Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 35

My heart aches a little as Maximoff's tears have made their way through my shirt as she clings onto me like she'd float away into the dark sky above would she let go. I've let us sink down onto the ground as I am holding Maximoff in an awkward one-armed hug as she continues to sob into the crook of my neck, seemingly not noticing the awkwardness of my embrace. The hard mountain has gotten cooler and cooler underneath us now that the sun is well gone, deeply burrowed beneath the dark horizon. My back and legs have become numb with the cold, but I'm not feeling it at all as the heat radiating from Maximoff is still significant as her body tries to settle after having used such a significant amount of energy. She trembles in my hold, and I am certain it isn't from the cold but from exhaustion. Come to think of it, I don't know when she's managed to sleep last. My thoughts circulate around her, worrying about what I should do to comfort her. I feel stupidly insignificant as I hold her silently, my hand rubbing small, what I hope to be consoling circles on her back. She clings onto me a little tighter like I somehow could ease whatever is tearing her apart, but I know I can't. I feel almost guilty for witnessing her like this as if this is something not meant for me. Maximoff doesn't seem to notice my trepidation, or my inability to console her properly. Gratefully, I realize I'm not needed to do anything else than hold her, so that's what I do.

Her broken sobs eventually start softening until she only lets out small, soft gasps. I continue my methodical circles on her back as she slowly regains more composure. When her trembling obviously transforms into shivering, I give her a small squeeze.

"Let's get you inside, okay?" I ask her almost so silently I'm uncertain she heard me, but then she nods against my shoulder, telling me she indeed was listening.

I lower my arm from her and get up, my body protesting as everything aches, but I ignore it, instantly missing the warmth from Maximoff as the cold air softly hugs me instead. I reach down to help Maximoff up and she places her hand in mine and I pull her up. She stumbles slightly as if drunk when I know it is in fact from having absolutely no energy left in her body.

"Can you make it to the cabin?" I ask her worriedly, scanning her slumped shoulders and pale face.

She hugs herself and nods, not looking at me but keeping her eyes on my shoes. Unconvinced, I walk closer to her and wrap my good arm around her waist to steady her as we begin our descent. She tenses up slightly, but doesn't do anything to indicate she wants me to step away, instead she gives me some of her weight and we cumbersomely make our way back down the rocky mountainside.

I cast one last glance behind me at the woman Maximoff threw against the hard rock. She's still lying, unmoving, on the ground. I am itching to check on her, and ask about her, but I'm not so stupid to think now is the time to ask Maximoff, who still occasionally breathes in a way that tells me she's trying to not start crying again.

It takes us a long time, but we finally do make it off the mountain and onto more level ground, which makes walking a lot easier. Maximoff seems to be able to walk on her own, but I don't dare to let her go, in case she does faint, or...

We haven't uttered a single word during the walk back to the cabin. My mind is racing with possible things I should do, or say, but I cannot find the courage to grasp at any of those suggestions. Again though, Maximoff doesn't seem to mind, or care. I have a strong suspicion she actually prefers the silence, maybe because it gives her the opportunity to rebuild her walls before I eventually do ask her to talk about it. I make a mental note to not let her do that, but not to quell my own intrigue but to actually maybe let her help herself by talking to someone. I know I'm probably not the person she would choose to confide in, but honestly, I don't see many other people caring about her, so I'll have to do.

Maximoff suddenly lets out a breath that sounds oddly like an amused huff so I look down at her to read her face, but she keeps looking down at the ground in front of her, but I swear there's a very small upturn to the side of her mouth.