I stayed still as Natasha applied my makeup. Wanda, Natasha, and I were all getting ready for the party in Wanda's room. Wanda and Natasha had picked out a very pretty blue dress for me, while Natasha had a gorgeous black one and Wanda had a nice red one.

"So, are you going to tell us what's going on between you and Pietro, or are we going to have guess?" Natasha asked, dusting my eyelids with eyeshadow.

"I – uh... what?" I said, surprised. "There – there's nothing going on between us."

I opened my eyes to see Wanda and Natasha exchanging glances.

"You'd better tell him that," Wanda chuckled, sitting down on her bed. "He barely stops thinking about you."

I felt my cheeks heat up and I looked away. Were my feelings for him reciprocated? I suppose I had noticed him looking at me a lot, and he didn't call anyone else Printsessa, or Draga.

I was supposed to be smart, goddammit. But I'd never dealt with romance before. Thankfully Natasha and Wanda dropped the subject.

Once we were finished, we made our way to the party. Most of the guests had already arrived and were all talking loudly with each other. Natasha, Wanda, and I walked over to Sam and Bucky. Bucky had a traumatised look on his face, and Sam was wearing a shit-eating grin.

"I didn't really pull the steering wheel out of your hands, did I?" Bucky asked in horror.

Sam nodded, trying to hide his grin.

"You also stabbed Caesar," he said.

Bucky looked to him in confusion, and his eyebrows knit together as he did the math.

"Did not," he said. "I know I killed JFK, but Caesar is too old."

Everyone was silent for a minute.

"You killed JFK?" Nat asked.

"Oh, right, not something to say at parties," he said. "Where's Steve?"

I looked around the crowd and found the other super soldier before pointing at him. Bucky thanked me and walked away, leaving the rest of us dumbfounded.

"I'm sure he's joking," I said, laughing uncertainly.

Everyone started laughing half-heartedly.

"Well, I'm going to go find Maria," Natasha said. "See you."

She slipped away through the crowd, leaving me with Sam and Wanda. Before anyone could say anything, Pietro arrived. He wore a really nice blue button up shirt and black pants.

"Hey, Wanda," he said nudging her. "And – oh... Y/n... you look beautiful."

Pietro looked me up and down. He then stared at me for what seemed like hours before Wanda nudged him hard.

"Want to dance?" Pietro asked me.

I grinned and nodded and he extended his hand. I took it and allowed him to pull me to the dance floor. Fine Line by Harry Styles began to play as Pietro took my waist and my hand.

"This is familiar," Pietro murmured.

I nodded nervously. Did Pietro really like me? Should I just kiss him? I really wanted to...

His eyes were so pretty. When I first saw them I thought that they were blue like a clear sky, but after analysing them I realised they were blue like glaciers. They were the colour of the cold, but his personality could be anything but. He was kind, he was fearless, he was caring.

He was everything I wanted, and I was going to get it.

"Pietro?" I said softly.

He hummed once in response.

"I really like you."

He tensed, and I realised I'd messed up. He didn't like me back.

"I – I'm sorry-" I said, beginning to pull away.

Pietro's hand on my waist tightened and he pulled me closer. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to find something to say. I guessed he just couldn't figure out which words to use, because he leant in to kiss me instead.

A loud crash interrupted us before our lips could meet and Pietro pushed me behind him protectively. I looked to the now-broken window to see agents wearing all black attacking the Avengers. I saw red magic shielding guests and I watched as a familiar shield bounced off of three different agents.

"Get behind the bar," Pietro said, giving me a small shove in the right direction.

Like the smart person I was, I listened to him and jumped over and hid behind the bar. Gunshots started and I covered my ears. Glass began to shatter above me, courtesy of the bullets hitting the glass bottles of alcohol. Soon enough the noises stopped, and I slowly removed my hands from my ears.

When I heard Pietro call my name, I looked up and saw him hanging over the bar. He reached down and I reached up as he hauled me up. I looked down to my dress to see stains and slices in the fabric. I frowned. I really liked this dress.

Pietro pulled me over the bar, where I saw someone kneeling down in front of the Avengers with his hands behind his back. He looked up at me and grinned as I recognised him.

How could I not recognise the man who authorized the experiments on me? Francis Freeman, or as he preferred to be known, Ajax.

"Hydra's been looking for you," he said. "It's been years since we've seen your pretty face."

All of the Avengers turned to look at me and my breath caught in my throat. Francis noticed my discomfort and grinned evilly.

"Allying yourself with the Avengers was smart," Francis continued. "Makes it harder for us to kill you."

Pietro grabbed me and nudged me behind him. I grabbed onto his arm as Francis continued to grin at me.

"You blew up my apartment building," I stated.

Francis grinned wider.

"The perfect mind works, huh?" he smirked. "Yeah, we blew up your apartment building. Had fun doing it, too. Almost as much fun as killing your parents."

Before anyone could react, Francis broke out of his handcuffs and pointed a gun at Pietro. The gunshot sounded as I pushed Pietro out of the way and closed my eyes. I waited to feel the bullet pierce my flesh, but nothing came.

I opened my eyes to see the bullet floating mid-air in front of my face. I glanced to Wanda who was gaping at me. There was no red magic around the bullet, which meant...

"Extreme conditions," Francis whispered.

Natasha kicked him in the face and Francis fell to the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell, Y/n?"