R͟u͟t͟h͟l͟e͟s͟s͟ {Q͟u͟i͟c͟k͟s͟i͟l͟v͟e͟r͟/ A͟v͟e͟n͟g͟e͟r͟s͟}

Chapter 14: Discovery and Confusion

"Be in the craft in twenty minutes," Steve ordered me as he walked by.

"'Kay," I replied casually, stepping into the hospital room. I don't know why, but I was still terrified to be in the same room as him. He'd changed too much, what if he woke up and wanted to kill me? "Hey," I said timidly, walking noiselessly into the room. Pietro stirred slightly.

"What?" He asked, his voice weak.

"How are you doing?" I asked softly, as Pietro curled up in the corner of the cell, groaning to himself.

"I can't do this anymore," At first I thought he was just weak, but it soon became obvious he was sobbing, "It hurts, it hurts so bad-"

I grabbed his hand comfortingly, and he grabbed my forearm for balance. "I don't feel..." Pietro collapsed on the icy floor with a loud thud.

"What?" Pietro repeated, his voice startling me. At least he sounded stronger this time.

I couldn't bring myself to ask about his condition, I had too many insufferable memories associated with those types of questions. Instead I found myself saying, "All of the sudden, I can run faster than I ever have before. Why?"

Pietro's eyes locked with mine for the first time. I looked away. He was too weak, it made me overly emotional. "What do you mean?" Pietro looked almost scared.

"I can run fast, just like you," He nodded, "You already knew that, possibly even before that other night," He obviously understood what I meant by 'that other night' without an explanation. "Why?"

Pietro looked at me so blankly, I wondered if he had heard my question. I was about to repeat it when he said, "It isn't.... You wouldn't want to know."

"Well, obviously, I do." I leaned forward anxiously, "Tell me."

"Evgeniya..." Pietro's voice was low, and he looked nervous, "We did experiments on you. Wanda was," He winced slightly, "Well, she was furious at you, for what you'd done. For letting us suffer and get experimented on, and, although I regret it now, I was just as angry. But Wanda...." Pietro trailed off. I expected him to continue, but he just looked off in the distance absentmindedly.

"Wanda?" I prompted him.

"She wanted revenge. She always wants revenge, Evgeniya. Always." Pietro looked overwhelmed, "She's going to kill me, isn't she?"

"Pietro, you know I would never let that happen." I breathed, my eyes blurring slightly with tears. I blinked them away.

"You said that about the experiments, too." Pietro turned away from me, and a hole deeper than anything I could've ever imagined split open inside of me. I felt like any honor I had left in me was being sucked out.

"I had every intention-"

"You made us like this," Pietro said, suddenly angry, "So we changed you to be like us."

It was like a wrecking ball hit me right off my feet. "So I'm not just fast."

"You're dysfunctional, is what you are. You're just like everyone else. All everyone wants is revenge. I'm tired of revenge." Pietro still wouldn't meet my gaze again, "Despite that, I'm not going to teach you how to be fast. I still want you to have to suffer like I did." His voice broke off, and I wondered if he was crying, or he was just angry. "And as you've probably guessed, Wanda's not going to teach you, either."

"Pietro," I said desperately, but was cut off.

"I hope you enjoy your time rescuing a murderer," Pietro replied bitterly, and by his tone, I could tell he would not be willing to say more. I felt hollow, empty. I should've expected to feel horrified after talking to the man who almost murdered me, but it was a different kind of horrified than I'd expected. Unfortunately, this was just as bad.

I walked out the door, emotionless yet again, and took the necessary steps to get to the plane. Even though I knew I was much earlier, fifteen minutes to be exact, than Steve had instructed, I needed to be alone. The shock of everything was starting to catch up to me, and I didn't want to feel anymore. Everything was too much for me to handle. My brain kind of went into a dead zone, just buzzing as I cried into my hands. I was trapped, utterly, completely, trapped. I couldn't help but feel like a prisoner. No matter what I did, one side was going to hate me. One of these days I was going to have to choose.

I wasn't watching very carefully to what was going on until something faintly purple caught my attention. Panicked, I jerked my head to the side to face it, and got hit in the face.

"Ow!" I cried. My nose throbbed painfully. The purple thing was still floating just inches from my face. After closer examination, I discovered it was a water bottle that had been lying on the floor, unopened. It floated beside me innocently, with a slight purplish glow. Curious, I reached for it, but it was like I had pushed it away, and it wandered away from my fingertips. I reached for it again, but all it did was float away. I sank back into my seat, wondering if I was imagining it, but it still sat there, bouncing slightly. This looked all too much like Wanda's magic...

My thoughts were broken as the door to the craft slid open and Steve walked in. "Hey," he said comfortingly, "Did you go to see Pietro again?"

I suddenly remembered my puffy, tear-stained eyes. Alarmed, I looked back at the water bottle, but it had returned to it's place on my bag, only slightly moved from its original location.

I'd almost completely forgotten about Pietro and what he'd said to me. "Er.." I trailed off uncertainly, "Yeah. I did."

Steve climbed into the pilot's seat easily, and I felt the lift off as it happened. For the hundredth time, I wondered if this was all a dream. "You okay?" Steve asked worriedly, "You seem upset."

I was tempted to reply that I was, but chose not to. Steve would probably just assume the stress of everything was getting to me and give me pity. "I'm fine," I replied with all the strength I had left in my voice.

"Alright," Steve took a deep breath and glanced back at me as we took off into the air, "If you say so."

I touched my water bottle again, running my fingers over it, my mind spinning. Confusion, stress, and hurt poured into me, and I closed my eyes, concluding that I was delusional. Besides, a floating water bottle wasn't the least of my problems at the moment.

Sorry, I would've updated earlier today, but I was busy. Can I just take this moment to fangirl though-

1K! ONE THOUSAND READS! I love you guys! I can't even begin to express how happy this makes me. Honestly, this is better than I could've even wanted when I first started writing.

Vote and comment if you're excited for Ant-Man in July :)

~Emily <3