SUPREMACY / P. MAXIMOFF

lionhearted

"Love is not a concept for sheep, for sheep run at the first sign of fear: it is a concept for lions, so be brave my love and know that I am here. "

The Bus was fascinating, Pietro had to admit. Curiosity set in quickly. He wanted to run around in it, explore it's every corner and crevice, press all the red buttons he could find, but that was the first rule Phil Coulson set, just for him. No powers in The Bus unless permitted. Specifically, no running in The Bus. The second rule was not to press any buttons.

Him, Wanda and Anastazya were introduced to some of the S.H.I.E.L.D team, that would be accommodating them until Ana's powers were fixed. Pietro had met Fitzsimmons and Phil, from the last time they rendezvoused to save The Avengers, but he was surprised to meet six people unknown to him. Three females. Two women, named May and Bobbi. Both wore a black catsuit similar to the one's Natasha and Anastazya wore. Bobbi was friendly, May was not.

Then, there was one younger girl, named Skye, who reminded Pietro of Ana in all too many ways. Next, there was Mack, who only greeted the team with a nod before retreating back to his work. Tripp and Hunter were nicer, definitely more charismatic, but after a few minutes of idle chat, they too had to go back to work. Leaving Pietro, Wanda and Anastazya to be escorted to their quarters, which per usual, they had to share.

And when Wanda left to go "talk to Phil", Pietro knew it was so Ana and him could talk, alone. But for the first thirty minutes they were alone, Anastazya didn't say a word. She was completely silent, not even her breaths made a sound.

The silence was violent. Stifling. He wanted to get whatever she wanted to say to him over with, whatever it was. If it was good, he wanted to good as soon as possible. If it was bad, he just wanted to know.

"Do we still need to talk, Ana?" Pietro finally blurted out, sounding breathless despite him sitting there.

Ana slowly sat up, taking a deep breath before exhaling it loudly. She moved so that her back was up against the wall, curling in on herself. Pietro yearned to sit next to her, hold her hands and kiss her forehead. But he had a feeling that this was something that she needed to say on her own, without his help.

"Yeah," She mumbled, nodding. She ran her hand down her face. "My God, I hate this so much," She muttered, voice shaky.

He watched tentatively as she clenched and unclenched her fists. He tried not to tap his foot, or cross his arms, he wanted to be patient for her.

"Look," She started. "I'm sorry for hiding the Mind Stone from you. I was really scared, and I'm sorry. I don't want to hide things from you or anyone anymore. I want the truth to be out there, which is why I needed to tell you something."

Now Pietro was the one who was scared.

"I need to tell you, that-" Ana stopped and swallowed hard, gripping the sheets on the bed she sat on tight. "I love you. I love you, and I don't know when it started, and I don't when or if it will end. But I love you. And not like the way I love Steve, or Wanda, or Natasha or Bruce. I love you in a way I've never felt before and I'm terrified of it. I'm terrified of the way you make me feel, and how I just always want to be near you. I'm terrified of how much I care about what you think about me. I'm terrified of how your eyes make me feel at home. I'm terrified of the way you look at me and the way you touch me and how it sets my skin on fire, and makes my heart beat so fast it could explode. And I'm terrified that you couldn't possibly reciprocate these feelings. But, most of all, I'm petrified of the thought of losing you."

"Oh, Ana-"

"No!" She shouted at Pietro, causing his mouth to snap shut."Let me finish while I still have the courage to say what I want to say."

"Because I love you, and because I am so scared of losing you, I know I can't be with you. Even though its more than I could want or dream of, I'm not safe anymore Pietro, I've never been a safe person to be around. And I know you know that. I know how much pain you went through when you thought I was dead, and I know how scared you are of losing me. How pissed you are every time I try to risk my life to save everyone else's, and how hurt you are when I keep secrets from you. But it's inevitable. One day, someday soon maybe, I'm going to die. Or I'm going to get hurt. Or I'm going to be forced to keep things from you. Or, I'm going to try to risk my life to save other people's, and I'm going to hurt everyone close to me, by association. Danger is just apart of who I am, and it always will be. And I won't let you self-destruct, just because I do."

Pietro's heart thumped hard in his aching chest. He slowly stood to his feet, ignoring the loud pops and crackles of his joints, from sitting still for too long.

"You have me mistaken for a man who will run when things get dangerous," Pietro chuckled. "But I will not."

Pietro sat on the small bed, moving closer to Anastazya. He placed his hand on her cheek, holding her face there so she could not look away.

"I do not care how dangerous you think you are. I am not afraid of you, or what can happen when I am with you. You will always be the Anastazya I met that Winter in Sokovia. You will always be the Anastazya who saved mine and my sister's life, despite the fact we had tortured her only the day before. You will always be the Anastazya who I fell in love with in the blizzard. And if you claim you have always been this dangerous, then I have experienced it enough times to know what I am getting into. You do not get to tell me I can not be with you, because I love you. And because I love you, I will be with you. I will refuse to let you deal with yourself alone. I will save your life, as many times as I want. I will be there to scare your nightmares away. I will be there to shut up the voices in your head. I will be there, even when you are angry and stubborn. I will be there, even when I angry and stubborn. And I will be right there, when you self-destruct, holding your hand, unafraid. I will never leave you."

Pietro watched as the tears streamed down Ana's face. Out of all the times he had seen Ana cry, this was the only time he could bear watching. Her tears were a sign of indication. She understood. She heard him.

"What did I do to deserve someone like you?" She choked out, encircling her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her small shaking frame, his heart soaring.

When they parted, their faces were only inches away from each other. And Pietro realized, because Ana loved him, and he loved her, he could do the thing he had been dreaming of doing since the moment he met her.

Pietro pressed his lips against hers, setting Ana's brain on fire. The kiss obliterated anything coherent in her mind. No thought was intelligible except for "He's mine. He's mine. He's all mine." Ana had read so much about how first kisses felt like fireworks, but fireworks didn't even begin to describe the burning, the constant flicker of warmth.

The only thing dangerous about Ana in that moment, was the ability she had to make his heart skip beats, to set it off it's usual rhythm. To make his lungs ache for air. Pietro's usual mode of hurrying from one thing to the next was suspended, he had no wish for the kiss to end. In moments the soft caress has become more firm, he savored her lips and the quickening of her breath that matched his own. A kiss like this was a beginning, a promise of much more to come.