Chapter 29

Novi Grad, Sokovia

Spring 2015

It might be spring, but there was still a definite winter-like chill in the air.

But Pietro didn't feel the cold. Not really. He was used to it. Besides, his Enhancement helped keep him toasty, both with the slightly higher than normal body temperature and the fact that it was relatively easy to warm up when you could move faster than the eye could perceive.

Another bonus was evident in the bags he had set down on the ledge behind him and the items he was producing out of said bags for the small group gathering around him.

He'd used to do the same thing before the Experiments. Then, though, he'd had to be a lot more careful. He hadn't had superspeed on his side then, only his wits. He'd made do of course, and had actually gotten quite good, but there had still been several close calls.

Now? He hadn't gotten within miles of a close call. It was great.

It was also much less fun.

It had been thrilling at first, breaking in wherever he wanted with no one the wiser. But that thrill had faded fast.

More than that, as much as he enjoyed getting away with the sorts of things his new abilities let him do, Pietro was more than a little unsatisfied just handing out things that he'd picked up for a handful of their neighbours in a quiet corner of the market square. Sure, these people needed the items he'd picked up on his 'errands'—things he'd overheard them saying they'd needed, like the older gentleman he'd heard talking to his daughter about how his insurance wasn't going to cover his heart medication this month or things they'd told him they needed in passing when he spoke to them last—and Pietro couldn't help the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that came from handing out new shoes and coats and food to the small group.

What was unsatisfying about it was that it was all he was currently using his new powers for. He was back to doing, well, what he'd been doing before he and Wanda had met Strucker.

And it felt like a waste.

He wanted to really do something with his abilities, to make a real difference…and to take the justice he and Wanda had craved from the moment the first shell had hit their building when they were children. It felt like a waste to just be running around fixing little problems. Not that the little problems weren't important too. It still irked him that their prime opportunity had been allowed to pass by. He was still upset with Wanda about that. She claimed she had good reason, but he still wasn't convinced.

Withholding an impatient sigh and pasting a smile back on his face, he turned back to the bag he was pulling the goods he'd collected from. As he did, he happened to catch a glimpse of Nina where she sat nearby. Once she'd realized what it was he was doing in the market square not far from the building they'd stayed in the night before, the slight blonde had offered to help, her eyes taking on a slight sparkle as she kept him company and helped him sort through the bags as the people he'd collected for appeared.

But it had quickly become obvious that she was in no condition to be on her feet, and it had finally taken Wanda and Pietro both to convince her she needed to rest.

She still looked bad. Even with the shawl and thick blanket Wanda had wrapped around her when she'd come out with them, Nina looked positively chilled in the cool evening air, and her shadowed eyes and fevered cheeks only seemed to be getting worse.

Neither of them had any idea how much longer it was going to go on for either, how long it would be before she began to genuinely improve…he refused to believe it would be anything but when. But that stage for him and Wanda had been a blur of fevers and aches and dullness when they'd gone through it, and neither of them had felt any desire to learn how much time they'd lost as a result. So they hadn't had a real answer for themselves or Nina when she'd asked. She just…well, nothing was changing. She wasn't getting markedly worse, but she wasn't getting better, either.

It was beginning to scare Pietro, and he knew from Wanda's anxious glances toward the blonde that his twin was just as worried. There was a growing blank, even vacant cast to Nina's expression that made it even worse. It was starting to look like she was shutting down.

But even as he looked at her, the expression cleared and she met his eye with an exhausted but reassuring little grin. It didn't reassure him much, but it did help. Unable to stop the grin that came to his face in response, Pietro had to force himself back on task, finally locating the medication that he'd tracked down for the old man he'd encountered in the market the day before. For a little while there, Pietro had been afraid he wouldn't show up, that his daughter hadn't passed along the message he'd left with her.

"Those the right ones?" The old man peered carefully at the orange bottle before looking back up at Pietro with a wary sort of speculation on his face.

"Yeah."

"The doctor who refilled it. No more insurance hassle. I made a house call," the speedster explained sincerely…he wasn't lying…exactly. The old man's eyes widened with surprise, though there was a flicker there that made Pietro think he suspected the truth.

"How much?"

"Oh, no," he waved off with a faint grin as he turned back to the bags. He wasn't about to take anything, not when some of these people barely had anything. Digging through the bag again, he caught sight of the gift he'd picked up for the boy who'd been hanging around him the day before, watching with interest as Pietro had handed out his gifts then. With a deft flick of his wrist, he was lightly tossing the mini soccer ball from one hand to the other before turning and handing it to the boy's sister.

"This is for your brother." The girl smiled up at him, her eyes dancing with interest. Pietro looked at her for a moment with the faintest sense of bewilderment. In the past, he would've been flirting playfully with a girl as pretty as this one. Looking back to the day before, he had been…just a little…and not entirely intentionally. Today? She was interested, he realized with surprise—she hadn't seemed that interested the day before…not that he'd been seriously looking to see if she was. She'd just been fun to tease.

"Thank you," she said in an almost coy way. He grinned again—though perhaps not so freely as before—before turning back to the bag. But when he found what he'd grabbed for her, he just couldn't help himself. Turning back with a grin, he held out the jacket

"And this is not for your brother." Her dark eyes went wide…he couldn't help but think he preferred lighter eyes…

"Oh, no, this is too—" Once, her blushing, flustered reaction would've left Pietro struggling not to smirk with amusement. But today, it was all he could do to manage even an awkward grin as he cut her off. He hadn't needed to get her anything, and now he was realizing it was probably not the wisest of moves. Now she was going to think he'd been serious in his interest…

"Don't worry about it," he brushed off with a shrug, turning back to the bag. He could swear he felt the girl's eyes on his back. Out of habit, he glanced up the way he had been all evening, his eyes automatically seeking out the girl he'd been keeping an eye on.

Not because he liked her, though…of course not…

But Pietro couldn't help the pleased grin creeping over his face or the warmth that began creeping up the back of his neck when he caught sight of Nina watching the exchange with a glimmer of amusement in her tired eyes. The boy's sister and her appreciative grin—for more than her gifted jacket, the vain side of him noted—definitely hadn't warmed him the same way Nina's little smile had. Forcing back a grin that he knew would be too goofy for what he was doing, Pietro again made himself look back down to the bag. It was then that he'd found what he'd been keeping an eye out for.

A pleased smirk replacing the repressed grin, he pulled the jacket from the bag. It was a pale, soft blue—not a bright, baby blue—hooded wool coat with round black buttons. It was something he'd grabbed on purpose, knowing exactly who he needed to get it for the instant he'd caught sight of it.

Jacket in hand, he ducked around the low wall he'd set up shop on to jog around to where Nina was huddled not far away, on a small set of sheltered steps near the middle of the stretch of low-walled greenspace that inhabited the far edge of the market square. Her eyes were beginning to droop shut as another shudder ran through her. It was enough that Pietro's self-satisfied smirk faded slightly, her obvious discomfort rather sobering.

But as he settled next to her, tugging off the blanket to drape the jacket he'd picked out for her across her shoulders, a far more genuine smile stole over his face, especially when she looked up to him with surprise even as he carefully re-tucked the blanket securely around her.

With a wide grin, Pietro reluctantly picked himself up from Nina's side, all but sauntering back to where he'd left his emptying bag of gifts.

"Is every girl in Sokovia getting a new jacket? At least Nina's looked warm." Pietro frowned as he turned to Wanda where she had walked up beside him, eying the jacket the blonde girl was still holding as she lingered near Pietro with a measure of condescension—he was hoping she was waiting for her brother…not for a chance to talk to him. He glanced to the girl, a sheepish, apologetic look coming to his face only for annoyance to join it as Wanda rolled her eyes at him before continuing on toward Nina.

"Uh…" was all he could manage as the girl's face looked at him with a silent questioning expression, her eyes growing faintly accusatory. Not at all interested in dealing with that, Pietro was quickly loping after his sister; the bags were pretty much empty anyway. "You're jealous I didn't get you a jacket," he quipped lightly as he caught up to her, grinning impishly as he did. "Did you want one too? I promise, I'll get you a nice red one." She merely rolled her eyes again, a glint in them that immediately had him sobering slightly. She wasn't just annoyed; she was upset.

"You keep stealing, you're going to get shot." Pietro scoffed at her disparaging tone. He couldn't help it. Once that might have been a real risk, but after Strucker's Experiments? Well, he was pretty sure he could outrun a bullet now. She glared at him, fear and worry flickering in her eyes. "I mean it," she snapped, her anger sparking his own, "at speed nothing can touch you. But standing still…" Everything that had been bothering him over the last several days, their lack of direction not least among them, boiled over at her scolding.

"Do you think I want to be?" he interrupted impatiently, "You said, 'Wait!' I'm waiting. I don't know for what. We had Stark helpless. All these years, and you…" He abruptly cut himself off, still fuming but easily recognizing the look on his sister's face that warned him he was about to push too far. Arms crossing defensively across his chest, he pointedly looked anywhere but at his sister, his gaze automatically searching out Nina again. It seemed she was glancing around for them too, the blonde's tense frame relaxing slightly when she caught sight of the Twins. Pietro couldn't help the faint answering grin that came to his face at the small, relieved look that appeared on her face.

He couldn't even bring himself to mind the exasperated expression that had taken over Wanda's features.

"You're trying awfully hard to impress her," Wanda finally said under her breath as she eyed him disapprovingly. Pietro looked over to her, plastering as innocent a look as he could manage on his face; not that she was likely to buy it anyway.

"I have no idea what you mean," he grinned at her. Wanda made a small, unconvinced noise in response.

"I almost believed you," she quipped sarcastically back, "I think saving her from Strucker and the Avengers was impressive enough, don't you?" Pietro couldn't quite manage to hold back a considering yet pleased grin as he stole a covert glance at Nina. She looked like she'd dozed off curled against the low wall of the raised greenspace, looking at least a little more comfortable with the pale blue coat peeking out from beneath the blanket he had ensured was once again securely wrapped around her. He glanced back to his twin, her puzzled frown startling his grin away.

"You like her," Wanda asserted soberly. Pietro shrugged, the warmth that was beginning to feel familiar once again creeping up the back of his neck.

"I like her well enough, but not like that. What, you don't like her?" he replied, deflecting with the affected self-assurance Wanda always pretended she couldn't see through. Today she wasn't pretending to buy it, and that alone made him hesitate. He frowned again, unable to miss the worry and reserve in his sister's face. Wanda made an unhappy sound to match her absent gesture.

"No, it's not that," she said, a trace of impatience in her voice. She glanced to Pietro, who could only eye her with skepticism of his own. She made another impatient sound. "It's not that, Pietro. I do like her," but she hesitated when he crossed his arms, raising his eyebrows at her in challenge. She huffed before admitting, "okay, maybe it's that a little. But Pietro…" she turned serious as she trailed off, her eyes almost fearful with worry as she glanced back to Nina.

"Be careful," she finally said, her voice little more than a pained whisper. His chest tightened when he realized what she meant. And she wasn't referring to his innocent—or so he kept insisting to himself—flirting.

"You said she was going to be alright," he said confidently, though he winced at the inadvertent thread of accusation that made its way into his voice. There was no mistaking the repressed flinch in his sister, but Wanda didn't rise to it, her face pinching with worry as her attention shifted fully to their blonde companion. As he too looked over to Nina, It was not hard to understand what his twin feared.

In the moments they'd been talking, Nina was looking worse again, the shakes returning with a vengeance as her skin seemed to almost glow with fever. Eyes wide, Wanda glanced to Pietro before rushing to the younger girl's side. Snatching up another blanket from the bag he held little interest in any longer, Pietro was settling on Nina's other side opposite his sister in an instant, wrapping the second blanket over the first as Wanda's slim hands pressed against Nina's face.

"She's burning up," she whispered fearfully, leaning closer instinctively as though that would somehow help. Pietro didn't even need to feel the blonde's skin to know that; he could feel the heat pouring off her. Wanda looked up to him. "We need to get her inside." Nodding, Pietro shifted closer, an arm wrapping gently around Nina's shoulder as Wanda edged back.

"We can go back to the apartment," he declared, disregarding their earlier decision that it wasn't safe to return to their old home. But he hesitated when he saw the look on Wanda's face at the suggestion even as he moved to pick the shivering girl up.

He winced at the small, pained sound she made even as he slid his arms carefully beneath her knees and around her back. Her lips thin with worry, Wanda steadied him as he stood.

"We can't go back there," she argued softly as she carefully retucked the blanket back around the girl in his arms, though there was no anger this time. "You know it's not safe anymore." Biting back an annoyed grumble—she was right, after all—he wracked his brain for somewhere else they could go.

"Costel!" The shout had both of them looking up to see the blonde girl Pietro had been flirting with rushing past them toward a boy—her little brother, Pietro recognized absently, the one he'd gotten the ball for.

"Costel, where did you go?" the blonde was scolding the boy, completely ignoring the Twins and their sick companion as she grabbed her brother's arm, forcing him to look at her as he explained. The boy shrugged looking innocently up toward his sister.

"The church," he said before glancing past her to the Twins. Pietro tensed at the hard look the sister gave him before turning her attention back to her little brother. He ignored the admonishing glance from his own sister. "The man says you need to come to the church," the boy continued, looking pointedly at them. Pietro and Wanda both frowned in confusion as they exchanged a look, though Wanda's gaze quickly grew wary.

"What man?" Wanda questioned, turning back to the boy. He shrugged again, looking uncertain.

"The Iron Man." Pietro nearly dropped Nina while Wanda's eyes went wide with alarm and confusion. She glanced back to Pietro, the look on her face mirroring his own.

That couldn't be right.

In his arms Nina shifted, another small pained sound escaping her. He glanced back down to the trembling blonde, his mind going nearly as fast as he could run. He didn't have to say anything as he looked back up to Wanda, who had been looking in the direction of the church Costel had been talking about. He knew what she wanted to do just from the glittering, determined expression in her eyes. They needed to get Nina inside…but if there was even the slightest chance that Stark was actually at the abandoned church?

It was an opportunity they couldn't afford to pass up.

A/N: Well…some of you were asking about Pietro and Nina… :P

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Guest Reviews:

Jag: I'm glad! Thanks for reviewing!

Jo: I'm so happy you enjoyed! Thanks!

Jenny: lol! I know what you mean. They're both just so practical. But It's still fun to glam it up every now and then! :) Hahaha! He does indeed! I couldn't help but add that. Not considering the monologuing anecdote from the Incredibles and the influence it's had on me ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Natasha: No worries. Real life stinks sometimes, doesn't it. Lol! And that's fair. It if wasn't for the time and development that's in store for them, I'd have vetoed the idea myself. But I'm rather of the opinion that it's worth it ;) lol! So I hope you'll enjoy too! And they are indeed! And they aren't the only ones, either! The only ones posted, but there will be more in this story-verse. You all met Briana last Chapter, after all. :) And I still advocate making an account, personally. Just because you're not posting stories, doesn't mean it's not still handy to have. It's how I keep track of my favourite stories, for instance. Plus, the PM feature really is great. But if that's what you want to do, then go with that. :)

And yes…I do believe a nice little 'Pietro/OC' even listed in the expanded summary before the prologue ;) lol! So you aren't imagining that vibe! And it's coming! It'll be a bit, but it's coming! It's also funny how split people are about whether or not she's going to get powers. Weird, huh?

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