Painted in Crimson ⇨ P. Maximoff

FIVE

LOVING CAN HEAL. LOVING
CAN MEND YOUR SOUL.
- ED SHEERAN PHOTOGRAPH

•

The twins and Rosalind had been in the company of Ultron for several days now. He spoke vaguely of his plans, and all they really knew was that he was looking for vibranium. Everywhere seemed so loud to Rosalind and the only time she was calm was when she was on the roof. Maybe it was because she was out in the open, surrounded by nature, or because of the memories it brought back. Rosalind didn't know, but either way it was the only place she felt content.

It was quite late and wanda sat drawing patterns on the window that was covered in condensation. Pietro had left earlier, to where, Rosalind didn't know. Rosalind stood up and sighed.

"I'm going to the roof." She announced.

Wanda mumbled something that Rosalind couldn't quite make out. Turning, Rosalind set out for the roof.

--
Rosalind lay on the ground staring at the sky. It was completely silent and She finally felt content. She lay there for several minutes before she heard footsteps and felt someone lie down beside her. She turned her head and found herself face to face with Pietro.

"Hey." He whispered.

Rosalind couldn't help but smile. "Hey." She whispered back. "Can I ask you something?" Pietro inquired.

Rosalind nodded. "Why do you spend so much time up here?"

Rosalind sat up and Pietro followed seconds later. "Before Natalia and I were in the -" Rosalind cut herself off realising that she almost blurted out about the academy.

"When Natalia and I were younger we used to come up to the roof. I used to be petrified of heights. I remember how I clung to Natalia with my eyes squeezed shut, until she finally coaxed me to open them. She told me to look up at the sky and see how brightly the stars were shining. She told me that as long as those stars shined, she would be there for me. But then again, Natalia told me a lot of things. But the roof was were we spent most of our time. We went up every night and stayed there for hours. It was our escape from reality."

Rosalind's words hung in the air for several moments before Pietro stood up and held his hand out to Rosalind. She looked at him with confusion.

"Dance with me." He said.

Rosalind laughed. "First of all there's no music and second of all I can't dance."

"Fine, then let's sway in silence." He laughed raising his eyebrows.

Rosalind stood up and took Pietro's hand. He placed his other hand on her waist and pulled her towards him. Rosalind gasped at the action but soon recovered and placed her own hand on his bicep. They began to sway in a circle, smiling at each other. This continued for a while until Pietro suddenly stopped. Rosalind looked at him with confusion. He kept on hand on her waist and placed the other one on her cheek. He began to lean in and Rosalind could see where this was going. All she had to do was lean in a little and their lips would touch. Finally. But then reality kicked in.

Rosalind stepped backwards, pulling herself out of Pietro's grasp.

"I- I can't. I'm sorry. You don't know who I am, not really." She said running her hands through her hair. Pietro walked towards her, but she stepped back holding her hands in the air.

"No. Stop. You don't know me. You don't know everything about Natalia and I. You don't know what happened at the academy." Rosalind's eyes widened as she realised that she had said too much.

"What academy?"

Rosalind turned away from Pietro and ran her hand over her face. It was time he knew the truth. "Natalia and I had a pretty good childhood until my sixth birthday. Natalia, my father and I were out in the garden. I looked up to see my mother waking across the lawn towards us. She looked beautiful. She wore a white sundress and her vibrant red hair was pinned back with a curl falling down each side of her face.

In her hands she held my birthday cake. It had blue icing and the candles were lit. My mother opened her mouth to sing 'Happy Birthday' before before she could, a gun shot could be heard. Things seemed to play in slow motion from there. My mother dropped the cake and it smashed at her feet. My eyes darted to her stomach where a scarlett stain began to spread across her white dress. She slumped to the ground. My father ran to her, roaring her name. He held her head in his lap whispering words of comfort to her. Natalia and I went to run to them, but before we could yet another gun shot rang through the air. My father slumped to the ground beside my mother. By the time we reached them, they were both dead.

And that was the day that our happiness shattered. Natalia and I moved around a lot within the next year, until we were taken to the academy. They told us that we were being taken to another orphanage, so we thought nothing of it. But when we arrived we knew that something wasn't right. But nobody came looking for us, nobody cared. We were just another two orphans. You already know that we were separated. Then the training began. They trained us until we broke and when we did they trained us harder. We were taught to not show emotion. They trained us to become assassins, and I was the highest ranked in my year. The best of my generation. I've had to kill people. I'm a damn monster."

Rosalind finished her story with shaky breaths. She knew what would happen next. Pietro would be absolutely disgusted by what she was, what she had become. She waited for the venomous words, but they never came. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun around to face Pietro. He cupped her face with his hands and wiped away the few tears that had fallen silently.

"You are not a monster. You are a person who went through something that you never should have. But you must know that you are a beautiful, kind, caring, loving and sensitive person. You were forced to do things by those people and I know that you would never harm someone of your own accord unless you were in a life or death situation. You and Wanda are the only two people I care about, and if I lost you I don't know what I'd do."

Rosalind was shocked by Pietro's reaction. She smiled at him. "You really mean that?"

"Every word." He said and kissed her. Pietro moved his hands to her waist and Rosalind wrapped her arms around his neck. They broke the kiss and smiled at each other.

"You're not going to run away again, are you?" Pietro asked smirking.

"Not a chance, you're not getting rid of me that easy." She replied and kissed him again.

----
A/N

I am SO sorry for taking so long to update!! I've had exams recently, but I hope that this made up for it.
Now about Rosalind and Natasha's back story. I've researched bits and pieces on Natasha background but couldn't find much (what I did find was from Wikipedia) so I kinda made it up. Also a few people were wondering why I vary between Natasha and Natalia. This is because Natasha's full name is Natalia Alianovna Romanova, and since they're supposed to be sisters I thought this would be a could idea for Natalia to refer to her as Natalia. :)

Dedicated to @-noirx for coming up with Pietro and Rosalind's ship name.....

Pietralind :D

- Jenna