7/1 Instance: Hero to Zero

[tears~fall~like~glass]

Timelined right after [Instance]Bros Before Hos.


Pietro: Pietro finally made it back to the apartment, running a hand through his hair and tossing his phone onto the coffee table. Emma was a little dubious about semi-permanent houseguests that might freeze one of the residents solid by accient but he'd talked her round. He picked up Smudge and looked for Illyana while he petted him. She wasn't home.

Pietro: Why wasn't she home? Had someone called her? He found her phone in the kitchen and panic flooded him.

Illyana: Illyana was just teleporting in with her arms full of shopping bags. "I know I know! Mommy's sorry babies!" She called to her kitties as she sat her bags down, then hurried to the kitchen to get their food.

Illyana: Sprinkles mewed at her in protest of her late dinner.

Pietro: Oh thank God! He put Smudge down on the counter and pulled Illyana into a hug.

Illyana: "Eeep!" Illyana hugged him back. "I'm sorry! I just couldn't help it. I found the most adorable baby things. Come look!" She pulled him toward the entry way where her bags were. The kittens could wait.

Pietro: He went with her willingly, glad to have the excuse to put off what he didn't want to do for just a little while longer. She hadn't left... but it didn't mean she wouldn't.

Illyana: She pulled out duck and frog bath sets. "I know we don't know what we're having yet... but a lot of this is gender neutral. So no matter what we're set. Right?!"

Pietro: He smiled at her, "They're very cute." The smile didn't quite reach his eyes, the worry still visible there.

Illyana: "Oh and feel this blanket!" She held up a super soft blanket for him, then paused when she saw his face. "You're mad... I know I should have waited for you, but I just got so excited..."

Pietro: He shook his head, reaching to run a hand over the blanket. It was very soft. "I'm not angry..." He pushed the blanket back into the bag and took her hands in his.

Illyana: "Then what's wrong?" She squeezed his hands in return, keeping her eyes on him.

Pietro: "I need to tell you something... and I know you're going to be very angry with me..."

Illyana: Illyana could feel her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. "Ok..." Her mind raced with a thousand possibilities as to what could be wrong. What had he done? Had he cheated on her?!

Pietro: "Before I tell you what it is.... I want to show you something...." He wanted her to see now so that at least he could see what she thought of it before she disappeared from his life.

Illyana: "Just tell me!" She could feel herself starting to shake.

Pietro: He bit his lip and looked away from her, "You asked me about the Marauders... I might not have been entirely truthful..."

Illyana: "What do you mean entirely truthful?"

Pietro: "I know what happened to them. To all of them. I know because I was there. And none of their deaths were accidental." He couldn't bring himself to look at her.

Illyana: Illy's brain just couldn't process that. What was he talking about. "What?" She gave him a very confused look.

Pietro: "We killed them." He made himself turn his face towards hers, "We killed the Marauders and then we killed Essex."

Illyana: "What? We who?"

Pietro: "Myself, a few other students, Bobby, Rogue and Jason..." Poor Jason...

Illyana: "Are you telling me you killed people?"

Pietro: He nodded.

Illyana: "So this is a joke right? You've got Liza with a camera to catch my reaction or something?"

Pietro: He shook his head, "No joke. There was a mission today to the island where they were being held... we sneaked onto the jet and into the base while the X-men distracted the guards..."

Illyana: The somewhat smile fell from her face. "You're serious about this?"

Pietro: He gave a weary nod. "I wanted to tell you before...."

Illyana: Illyana took a moment to process what he just said. He and a group of other students were vigilanties and killed people. Not only that, he had flat out lied to her. Her Pietro, who had promised to always tell her the truth when she asked had straight up lied to her.

Illyana: She jerked her hands away from him and took a few steps back. Her Pietro, who wouldn't hurt a fly, was a murderer. "How many people did you kill, Pietro?"

Pietro: He shook his head, "I don't-..." he tried to think back and count but... "I don't know..."

Illyana: Not only was he a murderer, he didn't even know how many! She felt sick. So very sick. She ran for the bathroom.

Pietro: Pietro put his face in his hands, "Will you let me show you what I wanted to show you?"

Illyana: "I don't care what you have to say or what you have to show me." She told him after she was finished puking. "You LIED to me. YOU. Pietro. Who promised me that you would always tell me the truth when I asked."

Pietro: "I had to! I wasn't the only one involved and I knew you wouldn't take it well!"

Illyana: "So that justifies lying to me?! What else have you lied about?! Do you have a mistress? Are you still sleeping with Monet? Do you have a whole other family?!"

Pietro: "Nothing! Just that one thing. Illyana, please let me try to explain..."

Illyana: "Well how am I supposed to believe that now?!"

Pietro: "Because I'm telling you now! It's over! Objective achieved! We don't have to ever worry about Essex again!"

Illyana: "I asked you and you lied to me. Who knows what else you are lying about! Are you even my husband!? Because the man I married wouldn't lie to his wife and he sure as hell wouldn't kill people!"

Pietro: "Illyana, I did it to protect you! And everyone else at that school - our children! I couldn't let a man like that stay in this world! I swear to you that's the only thing I've kept from you!"

Illyana: "Well news flash, there's always another one! And another and another! The WORLD isn't safe. And now... I can't even stand to look at you."

Pietro: "I had to stop him, Illyana. I had to..." the fight had gone out of him, he looked down at the floor.

Illyana: "You're no better than he is." She told him, wiping away her tears. "X-men don't kill, Pietro. I don't know you or what you are anymore."

Pietro: "I'm nothing like him!" That hurt and frightened him in equal measure. Essex was just like his father.

Illyana: "Aren't you? Using excessive force to get what you want? How is that any better? At least he doesn't hide who he is. He's honest about it. Was..."

Pietro: Pietro just stared at her. Was she right? Was he really like that? Despite everything he'd done to avoid it? He backed up from her and shook his head. No. He wasn't. He refused to believe that. He was better. He was right.

Illyana: Illyana wiped more of her tears away. "You're supposed to be the hero, Pietro." She told him softly.

Pietro: "He needed to be stopped... he just kept coming back... we had to..." he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince now, her or himself.

Illyana: "And the idea of capturing him and holding him accountable didn't occur to any of you?"

Pietro: "He always gets away. Someone like that... he'd have connections high up... they'd just make it go away... How else do you think they can operate the way they do?"

Illyana: "Doesn't make it ok to stoop to his level."

Pietro: "He experimented on our friends! Hank's bright blue, Illyana! None of us would ever do that to them!"

Illyana: "You killed people." She said simply. "And lied to your wife about it. You broke a promise to me and you aren't even sorry. You're PROUD to be a murderer! What happens now, Pietro!?" She got back to her feet, suddenly very aware of how real all this was. "What happens when they lock YOU in jail and I have to raise twins on my own!?"

Pietro: "You won't have to do anything alone, and that's even assuming that happens. How can I make you understand why we had to do this?"

Illyana: "I don't want to understand why you did this! And why don't I have to worry about it? The right thing to do is to turn you all in."

Pietro: "There's no evidence that we did anything."

Illyana: "Oh so that makes it all ok. You got away with it. You're a brilliant serial killer."

Pietro: He sighed, moving to the living room to collect his phone from the coffee table. "We did it to stop them hurting anyone else."

Illyana: "You're still a liar and a murderer, Pietro. And proud to be one."

Pietro: "I'm not proud, Illyana. I'm just not sorry." He straightened up and turned to face her again. "I wanted to tell you before you found out from somebody else. I wanted a chance to explain... so, I suppose, thank you for listening..."

Illyana: "Thank you for listening?! What am I supposed to do now, Pietro!?"

Pietro: "I don't know.... I can't tell you that... do what you think's right... what I'd like you to do is to say it's okay and that you forgive me but I know that's not going to happen."

Illyana: "It isn't ok! And you broke a promise to me. How am I supposed to trust you again? You could be lying at any moment."

Pietro: "I had to lie... no one was supposed to find out... but everything's messed up now and it's all going to come out anyway... I didn't want to tell you because... because I didn't want to see you look at me like that."

Illyana: "You should have been honest with me, Pietro. You should have told me the truth."

Pietro: "And you would have left sooner..."

Illyana: She handn't said a thing about leaving, but he had several times. Should she leave? What was she supposed to do. She threw up again. That was easy enough.

Pietro: Pietro wanted to go to her but he didn't know if he should. "I-I'm sorry... just please know that I did it because I wanted to protect you..."

Illyana: "Don't you DARE make this about me!"

Pietro: "Who should I make it about? That's the truth whether you want to hear it or not. You want honesty, you have it."

Illyana: "Great... I turned my husband into a killer..." She cried harder than she had before.

Pietro: He sighed and went to her, kneeling beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "I did this for everyone..."

Illyana: "I need some air...."

Pietro: He nodded, "Do you want me to leave...?"

Illyana: "I'm going." She told him, getting to her feet. She needed her phone. Though the only person she wanted to talk to about this, was going to tell her he told her so. She didn't really want that either.

Pietro: "Okay..." he ran a hand through his hair, "I'm... going to go up to the house... if you want to talk to me that's where I'll be..."

Illyana: "OK." She told him softly, finding her phone.

Pietro: He started for the door but paused when Smudge brushed up against his leg and mewed plaintively. Then he remembered that they hadn't been fed yet and went to do that before he left.

Illyana: Illyana teleported out while he was busy with the cats. She needed fresh air and lots of it if she was to think this through.

[Ult_Sm86]

Something tells me Pietro's place is going to become a bachelor pad when Bobby comes around...

[Ferguson]

Muwhaaa, the fighting is so delicious and also, looool at the title, now stuck in my head.

[Slarti]

Pietro and Bobby should just give up on the wimmenz and go for each other.

[Svartfreja]

LMAO! Peeto says noooooooooooooooooooooo D:

[Ult_Sm86]

Who put the GLAD in GLADIATOR?

QUICK-SIL-VER!


I think if Bobby & Pietro were to hook up, we can expect Kevin to be lurking around the corner, creating alternate realities and paradigm shifts.

[Starfish]

Mmmm, so much juicy delicious drama.