Valor ↠ Prequel [0] ✓

16 | Bug-Boy

╔══════════════════╗

VALOR
xvi. BUG-BOY

╚══════════════════╝

   DON'T TELL ANYONE, BUT Riley O'Dair always wondered how she'd meet her soulmate. It was a little embarrassing to admit, especially knowing that her team would tease her for the rest of her life if she ever brought it up, but she pondered the thought frequently. Riley liked to think those things were real: soulmates, true love, happy endings. Hey, she was an optimist, alright?

   Regardless, if you would've told Riley that the day she met her soulmate happened to be the same day she had to throw Captain America in jail, she would've never believed you.

   Riley O'Dair and Pietro Maximoff would be found in the former's hotel room. They laid flat on their stomachs, the bed littered with snacks as a random movie played on the TV. They'd been awake for hours, restlessly awaiting Tony's call.

   "Just because you say your opinion louder than me doesn't make it any less wrong!"

   "All I'm saying is—!"

   Somehow, someway, Pietro was like a brother to Riley. She'd always wondered what it was like to have siblings, but it was usually an afterthought until Sokovia. Albeit annoying, Riley liked having "siblings", even if she hadn't known the twins very long. Sure, she might've started her friendship with Pietro because he reminded her of Roman (and God knows how much Riley misses him), but they were close now.

   "Time travel isn't a real thing, Pietro! What you're saying doesn't make sense! You can't run fast enough to travel through time!"

   Although her tone was annoyed, Pietro still wore a cheeky smile. "Someone is a little tense today, no?"

   Riley sighed, her cheeks puffing outward. "Can you blame me? I'm about to throw my own family in jail."

   The fugitives in question were located in approximately 24 hours: Sam, Steve, and Bucky were hiding out near the Flughafen Leipzig-Halle Airport. They hadn't left Berlin, yet, but they were trying to.

   The rest of the team was preparing in anticipation of what would come next. Some of the Avengers staked out near the airport, others were patrolling Berlin in case the fugitives had moved. Some had recruited non-Avengers to assist the team, and others were simply waiting for the call to assemble for the inevitable fight. Riley and Pietro were in that last group of people.

   Riley hated the idea that her friends were fugitives now, and she hated, even more, the idea that this could only end in a fight. Of course, she was a little tense.

   Nonetheless, Riley knew what Pietro was doing: he was trying to make her feel better. It didn't take being a genius to figure that out, especially after he showed up to her hotel room this morning with a platter of fresh breakfast.