Requested by: @Avanni_Cinders

Prompt: Self given

Warnings: None

Extra:

~*~

Being born in a "modernly emerging second world country" sucked. It didn't help that the civil war it was on the brink of for generations finally broke out when I was a toddler. Both of my parents were in the rebel military, and lost their lives to an airstrike. It was me and my grandpa after that.

After the civil unrest was only partially resolved, my life was as average as I could make it. I attended school, took odd jobs for spending money, and put the majority of my time into studying to become a diplomat; to harbor peace so civil war would not occur again.

When I was sixteen I met the Maximoff twins. Alike in appearance and fiery nature. Both of them were headstrong in their views, and I was attracted to that. We were starkly different in the ways we wanted to change the world, but we wanted to change it all the same. They went to all the anti-government rallies people whispered about, and I studied my heart out to get my degree.

When the Avengers formed, we were only eighteen. I was excited to finally have some real heroes in the world. Heroes who didn't care about borders and who would save anyone who was in danger, no matter their background. The twins were less excited, and that was due to one Tony Stark.

A year after the Avengers formed, I was nineteen, on the brink of joining the UN as a junior representative- and my world changed forever.

Knock. Knock.

Greeting Pietro with a smile, I motioned for him to come inside. Peeking behind his shoulder, I was confused to find no Wanda. Looking to him for an answer, he smiled and shrugged sheepishly.

"I wanted this to be between you and me."

"What's going on?"

"At our last rally a man approached us, offering the power to finally get back at Stark for what he did to our family."

"Pietro, you must know that Stark-" I stopped myself. It wasn't the time to argue with him. I'd never been successful before, and I wouldn't be successful then, "Is there no way I can convince you to stay here?"

"Oh (Y/n)," Pietro sighed, pulling me into a hug, "I think you already know the answer to that."

I did. I just didn't want to admit it. Nothing I could say or do would take his mind away from the revenge he'd been so set on. So I sighed, hugged him even tighter, and whispered, "I love you."

Pietro stiffened. Nervous that I had ruined our last moments together, I stepped back. But he wasn't upset or in denial. He was more shocked than anything.

"I'll return to you, (Y/n)," he left a kiss on my palm, and left.

I was in shock for a few seconds after he left. A few, detrimental seconds. By the time I recovered my wits and ran out after him. I faintly saw Pietro's figure down the road. Without thinking, I took off in a sprint- too focused on him, and on finishing what we started.

I was so focused on him I didn't see the car coming my way. Nor did I process what happened until after I passed out.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital room. But when I glanced out the window, I knew I wasn't in Sokovia anymore. Pushing myself up, I was shocked to find no evident pain or soreness in my body. Doing a quick check, I noted that everything seemed fine. No bandages, IVs, or bruises.

"What?" I stepped off the bed and stretched out my legs. I could stand just fine, which meant I hadn't been out for long, "Hello?"

"I was supposed to be on vacation right now, Miss (L/n)," I jumped when a man stepped into the room. An all too familiar man, "Thank you for getting me out of it."

"You're-"

"Nick Fury, yes. I get that a lot," Nick Fury sat in one of the chairs across from the hospital bed, "We have a lot to talk about, (Y/n)."

"Do we? Because I think we should forget this ever happened so I can go back home and continue living my life like I was supposed to," I knew exactly where the conversation was going, I simply didn't want to admit it.

Sighing quietly, Fury shook his head once, and I understood that I had no choice but to listen to what he had to say, "You were hit by a military grade truck, sent out by your countries government on a routine check of the area. It should have killed you."

"But it didn't."

"Didn't even leave a scratch," Fury added to my already glum statement, "However, you did pass out due to the aftershock of the blow. From there you were taken to a hospital in Sokovia. When they ran a blood test, they came back with results that garnered interest. Interest that came back to me. So I had you transferred to New York."

"New- New York?" My brain stopped working. I was transferred overseas so Nick Fury could talk to me? The entire situation was absurd.

"You were under heavy medication at the time, so we could monitor what was happening with your body. A high stress situation caused your cells to rapidly mutate. That presented itself as a very interesting genetic mutation."

"I don't understand."

"Allow me," Fury pulled out a gun, and before I could react, he fired off three shots. Screaming in shock, no pain bloomed. Instead of three bullets in my skin, they were broken on the floor.

"Impenetrable skin. Hard as vibranium. That being said, I'm assuming you've heard of the Avengers?"

~*~

It was easy to forget my past life after I joined the Avengers. My grandpa was moved to the English countryside per my request, comfortable in a quaint cottage. My studies were put to good use as the unofficial spokesperson, and the Maximoff twins became a memory filled with warmth. I didn't dare make myself sick over what happened to them. What was done was done, end of story. Still, when I was alone in the Tower while the others were off on their own adventures, my mind couldn't help but wander to the "could haves".

I could have convinced Pietro and Wanda to stay. Could have taken that Un internship and worked my way up to a high-level job. Could have pursued what I had with Pietro-

I always got up for food by that point.

Two years after I joined, I was sent on a mission to stop illegal arms trading by Fury- though he claimed he retired with SHIELD. Such a mission led me to Wakandan borders, which led to being detained, which led to meeting the royal family in the capital.

I was beyond shocked at first. Wakanda was supposed to be a third world country. Instead it was the most technologically advanced thanks to 1 Princess Shuri.

Despite our rocky start, the royal family was welcoming. They explained their desire to stay hidden, and I swore to keep my mouth shut. After I told them why I had entered their country in the first place, they connected me with the Dora Milaje.

Everything was a piece of cake from that point on. The arms trade was stopped in two days flat.

"You ran in there like it was nobody's business," Okoye commented on the ride back.

"Impenetrable skin lets me be reckless," I chuckled, "Even Vibranium bounces right off."

Allowed to spend another day or two at the palace to recover, I was eager to check my phone after 35 hours off of it.

Do the names Pietro and Wanda Maximoff sound familiar?

Tony made a murder bot. We handled it

Totally didn't handle it!

(Y/n) we need you

Track my location.

Steven, Nat, Tony, Bruce, Clint. Groaning in exasperation, I called the throne room on the beads Shuri had gifted me as a welcoming present.

"I'm going to have to take a rain check on staying. There's a situation with the Avengers," I told King T'Chaka.

"I understand. Remember that you are always welcome here."

"Thank you, your majesty."

Across the lot was my own quinjet. I loaded my things onto it as quickly as possible and took off. When I set my track to Clint's location, Sokovia popped up. Tracking Steve's, I got the same. So it was a mistake, then. I would be returning home for the first time in two years.

Setting the quinjet to top speed, I allowed myself to take a short nap to regain some energy before the fight I knew was coming. After my nap, I checked the news. Everything source was talking about a robot invasion happening in Sokovia, and how the Avengers were focusing their efforts on evacuation as the city broke off from the ground and rose into the sky.

A strange wake up call, as you could imagine. But I saw the city with my own eyes soon enough. It was at the same height as the quinjet, and already I could see how dire the situation was. A helicarrier was prepped on one of the edges, rapidly evacuating citizens. I landed on the opposite deck, taking no time to put on a com and set it to the joint Avengers channel.

"What happening?" I asked, jumping off of the helicarrier onto the city in the sky.

"How nice of you to join us," Tony stated sarcastically, "A little science experiment got out of control, and wanted to destroy humanity as we know it."

"So the movies are true, then?"

"Sure enough. We're focusing on evac right now. Once every civilian is off this rock, we're going to let it blow. Otherwise-"

"Global catastrophe."

"You got it."

Taking off in a sprint, I was pleased to find very little civilians left in the city. And those that were out in the open were already being helped by another Avenger. Still, I did what I could and guided as many as I could find to the help decks on the helicarrier. More than once I had to cover a few people with my body to protect them from a bot that was swiftly taken out by an electric disk from my belt.

"Is that everyone?" I asked, breathless after ten minutes of non-stop running, "I haven't seen anyone else in a few."

"A mother says her child is lost in the market," Clint reported, "I'm going to run back and-"

"Help with aid. I can hurry over there," I dismissed his try with a wave of my hand and was off again.

The small boy was hidden behind some larger pieces of rubble. As soon as he was in sight, my pace picked up. But a rogue bot beat me to it. Eyes widened, I pushed myself even harder to make it to him in time. Before the panic could truly set in, the wind shifted around me and Pietro was there.

His hair was a different color, his stature had grown, and he had a new shine in his eyes, but I knew it was him. That was the catalyst. I threw my body in front of him, and pushed him down so he'd be protected by me. He cried out in protest, but I didn't stop until the droid suddenly fell to the ground, twitching with red energy.

"(Y/n)!" Wanda and Pietro cried at the same time, "You just got hit with at least thirty bullets!"

"A lot has changed since you left," I brushed some of the remaining pieces of scrap metal off my back, "But I'm fine. Let's get this boy to his mother and catch up on the helicarrier, okay?"

The mother's face when she had her son in her arms again was priceless. I wouldn't trade it for the world. All of us were checked out by doctors and cleared with minimal injuries over all. So we sat down inside, huddled together as if we'd lose each other again.

"What happened to you two after you left?" I asked them.

"It was Hydra that took us in. They gave us powers using Loki's sceptor. We were released when the Avengers raided the base we were hiding in. From there, we met Ultron," Wanda started.

"He promised us revenge, but we realized it wasn't right and switched sides. Stark, he is not that bad. Then we came here, and found you," Pietro concluded, "Since when are you bulletproof?"

"Since the day you left. It's a freak genetic mutation. My skin is indestructible, so Nick Fury recruited me to the Avengers. I was on a mission in Africa when all of this was going on. Sorry I missed most of it."

"You're here now," Pietro pulled me into a bone crushing hug. Damn, he'd gotten stronger, "That's all that matters."

"I'm going to check in with the others," Wanda placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, and left me with Pietro.

"I thought I'd never see you again," I whispered.

"I promised I'd come back, didn't I?" Pietro chuckled, "Now, we can resume where we left off."

"We're very different people now."

"Uh-huh."

"We have tons of catching up to do."

"You're right."

"Which means we should go out to dinner," I concluded, smiling brightly, "As soon as we get back to New York. What do you say?"

"Do you think I could say no to you?"