Backdated to last Thursday

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Wanda's doing a bit of rearranging in her new work space when Remy comes by to dig her out for a little bit of a chat about settling in and things to look forward to in the job.



With one hand, Wanda held a small bookcase off the floor in the area she was going to be working in and eyed the space critically. She was positive she had personally guaranteed bookcase makers retirement around the area but at least she now places to put all the books she currently owned and would own in the future. The problem with being a researcher, she supposed, shoving a box out of the way so she could move things around, was the constant influx of information in various forms.

Well, not a problem, simply a matter of spacing.

"You know, dere's a limit to de amount of crap you going to be able to keep around you desk until de desks around it have to become you desk too." Remy noted from the door of his office, having watched her try and manipulate the furniture around her desk for the tenth time. The rest of the kids had brought a box of photos and weird toys for their desks. Wanda had crated in at least a dozen full legal boxes of papers and books.

Wanda grinned at Remy over her shoulder as she forced the bookcase into the tight space. There was a good chance she wouldn't be able to get it out again without some brute force but, well, at least it wasn't going anywhere.

"I fully believe in having enough stuff around me to form a hasty barricade if possible," she said. "I taught some college classes, after all, and nothing stops a horde more effectively than a solid mass of furniture and paper."

"And what are you planning to do when 'manda goes crazy and topples everything down on you? Wait for de Red Cross to dig you out?" Remy was only partially joking. It really was an impressive collection of material that she'd put together.

"If that ever happens, I figure it will simply just be my time to go." She patted the bookcase, a tall, imposing looking speciman that sat behind her desk, gently. "I figured I'll be looking at a little bit of everything while I am here. There's nothing like being prepared. Though I suppose in case Amanda goes insane, I could always convince Frost to allow me to make an escape hatch."

"I think de people in de office downstairs might have a problem wit' dat." Remy walked back into his office to retrieve his cup of coffee and returned to the main room. "I see everyone else has taken off." There was some muffled cursing in Hindi from the computer room. "Except Doug. Why are you here late?"

"Well, damn, I'll scrap the plans for that emergancy hatch." Turning, Wanda leaned against the section of the desk she could actually see and shrugged. "I had a project I wanted to work on from my supervisor in Cambridge and got caught up with things. I actually prefer working later, less phone ringing since everyone else has already gone home. What about you? I'd lost track of the time and thought everyone else had scattered."

"I tend to work late. I don't sleep much, and I never know when dat I'm going to have to run off somewhere." Remy shook his head. "Better to get things done while I'm here, rather den trying to figure out what I need while on a plane on my way somewhere."

"So, other den building walls, you settling in?"

"Very much so. The work I will be doing for my doctorate really won't start until the fall, so I have had a fair amount of free time on my hands. Well, free time for me, anyway, I tend to find things to keep myself busy, must to the pleasure of my many employers." Wanda tilted her head slightly, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Outside of the Germany incident, though, I think I am trying to figure out what I'll be doing--or, well, what the rest of the world thinks I will be doing."


She looked fairly amused. "Amanda calls me Boss Lady since I can actively give her subjects to research."

"Dat's a good start. 'manda seems to be going down a similar career path as you, and without de magic, she could use someone to help show how to make her mark." Remy pointed out. "More den dat, if she's going to be in de field, she needs some help with her training. Not just her either. I'm crippled, Betts is on de move and Wisdom is too busy. Most of dem have some level of training, you've got de full range. I want you to start working wit' dem about it."

Wanda thought about that for a second. The damage from Chthon was already fading, though not yet gone, and she had a kind of control over her powers and herself that was pretty hard to come by. "I think having someone without all the magic knowledge would help Amanda," she said, thoughfully, rubbing her chin. "And I would be more than happy to see her continue down a path I took myself once. It would be interesting to help out with the training...keeps me in shape in all sorts of different ways as well."

"Not just her. We've got Sarah and Doug now. Maybe Marie-Ange. If dey are going to do dis job, we need to make sure dey are as prepared as we can make dem. Eventually dey going to be out dere on dere own, and we need to make sure dey can handle it." Remy said.

"Marie-Ange? Really?" Getting around her curiosity, she considered the rest of his words. It very strongly interested Wanda. She'd always enjoyed teaching and this was simply another way of instructing, a different set of information for them to learn. "That is more than doable. Everyone handled themselves well on the last mission but there is still a lot to learn for everyone." "I agree. We're all going to have to cross train, get everyone's skills into practice. You research abilities, and de name you bring helps our cover. De combat abilities and training helps wit' de rest of it." Remy took another sip from his mug.

"And, really, I did spend more of my life with the research and a type of self-control with the issues with my power. I learned a lot of combat and everything else from the X-Men, though since I have a tendancy for chaos, I seemed to be a pretty good natural at the whole breaking thing when I have to." She beamed at the thought. Chthon's influence might be gone but she'd spent most of her life bent towards chaos and not all of it was his fault. "So I know enough about being able to pick things like that up to pass it on to someone else."

"De hope is dat our combat abilities are de least used part of our skills. If we're fighting, it means dat we've fucked up somewhere along de line. But when we do end up wit' our backs to de wall, and it will happen, we need to make sure dat everyone here has de skills to get demselves out." Remy finished the coffee and set the mug down on the desk. "Personally, Remy be just as happy if de most dangerous thing any of de kids have to do is mic a car or light surviallance from a coffee shop."

"I think if that is all any of us have to face, we might all rest a little easier. But that means we probably would not have been looking hard enough for the bad guys, I suppose." And that had been a half-life. Wanda was not the type to go seeking danger but certainly was not one to back away from it. It was probably part of the reason she was there, actually. "I think we are all very capable people. In some, it just has not had a long enough time to mature and show off."

"Dey got potential, I'll give dem dat. What dey need is training and experience." He nodded. "Dere's a crew up on de third floor of de brownstone right now, fitting out de common area wit some mats and weight machines. It's not de Danger Room, but it's an area dat we can use to teach dem de basics wit'out having to explain things to de neighbours. Also going to talk to Stormy 'bout getting some access to de Danger Room. Jokes aside, it's one of de best training environments dat you could hope to find, and is a good place to keep dere powers training up to date."

If Wanda perked up more at the mention of a weight room, she didn't comment on it. "And we certainly will not be able to reproduce something like that here for a very long time," she commented, "if ever, really. So I am all in favor of borrowing it from them now and then to keep skills nice and fresh."

"For powers training, oui. As for de rest, we can do just as well with just de mats and some nastiness." Remy nodded.

"Yes, I doubt any of our neighbors would appreciate us rough housing with our powers." Fun mental image but certainly not worth any of the trouble. "But everything seems to be cominly along very nicely."

"Which means dat any minute de whole thing 'bout to come crashing down on our heads." Remy muttered darkly. "I'm going for dinner. Care to join me, assuming you can get out from under de books?"

Wanda cast a quick look around her and then reached around a stack of books and papers, snatching her purse. "Lunch would be fantastic." She started to follow him out. "And then we can discuss my escape hatch..."