So just...hold on for me, okay? Just hold on.

Dahlia nuzzled her chin into the warmth below her, pursing her lips unconsciously as she did. The sounds of her words haunted her dreams, echoing around the walls of her brain, repeating over and over. The faint sound of music, the song they danced to in the kitchen, played quietly in the farthest part of her mind.

Just

Hold

On

Three little words should be easy to fulfill. Even at a young age, you know several things. Up is up, down is down, and three? Well, it's a little number, everyone knows that.

So why were those three words unsure? Why weren't they 100% sure that he could?

Holding on was simple, you just keep your grip tight and refuse to let it go. So why was he slipping?

Dahlia had fallen asleep for the first time in quite a bit, and it was far from pleasant.

Her dark hair was spread out across a plain white sheet, the kind of white that would make someone want to claw their eyes out. Her chest rose and fell in a calm rhythm, her lips pressed together, and her eyes were closed gently. A dark red t-shirt, depicting the band, Queen, hung on her frame, and she also wore light grey sweatpants, far too baggy to to be presentable.

The only reasons she was wearing anything other than her combat suit was because Natasha had brought clothes to her. She refused to leave.

The place in question she refused to leave?

Pietro's hospital room.

He had been in horrible condition upon arrival, with a huge amount of blood loss, and the bullets penetrated some major organs.

He was only barely alive when they got him off of the ship, and the doctors said the only thing that was keeping him from slipping out of their grasp was his powers.

His cells had been tampered with enough that they now could regenerate at ten times the speed of an unenhanced person. The doctors couldn't properly predict if he'd be okay or when, because they've never dealt with a patient with his kind of abilities.

Three goddamn weeks she'd been waiting there.

Three weeks of continuously more depressing doctor's visits.

Three weeks of people telling her to get rest, go back to her room, or simply, get out of there.

Three weeks of staying up, worrying that if she let herself nod off, the pulse on the heart monitor might stop, the familiar beeping ceasing, and he'd be gone. All without her knowing.

Stupid three. Disappointing in all capacities.

Dahlia had never felt more weak. She felt stupid. She couldn't stop the bullets, she couldn't make him wake up. She couldn't do anything, except wait.

And it was killing her.

The warmth below her head moved, and in her sleep deprived state, she simply dismissed it, nearly drifting to sleep. Soft fingertips ran through her hair, and yet she didn't stir.

A low chuckle sent vibrations through her, and Dahlia remained still for a moment more until the pieces fit together in her head.

Her head shot straight up, nearly hitting someone in the jaw with her skull.

"Leave it to you to nearly knock me out in the hospital." An all-too familiar voice with a Sokovian accent spoke, and it definitely wasn't Wanda.

"P-Pietro?" Her voice was quiet, not believing that this was anything more than a dream. Dahlia reached her hand out, lightly touching his jaw, and after feeling the softness under her touch, could accurately conclude that it was in fact, true.

Pietro Maximoff was sitting right in front of her. Alive.

She couldn't contain herself anymore, and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

"You douchebag." Dahlia choked out, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

"Hey! I'm in the hospital, you can't call me names until I'm out." Pietro joked, but paused when he saw the tears cascading down her face. He pulled her back in.

"I really thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again, and I got so sad... fuck." Dahlia wiped the drops from her face, her face flushing with red. "I haven't cried like this in years."

Pietro's gaze softened. "I hope you never have to again."

"If you ever make me think you're dead again, I swear to you, Pietro Django Maximoff, I will slap the shit out of you. That was not okay." Dahlia's face was dead serious, but a smile found its way onto it, unable to be stern when he was alive and here with her.

"Wait, how do you know my middle name?"

"If you haven't noticed, Wanda loves me."

The door creaked open, and Wanda stood behind it. Her eyes widened when she saw Pietro's smiling face, and rushed forward to envelop him in a bone-crushing hug.

Dahlia smiled at their interaction. "I'll give you guys some privacy."

She excused herself from the room, not quite sure where to go from here. Luckily, things were never far from full around Dahlia, especially not in the new Avengers facility, which was where they were currently.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dahlia Anelace in the flesh."

"Nick." Dahlia grinned at the sound of Nick Fury's voice behind her.

"You caused quite the stir back at Sokovia." Fury said, resting his hands on the metal railing in front of them.

Dahlia stopped for a moment at the sound of the city where she thought she lost Pietro. She cleared her throat before responding. "Yeah, well, we all did."

"True, however, I'm specifically talking about you here."

"What about me?"

"The public has never seen you, or the Maximoff twins, for that matter, ever before. They've taken it upon themselves to treat you as Avengers, though I'm aware you are not." Nick said, tapping away at his watch.

"Why does this matter?" Dahlia raised an eyebrow.

His watch projected a headline. The headline read, 'AVENGERS SAVE SOKOVIA: NEW SUPERHEROES?'.

"They have chosen to make you an Avenger in their minds, even going so far as giving you a superhero nickname."

She couldn't help the excited flutter in her stomach, Of course, she still didn't know what she wanted, but the possibility made her anxious, in a good way.

"Whats the nickname?"

Fury looked at her surprisingly, not expecting her to be curious.

"Well, what the locals are calling it, in their native language, is 'La Belladone'. It's Sokovian for 'The Belladonna'."

"Like the poisonous flowers?"

"Exactly."

"I kinda love it," A smile crept onto her face. "It's beautiful, but can kill you so easily. I couldn't have chosen a better name myself."

Nick smirked. "So, I think you know what it is that I'm going to ask."

"Yeah," Dahlia smiled. "I do. I will train to be an Avenger. I'll leave S.H.I.E.L.D. indefinitely, and I'll stay here..."

She hesitated before finishing her sentence. "With my family."

Fury smiled to himself. "I thought you'd say that. The Maximoff's will be training as well, though I doubt you'll be in the program for long. After all, you are an experienced field agent."

Dahlia's eyes conveyed all the sincerity that she couldn't put into words. "Thank you, Nick."

" Anytime, Dahlia," Fury turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, and one last thing?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell that Maximoff boy that I'm not afraid to kick his ass if he does something wrong."

Dahlia chuckled. "I'm pretty sure he already knows that."

"It wouldn't hurt to tell him again."

"Whatever you say."

•

Back in the hospital, the Maximoff twins were having a rather sweet moment, but if you knew Pietro at all, you would know that wouldn't last for long.

"I just wanna move, is that a crime?"

"I told you, the doctors are being careful because they have no idea how fast your cells can fix all of the damage." Wanda sighed, slightly annoyed but relieved he was feeling like himself.

"Ugh, I feel like I haven't moved in forever." He paused. "Wait. How long was I unconscious?"

"...Three weeks."

"Wow. That's a lot. That's like..." Pietro tried to do the math in his head, but he obviously wasn't great at it. "Seventy-five days!"

"More like twenty-one." Wanda rolled her eyes.

"In all seriousness, I'm sorry I scared you." Pietro looked up at her.

"I know you are."

Pietro's brow furrowed as a question came to mind. "How was Dahlia here when I woke up? How did she know when I was going to wake up?"

"She didn't. She's barely left since you arrived."

He smirked, but Wanda didn't miss the flicker of a blush on his cheeks before he did so. "I knew she was in love with me. She kept denying it, but I knew it."

"She's gonna stop real soon if you don't quit it with all the cockiness," Wanda clapped a hand over her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say that."

"I knew it! I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Dahlia was in the doorway, with her arms crossed and leaving on the doorframe.

"Nothing." Wanda said quickly.

"Just that you're completely, totally, undeniably in love with me, princessa." Pietro winked.

"For a dude in a hospital bed, you're pretty full of yourself." She laughed.

"He won't stay still, not since he woke up." Wanda spoke to the girl in front of him.

Dahlia sighed, pressing a buzzer on the wall. "The doctor will be in soon. Maybe she'll find out that you're all of a sudden 100% healed or something. It's a possibility."

"I was trying to tell Wanda to do that for like ten minutes and she wouldn't listen to me!" Pietro turned to his sister. "I told you, small child-"

"Twelve minutes! That's it!"

"Hush child," Pietro shushed her. "What I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, was that anything is possible when you're Pietro Maximoff."

"Even hitting yourself in the face with a spatula while you try to make pancakes, apparently." Wanda smirked at her brother.

"One time!"

•

"Can't you stop running around for one second? I need to tell you something."

"Dahls, I haven't been able to move for three weeks, just give me this."

"Dahls?"

"You said that Clint's daughter calls you 'Lia, and I wanted my own nickname for you. Well, one that isn't a swear. Also, it's cute. It's like doll, but with your name!"

Dahlia snorted. "You're a dork."

"Yeah, but you like this dork."

"Believe what you want."

Pietro finally stopped running and plopped down on the bench beside Dahlia. The two were really taking advantage of the new Avengers base location, with the rural scenery. Almost every single day they could be seen taking walks all around the compound, mostly consisting of Pietro running back and forth, like a crazed dog.

"So what did you want to tell me?" He panted, turning to look at her.

Dahlia swallowed and looked at the man across from her, feeling the nerves in the bottom of her stomach. "We've talked about what I was going to do after all the Ultron shit was over, and now that it is..."

Pietro's eyes filled with anxiety, knowing that what she chose could effectively make or ruin the romantic future that he had already planned out in his head for them.

"And?" His voice was soft. "What are you choosing?"

"Say hello to your newest Avengers trainee, Dahlia Anelace."

Without thinking about it, Pietro picked her up in the air and spun her around.

"You're really staying?" A uncontrollably giddy smile refused to leave his face.

"How else would I be able to go on that date with you?" Dahlia mischievously grinned. "One question, though."

Pietro looked panicked for a moment. "What?"

"Can I get popcorn on this date in question?"

"Darling, if you go out with me, I'll buy you the world's supply of popcorn."