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Pairing: fem!reader x Peter Maximoff
Warning(s): N/A
Word Count: 4.2K
Summary: You are the first person Peter tells about his ability. Distance apart and years later Peter gives you the same comfort you once gave him
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“Hurry up Y/N, I have to show you something important.” You were on your way to your year 10 math class when someone had grabbed your hand and yanked you the opposite direction to your class. It was your friend Peter, and while it wasn’t unusual for him to try and persuade you to abandon class in favour of wreaking havoc somewhere, this time was different. He seemed panicked and worried, completely unlike the carefree and cheeky demeanour he had daily.
“Peter, we can’t skip class. If you get caught again you’ll get suspended.” Peter’s hand was sweaty against yours as he pulled you out of the school building and towards the large area of trees at the back of the school field. This was somewhat of a hideaway for you and Peter, both of you opting to go there during lunches to get away from the masses.
“This is different Y/N, just trust me.” You nodded at him and tried to keep pace with him so he wasn’t dragging you along. You reached the trees and Peter waited until he was sure you both were completely hidden within their cover before releasing your hand.
He didn’t even look at you for what felt like forever, he simply paced back and forth muttering under his breath. Finally his movements halted and he stared at your form, which was now sitting on a log.
“We’re best friends, right Y/N?” His question had perplexed you. Of course you were, you had been for the last several years and never before had either of you felt the need to question your bond.
“Of course we are”, you stated matter-of-factly.
“And that means that nothing leaves us right?” You and Peter shared everything without question. The way he was questioning everything in this moment made you nervous, but you nodded at his question, your eyes as reassuring as you could possibly make them. Peter let out a long breath before frantically checking his surroundings.
“Promise you won’t freak out?” You furrowed your brows at his persistent questions.
“Peter what is going on?”
“Just promise me.” Hiss words were barely a whisper, spoken in such vulnerability that it left you no choice but to simply nod. With another shaky breath he closed his eyes and reopened them, locking eyes with you.
A blink was all it took. In the fraction of a second it took for your eyelids to involuntarily close and open there was a gust of wind and Peter was gone. You gasped out of impulse and shock, having no idea what just happened. Where is your friend, what kind of ridiculous prank is he playing on you and how in the hell is he pulling it off? You call out his name into the now empty space in front of you, and almost instantly your call is responded to.
“Behind you.” It’s only a whisper, but it’s one that is so close to your ear that you yelp and leap out of your seat, whipping around to see the very person who had moments ago disappeared. You have no words to say, but the confusion on your face speaks volumes.
“You don’t get it, huh?” He speaks, the tone of his voice suggesting whatever just happened should be as obvious as the nose on your face. “Okay, pay attention this time.” And just like that and accompanied by more wind he had shifted, this time to your left so that he was still in sight. Peter huffed when he saw no lightbulbs within your eyes so he attempted one more time to demonstrate what he was trying to tell you.
Once more he was gone from in front of you. Suddenly it was like you were in the middle of a hurricane, with wind whipping around you so fast it was hard for you to catch your breath. When it stopped Peter was standing in front of you, in a slightly different spot, and that along with his dishevelled hair was enough to piece everything together. It was the boy you’d befriended that was the cause of the wind.
“What the fuck”, you deadpanned, disbelief not allowing any more emotion to enter your voice.
“I don’t know Y/N, I started to be able to do it a couple of weeks ago and I am freaking out.” He said, nervously pacing back and forth.
“Okay, it’s gonna be alright, everything’s fine”, you say as calmly as you can before continuing, “but just so we’re on the same page, what exactly have you been able to do?” You ask, still really having no idea what you were witnessing.
“I can run fast. Like, insanely fast.” His answers make more sense than your conclusion that he can produce wind but also pop to different spots on command, but only slightly.
You had heard rumours and whispers of people with extraordinary abilities, mutants as they had been called. You’d never dreamed you’d meet one, let alone that your lovable trouble maker Peter Maximoff would turn out to be one. You wanted to freak out, every fibre of you wanted to let out every thought of confusion, fright and excitement, but the look on your friends face let you know you couldn’t. Not right now at least.
“I’m so scared Y/N.” You understood his uneasiness in telling you now. The whispers and rumours about mutants were never positive, always shrouded in fear and distrust, as if they were an alien race landing on earth. He looks at you in a silent debate on whether you were going to stay or run and report him to someone, which broke your heart.
You approach him slowly until you are standing right before him. “Don’t be”, you say with such conviction that his eyes snap to your face, his eyebrows furrow in puzzlement. “You’re amazing. I mean, you were before, but what you can do is incredible.”
“What I can do is going to get me in trouble”, he quips at you. “I already have enough of that.” He bashfully adds.
He was right of course. There was a certain irony to the fact that the boy who radiates trouble was at risk of drawing more his way by no fault of his own. This wouldn’t be the kind that warranted a slap on the wrist and a couple of detentions. No, this was the kind of trouble that had real world consequences. What they might be, neither of you truly knew, which made the totally unexpected scenario unfolding in front of you all the more frightening.
“Listen carefully Maximoff.” Saying his last name like you were his mother caused a flicker of a smile to twitch on his lips. “Nothing is going to happen to you, at all.” You say, emphasising the last two words when you could see he wasn’t believing you. “Not everyone is afraid of… people with abilities”, you continue trying to word things delicately so as not to offend him, “and if they are, screw ‘em.” You say throwing your hands up. “We still have each other greased lightning”, you call him cheekily, “and we always will. We’re going to make sure nothing happens to you.”
You could tell that he knew you meant every word you’d said, and you were glad to see that he looked a little eased of his burden at your passionate speech. “You know, there’s a lot of things that I let you away with”, he starts slowly, “but calling me greased lightning is not going to be one of them.” You laugh at his attempt to brush away dealing with all of the emotions you had laid before him, knowing it was not one of his strong suits.
“Well there’s plenty more nicknames to come Roadrunner.” Peter laughed at the ridiculousness you were projecting at him. “Not my best I know”, you admit before telling him that he better prepare for the masses of names that will be coming his way.
“So… How fast can you actually go?” You tentatively ask, curious about his answer. Something crosses his face that tells you he doesn’t know the answer.
“I’ve been so nervous I haven’t even tested it.” He mutters in utter disbelief at himself. You got your watch at the ready and told him to run to the dairy you frequented blocks away from the school. You looked up to tell him to go when wind flew around and suddenly he had a box of twinkies in his hands. He was about to open it when you yelled at him for stealing. He rolled his eyes at you and then as if they were never there they were gone, him grinning at your disbelief.
To say either of you wanted to go back to class would have been a lie, so neither of you felt any guilt at bunking the entire day. You entertained yourselves at Peter’s apparently boundless speed. He went to the beach, he got you a flower from the town over, and he made your sides split when you had tried to play tag with him.
Eventually though the day had to end, and it did with you walking the same direction home as you usually did. You reiterated, much to his displeasure, that however fun his power was he would have to be careful. He mumbled a ‘whatever mum’ at you, but nodded along regardless.
“Hey Y/N,” he speaks as you are parting ways. You turn your head to look at him finish his sentence. “Thanks… for everything.”
“Of course,” you start. Peter smiles and begins to retreat down the road thinking you were done speaking. “Catch ya later, speedy Gonzales.” You yell at his back, causing his shoulders to shake.
“Not unless I catch you first.”
******
The car is completely silent. Having driven out of radio service long ago the three of you sit listening to the gentle hum of the motor and the occasional tap of your finger against the door handle.
“We’ve heard really good things about this place”, your mum says for what feels like the hundredth time in an attempt to reassure all of you. You’re sure what has become her mantra at this point serves your father and her more than it ever did you, proven by the fact that your father nods along behind the steering wheel.
“It has lots of students enrolled, regular circular classes like any school plus you’ll get to be around other kids”, he pauses struggling to finish his sentence, “like you.” You roll your eyes in the back seat and continue your sporadic tapping while gazing out of the window. You’re not sure exactly where you are. You would have guessed the countryside if it weren’t for the large manors located on grand estates you kept passing. If it weren’t for your current predicament you’re sure you’d never have had occasion to be in such a stately place, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
After what felt like forever, and in reality was not far off, you pull into a gated estate that has a sign reading ‘Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters’ at its entrance. You feel your heart rate quicken at the realisation that what you’d hoped to avoid as long as possible is now laying out before you. As much as you wanted to be hopeful like your parents that this would all work out to be the best thing for you, you had an overwhelming feeling of apprehension about the whole thing.
Your parents care about you, you know they do. As you exit the car with them, the niggling thought that said they were only sending you here so they wouldn’t have to deal with you played in your mind once more like a broken record. You know that it’s not been easy for any of you, your very Christian parents struggling to come to terms with… the new you. They loved you no matter what and they were always wanting the best for you, even though right now it was the last thing you wanted.
“The headmaster is going to meet us to show us around”, says your father as you walk through the giant double doors. You take in your surroundings as you all wait, not quite believing the enormity of the place of what would be your new home.
“Sorry I’m late”, a man says that you had been too preoccupied too notice coming down the stairs, “I’m Professor Xavier.” The headmaster walked the three of you around the school and it’s grounds. He showed you some classes that were already underway while explaining how students here got a normal education while also being taught how to develop and control their powers, your parents making hums and nods of approval the entire time.
“Well if you’re satisfied with everything I can get someone to settle her into her room.” The statement was your parent’s ticket out of the mansion. Now that they had given the place a once over (and seen how many pupils it had) they were in quite the hurry to leave. Your father had your suitcases in the hallway in the blink of an eye, and even quicker they were placing kisses on your head and closing the car doors.
The Professor organised a spare teacher whose name you didn’t catch to escort you to your room. It was a single, even though you had seen plenty of shared quarters. Due to the fact your powers were new and your control of them under developed, it was standard protocol to give you your own room. By the time you were unpacked classes were finished for the day and the teacher found a pupil to buddy up with you, like you were back in kindergarten.
His name was Kurt Wagner, and despite knowing you were entering a school of mutants his blue appearance still caught you off guard. After your initial shock you found him to be quite lovely, if not rather shy. Kurt told you he would escort you down to the common room where he could introduce you to some of the other students.
On your way down the hallway a sudden whoosh of air flew by you faster than you could imagine possible. Whatever it was caused you to wind up on the ground, knocked over by what you thought was the wind but felt like someone had barged into your shoulder.
“Oh lord, are you alright Y/N?” Kurt asked in his thick accent while helping you onto your feet. You shrug it off as nothing and continue down the hallway with him, thinking that you’d have to get used to weird stuff like this happening.
In the commons you are introduced to Jean, Scott, Ozoro and a few others whose names you couldn’t remember in the jumble of it all.
“So what’s your power Y/N?” Scott questions innocently, unaware how uncomfortable it had made you. As if she could sense it, and for all you knew she could, Jean steers the conversation away from your power with simple redirection, something you were infinitely grateful for.
You all engage in small talk for a moment before a huge whoosh of air came through the room again. You look in its direction to see the back of a silver haired boy rummaging through the fridge.
“This is Peter, and he owes you an apology actually”, Kurt says to you before turning his attention to the new addition of the room, “for something in the hallway earlier?” Kurt’s pointed comment doesn’t go unnoticed by the boy as you see his shoulders move in a silent laugh.
“Your fault for not telling new girl to leave a bit of space in the corridor. That should’ve been rule number one.” He says while rummaging through the fridge the entire time. At the sound of his voice the cogs in your mind start to turn. What are the chances of there being two Peter’s that both have super speed? It couldn’t be, you hadn’t seen him in four years.
“Peter.” This time it is Jean that speaks and this is what causes Peter to slowly turn around while speaking.
“Okay, I’m sorry…. Sorry that they chose the wrong person to guide you around.” At the end of his sentence he finishes spinning around, giving Kurt a cheeky grin before it completely falls off his face at seeing you.
“Peter?” You squeak out, excitement otherwise restricting your vocal cords. Neither of you speak out of pure shock, the rest of the room following suit out of curiosity.
“You know each other?” Scott’s question breaks you both out of your stupor.
“Oh my god!” Peter yells, before appearing in front of you and wrapping his arms tightly around you, lifting you off the ground and spinning you around in a circle. You laugh like you haven’t done since you found out about your mutation, full and from deep within your stomach.
“Know each other?” Peter repeats as he sets you down without removing his arms from around you. “This girl is the reason behind every passing grade I got in high school.” You chuckle at his accurate yet concise summary.
“And he’s the reason behind every detention I ended up in”, you add making him laugh. God how you’d missed that sound.
“Someone had to make you live a little.” The others simply watch on at your little reunion.
You spend the next couple of hours catching up on your lives since you had shifted away. Your dad had gotten an unexpected promotion not long after Peter had told you about his mutation that shifted you to the other side of the country with very little warning. You’d both had the best intentions, saying you’d write and keep in touch, but neither of you did. Peter lacked the patience for it and you got too caught up in settling in somewhere new.
Lights out was announced and students began clearing out of the common area. Peter says he’ll walk you to your room and you oblige, wanting to be around him as much as possible.
Tomorrow was Saturday, so as you said goodnight you and Peter made plans for the next day, you say goodnight and as he leaves your door he yells over his shoulder.
“I can’t wait for you to show me your power!” Your heart plummets as you close your door. You knew that was coming, how could he not be curious? You’d been the first one he’d trusted to show you his ability, naturally it should go the same way for you. True, there was no one else you’d rather show than Peter, even after all those absent years. You were still nervous though. Your power was so new to you, you barely know how to control it and sometimes it just happens without you wanting it to. You had scared your family with it, you didn’t want to scare him off too.
Your sleep had passed quickly and you and Peter were out walking the grounds the next day before you knew it. It was huge, bigger than what you had initially thought. You find a large old oak and sit under it while Peter tells you stories of him and a group he called the X-Men.
He was the same Peter, his cheeky attitude and temperament for trouble made it impossible to deny that. He had also matured, something you’d never thought you’d be able to say about him.
“So what’s with the hair Maximoff?” You say, leaning over and mussing it with your hand. “You trying to coin a new nickname with that silver mop or something?” Despite himself he smiles at your teasing.
“No, I don’t need a new nickname, I have a perfectly good one.” He states, puffing his chest out as you wait for him to tell you. “You’re looking at”, he raises his hands and points both his thumbs at his face, “Quiksilver.”
“Quiksilver?” You say incredulously, to which he nods enthusiastically. “C’mon Peter! I could’ve come up with better.” You say making him playfully shove you. It’s actually a pretty cool name, but you can’t let on to him.
You both fall into comfortable silence as you soak in the day. The sun was shining out over the expanse before you and birds overhear chirp their songs loudly to one another.
“So”, he begins, “care to give me a demo yet?” His nonchalant tone doesn’t erase the worrying content of his question.
“I don’t know Peter... I’m not very good at it.” You hope that will be enough to dissuade him, but as he shakes his head you know you’re going to have to give in.
“I was pinging all over the place when I showed you. Think I knew what I was doing?” Although he spoke no words of comfort they still calm you slightly. You take in a deep breath as you place your palms flat against the ground. You’re about to start when you realise how close Peter is. You ask him to take a few steps back just in case, and with him at a safe distance you close your eyes and focus.
You open your eyes and see that your concentration paid off. Roots from the surrounding trees and plants are emerging from the ground. You try to make them twist together to form some kind of shape, but as you’re attempting it Peter starts clapping and yelling in encouragement. Your concentration broken the roots movements halt, leaving them sticking out of the ground like sticks in sand.
You stand while wiping your hands on your jeans and making your way to the still applauding speedster.
“That was amazing”, he exclaims while throwing his arms around you, “I should’ve known sweet wee Y/N’s power would be something like that.” You wriggle out of his arms and look off to the distance, feeling uncomfortable with the praise.
“My parents didn’t think it was too wonderful when roots and branches filled our lounge”, you speak quietly. You look back to Peter to see a soft look in his eyes.
“Y/N look-”
“I’m a freak Peter”, you interrupt, “I got these powers that I don’t know how to use and I can barely control.” You start pacing to air out some of your nervous energy. “It’s not even useful! I can’t make anything grow, I can only manipulate what’s there. When would that ever be useful.”
Peter was in front you before you’d seen him move. He grabbed you by your shoulders to still your movements and looked at you in the eyes. “You are not a freak”, he says with such conviction that you almost believe it.
“My parents dropped me here so they wouldn’t have to deal with me”, you divulge, “they didn’t even know what to do with me when they found out.” You don’t cry. You’re not sad at this information anymore, you’d had time to accept it. You were merely relaying what you considered to be facts.
“Who cares?” His question confuses you and you open your mouth to yell at him as he continues. “Your parents don’t get you because they’re ordinary. You’re special Y/N, just like me. You’re amazing.” He echoes words you had spoken years ago, making it impossible to keep a smile off of your face.
“You remember that huh?”
“You’re the reason I got through it all”, he speaks with a sincerity you’d only heard from him once before. “Think about this, if you didn’t have a mutation then we may have never met again.” His logic was infallible. As much as you had been struggling with everything, connecting with Peter was a blessing you couldn’t ignore. “Plenty of people have been through what you’re going through”, he starts softer this time, “you can do it too.” You smile at him which he gladly returns.
He lets out a loud sigh while moving an arm around your shoulders and turning you to face the oak you had been sitting under earlier. “That’s enough sappiness for one day”, he says earning a playful elbow to his side, “do you know what this tree could do with?” He asks rhetorically to which you roll your eyes as an answer. “A treehouse.” He concludes causing you to laugh out loud at him.
“I can’t make a treehouse Peter, that’s too hard!”
“Well there’s only one way to find out.” You spend the rest of the day testing your powers at Peter’s request. You failed a lot, but your successes were celebrated with whoops and cheers and laps of the grounds from Peter.
You weren’t through the woods yet. You had a long way to go and a rocky path to face. But for the first time in years you had Peter with you, and you’d help each other through whatever came your way. No number of years could change that.