A large hello to all my readers! Once again, I'd like to thank you all for reading this fic... It is wonderful to know you have read and enjoyed it! A humongous pile of gratitude for my reviewers, Marvel18, Winter Frosts, Motoko the Red Queen, Savarra, Alicecreed1010, Tiryn, and Lost Lady of Time!
A big shout-out to all my followers and favoriters as well, because I have 70 favorites and 120 followers now! Holy crap! That's really amazing! I am sending you all very large internet hugs right now. :)
On that note, have a MARVELous day! (Eh? Eh? See what I did there? I can make corny jokes too, Pietro!)
Once Esca Rarity was gone, the others stared at each other. Pietro wasn't sure what was going on—obviously Natasha and Esca Rarity knew each other, but how, he didn't know. He didn't want to ask, but he was curious.
Luckily, Wanda asked the question for him. "How did you two know each other?"
"The Red Room," sighed Natasha, sitting in Esca Rarity's seat. "She was brought in by the Nurses… they said her parents were dead. I don't think that was the truth, though. Anyway, I met her when some other girls were using her as boxing practice. After that, she and I were like sisters. But three years after I met her, she was gone. I don't know how or why, but she was. I figured it was because Rarity—Esca—was never one for violence. She refused to… do some of the things that the Nurses wanted. She was punished… a lot… for sticking to her beliefs. I thought they'd killed her."
"Germany," said Pietro before he could tell himself it was a bad idea. Seeing everyone's gaze was on him, he shrugged and said, "She told me she was moved to Germany after Russia. I assume that's where this Red Room was?"
Natasha nodded, her eyes swimming with memories. "I thought she'd died," she said again. "She was the only thing keeping me going for a while."
Everyone was quiet for another while as they pondered what Esca Rarity had really been through. It was clear she wasn't just an innocent bystander in Sokovia who happened to save Pietro's life. She was more than that.
After another moment, Stark rose and stretched, declaring, "Well, I'm certainly not going to hold it over her head. The girl can cook, and you all can be damn sure I'm not scaring my new best friend away."
That made Thor and Rogers chuckle. Since they didn't want to leave such a tedious chore for Esca Rarity the following morning, they washed the dishes anyway. After a while, everyone went their separate ways—only Natasha, Barton, and Pietro remained in the common area after dinner was over.
Barton was the first one to say anything. "Find any trace of Banner?"
Natasha shook her head. "Nothing."
"You will soon," he reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "He'll come back."
She nodded, although Pietro thought she wasn't convinced. He simply watched as Barton left, leaving only him and Natasha in the room.
It was silent for a while before she asked, a slight smile on her face, "Did I hear rightly that you punked Esca into a date?"
"I did," said Pietro, a smug look on his face.
"What was the joke?"
"Since she lived in Switzerland for two years, I used the joke, 'What is the best thing about living in Switzerland?'"
"What was it?"
"The flag is a big plus."
Natasha blinked and sighed. "My God. Are you serious? You got her with that?"
"That's what I said."
"I find it hard to believe that Esca would simply laugh at something like that," sighed Natasha, shaking her head. "She used to be so… guarded. She wouldn't laugh at anything until a year after I met her. But even then, it was hard to coax a smile out of her."
"I think the only reason I got her to laugh was because my joke was so stupid," grinned Pietro, recalling the way Esca Rarity had rolled her eyes at him afterward. That had been endearingly amusing. "But that doesn't matter. I got her to laugh, and Barton helped me figure out what to do for tomorrow night."
Natasha raised an eyebrow in interest. "Oh? What's the big plot?"
But Pietro just smirked and shook a finger in her direction. "Sorry, Romanoff, but I can't tell you. You might just go and relay our secrets to Miss Esca Rarity, and then what kind of surprise would I have for her tomorrow night?"
The female assassin simply returned his smirk, though there was a bit of old worry in her eyes. "Well, Maximoff, I'd suggest you go and try to talk to Esca if you want to surprise her tomorrow. Whenever she retreats like this, she usually stays that way for a while. She may or may not appear for breakfast tomorrow morning."
Although he didn't want to believe her, Pietro figured that Natasha might be on to something. After all, she certainly knew the other woman better than he did—although hopefully that wouldn't be the case for long. Pietro was surprised by how much he wanted to get to know Esca Rarity, as he'd never been apt to make friends. His sister had been all he needed, and while Wanda was still his top priority, Esca Rarity was ascending the scale frighteningly quickly. "Very well, I trust you. Don't make me regret it," he added with a chuckle.
Natasha's eyebrow only raised higher. "Believe me, Maximoff, I'm on your side. It's about time that girl has something to be happy about."
Though the comment bothered him and made him wonder what had happened to Esca Rarity in the past, Pietro only nodded and set off for the med bay, as that was where he suspected she'd be. He didn't revert to his super speed yet, because A) he wasn't sure he was quite recuperated for that yet, and B) he didn't want to make Natasha think anything inaccurate.
Of course Pietro liked Esca Rarity, but he didn't like her. That much.
He groaned at his own thoughts and almost slapped a hand to his forehead. Why did Esca Rarity get under his skin like this? How?
He figured it was her name. He hadn't felt the strange way he felt for her until she told him her name. After all, he was continually referring to her with her whole name. And she also had blue eyes, which was a problem. Pietro had always liked blue eyes.
He stopped in the middle of the staircase and thought, Maybe I should just go back before I do something really stupid in front of her.
Then he realized that wasn't an option. He'd been in the med bay the previous night, so he didn't have a guest room or anything yet. And if he went back down to the common area, Natasha would know he didn't talk to Esca Rarity.
So he would do what he'd done the rest of the day—act like a confident prick despite feeling like he was going to puke.
Suddenly, Pietro found himself outside the medical bay. He knocked lightly before declaring, "I'm coming inside, Esca Rarity. Just wanted to warn you so you don't stick me with a needle or something."
There was a small laugh in response, and then her voice said, "Come in."
Once Pietro was inside the room, he stopped and looked at her. She was reading A Tale of Two Cities again, her bookmark back in her hair. She looked slightly pale, but she smiled a bit when he entered the room.
Seeing her, he immediately lost his cocky manner and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Oh, yes," she replied, gently closing the book. "I'm fine, thank you."
Pietro stepped closer and looked at her sideways. "Are you sure? You seemed a little shaken up at dinner."
Esca Rarity, however, just smiled and replied, "Don't worry about me, Pietro. I'm okay."
He looked at her for another moment before hesitantly replying, "All right, then… On a totally different topic, thank you for the French dinner. It was the best thing I've tasted in a long time. I don't know how I'll outdo you tomorrow night."
That made her smile. She rose from the chair and crossed her arms. Then she shrugged and replied, "You don't have to outdo anything. It will be nice to just get to know you. I don't remember who my last friend was… so it'll be a nice change."
For some reason, her comment made Pietro both happy and sad—happy because he'd get to be her friend; sad because she hadn't had many. And so he responded, "You'll have many friends here, Esca Rarity."
"Why do you keep calling me that?" she giggled, turning to look out the window. Pietro couldn't see her expression when she did this, which made him wonder if she was frowning or laughing or rolling her eyes. "You're almost as bad as Steve, who insists on calling me 'miss.'"
With that, Pietro scoffed. "Perhaps your name just rolls off the tongue. Perhaps I like your name. Perhaps I do it because I want to call you something different from what everyone else does. Take your pick."
Esca Rarity turned back around to face him, a hopeless laugh on her face. "You are something else, Pietro Maximoff."
"See? Now you're doing it, too."
His exclamation made her shake her head and restrain a laugh, which pleased him. At least he was able to make her laugh as well as irritate her. "You should get some sleep, crazy. It's been a long day and you will need the rest," she said.
"I need no such thing," he declared, but Esca's voice made him tired. That was when he remembered something—"By the way, do you sing often?"
Esca Rarity laughed softly. "I don't sing, Pietro. It's not my thing."
"Liar," he murmured. "I remember… you sang… on the helicopter."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she murmured, walking toward him. With each word she said, he seemed to grow more tired. Why was that? "Get to bed," she said, putting a hand on his arm. And with the sudden exhaustion he felt, Pietro obediently crawled in the bed he'd rested in and fell asleep.