shards - pietro maximoff

𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐞

June 7th, 2023

The street was quiet, the alleyways of the big city empty, and the only sounds audible where the noises of city rats rummaging through the garbage, taking full advantage of the abandoned city.

An abandoned parking garage lay in the midst of the silence, the noise of skin meeting leather echoing all throughout the town.

Pietro Maximoff felt his fists crash against the punching bag, over and over. The exercise did nothing to lessen the knot in his stomach, but the feeling of physically beating something up did help take his mind off some of the more depressing thoughts that had taken hold of his mind and heart alike.

He corrected his form, bit by bit, as his fists beat the tough material once again.

Left, right, up.

Left, right, up.

Pietro mentally swore as he missed the target, cursing himself for forgetting the basics.

Damn it, Pietro.

The power comes from the back foot, dumbass.

It's one fluid motion, stupid.

And you need to keep your fists upright in between punches or-

He faltered as a memory blinded him, the ghost of words that were spoken so many years in the past echoed in his ears.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Keep your fists upright in between punches, and uppercut here on the jaw. Do it again."

The sound of Dahlia Anelace's voice in his mind took Pietro aback, sending him stumbling to the ground and scrounging his lungs for air.

His breath became shallow, and he slumped himself up on the wall, holding his head in his hands. He never liked to cry, not that anyone did, but he hated seeming vulnerable in front of anyone. Dahlia had managed to get it in his head that he could cry, that he was allowed to break down, but he hadn't been able to do so in front of anyone else, not since that fucking day.

But here, in this empty room, he felt those hot tears spill once more, and he could do nothing to stop them.

The love of his life was dead.

Her cold, lifeless body lay in the cold ground, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Dahlia Lilith Anelace, the one person in the entire world who managed to look past his flaws, make perfectly crafted jokes, who knew when he was upset without him saying a word, who he had dreamed of marrying even back when he was a stupid twenty-four year old, who made his world look brighter simply by being in it, was gone, leaving him alone in the darkness.

In all honesty, Pietro hadn't even been sure that death would even be able to catch her until it did. She always managed to look the prospect right in the face, daring it to get her, and it always backed down in the end.

Except for once.

And once was all it took.

He felt so weak, so useless, so empty because she wasn't there to tell him to get his act together, like he knew she would.

His entire world was gone in one fell swoop. His sister was the only one who understood how he was feeling, the only one who could stand to look at the grieving man for more than a minute.

Wanda and Pietro, once again, had their whole lives ripped from them, leaving them to cling to each other for dear life, fearing they would drown in the sorrow if they didn't.