Chapter 9: It Happens in a Flash

For a brief moment, Pietro felt like his entire body was on fire. Air flooded into his lungs and he gasped, sucking in the cold oxygen as though he'd resurfaced from the bottom of the ocean. His chest burned with ice and he took a few more deep, desperate gasps as his lungs relearned how to breath. He opened his eyes and found himself blinded by the brightness of the sky. He blinked until his eyes adjusted to the light, then slowly sat up and took in his surroundings. He was sitting in the street, the powdery snow where he had been lying stained red with blood. His blood. He looked down at his chest. His shirt was dark and wet with blood and there was a gaping hole in the fabric, but no sign of a wound. He remembered the machete buried to the hilt in his chest. And then... Clint.

Pietro turned frantically and found Clint and Wanda, staring at him in disbelief. Pietro gave them a relieved smile and Wanda dashed forward, fell to her knees, and threw her arms around Pietro's neck. Pietro returned the hug, burying his face in her hair. Wanda kissed the side of his head and pulled away smiling. Clint came forward and pulled Pietro close, kissing him hard and sloppy. Pietro cupped Clint's face in his hands, trying to wipe away the tears that still lingered there but only succeeding in smearing blood all over Clint's cheeks. He giggled embarrassedly, then rested his forehead against Clint's, gazing into his eyes. Then his smile faltered as he realized...

"Clint, why am I back? What did you do?" he said.

"It's okay, Pietro. I didn't do that spell," said Clint. "The witch lady did help, but it's okay. There's no consequences this time, I promise."

"What?! That woman is here?"

Pietro looked around, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. He turned back to Clint, who was frowning in confusion.

"That's weird..." he muttered.

"Are you absolutely sure there's no side-effects?" Pietro demanded.

"Yes, I'm sure. She said it was an easier spell since you hadn't been dead that long," Clint replied. "It's okay, Pietro. We're both gonna be okay."

Pietro smiled and kissed Clint again.

"Holy shit."

They broke apart and turned toward the new voice. Tony and Sam had joined them and were both staring at the pool of blood in which Pietro was still sitting.

"What the hell happened?" Sam said.

"I got shish-kabobbed by the crazy machete guy," Pietro said casually.

"That's your blood?!" Tony exclaimed. "How the fuck are you alive?"

"I wasn't."

"Then how are you alive now?"

"Clint saved me."

"What, you developed resurrection powers or something?" said Sam.

"Naw, we're just being stalked by a witch lady," Clint said.

"Oh," said Sam. "Well... that's... okay... should we be concerned?"

"Not sure yet," said Clint. "But considering she helped both Pietro and me come back to life, I'd say we're okay for now."