Disappeared- {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 20

"Oh, hello Theundruk."

"I never wanted to see you here again. I leave you for four days and you get yourself into such a state that I have to bring you back here for your safety."

"Missed you too," Alex grinned, "Why am I here?"

Theundruk snapped their hand and an image of Alex appeared. She was curled up in the corner of a hotel room, tear stains evident on her cheeks.

"What happened?"

"You forgot,"  Theundruk snapped their fingers again and now Alex saw herself glaring at her mother, "And you've caused a lot of issues which I now have to fix."

"Did she do something?" Whispered Alex, eyes transfixed on her mother until Theundruk snapped the image away.

"No, I would have incinerated her mind had she done so. You did, however, manage to ruin the plans I made without even meaning to."

"I didn't do anything? Nothing that should alter the timeline."

"The timeline isn't the only important thing here. I don't think you understand how much I am trying to do for you, Alessandra, to protect your world. You told Pietro Maximoff to leave you alone."

"I was sparing him."

"From what?

"Myself."

"Alessandra..." Theundruk took one small step forward, then one back, "I have made some mistakes. I never meant for you to leave your family the way you did. It was, I will admit, my own fault that you left. I made you do too much and I became scared, your fear so strong I literally felt it when I have never felt anything else before. I thought with me gone you would go back to them. There will come a time, very soon, where your family will need you to hold them together."

"I'm too dangerous for them. What happened on the train, it was still me in the end, wasn't it?"

"You saved the innocent people. I tried to hold you back but you overpowered me enough to teleport them away. Dangerous? I wish you were but you're simply kind."

"You're wrong."

"And your mother is right? Those are her words you're repeating, Alex."

"She has her moments of being right. I'm not who I was, I have no more hope that I can be a better person. I can't feel anymore, Theundruk, not how I used to and I need to feel again. I need to feel happy, sad, guilty, angry. Your drain of my emotions is starting to really affect me."

"I will try to do better. Not that I will be your concern for much longer, but I am interlinked with your life now, I do not wish to see you in pain."

"What's that meant to mean?"

Theundruk shrank back on themselves, shaking their head, "I've said too much, I can't say."

The knife had said this so much, Alex just knew to accept it, "Then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"What will happen next? Where will you go? Where do I go from this?"

"I stay with you for now. You should go home to the Avengers, only your death or living with them will keep them together as they must be."

"What about Pietro? He knows more than anyone else and he'll be confused by the sudden change of heart. Can I tell him about you?"

"I shouldn't worry about him, he'll be dead."

<<>>

Gasping for air, Alex startled awake. Thankfully, she was still alone in the hotel room, her whole body shaking as she recalled everything. She felt slightly dead inside and it took all her effort to uncurl herself.

The simple bit of exercise made her breathless and she rested her chin on her knees. For a few minutes, she continued to stay that way, the tranquillity of the room calming her down until her hands stopped shaking and she could finally scramble off the floor.

Alex reached for her phone and pressed Pietro's number. It rang and rang until it went to voicemail. Alex was about to hang up and try again later, but something in her stopped her and she spoke instead,

"Pietro, I don't know if you're avoiding me or if you're genuinely not there but I'll keep it short. I need to see you tomorrow, let me know if you're at the cafe and I'll stop by. "

She paused, about to hang up as six final words spilled out,

"I want to fight for us."