Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than Lottie and the plot. Everything else belongs to Marvel.
AN: Happy Friday! Here is the next chapter. The large chunk of italics in this chapter is a memory, not someone thinking to themselves. Also, I have no idea how fast Pietro can actually run and the extent of Wanda's telepathy, so I made that up.
"That's it. I'm done, I quit." Lottie huffed as she laid down on Wanda's bed. The older girl rolled her eyes at her friend's complaining. The mattress molded around the younger girl's shape, as if it was made for her body.
"It's only been a week, Lottie."
"A week of pure hell!" Lottie dramatically added. "When Nick Fury pleaded for my help, he did not add that I would be training as well." She exaggerated.
"He didn't plead. Stop being a drama queen." Wanda retorted, sitting on the edge of her bed. Lottie had barged in after she was finished with a training exercise Natasha put together. The tired woman was wearing nothing but a sports bra and running shorts. As the week passed, Wanda and Lottie had grown very close, always hanging out with one another during their free time.
"I'm going to be dead by the end of the month." Lottie announced.
"Good. I'm getting tired of you making my bed all sweaty and you going on about how you are going to die." Wanda joked around, grabbing a magazine.
"Don't lie. You would miss me if I died." Lottie turned around, laying on her stomach. "Although I think you would be okay since you would have Vision to comfort you." Lottie snickered. Wanda hit her friend on the shoulder with the magazine, a bright blush forming on her cheeks. Lottie laughed at the response she got from Wanda.
"Shut up. There is nothing going on between us."
"Sure there isn't. When you aren't with me or Pietro, you are with him."
"We are on the same team," Wanda started, "I need to know how to work with him." The older girl huffed.
"How to work with him, or know more about him?" Wanda sent a glare at her friend. "Don't get me wrong, I want to know more about him too. He's an android for crying out loud. But, come on Wanda...just admit that you have feelings for him." Wanda didn't respond to Lottie's statement. Instead, she poked Lottie's cheek, causing the latter girl to swat Wanda's hand away. Wanda found out quickly that Lottie hated it when people poked her. She had seen the displeasure and irritation that came out of the red head when she was poked. It wasn't that Lottie didn't like being touched, as Wanda found that her friend was an intense hugger. Wanda asked what bugged Lottie so much about being poked; the girl's response being that the touch her of the scepter. Lottie, however, didn't seem to mind when Wanda poked her. She knew the Sokovian did it to annoy her when she would be an annoyance.
She looked over at Lottie, noticing her frustrated glare at the ceiling. Wanda could tell her mind was reeling, and thought it best to not interrupt the girls's thoughts. She looked down at Lottie's neck, the edge of a scar visible. With the two having grown close, Lottie had been more open to questions about New York and what happened. Although Wanda knew the story, Lottie having told her after the argument with Pepper, she didn't know if Lottie was mentally okay. She remembered when Lottie jumped off of the top of the building and wondered if that was Lottie just being herself, or Lottie trying to escape the horrors of her past. "Come on," Wanda started, "We have to go." She threw a spare shirt at Lottie, the same one that the girl forgot in her room the day before.
Lottie whined loudly as she got up and slipped the shirt over her head, not ready to continue on with the program after the conversation she just had with Wanda. It would have been easier if Clint was around, but he left the facility once she was moved in to head home and be a father. Lottie loved Clint's family, having met them before. She was one of the very few people who knew about his hidden family, and promised to keep it a secret. Lottie and Wanda walked through the facility, now familiar with the different hallways and doors. They passed by a small office that had Lottie's name written on it. Fury and Agent Hill had the room designed especially for her, though Lottie hardly used it. She found that working while in the field was easier and went by faster than her being cooped up in a room alone. Fury, however, had mentioned to her once or twice that special assignments would soon end up at her office door, so she knew that sooner or later she would be stationed there.
The two girls emerged into a large opening, where agents walked around from room to room. They passed a group of 20 agents-in-training, running in formation. Luckily for Lottie, she didn't have to do the same training as the group they just passed. Lottie noticed that her table was set up with the equipment she needed for the day. Her schedule usually consisted of morning workouts with Natasha or Steve, a break where she can relax, and then she would get an agenda of tests to do. Lottie picked up the clipboard on her desk and turned to Wanda.
"You and Pietro are my next victims!" She laughed, as her friend made a face of worry. In the week that they had been at the facility, Lottie had done intense testing on Sam. Lottie felt it important to test the new team to their extremes. This way, if they were ever in a difficult situation, they knew when they were exerting too much energy into what they were doing.
As Lottie was getting excited that she would be doing tests on her friend, Wanda feared the worst. Sam had told her what the younger girl made him do and how after the first day he had to take an ice bath for an hour. Wanda felt a breeze pass by her and looked to her left, seeing Pietro standing next to her.
"Why is she so excited?" He asked, his brows furrowed, as he pointed to Lottie. He hadn't really gotten to know the 23 year old, only hearing about her when Wanda and him talked.
"I hope you had a good night rest." Wanda sighed as she walked forward to her friend. "Cause you are going to need it." She finished, looking back at her brother. Wanda's words sunk into Pietro's mind, and suddenly a light bulb seemed to go off in his mind as he put it together.
"Fuck." He whispered to himself as he walked towards the eager red head.
It wasn't even 2 hours into the testing and Pietro felt like he was going to turn into puddy. Lottie had set Pietro up on a large treadmill type machine and ordered him to run as fast as he could. At first, he believed that the task would be easy. However, every time he reached a new top speed, Lottie would yell out to try to go faster. And now here he was, his legs burning, as the young woman announced that Wanda and him could take a break. He hadn't seen what Wanda was doing, but as she approached him with a water, he could tell it was hell.
"She's fucking insane." Wanda said, plopping down on the seat next to him. She noticed Pietro slowly take off the sneakers that he had, seeing the bottoms of them ruined.
"She's your friend." He responded, still trying to catch his breath. As he cracked his neck, he saw Lottie approaching them, carrying two boxes and a piece of paper. "Oh presents, for us? You shouldn't have Lottie." He sarcastically said.
"Well, if you don't want the things that would help you, I'll just keep them." She responded, not looking up at him. Pietro always thought Lottie was pretty. She had a sweet face, but a venomous tongue if you pushed her. She placed one of the boxes down, opening the second one. A pair of shoes. She handed them to Pietro, who looked at them questioningly. "Your files said that you went through sneakers a lot because of the speeds, so I had these designed. The material is able flexible and durable, but it should also help you gain speed quicker."
"Why didn't you give them to me before?" He asked, bewildered.
"Cause I thought it would be funny to see you suffer," Lottie smiled sweetly. Pietro felt a small tingling develop in the pit of his stomach. It always happened when she smiled at him. It annoyed him that a simple smile could cause him to feel awkward. "I also wanted to see how fast you could run without them."
"And how fast was I?" Pietro wondered. Lottie made a face, her mouth squeezing up like she ate a lemon or something sour.
"Pretty fast, your top speed was like around 900 mph...but you only held it for a second. So I think you could do better." She studied Pietro for a moment, seeing his face grow annoyed at her comment. She hoped the annoyance wasn't at her, but rather at the fact that his fastest speed lasted for a brief amount of time. She then turned to Wanda, picking up the second package. "I noticed that your telepathy can only be reached in a certain distance, so had this prototype made," Lottie started, handing the box to Wanda. Wanda opened it, picking up what seemed to be a simple ear piece.
"What does it do?" Wanda said, raising her eyebrow at Lottie.
"It should be able to increase your wavelengths when you have it in. It'll give you the ability to hear enemy plans from a safe distance." Lottie saw Wanda's eyes light up. "But, it's just a prototype, so we don't know how far the distance is yet."
"How did you manage to make these things?" Pietro asked, earning a shrug from Lottie.
"I knew that things needed to be made to help the team out, so I did my research and came up with plans. Tony helped me design and build them before he left. I made Sam a lighter pack that has a second set of wings in case one breaks off or something."
"What about the others? What do they get?" Pietro asked, standing up. His legs still felt like jell-o, but he ignored it.
"That's a surprise." Lottie responded, smiling once again. "I'm not gonna have you two test those out today. I just needed to get information on how far you guys can go without the help."
Wanda and Pietro looked at each other in relief, happy that they would not be continuing the exercises. They knew that tomorrow they would be working harder, but at least they would have help from what Lottie brought them.
"What's the paper?" Wanda asked, standing up as well. She pointed to the white paper in Lottie's hand. The girl looked down and quickly folded it up, putting it in her pocket.
"Nothing. Just an assignment Fury gave me." Lottie answered. Wanda stared at her friend for a few seconds, debating whether or not she should question her any further. But, she didn't.
"I thought it was going to be your sentencing from what you did in South Africa." Wanda joked. Lottie blushed deeply, remembering what had happened that would cause her to even need a sentencing.
Lottie was tired of working, tired of the heat, and tired of nobody answering her calls. Not even Pepper was picking up her phone, and Pepper usually picked up everything. She had just been encrypting formulas and design plans for the latest Stark Industries weaponry and was growing sleepier with each cipher she typed. Lottie had been stationed in South Africa for almost 8 months now, and she had yet to see any of the wild life.
"I bet if I took the job in Antarctica, I would be playing with penguins or something. But nooo, Tony's gotta be like 'I need you in South Africa.' Yeah, well I need a raise!" Lottie spoke to herself. She knew better than to complain; Tony was giving her an amazing opportunity and an amazing time away from New York. Lottie hadn't had the easiest time adjusting to life after the Battle of New York, so she looked at this job move as a rather large vacation. The red head's hand moved to her neck, feeling the raised skin of scar tissue. She closed her eyes, letting the memories of what happened run rampant through her mind. Letting out a shaky breath, Lottie shook her head, letting the memories escape. She shouldn't be focusing on that. She was alive and healthy and happy.
Lottie decided that maybe work was the last thing she needed to be doing. Saving the material that she had worked on for hours, she opened a web browser and looked up animal sanctuaries in the area she was in. Her location wasn't remote, but it was far away enough from the city of Johannesburg. She quickly found an elephant sanctuary that wasn't a long distance away and shut her computer after writing the information down. She ran back to her room and changed from the slightly sweaty clothes she was wearing, to a long flowy black skirt and a white tank top. She put on her sandals and grabbed a floppy hat and her camera before calling for someone to drive her. She preferred to be driven by the locals of the small town she was living in as a way to connect with the people. After a half hour car ride with a family of four, whom decided to also go to the elephant sanctuary, Lottie was graced with seeing her first wild animal. She had seen wild animals at zoos, of course, but this was different. These animals weren't locked away at night time and had large amounts of space to roam free. She picked up her camera and snapped pictures of some elephants, and even caught a picture of a rhinoceros.
After wondering around the sanctuary and learning about the animals that were protected and watched over, Lottie strayed away from the pack. She had been keeping a close eye on a certain female elephant. And the elephant seemed to notice Lottie's interest and stayed at a safe distance away from the group, as if she wanted to be noticed, but not on purpose. Lottie caught sight of the elephant and smiled to herself. All that separated them was a few yards and a wire fence. Lottie rolled her eyes; she hacked through the Russian government's database in 11th grade, she could easily get through a wire fence. However, Lottie found that when she finished getting through the fence, her skirt was tattered and her hat was stuck in the fence. Shrugging to herself, she slowly walked to the elephant, who walked cautiously towards the red head. Lottie knew what she was doing was most likely illegal, but then she also thought to herself that these animals didn't belong to anyone, so who was she really hurting?
"Hey pretty girl," She said softly to the elephant. She was so close. Lottie put her hand out slowly and touched the trunk of the elephant. "Aren't you amazing?" Lottie smiled as the elephant made a small noise. She hoped that the sound would be out of satisfaction and not anger. A light bulb went off in Lottie's head as the animal seemed to get more comfortable with her. She took her shoes off and went to the side of the elephant, slowly trying to climb up the body. After a couple of falls, she finally made it to the top of the elephant. "I hope Eliza Thornberry taught me well enough." Lottie murmured to herself. But, as soon as the adventure began, it ended just as quickly.
"Excuse me ma'am," A voice on a speaker said. "Get off the elephant now." Lottie looked around and saw a group of men slowly surround the enclosure. Lottie could see the family she went with watching on in shock; the two kids cheering as the elephant got bored of the humans and began to walk away. "Ma'am, don't go any further please."
"I'm not exactly controlling what the elephant is doing!" She yelled back. The elephant seemed to understand what was happening and stopped walking. Lottie, not so gracefully, climbed off the elephant and walked back to the people with her hands up in the air. One tall man grabbed her and forced her arms behind her back. "Hey! Ow! Watch it!" Lottie complained. These were not police officers, these were the people in charge of protecting the animals and right now it looked as if Lottie was kidnapping an elephant. The man led her through the small crowd that had formed and into the security building. She saw more men and women that worked in the security department talk on their radio.
"Watch the hands!" Lottie said as the grip seemed to tighten. "I work for Tony Stark, I need those."
"Tony Stark?" An accented voice called. A woman walked forward and the man holding Lottie seemed to stand taller, if that was possible. "You said you work for Tony Stark?"
"Yes?" Lottie said, suddenly unsure if that was a good idea.
"Let her go," The woman told the man, who hesitantly let Lottie go. "Tony Stark has donated money to keep the elephant sanctuaries here running. So, I'll let you off with a warning." The woman led Lottie to the door of the building. "But, the next time I see you near those fences, I will have my people taze you. Got it?" Lottie nodded, her face drained of some color. She quickly walked away from the building and back to the family she came with, who were all scolding her for doing such a stupid thing.
"No...no, don't remind me of that." Lottie responded, as Wanda laughed at the face Lottie was making as she remembered what happened. Pietro stood there, confused as Lottie hid her blushing face as Wanda laughed harder.
"What happened in South Africa?" He asked.
"Don't!" Lottie begged, but it was too late, Wanda had already started talking.
"She almost got arrested for riding an elephant." Pietro blinked a few times before laughing along with his sister.
"I hate you guys." Lottie huffed, storming away from the twins as they continued to laugh.
Lottie sat in her office for the first time, rereading the assignment Fury gave her. It had been encoded, but it was simple enough for Lottie to figure out the code and decipher what was on the piece of paper. Fury had been worried that Ultron had a second plan. He had been working with Vision and the two found that Ultron, before the Avengers arrived in Sokovia downloaded a hidden file onto the internet. The man and the android couldn't break the firewall into it, so they believed Lottie would be able to.
Lottie reread the paper for a third time, unable to really comprehend the possibility of Ultron still being out there. She looked up at her screen, typing in a few codes to try to get through the firewall, but it was to no use. So, she decided something else. Copying what Tony did during the beginnings of the Ultron program, Lottie set up a system, where her computer would continue to try to get through the firewall, and if it did, she would be contacted immediately. The urgency of Fury's message is what really frightened Lottie. Though she had not met Ultron, she had heard of his philosophy of evolving and the plans he had for the world. If he was still out there, then the Avengers had to be ready to fight again. Lottie heard her office door open and close and looked over, seeing Pietro walk in. The two had very few conversations since they met; the occasional hello and bump into each other. But, other than those, they kept their distance. So his sudden arrival confused Lottie.
"Can I help you?" She asked, turning the screen off on her computer. Pietro noticed her swiftness, but chose to ignore questioning her. That was something Lottie really liked about the Maximoff's; they didn't try to get to the bottom of what she was doing.
"I need to ask you something about Wanda." He replied. This sparked her interest. Was Wanda keeping something from Pietro?
"Shoot." She said. Pietro seemed to be hesitant at first. He opened his mouth, but then quickly shut it, as if he was trying to find the right words to say.
"Wanda trusts you, and you two seem to be good friends."
"I hope we are, or it would be really awkward for me to just walk into her room." Lottie mused.
"Is something going on between my sister and the android?" He blurted out. Lottie looked at Pietro for a moment, unsure if that was what he was really wondering. But his look of almost desperation told Lottie that this is what he came to her for.
"Not that I know of," She said, "But I'm sure she would tell one of us if there was" She insisted.
"She's always talking to you, though. And don't girls usually talk about boys with one another?" Lottie could tell he was not very comfortable talking about this with her.
"No, Pietro. We talk about taking over the world and turning into lizards." She quipped. Pietro looked at her confused and she shook her head, smiling slightly. "We sometimes talk about boys, but no. She hasn't told me if anything is going on between them. Why?"
"They are always giggling with one another." He retorted. Pietro paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't like him."
"Well, I'm sure Wanda hasn't liked some of the girls you brought home, but she kept her mouth shut." Lottie accused, sharply. "Besides, she's a grown woman and can like who she wants." Lottie said, sticking up for her friend.
"I understand that," Pietro started, ignoring her first comment, "But I'm her brother." Lottie looked at him for a moment. She suddenly really understood him. She had seen the look on his face before, in Pepper.
"Look, I get that you want to protect her and everything, but Wanda can handle herself." Lottie said to him, her voice softer. Pietro sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He knew that Lottie was right, but he still felt obligated to protect her. He heard the sound of a chair scraping and looked up to see Lottie walking towards him.
"Is something else on your mind, Pietro?" She asked quietly. She was frowning and her gaze made Pietro feel on edge. Her green eyes seemed to pierce through him and Pietro couldn't help but flinch and look away from her.
"No." He lied. Lottie's frowned deepened and she looked down at her hands briefly.
"When I look at you, I feel like I'm looking in the mirror." She admitted to him, causing Pietro to look back to her face. She looked back up at him, his eyes having a dull sheen to them. There was a tint of confusion in them and she continued. "They said my heart stopped beating for 3 minutes. I had lost too much blood and they couldn't replenish it quick enough. 3 minutes of nothing and then a heart beat. The team doesn't know that, I don't want them to know that," She paused, her thoughts catching up with her words. "Pietro, I know that look, so don't...don't pretend like you aren't hurting or in pain. Don't pretend to me, cause I know exactly how you are feeling." She finished. Pietro looked at her with a pained expression.
"Barton told me what happened to you." He spoke quietly. His hand reached up and traced the scar on Lottie's neck. He could feel her tense up underneath his finger. "How did you...how did you cope?" Lottie looked at him, he looked and sounded like a lost boy. Lottie's hand slowly went to his and took it away from her neck. She kept her hand on his.
"I push myself into my work." She admitted. Lottie's mind was racing; she usually kept to herself about how she was feeling. This confession was a new feeling, and she wasn't sure if she liked it. "I feel like if my mind stays on something else, it'll be easier to forget." She smiled weakly at him.
"Dr. Cho told me I had to rest for a few weeks before I would start training, but I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts." Pietro told her. "Do you ever feel like you shouldn't have been saved?" His voice was barely a whisper.
"Pietro..."
"I'm serious. I'm grateful for what Barton did, but everything just feels wrong." Lottie bit her lip gently, began to walk away from Pietro to the door. She locked it and shut the blinds, that way no one would walk in during the conversation. She turned back to Pietro, who was watching her every move.
"Why did it happen? What caused Loki to do it?" Pietro asked her.
"Loki knew that I could get into S.H.I.E.L.D's databases. I designed the program that caused the helicarrier to stop working." Lottie sat down again, offering Pietro a seat. He quickly took the seat and continued to listen to Lottie's story. "Um...Clint and Natasha found me and was able to stop the trance I was in. I saw the damage that I had helped cause and felt like I needed to do something. Loki saw that I was trying to turn the machine off and that enraged him. How could a simple human ruin his great plan? So, he...he um..." She looked down, her voice breaking as she continued on.
"He did that." Pietro said, saving Lottie from a break down as she talked about what happened. Lottie gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Yes. I was rushed to the hospital after that, died, came back, and then everything just seemed...different." Lottie frowned. "I couldn't sleep for the first 8 months. I was in South Africa after 3 months in the hospital, so I was glad that the team didn't have to wake up every night because I would be screaming. It got better after a while, work helped. Drinking helped even more, as sad as that sounds. I had always done crazy and wild things, but I feel the more I do stupid and reckless things, the more alive I feel." Lottie laughed to herself. "Sorry, that just sounds stupid."
"No, it doesn't." Lottie looked at Pietro. He was staring at her, a slight smile on his lips and Lottie blushed, looking away from him.
"The point is, that 2 years later and I am still coping. I'll probably be coping for the rest of my life. But, I wouldn't still be alive if I didn't try to get better." She told him. Pietro nodded and sat back in the seat. "Just remember, Pietro...you aren't alone."
Pietro looked at Lottie, who gave him a soft smile.
No. Pietro thought to himself. I'm not alone.
