Fire and Smoke - Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Chapter 23

Stark sets me up in one of the rooms in the Tower, and a few days pass. I'm getting more anxious the longer I spend in this alternate universe or whatever the hell this can be called. I begin to suspect I must have fallen into a comatose state and this is my brain's way of handling it. Banner and Stark conduct some more test on me but find nothing else of importance barring the unknown material they detected in my bloodstream. When I told them about the glowing of my hands at the moment the world was paused, they both visibly light up like children on Christmas morning, but I can't seem to make it happen again. I do tell them about the weird mist, but they've never heard of anything like it. And so, with no real clues, they slowly drift back away into their lives before I showed up, and I'm left to entertain myself. If you're going to be bored, there are worse places than the Avengers Tower.

I spend some time trying to figure out if my brain has created some weird new timeline in which only this version of me exists, or if there is me, and then the me of the past, but I honestly do not even know where to start with all of this, and frankly, I'm not too interested. I just want to wake up. At first, I explore the Tower and all of the lavishness that Stark has pruned it with, but even that looses its shine and I just stay in my new room, chatting to Jarvis (who is surprisingly interesting, for a robot), and watching movies.

One the fifth day of my stay in the Tower, something finally happens. Me, Stark, Potts and Banner are having dinner. I've noticed Banner spends a lot of time in the Tower, experimenting and researching, and I've actually enjoyed spending some more time with him. I can't really remember the last time I've actually enjoyed the company of another human being. We're halfway through desert when Stark suddenly slams his cutlery down on the table and looks up at me with an expression on his face that tells me I'm not going to like whatever he is planning.

"Hey, kid. Tell me again what happened just before your hands became silver."

"I told you, I was crossing the street-" I gently place my spoon back down, swallowing the piece of brownie I've been enjoying.

"Yes, yes, and?"

"And I turn around and this cab is about to hit me-"

"And then it happens!" Stark yells and spreads his arm out in victory.

We all look at him with differing levels of confusion. I get the feeling Potts has seen her fair share of Stark's sudden aha! moments, and Banner must have long learned that a Stark on a roll can't exactly be stopped.

"Yes, and?" I echo his earlier words and he laughs and pushes himself away from the table and stands there, looking at me.

"You almost got hit by a car."

"Yes, genius." I roll my eyes. "That is what I've said all along. And then it happened."

"Well, let's try that again." Stark says merrily and lifts his right palm towards me.

"What, run me over?" I ask, incredulously. "Thanks, I'll skip."

"Not practical." Stark shrugs, looking around the apartment meaningfully. "But we can try something else."

A glow suddenly appears on his palm and I notice the same subtle glove-like structure has crept up his hand again before he fires at me. I just about manage to duck, feeling the searing hot energy barely miss my left shoulder.

"What the fuck?" I yell, emerging from under the table just as he fires again.

I flinch, but the light never hits me. I cautiously open my eyes, and recoil as the white ray of energy hovers just in front of my face but doesn't move.

"What the-" I say as I notice I am once again the only moving thing as far as the eye can see.

Stark is standing in front of me still, hand outstretched, Potts on his left mid-getting out of her seat, and Banner on my right looking utterly taken aback. But none move even an inch.