Thanks for sticking with this story! It's been a crazy week and a half, but I did it-one chapter a day for ten days!

I'd like to take this opportunity to extend a thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story. Your support is really appreciated. :) I plan to write more stories, especially with summer coming up. I just need to get past finals first…

On to the final chapter! Feel free to live ideas or prompts in a review. I have ideas for multi-chapter fics, but I'd be interested in writing some one shots or two shots focusing on the twins. I plan to post another story in a couple weeks, after my school lets out for summer.

Well, that's pretty much it. Sorry about the really long author's note. You guys are amazing. Killing Wanda was never even on the table for me-I'm not that mean. I just thought it would be an interesting direction to take the story in-but of course, she's going to stay alive.

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Enjoy!

Pietro's full mug of coffee swam before his eyes. He couldn't remember another time he'd felt this tired-or this relieved.

As soon as he'd stumbled back to tell the others that Wanda was alive, Clint had pressed a mug of fresh coffee into his hands with a "You earned it, kid." Since then, Pietro had downed three cups and still couldn't fully wake up. But it didn't matter-Wanda was going to make a full recovery. The doctors were sure of it. And he could finally relax.

"Are the two of you done almost-getting-killed?" Tony asked, grabbing more shawarma (they'd ordered takeout). "Seems like it would be exhausting."

"Believe me, it is." Pietro barely managed to stifle a yawn. Once this was all over he was going to sleep for a week straight. "Have you found out anything about that HYDRA agent yet?" The agent in question was being held in a secure facility in upstate New York for interrogation. He still raved about seeing giant luminescent cuttlefish. Pietro was beginning to wonder if cuttlefish was a widespread fear among the human population. Then again, he'd seen a cuttlefish documentary himself. It had been quite disturbing, actually.

"Not much we didn't know before. Apparently, he was sent to kill both of you. We still don't know who he's working for or where he got his orders, but we'll find out. We have efficient ways to make people talk."

"How was Wanda when you last saw her?" Steve asked.

"Sleeping soundly. The doctors expect the fever to break sometime tomorrow or the next day. She's still under the effects of anesthesia, so she'll be really groggy and disoriented when she comes to. But she's alive, free of complications, and in no danger." It felt so good to say that, after everything he'd had to live through in the last twenty four hours.

"Hear, hear!" James said, raising a glass in a toast. "To the Maximoff twins, and their incredible inability to stay dead. May the two of you survive many other close shaves in the future."

The other Avengers clinked glasses. Pietro would have joined in as well, but he was about to fall asleep sitting up.

"Get some sleep." Clint told him. "Wanda will be fine, and I'll let you know if anything changes. I'll also be sure to call Laura and tell her the good news." He stood up and walked out of the room, already dialing.

"That's all right. I want to stay up with the rest of-"

"Kid, we're breaking out the alcohol. You gave us all some gray hairs." Tony added. "Last time I checked, you're still underage."

Pietro rolled his eyes, grabbed a last piece of shawarma, and dashed off. Half a second later, he was standing outside the door of his bedroom three floors below. As he stepped inside, he marveled at the fact that nothing had changed. His jacket was still hung over the edge of his desktop chair where he'd thrown it in his hurry. His tennis shoes were still in a neat line under the window. And yet, in the world outside this little room, things were constantly changing and constantly in motion.

He was changing, too.

He no longer took things for granted anymore.

He missed the Bartons, but it was nice to be in a place where he didn't have to listen to Cooper tossing and turning as he tried to get to sleep. "It's good to be back." he whispered as he dive bombed his bed, shoes and all.

He fell asleep still in day old clothes.

When Wanda came to, she was in an unfamiliar room with sterile white walls and a few pieces of machinery that she vaguely recognized but couldn't quite place.

Just then, a woman came in with her arms full of towels. "Good! You're up!" she said, smiling brightly. "How do you feel?"

"Better. What happened?" The last twenty four hours had all been a blur. She could remember coming in and out of consciousness a few times and her ever present brother, but not much else.

"There were certain…complications. We almost weren't able to operate. But we managed to get the bullet out. You're going to be fine. However, you'll need plenty of rest and recovery time-no overly strenuous activities for at least another two weeks. You have visitors. Should I send them in?"

"Sure." Wanda tried to sit up, though her wound still throbbed dully.

The woman, who Wanda had placed as a kind of nurse, left humming softly. Wanda realized she was in some kind of hospital room; the machinery was familiar to her because she'd seen it in the sick bay on the helicarrier so long ago.

Clint came in a minute later. "Hey." he said, handing her something large and white. "Nice to see you awake again. The kids made this, but it's from all of us. I stopped by last night once we were sure you'd be okay."

Wanda realized he'd given her a card. It was very colorful, covered in little drawings of unicorns and cartoon superheroes. In the center of the card, Lila had written GET WELL SOON in her little girl printing. The other members of the Barton family had signed around the outside-even Nathaniel, although Wanda expected Laura had signed the card for him. "It's beautiful. Please tell them that they have my thanks."

"Tell them yourself. Director Fury and I were having a talk…I was wondering if you and Pietro would like to go back to the farm while you recover, just for a week or two. Of course, we'll have better security. Tony has already increased the range of the security cameras to about five acres on all sides of the house-"

"It sounds wonderful." Wanda was more excited than she probably should have been. The farm had quickly become her favorite place in the entire world. She liked it even more than Avengers Tower, with all of its gadgets to play around with. "I would love to, and I'm sure Pietro feels the same way. Speaking of which, where is he?"

"Asleep, hopefully. He hasn't gotten any sleep for about thirty six hours at least. He was always with you, through all the procedures. You really scared him. You scared all of us."

"I know. It was never my intention…I just acted on instinct."

"As I'm sure Pietro would have. Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure you gave him more than a few grey hairs. I'll see if he's up. I'm sure he really wants to see you."

Not as much as Wanda wanted to see him. "Is he mad at me?"

Clint shrugged. "Maybe a little bit. But I know he's relived to have you back." He handed her a cup of dark coffee. "Figured you'd want some. Pietro's been downing four cups a day. Good thing he has a high tolerance-otherwise I think we'd all be in trouble. He loves you a lot-you know that, right? More than anything."

Wanda took a small sip of coffee and nodded. "I know. And the feeling is mutual."

She still felt guilty. She'd thought nothing could compare to the twelve days she'd had to live through without Pietro. And now she'd almost made her brother face an entire life without her. And yet, she didn't regret her decision. She'd take that bullet again, if it meant Pietro would live.

She just hoped he could forgive her for it.

Pietro slept for almost a full day. In fact, he would have slept longer if it weren't for his stomach growling like a caged animal. He stumbled to the kitchen to see if there was any cereal left.

There wasn't.

Steve was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. "There's extra pancakes in the pan. Take a few when you go to see Wanda. She's probably hungry."

Pietro had just been sitting down to butter a piece of toast. Now he almost fell out of his chair in surprise. "She's awake?"

"Yeah. I just talked to her, actually. She's doing very well."

"And no one thought to get me up?" He speared a few pancakes and downed them in maple syrup, powdered sugar, and whipped cream.

"You were exhausted. You looked like you could use a few hours of sleep."

"Can I go see her now?"

"Of course. Clint wants to talk to you, when you have a minute. But take your time. There's no rush."

"There's always a rush." Within ten seconds, Pietro had filled another plate with pancakes and was out the door and down the hall, creating a breeze that sent the newspaper flying in every direction. "Sorry!" he called, even though he wasn't really sorry at all.

Just then, his phone rang to signal an incoming text. He crashed to a halt, narrowly avoiding a wall and a doorframe. The message was from Clint. Up for another week at the farm? Wanda has already agreed.

Was he seriously the last one to the party? As long as Cooper doesn't miss having his own room.

Finally, he reached the door to the recovery room Wanda had been assigned to. For some reason he couldn't explain, he felt nervous. In fact, he had to open the door and walk in quickly before he could lose his nerve.

The recovery room was a pretty good size. Besides the bed, which looked like it belonged in a five star hotel, it also boasted a chaise lounge, a table and chairs set, a leather couch, and the largest plasma screen TV he'd ever seen. We have to watch something on there.

"You're here!" Wanda said, beckoning him over. "You must have been tired."

"More than you can imagine." He handed her the plate of pancakes. "These are for you."

"Thanks." They were skirting around the big issue and they both knew it.

"I hear we're going back to the farm."

"Yes! Isn't it wonderful? Clint is even going to split the sun porch in half so you can have your own room. He said he has a feeling we'll be regulars."

Pietro could imagine spending holidays at the farm. "Maybe we will be." He hoped that he'd get a chance to try Laura's famous garlic mashed potatoes. He'd heard they were absolutely delicious.

"I'm sorry."

He stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"For this. For all of this." She indicated the entire room with one sweeping gesture. "I know how it must have felt-"

"No. You don't. On the helicarrier, you knew I was going to die before you even arrived-even if you didn't want to admit it. I didn't know whether you would live or die. I had to go through almost two days knowing that you could die at any moment. Hours of worry. And then you flat lined and I…Let's just say we're even. Twelve days of death is equivalent to thirty six hours in the hospital. And the coffee tastes terrible."

"I almost regret introducing you."

"At some points, it was the only thing keeping me going." Now that Pietro had starting talking, he didn't seem to be able to stop. "Why did you do that? Why did you take that bullet for me? Why didn't you-"

"Get shot and die-again? Like I was going to let that happen. Pietro, you've always been looking out for me. But you have to understand that I also look out for you. You would die to protect me without thinking twice. And I would die for you. We have each other's backs. And if we have to make sacrifices, then we make them."

"Only when absolutely necessary."

"Right. Only in cases of great peril." She extended a hand for him to shake. "Friends?"

He embraced her instead. "Friends-and siblings."

They talked for hours. When they finally ran out of things to say, they watched movies until Pietro was sure his eyes were about to burn their way out of his skull. He didn't care. He was with his sister and they were both alive and well-that was all that mattered.

Finally, they realized it had grown close to midnight. "You know, we should probably try to get some sleep." Pietro didn't feel remotely tired, but he knew he was going to have to get his sleep schedule back on track at some point. That fifth cup of coffee he'd just had really wasn't helping. He just wanted time to think.

There could be a time when they could lose each other, but for now they had tonight.

And tonight was enough.

"How does it feel?" Pietro asked as Wanda lay down carefully. She strategically refrained from putting weight on her bad side.

"Fine. Almost new. It might not even scar."

It would always leave a scar-at least to him.

But even scars could fade with time-or at least not feel so raw.

"Sleep well, Wanda." And even if you can't, I'm right here.

"You too, Pietro."

For once, he was sure he would.

When he was younger, Pietro, was convinced he was a star.

He was constantly on fire-always moving and always laughing. He could never sit still, even before the scepter had enhanced his powers. The world had always been too slow to him. He'd always felt invincible.

Until he'd realized that even he was no match for the sheer power of a few well-placed bullets.

Rightly, his star should have gone out right there. But then he was brought back and given a second chance. Since then he'd made mistakes and had triumphs. He'd almost lost his sister, the one real family member he had left. But the universe had decided they deserved a happy ending once in a while. And so Pietro knew he could go on being a star for a long time-burning bright, with his sister by his side. She was a star in her right.

Happy endings were nice things every now and then.

Pietro was glad he had finally found his.

And that's it! We're done!

As a reference point, in this story the twins are around seventeen or eighteen years old.

I should be posting something within the next two weeks.

Thanks for reading, guys. It's been amazing.

Review, follow, and favorite!