Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Twenty-Four: Genalis

Music is "Double Rainbow" by Katy Perry.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Megalopta Genalis

A native of Central and South America, Megalopta Genalis is a species of sweat bee. They are one of the rare nocturnal species, active mostly at twilight. This is due to the larger facets in their compound eyes that make them 27 times more sensitive to light than other diurnal bees. One of the plants that M. Genalis pollinates is the Pseduobombax Septanatum, which has flowers that only open at sunset, after most diurnal bees have returned to their hives for the night.

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Chapter Twenty-Four: Genalis

Tony's plan--which is really a collective effort with everyone's input, but Tony insists on calling it "his plan"--is as brilliant as it is risky. We have two main problems to deal with: our missing friends and Max's bees and hive. Taking one problem at a time, we've decided to split up into two groups to conquer each problem. Wanda and I are taking Peggy, Natasha, Pepper, Carol, Steve, and Clint to deal with the Maximoffica Rurikis problem; Tony, Rhodey, Vision, Bruce, Sam, Bucky, T'Challa, and Thor have left to find and rescue Stephen and Loki. While I want to be in both places at once, Wanda and I agree that it's best for those of us with magic to stay as far away from Max's home base as possible.

Tony's team is already on the way to the lab. I told them what I could about where Stephen and Loki were being kept, but I doubt they're still there. Tony assured me that they'd hack the system from the outside, find out where our friends are, and figure out how to get them free from there.

Wanda, our team, and I are standing just outside the conference hall on campus. The first step in our search for Max's bees and hive is to ensure they haven't already arrived. Even with the sun down and the lights off, we can tell that they're not here yet. No trucks or packages are anywhere near the hall. Natasha was able to hack the system to see if they were inside the building, but the security feeds show nothing unusual and the log shows that no one has been inside the building for hours.

"I have an idea," she states, moving from one system to another on her laptop. "You said there were three shipments?"

I nod, signing, "Two for the bees and one for the hive. They left the lab just after one earlier this afternoon. The system said it was en route to the campus for the Fair, that it would arrive in sixteen hours."

"That puts the ETA at seven tomorrow morning," Steve concludes, leaning over Natasha's shoulder to look at her work. "Just in time for the Fair."

"Where are they now, then?" Clint asks the obvious. "Why take the long-way around? The lab's only a couple miles away. It shouldn't take sixteen hours to drive that."

"They're not coming straight here, is my guess," Carol states. "Why would they? It's safer to keep the project moving, in multiple locations, so Sarai here couldn't try to stop them. He might think she's not a threat alone, but he's being overly cautious."

"I agree," Natasha nods, typing away on her computer. "Which is why I'm going to track them down using CCTV and traffic cams."

"You can do that?" Wanda asks.

Natasha smirks up at her briefly. "Your surprise is insulting."

"Where did a ballerina learn how to hack traffic cams?" I sign with a side smile.