Chapter Three
Pietro tells Emma everything. He tells her about how Stark's weaponry ruined their lives; about how he and Wanda voluntarily signed up to be a part of Strucker's experiments and how he asked his sister to make Emma forget her journey to the Hydra base and their first meeting. He also mentions Strucker and List's hunger and ruthlessness in their pursuit of creating enhanced individuals.
"If Strucker finds out about you, he will not hesitate to experiment on you," says Pietro through clenched teeth, with a pained expression on his face. "I've been through enough to know that they're not pleasant."
Emma's eyes widen in understanding immediately.
She had accidentally stumbled upon Pietro changing his shirt once a month ago and when she did; her eyes were drawn to the scars marring his exquisite chest instantly. Light but prominent pink lines were splayed out all over his skin, making Emma gasp in surprise. However, she did not get to examine them further because Pietro had tossed on his shirt quickly the moment he heard her gasp.
When Pietro turned around to face Emma, she did not realise that she had a look of horror etched upon her face and as such, Pietro had mistaken her shock for disgust because he ran out of her house the moment he saw her facial expression.
She shouted for him to come back but she was a second too late because all that was left was the sound of silence. Worry had plagued her the entire day and she could not help but break down in the middle of the room, cursing herself for ruining the only good thing in her life.
It wasn't until nightfall that she saw a dark silhouette leaning against the wall of her humble abode in the moonlight.
Startled, Emma froze.
But when she saw a flash of silver illuminated by the moonlight, she ran forward engulf the figure in a bone crushing hug.
"Thank god you're alright," murmured Emma with a tear stained face.
"You have been crying," whispered Pietro as he used his fingers to wipe the tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "Are you that disgusted by what I look like?"
Shocked by what Pietro was suggesting, Emma shook her head fervently.
"No!" refuted Emma loudly. "I was horrified by what they did to you but not in the way you think! I'm not disgusted at you but at them, Pietro! They're monsters! What they did to you is inhumane and I can't believe you had to go through that! I'm not disgusted by the way you look! Never, I swear! If anything, your scars make you more beautiful to me than ever because they're remnants of your strength, of your bravery."
"You know men aren't beautiful right?" remarked Pietro wryly, smirking.
Emma sniffed and grimaced. "Of all the things I've said, you only caught the part where I mentioned your looks?"
Upon hearing Emma's indignant response, Pietro's gaze softened and he placed a gentle kiss upon her forehead.
"I heard everything you said, my sweet Emma. But it was the price I had to pay to be one step closer to executing my revenge on Stark," admitted Pietro darkly as he spat out Stark's name. Then he closed his eyes and leaned forward to kiss Emma on the lips, murmuring, "I wonder everyday why you ever bother about me. You're the one who is beautiful on the inside and out. Somehow, you see some redeeming quality in me even though I don't deserve you. All these years, I only had Wanda. But now, I have you. And I'm going to be selfish about it because I'm not letting you go until you decide you don't want me anymore."
Emma knew Pietro's words were as close to a declaration of love she would get for now and she appreciated his effort. Pietro was a man of few words and she knew it was hard for him to adjust to the fact that she cared for him because all he had was his twin for the past few years.
However, now that she was in his life. She was ready to spend the rest of it making sure he was never alone.
Boldly, Emma closed the minuscule gap between them and moved her lips languidly against Pietro's soft ones, only pulling away when she was out of breath.
"I'll always want you, Pietro. Always."
Pietro's scars are living proof of his torture with Hydra and her heart clenches at the thought of the amount of pain he had to go through to get his super speed. They have both been through so much individually and now that they are together, they are finally healing.
Pietro is currently sitting on her makeshift bed and his back is to the wall while she lays comfortably perpendicular to him. Her head is on his lap and he is stroking the sides of her cheeks with his palms softly as he speaks to her, warning her and telling about all the horrors Hydra has done.
His voice is no louder than a murmur but the severity in his tone is clear. Hydra is merciless, that she knows. But Emma also knows that Pietro will do whatever he takes to keep her safe and that is all the assurance she needs.
"You're really strong," says Emma as she takes his hands with hers and starts playing with his fingers. "I can't even begin to fathom how hard it must've been to find out that you and Wanda were orphaned when moments earlier you were laughing your parents."
Pietro chuckles before lifting Emma's hand to his mouth and pressing a gentle kiss on it.
"You are the strong one, my love," insists Pietro sincerely as he gazes down at her with so much affection she could almost combust from the intensity in his eyes. "What those monsters did to you is unforgivable, and I'll spend the rest of my life making sure you never feel that way again."
Emma closes her eyes, her lashes resting against her skin, as she sighs loudly in remembrance of her past.
Emma Ezekiel was born in America with her older brother, Elias Ezekiel, to an American father and a Japanese-born American mother. Her parents, Arthur and Kanae Ezekiel had met while they were both on an exchange program in Sokovia. And because they were both foreigners here, they stuck to each other because they could communicate easily in English and as a result, they became good friends instantly.
Her father, Arthur Ezekiel, was a handsome blonde man with striking blue eyes while her mother, Kanae, had been a beautiful woman with dark hair and almond shaped black eyes. They fell in love with each other while schooling in Sokovia together and on the day they were due to return to America, Arthur proposed to Kanae at the Sokovian airport.
They married within a year and had Elias soon after.
Kanae fell pregnant with Emma two years after Elias was born and life couldn't be more perfect. All was well and there was no way anyone could've predicted how much damage the birth of her daughter would bring.
Emma's mother had been keeping a dark secret from her father throughout their relationship and marriage - for she was not human, but rather, a Vanir. There were nine realms in the universe and Emma's mother was from Vanaheim – the realm of the sister race of the Asgardians. And Kanae had kept that secret from her husband out of her fear of rejection, not knowing the actual repercussion was much worse than anyone could have predicted.
When Emma had been born, she did not exhibit anything out of the ordinary, much like Elias. And that greatly relieved Kanae because she thought that since her husband's Midgardian gene was more dominant than the Vanirs', there was no need for her to reveal her heritage.
Unfortunately, she could not have been more wrong.
A few nights after Emma's birth, her father had been awoken by his baby daughter's loud shrieks and cries so he went to the nursery to pacify her, leaving his sleeping wife in bed. When he entered the nursery, what he saw in the room made him stop in his tracks.
The shrilling screams of his daughter had stopped because she was deeply entranced by the floating stuff toys above her. As her little hands moved, so did the levitating toys.
Arthur could not believe his eyes.
His daughter was one of them. A freak. A mutant.
He was so filled with rage that he lifted baby Emma roughly and barged into the master bedroom where his wife laid.
"Whose daughter is this?" roared Arthur thunderously as he slammed the door open with his free hands before throwing Emma roughly onto the bed.
Kanae looked at her husband in fear for the first time as she reached forward to soothe her crying daughter, checking her all over to make sure that no permanent damage was left behind.
"She's yours," whispered Kanae softly.
Arthur's blue eyes were murderous as he pinned his wife and daughter beneath him on the bed.
"So you're a mutated freak then?" spat Arthur as he glared at his wife.
"N-no, I'm not…" said Kanae as she tried to explain to her husband her heritage before she felt two bearish hands squeezing her neck tightly.
Her husband was strangling her but she did not resist, believing that he would realise his mistake and stop. Oh how wrong she was…
As her life slowly faded away at the hands of her husband, the arms she was using to hold Emma fell limply to her sides, leaving behind a wriggling tear stained baby Emma.
"I do not tolerate freaks in my household," said Arthur as he backed away from his dead wife and baby daughter.
Arthur went mad after he killed his wife but that did not stop him from fleeing the country to Sokovia with his children in tow. Raising his children, he was a fair father to Elias but a monster to Emma, because he could not stand the sight of her. Not only did Emma look very much like his deceased wife, she was a freak of nature. Whenever she showed accidental signs of anything out of the ordinary, Arthur would beat and torture her, much of his actions attributed from his bad acquired drinking habits since their move to Sokovia and his rage filled madness.
Her brother, Elias, had been raised by their father to torture her as well. What their father did to her, he followed. It was all he'd ever known.
On the outside, to their schools, to their neighbours, to the public, the Ezekiels was a mourning family of three. They had a perfect widowed father who did his best to raise his children and two beautiful siblings who were outstanding in their respective schools.
But on the inside, a horror story took place.
At first, the abuse had only been physical. And because she healed quickly, the torture she faced had been easy to hide. But as the years went on and Emma got older, the sexual assaults and eventual rape began. She was only ten during her first assault – too young to know the difference between right and wrong.
But when she reached the age of sixteen and had started bleeding in pain in the middle of school, she found out what she was going through was not normal.
She had miscarried, the doctors told her. But she was too disoriented to comprehend what they meant and by the time she was well rested to know, her father had already paid the doctors off to keep everything a secret from her and from the public, leaving her with no means to an answer.
Her father had expected Emma to remain just as obedient after her discharge and as a result, had left her alone to do her own things in the day time while he worked during her medical leave from school, not knowing that that was to be his greatest mistake.
Because while he was away, Emma used her father's laptop, which he left switched on as his first mistake, to google the meaning of the word 'miscarriage'. What she read and learnt changed her completely because after scrolling through pages of google, she realised that not only had she lost a life inside of her, but what her family had done to her was inhumane.
It was mid noon but she felt sick to her stomach.
Suddenly, the visions and dreams she had all made sense. Her father was the ultimate monster, for he had murdered her mother. Emma had witnessed the whole scene of her mother's death and she remembered every moment due to her Vanir enhancements but was too young to make any sense of it until she was much older, until now. Now that she knew the truth, her world was falling apart.
She didn't what to feel but all that she knew for certain was the fact that she had to leave. Distraught, Emma ran to her bedroom to grab a large haversack before she began stuffing clothing and all the necessities she needed to survive on her own fervently.
When she was done, she headed to the kitchen to grab a lighter, a pocket knife which she stuffed into her boot before she headed out towards the door.
This was it, she thought. She was going to escape this toxic environment.
Fear overwhelmed her but she was determined. Just as she stepped foot outside the door, Emma caught sight of her brother, Elias, running towards intending to stop her from leaving. Petrified, all she could do was shut her eyes tightly and raise her hands in a feeble attempt to ward him off. And fortunately, that was all she needed because when she reopened her eyes, her brother was laying on the ground, unconscious.
Her powers had kicked in during her desperate time of need and she seized the moment and ran.
She ran and ran and ran. And she never looked back.
Emma reopens her eyes with a jolt from Pietro but continues to rest quietly on his lap, only looking up occasionally to flash him a gentle smile.
He does not say anything either but she does not mind.
The silence is loud but not awkward because they fit together comfortably and it feels like they have known each other for years rather than months.
It has been exactly four months since that fateful day when Pietro rescued her and they have come a long way since then.
Their care and affection for each other border on love now but neither of them are ready to say the specific three words yet. However, being firm believers of the phrase 'actions speak louder than words'; the two lovers know that their feelings for each other are mutual so they don't hurry.
Instead, they choose to live in the , their peace is interrupted by the sound of an explosion and the ground rumbling beneath their feet.
Alarmed, Pietro carries Emma and stands up in a flash. He sets her down gently and takes her hand as they walk out of her cave of residence together to see the cause of the entire ruckus.
What they see stops them in their tracks. Explosions appear in different parts of the snow covered forest, each one detonating higher up the hills and further into the woods. The sound of aircrafts flying by alerts Emma and it worries her. So she looks up, hoping to get a glimpse of any individual pilot when she spots a familiar face cruising through the air.
It is Thor, the God of Thunder. His red cape and blonde hair are hard to miss and when Pietro spots him as well, they both know what it means.
The Avengers have arrived in Sokovia.
Realisation dawns upon the both of them and their heads turn sharply in the direction of Hydra's base – the castle upon the hills that Emma had once endeavoured to explore months ago.
"I have to go back," says Pietro with a frown marring his handsome face. "Wanda needs me."
"Let me come with you," insists Emma as she closes the distance between them to place her palm on his cheek lovingly. She is stretching quite a bit because she is merely 5'1 in height as opposed to his 6'2 height.
Pietro shakes his head solemnly and disagrees, "No, stay here please, my love. It is too dangerous. I do not wish for you to be hurt. Especially if Stark is here. He destroys everything in his path."
"Please," begs Emma. "I can take care of myself but I don't want you to get hurt either. I'll stay out of sight, I promise."
Pietro's eyes soften as he gazes into her deep brown eyes and just as he is about to open his mouth to reply, a large booming sound resonates throughout the forest on a magnitude never felt before so far, jolting the both of them to their senses at the severity of the situation they're in.
"I have to go," insists Pietro as his head whips around to spot a large ash cloud in the air no doubt caused by the explosion. "Promise me you'll stay here."
Emma hesitates and Pietro grips her wrist even tighter such that it was enough to get her attention but would not leave a mark at the same time.
"Promise me," demands Pietro in desperation.
At a loss for words, Emma only nods in reply before she is pulled into a passionate lip lock by her lover. However, the kiss ends too soon for Emma as Pietro pulls away from her with a solemn but yet contemplative expression etched onto his face.
As soon as she saw his indecisive expression, it was gone and his face was a calm facade once more. Suddenly, she feels two strong muscular arms wrap themselves around her in a tight embrace and she hears Pietro whisper something so softly into her ear that she would not have heard it if she was a normal human.
"I love you," he confesses sincerely.
And just when she is about to repeat the same sentence back to him, he is gone in a flash.
She hears the whizzing sound of his supersonic running speed and can't help but feel a pang in her heart at the absence of his presence.
Emma stands in the same spot for quite some time, internally debating with herself. A part of her wants to go to Hydra's base and make sure Pietro is alright but another part of her wants to heed her lovers request and stay where she is. She does not know what to do but when she remembers Pietro's confession to her, she finally makes up her mind and knows what she has to although she knows that Pietro is going to be mad at her, she is not willing to let Pietro go into battle not knowing how much he means to her, especially since such battles are so unpredictable.
Taking a deep breath, Emma uses her gravity manipulation power - as she calls it, to lighten her mass and lift her feet off the ground. Once she has full control of her gift, she flies off in the direction of the Hydra base where she knows Pietro will be, with one clear goal on her mind.
And that is to tell Pietro she loves him.
Author's note:
Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this chapter :) Please leave a feedback or follow or favourite hehe. It would mean the world to me! Thank you :)
