Picture is my Pietro & Glory Edit.

Music is "Rage and Serenity" by Henry Jackman from the X-Men: First Class OST.

· ~ · ~ · ~ ·

"You were a risk,

A mystery,

And the most

Certain thing I've ever known."

-Beau Taplin

· ~ · ~ · ~ ·

CHAPTER FOUR

{Glory's Point of View}

I nearly had a heart attack, panic attack, and passed out when Pietro walked in with Professor Charles freaking Xavier and James Howlett aka Logan on his flank. I'm still a damn fangirl. Still a sap for the X-Men. I had tackled Logan in a hug, something I'd tried to control myself from doing to the other Avengers, and shook Xavier's hand profusely. Xavier laughed and greeted me, saying that he had heard much about me and my abilities, but Logan just patted my back and said, "Um... hello."

Now we're sitting on my sofa, THE X-MEN ARE SITTING ON MY SOFA, and talking casually about Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters. Xavier spoke of numerous things that I didn't know. It's so exciting.

And yet, I can't shake the feeling that something is very wrong. Pietro keeps playing with his hands, something he does when he's nervous or hiding something. I'm tempted to ask why the X-Men are really here, but all Xavier says is that it's private business.

"I'm an Avenger," I say, putting my cup of Earl Grey tea down. "I deserve to know."

"You are on suspended duty, little warrior," Pietro whispers. "It is better that you do not know."

"Who said it was better?"

He sighs. "Steve did." Before I can even reply with a scowl, Pietro adds, "He is just looking out for you."

"He thinks of you as his own sister," Wanda says, entering the room. "He only wishes the safety of you and my new nieces and or nephews."

"That isn't his choice to make," I say lowly. I turn to the Professor and smile. "It was amazing to meet you. Will you be by the New Avengers Tower again?"

Xavier nods, returning my politeness. "Of course. The X-Men and New Avengers will be making joint efforts for the time being. I shall see you again, Ms. Northern."

"Please, call me Glory."

"Only if you call me Charles," he replies. He starts to wheel towards the door. "Thank you for having us. Your home is lovely."

"Oh," I chuckle, "we plan to move out of the tower once the kids are born. It's time we set out on our own." I turn to Pietro to give him a smile.

"If either of them happen to have powers, they will always be welcome at the Academy," Charles says, then saying goodbye, exits through the door.

After he and Logan are gone, I turn to the Maximoff twins and practically squeal, "Oh my realms! I just met THE Charles Xavier and THE Logan!"

Pieteo huffs, smirking. "You were not this excited to meet me."

"She was for me, brother dear," Wanda smirks. "I read her mind."

"Pietro, you kinda were dead on my lawn, remember?"

Pietro waves his hands, "Excuses, excuses."

I turn to Wanda and give her a sweet smile. "Would you be a dear and let me and Pietro talk in private?"

She nods, her long brown curls swaying. "Of course. I will see you later, dear sister." She turns to her brother and places a kiss on his cheek and then one on mine.

Once the other Maximoff twin has left our floor, I turn to Pietro and raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms. He looks at me confused. "What?"

"You know exactly what. Professor Xavier? Why was he here? Why was he at the tower?" Pietro drops his gaze to the floor. "Pietro, don't lie. Don't even think about it."

"I cannot tell you, little warrior," he whispers. "Steve said not to tell you. It is classified on the highest level. No one outside of the people in the room could know. Not even Stark."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Very."

"More dangerous than what I've dealt with this past seven months? More dangerous than HIM, than needing pills for my depression, than losing my best friend in the worst possible way? More dangerous than that, Pietro?" I scowl and shake my head. "Fine. Don't tell me. I understand."

"Do no put that on me, Glory," he says, a firm grimace on his face as his fists make balls, vibrating. "It was not my call. I am under orders-"

"-Now you sound like Steve," I cut him off. "And now I sound like Tony. Do you really think I can't handle this? That I don't deserve to know?"

"Of course you do-"

"-Then tell me! I kind of put Gregory into the ground. I kind of threw him into a wormhole to another reality." I chuckle. "I'm not a child, a secondary Avenger, or weak. I'm pregnant, no helpless." I sigh. "I'm going to have Nat reinstate me as a full time Avenger."

"What? No! You are not ready for that!" Pietro's face turns horrific.

"I won't be on missions," I promise. "I'm just going to be around the tower to help where and when I can." Pietro shakes his head to himself. "Once I'm reinstated, I'm going to get a debriefing from Wanda." I turn to television. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., turn the TV onto the news channel. Tony should be making his speech right about now."

"Which channel, Ma'am?"

"Any one." I turn back to Pietro as F.R.I.D.A.Y. does as I ask. His face is turned away from me, downturned. He looks extremely upset with my choice, and I realize I probably should've asked him about it. We are to be married, and I am having his twins. It's not just my life I have to look after anymore. Until two months from now, everything I do affects our twins directly. "Hey," I whisper, turning his chin towards me. "I'm sorry I was so pushy. I just hate being out of the loop."

He sighs, closing his eyes, taking my hand in his. "I do not want you around the Avengers at a time like this."

"Why?"

"It is not safe. We have two others to think about now." He glances down for a split second.

I rest my forehead to his. "I will be careful. I promise."

With a peck on my forehead, I hear the TV turn to the correct channel. Pietro and I head closer to it, listening to what Tony will be saying. He stands on a public, indoor stage. Security is all around him, and Rhodey stands to his right, and Pepper to his left. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to thank you all for coming out today. I will be opening the floor to questions after a few words I'd prepared.

"The Second Black Plague was a horrible incident, one that could have been avoided, and one that I take partial responsibility for. We have lost many lives, ones that could have changed the world. We lost a fellow Avenger, Ms. Aspen Penrose-Spencer, wife to Vladimir Penrose-Spencer, and my fellow Avenger's best friend. We won't forget her, or any other, sacrifice made on those days.

"It is in her honor, their honor, that I propose an act. An act that has been in the works for almost a decade, and I believe that now is a good time to start pushing it forward."

Tony pauses, looks directly in the camera, and says, "I'd like to propose the administration of the Superhero Registration Act."

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"Ms. Northern, Ms. Northern!" The reporters flock to Pietro and I as we make our way towards Tony's new office building not far from where he made his statement. There were questions to the press afterwards, mainly revolving around what happened to Black Death and why I haven't been talking, but Pietro and I didn't stick around to listen. The moment he made his intentions to push the Superhero Registration Act, we started making our way to him.

I had warned them about this! This is exactly how Civil War started! The supers took sides, and the world fell apart. I know pretty much firsthand what happened. Sure, House of M and other events hadn't happened, but it will still be just as bad, and if it continues down this path, more people will die.

Steve will die.

I won't let the closest person I have to a brother, outside Vlad, be taken from me. I won't lose more family.

I put my hand in the cameras face and push them away with my distance manipulation. "Back off!"

Pietro holds me close and glares at the reporters as they just keep coming back. "Ms. Northern, is it true that you defeated Black Death single-handedly?"

"Ms. Northern, is it true that you killed Gregory Killbane?"

"When are the babies due?"

"Are they powered like you and your fiancee?"

"When is the wedding?"

"Is it true that you're having an affair with Mr. Maximoff's sister, Wanda?"

"What happened to Ms. Aspen Penrose-Spencer?"

"Do you think the Superhero Registration Act is a good idea?"

I close my eyes and squeeze my hands into fists. "Back...off!" I push my hands out and push them all away, my eyes glowing for the first time since that fateful day. "Stay away from me and my fiancee."

Pietro picks me and and runs us into the building and past security where the paparazzi can't follow. "Why didn't you do that earlier?" I ask as he sets me down.

"I wish I had," he growls. "I hate the press more than I hate most people."

I pull him down for a kiss. "None of it was true, you know. They just like a good story."

He nods, taking my hand. "Let us go find Stark."

I nod, my smile disappearing. "He has some explaining to do."

When we find Tony, he's sitting with Pepper and Rhodey, enjoying his publicity stunt in the privacy of his office. The guards stand in our way. I walk up to them, I growl, "I'm an Avenger, I'm pregnant, I've been bullied by the press. If you know what's good for your man bits, let... me... through." When my eyes glow golden, they back away from the door.

I burst in, golden flames sparking from my body. "Oh! If I isn't Morning Glory," Tony says, smiling.

"Only my friends call me that, Anthony."

His smile falls. "Aren't I your friend?"

I cross my arms as Pietro says, "You tell us, Stark. You just made an announcement for the entire world of something Glory warned you about! Do you have a death wish?"

"Possibly," he replies, sarcastic as ever.

I groan and push him back in this chair. "I told you what would become of this stupid law if it's passed. I warned you! And what do you do? Go right on with your own ways! How stupid are you?"

"We need this act," Rhodey says, jumping in to help Tony.

"No, we don't!"

"You saw first hand what happened when supers don't register and they go dark side," Tony replies. "They level cities. They kill millions, and now we have over two thousand more mutants than we did a year ago. We can prevent that-"

"-And start a war in the process?" Pietro shouts, his accent heavier than usual. "I want my family to live in a safe world. A world where Captain America and Iron Man are not sacrificing the lives of others in their petty disputes!"

"You're young," Tony says in a cold tone. "You haven't seen war yet, boy. You want war? Try being held captive in the middle east for months on end and only getting out with the help of a brave and selfless man, who will die. Try being forced to make weapons that will kill innocent people like your parents, Maximoff. Live through that, and then we can talk about war."

Pietro's eyes glow blue. "I may have not seen war like you have, Stark, but you made the weapons that destroyed my home, my county, my family. After you killed my parents, Wanda and I ran for our lives from you. Not only did we live in a war-torn country, but we lived on the streets!" His face gets contoured with anger and his body is rigid. "We starved most days, because of what you did! I had Wanda to look after, and I gave her everything I could. I protected her from the criminals who wanted to hurt her, use her. We had to steal and live in abandoned houses until we were 15 years old. I could not protect the other half of me, because our parents were taken... because of you!"

"Pietro-"

"-No!" Tears slip down his cheeks as I place my hand on his side, trying to comfort him even though I'm about to cry. "While you sat in your lavish homes and ate and drank until you were stuffed and drunk, just remember that there were people, children, starving, freezing, and dying because of you." Tony's face is emotionless. "Old men declare war, but it is the youth who fight and die. You should be ashamed of yourself." With that, Pietro runs out and is gone.

I turn slowly to the group of three, tears in my eyes. I figured... about his childhood after the bombing and before Alma, the woman who took care of them, but I didn't fully understand. "He's not wrong," I whisper.

Tony's face is turned down. "The Avengers are getting I.D.s this week. I'll have Pepper send you the information form to fill out. You'll get a credit card with no limit for being a full time Avenger, and you'll be allowed anywhere on either tower with the right clearance."

I shake my head and sigh. "You're unbelievable." I turn to leave. "We'll be moving out of your tower in the next couple days. Put that on your forms."

END CHAPTER FOUR