Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Twenty-Three: Rubi

Music is "Come Together" by Svrcina.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Megachile Rubi

A species of leaf-cutting bee in the subgenus Xeromegachile, Megachile Rubi are most often found in sandy areas of the eastern United States. M. Rubi is a solitary species and nests in holes in the ground. The females excavate these holes at an angle of 20 to 45 degrees from the horizontal and then level out underground. She will then cut leaves, place them along the sides of the nest, and plug the entrance to the nest with sandy soil.

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Chapter Twenty-Three: Rubi

"This is a bad idea," I sign.

"Do you have a better one?" Wanda asks, for the fifth time this evening.

A heavy sigh leaves my lungs as I stand in front of Carol and Pepper's dorm. "Not really."

"Then we knock." Wanda takes a deep breath, then moves her hand to knock on the door. When Carol answers, she scowls at the light in the hallway. I'd almost forgotten how late it is.

"Wanda? Sarai?" she groans, running a hand through her tossed, blonde locks. "What the hell are you both doing up at this hour? It's--" She checks her watch. "Shit, it's after midnight. We have an early math class tomorrow." As the final words leave Carol's mouth, her eyes widen with both shock and awakening. "Wait--You two made up?"

I reach down and grasp Wanda's hand with a smile directed towards my friend. I give her a wink, and a shit-eating grin spreads across Carol's face.

"I knew it," she states, then again but much louder. "I knew it! I knew you two would make up and get together. Pepper! Your boyfriend owes me ten bucks!"

"What the hell are you going on about?" Pepper asks, rubbing her eyes as she shuffles to the door. "Oh...hi. What are you doing here so late?"

"We need to call a meeting," Wanda explains. "All our friends, the ones we can really trust. There's a bit of an emergency, but we'll explain once they're all here."

"An emergency?" Pepper asks, tugging her robe tighter around her with unease. "What's going on? You're starting to worry me."

"Same here," Carol states dryly.

"It's hard enough to explain once," I sign. "Wait until we get everyone in one place. Pepper, get Tony to get Bruce, Rhodey, and Vision. Carol, can you get Nat and Peggy, maybe get Peggy to call T'Challa and Nat to call Clint? I'm going to Facetime Steve and get him to get Bucky and Sam, and Wanda's going to call Thor."

"You want everyone?" Carol asks as Pepper leaves to call her boyfriend. "This must be a big problem you gals have."

"You have no idea."

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Several conversations later, we have the group of a dozen college students all crowded in Wanda and my dorm room. It's not ideal, there's barely enough room for everyone to sit or stand, but we make it work. Everyone here is a trusted friend or a trusted friend of a friend, and we need everyone we can get. I told Melizza to go back to the occult shop to be safe. The last thing I need is someone freaking out and swatting my bee-st friend.

"Anyone wanna tell us why we're here at one in the freakin' morning?" Sam asks, crossing his arms over his U.S. Army sweatshirt.

I nod to Wanda, who sits beside me on my bed. We both agreed that since not everyone knows ASL, she should be the one to tell the story. I might chime in every now and then with something to add, but I trust her completely.