Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 14 - Don't Bow To Anyone

Keira was thankful that she had chosen to take her motorcycle into the city, rather than going by car. Because even though the battle had occurred some time ago, the streets were far from clear. A lot of rubble still littered a lot of the roads, although she saw no trace of alien corpses.

Thanks to Tony, she had gotten in contact with the Department of Damage Control since they were in charge of cleaning up the city. And the man himself had also done his part in helping the city, either by donating money or buying new machines.

When Keira first arrived home to rid herself of her baggage after her stay at Clint's, she had been surprised by finding a letter in her postbox. Her address had been handwritten, and since she never got any letters except for bills, she couldn't for the life of her figure out who it could be from.

But once she had ripped the envelope open, a black metal card had clattered down on the counter, along with two small rubber rings. That hadn't exactly lessened her curiosity and when she unfolded the letter within, she saw to her surprise that it was from Tony.

Apparently, he had gifted her a credit card to treat herself with, as a thank you for the help with the battle. The man truly was selfless at his core.

After some more reading, she found out the purpose for the rubber rings. They were a tricky little invention that would help her with adjusting to pressure changes. And as an added bonus, they could be worn at all times and they wouldn't fall out, even if she was using earphones.

She had sent a text to him directly after putting the rubber rings in her ears, and she couldn't even feel them, which was amazing. All she had gotten for an answer had been 'Of course. I'm very generous, I know. You can always tell me how fantastic I am though, I don't mind.'

An answer befitting the man who had sent it.

"Keira Nowak?"

A voice broke her out of her reverie, and she hopped off the motorcycle, kicking out the stand in the process. Taking off her helmet, she shook her head in order to get her hair out of her face. "Oui, that's me." She answered, turning towards the man that had spoken with a kind smile.

He was dressed in a neat, navy suit which caused her eyebrows to rise on their own accord. Paired with the white helmet on his head, she couldn't help but suspect that he didn't take part in the dirty work of cleaning up the city. Most likely, he was the one who ordered people around.

"Great. You can call me Mr. Thompson and I'm in charge of the clean-up in this part of the city. Mr. Stark has informed me that you wish to be of service to the city." Judging by his tone however, it didn't seem like he thought much about her participation. He marched away from her and gestured towards a gigantic warehouse as he spoke. He hadn't probably meant for her to hear him, but the words he uttered under his breath didn't go amiss from her ears.

"Although, I can't wrap my mind around why we would need a woman..."

Wow, prejudiced much? Keira quickly caught up with the man, and she had to try her hardest in order to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Oh, did your mother forget to give you a first name, or did she lack the fantasy and simply named you Mister in order to match your boring personality?" She asked waspishly but with an overly sweet smile on her lips.

Was she being a bit childish? Maybe yes, but she had dealt with enough assholes to last her a lifetime.

Mr. Thompson's face whitened, and he stopped mid-step. He simply gaped at her, clearly too stunned to speak.

Keira placed a finger under his chin and closed his mouth for him. "I don't appreciate being spoken about like that, Mr. Thompson. So, do you want to start over and actually treat me with the respect I deserve, or do I need to make a call to Mr. Stark and have you fired?" She asked sweetly while straightening out an invisible wrinkle on his tie.