It took a long time for the phone to be answered and when it did, it was answered by a snappish Adelaide who immediately burst into a tirade,
"No, you know what, I am so done with people calling me nonstop. I am busy and y'all need to get a life rather than bothering me all the livelong day. I am working. Do you know what that means or are you too god darn lazy too—"
"Adelaide, it's Alex."
"Oh, Alex," her voice immediately lightened and grew friendlier, "Sorry, I've got an essay due in three hours and I haven't finished it yet. Are you all right? I saw the news."
"Yeah. I'm sorry if I worried you...well, I know I definitely did and there's no excuse for how I acted."
"It's okay, I forgive you."
"Thank you. You wouldn't believe how good that is to hear."
Adelaide laughed softly before asking, "So why are you calling? I assume it's not just to reassure me you're alive. Is it related to the attack on Times Square?"
"Terribly basic name but yes. And I'm sorry, but I need your help."
"What do you mean? I'm nothing special."
"Of course you are. You're friends with superheroes, and let me tell you that we are fussy as hell with who we trust. Your sister is special too— you said she was a hacker?
"Yeah."
"How would she feel about hacking into Stark Industries?"
<<>>
Last-minute preparations were being made. Neither Kore nor Pietro was happy with parts of the plan, so Alex started bothering Wanda as they waited for Adelaide's sister to finish her work.
The two girls were caught in a deadlock, and Wanda put down two more cards,
"Two fours."
|| Cheat ||
"Cheat," Alex repeated. Wanda smiled slightly, and flipped the cards over, revealing a six of hearts and a two of spades before she picked up the small pile of cards.
|| Now you can lie all you want, won't do her any good to call cheat until the pile is high again ||
Alex tossed down three random cards and called out, "Three nines."
After a moment, Wanda grinned, "Cheat."
"Why!" Alex didn't even bother to hide it, picking up the cards again, "What was the point?"
"To annoy you," Wanda's eyes seemed to sparkle and in that brief moment, before she focused on the game again, she looked so much like her brother.
They continued to play, with Theundruk reading Wanda's mind and telling Alex what she was placing. Alex, for the most part, ignored it. She was enjoying spending time with Wanda and made a mental note to do it more often.
"One queen."
"Damn right I am. But cheat." Alex didn't wait for Wanda to stop laughing, she turned the cards over quickly and swore at the sight of the queen of hearts.
"Did you think I would risk losing it all on my last card?"
"I would," Alex stuck her tongue out.
"And that's why you lost."
"Oh come on, like you weren't reading my mind."
"You read mine first!"
"And I stopped...except when I really wasn't sure," Alex paused, watching Wanda carefully sorting the cards out, "We should place bets on this game and play with someone else. We could get so much money."
"By cheating?"
"The game's called Cheat. It's not like we're lying about it."
|| Someone is coming. Leave ||
"I gotta piss but can we have another game later? Maybe something like snap, that feels safer."
"Too easy for Pietro to win."
"Is it? Damn. I'll think of something, bye," Alex said it all in a rush and teleported away. She didn't let herself go far, Theundruk would have warned her if it was serious.
There was also the fear of Pietro finding out she'd gone. Part of her, the part used to leaving before everyone else left her, couldn't stop replaying his words saying that he'd never let her leave them again.
The practical part of her, which Alex hated, reminded her that Pietro could still leave at the end of the day. Promises were as easily broken as hearts. He could stop looking, eventually.
She ignored both parts, trying to focus on the now rather than what could happen with Pietro. Natasha had always warned her that boys were a distraction. Tony had warned that everyone was a distraction.
Neither of them understood genuine romantic feelings, Tony as a demiromantic with a history of poor love choices especially. Alex felt the urge to know how Pietro was constantly, to check he was safe and to know that he was watching her. She wanted him to look at her and not just want but need her, and the thought terrified her slightly with its potential.
|| You and your feelings are confusing ||
"Good. I like confusing people, keeps them on their toes."
It was as if she'd summoned them.
In front of her eyes, an orange doorway appeared and a woman in a sharp business suit stepped out. She didn't look like Theundruk had described those who worked at the TVA, and yet there was something unnatural about her.
"Ena Alessandra Esposito? The Vanisher?"
Alex could only manage a nod.
"My name is Ravonna Renslayer. I'm from the Time Variance Agency Do you mind if we talk?"
YOU ARE READING
Disappeared- {Pietro Maximoff}
Fanfiction"The more a man boasts, the stupider you can trust him to be" "Oh, did you learn that from Tony Stark?" Alessandra Esposito vanished three months ago amidst the rubble of Sokovia and now she's back; dealing with her growing feelings for a boy, the g...
