, pretty crazy right?” Thea chuckled. I wouldn’t call it crazy, it was rather unbelievable and absolutely not true.

“I mean, I should have known that but, really?” I asked.

She nodded excitedly. Okay, wow. I was in fact, inside the Avengers Tower.

“And may I ask where Maira is? Just because I was knocked out doesn’t mean you get to leave her alone Thea.” I scolded her.

She rolled her eyes at me and said “Relax, will you? She’s pretty occupied right now because unlike you and me, she has a rocking social life.”

I couldn’t argue with that. She did have a better social life than the two of us combined.

“I didn’t tell you the best part.” She said a moment later. How could this get any better than it already was?

“We’re staying here now!”

The sudden announcement spooked me as I began to cough violently. Thea patted my back lightly, giggling. Wow. I really did hit my head pretty badly. I was seeing and hearing things.

“There, there. I know how you feel sister.” She giggled as I struggled to breathe properly.

Okay, what the heck was going on? What was the proper explanation to whatever Thea was speaking of? We were going to stay here? With the Avengers? And most importantly, why?

So many questions went through my mind, none which Thea could even other answering. As I was about to ask her another set of questions, the automatic doors opened and in came an extremely happy Maira in the arms of, wait was that Captain America? And to the left of Maira was another grown man, looking equally delighted as she was.

Hang on.

Wasn’t that, him?

Okay, now I was definitely seeing things.

Endearment – Pietro Maximoff – Part Two

“Charlie, come on stay with me now. We’ll be safe soon enough, don’t you dare pass out on me” Thea was rambling now, trying to keep her nerves under control.

I looked around me, people desperately trying to keep calm but failing miserably. We were still under attack. The only thing keeping us alive were the Avengers. A team of superheroes. The Avengers. It was still weird to comprehend the fact that we had a God from another planet among us, a soldier out of time, a green rage monster and a genius who invented flying suits paired with a couple of master assassins. Let’s not forget the boy who could run really fast, broadly speaking. It was crazy, I never knew such people even existed. It was almost unreal, like it was all a dream or a fictional world I’d landed myself in. Apparently not. This was all real. I remember exactly 3 years ago when New York had been attacked, it was baffling. Robot armies from outer space? But then again, the one who summoned them here was also from outer space. This time it was Boston under attack, of all places. It was scary to think that there were other things in space, things that could potentially eliminate us all.

The earth beneath us rumbled suddenly and I almost rolled over in my current position. Oh yes, the city had been uprooted and was flying up to nowhere in particular with civilians still trying to escape. The important thing to remember here was that we could still survive this, even if it meant flying out in the open in the jets we had been provided with. It was going to be like sitting on a roller coaster, hopefully. God this was going to be awful, I hated roller coasters so much.

As if my thoughts had been heard, Maira started to squirm in Thea’s arm, eyes and hands darting towards me. Thea sighed, rolling her eyes.

“Okay fine, off you go to your fake momma.” Thea murmured, setting Maira beside me who then started to climb on top of me. Ouch.

“Baby, you mind getting off of me? I’m not exactly your usually functional playground right now.” I hissed as she dug her little pointy elbow in my abdomen.

I looked over to see Thea already making her way towards the seats, quite quickly I noticed. What was this girl doing?

Something rumbled vigorously, my hands grabbing Maira instinctively.

“What was th-“

For the second time in one day, my thoughts and words had been cut off and before I could even comprehend a thing, I found myself in a sitting position. I was definitely on a roller coaster. Great. Everything hurt, it was painful. Oh so painful. It was tolerable but only if I was immune to pain.

Wait, what just happened? Where were Maira and Thea? Eyes began searching for familiar faces but to no avail.

“Everyone please stay seated and fasten your seat belts. We’re going to fly now, so…enjoy if you want!”

It was his voice again, and it came from somewhere close. I tilted my head to the side and realized Thea was sitting right next to me, smiling broadly. The little rat, couldn’t she just be a little more vocal considering the fact that I’m in need of medical attention and could possibly be losing my senses? Apparently not.

Panic bubbled within me as I noticed the absence of Maira. I instantly tilted my head to the other and a similar pair of deep blue eyes connected in a heartbeat with mine. Oh lord. He seemed so calm, like we were not under a serious attack at all. How could he, of all people, be so calm and collected when the rest of us were freaking out? Was he trained to be this way so the rest of us wouldn’t panic? I suppose that was the only logical explanation, because all of a sudden I felt at ease. Like nothing would harm me if he was there. Girl..get a grip before you slip.

Something tugged at my hair and I broke our eye contact to look down. Dear god. He was holding Maira! How did I not see her before? Oh, never mind. I opened my mouth to say something but he beat me to it.

“Don’t worry, she will be safe in my arms.”

He had a mischievous glint in his eyes, but his words were reassuring. For some reason, I felt like I could trust him with her safety.

“I believe you, in case anyone is interested in my opinions” Thea interrupted from beside me, she was talking to him. I gave her a glance intense enough to make her look away from me whilst smiling.

I turned back to him, as he continued to watch me, and gave him a small nod of approval, wrapping my hand around Maira’s and squeezing them gently. The jet, plane or whatever this was meant to be began to move. Oh no. I felt sick already, with my body in so much pain I didn’t know if I was going to survive this.

Maira began to giggle and make incoherent sounds whilst waving her arms around, forcing my hand away. I watched him join in with her as they began waving their arms around. She was genuinely enjoying this. I closed my eyes for a moment. Happy thoughts Charlie. Happy thoughts.

It occurred to me that we had just lost our home, we had nowhere to go anymore. It had barely been 6 months since we settled in and already it was moments away from shattering into pieces.

I opened my eyes, the city was falling and getting smaller by the moment. There wasn’t much I could see from where we sat but I could just about figure out what was happening. My heart clenched painfully, what if we hadn’t been rescued? There was no way we could have survived this if it weren’t for these people. What if they hadn’t arrived on time? So many questions flooded my mind and I felt uneasy trying to think of the possible outcomes.

Warmth engulfed my now shaking hands, causing me to stop shaking. I didn’t even realize how badly my body behaving to all of this, I felt almost numb.

“I got you too, miss.”

His voice rang in my ears, causing a shiver down the length of my spine. I began to wonder if he was a mind reader as well. Who was he?

I whimpered in response to that and focused on anything other than the current situation. Oh who was I even trying to fool here, I was a complete downright mess and I knew it. This was not me, not even in the slightest. I hated feeling so vulnerable and, weak. Well, should have just faced your fears then instead of bloody complaining.

Something came into contact with the jet from beneath us, causing quite a turbulence.

“Damn.” I cussed, swallowing hard. My vision was starting to blur again and I felt the wounds on my body all over again. The pain had returned once again.

“Relax, we just landed. Nothing else.”

Thea’s voice rang in my ears, but I couldn’t move anymore. I should have been relieved that we’d made it to safety but my body was betraying me. My eyes began to close slowly despite my vain attempts in keeping them open and then that was it, I felt myself go limp. Voices echoed around me and I began to fade away.

Endearment – Pietro Maximoff – Part One

The city was under attack. An evil robot going by the name of Ultron had led an army of equally insane robots into attacking the city and they were everywhere. Everywhere.

I feared for everyone’s safety, no one was safe right now and every delayed moment could result in something much more terrifying. My heart raced faster than ever and I panicked thinking of my loved ones. Thea and Maira. I needed to make sure they were unharmed. I pushed my way around the broken tables and chairs, aiming towards the door only to find it blocked by metal fragments. I saw a few guys trying to kick it down but it seemed useless. The door was jammed with little to no room for escaping. My eyes darted towards the exit sign no one seemed to have noticed, that door was unharmed which meant we could all get out of here. I needed to get out right now but couldn’t just leave, with the amount of people surrounding the blocked door I reckoned there would be a chaos with everyone trying to get out all at once.

“Listen up everyone!” I pretty much screamed, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“I need everyone to calm down and listen to me. I need everyone’s cooperation if we’re going to get out of here alive.” I continued, earning hopeful glances.

“There is an exit door to my right and it is our only way out of here. I need you all to be a little patient and try not to kill each other!” I finished, marching towards the exit door.

I pushed it open, it was an alley that seemed harmless for now. Everyone began making their way towards the door as I stood there guiding them out. Once everyone was outside, I walked back inside to see if there was anyone else. There wasn’t anyone. I sighed in relief, only to have it replaced by a familiar feeling. Panic.

I ran outside and tried locating the whereabouts of my house, I recognized the streets and ultimately my destination. The entire street was unharmed so far, which was a huge relief. I ran inside, panting. Hang on, why was the door unlocked?

“Thea!” I screamed, running into the kitchen. She wasn’t there. I heard footsteps and quickly made my way back towards the staircase.

It was Thea, holding Maira in her arms. They both carried backpacks, if the situation wasn’t so serious I would have found this adorable.

“Oh thank god you’re safe Charlie!” Thea cried out, meeting me halfway. Maira extended her tiny arms towards me indicating that I hold her.

“We need to leave right now, the city is under attack!” I told her, holding my arms out and picking up Maira. I turned around and we began to hurriedly walk towards the front door.

“I think I know the city is under attack! I’ve packed everything we’ll need, and yes I’ve emptied the safe too and basically what I’m trying to say is—” she didn’t finish her sentence as a massive explosion was heard. Instinctively, I tried to shield them both with my body as everything exploded around us. Sharp pain began to shoot through and up my spine and I screamed, everything going blurry and eventually black.

Strange voices echoed around me. Something warm touched my face but I could not get myself to move. My eyes remained closed but as the warmth was lost all of a sudden, I panicked. I struggled and willed myself to open my eyes, wincing at the bright light beaming through the broken walls. We had been attacked from the outside. We. My heartbeat accelerated as I frantically tried to adjust my eyes to the blinding light. Warm hands embraced me as I was placed upright.

“Maira…” I gasped for air, my mouth dry. My eyes were starting to close and it was then that I realized how badly my entire body was in pain. It was like every bone in my body had been broken down into tiny shards that were then piercing through the skin threateningly.

“Hey hey come on now, don’t leave me again…Charlie!” I heard Thea’s voice from nearby, realizing that she was the one holding me right now.

“Thea…maira..where is she?” I whispered, forcing away the pain emitting from every part of my body and opening my droopy eyes to look into the eyes of my sister.

“She’s right here, but we need to get out of here before the rest of the remaining roof collapses on us” Thea responded, looking up at the ceiling.

Instinctively my eyes searched for maira only to find her sitting right next to me with her eyes widened. She’d been the one touching my face I realized. I sighed in relief, forcing away the tears that threatened to spill any second.

“Charlie we have to get out of here right now!” Thea said as she picked up maira, carefully placing her against her left hip and extending her right hand for me.

I winced at the amount of pain every movement caused me but we needed to move. The roof was not going to stand any longer. I wrapped my arm around Thea’s shoulders whilst maira grabbed hold of my fingers in her tiny hands.

We were in this together. Always. As a family.

We made our way out the door, getting away from the collapsing building that was once our home. It hurt. It hurt so much. But we needed to move fast before the city was destroyed completely.

“We need to get closer to one of those jets, or whatever they are before that crazy robot finishes us all!” Thea grumbled, I couldn’t disagree.

The ground rumbled dangerously and my eyes wandered around just in time to see a building starting to fall forward. Towards us. Panic grew within me and I realized it was going to be too late. I looked to my left, into the eyes of my sister and I knew she was thinking exactly the same. Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes, encircling my arms around Thea and Maira, a group hug. A family hug.

“Sorry for stepping on your moment, ladies.”

Before I could comprehend anything, the air shifted around us suddenly and an arm was instantly wrapped around my waist. I looked over my shoulder and bumped my head against something, forcing me to stay there against something warm. And then it was all a massive blur as I found myself stumbling back a little, the wrapped arm around my waist long gone. I looked around and realized we had been transported into one of the helicopters, or whatever the heck these things were called.

“Woah! Did he just..woah!” Thea exclaimed. Apparently he did..

My legs began to tremble and I began to feel dizzy. So much for surviving an attack that nearly paralyzed me.

“Charlie, are you alright?” I heard Thea say, I couldn’t see her anymore as my vision started to blur.

“I..uh..” I lost my balance and began tumbling forward. Thea tried to grab my arms but it was too late, I was moving forward and inches away from hitting the ground.

A familiar arm wrapped around me and suddenly I was resting on the ground. A pair of deep blue eyes connected with mine in an instant, alert yet concerned a little. For me? I wasn’t sure.

“Are you alright?” he spoke, his voice thick with an accent. It was nice, surprisingly.

I found myself unable to formulate a reply, still lost in those eyes. Truthfully speaking, I was far from alright. My entire body was in agonizing pain, I could barely move so I simply lay there, staring into his eyes that seemed to be concerned for me.

“I’ll take it from here Mr. Fast.” I heard Thea say to the man, causing our eye contact to break all too soon. He stood up quickly, looking at me and then in an instant he was gone.

He was so fast. Just a blur.

I didn’t even know who he was to begin with, just knew he was working with the Avengers at the moment and trying to save the dying world I was currently a part of.

Endearment – Pietro Maximoff

 

 

Sokovia wasn’t the only place Ultron tried to destroy, no. I lost my home, and so did he.
I was just an ordinary girl weighed down with too many responsibilities. Could he possibly help, or make it worse for me with his ability to render me speechless every time our eyes connected?
Let’s see.