Light (Pietro Maximoff x Reader)

Part 9

Christmas was right around the corner. Really just days away and the tower was abuzz with excitement. The Avengers Christmas party was the highlight of the year for many of them and the closer it got to Christmas Eve the more excited everyone seemed to get.

The tower was decked out from top to bottom in decorations for the season. Red, green, blue, silver and gold dripped from every available spot they could find. A tree occupied every room and it felt like the most wonderful time of the year, truly. Mistletoe hung from the ceiling in plain sight and Y/N had been actively avoiding it. She had had her fill of kissing. Or that's what she told herself.

She spent more time in her lab than ever, finding things to do away from the team and away from Pietro. When she wasn't in the lab she was in her bedroom playing Piano and trying to keep herself in the Christmas spirit. With the Christmas party only 3 days away there had been a lot of people in and out of the tower to help with decorations and she just wanted to keep out of their way. Her fingers danced over the cold ivory keys as she played 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. She played song after song until her fingers were stiff. She noticed how dark it was outside and decided to get some dinner and head up to her lab for a few hours before bed.

She held a plate with a sandwich in one hand and her notebook and flash drive in the other as she made her way to the elevator. When the doors opened she noticed Pietro standing inside she stood looking at him for a moment before walking inside the elevator.

"Hello Pietro." She had a sad smile that was breaking his heart.

"Hello Y/N. How are you?"

"I'm okay. How are you? Excited for the Christmas party?"

"I suppose, it is hard to be excited when you are busy missing your best friend."

It was quiet for a moment as Y/N looked down in guilt.

"I'm sorry." They spoke at the same time, making themselves giggle.

"I am sorry Y/N. I did not mean to hurt you. I care about you so much and that is the last thing I would want to do."

"I'm sorry too Piet, I didn't mean to come off as harsh as I did. I care about you too and I like being your friend and that is the most important thing to me. Your friendship. Hey, why don't you come with me to the lab, I have some prototypes for you to check out."

"I would like that very much."

They smiled at each other as the door opened to the floor with Y/N's lab. They stepped out and made their way down the hall and around the corner to her lab's entrance. Though once they rounded the corner they came upon something unimaginable. The contents fell from Y/N's hands as she bolted for the doors. The plate shattered when it hit the floor and the notebook strew papers across the floor but she couldn't care less. Pietro had been shocked into stillness, he was so still he didn't even know if he was breathing.

Through the glass doors and walls you could see the inside of the lab. It had been all but destroyed, every last inch of it. Once the doors were pushed open and she stepped foot inside it was worse than she ever could have imagined. Computers were smashed apart, tables were tipped over, papers were ripped apart and thrown haphazardly across the room. The sight of her corner ripped her heart to shreds. Every book looked as if it had been taken apart meticulously and the pages crumpled up and thrown about like balls.

She hesitated to look across the room, she knew what she would find, and she was right. When she glanced towards her years of work she saw nothing but a pile of scrap metal. Project S.W.A.T. had been destroyed beyond recognition. At first she felt nothing. Then she felt everything.