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You were crumpled in a dark, dirty, damp corner of your cell barely conscious. They forgot about you down here. You could hear them yelling and running up above. This was how you were going to die. Little did you know this was a rescue mission. The sound of footsteps squishing in the filth near your cell lightly ghosted in your ears, but you were only half-aware. "Hello?" called a voice.
You did not answer. You heard the door creak open. "Oh... It's a girl," said the same voice.
You felt strong arms around your body. "I'm sorry, I... I think she's dead," said the voice softly stroking your head.
You felt yourself being lifted up, and you whimpered at the sensation. "Oh! No, I think she's alive!" said the voice excitedly.
"Ssh, mali. I have you. Back to the Quinjet?" asked the voice.
You faintly heard someone reply over a radio sounding device, "Yes, Pietro. Quickly... But not too quick."
Pietro. Quinjet. Quinjet. Quinjet. Presently, the sunlight hit you, and you clutched Pietro's shirt like a child. "Mali, ssh. I know... I know..." Pietro said softly.
The sun was suddenly gone, and Pietro was lying you down horizontally on a table. "No, no. Pie- P- Pi..." you tried, but he only kissed your forehead and said, "Mali, calm down. You're safe now."
You opened your eyes and looked at him. Your gaunt eyes appeared wide and scared. It made Pietro grasp your hand. You marveled at how someone could touch someone as dirty as you were right now... much less kiss them. "Y/N," said a voice.
The man looked familiar, but all you could see was his lab coat. "No... Pie- Pie-ro. Don't. Please. No," you said trying in vain to scramble off the table.
"Y/N, it's me. Bruce Banner," said the man in the lab coat.
"Hey, Y/N, remember me?" asked a female voice.
You turned your fearful eyes towards the sound. You shook your head no worriedly then turned back towards Pietro. "Mali, these are your friends. Do you remember them?" asked Pietro.
"No... friends. Just... HYDRA," you said, "SHI... SHIE-D... Friends. Aven-ers... friends. S-eve, Nat... C-int... Tony, B-uce... T-or... Nick Furry," you rattled.
The people in the Quinjet chuckled. "Fury, mali," corrected Pietro.
"Now do you remember me? Bruce?" asked Doctor Banner.
"Br... Banner?" you said.
"Yeah, that's it. Hey," said Bruce taking off his lab coat in order to not stress you out again.
"Bruce Banner. An Avenger. SHIELD. A friend," said Bruce.
Tears began to swell in your eyes. "Aven-ers?" you asked.
The whole group stood together in front of you though they had some new faces. "Avengers," said Tony.
There was a knock at your door in the new Avengers facility later that night. You reeled back on your bed, but the door opened anyway. "Pietro," you said.
"Mmhm. Brought you mashed potatoes. Doctor's orders," he said.
"Food?" you asked.
Pietro set the plate in front of you. You awkwardly picked up the fork and began to eat. "Good," you said happily.
"Do you wanna come out and see everyone?" asked Pietro.
"HYDRA," you replied.
"No, not HYDRA, mali..."
"Some were HYDRA. Avengers HYDRA?" you asked.
"No... None of them," said Pietro.
"Then I see," you replied.
Pietro nodded. He looked at the way your bones stuck through your skin. The way your thin skin was marked purple with bruises. "Cannot eat. Sick," you said.
"Yes, Bruce said you might not be able to. Climb on my back, mali," commanded Pietro softly.
You crawled onto his back, and he stood up. Pietro stood still awhile wondering how it was possible you were so light- they had really abused you back there. You could not even form sentences correctly anymore. Pietro took you down the hallway where the Avengers were sitting. "Hey, Y/N," said Bruce with a smile and a small wave.
"Bruce," you replied.
"Hello, I am Wanda," said a voice.
"Avenger?" you asked.
"Avenger," confirmed Wanda.
"Pietro is my brother," she added.
"Oh," you replied.
"This here's Vision. This is Sam. You remember Rhodey, right? said Steve.
"Vision. Sam. Rhodey," you said pointing.
"No, I'm Sam. He's Vision. You got Rhodey right," said Sam giving you a thumbs up.
"Avengers?" you asked.
"Avengers," confirmed Sam.
You yawned, and Bruce suggested Pietro bring you back to bed. "Alright, mali," said Pietro softly as your feet hit the floor near your bed.
You tried to take a step but collapsed on the floor. "Can't walk," you said through tears.
Pietro immediately scooped you up and placed you gently in your bed. He watched you struggle to pull the heavy comforter around yourself. "Goodnight, Pietro," you said.
"Goodnight, mali," replied Pietro sadly.
He bent down and kissed you lightly on the cheek then left to talk to Bruce. "What did they do to her?" asked Pietro.
"She was kidnapped when SHIELD fell. She was a SHIELD agent- an inhuman. Of course, we didn't even know. No one knew except her, but HYDRA found out. They wanted her for what she could do. Pietro, that girl could blow up the entirety of New York City without breaking a sweat, but she wouldn't. HYDRA wanted her for their plans, but they realized that she could as easily kill them so they kept her for experiments. They drugged her. It kept her from being able to concentrate her powers. Made her groggy. Messed with her memory. They abused her. It's their tactic. They made her believe she was too weak to fight back. The abuse mixed with the drugs is why you see her like she is now. A small, skinny, barely speaking girl but with so much power... so much power," concluded Bruce.
"How do we help her?" asked Pietro.
"If you really want to help, tonight, while she's sleeping, I was hoping to give her some drugs that will counteract the ones HYDRA already gave her. You can help keep her asleep just in case she begins to wake up," said Bruce.
"Okay," said Pietro following Bruce to his lab.
The night went by without any interruptions. You slept like a baby. Surprisingly, no nightmares. "This is honestly the best sleep she's probably had in over a year," said Bruce when Pietro made reference to it.
"Almost done. Alright there. She should wake up clearer tomorrow," said Bruce with a smile.
The next morning, you realized that your memory had come back clearer."Steve!" you called.
"Nat! Tony!"
Tony was the first to appear wiping sleep from his eyes. "You rang?" he asked.
"I remember," you said.
"Ah, really? So you remember that $20 you owe me," said Tony.
You laughed in response. "I remember everyone!" you shouted.
The rest of the Avengers slowly poked their heads out of their rooms and wandered to yours. "Y/N?" asked Steve.
"Yes, Steve Rogers... Captain America," you replied.
"Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine!" you said with a smile.
"Say hello to Vision, Falcoln, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver," said Steve.
"Hey, get out of bed, lazy head," said Nat.
"Um..." you started, but Pietro was next to you in a flash.
You jumped as this was the first time you had seen him display his powers. He helped you on his back. "Can't walk yet," you said.
"Well then, Pietro's your official taxi cab until Banner and I can cook something up in the lab," declared Tony.
Bruce just stood there glad his drugs worked. "Banner! Let's get cooking!" called Tony causing Bruce to jump.
"Let's get breakfast, mali," said Pietro carrying you to the kitchen.
Wanda rolled her eyes. Anytime Pietro named something, it meant he was getting attached. She smiled. It was the first time he had named a person. Pietro put you down on the couch and got you a bowl of cereal. "You're fast," you said as Pietro sat next to you.
"Yeah... Sorry if I scared you earlier... though I should give you warning, Wanda's a lot scarier," whispered Pietro.
"Shut up!" shouted Wanda from across the room where she was standing with Vision.
"Her favorite color's red. Her powers come out red. And she's attracted to red men," said Pietro with a smirk.
You giggled in response. "Shut up!" shouted Wanda again.
"What do you want to do today?" asked Pietro.
"Don't know. Hang out?" you said.
"Sure. I'll take you around. Where do you want to go first?" asked Pietro.
"The... Um... When you fight but pretend. Not really. I mean, not really fight," you tried to explain.
"Training?" asked Pietro.
You nodded looking down embarrassed that you could not get that one simple word out. "Hey, your English is still better than mine. I did, however, take four years in high school," said Pietro quite proud of himself.
You laughed. Pietro smiled. It made you feel better. It was as if he could read your mind like his sister could. "Finish your food, mali, then we'll go," said Pietro stuffing a spoon of cereal in his own mouth.
Pietro took you to his training session with Steve. Afterwards, you and him watched your favorite TV show, and then his though English subtitles were needed. You two went out for pizza, and you made a joke that you never realized how much you missed it. It was around 2 when you got back to the Avengers facility, and you and Pietro were lying on your bed idly. "They drugged me first. Then beat me," you said all of a sudden.
"Ssh, mali, don't think of it," Pietro hushed drawing you closer to himself.
"I want to speak about it. That was their favorite. Drugs and beatings. At some point, they killed me. I couldn't fight back even a little. They forgot to feed me. They experimented. That was why Bruce scared me. They let me stay dirty. The men tried to... S-some others would not let them though, but they were still mean," you said tears flowing.
"Mali, we'll get them. I swear," said Pietro kissing the top of your head and holding you even more protectively.
"No... Stay," you cried clutching his shirt, "I only want you to stay. All of you to stay."
Pietro held you close waiting until you fell asleep. Late at night, Tony sneaked into your room. "We got a mission. A small one," whispered Tony to Pietro as to not wake you up.
"Okay," replied Pietro shifting to get up, but you felt him move.
"Pietro?" you asked looking up at him questioningly.
"It's okay, mali. I'll be right back," said Pietro holding your hand and softly letting it go as he walked away with Tony.
"No, wait! Take me too!" you shouted.
"Y/N..." started Tony.
"Please... Pietro?" you asked.
"Mali..."
"Please, don't leave me... please..." you pleaded.
You clung to Pietro's shoulders observing the rest of the Avengers suiting up. "Tony, I don't think this is a good idea," said Bruce.
"Look, she's alright. We just leave her in the Quinjet, do some Avengering, come back, and Pietro and her can have their magic kiss... I can't even stand to see her sad for one minute after all she's been through. Can you?" asked Tony.
Bruce sighed, "No, I... I can't."
"Pietro's really getting attached. It's kinda cute," commented Bruce.
"Yeah, it's cute with him. It was a bit weird with the Reds over their," said Tony jerking his thumb over to Wanda and Vision.
"Strange finds strange," said Bruce.
"Strange is just strange. I mean, who saw Barton and his wife?" asked Tony.
"I did not see that coming," said Pietro coming up behind the two scientists with you holding onto him.
"Clint's married?" you asked.
Bruce and Tony nodded yes as Pietro walked off with you. Bruce smiled like a kid when you turned around. "Wait, Pietro," you said when he began to help you to sit down in one of the Quinjet seats.
You wobbled four steps and then sat yourself. "Wow, that's great. You'll be walking in no time!" complimented Pietro sitting next to you.
You leaned your head on his shoulder and fell asleep. You woke up to Pietro shaking you. "Mali, listen. We think that HYDRA may have some hidden files over there in that building, but we'll need almost the whole team to search for them. We don't know what will be in there. Bruce is staying behind so he'll be here for you," whispered Pietro.
"Wanna come too," you said sleepily.
"No, mali, please. Just listen to me. You trust me, right?" asked Pietro.
"Yes," you said.
"Okay. Then stay. Bruce will be here. See you in a bit," said Pietro.
He kissed you on the cheek then hurried out after the rest of the team. You snuggled back down into your seat looking out the window to Pietro. He caught your eye, and you blew him a kiss. He grinned at you and pretended to put it in his pocket causing you to giggle. Tony shouted something which made him jump and turn around then jog away with the rest of the crew. You watched Bruce nervously pace up and down rubbing his hands together. "You okay?" you asked.
"Yeah, I'm just hoping I don't have a..."
"Banner, code green. Code green!" came Tony's voice over the Quinjet speakers.
"That," finished Bruce, "Looks like we walked into a trap. Stay hidden, Y/N. The Quinjet is already in stealth mode and invisible," said Bruce as began to run out the Quinjet.
You saw him run into the building then heard a tumultuous roar. Thirty minutes pass. Nothing. One hour. Nothing. Two hours, and you heard Pietro's voice faintly over the speakers, "Mali! Are you alright?!?"
You sat up quickly as simultaneously gunshots filled the air. Bullets hit the Quinjet, and you could see the crew retreating quickly. Bruce was not the Hulk anymore, and Wanda was doing her best to shield off the rain of bullets. You had to do something. You stood up and immediately felt the weakness in your legs, but all you could think about was the team in danger... and Pietro's frantic voice. You wobbled out the Quinjet and stood closely in front of it and out of range of the bullets. It's like riding a bike you thought. you clenched your fists together and breathed deeply letting yourself feel the tingling in your hands. You missed this. Then, the tingling sensation got to a certain point. You shot out your hands in front of you and directed them towards the building. A rumble could be heard as a the building began to collapse. "Run!" shouted Wanda.
The rest of the Avengers ran away from the collapsing building. "Y/N!" shouted Pietro as he saw you slumped against the Quinjet struggling to breathe.
"Pietro..." you said, but he shushed you.
"Wanda, help me..." was the last thing you heard before it got dark.
You and Pietro were holding hands and walking around the top landing of the new Avengers facility looking out the windows and at the people working on the floor below you. "I guess I have to stop calling you 'mali' now," said Pietro.
"Why? I like it," you said leaning against him.
"You don't even know what it means," said Pietro.
"Then tell me," you said.
"It means 'small one' because you looked so small the first time I saw you," said Pietro gripping your hand tighter, "Now look at you. Almost an Avenger."
You smiled looking at the red "A" emblazoned on the shoulder of your jacket. "Yeah, well, I have someone to owe for that," you said grabbing both of Pietro's hands and pulling him towards the wall.
"And who might that be?" asked Pietro with his trademark smirk appearing on his face.
"The one I'm about to kiss right now," you said before your lips met his.