Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 30

It's not difficult to find the location the news segment was broadcast from. What proves more difficult, is knowing what the hell to do next. Having left without any plans (once again) other than to find Maximoff, I'm left having to improvise. Hell, the entire flight was spent overthinking, which ultimately did not produce any sort of credible plan. The one thing I am clear about is doing this on my own. Who else could I call to help? I cannot use more of the FBI's help without possibly alerting them to what I've discovered, which would lead to S.W.O.R.D. getting involved, which is something I am not keen to see happen. It would also prove quite difficult to face up to Maximoff and try to regain any sense of what trust I thought was shared between us originally should I rock up hand in hand with Hayward. Whilst on the plane, I did debate whether or not I should confide in Darcy, or even Agent Woo, but ultimately, what would I gain with their help? Unfortunately, I don't know any of the Avengers either (well, not really), who could have possibly helped Maximoff. No, all alone is how I have to handle this.

And so, I've come to where I saw Maximoff in the background of the news broadcast, but there is no trace of her now, or of the other woman she was with. The city square is busy with commuters scrambling about, milling around, all in an exaggerated hurry. I have been surveilling the square for the better half of a day, and I am getting increasingly irritated and anxious, doubting whether I've, once again, acted brashly in thinking this is something I should get involved with. Maximoff isn't my responsibility anymore, and yet the sense that I am somehow responsible for her doesn't seem to want to leave me. Conflicting images of Maximoff keep distracting me as I scan the square for her. I see Maximoff shrouded in shadows in one corner of the square, her eyes clouded with burning scarlet piercing me, sending an icy chill through my body as she slowly allows thin, crackling fingers of scarlet energy to seep out of her hands. When I blink, she's gone, replaced by Maximoff sitting next to me on the couch in the lonely cabin, green eyes filled with worry.

I impatiently let my fingers drum against the mug in my hand which not too long ago was filled with hot coffee. My brain feels comfortably alert despite having been awake for far too long. The air is warm against my face, the telltale stickiness to it which can only be found in a lively city. Whether or not I want to admit it, I am beginning to lose confidence in Maximoff making a reappearance. What she is doing in Romania in the first place is something I haven't been able to figure out, but then again, I don't feel like I know Maximoff at all. I huff and will my stiff limbs to stretch out. I need to do something else than sit and wait. I leave the confines of the shaded cafe and begin my walk around the square for what feels like the hundredth time. As I pass the corner of the square in which I thought I saw Maximoff I stop, a sudden, insane idea coming to me. I look down at my hands, wondering whether I could actually pull this off. I did do it, once...

No one seems to mind me, quietly standing there, looking at my hands, so I decide to at least try. I close my eyes to better concentrate without the overwhelming stimuli of the busy square. As I begin to search my body with my consciousness, I feel the untapped energy of the mist swirl around beneath my skin and so I concentrate on that feeling. The mist energetically answers my call and I will all my thoughts onto that image of Maximoff in the square. My muscles tighten with the effort of keeping the mist on the surface of my mind and body, and my head throbs with the mental effort. I don't give up nor do I open my eyes as an icy bolt of pain surges through my head, I just try to keep feeling that energy that is everywhere, rippling through me with the intensity of an electric current, but with the ease of cool water. A loud buzzing white noise fills my head and the sounds of the square fade away. My muscles begin to lightly tremble with effort, and then, a sudden release and the noises of the square return.

Disappointed, I let the energy of the mist slowly retreat further back into my consciousness until I can only faintly feel it stirring. It was a long shot, anyway. I open my eyes, finding myself in the same exact spot I was in when I closed my eyes. I sigh tiredly and turn around to walk back towards the cafe to resume my patient sitting and waiting, perhaps alongside one of those cakes which have been taunting me for hours. I am met with closed doors, and the chairs and tables which just five minutes ago were placed outside now are stacked on the other side of the big glass window in the empty, dark cafe. Surprised, I look around me properly. More and more details pop out now that I am looking. I'm in the same square, but also, not. My heart begins to beat strongly against my chest as if sensing something I am yet to see.