an ! PLease forgive me for the ENORMOUS delay, I don’t even have an excuse but just starting back up this series. Send ask if you don’t wanna be on the taglist anymore, sorry everyone i know im a disappointment lol
summary ! The youngest of the Maximoff siblings had lived through heartbreak twice now. First her parent’s death and then her older sibling’s abandonment. She did not know what she had done wrong, only that she searched for them for 3 years before HYDRA recruited her. She joined them when she learnt Pietro and Wanda had came here after leaving her. Now 6 years after their departure, she was in the process of becoming HYDRA’s best asset ever.
part one part dos part tres part quatro part cinco part seis
At dawn, when the sun starts to rise in the sky, the various shades of orange, yellow and pink illuminating the sky, that’s when Pietro used to feel the most peaceful. Of course, that was before they went and discovered the rampage that fueled his baby sister on the run. Before he saw what years of abandonment had done to her.
A few months ago, Pietro would have loved getting up before everyone else and go on his morning run, running faster than the forever circulating cars of New York City, when the city was awakening. He’d sometimes even go as far as the Liberty Statue, so he could admire the lady in the morning light, without the sea of tourists.
But now everything had changed, and he felt that when he woke up and had to force himself out of bed. When he didn’t have the motivation to go around the city, when looking at the rising sun didn’t feel as tranquil as it did before.
He could only think about her, Amalya.
Wondering where she was at this second, what she could be doing, how she was feeling. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness enveloped him once again. Pietro felt useless.
What was he going to become if he couldn’t even look after his own little sister?
He didn’t feel deserving of the Avengers. He felt like all they had done since they rescued him and Wanda from HYDRA was helping them, and all he could do was joke around and make mistakes on missions.
He was startled when he heard the knock on his door. To his surprise his body got up and went to open the door, but it felt as if he was far away from it. Like he was watching his body move from the outside.
Outside the door stood a very concerned Wanda, immediately she entered the room taking Pietro into her arms.
“Piet’ why are you crying ?” her voice was soft and worried, as usual these days.
But Pietro pushed her away to feel his wet cheeks, he hadn’t even realized he was crying until his sister told him so.
He dried his tear-stained cheeks and smiled sadly at the witch. Then, proceeded to shrug, not knowing how to express his feelings out loud, not really wanting to share either.
“You know we’ve told you a thousand times that it is not your fault ! Why do you keep doing this to yourself Pietro it isn’t healthy for you to think all this” Wanda felt she had to check up on everyone’s state daily, at least it prevented her from letting her thoughts wander.
“I can’t help feeling this way you know!” The tears building up in his eyes made him hate himself even more, he wished he could just find his sister in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
“Well it isn’t easy for any of us right now, but could you try at least? For her?”
“Don’t you think I know that it isn’t easy for you for me or for anyone in this fucking tower ? I know it okay? But none of you abandoned her like I did, so please please Wanda leave me the fuck alone and don’t tell me how to feel.”
The hurt in her brother’s voice wasn’t like any she had ever heard, she wasn’t used to seeing him so torn and hurt, she couldn’t even be mad at him feeling what he felt, she was left speechless.
“Stop getting into my head please Wanda” He had always been annoyed when she searched for something in his head and had somehow found a way to block her out, which he did right away.
He didn’t want her to find out yet, he knew she wasn’t ready.
Not that he was either.
∆ While the Avengers were slowly starting to awaken in the Tower, it was already mid-afternoon in far-east Europe.
On her 10th day of running, Mal woke up startled by a loud knocking on the door. Whoever was behind it did not seem friendly enough for her to open it. A man was bellowing in Russian on the other side, his energy felt angry and annoyed.
Even though the sixteen-year-old girl had nothing to be afraid of, considering the amount of chaos she could bring up in just about three seconds, she didn’t feel safe.
After all, she had broken into a small cottage on the outskirts of a city through the backdoor. She just needed to sleep for a while, rest and eat so she could go on. The adrenaline from the first few days following the escape was slowly starting to dissipate and the heaviness of her fatigued body slowed her down.
Her muscles were tired of all the running, the calves of her feet had started to harden, not used to so much exercise in so uncomfortable shoes. The young girl had had to change clothes often in order to hide her identity from the people on the streets, especially the agents that she could recognize easily and were dispatched in small groups all over the country.
Her disappearance from the facility had caused a real panic over at HYDRA headquarters. A real man-hunt had been put in place, so they could retrieve the girl as soon as possible. In fact, the government had even been informed -not to the extend as knowing that she was a mutant- of her escape.
Upon hearing the very disturbing and worrying news, the authorities had put word on the street of this girl who was wanted by the government. Her image could be seen everywhere, on all medias allowed in Russia they were displaying nearly 24/7 a picture of her face.
As she had no money, she couldn’t buy herself any food, any clothes, anything to allow her to survive.
All she could do was steal or mend, which was rendered difficult for the most part considering every corner she turned, the police was there looking for her.
She doubted most of them knew what she was wanted for. She knew the evil organization wouldn’t ever compromise their mission, their goal. They were a secret.
She was a secret.
But she had escaped, and they had been forced to reveal her identity to the world. Now she most definitely knew that she couldn’t ever return or be found. They would hurt her, for disobeying, for hurting their men, for exposing herself to the world.
As she was slipping out the backdoor once again, the front one flew open and she ran. Cursing herself for waking up so late. Now she was sure the man was going to report forced entry and the authorities could find any kind of stuff belonging to her. From hair to her socks, they would be able to retrace her steps.
Great, now she had to change plans entirely.
The city she had just entered was situated on the Russian border, she was so close but so far. Because a mistake like the one she had just made could cost her everything.
At least, if the man had seen her run he wouldn’t be able to give the same description of her as the one the photo showed. After the four first days, she had been lucky enough to find a DIY-hair dye lotion in a supermarket trash.
She was ashamed of having to search through the garbage to get what she needed, but at the end of the day she didn’t have a lot of options. So now she had somewhat icy blonde bleached hair which made her blend in more in the big crowds of Russian girls. The dye wasn’t all that great though, it had hurt her scalp and even though she had followed the instructions she knew the color wasn’t going to last very long.
The only option she felt like she had was to cross the border before the sun set, today. Because finding shelter for the night would be way harder than it had been, the borders being heavily controlled at all times.
Mal knew she was probably only two kilometers away from Ukraine, which was less than a 30 minutes’ walk. It seemed so easy, too easy. That is why she felt more comfortable waiting for the night to come and the sun to come down, it felt safer. Like the night would hide her away.
After a little time of walking by herself and looking over her shoulder from time to time she entered the space of a small coffeeshop not too far away from the border. She had found some change laying around in the house she had stayed in the previous morning and decided best to wait silently in an unknown shop.
Even with a full plan in head Mal never even thought that she would eventually have to leave the coffee shop. She had stayed there all day, reading magazines and ordering the cheapest thing on the menu with the little money she had found in the house’s cabinets in the morning.
It was now 8pm and she was outside, kicking herself for not thinking that guards would be covering the entire area for the night, being this close to the border had left her with too much hope it had clouded her judgment. She now had to find a way to reach it without bringing any suspicion upon herself.
At least she had managed to go through the whole day unnoticed.
She was glad for the combat boots on her feet, the cold wind harshly wiping her face wouldn’t have been so kind with her extremities. She kept walking, grateful for the busy city she had chosen as a last stop before freedom.
She wondered what that felt like, to truly be free. Not like that feeling she had in the train but truly being able to enjoy a moment, without having someone monitoring you or having to constantly look over your shoulder.
The experiment she had gone through with Hydra’s surgeons and scientists had sadly blurred some of her childhood memories. The face of her parents wasn’t clear enough for her to draw a perfect family picture, but surprisingly enough she could remember the exact conversation her brother and sister had had before abandoning her. Memories like these only fueled her rage to get back at them, her entire life had been about being good enough for them, and she now knew she had sacrificed so many things just to realize they had never cared.
Knowing she couldn’t stay in one place for more than a few minutes without a guard looking at her suspiciously, she decided to keep moving and chose the most direct way to the border, hoping her plan would work.
And so, she walked, her mind still trying to make out the color of her mother’s eyes, and her dad’s voice.
∆ The chaos that was taking place in the Tower was like no other. It didn’t resemble anything that any of them had encountered before. Nothing like one of Tony’s after parties or like a fight between Sam and Pietro. The tower was bustling, the Avengers hurriedly trying to get all of their stuff together so they could be flying as fast as possible.
Thanks to one of Fury’s sources, they had been informed about some of the young girl’s whereabouts. The conclusion made had been that she would try to cross the border tonight or during the following day. So, here they were, changing into gear and getting the jet ready.
“Is everyone ready?” Steve’s voice boomed out throughout the main room, making everyone still their actions and look at him, “We have to leave, now, or else we’ll be coming back empty-handed once more”.
People around him had concentrated faces, even if there wasn’t going to be a fight, nobody was taking this mission lightly. It was important for them to be concentrated, for once no one dared to try and lighten the oppressive and tensed atmosphere, all too preoccupied to try and make a joke.
The lack of response from his teammates would have troubled Steve if he, himself had not been worried about his best friend and the twins. He had tried to get them to stay at the Tower and not go on the mission, unfortunately, all his good intentions were not taken into account when the conservation exploded into an argument.
Of course, the twins had to come. If anyone was going to save their baby sister, it had to be them. Not only did they feel responsible for what had happened to her, but they couldn’t even bear the thought of staying one more day stuck in the Tower with nothing to do and no new information.
Steve had, in the end, stopped trying to persuade them, knowing the discussion would not lead anywhere near a sound decision. He knew they would do anything to get her back and know what happened, but what he feared most was Pietro’s need for revenge. He could see it in his eyes, and feel it in his attitude, Hydra’s touch on his sister was not something that he was willing to just let go. He was afraid that getting her back would never be enough for him.
Another thing on Steve’s mind was Bucky.
The winter soldier had been even more serious than usual. He was always either working out and destroying punching bags or in the lab uselessly trying to be of some help to locate the girl. Steve knew her situation bothered and angered his friend, but he was scared of the consequences participating in such a mission could have on him.
Bucky was a grown man, but another encounter with Hydra was never something he could truly be prepared for. The memories and experience he had with them were still there, and always would be. Steve wondered why his best friend, even with everything he had been through at Hydra’s hands, was still so committed in finding the girl.
Steve was now sitting on the quinjet, still drowning in worry when Natasha sat next to him, snapping him out of his trance like state.
“If you frown any more, even your super-soldier serum won’t be able to prevent the wrinkles you’ll have.” She lightly tapped his shoulders in way that wanted to be comforting.
Steve chuckled, the first time since the news had been delivered.
“I’m worried about them”
“Everyone is” She looked around at every single one of their teammates, “We can’t take another failing in this mission, we’ve worked too much, it’s taken a toll on everybody”
“I know, we’ll find her.”
The rest of the flight was spent in silence. The thick and tensed atmosphere felt almost suffocating but no one dared to talk.
∆ As Mal approached the border, she knew her plan was working when the guards around her were too preoccupied with the crowd forming on the square not too far. No one was looking at her, the distraction she had conceived working like a charm giving her the perfect opportunity to escape and slip through Hydra’s grip. Coming up to the last one of the guards who had stayed behind to keep watch, she extended her hand to give him her fake identity card.
He looked at it intently and asked her why she was going out of the country. She answered and when he looked back down, his eyes widened, and she knew her cover was blown. Panicked, she punched him violently in the throat, the man dropping unconscious on the floor.
Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she ran as fast as she could and when she stopped running, any notion of time she could have had before was lost. Trying to regain her breath she looked around her.
Kneeling in a clearing covered in snow, the only thing surrounding her were trees. Both a blessing and curse she thought, she could hide in the forest, but her footprints were the only ones here, she knew she had made a mistake by choosing to go off the roads. Because her prints would be easily recognizable and the clouds not presenting any sign of snow did nothing to reassure her.
Her head was spinning with the amount of blood rushing to her head because of the running, preventing her from thinking straight and establishing a plan. The exhaustion from the past few days was starting to show its face and she knew that if she didn’t keep moving, she would pass out in the middle of this beautiful clearing.
But before she could even try and define the first step of her plan, she heard the shouts of men behind her.
Head spinning around, she turned and could feel the earth trembling with each soldier’s footstep. Tears of frustration now spilling on her cheeks, she knew she didn’t have time to run, especially now that she had been discovered.
Concentrating, she mustered up all the energy she had left and prepared herself for the battle running towards her. Electricity buzzing through her system, just itching and begging to be let out, she breathed in.
But before she even had the time to exhale, the sound of an engine sounded all around her. The clearing before illuminated by the moon’s soft light was now pitch dark, the aircraft blocking out any of that light.
Mal didn’t panic, she didn’t faint like she thought she would.
She got angry.
Fury flooded her veins and raged through her being like a hurricane upon being surrounded. She was ready to fight, once again, she wouldn’t stop because she was so angry and tired of people trying to take her freedom away from her. She had enough.
She wasn’t going to go down without a fight. They would know just what she was truly made of.
They would understand just how much power she had, because no one would take her liberty again.
And when she the jet finally landed, Mal exhaled, her eyes turning the deepest shade of amethyst.
