Nicholette had been walking for a while. She had just made it to the front door of the mansion when the sun had begun to rise. It set everything in a soft golden light. She had been walking in silent, listening to the birds chirp and the animals walk through the woods as if nothing was the matter. She took a moment to look at the large mansion. The grand pillars seeming so old fashion if it were any place but on this island. Here the entire scene could have been right out of a romance novel set in the deep south. Nicki walked right up to the large front doors, her boots leving soft imprints in the ground. and pushed them took a moment to lightly trace her fingers across a pedal of a flower bush. She stepped inside the foyer and glanced around at the large space. Her eyes moved from the door where she was beaten within an inch of her life, to the stairs where she watched another girl get robbed her hers. Nicki's eyes darted around when she heard a voice.

"Nicki?" Dally came around the corner holding a gun, pointing it at Nicholette. The blonde Barton hung her head in defeat, as her breath escaped her. A tear fell down her cheek and she put her hands on her hips, before looking up. She held the rest of her tears back.

"Not you too." Nicki said under her breath, as she looked at the small girl. "Why did he do this to you?"

"He just wanted a family." Dally's hands shook. "You wouldn't let us be one." The gun wielding girl began to walk towards Nicki.

"Don't make me hurt you Dally. I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." Nicholette was exhausted, she didn't have the steam to fight anyone.

"You should have thought of that when you decided to leave us Nicki!" Dally was screaming, "You left him Nick! You broke his heart!" Dally lunged, pulling the trigger. Nicki ducked under the gun and grabbed her wrist twisting it until she heard a sickening snap. With the gun clattering to the floor, Nicki fell to a knee, watching as Dally dropped while clutching her wrist. "You broke his heart Nicki!" Her screams pierced Nicolette's ears, until she couldn't take it anymore.

"I broke his heart? He broke me! Nicholette stood, screaming at the girl on the ground. "He picked at every last bit of me until I was nothing more than a self-hating killer! He took everything from me, but no. I broke him, that low life son of a-" Nicholette stopped, reminding herself that Dally was just under Silias' influence. Nicki turned her back to calm herself down, but found herself being tacked at the knees. She crashed to the ground as she felt Dally clawing at her. By the time Nicki was able to get on her back, she was punched in the jaw by the little girl that pinned her down. Reaching up, Barton grabbed a fistful of short brown hair and yanked. Dally's head whipped back and she tumbled off Nicki. Dally just got back to to get another swing at Nicki.

"You could have been my sister, but you wouldn't let it happen! You ruined this family!" Lunging once more, Nicki put her foot out and kicked Dally back down.

"Dally please stop this! Silias is dead, he can't control you anymore!" Please!" Nicholette begged the younger girl. With the mention of Silias being dead, she froze.

"He's dead?" Dally stared, her face blank. "My brother is dead?"

"Yes! He can't control you anymore, we can leave!" Dally sat up and put her wrist in her lap.

"Did you kill him?" Dally's face was still blank. Nicholette just nodded.

"Please Dally, lets just leave." Nicholette began to stand. Dally sat there for a moment before her face twisted into anger.

"He never controlled me! I just wanted a family. He was family, we could have been a family. You ruined us Nicki." Dally lept forward, brandishing a knife that she had been hiding. Nicki tripped backwards, finding herself on her back with Dally on top of her. Her hands were warm, as she found them once again covered in blood. She had instinctively grabbed her weapon, with the blade out. She pushed Dally off of her, sliding her blade out of her chest. Nicholette gave a blank stare as she dropped her weapon next to the body of the girl that had always been kind to her. Nicki's chest was tight. She looked around slowly, and saw a fireplace in the corner of the room. She walked over and her hands shaikly shuffled through the items next to the fireplace. She settled on a bottle of kerosene. She stood, and began to walk the entire room, splashing the liquid around, she ended near the entrance. She stood in the entry, and looked at the body of her old friend. Digging into her pocket, she pulled out a bent cigarette she took of the body of Silas, along with a lighter. She placed the stick between her teeth and lit it befor dropping the lit lighter on the ground. Flames grew before her as she turned her back and walked out. She walked to the edge of the clearing before she collapsed. Her hands and knees hit the ground at the start of the woods. She slipped on her side and sat down her legs kicked out in front of her. She faced the house, the fire starting to consume the entire house. She picked the cigarette out of the dirt, and attempted to swipe some of the dirt off. She only succeeded in transferring blood onto the white paper. She closed her eyes and took a long drag of the cigarette, breathing in the toxic air of the island.

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When Clint and Pietro found Nicholette she was sitting on the ground with a cigarette between her teeth. She sat hunched over with her knees to her chest. The mansion was in flames in front of her. The had finishes up at the cave. Once Silias had died, everyone vanished. They disappeared after they had left the cave to chase Nicki.

"Nik." Clint put his hand on her shoulder. She slowly peeled her eyes open and looked up at her older brother. The blue of her eye complementing the shades of purple that decorated her face. "Let's go home." Nicki slowly reached up and pulled the cig out from between her teeth, her hand falling back to her side a trail of smoke rising from it.

"I can't."she whispered, as Clint stood and put his hands on his hips. He looked over at the silver speedster.

"Clint go ahead and get the jet, I will stay with her." Pietro watched as Clint went ahead to grab the jet, throwing his hands in the air. Pietro sat down next to Nicki. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"Nicki, we have to go." Pietro pulled her against his chest. Pausing when he felt her flinch at the movement.

"I can't. I don't deserve to." Nicholette took a ragged breath and tears slowly fell out of her eyes. Pietro looked down at the back of her head staring at her hair. Even though it was coated in dirt and grime he could see the beautiful flecks of gold.

"Of course you do, Nicholette. You deserve to do anything that you wish." Pietro jumped back when Nicholette abruptly stood up, jumping out of his reach.

"I don't deserve anything Pietro! I have spent the last five years of my life living in a drunk haze to forget the fact that I kill people! I am a murder Pietro. I killed Silas, I killed Dally, and I killed about a hundred other people!" Maximoff watched as she waved her arms around, flinching and cringing over every move. Pietro stood up.

"The was the life you were forced to live. You deserve to live a life you choose." Pietro reached out for her shoulder. "Please let me help you. I wish to be there for you." Nicholette reached up to grabbed her hair, tears falling from her eyes as they dripped onto her chest. She looked at him in disbelief, as what she said next made him want to crumble inside.

"Pietro. You don't get it. The only thing I deserve, is to die." Nicholette reach up and wiped at her face furiously. "God! I am so sick of this! I'm sick of crying. I'm sick of being angry and tired. Why am I so angry and tired?!" Pietro started a response, as his heart sunk further and further. Nicki beat him though, as she continued. "And, I am so sick of this fucking island!" She turned around and kicked a tree. As she foot connected with the bark, she screamed and collapsed to the ground. She clutched at her ankle and sobbed. Pietro looked around, unsure of what to do. He stood there as Nicholette made herself as small as possible.

"You are right." Pietro finally spoke. Nicholette lifted her head and whipped it around, her hair wrapping around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. What?" She hobbled to her feet, and leaned against the tree she just kicked.

"I do not get it." You have been though hell and back. Twice. You did what you had to do to survive, and you survived what would have killed any other person. So what if you do not deserve to live? You have earned it." Pietro was now facing Nicholette, as tears started up in her eyes again. She put her face in her hands as her shoulders shook. Pietro gasped. "I am so sorry, did I say something wrong? I did not mean to make you cry." Nicholette looked up, adn for the first time in a long time, Pietro saw a small smile.

"You idiot, that was perfect." She slowly moved forward and threw her arms around Pietro's neck. Pietro wrapped his arms around Nicholette, careful not to worsen any injuries, even though all he wanted was to pull her closer to him. Above them, Pietro finally heard the sound of the quinjet.

"Are you ready to go home now?" Pietro spoke into the top of her hair.

"Just get me off this island."

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When the trio landed back in the garage at the base, Tony was already standing there. Along with the rest of the Avengers. Nicholette shut them out as they spoke. Hugs went around, and she looked about the place absentmindedly. She watched as Natasha give Clint a once over, making sure he was okay. Wanda collided with Pietro, clinging to him for dear life. Everyone gave her hugs and looked her over at all of her injuries. She wanted to stay and assure them everything was okay, but it was all so overwhelming. There were to many people and too much noise. She quietly slipped out of the room and into the hallway of the base.

She found her way into the living room, and glanced around at the empty room. She welcomed the silence. She went over and leaned against the couch, staring at the stain on the carpet. She chuckled and bowed her head.

"Everything okay Kiddo?" Clint walked through the door. Nicholette perked up and stood straight.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired." Nicki gave a soft smile.

"Bullshit. Don't do this again. You can talk to me Niks."

"I know Clint. I'm just really tired right not, I want to take a shower and go to bed." Nicki walked over to Clint and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Okay. Tonight I'll let you do your thing, but tomorrow we have to talk about all of this." Clint furrowed his brows, and bit his lip.

"I promise Clint. I just need a few hours." Nicholette leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Clint's shoulder. Her brother embraced her back.

"Of course. Go take a shower, and I'll send a doctor in to wrap you up." Nicki pulled back and began to argue. "No arguing. Talking can wait, but you have to get looked at soon." Clint made it very clear that he wasn't going to argue.

"Fine." Nicholette began walking down the hall towards her room, stopping before turning a corner to look back at her brother. "I love you Clint." Clint looked up and smiled.

"Love you too Niks. I'll see you tomorrow." Clint walked back towards the rest of his team, calling for a medic on his way. Nicholette found her way back to her room, flicking on the light as she entered. Glancing around, she saw it was just as she had left it so many months ago. She ran her fingers across the desk, pulling it away with dust. She rolled her eyes, and gathered some clothes from her dresser before walking into her bathroom.

She slowly slipped off the harness, and dropped it onto the floor. Pulling the boots and skintight uniform off, she kicked them all to a corner of the bathroom. Nicki walked over the the mirror and placed her hands on the counter. Looking at herself she barely recognized herself. Her hair was matted to her head and hung down her back in clumps. Her skin was stained with dirt and blood, her body adorned with cuts and an occasional bullet hole, some poorly scabbed over. Tearing herself away she warmed the shower up before getting in. Standing under the warm stream of clean water, she scrubbed her body raw for over an hour. Nicki watched as the dirt and blood washed down the drain. It was as it the past six months just washed away with the water. Her head shot up with a knock on the door. Her hair flipped up, splashing water everywhere. Nicki turned off the water and climbed out of the shower. Nicki dressed herself in a pair of spandex and a loose tshirt. She let the doctor in to patch her up. She was wrapped up with ace bandages and gauze, and given some pain relievers. Before the doctor left, Nicki was handed a pair of crutches and told to stay off of her foot for a few days.

Nicki limped out of the bathroom with a total disregard for the crutches, and tossed them into the corner of her room. When she placed her hand on her dresser to steady herself she found that it was completely clean of any dust.

"Hey." The blonde looked up to see Pietro sitting on her bed with a can of cleaner and a rag peaking out from underneath the bed, freshly showered and in a clean set of sweatpants. His wet hair sat on his forehead, it's usual volume disappeared under the weight of the water.

"Hi." Nicki began to walk toward the bed to sit, but stumbled with the newfound awkwardness of the brace on her ankle. Before Nicki could get halfway to the ground, Pietro was next to her holding her upright. "You don't have to do this you know." Nicholette accepted Pietro's guidance until she was set on the push bed. He lifted the sheets for her, and helped her maneuver her bandaged and braced limbs under the sheets. As he moved her bandaged foot, Nicki winced.

"Sorry." Pietro pulled the comforter over her. "Do you mind if I stay?" He looked at her bruised face, and lightly traced the bruise that decorated her cheekbone.

"Please?" Nicki leaned into his hand. The speedster zipped around to the other side of the bed and sat down next to her, crawling under the sheets with her. She shifted and laid her head on his chest, his hand coming up to rub her arm. They sat in silence for a while before Nicki broke the silence. "Pietro, what happens now?" Pietro leaned back to look her in the eye.

"For you, you try to live a normal life. Or as normal as it can be with the Avengers. And for me, I will be by your side to help." He stared into her eyes. "I know you are scared. I am not going anywhere." Nicholette bit her lip, and tears started to fall once again. "Why are you crying? I did not mean-"

"I love you Pietro." Nicholette leaned forward and kissed him before laying back down on his chest. Pietro smiled in the dark, and kissed the top of her head.

"Te iubesc prea printesa."

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Okay Ya'll thats a wrap! I know this took forever and I probably lost half of you guys along the way, but I didn't want to leave this unfinished! Please Please Please let me know what you think! Thanks for sticking with me until the end of the line!

XOXO