Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 31

My brain buzzes with thoughts as I watch Maximoff stare at the other woman through squinting eyes as if she's trying to figure out whether or not she can trust whatever the woman is telling her. The car I'm hiding behind feels warm under my hands as I lean forwards even more, trying to gain a better understanding of what I'm seeing. There's a gnawing feeling of doubt, or dread, or something equally unpleasant at the back of my mind, but I don't know why. It almost feels like my head knows something it's not yet sharing with the rest of me, like it's being told to feel anxious. Something about this entire thing doesn't feel right, and yet I know virtually nothing, I have absolutely no facts to go off of here. Maximoff feels like a complete stranger to me at this point. I am struggling to figure out what connection Maximoff and the woman have, why she would have gone to her. What is Maximoff playing at? The dark-haired woman mentioned Westview, which Maximoff had a bad reaction to, and never seems to want to talk about it in greater detail, either reacting defensively, or dancing around the subject. There is definitely something there. But what? Did Maximoff meet her there, or did she know her from before? My mind is racing, grasping at anything and everything, and then my blood runs cold as Maximoff frowns under her cap, her head slowly turning in my direction as if I've just called out to her. I instantly lean back behind the car, out of sight. If it were anyone else, I would be certain they didn't have the time to see me before I ducked away, but this is Maximoff, and I am a hundred percent certain she can hear me. I silently curse myself, trying to empty my head of activity, which of course I fail miserably at. Now that we are further away from the square teeming with people, in the middle of a small street devoid of anyone besides Maximoff, the other woman, and me, I'm certain Maximoff can at the very least sense my presence. As if on cue, the other woman speaks.

"What is it?"

"I..." Maximoff begins, her voice thick, clearly distracted. "I think... but I don't know how..."

Shit. I panic, closing my eyes and focusing on connecting to the mist again. I'm struggling, my mind constantly fretting back to Maximoff standing just mere meters away. Focus. Focus. Focus. I feel the stirring of the mist beginning to awaken, uncoiling like a snake. But it's lazy, so slow, feeling like the heat of the sun is making it just wake up from a long nap. Too slow. Focus.

"Where are you going now?" The woman's annoyed voice reaches me and I double my effort. Focus!

My head begins to pound, and I'm forcing myself to keep the image of the square, in the present, in my mind. I'm trying to recall the warmth, the sounds, the feeling of the chair under me at the cafe, the smell of coffee finding me from inside. The mist begins to stir in all honest now.

I begin to feel a slight pull somewhere around the region of my navel just as I hear a familiar voice right near me.

"Olivia?" I open my eyes and barely have the time to locks eyes with an honestly surprised-looking Maximoff before the world around me turns into nothing but streaks of light and colors and then, just as soon as the world turned into nothing but lights, it all comes to a stop and I'm suddenly sitting at the cafe I thought of earlier, and I know I'm in the present again.

"Ce puii mei!?" Someone loudly exclaims and a glass shatters somewhere behind me.

I turn around, breathing heavily from the pure rush of adrenaline coursing through me, and am met with a very shocked waiter, who must have just witnessed me materializing onto his chair from nowhere.

"Scuze." I mutter and hop off the chair, heading off without a look back, feeling the waiter's eyes locked on me as I make my hurried escape, head spinning, but now with refound vigor and purpose.

I find my way to a car rental agency and manage to find myself a car using my beginner's Romanian. I make sure to stay out of sight from the cameras, but sadly, with my impromptu escape from work, I didn't have time to grab any cash with me, so I'm forced to use my card. I know that when the FBI will have reason to suspect I've fled, they'll trace any signs of me, and this is a stupid breadcrumb to leave them, but I don't have any choice. I need to catch up with Maximoff before it's too late. And the gnawing feeling at the back of my mind is making me feel like my time is very limited.