Color scheme | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter 22

     Elizabeth woke up, isolated in a tiny cell. She looked around frantically, observing her surroundings. Though she wouldn't be able to see it in the first place, Elizabeth could tell that the cell was devoid of color. Her cell was empty, with a single dim lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.

     "Where am I? Is anybody here?"

     "Eliza?" She heard a familiar voice ask. She ran to the left side of her cell, attempting to reach Pietro.

     A cement wall divided the two, but luckily the front of their cells were closed off by open bars. She stuck out her hand between the bars, offering it for Pietro to take. After he gladly accepted, the two sat in silence, trying to grasp what had happened to them. Pietro rubbed his thumb against Elizabeth's hand, doing his best to comfort her. Eliza tried to think of something to say, questions to ask, but nothing came to her mind. All she could think about was her desperate attempt to murder her friends.

     "They left us," Pietro eventually whispered.

     "They had to. We would have killed them if they didn't leave."

     "I'm sure if they just waited a little longer we would have snapped out of it. I thought we were family, families don't leave each other behind."

     "Pietro, don't blame them," she paused, debating what to say next. "I told them to leave."

     "You did what?" He pulled his arm away from Eliza's grasp, leaving her hand cold and empty.

     "I had to," Elizabeth's mind raced as she heard Pietro's footsteps head towards Wanda, who was in the other cell next to him. She knew Pietro was mad, but what else was she supposed to do? If the Avengers has stayed any longer, they would have been put in danger.

     Eliza heard noise coming from the right of her cell, she figured it was Bucky waking up. She wandered close to Bucky so they could talk.

"Great, I'm under the control of HYDRA again."

"It'll be ok," she reassured. "We'll get out of here."

"I hope," he sighed. "I just thought I was finally done with the whole mind control thing."

"I'm sure it's not permanent, we'll get through it."

     "Yeah," Bucky sighed. "And thanks by the way, for telling Steve to leave. He wouldn't have gotten the team to safety if you didn't say anything, even if they were getting their asses kicked. He's very stubborn," the two chuckled at Bucky's comment.

     "I'm glad you agree with me," she glanced over towards Pietro's cell. Though she was unable to see him, she had a feeling he was listening in on their conversation. He probably wasn't too happy about it.

     Eliza was lost in her thoughts, that was until she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up to find the familiar middle-aged, brunette woman.

     "I hope you're comfortable in your new home," she sarcastically commented. "And don't bother attempting to break out, the bars are made out of vibranium. We have our ways."

     "Yep, sleeping on a potato sack is great," Eliza mocked back.

     "Enough from you. Anyway, we will begin more trials using the serum shortly. We expect good results," the woman stated before she marched away. Elizabeth sighed as she scooted over toward's her boyfriend's cell.

     "Pietro-"

     "I do not want to talk," Pietro snapped. Elizabeth was stunned at his response, she had never seen this side of Pietro before. Though he could not see behind the cement wall, she nodded in response and leaned against the wall. Tears dotted her eyelashes as she attempted to hold back her sobs, she didn't want Pietro to hear.

     "Pietro, that was mean," Wanda cut in.

     "That is not my biggest concern right now," he sighed, letting his anger get the best of him.

     "The last thing we need to do is fight," Bucky  raised his voice. "We're supposed to stick together."

     "Just like the rest of the team? It seems like they're great at that," Pietro scoffed. "They left us. All because Elizabeth-"

     "Enough, Pietro," his sister stopped him.

     "I am just trying to speak my mind."

     "I had to let them go," Elizabeth finally argued back. "Sorry that I actually care about their safety," Eliza could feel Pietro's rage through the wall, and knew that she had messed up. She heard Pietro begin to argue back, but she was distracted by approaching footsteps.

     "Well, since you two are already fighting," the woman looked between Pietro and Eliza. "I think you will be perfect for our first trial."

     "What do you mean?" Elizabeth questioned. Instead of answering, the woman threw some sort of gas bomb into both of their cells. Elizabeth and Pietro broke out into uncontrollable coughing, gasping for clean air. Eliza felt her consciousness slowly slip away, leaving her helpless yet again.

———

     The two awoke in an oddly small arena, blinded by bright lights. Pietro looked towards Eliza, but she couldn't tell if it was out of anger or sorrow.

     "Why are we here?" Elizabeth yelled out, unsure if anyone would answer.

     "Were you not paying attention before? This is a trial," the leader answered over the speakers. "While you were knocked out, we re-injected you with the serum. Unfortunately it is not permanent... It wears off over time. Now, time to begin," the woman began the familiar chant, which Elizabeth tried to fight. She focused on staying in control. She focused on blocking the chant out.

     But nothing was working.

     She felt her control slowly being stripped away. She watched as she curled her fist and threw it at the person she loved.

     Pietro dodged her fist, and ran in circles around her. She drew in flashbacks to when the two constantly trained together, only this time they were out for blood. Pietro kicked her legs out from under her, in which she quickly recovered. Though she was thrown off at first, Elizabeth quickly learned Pietro's pattern as she listened to and felt his footsteps along the ground. Pietro used to win most of their sparring matches. But this time, the fight was not in his favor. Despite his speed, Eliza grabbed hold of Pietro's arm, and threw him into the ground. She hopped onto him, pinning his stomach down with her legs. She threw a punch at his face, but he luckily blocked her attack using his speed. He jabbed her in the gut with his elbow, knocking the wind out of her for a second. He began to push her off, but she quickly recovered and kept him pinned. She grabbed both of his wrists with one hand, and punched him in the jaw with the other. She planted another fist into his eye, which immediately left a red mark. He tried to wrap his leg around her, but she swiftly pinned down his legs with her own. She began to choke him with only one hand, her super strength was way too much for him. However, when she saw the pain painted across his face, Elizabeth froze. Her grip from both his wrists and neck loosened, as tears began to build up in her eyes.

Though Elizabeth had started to break out of the curse, Pietro did not. He immediately took his opportunity, and threw Eliza off of him. She stood up, dazed from fading in and out of control. Pietro rammed into her, sending her into the nearest wall. He threw a fist at her head, denting the wall when he barely missed. He swung his fist towards the side of her head, which landed on its target. She stumbled, and was struck by a punch to the gut. Elizabeth gasped for air, and by now had fully regained control.

"Pietro! It's me," she dodged another punch. Pietro dashed at her, but she avoided his attack by picking up on his pattern. She pinned him against the wall so she could get him to stay still. "I'm sorry for hurting you," she traced her thumb over his face, careful not to touch his newly forming bruises. Despite Pietro shifting around to try and attack her, Elizabeth threw her arms around her boyfriend, pulling him into a tight hug. She expected to be pushed away, and punched in the face. But instead, she felt a hand running through her hair.

"Eliza?" He whispered, clearly phasing in and out of control. She looked up at him, wearing a reassuring smile.

"That's it," the two heard from the speakers. "Go to sleep," and against their will, the two collapsed onto the ground.