Chapter 4: Skipping

Two months flew by and a cold, wet November descended upon New York. Wanda was at a friend's house to work on a group project and their mother was at work, so Pietro brought Jason over to their apartment to take shelter from the rain falling from the sky in icy sheets.

"It's not much," said Pietro humbly, kicking off his wet sneakers.

"It's great," said Jason, taking his hand. "Show me around."

Pietro smiled and took him on the extremely brief tour of their little apartment. They ended in his bedroom, which was rather a mess.

"Sorry about this, I uh... don't usually have anyone over..." Pietro mumbled, scrambling to toss several dirty socks into the laundry basket.

"Pietro, seriously, don't worry about it," Jason chuckled. "I wouldn't care how messy your room was even if you couldn't see the floor."

Pietro shoved a few more things under the bed and straightened up. Jason smiled at him and stepped over a stray book to give him a kiss.

"So, um... when will your mom and Wanda be home?" he asked.

"Probably not for a couple hours," said Pietro.

"Okay. So... do you... do you want to..."

Pietro had a feeling he knew what Jason was trying to say and his heart began to race. Jason took a deep nervous breath and closed his eyes, scrunching up his face in that awkward, anxious way he did when he was trying not to be shy.

"Do you want to have sex with me?" he asked all in one breath.

Pietro laughed.

"You are adorable. And yes, I do."

Jason opened his eyes and looked up at him, the same surprised expression on his face as he'd had when Pietro first agreed to go on a date.

"Really?"

"You're always so surprised that I'm attracted to you."

"Well, yeah. You're gorgeous and I'm..."

"Also gorgeous?" Pietro offered.

"That wasn't exactly my choice of words," Jason said.

Pietro smiled and gently removed Jason's glasses, setting them on the table beside his bed.

"Well it should be," he murmured.

He rested his forehead against Jason's, gazing into his dark brown eyes for a moment before closing the space between them with a kiss. He began to pull them towards the bed, but tripped on a box and dragged them both to the floor instead, laughing as Jason fell clumsily into Pietro's lap.


Pietro lay on his back with one hand behind his head and the other tangled up in Jason's hair. Jason was sprawled out on his stomach, lying halfway on top of Pietro with his head resting on his chest.

"That was my first time, by the way," Jason admitted.

Pietro looked at him incredulously.

"Impossible. There is no way any man could give a blowjob that spectacular on his first try."

Jason just shrugged.

"I guess I'm a natural."

"Apparently," said Pietro, sighing with a hint of wistfulness.

"So you liked it?" Jason asked sheepishly.

"No, darling, I'm not at all satisfied," Pietro said sarcastically. "I'm afraid you're going to have to do it all over again."

Jason laughed. The sound made Pietro's heart leap and he rolled over, pushing Jason onto the bed next to him and kissing him senseless. Suddenly, the sound of the front door echoed down the hall and they broke apart, eyes wide in alarm.

"Shit," Pietro muttered.

He tried frantically to disentangle himself from the covers and find his clothes. He had successfully managed to get himself even more tangled when Wanda appeared in the doorway of his room. He froze and stared at her guiltily.

"You are so lucky I'm not Mom," Wanda said before rolling her eyes and retreating to her own room.

"Sorry!" Pietro called after her.

"Maybe next time you should consider closing the door," she called back.

"That was extremely awkward," said Jason.

"Yeah it was. Where the hell are my clothes?"


The next Monday at school, Clint interrupted their usual casual small talk with an unexpected question.

"Do you wanna join me and the other Avengers for lunch off campus today?"

"Is that allowed? I'm a junior," Pietro asked.

"Yeah, sure, I don't see why it wouldn't be," said Clint.

"Okay, I guess I'll come," said Pietro.

"Awesome! I can't wait to introduce you to the other guys. See you in the parking lot later!" Clint punched him jovially on the shoulder and practically skipped off to class.

Pietro felt kind of guilty as he stood in the parking lot at the beginning of lunch period, waiting for the Avengers to arrive. He hadn't seen Jason or Wanda to tell them he wouldn't be there for lunch and he felt rather as though he was blowing them off. The fact that he was ditching them to have lunch with an infamous gang only made it worse. But as soon as he saw Clint rounding the corner with the other Avengers in tow, the guilt melted away.

"There he is, there's my man!" Clint exclaimed excitedly, throwing an arm around Pietro's shoulders. "This is my locker-buddy, Pietro Maximoff."

"Hi," Pietro said with an awkward little wave.

"Oh, right, let me introduce everyone to you," said Clint. "Okay. You already know Nat, of course. This right here is our fearless leader, Steve Rogers. He voted illegally for three years. That's his boyfriend Bucky Barnes. He loves Game of Thrones and hates trains. That's Tony Stark, resident rich boy and certified genius. He's probably gonna invent some crazy shit and save the world if he doesn't die first. Then there's his girlfriend, Pepper Potts. She's not technically part of the gang, but she's a badass for putting up with Tony. And this nerd is Bruce Banner. He is the only reason I haven't bled to death already. There's Sam Wilson, saver of all our asses on numerous occasions and owner of the best taste in music in the gang. Seriously, everyone else's music sucks. That's Rhodey, he's cooler than all of us combined and has survived being Tony's friend the longest. And finally, Thor. Our lovable jock with the unstable little brother. Who I believe just landed himself in juvie. Again. There you have it, Pietro. The Avengers."

Each of the Avengers gave Pietro a little nod or wave as Clint introduced them.

"Shall we go?" Steve said when Clint had finished.

"I'll drive," Tony announced.

"Shotgun!" said Sam as they approached an SUV.

"Nuh-uh, Wilson," said Tony. "I drive so I get the power of veto. Pepper gets shotgun."

"There's no veto for shotgun," Sam protested.

"Sure there is. Careful or I'll strap you to the top," Tony said.

Pepper ended up getting shotgun after all and Pietro found himself piled in the trunk with Clint, Natasha, and Thor. They went to Chipotle for lunch, and when they were finished, they all loaded back into the SUV. But Tony didn't drive them back to the school.

"Um, isn't lunch period over?" Pietro asked.

"Of course it is, but who says we've gotta go back?" said Tony. "We've got to initiate you into the land of rebellion, kid. Aka, skipping class!"

"Dammit, Tony, I did not sign up for that..." Bruce groaned.

"What, you got a test today?" Tony asked.

"No, I just..."

"Then what are we waiting for? Freedom!" Tony cried, blazing through a yellow light.

"You're okay with this, right?" Clint asked Pietro warily.

"Yeah, it's fine," he replied. "I'm going to need to go back though afterward, to meet my sister."

"Of course," said Clint. "Maybe next time she can come with us too."

They pulled back into the Shield High parking lot as the last bus pulled out. Pietro hopped out of the SUV and looked around, but Wanda was nowhere to be seen.

"She's probably still inside, I'll go get her," he told the others.

He went into the school and began making his way toward Wanda's locker. She wasn't there either. Frowning, Pietro turned and headed back to the front doors. As he passed his own locker, he stopped, something catching his eye. He turned around and noticed a piece of paper had been taped to his locker. He tore it down and unfolded it.

"If you want your sister back, go with the Avengers to the basement level of the mall parking garage. Tonight, 10:30."

The note was signed not with a name but with a strange drawing in red ink that look vaguely like an octopus. His stomach twisting into knots, Pietro raced outside to where to Avengers stood waiting by the SUV.

"Whoa there, what's wrong, Maximoff?" Bucky asked.

"She wasn't there. Someone's got her, they left this," Pietro panted, holding out the note.

Steve took it and the others craned their necks to read over his shoulder.

"What does that symbol mean? The drawing?" Pietro asked.

"Hydra," Natasha replied grimly. "Stark, take us to your place. We've got a rescue mission to prep for."