Flashback 13: Sweeter than Fiction

If you've noticed the Taylor Swift references in the titles, than congrats! There's no prize or anything, but it's great for one's pride! Just putting this out there, I think for the next book, I'll release it in one big heap, that way you won't have to wait for each chapter? I dunno, it's an idea.

Enjoy!

LittlePond

Flashback 13: Sweeter than Fiction

"Pietro," Aurelia Tempest cooed, nudging Pietro Maximoff's sleeping cheek that was becoming conquered by stubble. "Pietro," she cooed again, earning a sleepy moan from him. The assassin grinned, and kissed his cheek, "Come on Speedy," she murmured.

Slowly, his eyes opened, and widened when he saw her. "What are you doing here?" he asked, stroking her hair.

"We get a day out of here. Happy Birthday," Aurelia answered, trying to pull him up by the fabric of his shirt.

Pietro's eyes widened again, "What?" The speedster stood and held her by her arms, not too intimate so that Von Strucker would kill her, but enough.

"Yep. An entire day. To ourselves."

The Sokovian smiled, mischief in his grin, "You're joking." Aurelia shook her head, "Nope, come on. I've got proper clothes in my plane." To her shock, Pietro stood still. "You have a plane?" Aurelia grinned, and pulled Pietro with her to the plane, "You better believe it, Maximoff."

The door to her borrowed plane closed with a final chime, and once the assassin was sure it was airtight and locked, she turned to Pietro and kissed him.

Instantly, his hands returned to their second home around her waist and hers around his neck. Aurelia's heart beat loud and fast, so deafening she would have broken contact, but there was no way in hell that that was happening.

The assassin had missed him too much since yesterday's training session, which had ended in roughly the same way.

Eventually, she had to let go due to oxygen. "That's a relief. I didn't know how long I could hold it," the Sokovian grinned, kissing her forehead. "Affirmative," she answered, pulling out the bag that contained the clothes that her and Wanda had bought.

"Put these on," she remarked, throwing the bag to him. The speedster looked around, left and right, "Where do I get changed?" he asked with his trademark puppy look. "Just in the bedroom," she answered, sitting down in the pilot's seat.

Pietro must've used his super speed, since he was out of the bedroom within a minute and sat comfortably in the shotgun seat. "Where would you like to go?" she asked, hoping that the Sokovian would answer with something romantic.

Hey, a girl could dream!

"Where would you like to go?" the speedster shot back. Aurelia gripped the wheel a little harder, a small smile creeped across her skin. Which had nothing to do with his hand creeping across her shoulder. "I don't know. It's your birthday," she replied, looking back at him with a grin she could only wish was as adorable as his own.

"Do you know anywhere that has good beaches, or a carnival?"

Pietro was playing the romantic card, then. Good.

"A few," she grinned. Utilising his inhuman speed, he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Well then, beach carnival it is," he answered, removing his hand and placing it on the dashboard of the plane.

Once they were on course to the nearest beach with a carnival, Aurelia set the plane on auto-pilot, and moved away to fish some spare clothes she knew were stashed around the craft somewhere.

"What are you doing?" he asked, brown hair falling into his eyes. Pulling out the contents of one of the drawers around the plane, Aurelia searched for spare clothing, and was pleased to pull out a dark red, woollen sweater. "I can't go to the beach in skinny jeans can I?" she replied, finding another drawer to rifle through.

"You could try," he grinned, causing her to look up at him mischievously. "Is Pietro Maximoff flirting?" she shot back as she pulled out a pair of denim shorts. "Maybe," the speedster smirked, eyes landing on her shorts. "Pietro seriously!"

He chuckled, looking ahead at the dawning horizon, "You know you love it." Aurelia grinned, and gathered her new clothes.

Of course she loved it, and he knew it.

~~~

The beach that Aurelia bought them to was stellar, she had to admit.

The ocean was a mixture of teal, cobalt, aquamarine, each shade blended together to form a wondrous pallet. The sand beneath them was yellow, not like the Photoshopped sand on post cards, but enough for the assassin to appreciate. In the distance, the candied structures of roller-coasters and ferris wheels stood silent, for now at least.

"You never fail to impress, Aurelia." She turned back from the picturesque horizon, caught his gaze and grinned at the sight of the wind ruffling his athletic shorts.. "I know. Aren't I the best?" she asked, her grin growing in size. "Of course you are. Now how about we build a sandcastle?"

Neither of them knew much on how to build sandcastles, but they made do.

"Wave incoming, Pietro," she warned as it crested behind him. He was deep in concentration, smoothing the tallest tower of the citadel, seemingly oblivious to the approaching wave. Aurelia did not want him to ruin his new clothes.

But the wave drew ever closer, gaining height and mass.

"Pietro." The Sokovian only chuckled and continued, hands grating against the granules. Just as the wave was about to reach him and drench the clothes she had just bought, Pietro zipped out of the way, landing straight on her, the remnants of his short run fading behind him.

"You sly fox," Aurelia muttered underneath him. "I know how to control my speed, Aurelia. You taught me," he giggled, leaning in, but the assassin moved out of the way. "Pietro, there's kids watching," she chuckled, looking over at the youngsters frolicking in the deep blue.

"Do I look like I give a damn?" He leaned in again, and this time she let him.

Just as Pietro's lips brushed over hers, they were sourly interrupted.

"Um, excuse me, but, how did you run so fast?" asked a young girl above them. Her ginger hair was pulled back into 2 short pig tails high on her head, her plump body was covered in a lavender and tangerine 'Dora the Explorer' bathing suit. The girl's emerald eyes sparkled like lone pieces of glitter.

Both kneeling by her, the speedster was speechless, wondering how to put his abilities into words without blowing his cover.

But the assassin grinned with matching enthusiasm and waved her fingers as if she was in a jazz show, "Magic," she answered wondrously.

The youngster ran away, squealing at the top of her lungs and yelling about magic being true.

"You really know how to handle kids," Aurelia sighed, nudged his shoulder and smiled up at him.

"Eh, I guess I do," he responded, rubbing the back of his head, the shadow of a grin slithered, "And you have a talent for falling!"

Before Aurelia knew it, his arms were underneath her legs and she was in the air, and then she was submerged, clothes and all. The assassin burst out of the freezing water, gasping for air.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered through her fleeting breaths. Pietro entered the water and returned to her side, "Surely you don't mean that." Teasing him further, she leaned forward and whispered, "Well, you never know," and proceeded to plunge him into the water.

Or at least, she would have, had Pietro not grabbed her hands, seeing her coming.

"You may do that, once I'm out of these clothes."Aurelia ignored it him and punched his shoulder, "Well, before we get more wet, we should both get out these clothes then." The Sokovian nudged her shoulder, snivelling like a fifth grader being taught about the changes he was about to undertake. "Seriously, Pietro!"

Within minutes, Pietro had found a pair of sports shorts in his plastic bag, whilst she had managed to scavenge yet another sports bra and a pair of shorts reserved for training. And managed to return to the cove in 15 minutes.

They sprinted straight for the ocean and plunged in, allowing the water to fully submerge them and silence all. Thankfully, the beach they had landed at didn't have too much seaweed or rocks, but there was enough to be annoying.

Aurelia was pleasantly enjoying the sea, the sky and the world above her when a handful of seaweed floated by her face and remained there. She wasn't usually squeamish, but the slime of the plant was otherworldly.

The assassin burst out the water, screaming and ripping the shrub from her face, wiping the salt water away, only to find Pietro guffawing at her. "It was disgusting!" she insisted. But he continued to laugh hard, holding onto his torso- whose sight she somehow had gotten used to -for support. "You can be a wimp sometimes, you know that?"

Aurelia scoffed, and dropped her hand into the water, her fingers wrapping around the tendrils of a rather large piece of seaweed and threw it, making Pietro yelp and pull it off. "Ha! What did I tell you!" she scoffed, poking him. "I wasn't prepared!"

"Keep dreaming," she sighed, and pushed him underwater, enacting her revenge. Immediately, bubbles erupted to the surface, his shadow was visible, and she waited for him to resurface with a vengeance.

"Pietro," she called, "Time to come u-" She didn't have time to finish, because the assassin was pulled under by the ankles and forced under by the speedster. Her cries were muffled by the water, and were muffled further when Pietro's lips found hers again.

Instead of their usual place by her hips, the Sokovian's hands travelled to her mid back, making her skin combust despite being immersed in cold water. Making the most of the opportunity, Aurelia's own hands wandered over his chest, assuming they wouldn't have the chance to do it back home.

Aurelia wasn't an expert in the whole romance department, but she was sure that it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time. At least in her books.

~~~

"I'm slightly regretting this decision," Aurelia whimpered as the cart turned a corner into the Ghost Train.

Creepy organ music played dimly, and pictures of skeletons and black cats littered the walls in glowing paint. "I can tell. Have you felt your hands?" Pietro squeezed her hand, which she realised with cold clarity, was extremely clammy.

She unclenched it wiped it off, attempting not to look at the grisly images. "Thanks, Pietro," she mumbled. The ride turned another corner, and they stopped at a pair of double plastic doors made to appear like wood. The music continued to make the hair on Aurelia's neck stand on end.

"I don't get why you're so scared though. This ride is for kids." With a jerky beginning, the cart lurched forward, leaving the assassin's stomach behind.

The cart turned sharply, with displays of furry, giant spiders and witches with skin like the pages of an ancient book."This is not for ki-" she began to answer, but a clown in vibrant blue and blood red makeup jumped out at them, making her scream.

The ride continued, everyone in their cart was silent, with occasional snickers escaping from their throats.

If only they knew the real monster sitting behind them. If Aurelia really wanted to, she could kill everyone here.

"What did I tell you?" the speedster asked, remnants of laughter riddled his breath. The assassin scowled, banging into his shoulder as they turned corners. The scene of a green, rotten hand breaking through a coffin's lid almost made her loose control again.

"Shut up," she grumbled, keeping her eyes on her legs, far from the view of the horrors outside. "The kids in front of us, look at least 10. In fact, no one else looks above 10 here."

Aurelia leaned forward, and saw that the Sokovian was right; no one was above 10. In fact the oldest looked around 12 if she was pushing it. "Fair point," she agreed.

From a young age, she'd always found she feared the supernatural as much as she was interested in them. The Enhanced; they were fascinating, miracles of the scientific world and the heroes of their time. But the supernatural, the twisted demons and the maddened witches, they were threats whose abilities that Aurelia couldn't even begin to explain, or extinguish.

"The great assassin so easily scared by childish-" And now, with revenge never tasting so sweet, a skeleton reached out from the walls, and placing Pietro in the same position that she was in only minutes ago. "Look whose laughing now?" the assassin giggled. "It caught me off guard!" Pietro insisted, placing an arm around her shoulder. "Keep dreaming," Aurelia grinned, though not feeling safe for long thanks to the demon that jumped out.

This time, they both screamed.

When they entered the plane again, with many hours left, Aurelia walked straight to the cockpit's window, and stared out. Her thoughts about her swiftly diminishing time with Pietro were haunting her. Except now she had nowhere to run, nothing to distract herself form it. The question sat there, three feet from her face.

Will I ever see Pietro again?

"What is it?" the elder Maximoff sighed, she couldn't see it, but she could hear him rub his cheek. "I was just thinking," the assassin answered, gripping the wheel of the plane, hands white as bone. "About what?" the speedster questioned again, the brush of his runner against the carpet moving toward her. "What happens after," Aurelia answered, letting the beast escape in a single exhale. "After what?" Pietro asked, though the answer seemed obvious.

"After I go. Is Strucker going to keep you here? Will Whitehall let me come and visit? Will we be allowed to keep in contact?" Aurelia asked, turning to face him, eyes frantic in worry.

"Of course we will," the elder Maximoff replied, reaching for her hand, which she gladly gave over. "How are you be so sure?" she trembled, allowing herself to be utterly baffled at what was happening. "Well, I have super speed for one." The assassin looked up at him with a gaze full of steel. "This isn't a joke, Pietro," she said sternly.

Pietro nodded, the small smile fading away like mist, "I know. And I know, because I'll do anything to see you again. Screw Von Strucker, and HYDRA. They can come for me with bullets and rockets, I'll dodge them. Because I'm freaking Quicksilver and they can eat my freaking dust."

"And what happens when you find me? What happens to Wanda?"

"Wanda will come too. And when we find you, we'll find somewhere where they can't find us. No more cells, guards, or cameras. Just you, Wanda and I against the world."

It seemed like such a sweet future, one free of the bloody destiny she was running towards, full steam ahead. The image of the three of them, free of their bonds to HYDRA and flying into the gilded sunset was an ending that was seemed too carefree to be an actual possibility.

"Does that place exist? Where HYDRA can't find us?" Aurelia asked, keeping her voice low in case of bugs. "There has to be," Pietro answered, sternly, as if convincing himself more then her. "What about Stark? And S.H.I.E.L.D?" The assassin wondered how life would be without the constant fire in her heart, aching for revenge. The Sokovian considered the possibility of abandoning his quest to avenge his parents, and answered, "We can do that along the way."

"But HYDRA, and all we've built? You'd just throw it away?" the assassin questioned, coiling her fingers tighter.

The thought of leaving behind her legacy as S.H.A.D.O felt like a punch to her gut. But it was a deed Aurelia believed that she could do. If she tried, really, really hard.

"Of course," Pietro scoffed, as if the decision to throw away their life's work was a simple choice. "Why?" the agent asked, utterly baffled at the simplicity that the speedster saw. "Because I'd be the greatest fool to let you slip from my fingers."

Aurelia didn't want to, but her lips became a thin, wobbling line. She could't explain what she was feeling, and it completely terrified her. "Why are you crying?" the elder Maximoff asked, his Sokovian accent making the question seem that much more intimate.

"Because, I've never been treated like this before. Hell, I've never felt like this before. I don't understand. I don't understand any of this, and it's scaring the crap out of me. Why is it whenever I see you, my heart beats as fast as you can run? Or why ever since that first kiss, I feel as though I'm bursting out of my skin? Or why I just plainly need you, after only knowing you for 2 months?"

Pietro grinned, eyes becoming two bowls of gentle sapphire hearth, and he placed his second hand on her arm. "I think I know exactly why. Can you guess it?" he asked, and Aurelia grinned. If she knew one thing about Pietro, it was that he loved his wit and supposed charm.

She knew the answer, and it hung between them like golden lights. But she remained silent, she couldn't bring herself to say it, despite how far she'd come,.

"The word is very simple, only 4 letters long."

Aurelia only grinned, and closed the gap between them, bringing her lips to his. She snaked her hands to his neck, and Pietro gripped her arms, pulling her even closer so that the only thing that separated them was her blood red sweater and his blue, grey and white shirt. The assassin threw the remainder of her arms around his neck, deepening the embrace, and the speedster's hands returned home to either side of her waist.

Home. Such an odd word, and a place that Aurelia had never truly been to. In between it all; her massacred town, her training to be an assassin, the missions, there had never been time. But now, interlaced with Pietro, she knew what it was like.

To have a place to always return to. To know that no matter what you did, you always had someone to turn to. To have someone who knew you.

Some people's homes are structures, with towers extending to the sky, or with passages descending deep into the ground. But other people's homes were people. Whether it be their mother, their father, friend or partner.

She should have known it sooner.

She should have known that first time he made her soar.

Aurelia was home.

Since they were both running out of air, they broke away, breathing hard and trying to regain some form of normality. Though it was hard to ignore the feeling of some invisible force around them, pulling the assassin and the speedster together. "Pietro," Aurelia sighed, the warmth of their foreheads' contact burning away skin. "Mmmm?"

"We both know the answer to the word thing right?" she grinned, since despite it all, she just couldn't bring the words out. They were magnets, and right now, Aurelia had the same charge. "Of course," Pietro smiled, "And trust me, the feeling's mutual. Even if you can't bring yourself to say it. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here."

"Sure thing, Quicksilver," she giggled.

"You know, I really like it when you call me Quicksilver," the speedster grinned against her, finally kissing her back. Since Aurelia realised she was home, this kiss was something more. Their noses didn't bump against each other awkwardly, or anything annoyingly stupid, but this time, it made her heart glow like a supernova.

Her eyes were shut tight, afraid of the monsters outside, and her fists were clenched in the material of his shirt, who responded to the new placement of her hands, running down her back. When things started to get a little too heated, Pietro leaned back reluctantly, breath sweet and eyes smiling from lid to lid. He placed a tiny kiss on her nose, "Before things get too heated, maybe we should get a room?"

Aurelia curled her fingers in his ever growing brown hair. She'd have to ask about cutting it at some point, a thought she sent to the back of her mind. She wasn't going to think about the HYDRA base right now. All there was, and all there'd ever be, was her and Pietro. "Hell yeah," she answered, not knowing what little of the night was left for them.

~~~

Something tickled Aurelia Tempest's nose, and slowly but surely, her eyes opened. "No," she groaned in frustration, blocking the new and bright light from her blue eyes.

She was never a morning person. No matter how many times she had to wake early for training. Aurelia's eyes started to focus in on her surroundings, and found her hand laying on something, no, someone.

Her heart stopped- it was Pietro Maximoff.

And then the memories of the night before flooded through her mind, leaving her victim to the blush that covered her cheeks. "Morning," he smiled, looking down at her. His smirk extended further when she reached out and ran her fingers through his chestnut hair.

"Morning, Quicksilver," she smiled, removing her other hand from his chest and propping herself up with her elbows. "I see what you're doing," Pietro joked, moving up, and positioning himself so that they lay beside each other. "You know you do," she smirked, closing her eyes in an attempt to rid the images from the previous night from her mind.

They hadn't passed the final threshold of intimacy, in fact, Aurelia's undergarments still remained. She may not believe in any religion in particular but that, she thought, was something she wasn't ready for. Luckily, Pietro agreed with her decision, and didn't pressure her.

"Yeah, it was," the assassin muttered, sweetly smiling. Throughout all that they had done, the beach, the carnival and afterwards, Aurelia was utterly tired.

She wanted to sleep. But she also wanted to lay here and talk with Pietro. Decisions, decisions. "I wish we could do this more often. Or at all," the speedster sighed, grabbing her hand and raising them above them, twirling them so their fingers looked like fairies in the morning light.

The assassin nodded and looked at him, still looking at their fingers. "Well, at least I discovered you're not a morning person," Pietro chuckled, drawing his gaze downward to meet hers. "Not all of us wake up at the speed of light!"

"Not all of us. Unfortunately," he sighed, and leaned over, trailing fingers across her shoulder, her collar bone. "Imagine how great it would be," he muttered, staring at his own fingers. "How great what would be?" Aurelia asked, putting spare hair behind her ears, but careful not to disturb Pietro.

"This being normal. Waking up together. With Wanda, free from HYDRA," It wasn't just his mouth that was smiling, it was those eyes that were so utterly alive, his entire being was glowing.

"That would be amazing," Aurelia answered as they both dropped their hands and rested them from their perilous flight on the mattress."As much as last night?" he asked, mischievous glint shining. "Very funny," she deadpanned, blinking slowly to influence as much annoyance as possible. "I'm not lying," Pietro replied, the aftershocks of his chuckle echoing. "I'd kill you if you were."

"That's a legitimate threat, I presume," the speedster smirked, the hand originally on her cheek had moved down to her hip, and pulled her close.

"Please, I'm not S.H.A.D.O for no reason," she rolled her blue eyes, making a tsunami. Though, Aurelia was sure that even though her full S.H.A.D.O mode monstrous, it would never be able to spill the lifeblood of the elder Maximoff. Pietro leaned forward and placed a kiss on the side of her neck, "That's my Aurelia. Killing men left and right for humanity." She smiled and pressed her nose against his neck, breathing him in.

Wind, leaves and speed.

That was what he smelled like. With each breath, Aurelia felt as if she was running, the wind combing her hair and the leaves floating into her pockets as she carried herself down the forest, free from her bonds. "Why does it sound cute when you say it?" she whined, toes curling and a lock of hair found it's way into her mouth.

"Because I'm Quicksilver. And you're S.H.A.D.O."

Aurelia considered their two code names side by side. It was the first time she'd heard it, and boy did it sound badass. Her hand found itself on his bicep as she imagined S.H.I.E.L.D cowering in fear of what they could do. Freedom and taking down S.H.I.E.L.D and Stark. What more could she ask for?

"Quicksilver and S.H.A.D.O. I like that," the assassin replied, looking back up at him and finding herself locked in his gaze. "I do too. Speed and guns. Blurs of blue and blurs of blood," the speedster mused. "You did not just make that up," she scoffed, shaking her head. Pietro scoffed right back, "I'm not just a pretty face." The assassin leaned forward and smirked, "That's the way. Keep your spirits up," just before the speedster closed the distance.

That kiss was different than the ones yesterday. This one was slower, as if they had all the time in the world. Because they did, and Aurelia refused to believe otherwise, or she would have broken down then and there. She smiled against the kiss, and attempted to wrap her arms around his neck, but then realised that they were lying down and quickly put them on his chest instead, earning a chuckle from both of them.

They leaned away, still lightly laughing, but Pietro addressed the elephant in the room. "How long do we have?" he asked, the previous glow she witnessed before was fading, still there, but weaker, a dying candle. Aurelia turned around, and her eyes fell on the clock on the wall. "Crap." Pietro sighed and propped himself on his elbows.

"How long?" he whined, accent once again making the question sound even more winsome. "3 hours. Good enough." Though the flight back was 3 and a half, but she'd be able to handle Von Strucker.

It would be worth it.

The Sokovian sat up, bare chest making her heart skip a beat. He leaned over and ran another hand through her hair, electrifying wherever his fingers touched. "I guess we'll have to wait a little while longer before we can have days like this."

Aurelia shrugged and stared at the clock. Time was leaking away, and if she could, she'd stop it so that they could have days like this. They could be free, if only their superiors let them. "I guess," she sighed, leaning in to kiss him again.

One last time.