Hunting for a Speedster

The Brink

I'm going out of my mind. Everyone was out on a mission and I was stuck at the tower by myself, again. I was sitting in the living room just trying to find anything even remotely interesting to watch at this point.

"Mrs. Maximoff." JARVIS's voice rang through the tower "A Mr. Grant Ward to see you." I smiled and told JARVIS to let him up. Finally someone to talk to. Ward walked in and I waved cheerfully from the couch.

"Bored out of your mind?" he asked teasingly.

"More than you know." I moaned as Ward sat down next to me. He seemed almost nervous. His gaze kept going to the windows and then back to me. "Is something wrong?" I asked cautiously. Something was about to go wrong. I could feel it. As if he read my mind, Ward stood up shakily and pulled out his gun to aim it at me.

"HYDRA thinks you're better off dead." he said coldly "You stole two of our best agents and now you're working for SHIELD. I'm really sorry about this Brooke."

"Sure you are." I threw myself at Ward and tackled him to the ground. Before I could punch him however, a shot rang out and I screamed in pain as a bullet found its mark in my collarbone, just above my heart. Ward grabbed me and threw me onto the couch and pulled out his phone.

"Barnes." he said evenly into the pone after he called him on his phone "HYDRA thought you might like to know what happen when you get attached." Ward shoved the phone at me and I glared at him as I answered it.

"Hi, Bucky." I said calmly.

"Brooke, what's happening?" Bucky asked urgently.

"Ward." I said through gritted teeth "He's HYDRA, and he got the drop on me. " Bucky swore into the phone and I could make out Pietro's worried voice on the other end.

"Just stay calm." Bucky choked out "We'll be right there."

"I'm not going anywhere." I said tiredly as I handed the phone back to Ward.

"I hope you said your goodbyes," he spat "because you're never going to see her alive again." Ward hung up the phone and advanced on me menacingly. "I could've killed you a thousand times." he snarled "Never did. Do you want to know why?"

"Do enlighten me." I groaned as I put pressure on the bullet wound.

"You were nice. No one else had really been nice to me the way you were. I didn't understand it at first. Then HYDRA showed me that it was my own weaknesses. Every kind thing a person has done is just a plea for something good to happen to them."

"Well that's a horribly depressing way to live." Ward growled and smacked me across the face "You don't have to do this." I said softly "Ward, I'm pregnant. You and I both know what happens to this baby the second you empty that barrel into my brain." Ward's hands shook as he tried to focus. "Please." I whispered "Let us help you." Ward faltered and just when I thought he was going to lower the gun, he brought it back up and aimed at me calmly.

"I don't need help." he said coldly "I'm fine just the way I-" he was cut off by a single, clear gunshot. Ward's eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground, dead. My mom stood in the doorway, aiming a gun at where Ward's head used to be.

"Brooke. Bucky called and told me." she gasped as she saw my shoulder. Mom rushed over to me and pulled me into a tight hug. "Pietro's coming." she said softly "Just hold on little one."

"Thanks for taking out the bad guy." I mumbled as I started to drift off into unconsciousness.

"No, no, no! Brooke stay with me!" she pleaded. I chuckled softly as I slumped against the couch.

"Mom, I don't think I have a choice."

"Солнце!" I heard Pietro's strangled voice scream as he ran into the room. He gently helped me sit up as his hands cupped my face. "Hey," he said tearfully "Солнце, please don't leave me." He carefully scooped me up in his arms and ran me downstairs to the medical wing. Pietro set me down on one of the beds while we waited for one of the doctors to get down here.

"Pietro?" I said softly "If I die-"

"No." he said sharply "You are not going to die. I'm not spending my life without you by my side."

"Listen to me." I said gently "If I die, I want you to know that if you mope around here and act depressed, I'm going to come back from the dead and knock you to kingdom come." Pietro laughed weakly as he kissed my forehead.

"I love you so much Солнце."

"I love you too Mr. Maximoff." Just then a team of doctors rushed in and Pietro was forced to stand back as they tried to remove the bullet that was lodged directly above my heart.

"We're losing her!" I smiled serenely as I heard the doctor's panicked voices. Death was coming for me. I didn't want to die, I wanted to live and I wanted my daughter to live, but I knew if I freaked out it would be even harder on Pietro. He'd always been there for me, now I had to be there for him.

The two master assassins gave each other knowing glances and quickly muttered something about pulling the car around, leaving me and Pietro standing awkwardly in the hall. "If you ever need to fake your death again," I said with a small smile "you know where to go." Pietro chuckled softly and slowly picked me up so that my legs were wrapped around his waist and his arms around mine.

"If you ever need anything," he said seriously "call me and I'll find you. I promise." I nodded silently as tears started to slowly fall down my face. "Shh, everything's going to be fine Солнце. I will see you again." He gently pressed a kiss on my lips and just held me in his arms. We stayed like that for who knows how long until we heard a car horn honk outside.

"I guess that's your cue." I whispered as I slowly stood on my feet and backed up. Pietro gave me one last small smile before racing away, his memory the only trace of him.

"Stand back! Clear!"

"Brooke, NO!"

I must be dead. Everything hurt, my body felt like it'd been run over by a train, and everything was really bright. Groaning in pain, I sat up and looked around blearily.

"Солнце?" I turned and saw Pietro rush towards me with a look of shock on his face.

"What happened?" I mumbled as I held onto him to stop everything from spinning. Tears were streaming down Pietro's face.

"Your heart stopped." he whispered "For five whole minutes. We thought we'd lost you."

"The baby?" I asked, my eyes growing wide "Is she OK?"

"She's fine." Pietro assured me "SHIELD gave us a drug that brought you back and it worked on the baby too." I sighed in relief before wrapping my arms around Pietro and hugging him tightly.

"I was so scared." I whispered as he kissed the top of my head.

"I know sweetheart." he said softly "I'm just so goddamn happy you're back."

"Language." I choked out as he moved onto the bed to lay next to me. Pietro chuckled softly as I rested my head on his chest and snuggled into his side.

"Please don't scare me like that again." Pietro said quietly as he tilted my head up so I was looking at him.

"I will do my best." I said with a small smirk before leaning in and kissing him.

"I love you Солнце."

"I love you too Mr. Maximoff."