Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 27

The ride to the Raft had taken a good few hours, so I'm not too worried about trying to spot land, or anything other than the rolling waves far below. The FBI has thankfully invested in some rather nice helicopters, so there's not much to do in terms of keeping it flying; the autopilot is taking care of most everything. I've let myself sink down low in my seat, feeling heavy and tired after everything that has just happened. There's a slight annoying pounding in my head, and I feel famished. I look over to my side where Wanda is sitting. She's pulled her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees protectively as she rests her head back. The lights from the various buttons and knobs on the dashboard in front of us are reflected like a multitude of rainbow-colored stars in her dewy eyes. She looks tired, her cheekbones creating dark shadows on her face, and I realize I have no clue when her last meal was.

I push myself up slightly and she looks over at me in silence. I begin looking around me in the unfamiliar crevices of the helicopter just like I did when I was looking for the manual earlier, which now lies discarded by my feet.

"What are you looking for?" Wanda asks softly, her voice croaky. "We're not going down, are we?"

"No, no." I shake my head, my right hand finally closing around what I was looking for.

"Madame." I straighten up, holding two old protein bars in my hand, extending it towards Wanda who looks down at them, amused.

"Well, well." She smiles and takes one of the bars, looking down at it with a small smirk. "What a treat."
"Well, I don't know when you last ate, but I'm starving." I begin unwrapping my bar and Wanda hums appreciatively. "Plus, I bet the service wasn't this great last time you were busted out of the Raft."

Wanda lets out a little laugh. "No, this officially beats last time."

"I'm glad." I take a bite and instantly gag, the protein bar landing by my feet. "What the fuck is that?"

Wanda bursts out laughing, a sound I've never heard before. I grimace and look over at her, her joy contagious as I start laughing too. My ribs ache dully and I force myself to calm down, my hand still on my ribs. Wanda's eyes flutter down to where I'm holding my ribs and she grows serious again and I find myself instantly missing the sound of her laughter.

"Are you ok?" She asks me looking somewhere between concerned and embarrassed.

"I'm fine." I brush her off.

"You know, I am really -"
"If you say sorry I am crashing this helicopter." I cut her off, rolling my eyes.

"What, why?"

"You've already apologized, and anyway, you were just trying to stop me from putting those on you." I nod at the shackles around her wrists.

"I can use magic with them on, but it's difficult." Wanda muses, looking down at the shackles, a frown on her face.

"Luckily, I know how to get them off."

"You what?" Wanda starts, looking up at me as if I've just told her the most unbelievable thing. "Why-"
"Cause I don't know how to get them off." I shrug apologetically, teasing her slightly, which she notices and squints suspiciously.

"So how...?"
"I know who designed them." Wanda's face turns into a scowl. "Don't give me that look. She's a friend."

"A friend?" Wanda judgmentally asks and gives a twirl of one of the shackles just to emphasize whatever point she's trying to make.

"Do you consider me a friend?" I ask her and her expression softens slightly.

"I guess we are... friends." She says as if the word feels foreign on her tongue.