Escaping Maximoff

Lonesome Town

I was completely and utterly bored. Normally working in the local supermarket was pretty fun, but listening to my best friend ramble on and on about his fan theories all day was making living unbearable.

"Sam please shut up," I groaned, dropping my head on the counter and closing my eyes. "I honestly couldn't care less about where you think Thor is right now, and I don't think anyone else around here does either."

"Because everyone who lives here is boring and doesn't care about what happens outside of this Village," he said, halfway through a flurry of pokes to my ribs when the bell rung and a customer walked in. I lifted my head and smiled at the elderly woman who held a little tweed basket in one hand. Sam's parents owned the only supermarket in the village, where everyone bought their groceries from since the nearest town was about an hour's drive down the mountain.

"Now, that's not true at all. Last year we had to order in a whole bunch of fabric because of how obsessed everyone was with 'The Great British Sewing Bee,'" I laughed, thinking about the textiles-crazed oldies who practically fought over the last stock of bright pink yarn.

"I'm sorry, but old people's hobbies aren't nearly as exciting as superheroes," Sam said, leaning across the counter to grab his Iron Man comic before waving it in my face. I batted it away.

"Don't let Mrs Edna hear you!" I nodded towards the pensioner who was browsing through the collection of cheeses and dairy products.

The bell rung again.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure I saw her wearing a Captain America shirt the other day," he joked, throwing his comic into his rucksack. Sam was the only diehard Avengers fan within a 100-mile radius of the supermarket, he wished Mrs Edna or anyone else here would share the same enthusiasm.

"Yeah right," I scoffed, nudging him after he jumped up to sit on the counter.

The sound of a milk carton hitting the floor made both of our heads turn towards the sheepish old lady who bore an embarrassed smile.

"Cleanup on aisle three, I repeat cleanup on aisle three." I rolled my eyes at the boy's antics and pushed him towards the mess. I had been forced to clean the past month of spillages after losing to the blond in a game of connect 4, it was officially his turn to get his hands dirty and I was going to milk it.

"Duty calls," I said, a victorious grin plastered on my face.

"Yeah, yeah. At least it's not baby sick." I shivered at the traumatic memory from the week before. I vowed to make Sam suffer the same fate as me if it ever happened again.

I turned to the small radio next to the till and put on my favourite station. I heard a small groan from my best friend, but he was too far way to do anything about it. I leaned forward against the counter and enjoyed my victory, only returning from my daydreaming when the other customer who had walked in came over to pay for her groceries. I knew she must've only just moved to the village because I didn't recognise her, yet for some reason, she felt familiar. I kept glancing up at her between scanning various vegetables and a red velvet cake mix, taking in her emerald eyes and locks of flaming hair which fell from the baseball cap she was wearing. She smiled shyly at me when she caught me staring at her and my gaze shot back down to the products on the counter. I could feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment as I bagged her groceries.

"That will be $20."

She handed me the money and grabbed the bagged goods.

"Thank you," she said before turning away. Her voice was smooth and enticing, but the rough undertone of an accent made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I lifted my hand to rub it, and that's when I realised who she was. The soft gasp that escaped my lips caused her to stop walking. She slowly turned to look at me, I blinked and her once green eyes had turned to pools of crimson red. She tilted her head, warning me to not out who she was. I was frozen with fear. I wanted to scream but I couldn't, I wanted to warn Sam of the danger in front of me, but my body wouldn't move. The terror written on my face told the woman I would be no danger to her. I watched her walk away in horror, only snapping back to reality when I felt a warm hand touch my shoulder. I jumped and fought back against the person until I realised who it was.

"Hey what's wrong?" He asked, grabbing my shaking hands in worry. I shook my head frantically, knowing I couldn't tell him who I'd just seen. It was too dangerous. "Y/n what happened?" He spoke softly, his eyes begging me to say something, but I couldn't. I couldn't tell him that I had just met the most dangerous sorceress in the universe; the woman who had just enslaved a whole town on a whim. Wanda fucking Maximoff.