Flashback 11: The Right Moment

AAARRGHHHH! School is coming soon and I'm so not ready!!

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Flashback 11: The Right Moment

Two days had passed, and Aurelia Tempest was still looking for the 'right moment' that Wanda hadn't been able to shut up about.

At the start of their sessions, she'd ask "Have you told him yet?" And at the end of their sessions, Wanda would always remind her before she closed the cell door, "Don't forget to tell him!" To which Aurelia would always reply, "I'm looking for the right moment!"

It was true, she was. But how to tell was the big question.

Was it a silence? Pietro and Aurelia went through plenty of those. Was it one of those moments when they finished a tickle war and they both sighed from exhaustion?

Aurelia hated feeling helpless.

She was meant to be a powerful assassin skilled in every field, not a single weakness, and yet, bring the Sokovian speedster into the mix, and she became clueless. But whenever Aurelia opened the door to Pietro's cell, all worries about the right moment flew away like the fleeting nature of time. He looked so serene in his cell, despite it's small size.

And when they had reached the Fairy Glen, they got straight into their sparring. Since the assassin didn't want to tamper with Pietro's skills, they had just under 2 months to create a whole new fighting style for him to use when he was dispatched.

That unfortunately, left Aurelia finding herself extremely close to Pietro and often threaded together like a knitted scarf.

For perhaps the 3rd time that day, the speedster had managed to get her back against his stomach again, one hand over her neck, the other over her stomach. It was the same position that had forced her admit her feelings, and they rushed over her once again.

"You really need to stop doing that," she managed to get out, trying to turn her head to look him in the eye, which proved easier said than done.

"You know you love it," Pietro smirked, his breath was hot chocolate against the skin of her neck.

Of course she loved it, but she'd never say that, it was far too embarrassing.

"Again?" he asked, preparing himself for another one sided fight. Aurelia was beginning to know how it felt to be on the receiving end of her punches. "One second," she answered, taking a quick sip from her drink bottle.

She heard the leaves snapping behind her, but she didn't see the hand that gripped her water bottle coming. With Pietro's strong grip, he squeezed the majority of the translucent bottle's contents into her mouth, making her let go and cough from the overload.

The speedster dropped the bottle and walked back to the centre of the Glen. "Get off your ass," he muttered quietly.

"I was never on my ass, genius," Aurelia smiled. "Whatever." The 4th spar that day commenced, and they were 1 minute in when the older Maximoff decided to start a riot.

"So why can't we go into the field now?" he asked, punching her side with his speed.

"Not now, Pietro." Aurelia dodged the punch and attempted to kick his side, which he easily darted from. "No. Now," he demanded, stepping away and crossing his arms, which she took as a bad sign.

In her shock from his sudden change in mood, and also from the sudden crossing of arms, the assassin remained silent. "Why can't we go? And don't tell me you have no say in the matter, because I saw how much you've changed our conditions already."

"I probably could get you out sooner, if I wanted to..." she trailed off, she didn't need to elaborate on the fear she could invoke in others with her being S.H.A.D.O. "And why not? Why would you keep us trapped in those cells?" Pietro yelled, motioning with his left arm in the vague direction of the base.

Trapped in those cells. A simple choice of words that left her feeling like he had shot her in the gut.

"Because once you get out, you and Wanda will make huge changes in the world," she sighed, grinning at the fear that the Maximoffs could invoke in S.H.I.E.L.D, and in the Avengers themselves. "And that's a bad thing?"

"No, of course not! The world is teeming with not only expert killers, but exceptional minds, and if we can create this form of power in a tiny research base within months, imagine what teams of scientists can do in state of the art facilities." Aurelia crossed her arms in the hope of covering more skin.

Pietro shook his head, and spoke dangerously soft, "I don't see your point."

As if guided by some magnet, she took a step closer, "My point, is that sooner or later, they're going to come up with ways to control you. To mute Wanda's abilities, to slow you down. Tell me Pietro, once that happens, how are you going to escape?"

"With the skills you've taught me. I can beat you, I've done it. I could beat any agent in a fight now, especially with my speed."

"I just want to be sure."

Sure they would make it out there. On their own. In the wild. In the universe that had hardened her into vibranium.

Pietro still didn't get the point, yelling, "You've trained us brilliantly! You can't be more sure! Aurelia, you can't keep us trapped here forever!" He surprised both of them when he took both her hands in each of his.

"I don't plan to!" she shot back, unable to break away from his sapphire stained gaze, unable to stop thinking about the complete warmth of his hands, or the way that they engulfed her own."Then why are you?" Pietro asked, keeping her gaze. Aurelia let her breathing slow down until she answered, "Because you're the only friends I have."

The speedster remained silent, and his eyes left hers, falling onto their joined hands. But Aurelia was only used to so much intimacy at one time, so she removed one hand from his clutches.

"My entire life, I've been alone. Technically. The only people I've known were my instructors, Whitehall, and the people I was sent to kill. And now, I've acquired friends that I would easily take a bullet for."

"And I'm not going to put them in the line of fire as fast as possible, only to find that days later, one of you got shot to bits. Because I am too scared to lose either of you. I won't have that. Not if I can help it."

"So I'm sorry Pietro, for caring about you and Wanda's safety, because right now, it's the only thing that's keeping me human, and maybe the only thing keeping you alive right now."

"I didn't know that." She grinned, hoping to make their conversation more cheerful, "Huh."

The speedster didn't get the memo, instead, he ran his thumb over her hand, making her heart run a marathon. "I'm sorry," he apologised, keeping his stare fixed on their hands.

"You should be," she giggled, unable to restrain herself any longer. Finally, Pietro's trademark smirk appeared but he let go of her hand.

The moment had fluttered away like a butterfly.

Aurelia couldn't help but wonder if she had missed 'the right moment' that Wanda couldn't shut up about. "

But what if-" Pietro began, holding up his pointer. She batted it away, her mouth forming a stern line, "Save it."

They began fighting again, though the feel of the air had lightened, no longer heavy and sad but light. Aurelia had a feeling that if it was condensed, it would turn into fairy floss instead of water.

That wasn't to say however, that either of them weren't out for blood.

Pietro went out with a whole new world of kicks and punches, the majority of which hit her hard. She didn't let it get her down though, and her adrenaline allowed her to forget the small proximity between them.

The much loved hormone also allowed her to land hits on Pietro that she wouldn't have managed otherwise. She had to say, if the speedster was put into the field tomorrow, he could really land some serious hits against HYDRA's enemies.

That was until, Pietro managed to flip her over, the air rushed past her ears, and she landed on her back with a thud.

Using his super speed, he landed on top of her, making sure that the assassin couldn't wiggle out of his grip. That was enough to force any remaining adrenaline from her system. And it was enough for her to realise that he was straddling her.

Pietro seemed to realise at the same moment that she did, because his eyes widened with both a mixture of shock and...something she couldn't place. Any attempt to keep her breathing in check was swiftly forgotten, and her heart beat forward, his hands on each side of her waist were supernovas.

"So," Aurelia began, drumming her fingers on the undergrowth, "Any other, moves you want to show me?"

Had she been in the situation where she could move her hands, the assassin would have groaned and covered her face in frustration at her cluelessness and embarrassment.

How could she have said that? Idiot.

She gripped a dead leaf in each hand, painfully aware of her lack of clothing. Whether either of them wanted it, Pietro got off her, and the remainder of the lesson was surprisingly, normal.

But as the session ended, the awkwardness built.

"And that's a wrap!" Aurelia exclaimed, looking to Pietro, who glanced up from his cool down stretches.

"Really?" he asked, with the happiness of a student on the last day of school. The assassin pulled on her hoodie, grateful that her skin was covered. "Well, truthfully, we have 3 minutes. But you did good, so I cut it short," she responded.

"You do that often?" Pietro asked back, crossing his arms and making her look away.

Aurelia hoped it wouldn't betray her. This was harder than going undercover in the Sci-Tech Academy.

"Do you want a real answer?" she answered, catching his gaze to both her delight and fear. "You choose," he answered, his watery eyes igniting to form blue fire as he took a step closer, wringing his hands.

The Glen was utterly silent, leaving the assassin with no backup and no cavalry to call in for assistance.

She was on her own.

"Commonly," she answered, and hardly registered it when Pietro picked her up, and ran somewhere else far into the forest.

The trees there were different from the ones that encircled the Fairy Glen.

They were a bright, almost neon green and small rosy blooms polka dotted the branches. The undergrowth wasn't the thick, dead mass from the Glen, but a soft soil that felt as if it would dissolve under her stance.

Pietro's hands were boiling where the rested on her body in the bridal style he held her in, and his breath was a soft wind on her forehead. He let her go and let Aurelia get her bearings, never once looking away from her.

"Pietro, what are you-" But Quicksilver wasted no more time, and threaded an arm around her waist, the other on the back of her neck, and kissed her.

For the first few moments, Aurelia didn't fully realise what was happening; her eyes were open in shock, and despite her fantasies, didn't kiss him back.

But as she sank into the kiss, Pietro pulled away, "I'm sorry that was rash of me."

The assassin tried not to notice the creakiness in his voice and giggled, despite her mistake, "No, I was wondering when the right moment would be."

Aurelia put a hand on either side of his face, and pulled him in for a second attempt.

This kiss wasn't awkward like the first one, but was sweet and full of promise.

Pietro's hands remained in the same positions that they were before, but the hand on her neck moved down to her waist, so that they were on either side. The assassin smiled against the kiss, still not believing that it was happening, and curled her fingers into the growing hair that she loved so much already.

As the kiss came to an end, and the two leaned their foreheads together, regaining both of their breaths.

"The right moment?" Pietro asked, "Please don't tell me Wanda told you that."

Aurelia couldn't help it, she burst out laughing like she never had before, her soul felt light and bubbly, as if she was bursting out of her skin and into the unknown. And soon enough both S.H.A.D.O and Quicksilver were both laughing in each other's arms.

Pietro zoomed them both back to the Glen to retrieve their drink bottles and they begun to walk back to the research base, hand in hand.

The air around them was sweet, and Aurelia felt as if she was suffocating in her own happiness. From what she had perceived, crushes were something that were held for long periods of time, and faded away. Only rarely did their crush kiss them, especially days after she admitted it to herself.

The assassin shook the thought out of her mind, she didn't want to bore herself with the technicalities of how lucky she was.

"What are you thinking?" Pietro nudged her shoulder, and she shook her head, exhaling.

He wasn't really going for that line, was he? It was used in practically every single rom-com in existence, and Aurelia knew that was because they were excellent time killers going to and going back home from missions.

"Just how lucky I am," she answered, smiling up at him and going with the flow, because, hey, which girl didn't want to have a perfect rom-com moment? "Of course you are, you're with the mighty Quicksilver himself after all!" Pietro sang, removing his hand around hers and holding it over her shoulder, bringing them closer.

"Does your love for yourself have no bounds?" she asked, smiling against his shoulder, heart drumming faster even though Aurelia knew that she had nothing to fear.

"You know it doesn't," the speedster answered, and planted a kiss on the top of her head. But despite how much the Enhanced had truly conquered her thoughts, Hunter crept into her mind from the first day in the forest, when he had destroyed cameras to form a secret pathway.

You and the twins can talk freely, Hunter had said.

Well now it seemed that talking wasn't the only thing on the menu.

The elder Maximoff must've noticed a change and asked, "What is it?" Aurelia looked up at him, no longer drowning in his stare, but swimming, and grinned evilly, "I know places we can hide."