Age of Darkness | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Twenty-One: I Live Through Wars

Music is "Lord of the Rings Medley" by Lindsey Stirling.

Picture is Daveigh Chase (as Aspen Penrose. This is one of Glory's favorite pictures of her. It sits on her bedside table and a smaller copy is in her wallet.)

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i fell apart many times
so.
what does that say about me
besides that
i live through
wars

- Unknown

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

{Three months later}

"You are in too deep this time. You know that, right?" Wanda mumbles, looking at me as I gaze out across the city of New York, standing at the very edge of the X-Mansion. "If you do this, there will be no going back. You could be killed."

I nod. "I know. I have to do this. He's my friend. He would do the same for me without thinking." I turn to her with tears in my eyes. "You don't have to come. I can do this alone."

She takes my hand and squeezes it gently. "Lead the way, Sister. I will follow you anywhere."

"Same here," Logan says, standing beside us, arms crossed. "I'm in for a good fight."

I nod, and without taking another breath, take a lead of faith and dive off the building.

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{Twelve hours earlier}

Swing, punch, dodge, high kick, kidney jab. Moves I can do in under ten seconds, in that order. Between Steve and Logan's serious workouts over the past few months, I've never been in better physical shape than now. Goodbye, Mommy tummy! Helllllo, abs!

Ha! Just kidding. I still eat way too much pizza and strawberry milkshakes for abs.

"Again!" Steve says, holding the punching bag still as I take another swing. "Your aim is sloppy."

I grit my teeth and brush my sweaty, red hair from my forehead. "Sloppy, eh? Why don't you show me how it's done, Rogers?"

Steve smirks, backs up from the punching bag, raises an eyebrow, and waves me away. "Back up, Doll. I'll show you how it's done."

I roll my eyes and back up a couple steps.

"Maybe a little more..."

After stepping ten feet away, I place hand on my hip. "This far enough, Superman?"

He smirks and holds his fists up in front of his chest, in fighting position. "Watch and learn, Northern." Steve takes a couple swings, moving the punching bag pretty far, but nothing like I've seen before.

"Wooow, very impressive! I hate to say it, but your age is showing. My three month old, Ksenia, hits harder than you-"

Without letting me finish, Steve swings again, knocking the entire punching bag off it's place and causing it to fly across the room, hitting the X-Mansion gymnasium wall. He brushes his hands together and smirks again at me. "That good enough for you, Northern?"

I roll my eyes and throw my gloves at his face, which he catches, sadly. "Keep talking like that. Someday, I'll wipe that smirk off your face and you'll lose some teeth."

"Oh, God, please do," Bucky says, entering the room in only sweatpants with a towel thrown over his shoulder.

"Since when are you on her side?"