Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Twenty-Five: Caerulea

Music is "I Can't Fall In Love Without You" by Zara Larsson.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Xylocopa Caerulea

Commonly referred to as the blue carpenter bee, Xylocopa Caerulea is a relatively large species of carpenter bee that can be found widely distributed across Southeast Asia, India, and Southern China. The thorax and abdominal regions of X. Caerulea are covered with light blue hairs, giving it a striking blue color rarely seen in nature.

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Chapter Twenty-Five: Caerulea

"What do you mean you found nothing?"

"I mean that we found nothing, Rhodey. Not a thing. Not one bee. How about you tell me how you couldn't find our fucking friends?"

"They weren't there. Tony and Vision hacked the system, and they weren't there. We couldn't have gotten into the building if we tried, anyway. It was crawling with guards."

"So you just left Stephen and Loki with a maniac?"

"We don't even know if they were there at all!"

"At least we tried to do our job."

"Don't get snappy, Carol. We all failed."

I turn away from the arguing college students, away from the dorms, away from the chaos and towards the cold night outside. Since everyone has returned just a few minutes ago, they've been at each other's throats, tossing accusations and blaming each other for a problem that none of us created. We didn't get our part done, and neither did they. We're low on sleep, energy, and we've all failed miserably.

This is exactly what Max wants, a break-down in our ranks. Not only did he know I'd try to break in, try to destroy his creation, and try to stop it on its way to the Fair, he knew I'd recruit help. Not once, but twice. He's been three steps ahead of us this entire time. He's winning the game, big time, and we can't even figure out what the game's called.

A few minutes after I leave the dorm, I find myself being followed. When I turn, I spot Wanda walking quickly to catch up with me. She offers a sad smile and a jacket from her hand. I gladly take it, realizing I'd left mine at the dorm.

"Thanks," I sign. "You didn't have to follow me."

Wanda links her arm with mine and presses a kiss to my temple. "You look like you needed a friend." She looks ahead as we continue to walk. "You realize we're heading towards the occult shop, right?"

Coming out of my thoughtful daze, I see that she's right. Without paying attention, my feet have decided to take me back to Melizza and her hive. "I guess we are. I need to check on them, anyway. They're probably getting pretty restless, and I don't want any of them out in this cold."

We continue at a casual pace, soon leaving the campus behind and our misguided friends with it. "We need to make a Plan B," she tells me after a few minutes of silence. "We should have had one sooner, but I think it's up to us now. Our friends are fighting a civil war back there. They're in no mindset to work together."

I give a defeated shrug. "What can we do, Wanda? Really. There's no time left. It's, what, almost four in the morning? We have three hours before those bees are docked at the conference hall, and then the Fair begins an hour later. And you bet that your uncle is going to have all his beady eyes on that thing at all times. We won't get close. Not by a long shot."