Time means nothing to Pietro. He wears his father's watch, sure but that is for memory. Sentiment. Time is absolute to all except him, he dances circles around it. The ever-present tick tick tick on his wrist is more a lullaby then a boundary. Wanda doesn't get it, she is bound to time. That's okay. He's determined to unbind her, so they can dance together.
Tick.
But that doesn't happen. Ultron understands, helps. He is like a father to them, nurturing them for a short while. He convinces them that they can build a better world. A peaceful one. For the first time since he was a child, they have hope.
Tick.
Then, betrayal. He wants to kill them. Use them, just like everyone else. They were wrong, so wrong and now they have to beg to 'The Avengers' for help. The monster's Vision convinces them, of all things. Wanda trusts him. And Pietro… Well, Pietro trusts Wanda.
Tick.
There is battle, saving Wanda and Hawkeye, and Widow all at once. Time is still his to outrun, and they will win this. Until, it isn't runnable. Time comes screeching to a halt and everything fades to three short bursts of time.
Tick.
There is three seconds.
Tick.
Pietro watches as the man he thought was a monster tries to shield a child from the oncoming spray of bullets. He has a family, Pietro knows. Wanda saw that. A wife, a daughter and son and a third on the way.
Two seconds.
Tick.
Pietro looks around, sees the destruction he and his sister wrought upon their home. They are monsters, the both of them. He imagines the faces of Clint Barton's children when they realize he is not coming home.
Then there is one second.
Tick.
And Pietro decides.
There is a shell in front of him and his sister. He moves in front of her, but it doesn't detonate. Those three days are agony, as the rain and ash fall around them.
Pietro moves in front of them. This time the pain comes. There is no waiting. Bullets hit his body slowly, but he focuses on protecting Hawkeye. It is as slow as it is fast, and when the archer looks up at him with shock, he pastes a smile on his face, so he doesn't scare the child in his arms.
"Bet you didn't see that one coming." He breathes, before falling over. His heart, beating ahead everything else's for so long, stops as it finally falls to time the same way as everyone else's. Turns out he's just as tethered to time as everyone else. His father's watch cracks against the cement, but still it continues nonetheless as rain starts to pour.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.