The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 26

It's been a week since Ultron, all of us are staring down at the coffin. Wanda is sobbing into my shoulder as she looks at the tombstone that reads 'Pietro Maximoff'. Clint has tears streaming down his cheeks because he was saved by Pietro. We all were, he helped us in the fight and we all don't know what the turnout would have been if he wasn't there.  Pepper is here, everyone is. Even those who never encountered Pietro, most of these people are here to support Wanda because we have all seen what it had caused her. 

Over the course of the week, Wanda and I have become really close. We both realized we had gone through similar experiences which brought us closer. She was the first person I opened up to about my whole experience with the Harolese, my other teammates only know that it wasn't fun. I wanted to introduce her to my friends so she could be more social but Tony was against it since everyone now knows her identity. Wanda and I agreed. 

The nightmares came back and became worse in the past week as well and Wanda won't stop offering to erase the memory of my nightmare, which is what we believe has caused these nightmares. I continuously refuse her offer though, I explain to her that we can't erase the bad things in life, we can only learn from them so we could become a better person. 

Christmas came and gone without any of us realizing it. We didn't celebrate it, it was as if it wasn't even there. No one brought it up because it was kind of a bad time to be celebrating something when one of our teammates was going through something like this. 

I return to school in a week from now and tomorrow I get to be with my friends for the new tradition we are trying to start for New Years. I felt bad for reminding Tony about it the other day and I apologized a lot of times but he just waved me off saying "It's alright, kid". 

After the funeral, we all head back to the Avengers Tower, and when we get there we all go to our own floors to change for dinner. I walk into my room and take my heels off before sitting on the bed to rub them from the soreness of the day. I take my dress off and change into a pair of matching sweats and slippers. I saunter over to the bathroom and take my make up off before making my way to the elevator to go up to the main level to have dinner with the rest of the Avengers before they go back to the facility. 

The door dings open and all the Avengers look in my direction, their eyes going from me to the tree. Wait, the tree. My eyes fly back to the tree and see presents stacked under it. I look over at Wanda and see her smiling which makes me smile because it's the first time she has since I've met her. 

Everyone else was also dressed in sweats, including Natasha which was a little surprising. Tony emerges in the kitchen and returns with five pizzas, which we all enjoy while watching 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. It felt a little different without Thor and Clint here. 

Once the movie was over, we all began to exchange gifts. I got up and placed all of my gifts in the spots all the Avengers were sitting. We each take turns opening our gifts, going around in a circle to open them. Some were funnier than others, especially when Tony got an Iron Man onesie from Natasha. Everyone else had one more gift left and I look around to see if I had one but I didn't, so I just sat there hoping the rest of the team wouldn't notice that someone didn't get me a gift because I understand with how this week has been. It came around to my turn and everyone looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to open my last gift. 

"I- I don't have another one," I simply shrug. 

"Who didn't get you a gift?" Wanda asks. 

"Guys, it's not that big of a deal, I understand with how these past two weeks have been for all of us," I say and they all raise their eyebrows at me, except for Tony. "It's OK." 

"No, no it's not OK," Tony says, "cause I left it in the kitchen." I squint over at Tony and know that this could be a prank. 

"I don't believe you," I say. "You go first in there." Tony just starts chuckling. 

"No, go have a look for yourself," Natasha says. "It's part of the experience." 

"If this thing ruins these sweats I'm not going to be happy." Is all I say before getting up and making my way to the kitchen, being followed by the rest of the Avengers. "Where is it?" 

Tony points to the corner where a box with holes in it is sitting. I run over to it and pull the ribbon apart and lift the lid. A shriek escapes my lips when the head of a collie puppy pokes its head out of the box. I wrap my arms around her and pull her out to place her on my lap. She kisses me on the tip of my nose and I laugh at this fluffball of brown and white fur. Her bent ears perk up at my laugh and her tail begins to wag. 

"Thank you, Tony, but why?" I ask. 

"Well, you have been struggling for a long time with the loss of your sister and the events over the past five years and we believed a dog will help you through them," he says. 

"What's her name?" I ask, noticing she doesn't have a collar on. 

"She doesn't have one yet," Tony says. "She didn't have any papers on her when I went to the shelter yesterday. They say a dog competitor dropped her off and left her there and that she is younger than three months." 

I begin to think of names running through my head but they all don't sound right until I found the perfect one. "Bella," I say and the dog stops chewing on my hand before raising her head at me.  "It suits you." 

"Does the name Bella have any significance?" Wanda asks kneeling down next to me to pet her. 

"Well, Bella means beautiful in many languages and I've always loved the name," I say as I pet her. 

"Alright, tomorrow we will go to the pet store to get her dog tag and some toys," Tony says. "You have to understand, she is your responsibility. The shelter told me she was already housebroken and that she knows simple commands which is what had led them to believe she was dropped off by a dog competitor. " 

I nod, agreeing to the terms, "So is she allowed to sleep in my room tonight?" 

"Of course, kid," Tony says. "Well, would you look at the time, we should probably get to bed." 

I smile down at the dog whose staring back at me with chocolate brown eyes and a smile appearing on her long snout. My arms wrap around the dog as I carry her over to the living room to grab all of my things to bring down to my room. With the dog still in my arms, I walk over to the elevator and press the button to my floor. I almost forgot to say goodbye to the rest of the Avengers. I quickly run to give them quick goodbye hugs before running back to the elevator so I can go down to my room and play with my new puppy.