Wandas POV

I called it. I fucking told you. I should have made a bet or something.

My 'luck' or whatever you want to call it is just ridiculous.

Literally within the first few days of working with the firehouses, I had to work with Alex.

I mean, thankfully it wasn't a big deal. We each did the work we had to do and pretended the other wasn't even remotely in existence.

Which sucked, but also helped.

Okay, it barely helped.

And I shouldn't, I know I shouldn't. Every part of my brain yells at me not to do it. (But let's be real, how often do we follow our heads?)

And to be fair, I have caught her looking over at me, too. Usually she has an annoyed or disgusted look on her face; sometimes even just looking past me. But I've caught her. She's looked.

I know because she'll look away instantly and try to seem busy.

No, I'm not completely innocent.

Sometimes I catch myself looking for her; wanting to know what she's working on. Hoping to catch her smiling or hear her laugh.

And holy fuck is it hot seeing her in uniform working a scene like it's her bitch.

I sound crazy, I know.

But I'm back to being single and I'm around her all the time.

And knowing that Yelena and Alex's relationship isn't like a relationship relationship.. well, it helps with the guilt.

Ah, fuck.

And then I remember it isn't fake to Alex.

She thinks shes in a solid, loving, honest partnership with Yelena.

And she isn't.

And then the guilt is back.

And I don't know why.

Because she hates me, practically explodes every time she has to breathe a word to me.

And yet, here I am, feeling sorry for her because..

Because she's a person. With feelings. And no matter who you are or what side of things you're on, it still absolutely sucks to have your heart messed with and then ripped out like it was a prize in an arcade game.

Not that that has happened. And I'm sure Yelena will try to break things off as smoothly as possible and she'll never have to find out.

But still...

And there goes another day where I'm lost in my day dreams.

Everyone is packing up to go and I follow suit, getting rid of the last few pieces of rubble.

A few people say goodbye before jumping back on their truck to head back to the firehouse.

She isn't one of them, but I see her climbing back on the truck, throwing her head back in laughter with Max.

Then they pull away, leaving me to fly off to my own home.

—————

Today I've been bouncing around the city helping different firehouses.

Luckily none of them have been her firehouse.

Haven't seen her since last week.

Of course I was called out to missions so it's my only day helping this week, but still.

It's my last one of the day. Since they had the fire well handled and they saved the building, there wasn't a whole lot for me to do.

So I sent a text to Nat letting her know I'd be coming home soon for our girls night.

She immediately replied back that they will have everything ready along with a smiling emoji and a thumbs up.

Then she sent a picture of Spencer kissing her cheek, a wide smile plastered on her face.

Normally I would roll my eyes, but I'm so happy for Nat that it doesn't bother me. She really has opened up so much more since dating Spencer. I don't know about you, but I love those two together.

And that's when I realized I zoned out again and someone is calling for me, taking me a moment to find the person.

"Wanda?" I think it's one of the chiefs on site. Or a lieutenant? I really don't know how they work.

"Yes?"

"I know we didn't have much for you to do, but thanks for the back up," she offers me a hand to shake and I accept it.

"It's my pleasure. It's been incredible just to see you all in action. I can't imagine running into a fire," I laugh.

She gives me a weird look, "aren't you the one that literally fought off hundreds of robots?"

She got me there. And it's nice to know I was still seen as a hero for that. I know there was a lot of controversy. A lot of people were hurt. And I've always wished I could do more...

"Uh, yes. That was me. But somehow they seem less terrifying then flames trying to burn you to a crisp," that came off a little harsher than I meant.

Thankfully she just laughs, "yeah, I can't say this is for everyone. There's a lot of good people that go through the academy that don't make it through their first year on truck."

"Wow. Is it really that common?" I wouldn't think so.

She lowers her head with a glint of sorrow in her eyes.

"I've seen quite a few myself. Friends and family, even. Training is as hard as it gets, and it's certainly not for the lighthearted. It takes a lot of grit and determination. But.. there's things you see out in the field.. that you just.. you can't prepare for. And that changes a person."

I almost don't know what to say. I've never really thought about that side of it before. It's easy to see them as the heroes, and they rightfully are. You see them put out the fires, run into a building set aflame or carrying the person out to safety.

You don't think about the times where they don't quite make it in time. Or they can't get to everyone.. and I can feel on some level what it's like to lose one of their own.

Something tells me that she isn't just telling me this for fun, that sometimes you have to let some of this weight go to someone that has no connection to you. "I.. I'm so sorry... I know it's never easy. I've seen things that I wouldn't wish on anyone. I know your line of work isn't any easier. And you do it everyday."

I do my best to console her, but I'm not even sure if that's what she was looking for. Most of me just thinks she needed to say it to someone.

"Yeah.. it's part of the job that you can't really share with anyone else, you know? Your firehouse becomes your family. They understand like no one else can. So we lean on each other. It's a necessity, but it's also what saves us."

Damn. That really hit home.

Because those crazy people waiting for me back at the compound, they're the ones that understand; they've been there. And they've helped me, we've helped each other. It's why we may grumble about the team bonding Tony plans, but we all show up.

We all want to be there.

"Well, I hope you have a good night, thank you again for your help," she gives me one last smile and she backs away to go.

"Thank you! And your whole firehouse. All of the firefighters. You're the true heroes," I call out, I know she hears me. Her smile grows bigger as she turns her back and walks to the fire truck.

I can only guess why she let herself open up to me like that, but I'm grateful for it.

She helped me appreciate my team, my family, even more.

And I'm that much more excited to go back home and watch some rom coms with some of my favorite people as we joke and drink and eat.

And I'm just about to take off to do just that, when I'm buzzed through.

There's another fire a few blocks away and they're asking for assistance.

I guess I could say no. I could. But I didn't get to help out much today and even with helping with this call, I should still have plenty of time for girls night.

Guess I'm going.

I send a quick text to Nat to tell her my change of plans and then head in the direction of this new fire.

It's not too hard to spot as there's smoke billowing up to the sky, turning it to night even quicker.

It looks as though they've already got most of the fire out, but there's definitely some damage done.

I don't see any more flames dancing around and they're starting to talk to one another so I take that as my cue and quickly look for someone to direct me in what they need assistance with.

Spotting one that seems to be in charge, I walk over to stand next to them, my eyes still transfixed on what's going on around me. So I'm still not entirely sure how to tell who is who. I know there's a badge or something on their helmets, but their back is towards me, so I'm guessing.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm Wanda. I was asked to come help with the clean up and I just wanted to know where you wanted me to.."

I lose my words, I have no idea what I was going to say or what I'm doing.

Because the firefighter finally turns towards me and we lock eyes.

Their blue ones freezing my words where they formed.