Inheritance of ash

day three - part one

Kate and Yelena stared at Pietro.

He swallowed hard. "She said... we're leaving. And this was a mistake."

Then Wanda disappeared out the door.

Pietro speed ran after her instantly.

Kate stood frozen, heart racing. Yelena's gaze lingered on the ash, then flicked to Kate. Without a word, she followed.

And Kate, feeling suddenly cold, had no choice but to go too.

⸻

Kate and Yelena made it outside quickly. Neither of them spoke, just raced after Wanda and Pietro, who had already disappeared out of sight. That had been more difficult than they'd thought, since while they were standing in the elevator, Wanda's invisibility spell had lifted from them. From that point on, they'd had to sneak out the old-fashioned way. Luckily, Yelena was not unfamiliar with needing to not be seen.

Now they were outside again, back by the motorcycles—but there was no Wanda. No Pietro.

As if on cue, Pietro came speeding back, his face frantic, his movements jittery. He looked like he'd run across the whole country. Hair a mess, eyes wide, breathing frantic.

"I looked everywhere," he blurted, panic high in his voice. "She's gone. Wanda just—she vanished."

Kate froze. "What do you mean, vanished?!"

Pietro started pacing, muttering to himself. "I always know where she is. Always. I'm faster, I'm always faster. She's never been able to leave my sight when—" His voice cracked. "When it matters. But now? I turned back, and she was gone."

Kate's stomach twisted. The look on his face alone was enough to start her panicking too. But what made it worse was the memory of Wanda's expression in the building. She had never looked that broken. That pissed.

Yelena cut in then, her voice even but clipped, trying not to show her own unease. "Does she have a place? Somewhere she goes to calm down?"

Pietro shook his head furiously. "No. Not that I know of."

Kate pushed forward. "When did you lose her? Think. When exactly?"

He raked a hand through his hair. "When I stole some dude's card. So I could open the door again. I turned my back for one second—and she was gone. I ran outside, but... nothing."

"Maybe she's still in the building," Kate offered, desperation in her voice.

Pietro's face went pale. He shook his head once. "No. I can feel it. She's... far away."

The silence that followed was sharp. Then Yelena, without a word, pulled her phone out and began typing.

Kate's head snapped toward her. "What are you doing?"

"Calling Natasha."

That was all Kate needed to hear. "Are you crazy? Nat will kill us. We snuck into a highly secured—"

"Debatable," Yelena muttered.

"—SHIELD building, and now we lost Wanda!" Kate's voice pitched high, sharp. "We can't just—"

Yelena turned back to her phone, thumb hovering over the call button.

Kate lunged.

The two of them went down hard, grappling for the phone. They didn't throw punches, but it was a full-on tangle, arms and legs shoving and twisting. Yelena was stronger, and it didn't take her long to pin Kate down—one hand holding both of Kate's wrists above her head, the other still gripping the phone.