Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver Imagines

Nothing Good Happens at a Costume Party

Pietro's home is falling to pieces around him. He's not entirely sure how long the battle has been raging in the streets of Sokovia, or how long he's been fighting in it. Then again, time has rarely been easy for him to judge. Once you start moving as fast as he does, there's no good way to tell what's a minute and what's an hour, or the difference between the time it takes someone to shape a single syllable and the elapse of an entire conversation.

This being said, Pietro is fairly certain that he's been here a while. His palms and the soles of his shoes are stained with a dark color that's half an almost scarlet copper and half the dark grease of Ultron's robots. Right now, he's camped out with his twin sister, Wanda, and another man, one who waits with his hand tensed over his bow for the slightest sign for a break in the constant barrage of enemy fire. Clint Barton may not have the inhuman powers of Pietro or his sister, but he's prepared for this fight nonetheless.

At last, Clint gives a signal for Pietro and Wanda to join him. They're hovering in the shell-shocked remnants of what might have once been a house. Now, it's scarcely more than a crumbling exterior, all broken glass and dusty fragments. They're hemmed in by the barely intact walls, and the flood of robots waiting to take them out the second they burst through the doors.

Clint's voice is terse when he finally speaks. "Someone's coming for us. When they arrive, we'll have enough time to get out of here and back to the rescue planes. You'll have to make a choice, though. I can help you to those ships, no problem there. You can help people on board and get to safety when they're full. Neither I nor anyone here will judge you for that." For once, Pietro believes it- even if he and Wanda had supped their fill of horror and were ready to stop risking their lives, Clint would endanger himself to get the Maximoff twins on board one of the rescue ships, and harbor them no ill will for it.

However, Pietro won't force him down that path. He shakes his head firmly. "No. We stay and fight." He doesn't have to glance at Wanda to know that she is in agreement; they always are, on things like this. Sure, they may argue over what TV show to watch when they were younger, which path home to take, but in times of survival, their differences are cast aside and they think as one. Clint takes one last look at both of them, and then sets his jaw.

"Good. She'll be here in a moment." Pietro frowns. "She?" Something almost like a smile crosses Clint's face. "My cousin." Clint pauses a moment longer, as if listening for something, and then he points past the wreckage of the house and into the street outside. "That's her, I believe." Pietro listens, and after a moment, he hears it too.

It's the sound of absolute carnage, of someone wreaking havoc on the city around them. The noise of tearing metal fills Pietro's ears like some sort of unholy symphony. He can hear thunk after thunk as robots hit the ground, and it sounds like whoever this savior is, they're coming closer. Finally, a final android hits the side of the house with a decisive impact, and someone appears, silhouetted in the door.

For a second, Pietro can only stand and stare at her. He knows he has a fatal flaw of always thinking the best of whoever he meets, but he swears that this time, it's true- he's met the prettiest girl in the entire world. She's wearing S.H.I.E.L.D.- issue armor similar to Clint's, weapons strapped to her belt, arms, and legs. In her hands are twin guns, still smoking, although Pietro notices a glowing line of energy detailing their sides. Apparently Clint's cousin isn't content to use regular bullets to take out Ultron's drones.

She waits in the doorway for a moment, scanning the ruined house with a soldier's keen eye, and then breaks into a grin. "Clint, good to see you. Didn't think I'd have to save your life so early in the fight." She crosses the room, throwing her arms around Clint's shoulders. The bowman chuckles, slapping her on the back. "Good to see you too, Y/N. I'm sure I can pin the blame for this rescue on someone else, though. Don't get too proud of yourself."