The Hearts of the Hopeless

1K 24 3
                                        

If you glance over to your right ever so slightly, eyes narrowed to see through the halfway opened door, you can just manage to see him. He's leaning against a wall, watching the last couple of minutes of a S.H.I.E.L.D. debriefing. You're not surprised that he isn't seated- you don't think the guy could ever stay still for longer than a couple of seconds. Those happen to be the downsides of moving faster than anyone else around you- you tend to get bored fairly quickly.

Of course you're thinking about Pietro Maximoff, and of course your eye just happens to fall on him when you're supposed to be running through some paperwork. But there's a veritable mountain of forms in front of you, and the man is just a few feet away, so how were you ever supposed to focus? You're not sure when your little crush developed, but you are sure that it is absolutely, wholly, one hundred percent going to ruin your life. How could it not? Pietro Maximoff is an Avenger, an enhanced speed demon, a smooth-talking flirt who manages to turn your world upside down with just a flash of a smile. You are a perfectly normal S.H.I.E.L.D. officer whose only talent is finding ways to get distracted from doing her paperwork.

You can still remember when you first met him. You had been the leader of a squad of S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements sent to help the Avengers out of a situation that had gone south. You had thrown yourself into the thick of the fighting as required, and made eye contact with him for the first time after taking a few shots at retreating enemy agents. Your heart had done a little flip in your chest, and you'd hurried to adjust your gun as an excuse for why you had suddenly stopped dead in your tracks, unable to divert your attention back to the literal battle raging around you.

You weren't sure what Pietro thought of you other than that you were just another agent. He certainly saw dozens of them per day as an Avenger, yet you had a slight advantage over the other lovesick interns because of your friendship with the Avengers. You'd been close friends with Natasha Romanoff ever since the two of you were stuck on a tough assignment that everyone else was too scared to even attempt. Despite all the dangers, you two had fought together and had each other's backs more times than you could count. After that, it was practically impossible to not see her as a friend. Just like it was practically impossible to not find your eyes catching on Pietro whenever you were spending time over at Avengers Tower, or even now, when you should be focusing on your forms.

You sigh to yourself. Hopeless. You're so completely, utterly hopeless.

Pietro should be focusing on the debriefing. He should be nodding in understanding with the other agents, he should be scanning the data files for the appropriate information, and he should definitely not be smiling to himself over the fact that he can just make out the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Y/N L/N through a door that had been thankfully left ajar by some blessed intern.

She's sitting at her desk, fingers tapping slightly in concentration as she studies a set of forms corresponding to her latest assignment. They share the same habit, actually, of always needing to be doing something. Except whenever Y/N does it she seems like a confident, action-oriented secret agent, and when Pietro does it, he seems like an easily bored sprinter. If he had even a fraction of her cool, he could practically take over the world.

Pietro can still remember the first time he saw her. It was at some battle with the Avengers, when they were outnumbered ten to one. Pietro is used to impossible odds, but that one fight had been too stacked against them so Cap had called in the S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements. At first, Pietro had been annoyed. Why ask S.H.I.E.L.D. for help? He knew there would be some greasy nobody in charge, who'd bristle at taking Stark's orders and just be a hindrance.

But then the doors to the quinjet had burst open, and a young woman had strode purposefully down the landing, gun already raised and taking aim. Every move seemed orchestrated, every step and attack a work of art. She hadn't actually noticed him until they'd been fighting side by side, and then she'd looked up at him and it was like time stopped moving entirely. She had the most beautiful eyes, and when they'd met his gaze Pietro felt like he couldn't move a muscle, even at normal speed.

Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver ImaginesWhere stories live. Discover now