Gangster Child

The Twins

"Hey, Принцесса. Wake up, I want to show you something." I moaned as Pietro gently shook me awake.

"What could possibly warrant getting up before the sun?" I whined, slowly getting to my feet and following him. Pietro tossed me my jacket and bent down so that I could climb onto his back.

"It's three days before Christmas, and trust me, this is worth it." I gingerly clambered onto his back and he raced me to the roof.

"Aw hell no!" I protested "Pietro, it's cold!" Snow was coming down in huge flurries and my jacket wasn't doing much to protect against it.

"Language Принцесса." Pietro said warningly "Don't want Barnes or Stark to find out you're cursing. And anyway, I think this'll make up for it." He led me to the edge of the roof and I gasped when I saw thousands of Christmas lights throughout the city.

"I-It's beautiful." I breathed, my teeth starting to chatter in the biting cold.

"Told you." Pietro bragged "But, we don't want you getting sick right before Christmas, so let's get you back inside." Before I could protest, Pietro had zoomed the both of us to the living room and had wrapped a blanket around me. "Shit." Pietro muttered, placing his hands on either side of my face "You're freezing." He sat down beside me and pulled me into a tight hug in an effort to warm me up. "When you're a little warmer," Pietro said teasingly "do you want to go do some Christmas shopping? Wanda and I want to go see the city and we figured you'd be one of the best guides."

"Sounds great," I said tiredly "but I'm just going to sleep for about five more minutes." Pietro chuckled softly and kissed the top of my head as I started to drift off.

"I'll wake you when the team gets up." he said quietly "Goodnight my little princess."

"Goodnight Speedy."

"Come on Wanda! Hurry up!" Pietro called as we dashed through the city. I giggled as I watched Wanda run to catch up to Pietro and me sitting on his shoulders.

"Well not all of us are speedsters!" she protested as she finally managed to walk beside us.

"I wasn't even speeding!" Pietro protested, setting me on my own feet "Ask Sadie!" I stumbled slightly and grasped his arm for support.

"Define speeding." I said weakly, closing my eyes in an effort to not get sick. Pietro sighed heavily and ruffled my hair.

"I may have sped just a little." Pietro mumbled. Wanda smacked his arm, causing me to laugh weakly.

"You good Sadie?" she asked, resting a hand on my shoulder. I gave a thumbs up and followed them into the store.

"What are we looking for again?" Pietro asked as we looked around.

"Well, Tony wants some fancy tie that I can't pronounce," I said, reading from my list "Natasha wants some new throwing knives, Steve wants some art supplies, Thor wants more pop tarts, Bruce wants some obscure tea that helps you calm down, Clint wants coffee, and Bucky wants... a gun cleaning kit?"

"Always knew I should never mess with him." Pietro said darkly.

"Bucky's a nice guy." I said defensively "Anyway, let's split up. We only have a certain amount of money so we're going to have to pool it all."

"We'll just say the gifts are from all of us." Pietro said. We all nodded in agreement and split up to go shop for Christmas gifts.

"Alright, do we have everything?" Wanda asked as we met after an hour of shopping.

"I got Tony, Bucky, and Natasha's." I said proudly. Pietro zoomed over and deposited his gifts.

"Here is Bruce and Clint's." he said with a grin "It's amazing how much imported coffee costs."

"You're telling me!" Wanda exclaimed "I got Thor and Steve's and those fancy art pencils nearly cost the entire budget. Luckily, the manager said they were on sale."

"Thank God." I said in relief "Now we just have to wrap them and hope Clint doesn't try to open them before he's supposed to."

"Sadie?" I turned around and smiled when I saw Peter waving at me.

"Hey Peter!" I called happily, rushing over to greet him. We met in a tight hug and I smiled at him. "What's up?" I asked nervously.

"Oh, I was just out shopping and um...I saw you." he said sheepishly "I assume you're doing the same."

"Guilty," I said with a smile "I'm with my friends." I pointed to Wanda and Pietro who were watching me apprehensively.

"Oh," Peter said quickly "um, I'll let you get back to them then. Before I lose my nerve though, did you want to go hang out again sometime?"

"Sure." I said quietly "Maybe after the holidays when everything's a little quieter."

"Sounds great." Peter said happily "So... I'll see you around?"

"Yeah." I said shyly "I think so." I hugged him once more and he kissed my temple, causing me to blush and smile down at the ground. With that, Peter gave me a small smile and rushed after his aunt, leaving me to head back to Pietro and Wanda.

"Who was that?" Pietro asked, sounding angry. Wanda glared at him, and he seemed to calm down.

"His name's Peter." I said with a smile "We went out once and now we're going again."

"Oh," he muttered "I didn't realize you had a boyfriend."

"I don't." I said in confusion "I have friend. To be honest, I don't even know how he feels about me or if he even wants to be my boyfriend." Pietro had small grin on his face and he wrapped an arm around me as we started to head back to the tower.

"Don't you dare speed this time." Wanda called as Pietro scooped me into his arms.

"What was that sister?" Pietro asked "I couldn't hear you." Before Wanda could protest, Pietro had sped to the tower and into the living room. "Be right back." he said, smirking as he set me down. He zoomed away and returned a moment later with Wanda, who hit his arm with a scowl.

"You OK Wanda?" I asked as I sat on the couch. She gave me a small smile before sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"I'll put the gifts in my room and after dinner we can start wrapping them." she said, ruffling her brother's hair as she left. Pietro flipped her off as she left before moving to sit beside me.

"Hey," I said tentatively "what was up with you when I was talking to Peter? You seemed upset about it." Pietro sighed as I leaned into him.

"I just don't like seeing you with him." Pietro said softly "I don't want to see you hurt if it doesn't work out." I chuckled softly and looked up at him.

"Pietro, out of all the things that have happened in my life, a potential breakup with a guy I'm not even dating is not the worst thing to happen." Pietro smiled at me and kissed the top of my head.

"It doesn't matter if it's the worst thing." he said gently "the fact that it's bad and may happen to you is something I never want to see."

"Aw." I said with a grin "You care. I didn't think you did." Pietro rolled his eyes as we both lapsed into silence. "Pietro," I said quietly "thanks for being there for me and worrying about me."

"Anytime Принцесса."