What if Pietro was never killed?
The silver speedster watched the guns aboard the highjacked quinjet begin to spin but then he saw the scared child that was stuck under debris. Pietro didn’t think twice about sprinting to help the kid as he broke into a blindingly fast sprint as an afterimage of a blurry white figure was left behind him.
The bullets sprayed down for a few seconds and for a moment he feels nothing except the rapid beating of his own heart. With an unsure breath Pietro looked back to see that luckily he had been fast enough to evade the bullets but someone had not shared the same fate as he witnessed the archer he had developed a friendly banter with was struggling to stand.
Clint’s bow fell to the floor with a quiet thud as his breath was shaky. His gear and skin was coated in splatters of crimson before coughing up a stream of it. “Damnit.” Pietro muttered before running over to the man and grabbing him before he could fall onto the floor. Clint could barely get a word out as the various wounds started to spew out blood at a rapid rate.
“Stay still. I’ll find a medic or something.” Pietro tried to instruct but the avenger just grabbed the speedsters arm and clutched tightly before spitting out some words “Tell Laura, Cooper… and Lila that…I love them.” Clint choked our before his grip began to slip “Tell them yourself. You’re going to be fine.” Pietro tried to argue whilst looking around for anyone that might be able to help.
He grew desperate because with shield right here then there had to be someone who could do something, anything. “Medic! We need a medic!” He called out before noticing how the breaths had slowed before stopping entirely as Clint fell still. “Get up, Barton. We can’t stay here.” Pietro said slinging the archer’s arm over his shoulder as he shambled the both of them over to the life raft.
He slumped the man’s body against one of the chairs before sitting himself down with a deep sigh and leaning against it as his head fell against the chair. “We’re getting out of here.” Pietro said glancing over at Clint before feeling exhaustion kicks in and his eyes suddenly felt too heavy to keep open.
---
When he next awoke Pietro found himself on a bed in some sort of med bay that was assumedly aboard the helicarrier. He immediately tried to get sit up only to wince in pain when a voice suddenly spoke to him “Take it easy, kid.” They said and he looked up to see the infamous Captain America but was without his usual patriotic costume.
Pietro slowly moved and for the speedster it felt agonizingly so as he sat up “Did we win?” He asked looking at the man who was dressed in just a t-shirt and trousers. “We did.” Steve confirms “But we didn’t all make it.” He goes on to say rubbing his hands together nervously “Wanda, Is she alright?!” Pietro urgently asks “I get you’re worried about her but she is well just recovering like you. I was referring to Barton.” Steve hesitated to say it.
“When you made it to the life raft he was already gone.” Steve elaborated “There was no helping with wounds that severe and we’ve already informed his family.” He explained. Pietro took a second to process it because the man didn’t deserve to die because he was too slow to save him and the kid. “I should’ve been better. Been faster.” Pietro beats himself up “Do say that. There is nothing that any of us could have done.” Rogers argued
Pietro didn’t believe it. He knew if he had been faster then he could’ve saved the avenger. It just had to be the one with a family. The speedster would go on to spend the remainder of his time in recovery feeling shitty about himself or trying to look after his sister who had reportedly defended the vibranium core by herself.
Soon enough the funeral had come up and unsurprisingly he wasn’t invited. Instead he and Wanda waited back at the avengers compound. As this happened he watched as the robot tried to comfort his sister but eventually seemed go beyond that as he saw the two grow closer and closer over the following months until one eventual mission that would change everything.
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The journey to Lagos was quick with the quinjet as he, Wanda, Steve, Natasha and Sam all were deployed to stop a group that were trying to gather a vial of a virus that could kill thousands if it even just cracked a little. Apparently some group of terrorists lead by Brock Rumlow had gotten their hands on it after breaking into a stealing from an advanced medical research facility that was trying to reverse engine a cure for said virus.
Touching down they were all assigned to keep a low profile until Captain issued the order to engage whilst Sam used a drone to try and scout for a vehicle that had been reported by the police as suspicious. A soon as Sam’s drone scanned it they discovered that it was filled to maximum weight. “It’s a battering Nat deduced and Steve was quick to respond “Maximoff, get in there and extract any civilians. Everyone else get ready.” He commanded the team.
“On it.” Pietro confirmed before running faster than the cars that seemed like they were barely moving at all compared to him. One by one he moved people that were in the direct collision course with overpacked truck and stopped in the front of the entrance to the centre of infectious disease. He was able to watch as the truck toppled over its front and collided with a beam before smashing straight through it before being followed by two yellow trucks that quickly had terrorists filling out.
Pietro just smirked as they looked at him “Seems a bit excessive, no?” he questions with a tilt of his head. “Open fire!” One of them shouts as he effortlessly dodges the bullets with ease before being joined by the others as Sam shot two with his duel pistols. Wanda made shot work of another by throwing them back towards the walls but they were unable to stop a small troop of terrorists that had made their way inside.
Steve quickly dropped down onto the field “Wanda. Get me in there, just like we practised.” He instructed running along one of the cars. “What about the gas?” She asked already preparing herself “Move it out.” Steve simply answered to which she nodded before launching the soldier in and moving next to conjure a spell to withdraw the gas.
Captain America made swift work of the few enemies that were within the room with a quick throw of his shield which bounced of one of the terrorists before colliding with a beam and lunching itself back to him. The other tried to close the distance and punch him only to be swiftly counted and his jaw met the business end the vibranium shield.
He soon ran towards the virus storing room but found it empty “Rumlow has got him hands on the package.” Steve revealed as he stepped back to the window trying to see where he might have gone. “It’s a scatter game now Steve, any of them could have it.” Nat said and that sounded more accurate as they hadn’t actually seen who had taken it. “Everyone split up and try and find that vial. We can’t let anything happen to it.” He ordered.
Sam quickly spotted one and dove down to where they had been running before kicking them with a jet powered assist. The terrorist was knocked into the wall and Sam quickly searched his bag “I’m empty here.” The Falcon realised when Natasha spoke up “I’ve got eyes on two of them.” She said vaulting over the hood of a car and engaging in a pursuit only to stop in her tracks as a silver blur made its way past her.
Quicksilver made short work as he punched the two of them and collided their heads against one another. In a instant both their bags were searched and he returned to Black Widow’s side with it in his hand. “You didn’t see that coming?” Pietro asked with his usual cockiness “I’m going to assume you got it.” She raised a brow in the speedster’s direction “I did. They made it all too easy.” He answered smirking.
He enjoyed the roll of her eyes that Natasha gave him before the two heard an unfamiliar voice being picked up by Steve’s comm. “There you are you son of a bitch! I’ve been waiting for this.” They heard and Black Widow was able to instantly tell that it was Rumlow and began making her way over to Roger’s last know location momentarily confusing Pietro.
“Are you waiting for me to get there first? Get a move on!” She shouted and in a second Pietro was sprinting at sonic speed to arrive in time to see Rumlow kneeling in the sane “…He said when you gotta go then you gotta go. So you’re coming with me.” Before a small blinking red light could be seen in the scarred man’s hand.
Without a moment to overthink the situation Pietro activated his power and ran at Rumlow before seizing the device from the man’s hand and turning to see if he had been quick enough to stop the worst from happening. As he looked back the leader of the Terrorists gave a defeated look “Damn I wish I didn’t have to do it this way.” Before saying something over his radio “Pull it now.” Before the explosion seemed to start even without the detonator.
Next thing everyone knew the explosion had been contained in a faint bubble of red as Wanda had managed to trap the blast as Rumlow screamed out in pain. Before Wanda could think, she launched the man into the sky knowing that she would not be able to contain the blast forever yet even as she tried to prevent the damage everyone watched as the explosion tore through three floors of an office building.
They all stood speechless as the others screamed around them in sheer terror for what they had all just witnessed. From that day forward things were not going to be the same.
---
Soon enough that statement rang true as Pietro found himself stood in an airport with his sister, Steve, Sam, A guy with a metal arm and a guy who could shrink beside him. Yet what stood were the people on the other side of conflict and who they were. Tony’s little team consisted of himself, War machine, Vision, Natasha and some a king dressed like a panther.
Things were about get interesting as after the American government tried to essentially deem the team as their property to be used when they see fit a rift had been formed between the Avengers. One half, the Captain’s half, fought against the idea and knew that if the world was to remained protected then they couldn’t be shackled down by governments and politics but Tony deemed it the only way that they could do the right thing.
As a result Steve Rogers and his allies had been branded as fugitives. What nobody knew what they were being watched by an entity of unfathomable power. “So how are we doing this thing?” Sam asks no doubt already knowing the answer “We fight.” The Captain answered and they all began to run at one another until they didn’t.
Everyone was frozen.
Yet Pietro wasn’t using his power it was like time had just decided to stop and this confused the runner until he heard a booming voice speak as he looked to the sky “Pietro Maximoff, The Quicksilver, You have been chosen.” The being said “Could this not wait? I clearly have something going on here.” Pietro shrugged and gestured to the others but before he could get an answer he was blinded by a bright purple light before attempting to recover with a squint.
With what limited vision he had, he saw that his was what looked like some old-timey western bar he would’ve seen in one the cartoons that he and Wanda watched when they were kids. Speaking of his sister, as his sight eventually recovered the speedster saw her dressed in what looked like some overpriced Halloween costume.
“Wanda?”
-End of Chapter 4-