Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 24

Another couple of days pass by. These go by slightly quicker, since Nat is staying at the Tower for the time being, and has apparently taken it upon herself to make certain I'm not off somewhere trying to do god-knows-what. Everyone seems to agree that the less I affect things, the better. Who knows what would happen would past-me bump into future-me. Instead, Nat keeps me busy by having us train three times a day (I thought I was quite fit, but apparently not). FBI training is rather different from whatever training the Black Widow has got going on. She seems pleased with me though, as I am making progress rather quickly. When not in training, I'm stuck discussing timelines and physics with Banner. He seems to be wonderfully engaged with this new possibility I am presenting him with. We've been working out how to use my powers without there having to be an immediate threat to my life. So far, the methods have been drastic. Thankfully, no Hulk has made an appearance. We've also made the tiniest bit of progress, and I can almost summon my world-pausing abilities by just focusing on it. Still, I cannot keep it up for long. Banner seems to think that I might be able to actually pause time selectively, around just one area or one object, but so far, no luck. All of this is tiring me out mentally and physically enough for me to not have any excess energy to actually dwell on how to jump forward in time to rejoin the present.

"Hey, kid." Tony catches up to me as I'm leaving Banner's lab after a tiring few hours of training to summon my -as Banner calls them, "glowy hands".

"What's up, Stark?" I turn around, my low energy not at all matching Stark's energy levels.

"Walk with me." He says and puts his hand on my shoulder, and we walk. "So, I've been thinking..."

"Wow, don't hurt yourself." I say, deadpan, making his lips twist up in a smile.

"Tomorrow is a big day." He says mystically.

"Enlighten me, please." I sigh, really just wanting to curl up in my bed.

"Nat says you're good to go, Banner not so much, but I think it's time we test your powers out on the field." Stark says and I stop, turning to look at him.

"In the field?"

"Yup." He says, popping his p's. "We've been on the lookout for this particular... object for a while now, and we've just located it, and we want it back. So, we're going to go and get it."

"What 'object'?" I ask suspiciously.

"Don't you worry about that." Stark smiles and starts walking again, forcing me to trot to catch up. "We're going to do all the heavy lifting, you'll be out of harm's way, but nothing beats practicing in the real world."

"Right..." I frown, trying to remember if I heard of any Avenger missions that would fit this timeframe.

"Good. It's settled." Stark stops, looking pleased. "Be up and ready tomorrow at five."

"Five..."

"Am. No one called us slackers." Stark winks, and with that he strolls off, whistling to himself.

I begin walking back towards my room, lost in thought. I'm not nervous per say; I've obviously done my fair share of missions for the FBI, but now I have to try to be a superhero? I shake my head, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" I jump, spinning around, having walked past Nat without seeing her.

"Oh, nothing." I smile.

"Tony told you about tomorrow, I suppose?" Nat curiously examines me. "I thought you'd be nervous."

"I've told you; I'm an FBI -"

"Humph." She snorts, shaking her head. "You're okay in training, Liv, that does not mean you're an agent."

"Oh for Christ's sake." I laugh. "However can I prove it to you? The current me has not graduated the academy yet!"