OUR LIFETIME « Pietro Maximoff

14 /| see you later

[chapter fourteen]

VIENNA

SAVANNAH KEPT HER HEAD LOW. There was too much input here, and her powers felt off. "Any comments on what happened in Lagos, Ms. Martin?" A reporter asked quickly as she passed a line of them speaking various languages. What was there to say? These types of apologies weren't meant for the inauthenticity of a camera, nor were they meant to be spouted by someone who still couldn't stomach what they'd done.

She said nothing, following closely behind Natasha, until the older woman gestured to their seats. Savannah went to sit alone. Natasha was always better at being civil and participating in political conversations. She would be great here, even though what happened at Capitol Hill still plagued some of these people's minds. The United Nations was still probably happy to see an Avenger complying with the Sokovia Accords.

Savannah was dressed similarly to Natasha, but where her suit was a navy blue, Nat's was purple. She watched Natasha speak to the king and prince of Wakanda. That was who she needed to apologize too.

She could feel the eyes of others burning holes into the side of her head. Savannah sat up straighter, smoothing her already slick hair into its bun.

She gazed out the large windows of the building from where she sat. The building was too open for her, and that made her uneasy. Unless it was just the lack of sleep that made her feel that way. She'd been up early since she and Natasha had decided to see Steve after Agent Carter's funeral. They'd still made it to Vienna with plenty of downtime, but neither was in the mood for anything but the task at hand.

Savannah just wanted to go home. "They're gonna think you're a social pariah," Natasha muttered, pulling her away from her thoughts. She hadn't realized everyone was finally being seated.

Savannah shrugged. They were always judging her, and rightfully so this time, she thought. She hoped they didn't think she was here to sign today.

King T'Chaka of Wakanda began a speech, speaking about his country and the initiative being brought forward.

Savannah eyed the prince who moved slowly to the window. By the look on his face he was seeing something. Natasha saw the look too. The man's face flooded with some sort of realization. Then he turned, running to his father. "Everybody get down," he shouted.

The room exploded before he could even finish getting the words out. Savannah threw up a shield at her right as quickly and as wide as she could before ducking. There wasn't enough time to cover everyone. She struggled to uphold it as glass shards buried themselves in the glowing blue of the shield.

It was all over soon. Her ears rang. The shield fell and smoke flooded into her lungs. She brought her sleeve to her nose. She coughed, looking at Natasha who was helping a woman stand.

People were dead. She could feel it in her bones.

She couldn't save them, it was too late. She looked over, beyond the rubble and ash, and saw the Prince, T'Challa, hunched over his father's lifeless body.

Suddenly, it was Lagos all over again. The ash, the smell, the bomb, the sirens, it was all too much. Natasha shook her vigorously. "Savannah I need you."

She looked down, seeing a man whose leg was trapped beneath a large piece of rubble. Savannah pushed energy through her hand, a shot of blue breaking the cement. The man was free.

Her hand burned. That was the only thought in her mind as she moved through the ruined building.

*•.*

Authorities said it was James Buchanan Barnes, war hero and infamous Winter Soldier who set off the bomb. It wasn't a hard thing to believe, and that was what made it a little difficult to swallow.

Savannah stared unseeingly as people moved all around her. The whole atmosphere was hectic after what had just happened, and she just sat there on a metal bench, looking dirty and lost. Natasha sat next to her speaking to Prince T'Challa who was bloodied and seated on the bench beside theirs.

Her phone vibrated in the pocket of her suit jacket. She answered it without checking the caller ID. "Hello," she rasped.

"Are you hurt?" Pietro.

"I'm fine, thank you."

"Is Natasha—"

"She's fine. We're okay." She froze as something familiar poked through the sea of unfamiliarity in her senses. "Pietro, I'm gonna have to call you back." She hung up quickly, before standing, her eyes darting around the street. Nat was also standing, holding a phone close to her ear.

There it was again, clearer this time. Her phone buzzed with a text from Sam. Coffee Shop. She saw the shop then, across the street. She deleted the message. Her eyes darted to Natasha, who was facing the opposite direction. She quickly typed See you later, on her phone and placed the device on the bench. She moved to the coffee shop, her heart pounding. The sound of her small heels were drowned out by sirens as she disappeared into the crowd. She pulled her dark hair from its tight bun, and let it fall loosely around her face. The dusty skirt suit was still a sore sight, but she couldn't do anything about that.

She entered the crowded shop and immediately saw Sam and Steve, hidden by awful disguises, but it was obviously enough for the people around them. She went to stand on the left side of Sam. The man's baseball cap was low on his face and his sunglasses were dark. He ate quietly. "We've got an assassin to find," he muttered. She looked over at Steve who was holding a brown folder close to his chest.

"So does all law enforcement in Europe," Savannah replied.

Sam shook his head. "Nah, they're trying to kill him, we aren't."

"You want to do this because he was your best friend?" She asked Steve, looking at his sunglasses.

"We're doing this because we're the only ones who can survive trying." He sighed. "Are you in?"

She thought about Pietro then Natasha and Wanda. She would probably be making a mistake in saying yes, and her trip away from home would be prolonged indefinitely this way, but she couldn't bring herself to say no. Pietro was right about that difficult path. "Let's go."

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