Slipped Away

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters…or anything else for that matter.

A/N: Last fic of the year for me, folks. Oh and apparently, I am obsessed with depressing-like stories.

It was early autumn, the leaves were just beginning to change and the air was starting to get cooler. It was the time of year that he loved the most, because it reminded him of her. Every time he saw people decorating for fall or anything Halloween related, he was happy; because it was like she was still there with him.

In fact, you wouldn't find a more fall themed house anywhere in New York. He took pride in making his home look and feel like the season itself. And the scent in the air was always pumpkin, because it had been her favorite.

His friends' always complimented him on his work, but they all knew it was just a cover-up for his pain. Like him, they had figured the two of them would always be together. And when she left, it was like a part of him died as well.

Flashback (Halloween, year before)

"Pietro! Come on, we're going to be late." Tabitha exclaimed, coming into their bedroom to see what was keeping her husband.

"Please, with me, you're never late." He stated smugly, picking her up and speeding off into the night; Tabby ducked her head down so her hair wouldn't mess.

"You could've warned me you were going to do that!" She glared at him as he set her down once they arrived at Xavier's.

"Sorry." He smirked; putting his arm around her and pulling her close as he rung the doorbell.

The doors opened slowly as Jubilee and Bobby, both dressed as squires, came into view. They stopped when they were facing the two and then turned, bringing their trumpets up to their mouths, blowing an awful tune into the mansion. They then turned so that they were facing each other, before bowing, allowing the two entrance.

Tabitha giggled and patted Bobby on top of the head as she passed. Pietro merely rolled his eyes, following his wife into what was once enemy territory. They made their way into the rec. room where the party was being held; they could hear Logan in the background, yelling at the two at the door.

"Do ya have to do that every time someone shows up?" He growled, exasperated; he wasn't dressed up and he didn't really act like he wanted to be there. Probably the only reason he was there was because Xavier asked him to help chaperone the party; that, and he hadn't seen some of the older X-Men in a while.

The rec. room was decorated wonderfully, it had a spooky feel to it and most seemed to be on edge, figuring one of the younger recruits would jump out at them or something when they weren't looking. But they seemed to be behaving for once, and everyone was catching up since it had been a while since they'd all come together like this.

Tabitha had spotted Amara and had dragged Pietro with her. Amara was standing with Ray, Sam, Jamie, Roberto, and Rahne; almost all of the old New Recruits. Bobby and Jubilee, they guessed, were still manning the doors.

"Hey girl! It's been forever since I saw you last." Tabby exclaimed as she and Amara hugged; Pietro just shook his head and mumbled a "hi" to the others. They didn't talk long, for Tabby soon spotted Lance, Kitty, Rogue, Remy, and Kurt; at which point she dragged him over to them.

"Tabby, Pietro, long time no see." Lance said, shaking Pietro's hand. "So, how have you guys' been?"

"As good as can be considering who I live with." Pietro said, earning a smack from Tabitha; everyone laughed, including Tabby. "How about you guys'?"

"Remy and Ah are movin' to Louisiana day after tomorrow."

"Aww, you didn't even give us enough warning to plan a going away party!" Tabby said, pouting. "Anyway, how about you Kitty? You seem…bigger…than last time we talked." She smirked as Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Ha ha. I'm due in January, actually. Yet, Rogue still won't stay around and leave after the baby's born." Kitty said, sending a glare at her best friend; apparently she wasn't too happy with this news either.

"Kitty," Rogue started, exasperated. But Kitty didn't wait for whatever it was she was going to say; she stalked over in Logan's direction. "Ah swear, that girl hasn't changed one bit." She said, shaking her head and taking Remy's hand, dragging him over to where Kitty had just gone.

"Well, I better go calm my wife down. She tends to get a little emotional these days." Lance said, rolling his eyes. "Talk to you guys' later." He then joined the other three on the other side of the room.

"Blue! You haven't said much, what's up with you?" Tabby asked, as she seemed to just notice Kurt; he merely shrugged before walking over to where some of the new recruits were. "Well, that was weird."

"Yeah…hey, there's Blob and Toad." Pietro said, noticing his old housemates. "And look, he's still trying to hit on my sister, even though she has a kid now. Man, things never change." Toad was suddenly hexed into the wall. "Come on." He grabbed her hand and they headed over to them.

"Hey sis." Pietro said, coming up behind Wanda who was currently looking around the room as if trying to find something. "What're you looking for?"

"MOMMY!" A scream came from somewhere in the direction of the new New Recruits, causing Wanda to rub her temples while sighing irritably.

"John, can you do something about her?" Wanda asked, turning to her husband.

"Sure, luv." He said, heading over in the direction the shout came from. He returned a few minutes later with a bawling three-year-old in his arms. Upon seeing Wanda, however, she practically jumped out of her father's arms into her mother's where she buried her head in the crook of her neck.

Wanda held her close and rocked her slightly as she started to calm down. John disappeared for a few moments, before coming back with a small, soft, white stuffed animal. Taylor took the lamb from her father and held it close as she snuggled into Wanda some more.

Tabitha smiled as she watched them. She had never really thought of starting a family, but seeing how John and Wanda were happy with Taylor, it made her wonder what it'd be like if she and Pietro had children. Pietro caught her expression and took her hand in his, causing her to turn and look at him. She smiled at him as Wanda headed toward the closest chair, John following close behind.

"They're good for each other." Tabitha said, leaning her head on Pietro's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess they are. Come on let's go talk to Freddy and Toad." Pietro said, leading her over to where they were standing next to the snack table.

"Hey guys'!" Tabby said, hugging them each in turn.

"Oh no. She's back…Run away!" Toad stated, turning away from her and starting to walk away.

"Oh, ha ha. You guys' know you missed me." She laughed as Pietro rolled his eyes.

They spent some time catching up before Lance joined them.

"Look, we're the Brotherhood again." Tabby sniffed, putting her arms around Pietro and Lance. "I think I might cry." She said, bringing a hand up and wiping an imaginary tear away.

"Tabitha, you are insane." Lance said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Ah, you know you love me." She said, winking at him. "Speaking of love, where's your wife?"

"I'm not sure. She said something about Logan hating her, then ran off crying. Kurt went after her, I think." Lance said, rolling his eyes; the others laughed.

"Say, what's wrong with blue boy anyway? He was acting…different."

"Apparently, Amanda cheated on him not too long ago and he found out." Lance said, keeping his voice low. "Ever since he hasn't really been himself. He and Kitty spend a lot of their time sulking together." He finished, shaking his head again. "I swear, she's so emotional right now, it's driving me crazy."

"Emotional, am I?" Kitty said, coming up behind Lance, who flinched.

"Kitty, I didn't mean - "

"Shut up. This is mostly your fault anyway." She shouted, causing more than a few people to glance their way.

"Kitty, you need to calm down." Lance tried reaching for her hand, but she pulled away.

"Calm down? No. You know what I need?" She asked, walking over to where the coats were hanging. "I need chocolate fudge ice-cream."

"Kitty, you're in no condition to go anywhere." Lance said, joining her by the door. "I'll drive down to the store real fast and pick some up for you."

"No. I'll go and I'll be fine." Kitty said stubbornly.

"Hey guys', I'll go if you want. It's not that big of a deal. Besides, I need to pick something up anyway." Tabitha stated as her and Pietro joined them in the foyer.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked, reaching into his wallet and pulling out a few dollars; but Tabby wouldn't take it.

"Yeah, it's fine." She said, turning to Pietro. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Try not to miss me too much." She said, blowing a kiss his way; he rolled his eyes and pulled her close.

"Be careful, it's storming now." He stated as he looked out the window in time to see lightening flash across the sky as the rain poured down nonstop.

"I'll be fine." She said, kissing him; Pietro returned the kiss, deepening it.

"Alright guys', get a room or something." Lance said, holding out his keys. The two broke apart and grinned at each other before turning to Lance.

"Remember the last time you suggested that?" Tabby asked, winking at him.

"Ugh, unfortunately I do." He said, tossing her the keys.

Tabitha caught them and then gave Pietro another kiss before stalking off into the night.

Present day (Halloween)

The doorbell rang, jogging Pietro out of his thoughts. He stood up and headed toward the front door, pausing when he passed a mirror. He quickly brought a hand up and wiped away all trace of tears; he hadn't even realized he'd been crying. Reaching the door, he opened it, revealing his sister.

"Hey Pietro, how are you?" She asked, coming into the house when he moved aside. She hugged him after noticing his eyes were a bit red.

"I'm fine. What're you doing here?" He asked, closing the door and leading her into the living room.

"I came by to check on you. You've hardly spoken to anyone since that night."

"Get out."

"Pietro please, I'm worried about you, everyone's worried. Just, hear me out, ok?" She waited until he nodded before continuing. "What happened was not your fault. You need to quit blaming yourself." He stood up and headed over to the fireplace, glaring into the flames. "Listen, the party over at Xavier's starts in an hour. Come with me. Hardly anyone's seen you since last year, they miss you."

"No."

"Please? Pietro, you need to move on." Wanda said, joining him by the fire. "Just come for a few minutes, to see everyone again. It'll do you some good."

"Wanda, why do you care so much? You never cared about me before." Wanda was a little taken aback.

"Pietro, whether or not I showed it, I've always loved you." She said quietly, walking back over to the couch and sitting down. "You know what happened back then. Things changed. I changed. And I'm sorry you feel that way." She stood up and headed toward the door; however, she stopped as she was opening it. "Just, think about it, ok?"

Pietro waited until he was sure she was gone before heading to his bedroom. Once there, he knelt down and reached under the bed, pulling out a box. Sitting down on the bed, he opened the box and pulled a few pictures out.

They were of him and Tabby last year at the Halloween party. Someone had snapped the first one while they were talking to John and Wanda. Pietro smiled when he remembered the look on her face. She had seemed so happy. His face fell, though, as those memories came rushing back again. Memories he didn't want to remember.

Flashback (Halloween, year before)

Tabitha had started up Lance's jeep when Pietro came zipping out; she had forgotten her purse. He handed it to her as the rain continued to pour, soaking him. That was when he tried to talk her out of going. Not knowing at the time why, but trying to convince her it'd be best if she stayed.

But Tabby was stubborn and she told him that she was only going to the store at the bottom of the hill. After kissing him one last time, she headed off. Pietro watched her go until he couldn't see the taillights any longer.

Pietro was soaked when he rejoined the others in the rec. room. Going back over to Lance, Fred, and Toad, they spent the next half-hour talking about old times. It wasn't until the phone rang that he even realized he'd lost track of time. Checking the clock, he noticed that Tabby had been gone for about an hour. Wondering where she was, he began to glance around the room; however, he wasn't having any luck in spotting her.

That's when he noticed Wolverine walking toward him with a look on his face thathe couldn't explain. It was a dark, almost sorrowful look. When Logan reached them, he spoke quietly. His voice was a little strained, and it sounded as if something was missing.

"Bub, I think you better come with me." He said softly, leading Pietro out of the rec. room and into the kitchen, where it was quiet and deserted.

"What's this about? What's going on?" Pietro asked quickly, feeling slightly unnerved; Logan sighed.

"Man, I really don't want to be the one to tell ya this." He said under his breath; Pietro became more nervous. "Look kid, there was an accident. Tabitha was hit by a tractor-trailer. They took her to the hospital and - "

"What? What hospital? Where is she? Did they say if she was ok or not? Why didn't they call sooner?" Pietro started asking questions quickly, but Logan got the gist of it.

"I'm sorry bub, but…she didn't make it."

Pietro's heart stopped. In that very moment, he died as well.

"They said she died on impact, so she didn't suffer." Logan said quietly, unable to believe it himself.

"No." Pietro whispered, shaking his head in disbelief. "NO!" He shouted, grabbing the closest thing to him and throwing it. He heard it hit the wall and shatter, but he had no idea what it was for the tears were overwhelming.

Pietro continued to trash the kitchen, and Wolverine did nothing to stop him. Logan just stood to the side, watching him destroy object after object until he finally collapsed onto the floor, tears still streaming down his face.

"Come on Pietro, let's go." Logan said, leading him out of the kitchen and out to the garage.

They drove to the hospital where Pietro had to come face to face with the reality that Tabby was really gone. They gave him a few minutes alone with her before she'd be taken to the morgue. Pietro glanced at her body, cuts and bruises covering her face as well as the rest of her. She didn't look that bad and he wondered what it had been that took her from him.

Taking her hand in his, he kissed it, another tear falling onto her pale face. He couldn't believe that he'd never see her vibrant blue eyes again, or hear her laugh. Everything about her was gone now, her charms, her quirkiness, everything.

It's not fair. Pietro thought, lying his head on her stomach and crying, not caring who was watching. She didn't deserve this.

"How could you leave me?" He whispered, running his fingers through her hair for the last time.

Pietro just couldn't imagine never holding her again, not being able to see her face, or hear her voice. It was difficult for him to believe that the last time he'd kiss her was over an hour ago, and that at the time, she was perfectly fine. But now…now she was gone.

"Mr. Maximoff, I'm sorry but you're going to have to leave." The doctor said softly as he came into the room.

Pietro kissed Tabitha one more time before letting go of her. He watched as her limp hand came to rest upon her stomach before he turned and walked out of the room, then the hospital…with no intentions of ever looking back.

Present day (Halloween)

Pietro rung the doorbell and waited for someone to answer. He had been expecting Bobby or Jubilee again, but was surprised when it was Rogue. She gave him a huge smile and pulled him into a hug. There were tears in her eyes when she broke away.

"Come on in, we were hopin' you'd show." She said, leading him into the rec. room.

Everyone stopped what they were doing when Rogue announced that Pietro was there. There was an awkward silence before everyone started bombarding him. He was glad to see everyone again. But being back here, one year later, brought back feelings he didn't want to deal with anymore.

After a few minutes, everyone began to back off and head back to their little groups. Pietro found himself being pulled aside by Wanda, who smiled softly at him. He returned the smile before pulling her into a hug. Tinkerbell, however, interrupted the hug; well, a little girl with black hair in a Tinkerbell costume, anyway.

"Mommy," Taylor tugged on Wanda's skirt.

"What is it sweetie?" Wanda asked, wiping her eyes as she moved away from her brother. The girl glanced at her uncle before pulling on her mother's arm so that she'd kneel down. Wanda rolled her eyes as she did so, allowing her daughter to whisper into her ear. "Excuse us Pietro, we need to make a trip to the ladies' room." She said, taking Taylor's hand and walking past Pietro, down the hall.

Pietro spent most of his time talking with Lance and Kitty, who were the only other two people still blaming themselves about what happened. The third time Kitty broke into tears, however, was when Pietro decided he couldn't take it anymore.

He said goodbye to everyone in turn and then made his way out into the cool night air. After walking around aimlessly for a while, he found that he had come upon a graveyard; the graveyard Tabby was buried in, to be specific.

Pietro found her stone and stood there just staring at it for the longest time. This was the first time he'd been here since her funeral. Pietro felt a raindrop on his head the same time one of his tears hit the ground.

"Tabby, I can't believe it's been a whole year." Pietro gave a small, detached laugh. But it was short-lived, as usual, for his eyes filled up with tears as he fell to the ground, body shaking with sobs.

His whole body went cold, however, when he felt another presence with him. Looking up slowly, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining anything, he stood up, still staring at the girl a few feet in front of him.

It was Tabitha. She was wearing a sad smile as she moved closer to him, bringing a ghostly hand up to wipe a tear away. Pietro immediately grabbed her hand, relishing in her touch once more; however, it was a false sense of security.

"Pietro," She said softly as he put his arms around her; she rested her head on his shoulder. "Speedy, you have to let me go."

"But, Tabby…you were the best thing that ever happened to me." She smiled against him.

"How do you know that for sure? We were young and stupid -"

"No! Tabby, I loved you…I still do." She sighed.

"And I love you too, Pietro. Just, please stop blaming yourself." Pietro was about to interrupt, but she cut him off. "Speedy, you've done nothing but blame yourself for what happened to me. Don't. And tell Lance and Kitty not to blame themselves either. It was nobody's fault." It was Pietro's turn to sigh, which was followed by a brief silence.

"You're really not coming back this time, are you?" He whispered into her hair; Tabitha pulled away from him and gave him another sad smile.

"Afraid not."

Pietro nodded knowingly after a few more minutes of silence. He let go of her and watched as she slid throw his grasp once again, disappearing into the night. The rain began to pour harder when Pietro finally decided to leave, whispering "I love you" before speeding off into the night.

Who would have thought that letting go of something the second time wouldn't be as hard. Perhaps it may have been because she slipped away so suddenly the first time. But this time, this time they had a chance to say their good-byes.

Back at the Institute, everyone continued to talk and dance through the night. Taylor, however, was curled up on her father's lap, holding onto her lamb. Wanda looked at her curiously, considering how quiet she was being.

"Taylor, are you feeling okay?" She asked, feeling her forehead; Taylor nodded. "You're being awfully quiet."

"It smells like pumpkin." She said softly, snuggling closer to her father. Wanda looked at her curiously before bringing her gaze up to John.

"Sweetie, what smells like pumpkin?" Wanda asked, still looking at her husband.

"The air…can't you smell it?" Taylor asked, looking up into her mother's eyes. Wanda was about to say no when all of a sudden the scent became more apparent; she looked confused.

"What?" She began.

"It's aunt Tabby, mommy." Taylor said, leaning her head against her father's chest once more. "Aunt Tabby loved the smell of pumpkin."

John took Wanda's hand in his as tears began to form in her eyes. "You know what? You're right. Tabitha did love the smell of pumpkin." She said, kissing her daughter's forehead as she leaned her head on John's shoulder.

Across town, Pietro was sitting with the television on, ignoring the doorbell when it rang every now and then; he wasn't really in the mood for trick-or-treaters tonight. Memories of the year before kept playing across his mind like a broken record, reminding him endlessly of his lost love. Just as he was about to call it a night, an all too familiar fragrance hit him.

"Pumpkin." He whispered, glancing at a picture on the table of him and Tabitha.

The scent had been haunting him all evening, but at that moment it became more distinct. Turning off the television, Pietro headed to bed knowing that she was with him now. And that she always would be…even if the pumpkin faded.

A/N: This didn't turn out how I originally planned. But to be honest, I wrote most of it around Halloween and kind of forgot what I was going to do with it. And yeah, I'm pretty sure Pietro is completely out of character. Some others probably are too. But I don't care. You can sue me…Actually, don't sue me. I don't exactly have much. You can review though, if you want.

Happy New Year everyone!