Chapter Twelve
Skyfall
She jumps away, her back slamming into the already loosened rail, and it breaks…
And she falls…
The world grinds to a halt when Pietro sees Sonya fall. He's trapped under a fallen girder, Nat trying to pull him free, and he can't do anything but watch. She slams into the lowest walkway with a sickening crunch, her body twisted and crumpled, and he screams.
"SONYA!"
He heaves the steel off his body with inhuman strength and is by her side in less than a second, sending homunculi and friend's alike flying.
Her face is pale, and blood is seeping from the back of her head, and he can feel everything crumbling down around him. "No. No, Sonya, please!" He can feel tears running down his cheeks, burning like fire. Wanda is hugging him, but he can only stare at Sonya's broken body. Bucky's eyes are dead again, and he rips through ten homunculi with his bare hands, Peter hides himself in a corner, staring, his brown eyes horrorstruck. Tony stumbles out of his suit, throwing himself down next to her, begging her to wake up.
"C'mon, doc." He pleads. "Sonya, open your eyes! Sonya, please!"
"What a tragedy." Astoria emerges from the gloom, and Steve rounds on her, shield at her throat.
"Bring her back." He snarls. "You've done it before, you can do it again! Bring her back!"
The woman smirks. "I can't bring back the dead. That is out of the realm of possibility."
"No." Wanda whispers, her powers flaring around her. "No, it's not." And blood-red energy flows into Sonya, lifting her off the ground, straightening limbs, healing bones, restarting her heart. The red turns to purple all of a sudden, and Sonya is lurching upright and gasping for air, clinging to Pietro.
He brushes her hair out of her face, staring. "Sonya?"
She stares back. "Pietro?"
He pulls her tight against him, pressing his lips against hers, his hands sliding down her body. Sonya curls one hand into his hair.
There is nothing. No pain, no color, no anything. She's floating, not completely gone yet, looking down on her body. She feels a mild regret at their sorrow, but it's not enough to prompt her to return. Why had she clung to life before? What was her reason? She can't remember, and honestly, she doesn't want to. Then red is blazing around her, grabbing her, bringing her back, and she twists away, trying to escape, but her heart is beating. She had forgotten what it felt like to breath. She still doesn't know who she is, not fully, but the man clinging to her knows. He whispers a name, Sonya, and she remembers who he is. "Pietro?"
All of the confusion flies right out of her head when he places his lips on hers, because this was RIGHT. This is the reason she stayed.
"What was it like, being dead?" Peter blurts out, before blushing furiously and high tailing it out of the room. Sonya stares after him, mystified.
"What does he mean?" She asks, patting at her covers.
Pietro gives her a look. "You don't remember?"
"Remember what?"
"…Dying?"
"What?" She stares at him. "I… What?"
"You really don't remember…" He runs a hand through his hair. "Sonya, you died. For like, 5 minutes. Wanda brought you back. I don't know how she did it, but you were definitely dead."
Sonya flops back. "I don't remember. I was falling, and then I woke up and everyone was really surprised. I thought I was knocked out."
"Well, welcome to the Near Death Experience Club. Pretty much the entire team is a member. As well as several people not on the team."
"Thanks?"
Pietro lets out a weak chuckle. He's still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she's okay, that she's not dead, that she's here, and alive, and smiling at him.
"What's wrong?" She asks.
He doesn't answer right away, but then leans forward and kisses her, hard. Sonya sucks in a breath, her hand sliding along his jaw. "What?" She pants when he pulls back.
"You're okay." He replies, before kissing her again. Sonya lets out a little hum, and leans against his chest, running her fingers through his hair in the way that drives him crazy.
Sonya pulls back hurriedly when he lets out a sob. "Pietro?"
He rubs his eyes on his sleeve, ducking his head away.. "Sorry. I'm being stupid."
Sonya places her hands on his cheeks, turning him to face her. "Hey, it's okay to cry. Crying is what you do when you've been strong for too long."
"You always know just what to say, don't you?"
She smiles. "I didn't get that psychology degree for nothing." She takes his hand. "We'll get through this together, remember?"
He nods. "Together."
That little mantra becomes their sort of motto, eventually shortened to a gentle whisper of "Together, remember?" and the reply of "Together."
It helps. Seeming to scare off the demons that haunt their steps. Dead parents, lost friends, things they've done that they regret. Sonya hasn't felt this safe in forever.
Tony informs them that they are sickening. Pietro gives him a withering look. Sonya always jokes that it makes her feel like she's in The Fault in Our Stars. "That book was kind of over-rated." She mumbles. "I've read sadder books."
A group of homunculi are released in to the city some days later.
"This is just a distraction." Sonya declares, herding a group of civilians into a building.
"Why do you say that?" Pietro asks, slamming to door shut.
"Astoria Lawrence is smart." Sonya says, brushing her hair roughly out of her face. "She's also logical, which makes her predictable. She doesn't do anything without a reason. There's an ulterior motive to this attack. It's not just a show of strength."
"What would that be?" He asks. "The ulterior motive?"
"I'm clever, Pietro, not clairvoyant." She says. "I don't know."
"Well, the last time you theorized about Shinigami, someone tried to, like, steal you."
"I am completely aware of that fact, Pietro."
"Will I have to fight off another creepy wind lady?"
"You didn't even do anything!"
An explosion knocks the both of them over. "I found the ulterior motive." Sonya says, scrambling to her feet. She takes off in the direction of the smoke, which appears to be coming from the tower. Pietro speeds after her, scooping the tiny healer into his arms. "Whoa!"
"What?" He smirks, "You couldn't keep up with me if you tried!"
Sonya crosses her arms grumpily. "You surprised me! I could've gotten whiplash or something!"
"I thought you were clever! You didn't see that coming?"
"I should've. You always do this."
He laughs, setting her down gently on the pavement. "You like it when I sweep you off your feet."
Sonya mumbles something like 'not literally!' and turns her attention on the mess in front of them. A young man is throwing globes of energy at the surrounding buildings. The globes explode when they hit the ground or a wall. The havoc would be immeasurable, if Wanda were not there, matching the man blow for blow.
Sonya turns her attention to the civilians. Half seem to be actually stopping to watch the fight, the rest running around in a panic. She pinches the bridge of her nose and wonders how her species has survived for so long, before getting to the task of protecting them. Steve isn't here, off in a separate part of the city doing hero things, but Sonya is backed up by Pietro, Sam, Rhodey, and Peter. She directs them to take care of the civs, getting them to safety.
"My goodness, how you've changed!"
Sonya winces as Vox's voice curls around her mind. "What do you want?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just fascinated by you're new ability."
"What new ability?"
"You haven't noticed? How you feel more than just their physical pain?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you do." The voice murmurs. "Take off your headband. You'll see."
"You must think I'm an idiot."
"Hey, Sonya?"
She whirls around, nearly toppling over in surprise. Pietro grabs her by the wrist, steadying her. "Are you all right?" His blue eyes are worried. "You were zoning out there."
Sonya blinks at him. "Oh! Yeah… I'm fine." She shakes her head, as if she's clearing her mind. "I'm fine."
Quicksilver slowly lets go of her wrist. "Okay." He's worried about her, so she gives him a little smile.
"Really, I'm fine. I was just thinking."
He nods, and hurries off.
"You felt it that time, didn't you? You could feel his worry, couldn't you?"
"That's not anything I haven't experienced before."
"Really? Then why don't you take off your headband?"
"Because I'm not that stupid."
Vox's voice suddenly grows, in volume and charisma. "TAKE OFF YOUR HEADBAND."
Sonya isn't able to resist, and she tears it off her forehead. She falls forward, overcome. Pain is throwing itself at her from every angle, but it's not just that. There's fear, and worry and other negative feelings. Of insufficiency, of cowardice, of anger, of hate…
Pietro's halfway across the city, when he hears Bucky yell into the comms unit. "Sonya!"
He immediately whirls around.
"Sonya! Look out!" Peter this time.
Pietro skids around the corner to see a homunculus bury its clawed hand up to the wrist in the healer's abdomen. Sonya's eyes widen and she gasps, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. The speedster sends the beast flying, catching her as she falls.
"Sonya!"
She stares at him, but doesn't see him, her chest heaving, hand pressed to her wound. The gash begins to glow purple, sparking, and as Pietro watches, it stitches itself closed. Sonya shudders and swallows hard.
"What?" She whispers hoarsely, wiping blood off her cheek. "How?" She glances up at Quicksilver.
"You're okay?" He says breathlessly, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
"Yeah… I don't know how… but… Yeah-!"
Pietro interrupts her with a hug that lifts her up off the ground, and he kisses her fiercely, and Sonya forgets about the battle and the enemy, and the crowd all around them and the fact that she should be dead. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and kisses him back. And for a while, there's nothing but him, and his lips and his arms around her, and it's perfect.
"How interesting."
Sonya and Pietro pull apart with a gasp, the speedster almost dropping her. They whirl to see Astoria Lawrence herself.
"Why hasn't anybody killed her yet?!" Pietro splutters, shoving Sonya behind him, where Bucky wraps his flesh arm around her protectively, and Tony rubs her head.
Astoria laughs. "Wow." She bends down and, to everyone's astonishment, rips the hand of the homunculus who had stabbed Sonya right off. "No one has killed me, Pietro, simply because they're too afraid to try." She whirls in a flash of blonde and grabs Cap's shield out of the air like it's a Frisbee. She raises it and uses it to block Peter's webs, not even blinking when it's ripped out of her hands.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time." She hisses. "The chance to destroy Earth's Mightiest Heroes… All at once. I've been holding back on you, but now I think it's time to stop that." Dozens of people hurry out of the crowds of civilians, discarding sweatshirts and jackets and hats and scarves, flocking to the woman. "This is my army. Where is yours?"
Cap stands up tall, his team taking their places around him, accepting his shield from Peter. "Avengers!"
…
A/N: This chapter isn't my best. I've been struck with writer's block, but if you didn't guess, when Wanda brought Sonya back, Wanda's powers kind of screwed with Sonya's, and now she (Sonya) can feel mental and emotional wounds too…
REVIEW PLEASE!
Also, thanks to everyone who's stuck with this story! You guys have really encouraged me, so thanks! The climax is here! Are you guys ready?