#i know of two little girls who survived the bombing of their house | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

acciopietro · 3 years ago

Note

Hi can I just say first I’m in love w every one of your fics!!

Can I make a request for the reader being a childhood friend of the Maximoffs who gets healing powers and saves Pietro when he’s shot by Ultron, but it takes a lot out of her. They’ve liked each other for a while but never admitted it until weeks later at the compound when she’s finally getting back her strength and he confesses? + maybe some smut after years of pining 😩

saved - p.m.

pairing: pietro maximoff x fem! reader

summary: you didn’t know anyone you were closer with than pietro, and you’d do anything to save him. even if it takes everything out of you.

word count: 5,614

tw: kissing. mention of blood and death.

a/n: hi anon! thanks so much for the request! i love this idea!!! i'm such a whore for some mutual pining. i didn’t do much smut stuff, only because i’m in a place at the moment where i feel like it wouldn’t be adequate writing... and my schedule is swamped so i didn’t really have time. i hope this was alright!

GROWING UP IN Sokovia had shaped the way you lived your life. Some might suggest that it was the culture; the holidays you celebrated, the food you consumed, the values instilled upon you, even the way you greeted your elders. But you always knew it was the people that had done it all. Specifically, your two best friends: Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff.

Fraternal twins, they were, and special ones at that. Wanda was a little bit more timid that Pietro was, and she had a sharp tongue that could cut you real bad if you weren't careful. Pietro was personable, flirtatious, and effortlessly charming; he could get you out of any situation, and had always been able to make your heart skip a beat without moving a muscle. That was the only part that had never changed after the missiles came in.

When the STARK missiles came in and bombed Sokovia, you had been one of the lucky ones. One had struck right in your backyard, and you had managed to escape unscathed (for the most part), but the rest of your town had not been so fortunate. Both your parents and Olek and Iryna, the two heads of the Maximoff family, were killed in the attacks. Wanda and Pietro, the only two in the house that survived, had to hide underneath a bed for two whole days in fear that one of the remaining missiles would be set off.

Both of the twins changed significantly after that. The three of you stayed close friends, and grew closer after the events, but something shifted; whether it be the decreasing frequency of Wanda’s witty comments or the halting of flirtatious winks and gestures from Pietro, you knew that each of them had suffered greatly from the traumatic events they were forced to go through at such a young age. You, too, had gone through it, but your experience simply could not compare to theirs. You had enough sense to recognize that.

Thus, the three of you were orphaned at age 10. You were not a Maximoff, but being their closest friend, it seemed you might as well have been. This tragic event lead Pietro and Wanda to grow up slightly more rebellious, being only loyal to one other, however that held one exception — you.

You did everything with one another. Wanda was like a sister you never had, a girl with a powerful soul and a passion for her friends and family like no other. It would be strange to say Pietro was like a brother, for there had always been something different about him. He was like a puzzle waiting to be solved, however he was one of the most genuinely good people you had ever met, and you seemed to always feel safe around him. Not to mention he was cute.

And then came H.Y.D.R.A. When you had all turned 18, you decided to volunteer to be apart of their official experiments. They had told you that they were fighting for the future of Sokovia, and would change the world. They explained that although not everyone was on their side, that they could be trusted and were the good guys in the end. Foolishly, the three of you believed them.

In the end, the three of you miraculously were the only ones who survived the experiments they did; they used the Mind Stone, striking you with it and trying to see what effect it might have on you. Wanda seemed to connect with it the most, but that didn’t mean it didn’t change something within you and Pietro, as well.

Whether this wad good or bad, you weren’t sure, but the three of you ended up with enhanced, superhuman powers. Wanda was gifted with telekinesis, energy manipulation, and some form of neuroelectric interfacing that allows her to both read thoughts and control them.

You and Pietro, however, did not get as fancy ones as hers. Pietro was gifted with the ability to move at a superhuman speed, as well as strength and durability (it had also turned his hair silver). You were gifted with powers to heal and to grow; the grass sprouted when you walked, flowers blooming, wounds healing. You started with paper-cuts, then scraps, then gashes, then bullet wounds, and so on and so forth.

Despite the three of you gaining special abilities, it did not help much with your current situation in Sokovia; the country was poor as can be, and those who had money did not do much to help others with it. So you and Pietro decided to use your powers to an advantage. It helped that you made a great team.

“Go, go! I can only cover it for so long!” you whisper-hissed to him, as an array of leaves and other vegetation formed almost a barrier over the security cameras and windows; Pietro sped around the house, grabbing everything he could, whether it be food, clothes, toys, you name it.

“Got it!” he called, and with your free hand, you tossed him the backpack you carried. He unzipped it with fervor and stuffed all of the stolen items inside. “Okay, that’s it, I think.”

“Okay, let’s go, then,” you said, and when he bent his knees, you hopped onto his back. You dropped your hands, causing the leaves to slowly uncover the cameras and windows, but before anything could catch sight of the pair of you, Pietro sped the both of you out, leaving not a trace behind.

Later that evening, you unpacked the things in one of the many plazas of Sokovia, where the pair of you handed the items out to the other citizens. Many times it was medications for the elders, however sometimes it was balls and toys for children, or warm coats for when it got cold (God knew it got cold in Sokovia!).

“There you go,” Pietro said politely, handing a stack of winter clothes to an older looking couple. They thanked him and went on their way. While you handed a beat-up looking soccer ball to a young boy, Pietro grabbed one of the medication bottles and looked at it. “Ah, those the right ones?”

“Yeah,” the old man confirmed.

“The doctor who refilled it... no more insurance hassle,” Pietro reassured him, closing the mans fingers around the bottle with a warm expression. “I made a house call.”

“How much?” the man asked. You got to your feet and shook your head.

“Oh, no,” you told him. “Just take it, okay?”

“Thank you,” the man said gratefully. “Thank you so much.”

“This is for your brother,” Pietro said, holding a soccer ball, this time speaking to a younger blonde woman with smooth skin and rosy lips. Your eyes flickered between Pietro and her for a moment before turning back around with a frown.

“Thank you,” she said graciously.

“And this,” Pietro started. He then handed her a skimpy, silver flapper dress. “Is not for your brother.”

“Oh! No, this is...” the woman said, taken aback, grabbing the dress by the straps with a flustered expression. “This is too...”

“Is every girl in Sokovia getting as dress from Paris?” Wanda interjected as she walked by. “At least Gertie’s looked warm.”

“At least Gertie got a dress,” you commented, stepped past Pietro so you could walk alongside Wanda. Pietro pursed his lips at you. “What?"

“Erm...” Pietro scoffed, shifting his eyes to the blonde woman. “She’s kidding.”

You snickered under your breath, trading sly looks with Wanda as the pair of you walked away from the scene. Pietro, however, jogged to catch up with the pair of you, looking smug.

“You’re just jealous you’re not getting a dress,” Pietro told Wanda.

“You two keep stealing, and you’re going to get shot!” she told the pair of you, and the sly look left your face. You frowned, glancing up at Pietro, who only scoffed. Wanda whacked him on the shoulder. “I mean it. At speed, nothing can touch you, but standing still...”

“Do you think I want to be?” Pietro halted walking, stopping right in front of you and Wanda. “You said ‘Wait.’ I’m waiting. I don’t know for what! We had Stark helpless, all these years, and you—”

“Costel!” called a woman’s voice from behind the three of you. You turned your heads to look, to see the blonde woman from earlier running up to her young son, who had been coming back from the opposite direction. “Costel, where did you go?”

“The Church,” Costel replied. He then shifted his eyes to the three of you. “The man says you need to come to the Church.”

“What man?” you asked him skeptically. He shifted anxiously to his left.

“The Iron Man,” he replied. Pietro turned his head to face the pair of you, surprised. You pursed your lips and traded a glance with Wanda; she nodded.

The walk to the Church was not long, considering most large buildings in Sokovia where moderately close to one another, and the biggest Church in the country was only a ten minute walk from the plaza. You shivered from the cold night’s air, goosebumps raising on your arms and neck. Pietro glanced down at you; the pair of you had fallen behind Wanda, who seemed to be walking like she was on a mission.

“Are you cold?”

“Huh?” you shifted your e/c eyes to look at Pietro.

“Are you cold?” he repeated gently. He gestured to your bare arms. “You look cold.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” you reassured him, but it seemed he didn’t care abut your answer, for he was already shrugging off his jacket. He handed it over to you, and when you didn’t take it, he draped it over your shoulders.

“Put it on,” he told you firmly. “I know you are cold.”

You tilted your head up to look at him (since when had he gotten so tall?), sending him a look, and begrudgingly you slipped your arms into the sleeves. It was more oversized on you than you imagined, but you supposed the amount of muscle he had grown over the years was more extreme than you had realized. The jacket was warm and smelled like the cologne he had probably stolen; you pulled it closer to you as the three of you entered the Church.

Inside of the Church was Ultron, an Iron Legion created by the combined efforts of Bruce Banner and Tony Stark in an attempt to achieve world peace. When the three of you spoke with Ultron, he claimed to be on a mission to destroy the Avengers, saving the world in the process. With your hatred for Stark, the three of you agreed without hesitation, for it would be the perfect opportunity to avenge your parents as well as help others in the process. What could go wrong?

Turns out, a lot. In the end, after various fights with the Avengers, you learned Ultron’s ulterior motive: the iron legion had decided that mass extinction was only way to achieve true world peace. He sought out to destroy all of human life, and replace it all with that of metal.

After a rather detrimental fight, one that risked your lives more than once, you teamed up with the Avengers — something none of you would have dreamed of doing the day before. Pietro and Wanda may have been siblings, but when in the heat of the battle, you and Pietro made the best team; you worked fluidly with one another, no hiccups, no trips. Even Steve Rogers had complimented the pair of you on your ability to rely on one another.

“Guess we were made for each other,” Pietro had commented, shooting you a wink. Your face had heated up, and you grinned back at him before averting your eyes downwards. Even after everything, it seemed he could still make you flustered with just a single comment. Couldn’t he see what it did to you?

Pietro was often rather impulsive during a fight. You were used to looking after him, which was why the two of you worked so well with one another, but it was often an issue due to his ability to run off and do things so quickly. You had not talked to him about shooting a gun into the air in an attempt to get people to evacuate, nor did you think telling the citizens to, “Get off their asses,” was a very wise idea. But it worked, so you supposed you couldn’t complain too much.

“The city is… falling apart,” you had said, pressing a finger to your earpiece. “Like… literally…”

“Really? I didn’t notice,” said Steve’s voice sarcastically. You scoffed.

“Do you see?” came a booming, technological voice from above. You and Pietro shifted your horror-filled gazes upwards, inside the sky, where Ultron hovered above. “The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal.”

“Oh, god,” you muttered. Pietro said nothing. “Robots. Taking over the world. Never actually thought this would happen.”

“It won’t, and it isn’t,” Pietro reassured you lowly. And then, stepping towards you, he placed an arm tightly around your torso and said, “We need to move.”

And then, you were off. Pietro ran the both of you towards a different part of the city, and although it wasn’t much safer, he pulled off to the side into a nearby alleyway. When he stopped running, he doubled over, clutching his abdomen and panting.

“You alright?” you asked him gently. He nodded his head, still panting, but looked up at you and gave you a charming grin.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Just need to catch my breath.”

“Come on, then,” you told him, “We kind of have to save the world, now, so catch your breath later.”

“Anything for you,” he said in response, winking, before running the pair of you off again.

“Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart,” said Steve’s voice from within your earpieces. Pietro had opened his mouth to reply to you, but clamped it shut at the sound of the Captain. “You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off.”

“Y’hear that?” you said to Pietro, who squinted up at you, still panting. “Gotta walk it off. Let’s move.”

“You’re tough!” He breathed, grabbing you again and letting out a sharp exhale. “Okay, whatever you say.”

“All right, we’re clear here,” said Clint’s voice from the earpiece.

“We’re not clear!” said Steve. “We are very not clear!”

“Wanda,” you heard Pietro’s voice said as you sped along and caught sight of Clint and Wanda. “Dragă, I need my other arm so I can grab her, okay?”

“Fine by me,” you let go of his other shoulder, and he sped up to his sister so he could let her hand onto him as well before he sped the both of you off.

“The next wave's gonna hit any minute,” said Steve’s voice. “What have you got, Stark?”

“Well, nothing great,” said Tony. “Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear.”

“I asked for a solution, not an escape plan,” said Steve.

“Impact radius is getting bigger every second,” Tony told them. “We're going to have to make a choice.”

The three of you Steve and Natasha, who were standing right at the edge of the city. But as they approached, you caught sight of a giant sort of jet, with tons of people on it, and you could see life-boat type vehicles shooting out from the sides. Pietro stood beside Steve, watching the ship with giddy, almost childlike eyes.

“This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?” He asked in awe.

“This is what S.H.I.E.L.D.’s supposed to be,” Steve replied as you and Clint jogged up to join them.

“This is not so bad,” Pietro said with a chuckle. You ran up to his side where Clint went… elsewhere, you weren’t really paying attention. You glanced up at Pietro, only to see a rather large wound on the side of his arm.

“You’re bleeding,” you said, eyes widening. He glanced at you, and then at his wound, and then back at you, still grinning.

“It is not bad,” He told you. “Like a paper-cut, really.”

“You’re okay, though?”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to worry about me?” Pietro gave you a lopsided grin. “My cuts heal extra fast, remember? I don’t even need you to heal them for me.”

“Just making sure,” you muttered, looking away from him. He bumped shoulders with you.

“I am fine,” he reassured you. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“Sure thing,” you grinned at him. “Nerd.”

“You’re the nerd!”

“Let’s load ‘em up,” Steve announced. They began loading up as many Sokovians as they could into the boats and onto the jet, ushering them inside and off of the crumbling land.

“Avengers,” came Tony’s voice in her earpiece as she shut the door to the jet full of people and waved it off. “Time to work for a living.”

You cursed under your breath, slinging up vines and swinging yourself towards where the rest of the team was. When you arrived at the abandoned church, you saw Thor, Tony, and Vision already there. Just as you arrived, Pietro had too, as well as Wanda, Cap, and Clint.

“You good?” Pietro asked Wanda just as she arrived.

“Yeah,” She breathed, touching his arm for a second as though to make sure he was still there before they began the fight again.

“Romanoff,” Tony said through the earpiece. “You and Banner better not be playing ‘hide the zucchini.’”

“Relax, shellhead,” said Natasha. “Not all of us can fly. What’s the drill?”

“This is the drill,” Tony said as Natasha jogged in, gesturing towards the whirring metal machine in the center of the church. “If Ultron gets a hand on this core, we lose.”

“Uhm...guys...” you said uneasily, glancing over on the opposite side of the church, where not only did Hulk crash in, but Ultron had flown down from above, hovering a few yards away.

“Is that the best you can do?” Thor asked in a fit of rage. Ultron simply lifted a hand up, causing all of the Iron Legion’s to turn away from the city and rush towards the Avengers. You huffed, blowing a piece of hair out of your face.

“You had to ask,” Steve said to Thor, gazing up at all of the Iron Legions.

“This is the best I can do,” Ultron told them dramatically. “This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?”

“Well,” Tony said. “Like the old man said. Together.”

And with that, a fight. Stronger than the last, the gravity of it waving over their heads as the team fought back against the tens of Iron Legions barraging them. You didn’t even have time to think about anything you were doing; you just had to do, and if you didn’t, you had to get yourself together. It was getting to the point that no one could say anything, and no one could even tell what the others were doing. They just needed to have enough trust in one another that they’d know they were doing the right thing at the right time. There were lasers and beams and blasts and red wisps and vines and flashes of blue and silver. And miraculously, all of them were still standing.

You turned your head to the outside of the church in a moment you had been able to gather yourself, to see Vision, Thor, and Tony each sending a blast right into Ultron, who’s metal skin was melting and burning off of him. He then stood up, panting (could Robots lose their breath?)

“You know,” Ultron began. “With the benefit of hindsight —”

The robot was cut off, however, by the Hulk sending a mighty punch into its face, catapulting him off into the sky to land in a place none of them could see. The other Iron Legion bots, at the sight of Hulk, fled, running off to the edge of the earth and flying off.

“They’re trying to leave the city!” Thor said.

“We can’t let ‘em leave, not even one,” Tony said feverishly. “Rhodey!”

You saw Rhodey in the other suit flying above, but soon Vision joined him, finishing off the last of them. You could’ve laughed; at least Rhodey would have another story to tell.

“We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin,” Steve announced. “You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”

“What about the core?” asked Clint. There was a beat of silence.

“I’ll protect it,” Wanda volunteered. Clint, taken aback, glanced up at her. “It’s my job.”

“Nat,” Clint said, jerking his head to the side. “This way.”

“Get the people on the boats,” Wanda commanded Pietro, who stood below her helplessly. You waited by the edge of the church.

“I’m not going to leave you here,” Pietro told her.

“I can handle this,” Wanda said, blasting a stream of red at another Iron Legion. Pietro sighed, knowing she was right. “Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before.” Pietro rolled his eyes, grunting in annoyance. “You understand?”

“You know,” Pietro told her, sauntering over to join you. “I’m twelve-minutes older than you.”

“Go,” Wanda said, laughing a bit.

“Good luck, Wanda,” you called to her, sending her a kind smile. She returned it.

“Okay,” Pietro said to you, grabbing onto your torso again. “Let’s go.”

“What about — agh!” you tightened your grip on him, your fingers digging into the silver and blue material of his shirt. “Y’know, Cap was right… we do make a pretty sick team…oh, right there! Onto the boat!”

“Hold your horses, Dragă,” Pietro told you sassily, slowing down as the pair of you reached the jet. You rolled her eyes as you let your arms fall from him.

“Don’t need to sass, Maximoff,” You told him, pointing a finger at him playfully. He continued to grin. “Cause — wait, Clint! Oh my god!”

Pietro turned from beside you, eyes wide. And then, suddenly, he was gone, rushing off towards Clint, who was clutching a young kid and preparing to be shot by the thousands of bullets that were being shot at him from the jet above.

“No, Pietro!” You called out, losing him within the explosion. You froze, e/c eyes frantically searching about the fog, and as things cleared up, all you saw was Clint, clutching the kid for dear life, and Pietro, holes through his body, seeping blood onto the ground as his knees buckled from below him. He collapsed onto the pavement. “No, no, no!”

And then, you were running. Running faster than you really thought you ever had before, ignoring the shouts of Steve from behind you. Falling to your knees beside his body and ripping off the mask that sat around your eyes, you rolled him over so his stomach was facing the sky, and with tears pricking your eyes and a surge of energy flooding through your body, you placed your hands onto his bleeding chest and closed your eyes.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” You blabbered, not evening seeing that Clint had run off with the kid before running back with Steve, presumably to get her onto the jet.

“Y/N, he’s —” Steve began in a solemn voice.

“No!” you protested loudly, focusing all of your energy onto Pietro. Your eyes were squeezed closed, not even able to see what was going outside of her and Pietro. You could just feel it. Feel him, that is. “I can do this, Rogers. Please.”

Silence. You continued, despite the wetness of your cheeks and the blood coating yours palms. There was life within him, you could feel it. Right on the edge, groping, grasping, choking for a chance — a hand to grab, to help pull itself up. And then — a loud, gruff gasp.

“Holy shit,” Clint muttered. Your eyes popped open. And your e/c iris’ met blue ones.

“Come on,” Steve said, his voice filled with shock although he tried to keep his head. “Onto the boat, come on!”

Wrapping a copious amount of vines around Pietro, you scrambled to your feet and lifted Pietro along with you, tugging him forwards and onto the boat, where you set his body down and sat right beside him. His breathing was jagged, and his eyes were brimmed with tears of pain, but he was looking at you in pure shock nonetheless.

“How…?” He choked out, staring up at you as though you were some angel from heaven to come down and grab him. “How…?”

“Don’t... don’t ever do that again,” you breathed, slumping your shoulders and bracing your hands behind you to catch yourself. Taking a deep breath, you could feel various cramps in your abdomen as well as your chest; your head began to pound like you were getting the biggest migraine of your life, and you suddenly felt as though your energy was being sucked out of you.

“Y/N?” Pietro asked, his voice still groggy. You waved a hand, telling him to lay back down because he was still recovering, but the words never seemed to get out. You let yourself lay back for a moment, your eyelids feeling heavy as the pain of your headache began to surge. And then, all at once, you shut down.

━✾━

BLINDING LIGHTS BEAMED down into your dilated pupils, and at the intensity of it, you squinted, eyelashes fluttering until you could get yourself used to your surroundings. Your arms felt cold and your legs felt warm, but your head still seemed to feel like it weighed a thousand pounds. With a groan, you turned it over to try and bury your face into the pillow beneath your head.

“Hey, hey, hey,” came a careful voice from above you; it was familiar one, deep and gentle, and when you slightly tilted your head back up to look at the source, the flash of various tufts of white-blonde hair let you know it was Pietro. “Y/N?”

“Mm,” you hummed, shrugging your blanket further up to your neck and snuggling into it further. You went to close your eyes and drift off, but Pietro stopped you.

“C’mon, don’t go back to sleep,” he asked softly. “You’ve been sleeping for ages...”

“Ages?” you murmured groggily, still keeping your eyes gently closed. “How long is ages?”

“Like forty-eight hours,” Pietro told you, and your eyes bolted open. And then, in a flash, it all came rushing back to you; Ultron, the fight, Clint, the kid, Pietro, the bullets—

You sat upright. Your head began to throb in pain, and you grimaced at it, but you stayed upright to look at Pietro. Your eyes scanned his torso, searching desperately for any sign of a bullet wound or some other remnant from the attack back in Sokovia.

“I am fine,” he reassured you, lips curling up in a smile. “It’s you that I’m worried about.”

“I’m fine,” you told him dismissively. “What happened to your wounds? I didn’t heal them properly, you were bleeding so much—”

“I’m all healed, Dragă,” he placed a hand on your upper arm; his hands were warm and calloused, and the touch sent a shiver down your spine. “You took care of me.”

“But... but you—”

“Relax, okay?” he told you, pushing you by the shoulder to guide you back down to your pillow. “Saving me took a lot out of you... I don’t want you straining yourself.”

You let out a small breath, softly nodding your head without a word. Pietro stared at you for a very long moment, cerulean eyes tracing across the dips and curves of your face, his hand twitching where it rested on the edge of your bed.

“I thought I was dead,” He began in a quiet, fragile tone. You blinked up at him. “In Sokovia. All those bullets right through me…” He paused, running his tongue over his lips. “But… you... you were there.

“It was just darkness. Nothing else, just… empty space,” Pietro shared, staring down at his hands, fiddling with the single ring on his left hand. “And then… I could feel you. Like I was drowning and there was a hand there, pulling me up… and then I opened my eyes and saw…”

His eyes shifted up to look at you, staring blatantly. Your heart skipped a beat, blinking twice and becoming much too nervous to shift your gaze away. There was something within his eyes, flickering about his pupils and swimming through his iris’; whatever it was, it was a genuine gratitude — or, perhaps, admiration.

Pietro suddenly reached forward and grabbed you by the hand. You made no move to deny his action, letting him take it and fiddle mindlessly with your fingers for a moment before intertwining it with his own.

“Y/N, you...” he began, looking unsure on what words to say. You stared at him wordlessly, waiting patiently and watching carefully as though his nexts words were the most important ones you’d ever hear. “I love you.”

You blinked. “What?”

He blinked. You watched waves of red wash up his cheeks and ears. “You heard me.”

“You—?”

“Yes,” Pietro nodded firmly, brows furrowing. “I love you. I have since we were kids. Almost dying gave me a wake up call that I have to tell you. And then you passed out, so... I had to wait to tell you, but... you get it.”

You opened your mouth, words not falling out. You loved him, you were sure you did, but the shock of knowing the feeling was mutual made you feel like you were going to pass out again.

“You don’t have to say it back,” he muttered. “I just wanted you to know. You’re always looking out for me, even if I don’t see it all the time... and you draining yourself to save me proved that you have to be the strongest person I’ve ever had the pleasure of being best friends with.”

“I love you, too,” you managed to say. His brows lifted, eyes brightening. “I would’ve saved you a million times over, even if it killed me. You mean the world to me, Piet, I don’t think I could’ve lived with myself if I hadn’t done what I did...”

“You were knocked out,” Pietro told you, squeezing your hand and sandwiching it with both of his own. “You wouldn’t wake up, it was... it was scary. I’m glad you’re awake, now.”

“Me too,” you offered him a smile, lips curling up shyly. He blinked down at you, and you watched with pride as his cheeks began to turn scarlet; he grinned and shifted his gaze to your intertwined hands. “Sit.”

You scooted yourself over, giving him room to sit down beside you. He complied, snuggling closer to you so your shoulders were pressed against one another. He turned his head to the side, staring, before he took one of his hands off of yours and brought it up to your cheek.

“Can I—” He began, but you shut him up rather quickly by pressing your lips against his, letting your eyes flutter close until all you could feel was him.

The antiseptic scent of the hospital room was hastily overshadowed by the aroma of his cologne, and the shivers you had from the intense A/C of the room were replaced by his warmth. Your stomach flipped as you pushed yourself closer.

You could feel him grin through the kiss, lips curling upwards as his hands tightened their hold on you; with one palm resting gingerly on the small of your back to push you towards him, the hand that had originally been on your cheek had now tangled itself into your hair, fingers grasping at your scalp. You could have melted.

His tongue swooped across your lips, and you hesitated for a moment before accepting his invitation; there was no battle of dominance between your tongue and his, the pair danced in harmony, and you simply accepting that he would be the one taking over.

When his mouth lifted from yours, you parted your lips to ask him why, but when you felt him begin to lightly trail kisses down your jaw, you fell speechless and simply sighed. He stopped right at your pulse point, nipping at your skin for a moment before continuing down until he reached the upper part of your collarbone. You sighed contently, letting your head tilt back and bringing your hand up to grip at the back of his hair.

“I’ll... return later,” came a voice from the door. You and Pietro jolted apart and whipped your heads to the door. Vision stood there rather awkwardly, Wanda at his heels. Wanda was grinning, and you watched her give a thumbs up to Pietro; he returned it.

“Finally,” Wanda drawled, pushing past Vision and settling herself into the room. Pietro’s face had turned scarlet, but he was beaming so brightly you almost didn’t mind Wanda’s interruption. He locked eyes with you, still grinning, and you smiled back. “Took you eighteen years!”

✾✾✾

a/n: my school starts so soon guys i’m genuinely kind of excited... i’ll stop saying that once all my homework starts piling in tho LOL

#aaron taylor johnson #age of ultron #pietro maximoff #pietro maximoff x reader #pietro x y/n #mcu #pietro

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hlficlibrary · 3 years ago

Photo

There are lots of great long fics in this fandom and it’s time they get some more appreciation from us readers! I’ve put together a list of fics that are from 150K up to 365K! (100K - 149K coming soon)

♡ Hiding Place by @alivingfire

Louis never wanted a soulmate, didn’t really care for the whole Bonding thing at all, really. Enter Harry Styles, who’s wanted to be Bonded for as long as he could remember. With one fateful meeting in an X Factor bathroom, Louis gets a dagger on his arm and the realization that just because Harry is his soulmate doesn’t mean it’s mutual.

From the X Factor house to Madison Square Garden, from the Fountain Studios stage to stadiums across the world, Louis has to learn to love without losing himself completely, because someday his best friend will Bond to someone and replace Louis as the center of his universe. Meanwhile, Harry begins to think that maybe fate doesn’t actually know what it’s doing after all, because his other half has clearly been right in front of him the whole time. All he has to do now is convince Louis to give them a chance.

Or, the canon compliant Harry and Louis love story from the very beginning, where the only difference is that the love between them is literally written on their skin, and there’s only so much they can hide.

365K / Soulmates / Canon Compliant / Slow Build / Friends to Lovers

♡ Relief Next To Me by Dolce_Piccante

What happens when a baker and a graphic designer meet via a very specific Craigslist post? Fate, friendship, food, and maybe more.

333K / Friends With Benefits / Friends to Lovers / Lots of Smut

♡ all we can do is keep breathing by @avocadolouie

“Harry, I-I’m so sorry…” Louis stutters out, trying to keep his voice level and even, to portray a depiction of strength, but with the way Harry is looking at him, staring at him like he has a personal passage way straight to Louis’ soul, it’s so hard, nearly impossible.

That simple opening phrase, that short introductory acknowledgement that is often rushed out so easily, painlessly, at a safe distance. Giving a doctor the ability to portray empathy without true emotion, without feeling the full brunt and sheer force of the underlying pain itself.

But Louis feels it, he feels the crushing agony laced behind the phrase, he feels the weight of the painful words slipping from his lips, the cause and effect that the three-word expression holds. The distantly empty “I’m so sorry” that doctors throw out in self-preservation, isn’t at all empty for him. Louis recognizes it, he understands it, he feels it.

a fated story of two broken and battered boys who barely survived the unimaginable and how the love of one little brave girl defies all the odds and somehow puts them back together.

310K / Greys Anatomy AU / Doctor Louis / Father Harry / Slow Burn

♡ Time Bomb by ThisSentimentalHeart

“Why exactly are you here?” Louis asked, feigning annoyance and failing pathetically at it. “My publicist told me I can't go anywhere near you.” Harry said, eyes still smudged with last night's eye liner. “That makes you my favorite person in the world.”

Or the one where Louis has everything: a lead role in a giant Hollywood franchise, a glittering new house with an entertaining Irish neighbor, and a steady, normal boyfriend who he probably loves. Louis never expected to become a household name among young Hollywood overnight. He also never expected to find something endearing about the enigmatic rockstar who keeps showing up on his back porch.

291K / Friends to Lovers / Actor Louis / Rockstar Harry

♡ Join Me In The Afterlife by @harryeatsburger

Harry looks at him, his eyes narrowing as an amused, coy smile creeps onto his lips. "They say it’s haunted. Loads of rumours are going around town," he chuckles and rubs below his nose, giving a single shoulder shrug.

Louis laughs breathily. "I mean…" he draws the word out, his gaze bouncing around the room, "I kinda get it," he settles on saying, recalling last night when it was quiet, his room shadowed and set in silvery moon light, giving it a haunted kind of appearance.

Harry’s eyebrows shoot up, perplexity colouring his pale face. "Do you?"

Or, the one where Louis is a simple guy - all he wants from his summer break is to spend some quality time with his mother, get to know her new husband, and learn to play the guitar. Nothing out of the ordinary, that is for sure. However, life has a funny way of working and when Louis finds a strange boy sitting on his bed one sunny day, his summer break takes a turn for the better (or worse) when he discovers a ghost has stolen his heart from the get-go.

262K / Angst W Happy Ending / Ghost Harry / Youtuber Louis

♡ pray for some sweet simplicity by @eeveelou

Louis is the only omega to ever make it in the cut-throat world of competitive motorcycle racing—that is, he would be if anyone actually knew about his identity. Now, his sights are set towards competing in—and winning—the European Grand Prix, the biggest and most difficult race of the entire year, so he can disappear underground for good. He’s close enough, too, until an alpha sports journalist is assigned to follow Louis’s every move as he prepares for the event of his career.

Or, an AU where motorcycle racing is the biggest sport in a heavily divided world, Louis is trying to take control of his own destiny, and Harry is in for more than he bargained for.

237K / A-B-O / Enemies to Lovers / Racer Louis / Journalist Harry

♡ Young & Beautiful by Velvetoscar

Louis, to his horror, attends an elitist university in which the name Zayn Malik means something, Niall Horan doesn't stop talking, there are pianos everywhere, and Harry Styles, only son of a drug-addled, clinically insane ex-rocker, has a perfect smile and empty eyes.

227K / Uni AU / Enemies to Lovers / Slow Burn

♡ Collision by @tequiladimples

Mythology/Fairytale!AU in which Louis is a dainty fairy with a temper who wants to be intimidating and Harry hurts people. Naturally, they hate each other.

(Featuring Liam, the big and not-so-bad wolf who’s got a thing for humans, Zayn, a human with supernaturally good looks, and Niall, the cupid who just wants his job to be easier.)

226K / Uni AU / Slow Burn / Enemies to Lovers

♡ A Little Love by felixandtae

Harry and Louis are best friends, and when Harry's boyfriend breaks up with him, he's instantly depressed. Louis hated seeing him this way, so one thing leads to another and they wind up sleeping together, which causes a lot of problems.

Or, where Harry gets heartbroken, so Louis tries showing him love, but a bump is in the road. Literally.

220K / Friends to Lovers / Mpreg / Pregnant Harry

♡ there’s no fair in farewell by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

When Harry and Louis, two Cupids who have been bringing people together for decades, are tasked with making Soulmates Liam and Zayn fall in love, it proves to be much harder than expected. But maybe, just maybe, that isn’t such a bad thing after all.

218K / Soulmates / Friends to Lovers / Angst w a Happy Ending / Slow Burn

♡ Stranger Stars by @sunshineandhisrainbows

Five years ago, Africa offered a grieving Louis Tomlinson an escape from an England he couldn't tolerate. Now it's become home as he leads overland tours across the continent with his best friend and driver Zayn Malik. What's meant to be just another ordinary six-week trip from Cape Town to Nairobi turns into anything but, when future lawyer/current photographer and songwriter Harry Styles and his friends join Louis' latest set of passengers.

212K / Road Trip / Slow Burn / Friends to Lovers

♡ Shake Me Down by @agreatperhaps12

Harry's new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.

208K / College AU / Insecure Harry / Protective Louis

♡ Cold Little Heart by @seduced-by-curls

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child A few months after getting a divorce, Louis meets Harry, an ex-military alpha wolf that offers him something -odd.

In exchange for teaching him how to cook, Harry will babysit his son, Abraham Louis really could use the help.

194K / A-B-O / Single Parent Louis / Ex-Military Harry / Babysitter Harry

♡ Lucky Ones by @chloehl10

Harry doesn’t believe love is on the cards for him. Louis just wants someone to love him for him and not what he can do for them. Together they learn what love and trust is all about while having a little (or rather, a lot) of fun along the way.

188K / Famous - Not Famous / Famous Louis / Student Harry

♡ Three Days In February by @mercurial-madhouse

“We have to get out of here, outside,” Harry whispered, turning his hand in Louis’s grip to hold on and pull them both to their feet. “And how do we fucking do that?” Louis hissed, carefully rising and pulling Harry to his feet before Harry could do it. His gaze darted to the front then back of the arena. “None of the doors are where they’re supposed to be.” “What?” Harry looked around again too, couldn’t see any doors, only knew that they must be there, somewhere. “How do you know?” Confusion slid over Louis's features. “Because we’ve been here before, Haz. It’s the O2.” The show. It must be the first night of their tour. They were too late; they were out of time.

Louis is cursed after a night out with the lads and the five have just three days to figure out what happened and how to break it before Harry and Louis both lose their sanity and maybe something more. Louis can hear everything Harry thinks and Harry isn’t sure he can keep his feelings for Louis a secret from his own mind.

Ridiculous amounts of banter and angst, a lot of Harry and Louis alone together, a healthy dose of OT5 friendship, and one very magical weekend.

187K / Friends to Lovers / Magical Realism / Slow Burn

♡ Amsterdam With You by @chrysopon

In Louis’ opinion Amsterdam is so overrated, and now that he moved here he can see all its flaws: it’s always raining (even more than in London), he’s lonely and everyone he meets is unfriendly and distant; but, above all, he misses his family like crazy, confined here. Not surprising how being hit by a bike by a curly, pensive guy is the best thing that happens to him in three months (or maybe even in 27 years).

Or: how to fall in love in a city that you hate, featuring protests, lights, books, cuddles and a whole lot of growth (and tea).

182K / Strangers to Lovers / Angst W a Happy Ending / Slow Burn

♡ Something In The Distance (So Close You Can Almost Taste It) by magicalou

Louis was good. He was about to become the most successful racer in Formula 1. He had a clear path: break some records, win most races, then repeat it all again the next year.

Of course, that’s when Harry bloody Styles comes in.

OR, Louis is a Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari and Harry is a painter and sculptor, one of the most beloved from our time, and Louis's biggest pain in the ass.

180K / Racer Louis / Painter Harry /

♡ Bloodline by banana_louis

Louis doesn't know how to feel when his best friend, Liam, finds out about a brother that he never knew, who was placed for adoption before he was born and is bursting into his life at twenty-four years old.

Louis is very wary of the man who might replace him. He has always thought of Liam as his own brother.

What if Liam doesn't need him anymore? What if there's no room for Louis? After all, blood runs thicker than water.

Louis doesn't like Liam's new brother and he doesn't even know him. That's irrelevant, though.

He doesn't like him. He doesn't trust him. He doesn't want him hanging around. He doesn't want anything to do with him.

That is, until he meets him.

177K / Fluff & Smut /

♡ Your Mess Is Mine by @amories

Louis is the father to the most brilliant little boy in the world who is all Louis really needs, or at least that's what he tells himself. Harry is a gorgeous boybander fresh off a two year break and a massive scandal that's left him a little broken and more than ready to move on.

They fall in love.

176K / Famous - Not Famous / Single Parent Louis / Friends to Lovers

♡ A Love Like War by @downgoesanotherhero

“I want your help.” “Are you sure validation isn’t the right word?” Harry frowns. “Because, Louis, my professional opinion won’t change just because you’re being nice.” “I don’t want your professional opinion on my work to change. I wanna do better work, so you and everybody else can have a new opinion”, he states simply.

Or: the one in which Louis Tomlinson is a cliched rock star, he's got everything except for love. But then he meets Harry Styles; the man that, against all odds, saves him in every way a person can be saved, even when Louis didn't know he needed saving in the first place.

173K / Famous - Not Famous / Professor Harry / Singer Louis

♡ All Too Human by @gotthisniallthang

Louis has a 3 year old son and works at a daycare while getting his education degree.

Harry's a fresh face Popstar with the world in his hands.

They meet over applesauce and hide n' go seek.

166K / Famous - Not Famous / Single Parent Louis

♡ And Then a Bit by @infinitelymint

“We’d like to give the fans what they want.” Magee states, placing his hand on the table in front of him and leaning forward. “We want to give them Larry Stylinson.”

Or, take a parallel universe where Louis and Harry were never together, mix in a two year hiatus and an impending comeback, pour in a dash of lost fans, two tablespoons of strong friendship and a Modest! employee with a good idea. Add a squeeze of pretending to be a couple, lots of kisses and a tattoo or two. Stir. Serve: the mother of all publicity stunts.

(aka Harry and Louis fake a relationship for publicity. Eventually it becomes a lot less fake and a lot more real.)

158K / Fake Relationship / Friends to Lovers / Canon Compliant

♡ Nameless Night by @greenfeelings

For their 18th birthday, every person receives a letter that reads a simple date. That is the date you'll meet your soulmate. Harry and Louis have different beliefs, live in different worlds and have different dreams, hopes and fears. Yet, they're not so different from each other when it comes to love. When their paths cross, there is no doubt they belong together. Except for that one, essential difference: they didn't receive the same date.

Or, a fic about differences that make no difference at all: Harry and Louis are soulmates. In every way possible. Featuring Niall as a role model, and Liam and Zayn as a different kind of role models.

155K / Soulmates /

♡ Take My Breath Away by @realitybetterthanfiction

There is a prestigious school in the British Royal Navy classified as Premier Delta - or as it is known by its flyers, 1D. These select pilots are an elite set of Naval lieutenants who are trained in the skill of aggressive aerial combat. They are instruments of war, trained in times of peace. They are dogfighters, relentless and fearless in their mission to protect their beloved country. From their lofty vantage, they are always watching, waiting, and ready to lay it all on the line.

Lt. Harry Styles, call sign Sparrow, is a prodigy when it comes to flying. The owner of an unrivaled Naval pedigree, being a pilot was always written in the stars for Harry. With his trusty RIO, Lt. Niall Horan, Harry has made an unprecedented ascension in the ranks of the Naval aerial combat elite, and has been recruited to the esteemed Premier Delta flight school, carrying on his family’s legacy. What he finds there are unexpected friendships, perilous challenges, and something beyond what he ever thought possible. Because as his father had always told him, before the great Captain Styles went tragically missing in combat, you don’t fall in love with the sky, you fall in love with what keeps you on the ground.

153K / Top Gun AU / Angst With a Happy Ending

♡ the wonderlands by @aliensingucci

"Somewhere between chaos and control — these are the wonderlands."

Harry's daughter, Andy, is signed to Louis' girl band. Her path to success is marked by competition, chaos, and for Harry, a love affair.

150K / Famous - Not Famous / Producer Louis / Florist Harry

♡ Now In A Minute by @avocadolouie

13 feels like yesterday for many people, but for Louis it actually was.

More than anything in the world, Louis Tomlinson dreams of growing up. Simply skipping over all of the awkward, embarrassing years of teenage existence and getting on with life. Real life.

So when thirteen-year-old Louis wakes up in the body of his thirty-year-old self, he expected everything in his adult life to be picture perfect. And maybe it is. He has it all…or so it seems.

Except his favorite person and lifelong best mate, Harry Styles, is totally missing from the equation and Louis doesn’t understand why. He has a lot of catching up to do and as adult life turns out to be more than what he bargained for, Louis can’t help wondering why a life that seemed so perfect, feels so empty.

Or the 13 going on 30 au that should have been done years ago.

150K / Childhood Friends / Famous - Not Famous /

Remember to leave kudos and a comment!

#hlsource #hlcreators #hljournal #1dsource #dailydirectionedit #hersheltracks

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therealvinelle · 3 years ago

Note

What would happen if Katniss was stuck in a time loop from the beginning of Mockingjay to the end ?

I’m afraid I don’t remember Mockingjay well enough to give you an especially detailed answer to this one. I forgot Prim died while writing this. I’ll try, though.

Round one

Katniss finds herself thrown back through time, and she’s just tired. She’s been so much already, Mockingjay depleted her in every sense. At the end of the book she’s broken in a very irrevocable sense of the term. She just wants to retire with Peeta and be safe and left alone for the rest of her life. Waking up in a District 13, then, to find that Peeta is captive and being tortured all over again, Coin is alive, Snow is alive, and the Rebellion is back and she’s their figurehead... on its own, this is all bad enough, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she broke down completely.

But then she sees Prim again, Prim who is alive and healthy.

Finnick, too, is alive again. He’s a mess, just as he was originally, but he’s alive.

For them, Prim above all, Katniss can’t give up.

She pulls herself together, or tries to. She’s hollowed out after the events of Mockingjay, and to go through it all again? Unimaginable.

More, how is she actually going to save these people?

Prim wants to help people, she’s not going to agree to stay out of the Capitol when the invasion comes about.

Gale hates the Capitol with every fibre of his being, he’s not going to stop making weapons because Katniss told him people will get hurt. I think even if she laid out the scenario of «say that Prim goes to the Capitol to help and your bombs fucking kill her» he’d remain resolute - that’s not gonna happen, Katniss. (And even if he silently agrees there’s the possibility, this won’t change his mind. Prim will be a casualty of war, the important thing is to defeat the Capitol.) As for Finnick, he was pure bad luck. There was nothing Katniss could have done there, save for maybe keep him home. But if she does, someone else may die in his place.

But, Katniss isn’t going to sit back and say «yup, nothing I can do to save these two people I care about. See y’all in heaven, fellas». As she goes through the motions of Mockingjay, doing the photo-ops and listening to Finnick’s interview, Katniss comes to fear that there’s just no road ahead that will lead away from Rome. All she can do is tell Prim about Gale’s bombs and plead with her not to go in when the Capitol is invaded.

It’s no surprise, not really.

The Hunger Games is not about Katniss Everdeen the brave heroine taking up the mantle of revolution, it’s about Katniss the girl becoming a game piece in someone else’s chess match. And so, her prescience won’t make as much difference as it would someone like Harry Potter or Bella Swan, as her choices simply don’t matter all that much.

This is what she’s forced to realize.

Peeta is rescued, it’s easier and harder than last time. Easier because she knows what to expect, harder because she’s seeing him suffer all over again, just as original timeline Peeta was returning to himself.

The invasion of the Capitol comes around, and Katniss is no more able to save Finnick than she was last time.

Prim refused to stay behind. Then, seeing her fellow medics rush towards bombs she knows could go off at any second, and injured people lying helplessly nearby, she runs in hoping to stop her colleagues and maybe drag someone away from the scene before it all blows.

She fails, and Katniss watches her die all over again.

The time loop doesn’t stop there.

Katniss goes to see Snow, only to go through the motions, and then shoots Coin. There’s no point to any of this if she doesn’t still shoot Coin, right?

More broken than ever, Katniss returns to District 12 with Peeta.

She just wants to rest.

Round two

A part of Katniss isn’t even surprised.

Her sister is alive again, but not for long. Katniss almost wishes they could skip to the part where Prim is dead, just so that she wouldn’t be in this horrible limbo of wanting to save her sister but not knowing how.

This time, Katniss devotes all her energy to Prim.

She neglects all her other duties and relationships, everything else that mattered. She never develops her friendship with Finnick.

She’s going to save Prim.

She tells her about the time loop, about what will happen if Prim isn’t careful. Prim listens.

This time around, Peeta isn’t rescued, and when Katniss invades the Capitol he’s the one who kills her.

Maybe Prim survives this time around. She hopes so.

(This is the timeline where Finnick survives: with Annie never rescued from the Capitol, he never became well enough to participate in a military operation.)

Round three

Katniss tells Prim about the time loop again, leaving out what happened at the end of round two. She befriends Finnick and campaigns for Peeta to be rescued. On the night of the invasion, Prim tells her teammates what she learned about the bombs before they land in the Capitol, leaving out how she found out. She’s accused of espionage and leaking military grade secrets, and shot. Her body is left in the streets, and Katniss is told the Capitol did it.

Katniss suspects what happened, and she hopes she’s right, because the other option is that her interference did this, that Prim died because of something she did.

Finnick dies, of course, which tastes all the more bitter now that Katniss knows she saved him in one timeline.

She speaks with Snow, or more to the point she walks into his room of roses and says nothing.

She shoots Coin.

Round four

She kills Coin on the first chance she gets.

She’s swiftly executed.

Round five

She waits until the night of the Capitol invasion before killing Coin.

Again, she is executed.

Round six

She makes it all the way to Snow’s office. Prim and Finnick are dead again. Peeta, too, this time around.

She tells Snow about the time loops. He seems to think she’s lost her mind, but she doesn’t care. She asks him about poisons.

Round seven

Coin dies suddenly.

Things are better in some regards, but the invasion still happens. Once again Prim and Finnick die.

Round eight

Katniss has nothing more to give.

She spends the round in her hospital room, curled up in her bed and refusing to be disturbed by anyone who isn’t Prim or Finnick.

Round nine

She has nothing more to give this time either.

She tells Finnick everything, about the time loops, the bombs, and the invasion, and asks him to try to save Prim and himself.

Finnick dies pulling Prim away from the bombs, and Prim succumbs to her injuries shortly after.

At Snow’s execution, Snow is shot.

Round ten

Katniss tells Haymitch.

They still end up in Rome, with Finnick and Prim dead, only now Haymitch is dead too.

Round eleven

Katniss for the first time starts to wonder if maybe this has all been an elaborate torture brought on by the Capitol. Or maybe her own side, who knows.

Because, really, how does she know she hasn’t been hijacked?

Katniss starts telling the people around her that she knows they’re not real, and quickly gets herself locked up in a psychiatric cell.

Round twelve

Still convinced she’s been hijacked, Katniss quickly gets herself locked up in this timeline too.

Round thirteen

Katniss poisons Finnick, Peeta, and Prim, not much, but enough to force them to stay behind when the invasion happens.

This time it works.

They’re all safely at home, and Katniss knows the invasion well enough by now that survival isn’t as hard as it once was.

She shoots Coin, then returns to them after.

This time, Peeta can’t trust her again after this. Nor, for that matter, can Prim or Finnick. They still love her, but Prim chooses to take a job in District 3 a little too easily, and Finnick quickly becomes a friend who stays in touch nominally, but never visits. Peeta moves back to District 12 with her, but they live in separate houses and the intimacy and trust between them is now gone.

Katniss, for better and for worse, is alone now but surrounded by people.

There are no more time loops.

#long post #katniss everdeen #finnick odair #primrose everdeen #peeta mellark #the hunger games #the hunger games meta #fixed some formatting and took away an admission

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meloswifeyyy · 4 years ago

Text

Relationship Alphabet

A - Attitude

Who often has the worst Attitude ?

Well, you obviously. Most of the time because you are hungry or you and Melo just got out of an argument. Melo usually fucks the attitude out of you anywhere, anytime tho.

B - Baby

Who wants Babies the most - first ?

Melo. He often jokes about having kids or when you are having sex he would whisper in your ear “You trynna have my babies?” or “You boutta have my babies ” when he nuts in you. He says that he wants 3 or more. You only want 2. You arent rushing into it.

C - Crying

Who Cries the most in the relationship ?

You. You often cry alone when you miss Melo when he is at away games for so long. Or when your BP triggers, Melo would comfort you. When watching sad movies, or when someone you love dies. Tears of joys appear here and there. Or when you get into arguments and Melo says something wrong or disrespectful out of madness.

D - Dates

Who has the best Date spots ?

Melo. He would often take you to fancy restaurants in L.A or Miami, or wherever you guys went. Or take you shopping at an expensive place. He would do dates at home like watching movies, have you cook dinner because he cant cook for shit, or he would have a bath waiting on you.

E - Eat

Who Eats the most ?

You. You know damn well you cant survive without food. Its the 2nd best thing that has ever happened to you besides life and Melo. Cant even survive a night. If you would wake up in the middle of the night and get hungry and go to kitchen and try to sneak some food without waking Melo up, he would hear it and go to the kitchen and scare you, picking you up over his shoulder with one arm, and with the other putting the food away carrying you back to the bed because its a little to early in the morning to be eating.

F - Freak

Who is the Freakiest ?

Both of you. You being the only girl that can fuck Melo like you do, and being the only girl Melo is sexually, physically, and mentally attracted to no other girl can do it like you.10/10 in bed. Now Melo on the other hand is a demon in bed. His strokes, hitting your G - Spot constantly with you feeling it in your guts. His 9 inch is almost always on hard when he is around you. And his tongue is crazy, going in and out and on the pearl AT THE SAME TIME. Crazy right. Spelling his name out on you. He loves when you scratch his back up or give him hickeys everywhere. 10000/10. Makeup sex is the best.

G - Games

Who wins the most games ?

Melo. He would always dare you to a game of Call of Duty or Fortnite to see who would win first. And he would always win. When you would play a game of Uno you would often win and he would be mad the rest of the day due to his competitiveness. But any other game he would win.

H - Happy

Who is the Happiest in the relationship ?

Both of you. You are always happy when you guys are around each other. Even when you guys just got done arguing you are still happy that he is in your presence. Melo on the other hand is always happy with you around him, he loves to cuddle with you. Its one of his favorite thing to do. He just loves that you are in his presence. You are his other half.

I - Irreplaceable

Who is the most Irreplaceable ?

You would say Melo but Melo would say you. Melo knows how to deal with you more than anyone else does. He knows all your spots and what you like and dont like. He notices all of your flaws and sees the good and beautiful in them. He knows your body, mind, and soul. No man has a better or brighter or bigger smile than him. He always brightens the mood. You on the other hand are different. A big beautiful smile. You know how to deal with Melo when he is sad, looses a game. You can tell when he is lying or telling the truth just by looking through his eyes. You know how to make him happy. You are the best he has ever had.

J - Jaded

Who gets the most Jaded after doing something ?

Melo. He usually gets really bored after sitting in the house all day. He really wants to leave the house and do something fun but usually its night time and you would be taking a nap or would be sleep.

K - Kisses

Who gives the most kisses?

Melo. He is always so clingy and that comes with all the kisses in the world. He kisses you all over your face in your sleep, even when you are sleep he gives you kisses. He loves to kiss all over your body.

L - Love

Who fell in love the fastest?

Melo. He had always had a crush on you and everyone knew you were the one for him. You just didn’t know it until you two started dating. He’s always making sure you are good. He loves your hugs. He was the first one to say “I love you”. He want kids you to have all 10 of his kids.

M - Motivation

Who gives the most motivation?

You. When melo is going to a game and is not having a good feeling about it you motivate him to push through it and win for you. 9/10 he will win or get a lot of points for you.

N - Night Owl

Who is more of a Night Owl?

Both of you. Sometimes when his ADHD is on 10 you guys stay up and listen to music, play games, go on ig live, or just fuck for 7 hours straight. Sometimes you have to tell him to got to sleep or put him to sleep (😏) because he has a game tomorrow and needs all the rest and energy he can get. It also the same for you.

O - Oral Sex

Who gives Oral Sex the most?

Melo. Trust me, you give him head a lot and it’s amazing, 10/10. But melo loves giving you head. He loves to spell his name out on you. Loves to see the faces to make you scream and shout. Loves sharing your cream with you (🥲). He loves to climb under the blanket while you are sleep for some breakfast in bed. Maybe even dinner. His lips make it even better. So glad he don’t got them white genes in his lips (😋😭).

P - Perfect

Whos perfect?

Obviously, no ones perfect but God (🙏🏾). But in your eyes no one else is better for you except melo. You couldnt imagine living life without him. Cant imagine what anyones elses kids would look like with you but. No relationship is perfect. Melo sees you as perfect. Your body. Your style. Your personality. He absolutely loves your touch. He loves touch but for you loving your touch is an understatement. He couldnt imagine his kids with anyone else but you. Cant imagine getting married with anyone else. When you guys get into arguments and sleep in seperate rooms. You barely get sleep because all you can think about is each other. How perfect you guys are for one another.

Q - Q? (Cant find a word, Tell me one and ill edit it.)

R - Relate

What traits do you guys have a like each other?

A lot. Both of your favorite food is Chicken tacos. You both love a good game of Uno. You both love sex. Duhh. Both of you guy’s love language is touch. Love playing fortnite together. Love listening to music and taking drives together. Both love lil uzi (we pretending yall💀). Just in general you guys are very alike.

S - Sex

(No question for this one lol. Y’all already know how we is round hea nahhmeannn😭)

The sex. Omgggg. The first time you and melo had sex was. So amazing. Can’t ever forget that moment. Melo is always so horny. Morning sex is the best. Sometimes a little top at the red light can turn into a few rounds in back of the McDonalds parking lot. Lucky enough all his windows tinted as hell. Or in the Victoria’s Secret fitting rooms. You guys could be listening to Chris Brown and he would really take you down, fuck you back to sleep, switch up the tempo, or make you wet the bed (i’m laughing hard ash). The hickeys. The high sex. Drunk sex (drunnnnkkk in lovvveee). Car sex. Balcony sex. All over the house sex ( i got bars.) Mad sex and Make up sex. I could go on. Sex with me so amazinggggg. (i was listening to this song while writing this one💀😫😫😫)

T - Trips

Who likes taking trips internationally?

Melo. He love to take you and a yearly or even monthly vacay. Just you and him. Turks and Caicos. Bora Bora. Jamaica. Iceland. Japan. Africa. Anywhere where you can get away from the world. The different places. The hotels. Being able to fuck anywhere and everywhere. The pools. The different air. (united states ait is so boring). The new food. The animals. You guys love the new places. He loves to see you happy and with a smile on your face.

U - U (Cant find a word, Tell me one and ill edit it.)

V - V (Cant find a word, Tell me one and ill edit it again.)

W - Right the Wrongs

Who rights their wrongs after an argument?

Usually it would be you first. If you said something that was out of pocket or melo didnt like you woukd quickly apologize. He would forgive you and still cuddle and kiss you and stuff because thats what he does. Tease you. But he would ignore you until he actually forgave you in his head. Melo would apologize and give you some bomb ass d for and apology. Or make that cute face that you can’t resist.

X - (Can’t find a word for X. Give me a suggestion and i will edit it)

Y - Young

Who acts like a Young ass child?

Both of you actually. That’s what makes you love each other the most. The laughs and jokes, the tv shows, everything you could think of. It’s nothing wrong with it at all. Y’all are always gonna bust a joke out at the right time. Maybe sometimes even the wrong time. (damn, double homicide). You guys love laughing with each other.

Z - ZZZ

Who has the worst sleeping habits?

Probably Melo. If you scooted over him even a little bit, he would probably scoot back closer to you or pull you back over to him. And the only con of that is he snores a lot. (Why this nigga snore with his mouth open?🤨💀). Sometimes if he was awake and you werent he would kiss all over you. He loves to lay on your 🍒.

Y’all welcome. I haven’t pose the one of these in a minute. This took me a whole month and a half. I’m tired as hell. 💀

#lamelo ball #melo imagine #lamelo imagine

267 notes · View notes

study-coffee-chicago · 4 years ago

Text

Seasons of PD: Season 2: Will’s Back...and There’s a Bomb (A Halstead Brothers + Halstead Sister! Imagine)

Your age: 14

Jay's age: 28

Will's age: 30

"Spoke to Dad," Will said to Jay as the two brothers were sat in Jay's apartment sipping their respective beers. "Said you two barely talk. Said if it wasn't for Y/N, you probably wouldn't see him at all."

"I mean, he's not wrong." Jay shrugged.

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"Not really, but you should've been here. You should've been home. Mom was dyin'. You were off partyin'."

"You left," Will said as he set his beer down and leaned forward on the couch.

"I left to fight a war. I came home. And you know why that was?" he asked rhetorically. "It was because my humvee hit an IED and me and Mouse were the only two who survived! And because Mom was sick! I came back for Mom and I came back traumatized! Nothing bad even happened to you in New York and you left two fucking days after her funeral, man!"

Luckily Will hadn't been holding his beer or he would've dropped it right then and there. "Jay, I- I never knew it was so hard for you to come Stateside again."

"Forget it. You weren't there then, what makes me think you're gonna be here now? You're probably taking off in another few days anyway, am I right? Not even gonna go see Y/N? Even though she always wants help on her math homework from you and you don't even have the decency to answer her phone calls!"

"I'm sorry that I don't have my phone on me when I'm performing surgeries, Jay!"

Jay's phone rang, stopping the argument in its tracks. "Speak of the devil," Jay mumbled and then answered the call. "Hey, Y/N, what's up?"

"I don't understand this stupid homework," you groaned from your desk in your bedroom at home. "Why do I even need to know the equation of a line, anyway? It's not like I'm even gonna use it in life anyway."

"Y/N, like I've told you numerous times, I can help you if it's a single variable problem, but anything more than that, I forgot how to do it. Not really helping your teacher's case for actually using this in life, am I?"

"Yeah, not at all. I guess I'll just try and call Will...he's not gonna answer anyway, but I guess it's worth a shot."

"Wait, how about you FaceTime me?" Jay suggested.

"Why? You already admitted that you can't help me."

"Just do it."

"Okay, gimme a few minutes. I gotta switch devices."

"Oh yeah. You don't have an iPhone yet, only an iPod and a slide phone. Sucks to be you."

"Well, I'm sorry that I don't have a grown-up job and can buy my own stuff, Jay."

"And with buying your own stuff and having a grown-up job comes bills. So, be glad you can't legally work yet."

You rolled your eyes. "I'll call you back in a few minutes. And, whatever this is, better be able to help me with this homework since math is my first class tomorrow."

"It'll help. I promise."

"Hmmm, sure." Then, you hung up and switched to your iPod, and hit the FaceTime icon.

"You look like- you look tired," Jay said when he accepted the FaceTime call. He almost said that you looked like hell, but he figured he shouldn't say that.

"Thanks," you replied sarcastically. "You would be, too, if you've been staring at the same problem on your homework for the past hour."

"What's the equation you have to work with?" Jay asked.

"Y=mx+b," you answered.

"Yeah, vaguely remember that. Don't know what it means, just remember hearing it a bunch. Will, you know what that equation is and how to do it?"

"Will's at your house? I thought he wasn't getting back for another week."

"I thought so, too. And then I got called to a bar today because he was being stupid--"

"Hey, I was not stupid!" Will protested.

"Fine. He was being dumb and tried to break up a fight. And, now I think he's got a job at Chicago Med because he got fired in New York--"

"Y/N," Will butted in, "you said you needed help with your homework?"

"Yeah."

"Jay, can you please give me the phone so I can help our little sister with her homework please?"

"Uh, fine. She'll know why you left New York eventually," Jay said as he passed his phone to his older brother.

"Eventually. But not tonight." He turned to Jay. "Can you get me a piece of paper? I'd grab it but I have no idea where you keep stuff in this little bachelor pad of yours."

"Like you didn't snoop through my stuff when I was at work," Jay joked and stood up to get Will a piece of paper.

"Y/N, for Christmas I'm getting you a subscription to Chegg so you don't need to call me for this."

"I'm holding you to that one."

***

God, I hate running on the track. It's literally just running in circles and seeing the same things over and over, no variety in the scenery whatsoever. I wish I could run with Emma, but she's way faster than me, so she's ahead of me by like one or two laps. Uh, this song sucks! I gotta skip--

"Run lockdown! Run lockdown!"

What? Run lockdown? What is the high school cross country coach talking about? Maybe it's just something that the high schoolers have to do for their drills because I sure have never heard of that one.

But then, you saw Emma jogging toward the bathrooms a few yards away from the track.

What the hell?

You ran towards the bathrooms a few yards away from the track and didn't stop until you'd caught up with Emma. "What's going on?"

"No idea. Something about a lockdown."

Once all of you and your coach, Mrs. Rivers, were safely in the bathroom with the door locked, did you get any closure about what was going on.

"There's been a bomb threat."

"What? A bomb threat?"

"What?!"

"So we can't leave?"

"Girls, I need you to be quiet, okay? The police are looking into it, but for now, the campus is on lockdown and we can't leave here until I get the all-clear. The school's already notified parents, so if someone else is picking you up today other than your parents, you need to call them. Just ask and you can use my phone. Everything's going to be okay, though. We have nothing to worry about. We just need to sit tight until I'm told we can leave." Her phone buzzed and you all held your breath. "Looks like Miss G got stuck in the boys' bathroom with all the stinky football boys."

"What if we walk home?" you asked quietly.

"If you walk home, a parent or someone else will have to pick you up since they don't want anybody walking home because, as of right now, they have no idea who did this."

***

"How's your brother doing?" Erin asked as she and Jay were standing around the coffee pot in the break room.

"Pretty sure he's going to quit the new job he just got at Med even though it's his first day," Jay answered.

"What? He got a job at Med?"

"Yeah. Apparently, they were looking for ER docs and he got the job. But, for some reason, now he wants to quit. And, he was late today. Decided to bitch to me about only having almond milk and not having any regular milk in my fridge. Like, dude, you're staying with me. You can deal with a bit of almond milk."

"I don't blame him," Erin laughed. "Almond milk is disgusting."

"But it's better for you...and cheaper."

"Of course that's your reason for getting it."

"Halstead!" Antonio yelled. "Your phone's been ringing off the hook for the last minute. I think it's important."

"Be right there!" Jay quickly poured himself a cup of coffee and then rushed over to his desk.

"Shit," he muttered.

"Who was it?" Erin asked as she emerged from the breakroom, holding her own cup of coffee.

"Y/N," he answered as he fiddled with his phone. "Called me three times in the past minute."

"Any idea what it's about?"

"No, but I'm about to find out."

"Jay!" you whisper-yelled from the other end of the line.

"Y/N, what's wrong? Why are you calling me so much? Are you sick? Do you need me to--"

"There's a bomb."

Jay almost dropped his phone. "A bomb? Are you sure?"

At the mention of a bomb, everyone's heads snapped towards him.

"Yeah, we're hiding out in the bathrooms near the football field right now until they get the all-clear," you told him. "But, they can't let people walk home from school today and Dad's not answering and it's Will's first day, so I was wondering if you could pick me up?"

"Yeah, yeah, I can do that. Do you mind if I put you on speaker for a quick second?"

"Why? I'm fine Jay, really. Just needed to know if you can pick me up."

Innocent fourteen-year-olds, Jay thought to himself. Of course, she just called to pick to see if you'd pick her up. She hasn't grasped the gravity of the situation, and she's probably thinking that this is just another story to tell. Not that if there's actually a bomb at her school that she could be dead any second if it goes off.

"You're sure you don't want me to stay on the phone with you?"

"You can go."

"Okay. Just, listen to the adult that's in there with you, okay?"

"Okay, okay. Bye."

"Bye I love--" He was cut off by the beep which signaled that you had hung up. "--you."

"What's going on? A bomb?" Erin asked, but Jay was already making his way down the stairs.

"Sarge!" Jay yelled as he made his way to the front desk.

"Well, hello to you too, Chuckles. If you're looking for Voight, he's just meeting with a CI and should back soon," Platt told him.

"Sargeant, all due respect, I don't give a damn about Voight right now. I just need to know if you have any idea about the bomb threat at Central Chicago's high school and middle school campuses?"

"I know that they sent someone from bomb squad and some patrolmen over there to see if there's anyone who seems suspicious--"

"Why wasn't Intelligence notified?"

Platt's jaw dropped and she stared at Jay for a second before speaking. "Because last I checked, detective, those schools weren't in our district--"

Jay slammed his hand down on the desk. "Jay," Erin said and grabbed her partner's arm. "I need you to calm down for a second, okay?"

"I don't need to calm down, Erin," Jay spat. "I have every reason--"

"I understand, but being pissed at Platt here isn't going to fix anything. Go back upstairs and I'll be there in a second."

Jay ripped his arm from Erin's grip and stalked upstairs, not without slamming the gate when he was safely inside the Intelligence Unit's area of the 21st District.

"What's his deal?" Platt asked. "I have half a mind to write him up for insubordination for that little scene he just caused."

"Sarge," Erin started, "the school that called in the bomb threat, that's the school Y/N goes to, Jay's little sister."

"What? I thought that only elementary school kids were at school right now?"

"That's true unless there are sports practices."

"And Y/N's in a sport, so she's at school right now." Platt put the pieces together.

"Yeah. And, I know that family isn't supposed to work cases, but could you maybe make an--"

"Erin, go grab Halstead and Dawson, get down to the school. I'll send the information upstairs to Atwater and Ruzek and they can see what they can get. I'll also call Voight and tell him to meet you there."

"Thank you, Sargeant!"

Erin jogged upstairs and into the bullpen. "Jay, Antonio, we're heading to the school! Kev and Adam, Platt said that you're working the case from up here. Voight will meet us there."

"Copy that," Kevin answered.

Jay holstered his gun and was halfway down the stairs before Kevin even finished his sentence.

***

"Kev, what do we know?" Jay asked as they were driving over to your school.

"Uh, I pulled footage from the high school's office and apparently an unknown dude walked in, asked a question, and then walked out all in the span of less than a minute," he answered.

"Can you run facial rec?"

"Nah, not a good enough angle."

"Description?"

"Dude looks Indian or Middle-Eastern to me. He's got short, black hair. Some stubble, not a ton, but it's enough that you can see it even with the bad angle I got. He's kinda chubby, too. Wearing a tan jacket. That's all I got."

"Thanks, man. That helps. Anything from bomb squad?"

"They haven't located a bomb yet, so I guess that's a good sign, right?"

"It is if there's no bomb," Jay replied. "But, just because they haven't found it, doesn't mean there's not a bomb. Whoever the hell did this could've just hid it really well or do whatever a psycho does when they want to blow up a school full of kids."

Jay relayed the information to Erin and Antonio who were also in the car and then hung up his phone. "Any word from Voight or anyone else when I was on the phone?"

"No, you want me to go to the middle school or the high school?" Erin asked.

"Wherever you can get in."

"Jay, we have badges, we can get in anywhere."

"Middle school then. I'm assuming that's where Y/N is."

"Okay."

"Wait!" Jay exclaimed, almost causing Erin to slam on the brakes. "When I was talking to Y/N earlier, she said that she was in the bathrooms near the football field so we need to go to the high school."

"You're sure it's that field? Isn't there a football field at the middle school, too?"

"That's just a shitty practice field," he answered. "Anyway, the high school football field is the only one that has bathrooms near it so that spectators can go to the bathroom when they go to the football games."

"I shouldn't have to tell you this, Jay," Antonio started, "But you can't just burst into the locker rooms and try to get Y/N out of there. No parents are allowed in or out to pick up their kids. And, you're no different. You have to wait for the all-clear to get her out of there."

Jay hated it, but Antonio was right. No matter how much he wanted to get you as far away from this campus as possible, he couldn't until the bomb squad made sure that there wasn't a bomb anywhere near here. If his time in the Rangers had taught him anything, it was that one misstep, and the whole place could get blown up in a nanosecond.

Erin started to pull into the parking lot of the high school near all the cop cars, when one turned on their sirens and pulled in front of them, effectively stopping them from getting any further.

"I know you're worried about your kids," the patrolman said once Erin rolled down her window, "But we can't let anyone in or out until this is all sorted."

"We're not parents." Erin pulled out her badge. "Detectives Lindsay, Dawson, and Halstead from the 21st District's Intelligence Unit."

He looked at the officer next to him. "Desk Sergeant from the 21st said that there'd be some detectives coming." He pushed the button on his radio before anybody could tell him otherwise. "I got the detectives from the 21st here right now."

"Copy," the person on the other end said.

Jay wanted to jump out of the vehicle and strangle that patrolman with his bare hands. "Are you fucking insane?" he yelled.

The one who keyed his radio stepped out of the patrol car, and Jay did the same. "Are you Dawson or Halstead?"

"Halstead. But you, you must be new here because if there is one thing you absolutely do not do when there's even the mention of a bomb is key your radios."

"No offense, detective," the patrolman in the driver's seat started, "but everyone here has been using their radios since we stepped onto this campus."

"There's no bomb," Erin muttered.

They all knew what the patrolman's statement meant: if they had been using their radios the entire time they were here and a bomb hadn't gone off, then there was no bomb to begin with.

Antonio and Erin both stepped out of the car now.

"Who's your sergeant?" Antonio yelled.

"Why? Why do you care?"

"Because of what he just said! You can't key your radios when there might be a bomb, so I think your whole district might need to go back in for a mandatory re-training!"

"I'll call Voight," Erin said.

"Fucking idiots," Jay muttered as he pulled out his phone.

As soon as he was about to dial your number, a call came in from Kevin. "There's no bomb," Jay said as soon as he answered, not even giving Kevin time to tell him anything.

"I mean, yeah, I was callin' to tell you that the bomb squad just declared an all-clear."

"Thanks."

"How'd you know before we even got the call here at the district?"

"They were keying their radios the entire time and nothing happened."

"Yeah, that'll do it."

"We should be back at the district soon."

Jay hung up and made his way to the bathrooms.

You were sitting in silence with Emma next to you when a banging was heard coming from outside causing you to jump.

What if that's the bomber and he's got a gun and wants to kill us before the bomb can get to us? It was irrational, yes, but it was still possible.

"Chicago PD! This is the all-clear."

It was as if everyone in the bathroom let out a collective breath at hearing that there was no bomb or that the bomb had been dismantled.

"Alright girls, you heard the man, we are good to go," Mrs. Rivers said. "Let's head back to the middle school so you can grab your stuff and start getting back to your parents. Was everyone able to get ahold of someone to pick them up? Because I can bring people home if necessary."

All of you filed out of the bathrooms and into the crisp fall air. You were barely onto the sidewalk when you got pulled into a bone-crushing hug.

"Who the--" You looked up. "Hi, Jay."

"Oh my God, you're okay. You don't know how worried I was--"

"Jay, I'm fine," you squeaked out. "But please let go. You're crushing me."

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized and then let go, not without looking you over for injuries even though you promised him that you were in fact fine.

"50-21 George, 50-21 Lincoln, 50-21 Frank, and 50-21 Squad, assistance is requested at Chicago Med for a 10-34. Are you able to assist?"

Jay's eyes went wide and his breath caught in his throat.

"Jay? Jay?" you asked. "You gonna answer that?"

"This is 50-21 Lincoln, hold us down on that 10-34 at Chicago Med," Erin's voice said through the radio.

"Halstead! We gotta go now!" Antonio yelled.

"Jay, what's going on? Will's at Med. What's happening?"

"Come with me," Jay said and then started ushering you towards the car.

"Shit," Erin said when she saw you. "Antonio, you wanna go with Voight, and then me and Jay will drop her off at home? We can't exactly bring her with us."

"Yeah, good idea." Antonio turned to you. "Glad you're safe, kid."

You nodded as he jogged off to find Voight. Then, you turned back to Jay. "Why are you going to Med? Whatever it is, I wanna go with you because what if Will's hurt? I wanna go!"

Jay got in the passenger seat without answering you and you got in the backseat. Erin started driving to the middle school so that you could go get your backpack from your locker.

Once inside school and connected to the wifi, you took out your iPod and pulled up google.

What does 10-34 mean?

The answer almost caused you to drop your iPod on the tiled floor.

10-34 is a police radio signal that means that a bomb threat has been called in.

You ran to your locker and with shaking hands, put in the combination. How was Jay so calm? How was he so calm when you were silently freaking out? And, to make matters worse, he got to work the case while you were going to be stuck going home and just waiting to see if Will (and Jay for the matter since he would no doubt be in the vicinity of the blast zone) was safe, just waiting to see if your oldest brother, who you just got back, would make it out of his new workplace alive.

You hustled out of school and then got into the backseat of Erin and Jay's car. "There's a bomb threat at Med?"

"Who told you that?" Erin asked, turning around in her seat.

"I googled what 10-34 meant. Jay, please, I wanna go with you. I don't wanna go home!"

"No! I know you wanna make sure that Will's safe, and I do too, but you gotta understand that it's not safe for you there, Y/N," he pleaded.

"It's not safe for you to be there, either!" you argued.

"Y/N, I know you're scared, but I'm trained for this kind of stuff. You are not."

"Please," you begged as your lip began to tremble. "I-It'd be faster for you to just go to Med from-from here instead of dropping me off at home."

"She's got a point, Jay," Erin said.

"What? No way, Er! There is no way in hell she is going in there with us!"

"She doesn't have to go past the tape with us. Just somewhere close by." Erin turned back to you. "Would that make you feel better, Y/N? Being somewhere close by?"

You nodded as you wiped away a tear.

Jay sighed. "Fine," he relented. "We'll drop you off at Mama Garcia's to get your homework done since it's a half-block away from the hospital."

"Will's okay, right? You checked in with him?" you asked.

"I haven't yet, but I promise you when I do, I will text you. I just need you to stay calm and focus on yourself right now. It's no use worrying about Will when you can't do anything about it."

"That's what Mom used to tell me when I was worried about you when you were in Afghanistan. She always told me that it's no use worrying about it since none of us were there with you."

"See, you gotta trust what Mom always told you, kiddo. She was a smart lady after all."

***

"Tell me you're not in there," Jay spoke into his phone as he and Erin walked into the police tent-like structure equipped with fancy tech gear outside of Chicago Med's emergency department.

"I am," Will answered, causing Jay's stomach to drop. "Listen, the guy who blew himself up in here, said he had something worse than Ebola."

"What, like he's spreading it since he blew himself up?"

"Yeah, so essentially, every single one of us in here has been in contact with him."

"Who was he?"

"No idea. But do us all a favor and find out."

"Son of a bitch," Jay muttered as he pocketed his phone and entered the tent-like structure where a bunch of people, including the FBI, were sitting at computers.

"Talk to Will?" Erin asked.

"Uh, yeah," Jay answered, "he says he's in there. Apparently whoever the hell blew himself up in there was infected with something that he said was worse than Ebola."

"So if these people get out before we figure out what it is and if it's treatable, we could have an epidemic on our hands?"

"Exactly. Damn, Er. With that mind of yours, you should've gone to med school."

"Very funny, Halstead. You're looking at someone who barely graduated high school and didn't even go to the academy because being in the back of cop cars on the eastside for half my childhood was more than enough experience to qualify me for this job right here."

"I'm gonna start making some calls." Jay turned his attention back to the situation at hand. "Apparently traffic was a mess earlier and Voight and Antonio got called to headquarters to brief some higher-ups about this."

"Fat chance of them knowing anything right now. They've gotta just be trying to keep all the info away from the press." Erin's phone rang. "Speak of the devil."

"I'll call HQ and try to get some more back up to control the situation," Jay said to no one in particular.

***

You kept fiddling with your slide phone, just opening and closing it as you tried--and failed--to focus on your homework as you sat in one of the far back booths at Mama Gracia's. The news was of course playing on the tv in front of you and all the headlines were about what was happening at Med.

"Again we have word of an event at Chicago Med," the news anchor read from her script. "The CFD was able to contain the victims to the ER, but Ebola was mentioned."

Ebola? That was the disease that wreaked havoc on Africa last year.

You knew Will was a doctor and that he was smart, but if he became infected and it was in fact Ebola, what if he died? What if, since Jay was close to Med that he somehow became infected and he died, too? What if you lost both your big brothers in the same amount of time because of some psychopath who decided it was a good idea to blow himself up and put innocent people--innocent first responders--in danger.

"Ay, cariña. ¿A dónde vayas?" Mama Garcia asked as you stood up and made your way to the door, intent on exiting the small restaurant.

"¿Qúe? No entiendo," you answered. You had started taking Spanish this year, so you only understood one word of what she had said to you.

"Sorry, honey. Where are you going? Your brother said to make sure you stayed here."

You and Jay were both pretty close with Mama Garcia. Seeing as it was very close to Med, when your mom had been hospitalized for cancer years ago, you'd always come in here to get dinner. It was here that Mama Garcia had taught you all the words of the toppings that one could put on their tamales, tacos, or burritos, shocking your Spanish teacher when you told her you could tell her in Spanish exactly what you would put on your tamale when you learned about food in class.

"I'm just going for a walk," you answered. "I need some fresh air."

"Okay, don't go far," she warned.

Once out the door, you breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk towards Chicago Med.

When you got close enough, you saw a big white tent and a bunch of fire trucks. You crept to the side and started walking around the side of the building, where there were barely any people and only one cop to keep people at bay. You smiled at him and watched the scene in front of you.

You had seen of those firefighters before on a rare day that you were at the district waiting for Jay and one of them had to walk the firehouse dog, Pouch. He was super cute and all the firefighters were really nice and let you pet him!

"What is it Casey?" a deep voice bellowed.

You knew Casey! Well, you knew of him at least. He was the one that Hermann always said would write him up if he was gone too long with Pouch, so that was always the excuse he gave you when he had to leave the district to go back to the firehouse.

You couldn't hear what Casey said on the other end, but you could hear whoever this guy was talking to Casey. "Okay, we're gonna need to get some CO2 extinguishers inside."

"You mean you're out of fire extinguishers?" a woman next to the firefighters asked.

"Afraid so."

You turned on your heels and sprinted back towards Mama Garcia's. You were a girl on a mission.

"Mama Garcia! Mama Garcia!" you shouted as soon as you were inside.

"Y/N, ¿Qúe pasa?" she asked as she stuck her head out of the kitchen where she was preparing a bunch of batches of tamales.

"They're out of fire extinguishers at the hospital, do you have any that I can bring over there?"

"You are just like your brother," she said, "super sneaky."

"When you live with older brothers and have to steal their Halloween candy, you learn how to be sneaky, Mama Garcia," you joked.

"I'm not even gonna ask how you know this. There's one fire extinguisher back by the bathrooms and I've got two back here I can give you. Esperes un minuto."

You went and grabbed the fire extinguisher from the spot where it was stored in the back by the bathrooms and waited for Mama Garcia to come out with the other two.

"Thank you!" you exclaimed as you took the big bag from her which contained the two other ones. She had put them in a bag for you since they were super heavy.

You slung the bag over your shoulder and carried the other one in your hand. You knew you couldn't run because these were really heavy, but you knew you had to get to Med to help them. Both your brothers were there! And you'd get there, even if it was a lot slower than you had originally planned when you formulated this plan when you were sprinting back to the restaurant five minutes ago.

***

"Is there a detective Halstead here?" a patrolman walked into the tent-like structure and asked.

"That'd be me," Jay answered as he raised his hand and turned away from the computer screen he had been looking at.

"There's a girl outside, Y/N I think she said her name was. Said you're her brother and that she's looking for you. Said she might be able to help."

Jay turned to Erin. "Go," she urged him.

Jay followed the patrol officer to where you were standing and to say he didn't look happy would be an understatement.

"I thought I told you to stay at Mama Garcia's!" he yelled over the crowd of people and the firefighters shouting out orders to each other. "It's dangerous for you here!"

"I know and I'm sorry! But, I came here to see if Will was outside, and I heard that one firefighter talking into his radio thingy, and then the lady next to him said that they were out of fire extinguishers."

Jay crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was not impressed.

"So I ran back to Mama Garcia's and I grabbed these." You held up the fire extinguisher that you had set on the ground next to you because you had been carrying it for a while now and you thought it was going to rip your arm off because of how heavy it was.

"Let her in," Jay declared.

He grabbed the extinguisher from you and then made his way over to the firefighters.

"Chief!" he yelled. "I've got some fire extinguishers here!"

Chief Boden cocked his head to the side. "How?"

"Apparently my little sister was here and she heard Ms. Goodwin say that you were out of extinguishers. So, she ran to Mama Garcia's and these are from her restaurant."

You set down the bag that contained the two fire extinguishers. "Geez, those things are heavy!"

"That they are. Thank you for these..." Chief Boden trailed off, not knowing your name.

"Y/N," you answered.

"Well, thank you Y/N."

"You're welcome, Chief. Please get my brother out of there safely."

"We're doing our best. And, call me Wallace."

He nodded at Jay and Jay placed a hand on your shoulder to lead you back to where he had been working alongside everyone else who wanted to figure out what the hell had gone on in there. Behind you, you heard the other firefighters volunteering to go inside the hospital.

"You're not making me go back to Mama Garcia's?" you asked Jay as you walked.

"No," he answered. "It's gonna get dark soon and I don't need you sneaking off from there again."

"So, I'm staying here so you can keep an eye on me?"

"Precisely."

***

You were sitting in a metal folding chair, scrolling through your iPod--wifi courtesy of Jay's hotspot--when three people entered the tent-like structure.

"Detective," Sharon Goodwin said as she entered the area where everyone was working. Jay looked up from the computer he was working at. "The parents of..." she trailed off, allowing you to assume that these were the parents of the man who had blown himself up.

"Alright," Jay said as he walked over to them. "Please, have a seat."

His voice was monotonous, not soft like when he was talking to child victims and not angry like when he was trying to get a hardened criminal to break. His voice, it was just...there.

"Is there anything you can tell us?" he asked once the parents had sat down.

"He was a smart boy," the man started, "always nice...and helpful. This country has given us so much. How could this have happened?"

"He claimed to be infected with something similar to Ebola."

You felt like you couldn't breathe. So, what the woman on the news had said was true. Your brother--and everyone else in the hospital for that matter--could be infected with something similar--or god forbid, worse--than Ebola.

You couldn't take another funeral. You couldn't take losing another family member before you even learned how to drive, hell before you even got to high school.

Your mind flashed back to when you were four years old. Will was in college and Jay was in his senior year of high school. It was springtime and the weather was just starting to get nice out.

You woke up from sleeping and realized you were thirsty. Seeing as you didn't think it was super late yet, you hoped that maybe Jay or Will would still be up and they'd give you a cup of juice. They were on babysitting duty tonight because your parents had gone out for a date night and knew they wouldn't be back until the early hours of the morning.

With Beary gripped tightly in your hand, you walked down the hallway and towards the kitchen. You saw the living room light on, and then it was quickly turned off.

"Mommy? Daddy?" you asked.

The only light now was from the hallway and you were starting to get scared. Monsters would come out if it was too dark!

Suddenly, the light was flicked back on.

"Y/N, what are you doing up?" Jay asked as he walked towards you.

"I want juice," you told him. But, then you looked at what he was wearing. He was wearing one of those shirts that he had to wear when you and your mom went to his soccer games at other schools. Jay always said that if he didn't wear this type of nice shirt, that he and his team would have to run suicides. You didn't know what those were, but they didn't sound nice. "Why you not in your 'jamas?" you asked. "You have a game? In the dark?"

"Uh," Jay blanched. He couldn't exactly tell his little, very talkative sister, that he was sneaking out to go to a party. "Let's get you some juice."

"Okay!"

Jay got you some juice and started to take your hand to walk you back to your room and tuck you back in when you turned to look at him. "So you going to play soccer? Or you going to see Allie?" He always wore those kinds of shirts when she came over in one of her really fancy dresses. And, Jay would give Allie a flower bracelet, too!

Jay crouched down so he was eye-level with you. "Y/N, you know what a secret is?"

"Yeah! It's when you can't tell somethin' to somebody. Mommy said secrets are bad," you told him, while you swung Beary back and forth in your little hand.

"Well, they're not all bad," he told you. "So, if I told you a secret, you'd be able to keep it?"

"And not tell Mommy or Daddy?" He nodded. "I dunno. I don't wanna get in trouble and have to go in time-out, Jay Jay."

"You won't get in trouble, I promise. And, if you promise not to tell Mommy and Daddy and Will, I'll get you a big pack of Oreos."

"I get Oreos for not telling Mommy and Daddy and Will?"

"Yes, you get Oreos if you don't tell them."

You'd do just about anything for Oreos!

"Okay, I keep it a secret. Where you going?"

"I am going to a friend's house to hang out."

"Okay." You didn't know what was so bad about that, but you wanted to get your Oreos, so you'd keep your mouth shut.

"Alrighty then, let's get you back to bed. Because, if I'm not mistaken, princesses need their beauty sleep."

He tucked you back into bed and got out of the house safely. Now all Jay had to do was to entrust you with the secret that he had snuck and went to a "friend's house", which was code for going to a party.

You had almost fallen back asleep when your door creaked open.

"Y/N," Will whispered.

"Will?"

"Yeah, it's Will," he answered and flicked on your bedside lamp.

"Were you talking to Jay a few minutes ago?"

"No," you lied. You wanted your Oreos!

"Are you sure about that? Because I could've sworn I heard you say Jay Jay."

"You wrong," you told him defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Because I heard him mention Oreos."

"No, no Oreos. He only got me juice."

"So you did talk to him."

"No, I didn't."

"Then who got you the juice?" Will knew you couldn't pour yourself a glass of juice without spilling it everywhere. He also knew that the glasses were up high enough in the cupboard that you needed someone else to reach them for you.

"Uh, uh, the-the juice fairy!"

"The juice fairy, huh? I've never heard of her. Because I could've sworn I heard you ask him if he was going to play soccer and he told you that he was going to a friend's house."

"No, he didn't!" you protested.

"Tell you what, kiddo, if you tell me where Jay went, I will give you Oreos, too."

You furrowed your eyebrows. Will was gonna give you the same thing and Jay might be mad at you. You needed something more. "Oreos and Sour Patch."

"Deal. Sour Patch Kids or watermelons?"

"Kids," you answered.

"Okay, it's a deal. Now, where is Jay going?"

"He went to a friend's house. But he was wearing one of those shirts he wears when he has to go to other schools for soccer," you answered.

"He's going to a party," Will muttered.

"A party? Like my tea parties?"

"Something like that." Where the tea is beer, Will thought to himself. "But, now you have to wait for Jay to give you your Oreos, and then I'll give you your Sour Patch Kids and Oreos."

"Then I have two Oreos?"

"Exactly. Now, time to go back to sleep."

The next day, Jay gave you a family sized-pack of Oreos that you hid in your room. The day after that, Will came home from studying at the library with a family-sized pack of Oreos and a big bag of Sour Patch Kids for you that you also ended up hiding in your room. And, that night at dinner, Will told your parents that Jay had gone to a party. He was grounded until the end of soccer season. But, Will had successfully taught you how to blackmail someone.

"Y/N." Erin's voice broke through your memories of being a little kid and being taught blackmail by your oldest brother. "I need you to breathe for me. Can you do that?"

"W-What if Will-- What if he gets the--"

"Y/N, match my breathing."

She took a deep breath in and you tried to follow. It took a few tries, but your breathing eventually evened out and returned to normal.

"Will," you heard Jay say.

Before you could even think, you had jumped off your chair and were barrelling towards Jay. "Will? You're talking to Will? Is he okay? Is he gonna come out soon?"

"Y/N," Jay spoke calmly, "we just need to ask him some medical questions. Go back to where you were."

"Is he okay?"

"Y/N's here?" Will asked from his spot in the ED. "Why? How?"

"It's a long story. But, I'm gonna put you on speaker so that you can tell her that you're okay and then I need you to answer some questions."

Jay put the phone on speaker.

"I'm fine, kiddo. Really. You wouldn't want to see me right now anyway. You wouldn't want to come in here either because it smells really bad."

"You promise you're fine?"

"I promise. Now, I think I need to answer some questions?"

"Yeah, yeah," you heard Jay say as you walked back towards Erin. It was quiet in there now, as everyone was listening intently to what Will was saying.

Apparently, Antonio and Voight had looked up where this psycho worked and had figured out that he was the same guy who had walked into the high school's office earlier that day, which he probably did for a distraction. Now, they just had Will on the other end telling the infectious disease specialist in the ED all the chemicals that he had been working with so that she could test for them.

***

"Jay! Why'd you turn off your hotspot?" you whined as you pulled up google.

"Because you heard the bacteria and the strain and I know you. I am not letting you go down a google rabbit hole to look this up and try and figure out if Will's gonna die."

You sighed and put your head in your hands. Jay was right, of course, he was right, he's a detective for crying out loud!

"But what if Will's gonna die?"

"Y/N." Jay walked up to you. "He's not gonna die. He's gonna be just fine."

"But you don't know that!"

Jay's phone rang. "It's Will."

"Put it on speaker."

"It's not contagious," Will said.

If you weren't sitting down, you would've fallen to the ground in pure relief.

"So, you're good?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Everyone's good. Whatever he had, it died with him. I've got some patients that need work, but I'll be out soon."

***

Everyone from the hospital, the police, and the firefighters were all currently packed into Mama Garcia's. You, Will, and Jay had snagged a booth because your backpack and homework were still there from earlier.

"That's one good thing about being the middle child I guess," Jay stated after he had taken a bite of a tamale. "Not having to be the victim in one of these bomb situations."

You knew he meant, here, today, in Chicago and not overseas. And, you weren't about to wreck his joke by mentioning that.

"Yeah, but you had to work it," Will pointed out.

"Technically, you did, too, man. I think Y/N was the only one who got out of this without a payday."

Jay's phone rang. "Why's Dad calling me?" His eyes went wide. "Oh shit! I didn't tell him that I picked you up from practice." He threw his phone to Will, who narrowly caught it. "You talk to him!"

"Me? Why me?"

"Because he likes you better!"

"But he's calling you!"

You swiped the phone from Will's hand and answered it. "Jay? Do you know where Y/N is? I came home from work and--"

"Dad, it's Y/N. I'm fine. Jay picked me up from practice and I'm assuming you got a phone call about what happened at school and then he had to go to Med to work that case."

"Med? As in Chicago Med? Where Will just started working?"

"Yes, Dad, Chicago Med. And, we're fine. We're just a Mama Garcia's getting dinner."

"It's ten o'clock at night!"

"I know, and we should be home soon. I promise I won't complain about getting up in the morning."

"Okay, well, I'm glad you three are safe. Just next time, tell Jay to call me."

"Okay, Dad. Bye, love you."

"Love you, too."

You hung up the phone and passed it back to Jay. "He didn't disown me, did he?"

You laughed. "No, no he did not."

"Y/N, right?"

You looked up at the sound of your name to be met with a firefighter.

"Yes, and you are...?"

"Matt Casey." He stuck out his hand for you to shake and you did so. Despite hearing about him, you'd never actually met the lieutenant. "Chief Boden mentioned that you were the one who ran down to Med with all those extinguishers."

"Oh, it was no big deal," you told him shyly. "They're actually Mama Garcia's. I just heard you needed them, so I asked if I could run them over to you guys. It's her you should be thanking."

"Well, you played a big part in that. So, if you want a dessert, on behalf of me and all the guys at 51, it's on me tonight."

He handed you a ten-dollar bill. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You made up for your brother almost black-tagging Severide."

"You did what?" Jay practically yelled.

As for you, you had no idea what they were talking about. "What? What's black-tagging?"

"You know what? Never mind," Casey said. "Thanks for all your help today, you guys."

"You were the ones who got them extra fire extinguishers?" Will asked, flabbergasted after Casey walked away.

"Yeah. Jay here wasn't too happy about seeing me over there, but when I told him why he calmed down a bit."

Erin slid into the booth next to Jay and he gave her a kiss.

"Ew, guys! Child in the room!"

Jay stuck his tongue out at you.

"I think he's the child in the room, Y/N," Erin said as she thumbed at Jay.

"So, Y/N, anything else interesting happen today? How'd you do on that math homework I helped you with last night?" Will asked.

"I did really well on it, but that's not even the craziest thing that happened at school today."

"Oh, yeah? Then what was?"

Oh man," you sighed. "Where do I begin? I think to tell you that story I'm gonna need to go get me some Flan."

You picked up the ten-dollar bill Casey had given you and slid out of the booth. If someone would've told you that you'd be buying Flan at Mama Garcia's at ten o'clock at night on a school night, you wouldn't believe them, but it would be plausible at least. The rest of the day? Well, you weren't sure that anyone would believe that you and Jay had been at the location of not one, but two bomb threats in the span of a few hours.

Once you got your Flan, you settled back into the booth. "So, it started out like any normal practice except we had to go to the high school to use the track..."

A/N: Guess who cranked out more than 5k words to get this finished today? That's right, me! Anyway, thank you for almost 8k reads! I know this technically wasn't a PD episode (It was Chicago Fire Season 3 Ep 19), but it had both Will and Jay, and the timeline made it so that it was season 2 of PD, so I thought it was fitting. Finally, please reblog/like and comment and tell me what you think about this one!

If you’re in the taglist, please tell me if it worked, I’m new at this!

taglist: @theambracer88 @virtualreader @kelelas-life @celyndavies @brookerz122493 @musicismyescape27 @anotherfan07 @thexplosivegirl @dreamingwithlens @xoxmariaxox

#chicago pd #chicago med #jay halstead #will halstead #halstead brothers #halstead bros #halstead sister #jay halstead imagine #will halstead imagine #halstead brothers imagine #chicago pd imagine #chicago med imagine #fancfic #fanfiction #writing #imagine

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jalnandanz · 3 years ago

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xae's upcoming works !

just something small for me to keep track of my works and for you to check out my upcoming fics ! ^_^

there isn't a fixed schedule that i will post these, but you can refer to the scheduled release :] i will update this when i have updates/new upcoming works

permanent taglist will be tagged in all of these works ! send an ask or message to be in it ^^

gummy hearts ; a collection — enhypen.

a series of angst timestamps based on songs from my playlists.

probably 1 timestamp every few days, around 300-500 wc each

notes: this may be delayed by a lot (initially planned for january 2022, and may be cancelled but most likely not.)

scheduled release: -

call out my name. — p.js.

genre: angst, fluff, genshinverse au (jay as xiao)

summary:

notes: this is part of a collab hosted by me ^_^

scheduled release: april 2022

COFFEE AND PAINTS. — y.jw.

genre: fluff, crack, angst, smau, f2l, coffee shop au

summary: you always went to that small cafe a few blocks away from your house for your morning cup of coffee (totally not to see that cute barista with dimples !!!) you and the aforementioned barista always had small conversations while he made your matcha latte, and the two of you gradually start growing closer. soon later, you realize that he's the same boy whom you got into trouble with in kindergarten because you had painted all over each others' faces. the same boy that you might have had just a tiny crush on.

notes: new smau when i have 2 unfinished ones yass go xae !!!!!

scheduled release: -

lantern rite. — l.hs.

genre: fluff, angst, rapunzel au

summary:

notes: fic for @/wonjaems' collab <3

scheduled release: april 2022

forget me not. — l.hs.

genre: angst, fluff, friends to ???

summary: after crushing heavily on the quiet kid in your new class for weeks, you try stepping out of your comfort zone and making friends with him. it was tough at first with not many words exchanged, always being the one to start a convo, etc... you know the drill. but slowly, you start learning more about him. just when you start getting closer to him and planning to confess, he drops a bomb on you — he likes the popular bad girl. how typical, but how heartbreaking. where would you go to next?

notes: impulsively decided to write this self indulgent fic Haha....

scheduled release: april/may 2022

you stole my heart! — p.sh

genre: smau, fluff, crack, angst (a little)

summary: throughout your years in school, you never had the guts to confess to your crush (who, by the way, was super quiet and rarely talked). after graduating, you decide to join a kpop survival show to fulfil your dream of being an idol, and the 9 winners would eventually form a co-ed group. what you never expected was to see your old crush there, as a contestant too? you thought you had forgotten about him but as you start interacting, old feelings start arising. they never said relationships were forbidden, did they?

notes: yass new smau

scheduled release: may/june 2022

#🦌 jalnandanz

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wintersoldierwhore · 4 years ago

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𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 — bucky barnes

part four to ‘seclusion’

Summary: You’d finally decided to practice again, but need a lot of support from Bucky, who’s more than welcome to give it to you.

Warnings: I AM SO SORRY IF THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU EXPECTED, I AM WRITING THIS BETWEEN COD GAMES 🥲

It had been a few days since you’d used your powers in front of Bucky and Sam, Bucky beaming with pride. The offer of speaking with Wanda, someone who shared your struggles completely, still loomed in your head. You’d agreed, who wouldn’t? You were meeting someone you’ve looked up to since you realised your abilities, and you were nervous to say the least.

And today was the day. Bucky had gotten in touch with her, through other Avenger associates, and she’d accepted the offer quite quickly. You and Bucky spent the morning making sure your home was in tip-top shape. You worked on mopping, folding laundry, keeping Dolly off of the furniture. Whilst Bucky spent time in the barn, sweeping spilled hay, feeding the horses, and watching as they chased each other in the field.

It had gotten to late afternoon, and Bucky watched a burgundy car pull up to the entrance of the long driveway. It must be Wanda, he was sure of it. His feet jogged rather quickly up to the house, seeing you feeding Dolly.

“She’s here, doll.” He mentioned, following you to the door of your house and taking down the concealer. He was forever in awe of your gifts. Wanda stepped out of her car, a bright smile on her face as she stared at the witch before her. She was relieved there was another, just like her.

“Y/N,” you introduced yourself, holding a hand out, “nice to meet you.” Wanda brought you into a hug instead, sighing deeply at the connection. It felt like you’d known each other for years. You looked at Bucky, who shoved his thumb up, and smiled confidently.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” Bucky commented awkwardly, pointing to the barn, “I’ll be with the horses.” As he disappeared, the both of you giggled and entered your home.

“You have such a lovely home,” Wanda complimented, sitting on your couch and looking around, “it must be wonderful to have a large flower garden.” You chuckled, sitting beside her with Dolly at your feet. “And this little puppy, she is just adorable.”

You didn’t know exactly how Wanda would help you, but you trusted her, and trusted she’d do a good job. As she continued to pet Dolly, you felt your nerves increase. What if you hurt her? What if you hurt somebody?

“First of all,” Wanda mentioned, “you need to be calm. All of this will be for nothing if you’re panicking.” You forgot she could read minds, something you had yet to figure out. All in due time. She turned to face you, no longer giving her attention to Dolly. She grabbed your hands lightly, as so not to hurt you.

“What do you know you’re capable of?” Wanda prodded, focusing on you entirely. “What are you in control of now?” You thought about it. Pretty much nothing, you thought. You barely knew what you were capable of. All you knew was that you could contain a bomb, killing a bunch of civilians in the process, and also throwing people into a wall.

“That’s what I’m here for, love.” Wanda encouraged. Her voice was dangerously soothing, it was impossible to be nervous around her. You had confidence in Wanda’s teaching. “How did you get your powers? How did you discover them?”

If you were honest, you could barely remember. “I was taken from my home at 14, along with my younger sister,” you began, recalling what little memories you had, “a bunch of guys experimented on girls, we were the only ones to survive. Once I’d found a safe enough place for us, I made sure she went somewhere safe. With a family.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, do you still talk to her?” She asked, grabbing one of your hands and holding it tightly. You nodded, looking down at your hands together. You wished you’d speak more to her, but you wanted her to get on with her own life. “She’s doing okay now, she’s in college, working hard.”

Hours had passed, Bucky had completely cleaned the barn. All the animals had their daily feed, the stray bits of hay were swept back into their separate areas. And he’d watched them run around the field for a while. Tired and needing both food and a nap, he’d entered the house. You were lifting random objects in the living room up, with your mind. Wanda was helping you immensely.

“Sweetheart, look at what I can do!” You called out like a child for their parent, excited at your new discoveries. You lifted the coffee table, placing it gently back down with the contortion of your fingers. Bucky stood impressed at the door to the living room, folding his arms and smirking.

“You’re definitely getting better, doll.” He mentioned, blowing you a quick kiss and heading upstairs for a shower. You’d done a few more exercises with Wanda, Bucky overseeing a few after his shower. Until Wanda had to leave. You were busy lifting random things up, too excited to notice Bucky walking Wanda out to her car.

“Thanks for the help,” Bucky commented, “she really needed it.” Wanda nodded, glad she could be of service. As she turned her car around, the window had rolled down to see Bucky’s face once more.

“Just be patient with her. Encourage her. She’s been through a lot, and time is the best way to help.” Bucky nodded at her wise words and let her drive off, turning back to his beautiful home and beautiful wife.

You were laying on the couch, lazily, smiling at Bucky as he entered in. He lifted your legs and sat under them, letting them fall into his lap. You were exhausted, to say the least, after your busy day. You’d learnt so many things and used so much energy to practice.

“Okay,” Bucky stated, “what takeaway am I thinking of for dinner tonight?” He was testing your skills, watching your brain turn.

“Chinese.” He smiled cheekily and nodded, grabbing his phone and the order menu that sat beside the couch. Bucky was proud of you, it had taken a lot of strength to get through today alone. And although he doesn’t know how you got your powers or what you went through to get them, you’d tell him eventually. He was more than ready to be patient with you. He’d learnt patience from you — when you said you weren’t yet ready to have kids, he was okay with that. He’d continue to wait for you, no matter how long it takes.

#marvel #mcu #tfatws #sebastian stan #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes smut #bucky fanfic #james buchanan barnes #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes

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vivithefolle · 4 years ago

Note

Is there anyway you could share the entire livejournal essay about Hermione's reaction to Ron coming back in DH? The few paragraphs that you referred to in your recent answer sound extremely interesting.

[The “recent answer” that goes back to... last December. Oh my god I’m such an ass I left you hanging for so long I’m so sorry.]

Okay, okay, so here goes! KEEP IN MIND: I DIDN’T WRITE THIS. I FOUND THIS ON LIVEJOURNAL AND PICKED EVERYTHING THAT I LIKED ABOUT IT, AS WELL AS SOME COMMENTS THAT INTERESTED ME.

This “essay” was actually more of a “reading the books” thing with the person sharing their thoughts and ideas about it. The person was clearly a Snape fan, but they had sympathy for Ron too. I’ll try to formate it as accurately as I can remember it.

And now, here it is:

---

ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

[About Ron being made a prefect.] The essayist: It’s sad, but this probably is the first time Ron’s beaten Harry at something. And the last time.

A commenter: Ron's had a really difficult life, and this is the book that proved it for me. It made me a Ron fan. Just look at the interactions he has with Fred and George. This is commonplace. I know a lot of people don't like Ron, but just look at this book, this chapter especially. People have accused Ron of being lazy, unambitious, having no emotions, and being a big stupid boy. It's just not true. Look at how Fred and George needle him out of jealousy. Look at how they treat Percy. Imagine Ron having to grow up with two older brothers that will not hesitate to bother, torture and torment people that stand out or that get more attention than they do or that cross them. He saw it happening with Percy, so what's he going to learn? He'll learn to shut up unless he wants to have something happen to him. He'll learn that standing out positively is rewarded with cruelty. I can understand how Mrs. Weasley could not have fully protected him from those two. Not all the time, not while trying to also care for Ginny, keeping up with her other kids in school, and running the household. Worst of all, punishing F&G doesn't seem to do anything. Those two just don't care/they crave the attention, negative or positive. The best thing she could've done would be to give them no attention, but that's so against her nature that unfortunately she just fed the monsters. No emotions? Is it really difficult to understand that sensitivity wouldn't be encouraged in young Ron? He's got these two bullies that only want a reaction out of him. If he cries, it'll only encourage them. Any reaction is encouraging to them, but he has to go with anger. It's a survival thing- puff yourself up, make yourself look bigger than you are so the predator messes with you a little less. Look at the pride Ron's showing in his badge. The desire to do well is there. He likes the good feeling that comes with it, but he's been hard-wired since birth that it's better to be "middle of the pack". In later chapters, I know you'll have to point out the way the power makes Ron behave, so I just want to start on the defence now. It's all Ron knows. It's all he's been taught. It's a huge character flaw, but it's what makes him so human. Rowling did develop this in the book, but only accidentally. We're never going to get a good look at Ron's psychology except through these hints because it's, as usual, All About Harry. Ron's flawed, but I hope we remember that he has a reason why he's got those flaws. It doesn't excuse him, but it really explains him. So yeah... that's why I defend Ron.

...

“I’m not Percy,’ he finished defiantly.”

The essayist: Mmmm-hm. Ron feels nervous at the thought of his good fortune inspiring anger in someone and what's his first defence? "I'm not Percy"? Man, the evidence that the Twins' psychological torment has left lasting scars on Ron could not have been more obvious if he'd shielded himself and said "Please don't jinx me, Fred! ... I mean Harry. ... Shit, what'd I say?"

...

“Excellent,” said Ron, with a kind of groan of longing, and he seized the nearest plate of chops and began piling them onto his plate, watched wistfully by Nearly Headless Nick. “What were you saying before the Sorting?” Hermione asked the ghost. “About the hat giving warnings?” “Oh yes,” said Nick, who seemed glad of a reason to turn away from Ron, who was now eating roast potatoes with almost indecent enthusiasm.

The essayist: Ron’s not being very restrained with his eating, is he?

The commenter: I don't know if it's accidental or not, but this is one of those moments that I love, one of the tellings of Ron's home life via his behavior. In this scenario, he's totally a kitten who just got adopted to a house where he's the only cat. He's at a table with food, so his instinct is to eat as fast as he can or his siblings will yoink it. It doesn't help that there are many other people around, encouraging the "get the good stuff fast or you'll have to sate yourself on bread or whatever nobody wants". Ron is so much more human than Harry! How can Harry not be showing any signs of his "horrendous abuse" for eleven years? Well... I guess he sort of does when he buys all that stuff in his first year. And I guess Ron has to go back home every summer where it gets reinforced. But Harry goes back every summer, too... what the hell?

...

“What’s going on?” Ron had appeared in the doorway. His wide eyes traveled from Harry, who was kneeling on his bed with his wand pointing at Seamus, to Seamus, who was standing there with his fists raised. “He’s having a go at my mother!” Seamus yelled. “What?” said Ron. “Harry wouldn’t do that — we met your mother, we liked her. . .” “That’s before she started believing every word the stinking Daily Prophet writes about me!” said Harry at the top of his voice. “Oh,” said Ron, comprehension dawning across his freckled face. “Oh . . . right.” “You know what?” said Seamus heatedly, casting Harry a venomous look. “He’s right, I don’t want to share a dormitory with him anymore, he’s a madman.” “That’s out of order, Seamus,” said Ron, whose ears were starting to glow red, always a danger sign. “Out of order, am I?” shouted Seamus, who in contrast with Ron was turning paler. “You believe all the rubbish he’s come out with about You-Know-Who, do you, you reckon he’s telling the truth?” “Yeah, I do!” said Ron angrily. “Then you’re mad too,” said Seamus in disgust. “Yeah? Well unfortunately for you, pal, I’m also a prefect!” said Ron, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger. “So unless you want detention, watch your mouth!”

The essayist: Note how Ron’s first reaction is to side with Harry.

The commenter: Not surprising because of the best friends thing (some might argue) but I say it's not surprising considering how Hermione and Ron were treating Harry like a ticking time bomb. Survival!

...

“Hello, Harry!” It was Cho Chang and what was more, she was on her own again. This was most unusual: Cho was almost always surrounded by a gang of giggling girls; Harry remembered the agony of trying to get her by herself to ask her to the Yule Ball. “Hi,” said Harry, feeling his face grow hot. At least you’re not covered in Stinksap this time, he told himself. Cho seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “You got that stuff off, then?” “Yeah,” said Harry, trying to grin as though the memory of their last meeting was funny as opposed to mortifying. “So did you . . . er . . . have a good summer?” The moment he had said this he wished he hadn’t: Cedric had been Cho’s boyfriend and the memory of his death must have affected her holiday almost as badly as it had affected Harry’s. . . Something seemed to tauten in her face, but she said, “Oh, it was all right, you know. . .” “Is that a Tornados badge?” Ron demanded suddenly, pointing at the front of Cho’s robes, to which a sky-blue badge emblazoned with a double gold T was pinned. “You don’t support them, do you?” “Yeah, I do,” said Cho. “Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?” said Ron, in what Harry considered an unnecessarily accusatory tone of voice. “I’ve supported them since I was six,” said Cho coolly. “Anyway . . . see you, Harry.” She walked away. Hermione waited until Cho was halfway across the courtyard before rounding on Ron. “You are so tactless!”

The essayist: So Harry meets Cho, makes a complete faux pas and reminds her of her dead boyfriend. Ron quickly steers the conversation away onto something more happy, i.e., Quidditch, before Cho can get too upset. Nevertheless, Ron is apparently the insensitive jerk around here, not Harry.

[If this reminds you of something, then yes, I absolutely took what the essayist was saying and elaborated on it. I confess, I am a dirty thief.]

...

“Well, I suppose he could’ve played better,” Harry muttered, “but it was only the first training session, like you said. . .” Neither Harry nor Ron seemed to make much headway with their homework that night. Harry knew Ron was too preoccupied with how badly he had performed at Quidditch practice and he himself was having difficulty in getting the chant of “Gryffindor are losers” out of his head. [...] And so they worked on while the sky outside the windows became steadily darker; slowly, the crowd in the common room began to thin again. At half-past eleven, Hermione wandered over to them, yawning. “Nearly done?” “No,” said Ron shortly. “Jupiter’s biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto,” she said, pointing over Ron’s shoulder at a line in his Astronomy essay, “and it’s Io that’s got the volcanos.” “Thanks,” snarled Ron, scratching out the offending sentences.

The essayist: So Ron’s getting basic facts wrong in his essays.

The commenter: This is going to look so contrived, but I genuinely believe it, and maybe after these reviews, your standards for contrived have dropped enough for me to pass the bar :3 But... he's not putting in any effort. His ego can't take another beating at the moment (even punching bags have limits). Imagine it- after the Quidditch humiliation with his friend the Star Athlete (when he really was trying) he tries to distract himself by doing school work 1. which he isn't very good at anyway, 2. with the Star Athlete of Academics/Slytherin Spectator Crowd best friend Hermione there 3. with Hermione there to set it right anyway (it sounds as if Hermione isn’t so much correcting their essays as writing them herself). If he tries his best at this and then fails at that, Ron probably would start to consider suicide. It's self-preservation at this point to put in zero effort. This kind of fail is literally "I'm not trying because I have given up."

...

She wrenched her bag open; Harry thought she was about to put her books away, but instead she pulled out two misshapen woolly objects, placed them carefully on a table by the fireplace, covered them with a few screwed-up bits of parchment and a broken quill, and stood back to admire the effect. “What in the name of Merlin are you doing?” said Ron, watching her as though fearful for her sanity. “They’re hats for house-elves,” she said briskly, now stuffing her books back into her bag. “I did them over the summer. I’m a really slow knitter without magic, but now I’m back at school I should be able to make lots more.” “You’re leaving out hats for the house-elves?” said Ron slowly. “And you’re covering them up with rubbish first?” “Yes,” said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag onto her back. “That’s not on,” said Ron angrily. “You’re trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You’re setting them free when they might not want to be free.” “Of course they want to be free!” said Hermione at once, though her face was turning pink. “Don’t you dare touch those hats, Ron!” She left. Ron waited until she had disappeared through the door to the girls’ dormitories, then cleared the rubbish off the woolly hats. They should at least see what they’re picking up,” he said firmly. “Anyway . . .” He rolled up the parchment on which he had written the title of Snape’s essay. “There’s no point trying to finish this now, I can’t do it without Hermione, I haven’t got a clue what you’re supposed to do with moonstones, have you?”

The essayist: This doesn’t seem like a particularly open-minded and enquiring position to take, although I suppose that Hermione’s open-mindedness has always been something of an informed attribute.

The commenter: This trope among fans has got me riled up beyond belief because they use the "Hermione's word is gospel" thing to make unfair assumptions about other characters: Ron's "emotional range of a teaspoon" thing comes to mind, and right after that, Lavender supposedly being silly about believing Trelawney about her dead pet (Hermione never considered that maybe the thing Lavender was dreading was bad news from home or bad news about her pet). Regarding house elves: This is one case where the fans ought to have seen that Hermione was being very thoughtless as far as strategy. Ron has lived all his life up until this point thinking that there was no problem with house elves and she literally expects to be able to just tell him "it's wrong" and he's supposed to change instantly? Talk about your cultural insensitivity. In this case, maybe Ron knows better than you do, Hermione? You didn't even know about house elves until you were at least twelve (but more likely, she didn't know until this year). She must understand the concept of "he doesn't know it's wrong". That was how she defended Crookshanks when he was chasing Scabbers. ... Hey, Hermione thinks Ron's smarter than her cat. That's something, I guess.

...

The commenter: Competition is seriously the worst thing in the world for Ron. He's got wa-a-ay too much baggage. Do well so they'll love you. Do well so they'll notice you. If they notice you, you'll get praised. And tormented by Fred and George. Then if you fuck up, you'll have let everyone down. My brothers never let anyone down. That's the standard. Oh God, I can't live up to that. Which do I want to chose- being ignored or scorned? I could do well. Then I'll be good enough to be called "just like them"! JFC, when's it ever going to be "Good like Ron"? Chess. Literally everyone else has one thing they shine in, even Neville with his Botany and Dean with his art (and... and I'm going to ignore the fact that Hermione and Luna are the only two I can think of with non-appearance based special stuff... someone please help me out? I guess Tonks' doesn't really count as a shallow one because it makes her a master of disguise...)

...

HALF-BLOOD PRINCE

...

Ron gagged on a large piece of kipper. Hermione spared him one look of disdain before turning back to Harry.

The essayist: “Hermione spared [Ron] one look of disdain before turning back to Harry” pretty much sums up her relationships within the trio. It’s no wonder Ron’s so insecure and keeps worrying that she really fancies Harry.

...

“And you’ve been through all that persecution from the Ministry when they were trying to make out you were unstable and a liar. You can still see the marks on the back of your hand where that evil woman made you write with your own blood, but you stuck to your story anyway...” “You can still see where those brains got hold of me in the Ministry, look,” said Ron, shaking back his sleeves. “And it doesn’t hurt that you’ve grown about a foot over the summer either,” Hermione finished, ignoring Ron. “I’m tall,” said Ron inconsequentially.

The essayist: Ron’s so adorably pathetic here, the way he’s obviously feeling inferior to Harry and being ignored by his so-called friends. *hugs Ron*

...

When they left the Gryffindor table five minutes later to head down to the Quidditch pitch, they passed Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Remembering what Hermione had said about the Patil twins’ parents wanting them to leave Hogwarts, Harry was unsurprised to see that the two best friends were whispering together, looking distressed. What did surprise him was that when Ron drew level with them, Parvati suddenly nudged Lavender, who looked around and gave Ron a wide smile. Ron blinked at her, then returned the smile uncertainly. His walk instantly became something more like a strut. Harry resisted the temptation to laugh, remembering that Ron had refrained from doing so after Malfoy had broken Harry’s nose; Hermione, however, looked cold and distant all the way down to the stadium through the cool, misty drizzle, and departed to find a place in the stands without wishing Ron good luck.

The essayist: Hermione keeps belittling Ron and doing him down, and reacts quite strongly when he even so much hints at losing interest in her and showing attention to another woman. Can we say “abusive relationship”, anybody?

...

“Harry! Ginny!” Hermione was hurrying toward them, very pink-faced and wearing a cloak, hat, and gloves. “I got back a couple of hours ago, I've just been down to visit Hagrid and Buck--I mean Witherwings,” she said breathlessly. “Did you have a good Christmas?” “Yeah,” said Ron at once, “pretty eventful, Rufus Scrim—” “I've got something for you, Harry,” said Hermione, neither looking at Ron nor giving any sign that she had heard him. “Oh, hang on--password. Abstinence.”

The essayist: Wow, Hermione’s just being so childish here, ignoring Ron when he’s talking directly to her. Incidentally, Ron’s speaking to her like a normal friend, it’s Hermione who’s doing the blanking. Still, I’m sure this argument is all Ron’s fault for daring to go out with another girl. Hermione is totally blameless.

[Just in case: the essayist is being sarcastic, they’re pointing out the double standard of the HP fandom blaming Hermione’s immature behaviour on Ron.]

...

DEATHLY HALLOWS

...

“I think you’re right,” she told him. “It’s just a morality tale, it’s obvious which gift is best, which one you’d choose—” The three of them spoke at the same time; Hermione said, “the Cloak,” Ron said, “the wand,” and Harry said, “the stone.” They looked at each other, half surprised, half amused. “You’re supposed to say the Cloak,” Ron told Hermione, “but you wouldn’t need to be invisible if you had the wand. An unbeatable wand, Hermione, come on!” “We’ve already got an Invisibility Cloak,” said Harry. “And it’s helped us rather a lot, in case you hadn’t noticed!” said Hermione. “Whereas the wand would be bound to attract trouble—” “Only if you shouted about it,” argued Ron. “Only if you were prat enough to go dancing around, waving it over your head, and singing, ‘I’ve got an unbeatable wand, come and have a go if you think you’re good enough.’ As long as you kept your trap shut—” “Yes, but could you keep your trap shut?” said Hermione, looking skeptical. “You know, the only true thing he said to us was that there have been stories about extra-powerful wands for hundreds of years.” “There have?” asked Harry. Hermione looked exasperated: the expression was so endearingly familiar that Harry and Ron grinned at each other.

The commenter (?): Actually, I thought that Ron was proving the errors in the story. Because he’s right. The eldest brother didn’t die because the Elder Wand had corrupted him (like the One Ring). He died because he was an idiot. He died because he randomly decided to start blabbing about his new toy.

“You talk about wands like they’ve got feelings,” said Harry, “like they canthink for themselves.” “The wand chooses the wizard,” said Ollivander. “That much has always been clear to those of us who have studied wandlore.” “A person can still use a wand that hasn’t chosen them, though?” asked Harry. “Oh yes, if you are any wizard at all you will be able to channel your magic through almost any instrument. The best results, however, must always come where there is the strongest affinity between wizard and wand. These connections are complex. An initial attraction, and then a mutual quest for experience, the wand learning from the wizard, the wizard from the wand.”

The essayist: Harry’s wand has to think for and protect him because he’s too stupid and incompetent to think for and protect himself! Ollivander’s the expert, and he just admitted it. He said any halfway decent wizard can perform magic with almost any wand. The reason Harry could only work with the holly wand is because of the phoenix feather core it shares with Voldemort’s wand. That is, it wasn’t Harry doing the magic with Harry’s wand! It was the Voldemort soul piece! Once Harry was forced to use wands that didn’t have that core, the soul piece couldn’t do the work for Harry any more. He was forced to rely on his own magical powers and competence, which are clearly minimal. This is proven by his inability to do effective magic with any other wand. It’s also proven by an incident from Philosopher’s Stone. Remember when Harry was being chased by bullies and inexplicably found himself on top of the shed roof? That was the soul piece allowing him to fly like Voldy. Lily could slow her descent from a height, as if she had an invisible parachute, but that is not the same as flying, and we have no evidence she could fly. Only Voldemort and Snape fly without assistance! The evidence is overwhelming that I am right. How many spells can Harry do effectively? Expelliarmus, Expecto Patronum, Protego--that’s it. Even as a young adult, he is incapable of doing the basic healing or cleaning spells a young child should have down pat before going to Hogwarts. Of course, we’re told the Patronus spell is difficult and advanced, but who told us that? Remus Lupin, friend of Harry’s father, sycophant, and notorious liar, particularly when it comes to flattering Harry. Recall Lupin also said Snape didn’t like James because Snape was envious of Potter Sr.’s Quidditch prowess, and we know that was a lie. Given this evidence, anything Lupin says that cannot be confirmed by an independent source, especially regarding the Potters, should be dismissed out of hand. True, Hermione has trouble with the Patronus spell, and she’s super-competent. Doesn’t that prove it’s a very difficult spell? Not at all. To take an example from a different field, Beethoven was a virtuoso organist, the greatest pianist of his day, one of the greatest pianists in history, and probably the greatest improvisational musician ever. But he was only a decent violinist. Everybody has areas of weakness, no matter how good they are overall. In addition, Hermione is very gullible where authority figures are concerned. If a teacher tells her, “The Patronus is a very difficult, advanced spell that many people can’t ever master,” she’ll believe that, which may create a self-fulfilling prophecy. A couple of years ago, another DTCL member and I facetiously suggested Harry was less intelligent than his wand. We didn’t know we were right. It rarely happens, but this is an occasion when I would have preferred to be wrong.

...

If only there was a way of getting a better wand... And desire for the Elder Wand, the Deathstick, unbeatable, invincible, swal-lowed him once more... They packed up the tent next morning and moved on through a dreary shower of rain. The downpour pursued them to the coast, where they pitched the tent that night, and persisted through the whole week, through sodden landscapes that Harry found bleak and depressing. He could think only of the Deathly Hallows. It was as though a flame had been lit inside him that nothing, not Hermione’s flat disbelief nor Ron’s persistent doubts, could extinguish. And yet the fiercer the longing for the Hallows burned inside him, the less joyful it made him. He blamed Ron and Hermione: Their determined indifference was as bad as the relentless rain for dampening his spirits, but neither could erode his certainty, which remained absolute. Harry’s belief in and longing for the Hallows consumed him so much that he felt isolated from the other two and their obsession with the Horcruxes. [...] As the weeks crept on, Harry could not help but notice, even through his new self-absorption, that Ron seemed to be taking charge. Perhaps because he was determined to make up for having walked out on them, perhaps because Harry’s descent into listlessness galvanized his dormant leadership qualities, Ron was the one now encouraging and exhorting the other two into action. [...] But not until March did luck favor Ron at last.

The essayist: MARCH! That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. The first fifteen pages of this chapter cover three months, and during that entire time, Harry Potter does nothing, nothing, but sit on his ass fantasizing about the Elder Wand and trying to connect with his Voldie-soul mate. Oh, wait. He also tries to open the snitch so he can get the stone out of it. (Nothing gay about that, either.) I wish he’d succeed in that, too. Maybe he’d swallow the stone, and it would end up in his scrotum. He sure needs something that works down there. Harry doesn’t have the right to bail out on his society like this. He can’t have it both ways. He can’t have the adulation that goes with being Mr. Boy-Who-Lived-Chosen-One-Wizarding-World-Savior and abdicate the responsibilities that go along with those titles and that adulation. Look at what happens in this chapter: Harry becomes obsessed with finding and uniting the Hallows, so much so that he withdraws from his friends, bails out on the job his idol Dumbledore gave him, and spends all his time brooding and trying to connect with the Dull Lord. In other words, he acts clinically depressed. Ron and Hermione were exposed to the same information Harry was, but they didn’t become obsessed/depressed. Ron was mildly interested in the Super-Wand, but not enough to distract him from the Horcrux hunt. Hermione dismissed the whole DH story as nonsense and continued following Dumbestbore’s orders. So why weren’t they tempted?

...

The essayist: Harry opens the locket using Parseltongue--interesting that this never occurred to him before now--and two ghostly figures emerge. They’re Voldie-versions of Harry and Hermione, and they articulate Ron’s worst fears: “Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter...Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend...Second best, always, eternally overshadowed...” I’ll say it again: When you’re right, you’re right. The evidence is overwhelming that Molly Weasley treated Ron the worst of all her children. And if Rowling doesn’t want us to ship HP/HG, she needs to quit throwing them together and making them leaders, with Ron either in the background or absent entirely. JKR obviously wants us to automatically dismiss certain statements just because they’re made by “bad guys” such as Voldemort and Rita Skeeter. There are two problems with this: (1) The “lies” make perfect sense, far more sense than what we’re supposed to believe. (2) Even pathological liars sometimes tell the truth, typically when it won’t hurt their own interests to do so. For those of us who live in what cartoonist Garry Trudeau calls “the reality-based community,” the evidence is what matters, not what we’re told by authority figures. Those of us in the higher stages of spiritual development are funny that way.

...

The essayist: Well, whose fault is that, Ms. Rowling? You’re the one who’s spent the last four books making Ron dumber and dumber, depriving him of any meaningful activity, while you shoved Harry and Hermione into increasingly dominant roles.

The commenter: Are we supposed to look down on Ron now so that we can condemn him for leaving Harry and Hermione? Because if so, then that’s just unfair. Every time Ron tries to come up with an idea, Hermione criticizes him or shoots him down. And the twins have done a fine job of intimidating Ron into remaining mediocre and modest so that he doesn’t remind them of Percy, so what is he supposed to do? How is he supposed to come up with ideas when he’s surrounded by people who basically tell him to shut up and sit down?

The essayist: Just then, Hermione comes out of the tent with cups of tea, with tears running down her face and looking terrified her “friend” is going to curse her with her own wand.

The commenter: So, Hermione will snarl at Ron all day long, but cower in fear when Harry gets mad. Is she projecting herself onto Harry and assuming that just because *she’s* quick to hex people who anger her (Ron, Marietta, etc.), Harry will do the same to her?

The essayist: The evidence is overwhelming that Molly Weasley treated Ron the worst of all her children.

The commenter: And blatantly showed favoritism to Harry while snarling at Ron in the same breath. Of course, Horcrux!Tom doesn’t bring that up, because JKR would have to admit that there might be something wrong with Molly favoring Harry the way she does. The essayist: Hermione acts so crazy Harry has to put a protection charm between her and Ron.

The commenter: Yeah…sorry, it’s not “slapstick” anymore when somebody actually has to stop her from hitting Ron. When Harry feels that the situation is dangerous enough that his intervention is necessary. That’s not funny. That’s a true-crime episode. What gets me is that Hermione's tantrum lasts for days. It goes on for several pages into the next chapter. She doesn't start acting normal again until she comes up with the idea of visiting Xeno Lovegood. The essayist: Hermione tells Ron she still hasn’t ruled out attacking him with birds again.

The commenter: *flatly* So, all of the fans who cooed about how “great” it was for Hermione to show “girl power” by sending Ron to the hospital wing in HBP or breezily dismissed the scene as just tired teenage melodrama? Can put a sock in it. Hermione has clearly learned nothing, JKR clearly feels that that scene was funny, and at no point are we supposed to think that Hermione is an abuser. Even though, if the genders were reversed, fans would be calling for Ron’s head on a platter if he dared lay a finger on Hermione. No. This isn’t funny. This isn’t charming. Hermione hurt Ron so badly in HBP that he had to go to the hospital wing. And she tried to repeat the damage she caused here. Is she going to attack him with birds again after they get married? Is she going to do it in front of their children? Will it be “cute” and “funny” then? No, if a man is an abusive monster for losing his temper and trying to hurt his girlfriend, then Hermione is an abusive monster for losing her temper and trying to hurt her boyfriend. Not only did Hermione land Ron in the infirmary with the first attack, but she wants to do it again at a time when they are on the run. She will NOT be able to take an injured Ron to Hogwarts infirmary, nor to St. Mungos. In other words - she intends for him to remain injured and stick with them while camping, or else he must apparate away while injured, risking another splinching so he could be healed.

...

The essayist: Ron and Harry go back to the tent, and Harry fades into the background so as not to interfere with the lovers’ reunion. That’s a mistake. After Harry wakes Hermione, she shows her delight at Ron’s return by--attacking him? She punches him over a dozen times while yelling at him and screaming for her wand from Harry. Remember last chapter, when I talked about how immature Hermione is? Here’s your proof.

[The essayist quotes an article that I haven’t been able to find, but paraphrased: it speaks of a father who came to pick up his 4 y/o daughter from daycare, a little later than usual, and the daughter reacted by punching and hitting her father, upset at his being late. Additional read: “The parents must know that physical aggression is a common yet natural problem faced by toddlers.”]

The essayist: So there you have it: Hermione Granger, know-it-all supergirl, is so immature she acts like a preschool child when the boyfriend she’s been missing finally returns. I’m not suggesting she has a father-daughter relationship with Ron; this kind of anger is found in other relationships, too. What I am saying is that her way of expressing her anger is appropriate for a very young child. While adults may certainly feel this kind of anger and desire to hit when reunited with a loved one under similar circumstances, they don’t act it out. That restraint is what separates adults from children. Hermione acts so crazy Harry has to put a protection charm between her and Ron. I frankly found her behavior so out of control as to suggest mental instability. She engages in two full pages of histrionics before throwing herself into a chair, sitting so tensely I’m surprised the circulation isn’t cut off to her arms and legs. She remains in a bratty snit until the end of the chapter, which is another six pages. Hermione is still pouting the next morning. I’m wondering if her real problem is not that Ron left, but that she didn’t. Is she angry at him because he had the guts to admit they were blowing it and take a time out, while she just kept trailing along after Harry like a lost house elf? I think she’s definitely mad because she’s always controlled Ron and their relationship. How dare he assert his independence of her! Who does he think he is? Her equal? In an AU, maybe. This is called the Potterverse after all, not the Ronverse. Hermione’s having a bad month. First Ron runs out on them; then she saves Harry’s life, but he’s an ungrateful jerk about it; then Harry asserts his independence; then Ron comes back but doesn’t grovel sufficiently for her taste. All this mistreatment is going to give her the idea she’s just a normal character and not an Author’s Darling. While Ron was gone, he was captured by bad guys called Snatchers, who are bounty hunters for Voldemort. In getting away, he got a spare wand, which he gives to Harry. Of course, it doesn’t work as well as Harry’s “real” wand, so Harry’s still in a snit about that, and with Hermione in a snit, too, they’re a cheerful bunch. Honestly, I don’t know why Ron puts up with these two. The Hs are so spoiled and self-centered, they deserve each other, but I don’t think this is what HP/HG shippers mean when they proclaim the two as an OTP. Sane, normal Ron doesn’t deserve either one of them. Run, Ron! Run while you still can!

...

The essayist: As an interesting aside, ròn is the Celtic word for seal. In Druid lore, seals represent love, longing, and dilemma. No more appropriate totem animal could be imagined for this boy whose sense of selfhood is undermined by his longing for love from a rejecting mother and inadequate father, and who, like the selchie wives of folklore, is faced with the impossible choice of being who he truly is and being rejected, or denying the best part of himself to gain love. Ron’s intelligence and independence threaten his insecure wife (and best friend), just as the selchie’s identity as a seal-woman threatens her human husband; Ron imprisons himself by hiding who he is so the Hs can feel smart and in charge, just as the selchie’s human husband imprisons his wife by hiding her sealskin in a trunk.

#vivi answers #ask #ron weasley #hermione granger #hermione critical #hermione granger critical #harry potter #harry potter series #harry potter critical

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jadoue1999 · 4 years ago

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Maximoff triplets - one shot

Summary: a look into the lives of the Maximoff had they been born as triplets instead of twins.

*This is a merging of the Avengers events with the X-Men events, but it takes place within the Avengers timeline*

Words: 12 239

Warning: Angst, major character death

In most universe, the Maximoff came as a pair, sometimes joined with a younger or older sibling. But this, was not most universe. In this one, the Maximoff came to be as triplets.

Magda definitely wasn’t ready to take care of three newborn, especially alone. But looking at their three little faces, peacefully sleeping after all the screaming they had done when they came into the world, it didn’t matter. She’d do what she’d always done, figure it out.

The triplets grew up to be quite the trouble markers. Most people assumed that Peter and Pietro were the tricksters and while that definitely was a part of the truth, Wanda was just as mischievous. Though, you’d never guessed what she was about to do, her face innocent as she would approach her victim, unlike the boys who couldn’t keep their giggling to themselves. When they started high school, their mom had warned them about pranks, though her little smile couldn’t be ignored. “I think it freaks people out that there's not one, but three Maximoffs roaming your school, so... please, try not to cause any more trouble, alright?”

They had all nodded and promised to be on their best behavior. The first day had been going well, they all had been able to keep themselves fairly out of trouble. Of course, there was a little teasing of classmates when Peter got bored halfway through math class, but a glare from both Pietro and Wanda kept him in line. He did pull his tongue at them, though, before he drummed his fingers on his desk for the rest of the period. Finally, they were back home and spent their night playing games and unfortunately doing homework. Still, all things considered, they had each other and together, they could get through anything.

...

A few weeks after their fourteen birthdays, Wanda had knocked on the bathroom door, urging Peter to hurry since they were going to be late. No answer came, so she knocked again, this time a little harder.

“Peter Maximoff, I swear, if you don’t let me take a shower, I will drag you out of there and dip your toothbrush in the toilet!”

“What’s going on?” asked Pietro, who had just woken up a couple minutes ago.

“Peter’s not sharing,” said Wanda as she rolled her eyes.

A sob made them freeze and forget all the anger they had. They called out his name, asking him if everything was alright. Another sob was heard, and Pietro got up, a worried look on his face.

“I’m getting in,” he said to Wanda before turning to the door. “Peter, open up please, I don’t want to break down the door, but I will if I have to. You know I would, I did it before when you took an hour-long shower and used all the hot water.”

A little laugh echoed behind the door and movement was finally heard. The lock clicked and the doorknob twisted, revealing a very puffy eyed Peter. It was obvious he had been crying, his eyes were still watery.

“Frate, what’s wrong?” Questioned Wanda as she looked at her sibling with worry about his state and guilt about screaming at him.

The teenager didn’t speak, he sniffled before lifting his messy head of brown curls to reveal the roots.

Pietro frowned in confusion, “what- why are your hair turning silver?”

Peter shut his eyes and let out a quiet sob, bringing his hands to his face. “I don’t know,” he cried, “I just woke up and I have an inch root of grey hair.”

Pietro and Wanda shared a look, silently agreeing to do whatever it took to cheer up their brother. The shower forgotten, Wanda proceeded to make waffles, Peter’s favorite. Pietro didn’t complain about the amount of sugar his brother put on his breakfast. The ridiculous amount of sirup mixed with sprinkles and chocolate sauce definitely wasn’t healthy, but it was obvious he needed to find comfort, both in food and in the company of others. They all agreed to keep quiet about this, it was only an inch. Maybe it was due to stress, maybe it would go away on its own. It was probably nothing.

...

The one-inch-long root was now fully set in, the brown curls had turned silver in less than a week. It didn’t really make sense; it was like the hair itself was losing pigment. There was no way that it could be explained logically. The hair change wasn’t the only thing that manifested, for three entire days, Peter had had trouble moving. His muscles were sore even though he hadn’t been exercising any more than usual.

“Am I turning into an old man at fourteen!?” He complained sometimes between two naps.

That remark had greatly amused his siblings, who suggested that they should get him a cane or a walker. Their mother had seemed worried. Though, she insisted that taking him to the hospital wasn’t necessary. The triplets had wondered many times what she was hiding, she obviously knew what was going on, but didn’t want to believe it. They finally got their answers when she sat them down on the old couch in the living room.

“Dragă,” she started, instantly catching the trios’ attention. Romani wasn’t often used in the household, not since she had insisted, they all learned English. Their native language meant business; they all knew it. “I haven’t been honest with you, all of you. I think I know what’s going on, but I did not want to believe it.” She sighed and turned her gaze to Peter. “I think that the sudden changes in you is your mutation manifesting.”

The triplets looked at each other with wide eyes. They had wondered the same thing but had dismissed it since their mother wasn’t a mutant. Though the recent developments could only mean one thing.

“Your father was a mutant,” confessed Magda. “We were married and had another child before you three. Her name was Anya.” Their mother’s eyes were quickly filling up with tears, something they hadn’t seen often in the strong-willed woman. “She died when a bomb struck our house. Your father tried to get her out, but it was already too late. He went on a rampage to make him pay.”

“Him?” Questioned Pietro.

“Tony Stark, the bomb was manufactured by Stark Industry. Your father left on his quest for revenge, and I discovered I was pregnant. He didn’t come back, and I didn’t go look for him. You know the rest.”

They had been silent for a few minutes, trying to take in all this information. The three had, of course, wondered about their father, who wouldn’t? But their mother had never really said anything other than the fact that he left one day and never came back. Any further questions had been shoved away with a serious glare that meant that it was a sensitive subject. Neither of them had pushed further. But now, the teenagers were finally able to question further, and they used it to their full advantage. They learned that their father was called Erik Lehnsherr, they had met when they were both living in the streets and trying to survive. They were only sixteen years old. They stuck close together afterwards, him being great help since he could control metal. Locks and gates were easy. They had stuck together for five years before getting married, Anya being born a year after. The little girl had died at only six years old. That left a 28-year-old Magda Lehnsherr alone and soon to be an expecting mother. She had gone back to her maiden name, Maximoff, deciding to erase Erik from her life and spare the pain to her children. She informed them that she had heard of their father being somewhere in America still on his manhunt and hadn’t bothered to learn anymore since.

After the long talk, Magda left her children alone, knowing that they needed to talk together to better make sense of the situation. It’s what they’d been doing ever since they learned how to talk. The triplets shared a look of amazement. They finally knew who their father was, and even though they didn’t have a face to associate him with, it didn’t matter. Erik Lehnsherr, a mutant who could control metal, was their father.

...

Just a week after the revelation, Peter’s mutation manifested. On the contrary to the trio’s belief, it wasn’t metallokinesis, but speed. It was the strangest thing to ever have happened, one moment they were instructed to sprint by the PE teacher and the next Peter was running while everything around him stopped. He slowed down to try to understand what was happening. Upon closer examination, he could see excruciatingly slow movements from birds and a few of his peers. He observed his siblings’ faces, they were determined and a little red from the sport the teacher had made them do. He pulled on Wanda’s hair to try to make her react, but nothing happened so he poked Pietro on the cheek. There was a ripple on his skin but nothing else changed. Peter sat on the ground, his breath caught in his throat and his heart beating fast. He began to wonder if he was stuck like this, forever stuck in the moment. He buried his face in his knees and tried to get his breathing back under control.

Sounds made him look up, just in time to see Wanda falling to the ground and Pietro being flung to the side, both landing painfully. The pair seemed a little pissed as they looked up, trying to find the culprit. When their eyes landed on the form of their brother, all anger was forgotten, and they rushed to his side.

“Freak!” A student said, passing in front of them.

The teacher shooed the teenager away as he approached the triplets. “Mr. Maximoff, what just happened?”

“I- I don’t know, one minute I was running like everyone and then everything slowed down, and I was still going, and no one was moving, and it was super quiet. I tried to get someone’s attention, but no one reacted, and I couldn’t do anything.”

“It’s alright,” interrupted Mr. Smith. “I can see you are quite shaken, and you two are hurt. Perhaps it would be best if you all went home for the day.”

The trio agreed and after a quick visit to the principal office to explain the situation, Magda was on her way to pick them up. They explained the best they could as Peter felt exhausted. Pietro suggested that it might have been due to the amount of energy he had used. No matter the explanation, the silver haired teen was asleep by the time they arrived home and had stumbled back into the house and in his bed as soon as they had arrived.

...

The next few weeks, Peter struggled even more at school. The hour-long classes were too slow for him. He had sneaked our quite a few times, he was too quick to be caught anyway.

When they weren’t at school, the triplets were experimenting with his mutation. The many holes in the walls from the occasion where Peter couldn’t turn the corner in time. They also figured that he had to support someone’s head if he were to move them in superspeed; Wanda’s head crick was the proof of it. Peter was glad he hadn’t been going full speed, he’d rather not think about what could have happened.

While the three found his mutation amazing, the students didn’t feel the same. They picked on the group, calling them ‘freaks’ and ‘mutant scum’. Peter tried to defend his siblings, telling people they were normal, but it didn’t really help. The Maximoff name slowly grew to be one you’d whisper about and judge the mutant child and his weird silver hair.

Peter barely left the basement; he didn’t see the point since he’d be looked at every time, he’d even take one step outside. He did find a liking to stealing stuff he wanted. That way, no one was seeing him, and he was staying entertained. Magda kept telling him to stop, but they were both aware he couldn’t be stopped. The police showed up at their doorstep a few times to try to arrest him, but they never had a proof of their accusation, so the speedster always walked free.

Peter didn’t go to school much anymore, to Magda’s dismay. He just didn’t really see the point of sitting on a chair for hours to then graduate and go to college to learn a job when he could just steal what he needed. Plus, he kept being teased by everyone. His hair didn’t exactly make it easy to hide his mutation. Wanda and Pietro always defended him, but it only made them victims too. After a while, it was settled between Magda and the school that it would be best if the teenage mutant were homeschooled. They claimed it was for his safety, but Wanda was quick to point out that mutants weren’t the best to put in a brochure.

At that, the triplets looked at each other. At least there was only one freak in the family.

***

Two years later, the trio having freshly turned sixteen, Peter was still the only one with a mutation. Wanda and Pietro were pretty bummed about it since they were so used to be doing everything together. Nevertheless, they still went out and did stuff together, Peter wearing a hat or a hood to cover his hair. The stealing had become a daily thing for the mutant, he couldn’t help himself. Their mom had sighed one day after he had stolen an entire tv, promptly diagnosing him with kleptomania.

Looking back, it was most definitely the reason why he accepted the offer from three strange men to go break out someone from the Pentagon. Pietro and Wanda had been in school when a knock at the door sounded through the house. It was Magda’s day off, so she was the one to go answer the door. That gave Peter enough time to check out their car and registration. When they came to him, he was playing ping pong by himself. How they managed to have heard of him, he didn’t know, but their mission was a serious one.

“Why should I help you?” He smugly asked.

“Because you, you kleptomaniac gets to break into the Pentagon,” tiredly said the hippie. Though thinking back, he might have been high.

He accepted the job; it was way too good of an opportunity to pass up. They piled up in the small rental car and were on their way. The men explained the plan quickly and thoroughly. They’d get in, disable the cameras, which left Peter time to infiltrate the kitchen elevator where a guard would be on his way to bring the food to their friend. The speedster would only have to switch places, break the man out and meet them in the kitchen where they’d make a quick exit. It was planned out enough to be a potentially good plan, so the teenager had faith. Plus, he’d be quick enough to save their asses if they encountered trouble.

After the deed had been done and Peter was at the airport with the now four men, the hippie guy thanked him. They had, in the end, needed his skills to save them from the guards.

“Now Peter, do me a favor and go bring back the car,” he told him, throwing him the keys. He was about to walk away when he turned to him. “And take it slow.”

The teenager laughed, “sure man.” The long-haired guy started walking away, but Peter cleared his throat. “The man I saved, he said he was in there because he killed people.”

“Yes, I’m afraid he did.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s fine. But like, I don’t even know who I saved, could I get a name at least?” The similarities were there, the man could control metal and the people he had murdered were probably rich people, which explained his imprisonment. He had to know.

The guy removed his sunglasses to look at him with a raised eyebrow. “Erik Lehnsherr.”

That took Peter by surprise and gave the men enough time to gear up and leave. The teenager was frozen in place as he watched the jet make its way across the sky. His father leaving for somewhere in Paris. Probably another sixteen years before he would see him again.

When he came home Wanda and Pietro, were all over him asking questions.

“I- I met our tată,” he answered to the surprise of both his siblings.

They spent the rest of the day talking to each other and asking every detail the silver haired teen could remember. He told them about the way he broke the glass and sped his way through the kitchen to save them from bullets. Because apparently, he was faster than bullets now. Peter then explained how he learned his father’s name and how he totally hadn’t crashed the car on his way back because come on, who actually goes that slow in the streets?

They re-enacted from Peter’s memory the even of that day, him being both himself and the hippie that just punched his friend out of nowhere.

“Lovers, definitely,” declared Pietro with a pensive nod.

“You don’t know that! You weren’t even there,” replied Wanda.

“It’s all about the tension, a kiss or a punch is all the same. Haven’t you watched movies before?”

They continued talking until the stars were bright in the sky. They talked about the Pentagon, about Erik and how much Peter’s powers had grown in the last two years. Magda watched them from the kitchen, them being in the living room. She had a worried look on her face at the mention of her ex-husband. Bad things always happened around him, she hoped that habit hadn’t rubbed off onto her children.

***

The very next day, on a Saturday, the news showed a brand-new discovery. One that couldn’t be covered up anymore: mutants. There were, of course, enhanced people. The Avengers were proof of that. But the government had been very secretive about people born with mutation. Though with Erik, or Magneto as he called himself, interrupting an official ceremony and literally showing the world the power of mutants, there was no denying it anymore. The triplets watched worryingly as he declared war on mankind. He took care of the Avengers easily, though it was to be expected with people that called themselves Iron Man, War Machine and Captain America. Their outfit were basically metal. Thankfully, Black Widow had stopped him before he could do any more damages to the mutant world. Peter shared a look of horror with his family.

“I- I didn’t know. I never would have done it if I did.”

Magda put a comforting hand on his shoulder before pulling him in a hug. The teenager started letting out small sobs about the possibility of what had just happened and the consequences following his actions. Mutants would definitely take the blame for everything now. His siblings very soon joined them; their game of cards abandoned ever since the emergency news had turned on. They held each other for a few moments before letting go. Magda took in each of her children, they all looked worried. She gave them a small smile.

“Now, we still have each other. Your father just did a horrible thing, yes, but you have to stick together. Thing might be rough for awhile, but they will get better eventually.”

At that moment, their mother’s speech calmed them down. Though, they would soon look back at this moment and wonder how they could have been so wrong.

Only a week after the Magneto incident, another knock echoed through the house. Magda ordered the triplets to go in the basement and stay there until the coast was clear. She opened the door to reveal four official looking men in suits and sunglasses. They were all different shades of skin and hair, but each of their posture were imposing and meant business.

“Mrs. Maximoff?” One of them said with a serious voice.

“Yes,” she nodded, “how can I help you?”

He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the woman.

“We are members of SHIELD, and we have permission here to talk to your son, Peter Maximoff. Is he currently in the house?”

“Uh, yes, but I don’t see-“

“Your son is a mutant, is he not?” Interrupted the man, clearly trying to hurry things along. Magda nodded, he continued. “From our record, I believe he has the ability to go faster than any recorded human?”

Magda didn’t deny anything. She knew they were confirming information they were already aware were right. There was no point in denying. They all knew why they were there and what was going to happen.

The men demanded to see the teenager, who promptly appeared next to his mom with a worried look on his face. It was obvious he was trying to look strong, but anxiety was eating him from the inside.

“What’s going on?”

“Could you please tell us where you were a week ago, on Friday?” The teen stared at the group with a blank look, the agent continued. “We have reasons to believe you were involved with the breakout of Erik Lehnsherr. While the cameras were disabled, we have an eyewitness account telling a very accurate description of you.”

Peter’s body seized up with fear as his eyes widened. They hadn’t even thought about the guard that witnessed the whole event. They had foolishly assumed he wouldn’t talk. The man repeated his accusations, already knowing he was right. There weren’t many teenagers with silver hair.

“Can I at least say goodbye?” Whispered the teen, resigned to his situation.

“Actually, Mr. Maximoff, our orders are to bring all the Maximoff children.”

Magda gasped, “you can’t do this! These are my children; I will not let you take them away!”

The man took out the paper once again, “you’ll see that we can. Since, one of your children carry an active mutant gene, it is only logical that they do too.”

The woman took the document and carefully read it. Her eyes grew as it confirmed them the right to take her family away for what they deemed to be national security. She handed back the paper and negotiated that she would go get them. It would be better if they talked to their mother. As she walked down the basement stairs, she heard Wanda’s voice.

“Mama, what’s going on?” Her daughter’s eyes were wide with fear, as well as Pietro’s.

She gave them a small smile. “I’m sorry. The men upstairs are people from the government, they suspect Peter of being involved with what happened in Paris.”

“But they can’t just make him disappear!” Cried out Pietro, already partly clued in on the situation.

Magda shut her eyes, “not just him.”

They both protested when they realized what their mother meant. But in the end, there was no real choice. They all walked up the stairs to see the men cuffing the speedster’s feet together. His hands were already behind his back.

“Is this really necessary?” Spat Magda.

“Afraid so, ma’am. We know what your son is capable of and will not take a chance of losing him.”

His voice carried no fear, no anger, and no judgement. It was said just as if it was a usual thing for him. To them, Peter was just another mild threat to deal with. The man let the family say their goodbyes before bringing the triplets to a black car with tinted windows. They thankfully didn’t restrain Wanda and Pietro. They noticed a few neighbors looking through their curtains with a suspicious look on their faces. As the doors shut, Magda watched powerlessly as her world was taken from her.

***

They drove for what seemed hours, then switched to another car that brought them to an isolated airport. From there, they were moved to a private plane and Peter’s cuffs were removed once they were in the air. Each of their questions fell on deaf ears.

The triplets realized halfway through their twelve-hour flight, according to the screen in the pilot’s cabin, that there truly was no going back home. Wanda and Pietro looked at their sibling with increasing worry. He seemed catatonic. Peter had barely moved since they had boarded the plane; it was worrisome behavior since he’d never been able to stay still for long, even before his mutation. They huddled together on one of the small couches and held each other in fear that they would be separated as well.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Peter, “I never should have gone, maybe if I hadn’t, we’d still be with mama.”

They dozed out a few times, they were all exhausted from the amount of stress they experienced in the past 24 hours. When they finally caught a glimpse of the land, they realized that they were in Romania, their birthplace. It was an ironic twist of fate, really. Magda had always wanted to take them there and show them where she had grown up and where she would have brought them had they been raised there. That realization only strengthened the heartbreak they all felt at the possibility of never seeing their mother again. When they landed, the triplets were surrounded by a group of armed men, they dispersed themselves when a tall man with glasses approached. Though, glasses weren’t really the right term. It looked more like a monocle. He had a serious look on his face as he greeted them.

“Welcome, I am Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. I will be in charge of you three.”

They were then led to another car that brought them to a big building surrounded by guarding towers. The sight of it sent chills down Wanda’s back. The hallways of the institutions were dark and cold, the grey cement kept the suffocating air inside. They seemed to be going on forever with their twists and turn. The triplets were each given a grey hospital gown and ordered to leave their clothes in the room. The thin fabric helped very little against the persistent chill in the air.

Strucker soon entered the room and took in his new acquisitions with a grin. “As I am sure you are aware, mutant kind was revealed to the world just a week ago, thanks to the maniac you boy helped release,” he said, eyeing Peter. “We were aware of its existence since the early forties, the first super soldier serum was actually derived from the DNA of a mutant.”

“Why are you telling us all this?” questioned Pietro. Had the man really expected them to even care about the past when the government just took away their future?

“Because,” uttered Strucker, turning to him with a dark gaze. “The mutant gene is usually carried in the family. While it is possible for siblings of different ages to only have one developing abilities, we have yet to see twins follow this rule.” The man paused to observe the Maximoffs siblings. “Do imagine our delight when we discovered you. Triplets, all carrying an active mutant gene.”

“But we don’t, it never developed”

That remark from Wanda made the man curl his lips in an ugly smile. “Oh, but you do miss Maximoff. Usually, we wouldn’t bother because the process of activating a gene carries a high risk of mortality since we’re not sure what exactly causes it to develop. But using the DNA of your brother is relatively safe and guaranteed to work.”

The triplets shared a look of panic and horror as the true reason they were taken was revealed to them. They wouldn’t be prisoners, like they had expected, but a much more worrisome position: lab rats. The man briefly stepped outside only to re-enter the room with soldiers that made sure they would follow the scientist. They were led to another plain room with a few doctors in white coats carefully eyeing their arrival. The trio barely had time to register what was happening before they were each approached by a doctor.

The teenagers were given no choice as they were each brought to a separate room where a basic medical examination took place. Pietro was the first to go back in the cell they called the common room. They hadn’t given him food in the last eight hours and his body hadn’t taken the blood sampling well because of it. He felt sore as he sat on the small bench, the exhaustion was pulling at his eyelids, but he wanted to be there when his siblings would arrive. After what seemed like an eternity due to the lack of clocks, Wanda appeared.

“You look awful,” remarked the brunette.

Pietro pulled his tongue at her, “you don’t look all that amazing either, soră mai mică.”

She smacked his shoulder as she sat down next to him. “I’m not your little sister, we’re literally the same age.”

“Still twelve minutes older than you.”

***

It hadn’t taken long for the scientists to get on with their experimentation. They used any method that held the slightest potential, from radiation, to blood transfer, to electroshock therapy. Pietro and Wanda, who didn’t have increased metabolism showed the effect of the isolation and rationing of food way quicker. Their eyes had sunken in and dark bags circled them. Tiredness was a constant state for the triplets since a goodnight’s sleep was a rare thing in a facility eager to run tests whenever they wanted.

It was obvious that the doctors were getting worried about the lack of progress. The closest they had been to succeeding was when they nearly killed Peter by taking too much of his blood and giving it to Wanda and Pietro. From what the teenagers understood, their DNA had slightly altered, but not enough to unlock any mutation. The scientists had gotten slightly carried away and taken even more blood, nearly two third of the speedster’s blood. He went into shock and whispers among the facilities suggested that his heightened metabolism was the only thing that saved him.

They gave Peter, and by extension his siblings, a few days to recover. The silver haired teen spent the first two days sleeping and complaining about being hungry. Surprisingly, the guards complied and gave as much food as they could provide. They were probably worried about losing the only hope at having new mutants. Still, the few days of peace were definitely appreciated, and needed. Those rare moment of quiet were spent playing dice and cards provided by the facility. They also used their time to talk about home and their mother.

“What do you think mama did after we were gone?” asked Pietro during one of their card games.

“Nu știu,” sighed Peter, “but mama was always a strong woman, I’m sure she managed.”

“And I’m certain she didn’t mind the fact that she didn’t have any more random holes in her walls. You made what, half a dozen holes in less than a year? Not to mention our poor rug and floor,” joked Wanda, trying to ease the depressing feeling in the air.

The speedster pulled his tongue at her and put down a 2 of spades. “Draw four cards.”

“No, I should only draw two!” protested the brunette.

“Afraid not, soră. This is the spades, that means you have to draw double.”

Wanda grumbled under her breath as her brothers chuckled, before picking the cards. She groaned as her deck was filled with four useless cards that only made her victory further away. After a few turns, it was Pietro who won. They hadn’t even seen it coming, he had kept quiet and played his game skillfully and swooped his triumph.

After the eighth day, the doctors deemed Peter back to his full health. Which surprised the scientists since a normal human would need nearly a month to recover. They wanted to try a new method: bone marrow transplant. Why they hadn’t thought of that in the entirety of the two months they had been there, the triplets couldn’t figure it out. Maybe the promises of new mutants they could control had blinded them to the obvious way. Peter groaned when he realized he’d need more days to recover. Though, he did find comfort in knowing that, based on his increased metabolism, he’d only need a day or two; compared to the month and a half Wanda and Pietro would require.

They wasted no time and brought him in the surgery room. Peter was worried about sedation; he was very well aware that anaesthetic didn’t work on him. At least not with a normal dosage. And he didn’t exactly want to feel the doctor digging into his hipbone. The nurse assured him that they had acquired the patent of the sedation necessary to knock out Captain America himself. It had been developed years ago in case he’d ever need surgery of any kind, though Peter doubted that it was the only reason. They informed him that the procedure would take about twenty minutes, but he would be out for approximately an hour in case anything was to delay the operation. They made him lay on the operating table and put an IV in his left arm. The teen watched as the solution slowly entered his arm and for the first time in two years, he felt the sedation take over and he was out like a light.

Wanda and Pietro were anxiously waiting in their room ever since Peter had left. They were well aware that the doctors would do everything to not lose their test subject, but the last slipup had proved that everything was possible. Nearly forty-five minutes later, the doctors brought them to two separate operation room and showed them the small container containing the bone marrow of their brother. They were both put to sleep and the operation began.

When they woke up, they were both feeling like one of the first time Peter had used his superspeed without any support. Wanda felt nauseous and her head felt heavy. Pietro was sore, sorer than he had ever been before in his life. They looked up as a crunching sound was heard in the room. Peter was munching on whatever the facility had given him as he watched disinterestedly the flickering in the neon lights.

“You awake, slow pokes?” he said between two bites. “I’ve been here for like hours. Thought you might not have been able to handle my awesome DNA, so your body gave up.”

“Taci,” replied Pietro. He groaned as he slowly sat up, dizziness was making the whole world turn around him. He felt his brother’s hand on his back, steadying him. “Thanks.”

Peter pulled an offended face. “Oh, so now I get a thank you, but just a minute ago you told me to shut up!”

“And I’ll say it again if you continue,” he chuckled.

The three of them laughed before the silver haired teenager gave each of them a hug. He sat on Wanda’s bed before smiling at them. “I’m glad you two are okay. You are not leaving me alone in this place where the food isn’t even good. Can’t wait to see what your mutations are!”

***

A few weeks later, both Wanda and Pietro were back to their full health. The scientists had followed the development of their cells and were satisfied to see their mutant gene activating. Pietro was the first one to show signs of change. His hair slowly went from a dark brown to a pale blond and his brown eyes changed to a light shade of blue. After a few days of sore muscles, he predicably developed superspeed.

“So, I get that copying is the greatest form of flattery,” whined Peter, “but why do you get blue eyes? That doesn’t even make sense!”

Wanda herself had taken an additional week and a half to show her mutation. The first manifestation of her powers was when she sneezed and red energy accidentally knocked her brothers out of their chairs. Their faces went from surprise to excitement as they quickly got up and demanded that she do it again. Strucker soon entered the room, probably having been alerted by one of the guards.

“What happened?”

“I uh, I sneezed and knocked them out of their chair,” answered Wanda with hesitation. She looked at the man and was attacked by emotions.

Satisfaction.

Ambition.

Greed.

Strucker raised an eyebrow in satisfaction. “Telekinesis, good. Very useful.” He glanced at the triplets, his eyes gleaming with aspiration. “ Two speedsters and a telekinetic, you will become very valuable assets to us. But you require training, all of you.”

The very next day, they were given proper clothes and brought in a large room they hadn’t been in before. The ceilings were high, and the light were reinforced, there were a few mannequins adorned with a target in one of the corners. Strucker instructed Peter to show Pietro the basics before turning to Wanda.

“Now, I want you to move one of those mannequins, it doesn’t have to be big, but I want to see a shift.”

The brunette nodded as she brought her hands in front of her in concentration. Her brow creased in focus as she tried to manifest the red energy once again. Trouble was, she didn’t even know how she managed to do it in the first place. The man urged her to try harder and she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn’t talk back. Couldn’t he see that she was doing her best? A satisfied chuckle from Strucker made her look at her targets. There strewn across the floor like bowling pins. Her hands were still glowing red, so he demanded that she made the mannequins float. She focused on the middle one, red mist coiling around it like a snake. The figure slowly rose in the air, inch by inch. After it was about 10 inches off the ground, Wanda began to struggle. She strained as the prop began to tremble out of her control, the brunette could feel herself losing control. Strucker told her to continue, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to do it for much longer, she could feel the energy dangerously building up.

“I can’t!” She screamed, “I can’t hold it!”

True to her words, the mannequin suddenly blew up, rendered into ashes by her loss of control. She stared at the falling ashes with wide eyes as she fell to her knees, out of breath. Peter was at her side first, soon joined by Pietro.

“Te simți bine?” Asked the silver haired teen as Pietro helped her get to her feet.

She nodded her head, “yes, I’m alright. Just lost control for a second.”

Strucker looked at the trio with narrowed eyes, annoyed at the sudden interruption. It was certain that the girl held great powers and if they could harness the destruction into something she could control, she would definitely be their most valuable asset.

***

A month later, there still wasn’t much progress made concerning Wanda’s powers. The boys had been a good team, learning and improving together. The guards had eventually admitted that it would be best if they trained outside since the flat terrain of the training room definitely wasn’t a realistic fighting location. Though, the running conditions were mainly an excuse they found to finally get some fresh air. After nearly a year stuck in a cold facility an ocean away from home, feeling the wet earth and refreshing wind on their faces was the greatest thing in the world.

While Strucker refused at first, they were able to negotiate two outings a week with tracking bracelets so they wouldn’t try to escape. Though Pietro found the precaution unnecessary; they had nowhere to go, and they made sure to remind them that Wanda was still in the base. They occasionally let her join them, but they were always accompanied by guards with special weapons to stun them if they tried anything. It was during one of those exterior training with Wanda, where Strucker insisted that she practice on various targets such as trees and small animals that the doctor had suggested a new training. He had called the triplets to him before revealing his newest idea.

“We will train all you three in both offense and defense. I want you boys to try to dodge and stop your sister as she tries to catch you with her powers.”

The triplets stood in place hesitantly for a few moments. They looked at each other with wide eyes, wondering if the man really had just asked that out of them. Strucker clenched his jaw and glared at them before repeating himself. Wanda raised her hands in front of her and nodded to the speedsters who started running. Red energy tore down trees and made holes in the ground, but the girl had difficulty even getting close to the blue and silver blur of her brothers. Her lack of precision greatly frustrated Strucker, his angry tone echoed through the valley.

“Focus!”

“Don’t hold back!”

“Dammit, girl, if you can’t hit your targets, you won’t last long in battle!”

Wanda’s heart was pounding in her chest, her blood deafening in her ears. The man’s yelling kept breaking her concentration. She manifested a shield on her right, just in time to stop one of her brothers from attacking. The brunette could feel herself losing control, like the time with the mannequin. The red mist around her hands grew into a big angry cloud that nearly surrounded her completely. Wanda screamed as the energy released, knocking Pietro and Peter to the ground, sending them rolling into trees and some bushes. She stared around her with horror as she realized what she had done. She was still for a few seconds, save from her hitched breathing before collapsing to the ground.

Strucker barked at the guards, ordering them to bring the teenagers back into the facility. They were all unconscious and even paler than usual. They didn’t react at all when they were picked up, which only worried the man even more. He couldn’t afford losing all three of his best weapons, not with the Avengers so close to uncovering the truth behind SHIELD. Once they were back inside, the triplets were laid on stretchers as the doctors quickly took their vitals. Even though there were no apparent injuries, they didn’t seem to stabilize. Strucker met with a few other scientists and observed through a glass window as the doctors did their best to try to save the young mutants.

“It was foolish to think we could create such abominations,” said one of the scientists, an anxious hand fiddling with his wristwatch.

“On the contrary, doctor Thredson, our experimentations were successful. And will continue to thrive if we can find a way to save them.”

The black-haired doctor sighed as he looked at the teenagers. “What about the sceptre?”

Strucker swiftly turned his head towards the man, surprised by his sudden change of opinion. Nevertheless, the man was most definitely right. He ordered the teenagers to be moved in an isolated room, along with the sceptre. They watched anxiously through the glass panel as the staff was carefully placed between Wanda and Pietro. Nothing happened for a few seconds and he was about to admit defeat when the room was bathed in a bright blue glow. It lasted for about fifteen second, slowly morphing from a blue glow to a bright golden glow and suddenly disappeared.

The team observed the teenagers uncertainly, they had regained a bit of colors in their faces, but they still weren’t moving. Dr Thredson walked a little closer to the window.

“Did it work?”

***

As it turned out, it did work. The triplets had recovered in record time and were back into action. Their powers had become even more powerful, which required them to relearn the basics since what previously worked now didn’t work. Peter was especially annoyed at finding himself crashing into walls again after spending two years without doing so. Another surprising discovery was the unlocking of a secondary mutation: metallokinesis. It had come as a completely unexpected thing; they were running, and he had gotten frustrated and had accidentally crushed Strucker’s glasses right on his face. The trio had also developed a sort of telepathic bond thanks to Wanda’s telepathic powers. The only downside of this ability was the fact that they felt sympathy pain whenever one of them was injured.

Some time later, Strucker had done some digging and made one of the most promising discovery ever since they had found the triplets in the first place.

“I did some research about you three,” he told them, one day after training. “I was aware of your mother, but never found much about your father. Until I found a marriage certificate. You children never told me that Magneto himself was your father.”

They hadn’t had much time to explore whatever Strucker had in mind when alarm blared through the facility. After checking some screens and yelling at guards, he turned to the trio with malice.

“We have intruders. Defend the base, that’s what you were trained for.”

They had indeed defended the base and defended it well. Though they did not expect the intruders to be the Avengers themselves. The only thing was that they had lost the sceptre that had saved their lives a few months before. According to Wanda, it had been the right thing to do, and the boys didn’t question it; they trusted their sister. After they used the attack as an opportunity to leave, the triplets weren’t sure where to go. Pietro felt drawn to the West, like something was calling to him. Though, his siblings weren’t completely sold on the idea of following a weird voice in a country they’d never been in outside of Strucker’s experiments.

The lack of options eventually made them give in to his instinct. The speedsters had run for a whole hour without pause, Peter holding Wanda, who wasn’t much affected by the superspeed anymore, and Pietro was guiding them. When they finally stopped, they found themselves at the foot of Wundagore Mountain. The landscape radiated a feeling of warmth that they hadn’t felt since they had last seen Magda. They had set up camp and had been staying in the mountain for nearly a few days when a strange looking robot approached them.

“I do not come to bring you trouble, but an opportunity,” started the robot with his strange electronic voice. “I am Ultron. I know who you are, the Maximoff triplets. Taken from their home and mother after a foolish mistake and experimented on and used as weapons by cruel men.”

“How did you find us?” asked Wanda, her eyes glowing red as a warning.

“My drones have been scouring the world, your fire and the stealing was easy to assume your position, especially considering the proximity of this place to the base.” Ultron electronic eyes scanned the teenagers, noting how their body language still showed distrust. “I understand your reluctance to trust me. But I assure you, I am here to help. While returning to your mother might not be possible at the moment, I might be able to reunite you with your father, Erik Lehnsherr.”

That caught Peter’s attention. “You know where he is?”

The robot nodded his head as he turned to the young man. “Yes, ever since Paris, he has been held in a secure cell in the Avengers tower. Though, why they did not take him to the raft, I cannot understand.”

The trio didn’t care much about what this ‘raft’ was and demanded more information. Ultron assured them that they would be updated in due time, but they first had to go in South Africa to get vibranium. They hesitantly agreed, still unsure of the robot’s plan, but eventually followed. Once they arrived, they were cornered by the Avengers.

“You distract them,” said Wanda to her brothers as she manifested her magic. “I’ll take them out one by one.”

The two turned into a blur and were off, Pietro knocked into Thor, sending him tumbling a few steps back. He continued running, dodging plasma blasts from Iron Man before landing a good punch on Captain America’s jaw. He continued running as Peter slowed down next to him with a mischievous grin.

“I bet you can’t steal Thor’s hammer!”

The blonde man took up the challenge and looked smugly at his brother as his hand closed around the weapon’s handle. Instead of complying, the tool sent him flying down into a pile of crates. Peter was quickly at his side, mocking his mistake.

“You should have seen yourself! I totally spotted the moment you realized you made a grave mistake’” he laughed, mimicking his previous expression.

“Shut up,” Pietro told him, trying to get the world back into focus. “At least, I hit both Thor and Captain America, you didn’t do anything.”

“Hey,” Peter said, rising his hands in front of him, “I got a punch on Black Widow. You know, the one that stopped, dad? I count that as a win.”

Pietro slowly sat up and stared at his brother’s hand as he extended it toward him. He was about to pull him up when a presence appeared beside him. A strong hit on Peter’s lower back cut his breath and sent him crashing on the ground. Captain America then pushed the already dizzy speedster on the ground and glared at them.

“Stay down,” he ordered.

The boys watched him walk away, both in various degree of pain.

“That guy’s got problems,” breathed out Peter.

“No kidding,” answered Pietro, rolling his eyes. “Not a word of this to Wanda.”

The silver haired teen snorted, “no promises.” He touched his hip and hissed as he felt the sore spot where he’d been hit. “Seriously, that shield is gonna kill somebody eventually, he’s not even considering the damages it can do.”

They watched from afar as Wanda subdued the Asgardian god. Seeing as Captain America was the closest, Pietro took the opportunity. That man wouldn’t even get a chance to lay a finger on his sister. He knocked the super soldier off balance and sent him crashing into the metal stairs. He watched satisfyingly as the brunette sent him into his personal hell.

Wanda quickly ran up the stairs and hid in the shadows. Natasha Romanoff was still, she didn’t seem to realize that she wasn’t alone, but the mutant knew not to trust appearances with that woman.

“How can I help?” Echoed Peter’s voice through their telepathic bond.

“Distract her.”

The speedster nodded to his sister and casually walked up into the light at normal speed, instantly catching the woman’s attention. She raised a curious eyebrow as he leaned on the wall with a smug smile.

“Coming for more?” Asked the redhead.

“Actually, I got the hit, if I remember well,” nonchalantly answered Peter. He examined his hand before looking at the woman. “But I’m not here to hurt you, she is.”

Before the spy had time to react, Wanda put her under her spell. The teen smirked as the woman’s eyes became filled with red and slowly unfocused.

“I love your red wiggly woos, have I ever told you that?”

Wanda cracked a smile as she rolled her eyes. She told him to go join Pietro as she would take care of Hawkeye. Peter joined his brother, who was at Ultron’s side. A sudden shot of migraine made both speedsters wince and hold their forehead.

“Wanda’s in trouble,” realized the silver haired teen. He turned to the taller man, “go get her.”

Pietro disappeared and left the young mutant alone with the robot revolutionary. Ultron had stopped moving, his eyes examining the teenager with curiosity.

“You three have a very efficient relationship. You work surprisingly well, for humans.”

Peter raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Forgive me if it sounds pejorative, but such a level of understanding and cooperation without conflict is rare. Especially with powerful people.”

“We’ve always worked together when we pranked people, nothing has changed since.”

The conversation was cut short by Wanda and Pietro appearing next to them. The brunette seemed nauseous and disoriented as the man lowered her to the ground. After making sure she was fine, Ultron declared they’d be going to Seoul to go get an actual flesh body.

“After this, we’ll go get your father.”

***

Well, that definitely hadn’t gone according to plan.

Wanda had read the robot’s mind and discovered that he never wanted to save the world, but rather wanted to end it. The triplets had never signed up for genocide, so they decided to join the Avengers. While the superhero team didn’t exactly align with their point of view, at least they had no desire to end the world.

Also, Ultron’s body, the Vision as the scientists called him, was now alive, though activated might have been the more accurate term. The android had lifted Thor’s hammer without any problem, something that made the Avengers trust him. Which was a little stupid if that was really the only test. The team were getting ready to leave, but the trio interrupted their packing by requesting to see their father.

“You want to see the terrorist that wanted to start a war between humans and mutant?” Tiredly asked Tony Stark.

“Yes,” answered Wanda with one of her signature intimidating look.

The man had eventually agreed to their request and led them down a long corridor that gradually became devoid of metal as they approached the prison cell. The trio held their breath as they spotted their father sitting on the floor, reading a book. He looked up as he sensed the visitors approaching. He watched the newcomers with narrowed eyes until he spotted Peter.

“It’s you,” Erik said, slowly getting up. “The mutant who broke me out of the Pentagon.”

The teenagers didn’t miss the billionaire’s unimpressed stare, but they were all to focused on the metal wielder to care about it. Tony sighed loudly as he started walking away.

“You children have fun with your old man, cameras are all around so don’t try anything,” he casually said the man before closing the door.

The triplets froze as they realized what the billionaire had said. They hadn’t planned on telling Erik of their relation until they had at least known the man a little. But it was too late now, the metal wielder stared at them with wide eyes and a thousand questions running through his head.

“What he said,” started Erik, now looking at the ground in disbelief, “is it true?” He snapped his head up, his eyes teary. “Are you my children?”

Peter didn’t say anything, he did want to tell the man, but he couldn’t find the courage to confirm it. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for Pietro.

“Yes, we are.”

Erik looked at each other them with an unreadable expression on his face.

“He wasn’t ready,” echoed Wanda’s voice through their bond.

“Give him some time, soră,” answered Pietro. “It’s not every day you discover you’re a father to seventeen years old triplets.”

“Not only that, he’s also got to deal with the fact that he’s already met me.”

Their personal conversation was interrupted by Captain America entering the room. The triplets turned to him with narrowed eyes, the super soldier raised his hands in a way to show he didn’t mean any harm.

“Tony wanted me to let you know that we were leaving soon.”

“Take me with you.”

They all turned to Erik, stunned about his suggestion. Steve took a few step forwards, observing the man for a few seconds. The men stared at each other before the veteran cleared his throat.

“Why should we trust you? You tried to kill us barely a year ago.”

Erik glanced at Pietro, Wanda, and Peter. “I didn’t have much to live for back then. I do now.”

The super soldier followed his gaze to the teenagers, picking up on the man’s insinuation. He sighed before shaking his head. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do.”

Soon after the Captain had left to talk to the team, Erik and the triplets continued their conversation. The older man had asked about their mother and their life before Peter had been recruited to break him out. He barely talked as each teenager answered his questions, taking in the fact that he could have had a family with Magda had he never gone on his quest of revenge in the first place. He then asked about their mutations, to which the triplets shared a hesitant look, wondering if they should tell him of the circumstances of their origins. They told him of their powers, and tried to leave it at that, but the man saw right through their coverup.

“What are you not telling me?”

The siblings wondered for a moment who would tell him, and ultimately decided that Peter should be the one to tell the man. The silver haired teen took a breath to prepare himself for what he was about to say.

“Freeing you… Didn’t come without consequences. Government officials came to our house, we were told they were from SHIELD, but they’re definitely more Hydra. They took us to Romania, in a private facility and… experimented on us.” Erik clenched his hands in anger at the mention of the experiments. “Wanda and Pietro didn’t develop any mutation, that’s what Strucker, the guy in charge of us, wanted to do. Have three trained weapons he could use whenever he needed them. We were there for about a year and a half, according to today’s date.”

Erik nodded understandingly, “anything else?”

“Tell him about your metallokinesis,” Wanda’s voice echoed through his head.

“I can’t even control it. I’ve hardly ever used it before.”

“He could show you,” replied Pietro.

“Why don’t you trust him? He’s our father.”

“Last time I trusted someone, we got taken away and experimented on.”

His siblings didn’t argue, so Peter turned back to Erik. “No, that’s it.”

***

The Avengers tracked Ultron to a small town in Romania and didn’t lose time before embarking the private plane. The team watched warily when Erik was brought on board and kept a suspicious eye on him the whole time. The air was tense, probably due to Black Widow’s disappearance. Steve was biting his lips as the miles slowly passed.

“So…” said Peter, speeding to the pilot’s seat, “is there a plan?”

Tony rolled his eyes, already done with the teenager. “Look goggles, we’ll assess the situation when we get there. Go back in your seat, we’re not babysitters.”

“Geez man, you can just say no and leave it be,” replied the teenager, a little offended by the man’s tone.

The billionaire sighed loudly, fully intent on ignoring the boy, but a flick on the back of his head made him turn in anger. “Who did that?”

“Wasn’t me,” shrugged Peter as his siblings giggled and shared a high five.

After awhile, everyone was in their seats, no sound around them save for the fidgeting of the two speedsters that drummed their fingers and bounced their legs. Wanda’s focus was sometimes on the android, something her siblings caught on quickly.

“Wanda don’t tell me you’re crushing on him,” thought Peter with a judging tone.

“No, I’m not!” replied the brunette.

“Oh my god, you totally do,” realized Pietro. “Come on sis, he’s literally nothing more than a glorified toaster.”

When they finally arrived, Tony had been the victim of the triplet’s teasing twelve times, Steve eight times and Clint six times (he had threatened them with his arrow, but the speedsters had laughed at his ‘pointy sticks’). They tasked the teenagers with evacuating the city while the heroes intercepted Ultron. Erik was in the fire of the battle, crushing dozens of robots at once. Never in a million years he would have guessed that he’d help the very people that imprisoned him, but here he was, fighting at their side.

The triplets were separated, Peter and Pietro were zooming through the city and saving people from certain deaths. Wanda was with Clint and they were working together in taking out Ultron’s robots. The woman could feel her powers building up inside of her. She did her best to keep it under control, but she was constantly overwhelmed by the time she had nearly killed her and her brothers. Wanda was very well aware that her powers reflected her state of mind, and right now it was chaotic.

“How could we let this happen?” she cried out, looking around. “We joined Ultron, we had no idea, we caused this.”

Clint brought her into a small house and grabbed her shoulder. “Hey, fine it’s your fault, it’s Ultron’s fault, it’s Tony’s fault. Hell, it’s everybody’s fault, alright? But right now, that’s not what’s important. The city’s flying and will rip apart the planet if we don’t stop it, that’s what’s important. This is our fight, but you’re still a kid, and your powers are unstable. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. But you can also choose to stay here, and I’ll send one of your brothers to come get you, no hard feelings.” Clint paused in case the girl wanted to say something. She didn’t talk, so he continued. “But if you get out of that door, you’re an Avenger, and we can really use all the help we can get.”

Wanda didn’t answer, so the archer got up and resumed the fight, a little disappointed that his speech hadn’t done much. An explosion behind Clint made him turn around. He smiled as he spotted the teen joining the fight. Thanks to her powers, the robots around them were quickly taken care of.

“Alright, we’re all clear here,” he said in his earpiece. He turned to Wanda, “thank you, you did good work.”

The brunette gave him a nod just as Pietro appeared and picked up his sister. “Try to keep up, old man!” he mocked as the pair disappeared in a blue blur.

The archer raised his bow on the general direction of the speedster. “Nobody would know. Nobody.” He started jogging towards the action. "The last I saw him, when Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already."

Pietro and Wanda joined Peter and the rest of the Avengers, who were defending the vibranium core. They settled into a defensive circle, covering all sides as the robots attacked them. They each used their abilities in unison with Peter and Pietro making sure to grab the few robots that tried to sneak in by the air and the sides.

“Why do they have to crawl?!” Exclaimed Peter.

“Dramatic effect,” replied Pietro, punching one of the robots and sending it crumbling into pieces. He pulled a disgusted face as he looked at the slowed down form of the Hulk. “Is he… is he biting off one of the robot’s head?”

The silver haired teen shrugged his shoulders. “At this point, whatever works, am I right?”

The battle suddenly took a turn for the better when the Vision blasted a laser beam at Ultron and sent him tumbling away. Though, the beam didn’t do much else, that is, until Erik stepped out into the light and concentrated onto Ultron. He flexed his hands and made a ripping motion with them. Ultron’s vibranium body slowly creaked and ripped apart, giving Vision enough space to damage the robot, along with the help of Iron Man and Thor.

Hulk punched away Ultron, sending him flying in the air. A group of robots scattered away in fear because, apparently, robots could fear stuff. Tony warned the team that they couldn’t let a single one reach the outskirts of the city.

“We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin,” said Steve. “You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you.”

“What about the core?” Questioned Clint.

“I’ll protect it,” declared Wanda. She watched the Avengers leave before turning to Pietro, “get the people on the boat. Peter will stay around and keep an eye out.”

The blonde man scoffed, “I’m not leaving you here.”

“What’s the matter, frate, you don’t trust me?” teased Peter.

The three looked at each other, all a little out of breath from the fighting. Finally, Pietro rolled his eyes, “fine, but I’m coming back as soon as I’m done.”

Wanda smirked at him. “Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything else.” She nodded her head, “go.”

The blonde man was about to leave but stopped after his sister’s order and seeing his brother biting his lips in an effort to suppress his laughing. “You know, I’m older than both of you.”

The triplets shared a laugh and Pietro left, leaving Peter and Wanda to defend the core that was holding the city together.

***

The citizens kept coming, all panicking as the city rose higher in the air. Pietro had been going back and forth for more time than he could count, but there was always more. Still, he continued, there was no other option, he had a job to do. When one of the last groups finally got onto the air carrier, the speedster let himself take a breath.

Pietro spotted Clint with a child, and the upcoming trail of bullets that were headed towards them. He quickly calculated the distance and pressed his lips in hesitation as he realized there was no way he could be there on time. Peter was nowhere close, and the danger was imminent. He quickly made up his mind and pushed Clint and the child out of the way, gasping as he felt the bullets tear holes through his torso. The archer watched with a dumbfounded face as Pietro struggled to breathe.

“You didn’t see that coming?” He teased the man with a pained smile on his lips.

The speedster used his last strength to focus on their telepathic bond and project his thoughts to wherever his siblings were. “Frate, soră, forgive me.”

There was so much more he wanted to say, to let them know, but the ground collided with his body and his vision faded to black as he let out his last breath.

Far away on the battlefield, Wanda was fighting off more than she thought possible. But no matter how many robots she destroyed, four more would take its place. A shockwave behind her revealed Peter, who had just knocked down one she hadn’t noticed. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach and she saw the silver haired teen grab at his chest. They shared a look and understood what was happening.

Pietro was in trouble.

An even greater wave of pain coursed through both of them, and something was seemingly ripped from their very soul. Wanda let out a gut-wrenching scream and her powers flared out, dismantling every robot around them. Peter collapsed on the ground and she ran to his side, trying to feel his pulse. She panicked as she found none. She didn’t want to be alone; she couldn’t be alone.

Thankfully, his pulse came back soon enough, but that didn’t fix the emptiness inside her. There was still a gaping hole in her chest. Peter and Wanda were momentarily relived when they heard their brother through their bond.

“Frate, soră, forgive me.”

They shared a horrified look as they realized what had happened. They didn’t want to believe it. It couldn’t be happening. There was no danger at the moment since the Ultron robots had been destroyed by Wanda’s wave of destructive magic, the coast was clear. Peter took Wanda and sped them over to where the bond led them to. The brunette screamed once again and fell to her knees before grasping Pietro’s head and running her hand through his hair. Peter, too, fell to his knees, crying at the sight of his brother’s lifeless eyes. They were interrupted in their crying by Clint and Erik who tried to get them on their feet.

“No! No, please! I can’t leave him!” cried out Wanda.

The adults tried to reason with the pair, telling them how the city would fall at any moment and there would be no chance of survival.

“Good, leave us here,” sobbed Peter. “We’ve always been together; we can’t continue without him.”

The men didn’t say anything, but Erik cradled Pietro in his arms despite Wanda and Peter’s protest about moving him. Nevertheless, the metal wielder continued his walk towards the air carrier and gently laid the speedster’s body onto the ground. Erik brushed a hand on Pietro’s face as he mourned his child that he would never get to know properly. The teenagers soon sat on each side of their father, staring in disbelief at their sibling.

“I could have saved him,” choked out Peter.

“Don’t blame yourself,” reasoned Erik. “The distance was too big, even for you.”

The speedster shook his head. “I have metallokinesis, I could have stopped those bullets! But I wasn’t there, and now he’s dead! Because I was too late.”

Erik pushed away his shock at knowing his son shared his mutation and instead wrapped an arm around him, his other arm finding Wanda. “Peter, have you got full control of your mutation? Have you ever practiced?”

The speedster shook his head again, his eyes not leaving his brother’s form. “No, but I could have done something! I could have taken his place.”

Erik tried to think of something that might help. “When you’ll be ready, I could teach you.”

“No,” refused Peter. “I’ll never use it. I don’t deserve to.”

***

After the dust had settled, the Avengers offered them a place amongst their team. Perhaps out of guilt, pity or because they saw an opportunity. No matter the reason, they were done being somebody’s weapon. Erik also offered to be a permanent addition to their lives, though Wanda and Peter doubted that the Avengers would accept having the ex-terrorist around. Though, the first thing they did was visit their mother. Magda was holding back tears when she saw them approaching the front door. They both looked sick with their red rimmed eyes full of sorrow. They all burst into tears and held each other for a long time. It felt strange being home after everything that had happened. Especially, now that they were missing a piece of themselves. Magda asked them how it happened, and cried again, knowing her son’s protective nature was the thing that got him in the end.

Wanda and Peter wanted to stay at their house, they truly did. But staying in their childhood home where each room held memories of Pietro quickly became too much. After a long discussion with their mother, they packed two suitcases before heading off to the airport. Neither of them felt like using their powers at the moment, not with a part of them missing.

After a long flight, they finally arrived. Peter had surprised them both by his lack of crankiness despite the long hours of stillness. Though, being immobile for such an extended period of time made him very fidgety. They agreed that running to their destination would be the better option. They skillfully arranged their luggage so it wouldn’t get blown away when Peter broke the sound barrier. Wanda’s magic helped a little.

The duo arrived at dawn and they sucked in a painful breath as Wundagore Mountain stood tall and ancient before them. They rented a room in a nearby hotel, but they climbed up the mountain just as the sun gave its last glow. Peter gathered some wood to start a fire. The teenagers sat in silence as the flames danced in front of their eyes, Pietro’s presence mockingly hanging in the air.

“You can feel him too, right?” questioned Wanda. Her voice showed no emotion, but they both knew it was only a façade.

“Yeah,” whispered Peter.

Later, they would go back to their hotel room. Later, they would call their mother, and their father, they had to tell them where they were. Later, they would accept the Avengers offer. Later, they would bury the small lock of Pietro’s hair, along with his fingerless gloves he loved so much. Later they would return to the real world.

But right now, Peter and Wanda sat huddled together in a warm wool blanket, staring at the fire burning in front of them. The stars shone brightly in the sky, sometimes adorned by a shooting star. The world would never be the same after what had happened, but for this moment at least, Wanda and Peter pretended that it could be.

In most universe, the Maximoff came as a pair, sometimes joined with a younger or older sibling. While this rule was sometimes ignored, there was always one constant. One Maximoff always died. This universe was no different.

_________

Romani translation:

Frate= brother

Dragă= Darling

Tată= father

Soră mai mică= little sister

Nu știu= I don’t know

Taci= Shut up

Te simți bine= Are you okay?

Soră= Sister

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