Stand As Heroes » Quicksilver

chapter one

01 x initial responses

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It had been twenty-four hours since Bruce and Tony had informed me that my gift of density alteration was gone. They had no explanations, as had been the situation when trying to figure out a source of my powers. They couldn't tell me anything.

It was my own body, myself, and I was just as in the dark as the people around me.

I hadn't slept since I'd woken up. Twenty-four hours of nonstop wakefulness, the time in which I had downed more coffee than was probably healthy, along with a few energy drinks here and there. See, at first, I was struggling to cope with the loss of just one ability, but after a few hours, I tried to tell myself it would be fine, that it wasn't that big a deal, it was just what kept me invulnerable from the world around me . . .

Then, when I had been in the training room (alone, because I couldn't force myself to speak to anyone else) I had tried to fly -- and couldn't.

That was when my meltdown happened. I just lost it.

I guess Wanda heard whatever mental chaos I was putting off, because within twenty minutes of my dissolving into sobs, Pietro was there.

He just sort of appeared, as he had a knack for. I was laying on the floor, in general feeling miserable, because I mean, the density alteration, I could get through losing that. But flight? That was my first power. That had arguably been my favorite power. It gave me a sense of freedom, the capacity to be me and get away from it all . . . and it was just gone. No explanation.

No reason.

Just gone.

"Love," Pietro whispered, his voice quiet, his touch gentle, as though he was afraid I was going to shatter upon impact. His eyes were soft and filled to the brim with concern, their usual intense sparkle dulled down to a look of sorrowful worry. "Come here," he murmured, gently pulling me into a sitting position as he sat down, sliding me onto his lap with ease and cradling me against him.

I sniffled, trying to form any sort of coherency, but nothing came out except another chest-wracking round of tears. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head in his shoulder, listening as well as I could as he 'shhh'd, and whispered words of comfort. I let my eyes fall shut, and took a few deep, steadying breaths, focusing on his scent for a moment. It soothed me just long enough for me to get control of myself, and with one last squeeze to him I pulled back and looked into his eyes.

"What is wrong, love?" he asked me gently, one hand brushing through my hair and holding the back of my head carefully. "Talk to me. It is what I am here for."

"I--" I paused to swallow another sob, blinking tears out of my eyes and sniffing in effort to prevent my nose from running any more than it already had. "I can't--can't fly any more," I stuttered, looking down and focusing in on the pattern of his shirt as I tried to keep myself from crying more.

He understood. I should've known he would. No further questions asked, he pulled me back against him, and rocked gently, murmuring things in his native tongue. I couldn't understand a word he said, but soon enough I'd cried myself out, and after that, I attempted to murmur a thank you . . . then I fell asleep.

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I was unsteady on my feet when I came into the kitchen the next morning, accompanied by my boyfriend. He had one arm slung around my waist, basically holding me up as we walked through the halls toward the kitchen.

I knew more of our teammates would be there. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face them. Of course they knew what happened, it would be hard not to; neither Bruce nor Tony would keep that kind of thing from the team, especially not if they were worried about me. But I couldn't help but feel sort of ashamed. Fear was gnawing at me. I mean, what if this was just a sign that I would lose the rest of my powers? I could go from a hero to a normal person in a matter of an instant.

It terrified me.

But Pietro had convinced me that seeing my team was the best thing for me, and after coaxing me out of bed with the promise of coffee, I had agreed to go.

The moment we were in the kitchen, I saw Bucky, Sam, and Wanda. They all turned to look at us in a fraction of a second, and I swear I could see relief in all of their eyes. Wanda smiled tenderly at me, when Bucky cleared his throat and said, "Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

I forced out a laugh, relaxing somewhat. They weren't staring at me like I had three heads, and that helped my self-esteem considerably. I had no doubt that through their mental link, Pietro had already informed Wanda of my loss of flight, but she regarded me as she always did, if with a bit more precaution toward my feelings.

"Morning," I finally murmured, allowing Pietro to shuffle me toward the bar stool by Sam. I took a seat and the wingman was quick to wrap me up in a tight hug of his own, squeezing me hard before pulling away and grinning proudly down at me.

"Let the record show, Miss Goldstreak, that you are my favorite hero. All right? Just don't tell Cap," he chuckled, shooting Bucky a pointed look.

Bucky shrugged, smiling somewhat as he said, "My lips are sealed, Flyboy."

The gesture from Sam brought tears to my eyes, but Wanda was quick to speak up as well, "Oh come now, Meg, you know even if your worst fears were to come true, we would never consider you anything less than an Avenger."

Relief flooded my system at that, and I sort of leaned into the bar as I watched Pietro getting me a mug of coffee. I could see him eyeing me as I interacted with the other Avengers, and I gave him a slow smile when he turned to me with the coffee. "That's . . . very good to know," I said carefully, glancing over at his twin and letting my smile widen. "I've got to ask, though," I said, ignoring all of the negative feelings that still threatened to well up in me, "do you read my mind now?"

Wanda chuckled. "Actually, no. It seems too . . . wrong. You are on my radar now, though, so I could hear you if you wanted me to."

I nodded slowly, processing this. It was good to know, given y'know, she was my best friend.

"We're glad you're okay, punk," Bucky said then, pulling my attention toward him. His usually hard blue eyes had softened somewhat. "I was worried I was gonna have to go after somebody for ya." He nodded toward Pietro then; "But I was on boyfriend duty. Had to keep Sonic from going berserk in the Tower."

"I was not that bad," Pietro scoffed, placing the mug in front of me and pressing a kiss to my temple before moving to sit by his sister.

"No, you were worse," Wanda chuckled.

I laughed along, relaxing even more. I wasn't sure why I'd been worried; the Avengers were where I belonged. They'd be there to back me up, no matter what. My eyes drifted to Pietro as I took a sip of the coffee, which he had concocted perfectly, and a slow smile touched my eyes as we made eye contact. He made a silly face at me and I giggled somewhat, realizing it'd take a lot more than a loss of powers to get Road Runner to leave my side.

And the same was true for my team. That was the greatest relief I'd ever felt in my life.