Disappeared- {Pietro Maximoff}

Chapter 32

Alex had never wanted to wake up less.

Before her eyes even opened, she could feel rope tied tight around her forearms. Cold air numbed her entire body except for her face; the suit she'd been wearing had been stripped off and a gag was wrapped tightly around her face.

It was a waste of energy but Alex teleported the gag off her anyway.

"Mi chiamo Ena Alessandra Esposito. Ho diciotto anni. I am a badass who can't speak her native language anymore. But I remember everything," Slowly, she let a breath of relief out. That had been the biggest problem with the plan, that she would forget and be turned to C.R.Y.P.T.'s side, "I remember."

When she had faced her brother, expecting him to beg her to let him live, all he had done was smile and say,

"You call yourself Stark now?"

"I do," Alex remembered how her heart had pounded as she kept her face straight.

"Your boy seems to have found my special stash of Panfortis."

And Alex remembered how her heart had stopped for an entire moment. She reached out then, easily finding Pietro's mind. The timer on her phone went off, distracting her for a moment, and she was vaguely aware of Alastair still talking to her.

What Pietro had been saying, thinking, wasn't important enough for Alex to remember now, but when she focused, she could feel fifty-nine other minds around him. They were different to normal minds in a way Alex couldn't describe.

Mutant.

Alex was didn't know what to do.

Her instinct was to teleport, get them out of there but a part of her hesitated. Alex knew she could not teleport herself with them. She couldn't even guarantee that she'd get all the Panfortis, she simply wasn't strong enough.

There was no time either to think it through, Pietro had his plan and Alex knew he would be as torn about what to do as she was.

In the end, with no other choice, she had put all her energy in teleporting the Panfortis away. Tony's house in Miami had been the first safe location that came to her mind and that was where she had tried to send them.

One of them must have warned Alastair, perhaps a telepath, that Pietro was there but Alex didn't care. She expected loyalty to C.R.Y.P.T., they would never learn any different if she and Pietro didn't help.

A knock on the room's door brought Alex out of her thoughts. She managed to push herself into a sitting position just as the door swung open.

"Good morning, Alex."

"What do you want with me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I want to kill you. I am going to kill you, so a normal person would have already killed me."

"Call it brotherly love."

"You're not my brother. I have no family other than the one I chose."

"Is that right? Then where are they? I assume you mean the Avengers, who are extremely capable of finding and rescuing you but...they're not."

Alex wanted to choke the smugness out of his perfect English accent.

"And to properly answer your previous question, you're still alive because your boy managed to steal all my little Panfortis."

"All of them? Pietro's not there either?"

"No."

"Then bitch, you've fucking lost." Alex dared to grin while Alastair remained impassive.

"You think so?"

"I know. Whatever you do to me, it doesn't matter. Kill me even, but Pietro will carry on my idea."

"What if he didn't have to?" Alastair leaned forwards, making Alex recoil as much as she could, "What if I offered you, and him, exactly want you wanted. I was never particularly loyal to C.R.Y.P.T., they've simply been a means to an end. It's the genetics of the Panfortis I'm interested in rather than the powers they have."

"At the very worst, you experimented on children. At the very best, you provided children to be experimented on. We're not going to work together."

"But think of what we could do. I have experience working with the Panfortis and while I don't know what you want with them, I can assure you that I would support you through it all. Together, we could change the world. That's all I've ever wanted, isn't that what you want too?"

"Yes," Alex admitted, "But not like that. Not with you."

"Then with who? I can get you them. Tony Stark would be interested in the Panfortis, I'm sure. Pietro and Wanda Maximoff had good reports from H.Y.D.R.A.. Kore De Luca has always been a good girl for me, except when she met you again."

"No."

"Alex, I am being more patient here than I should. I haven't even told my coworkers about you, because I want your support first."

"Well, I'm really not sorry but you're not getting it."

"I am offering you a home. I'm sure I could even break our little family curse if that's what it took."

"What do you mean?"

Alastair's lips twisted up, "Infertile. We both are. My father wasn't but he, like his brother— your father— carried the genetic. And you, Alex, you were born because of the nuclear reaction. If you wanted me to, I could do some research into it and make it so—"

It was like a punch to her stomach and Alex had to fight to get the, "No," out of her mouth.

Alastair scowled and moved closer again. His hands reached forward and pushed Alex's hair out of her eyes, "You're not thinking this through. All I can give you and in return, I just want your support."

"You are asking me to be a monster."

"But aren't you that already? Think about what you've done and those who you've hurt. I can make it better. Whoever you want to be, I will support you. I'll do anything for you."

"Set me free."

"Work with me."

"Never."

Alastair sighed, and kissed the top of Alex's head. She tried to headbutt him but he was already moving away, only looking back to say, "I'll check on you again tomorrow. Use the alone time to reflect about this, I may not ask again."