(no subject)

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Following the only lead she might have, Wanda winds up at Club Boheme, seeking out an old 'friend' for information on Jennie. She finds a little extra in the process.



Club Boheme, Wanda realized sourly, had not changed in the years she had been gone. At least from the outside, though the lines were longer these days and the clientèle younger. Or that may have just been her getting older. Rolling her shoulders, Wanda rounded the corner fully, long legs leading her straight past the waiting masses and to the entrance. She got more than a few grumbles--filtered with glee as they hoped to see her sent straight back to the end of the line--and even more appreciative whistles and looks.

It had been a very long while since she'd pulled her clubbing gear out of the closet and, considering what she was after and who she was seeing, had gone all out. The skirt, a dark purple that looked almost black, was short enough on it's own but it was helped with the long slit up the side; the red and black top, mimicking a corset without the uncomfortableness, was well framed by the long coat (the only one she owned) that cinched at the waist and fell nearly to the ground.

Ignoring the patrons, Wanda gave the two bouncers a wan smile. She didn't recognize either of them but that wasn't a surprise. Very few people stayed for long periods of time bouncing at a place like this. You either moved on to bigger or better things or...well, you simply were moved on.

Tall for a woman anyway with the boots she'd picked out for the excursion she topped out at over six feet tall. It certainly helped to get their attention.

"~Good evening,~" she said in French, watching them tense but not due to some threat, only irritation at yet another customer looking to get in before her time. "~Don't worry, gentleman, I will not waste your time. I wish to speak to either M. Molyneux or...preferably, M. Devereux himself.~"

"~M. Devereux is a very busy man.~"

"~I am certain that he is. But if you could kindly tell him that Mlle Maximoff has stopped by and that I am looking to...catch up on missed time.~"

The two exchanged glances and while one turned away, talking quietly into an ear piece, the other one watched her sternly.

'They probably think I'm a hooker,' she thought, keeping a neutral expression on her face. It wouldn't be the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last. She knew they would be contacting Didier Molyneux first--if her contacts were correct and he was still in charge of the bouncers here. He would clear the way for her to get to Devereux, if only out of a faded friendship.

Didier was a man she trusted at her back. Devereux was a man she wouldn't trust no matter where he was positioned.

When the other one returned, he nodded sharply at the door. "~Follow me, Mlle Maximoff, you've been cleared to visit the upstairs.~"

"~Thank you.~"

~~

Wanda stood on the other side of the door that would lead to the sound proofed, private rooms of one Benoit Devereux, owner of the club. And drug dealer, weapons runner and God knows what else. But if Jennie had been in his club, he would know. A waste of the air he used, yes, but a sharp mind sat within the sleaze that surrounded it.

She could only hope that Jennie hadn't gotten caught up in any of Devereux's plots and schemes. It had been known to happen.

The guard in front of her knocked on the door and then ushered her in. She glanced around, lips pursed. The decor had changed slightly but it was like stepping back in time. Only the last time she was here, she'd punched him in the face and trashed a good deal of the place on her way out.

She hadn't started to try and save the world with the X-Men, after all.

But he had allowed her back in and, it would seem, without an armed guard at her back, seeing as the gentleman had slipped out. Not that Devereux was unprotected, far from it. But the meeting was already taking a turn for the interesting.

"~Good evening, Devereux,~" she said, coming up to the table where he was lounging at, faint cigarette smoke in the air. He could have been considered handsome, at one point in his life, before the drugs took off whatever healthy weight he had on him. Now, he simply looked like a well-groomed skeleton, with sunken eyes that followed everything. The grease in his hair alone would be enough to start a small fire.


"~Well well well, My lady Maximoff~!" Devereux let a smile spread across his thin features. "~Long time no see! For what do I owe the honor of your presence? My offices have been far too dull and lifeless without your beauty to give it light.~" He put his cigarette down in the glass ashtray and leaned back, giving every appearance of being calm and collected. But also very very aware of the pistol he had hidden in his lap.

Sitting down across from him, Wanda leaned back, looking as comfortable as he. "~Or my sensitive decorating style,~" she responded in a murmur, keeping a tight reign on her emotions. She had been on edge ever since the news of Jennie's disappearance, getting little sleep in her drive to find the girl and find her quickly. It would not do to let those emotions free. Not yet anyway. "~I come seeking information, actually. And as much as we do not see eye to eye, I know that whatever happens in your club--or in the area around it--you are not unaware of it.~"

Devereux quirked an eyebrow. "~What is the point of ruling a kingdom if the king is not aware of what goes on from the lowliest peasant to the highest official." He examined his fingernails, which were as transparent as glass. "~Of course, it also depends on what you need to know.~"

Reaching into the pocket of her coat, slowly enough to show that she wasn't going for any type of weapon, Wanda pulled out a picture and tossed it onto the table. "~Her name is Jennifer Stavros, American, young. A friend of mine. She's been missing for a few weeks and...~" She glanced through the one-way mirror that looked out over the entire, throbbing club. "~This seems the type of place she would be drawn to. Information on her is what I'm looking for.~"

The man reached for the photograph casually, his colorless eyes flicking over the girl in the picture; young, pretty, but not in any meaningful sort of way. "~My lady, many young people pass through my establishment every night. If your girl has been here, I, alas, cannot recall.~" He tossed the photo back on the desk.

Leaning forward a bit, Wanda stared at him. "~You see everything, my dear man, and you hear everything that happens in your club.~" She could have, of course, asked for the last few weeks of security videos but that would simply have gotten her escorted off the grounds. "~Equivalent exchange, then, shall we? To loosen the steel trap mind you are in possession of.~"


He steepled his fingers and smiled, eyes like glass marbles. "~Now, Mlle. Maximoff, now you speak my language. How much is this girl worth to you?~" He tapped the photo with a finger.

More than anything he would own but Wanda kept mum on that as she leaned back, crossing her legs and showing him a large amount of skin as she shifted. He'd always been after her for that so this would add to her advantage. "~A fair bit,~" Wanda said, pulling out an envelope and leaving it next to her. "~I came prepared to offer the amount in the envelope and...~" She just smiled, shifting again.


Devereux's smile turned even more oily, if that was even possible. "~Well," he said, raising both eyebrows this time, "~That does change things just a bit,~" he made to reach for the envelope.

Her hand stopped his, gently, and she pushed herself up out of her chair. "~Pleasure before business, wasn't that your belief all those years ago?~" Wanda asked, standing in front of him, a hand on her hip as the other one played with her hair.

His eyes traveled along her shape slowly, sizing her up like a cut of beef at the butcher's. He ran a thumb along his lip, considering. She must want this girl bad, to be doing something like this. "~Let us not play games, Mlle. Maximoff. I may have seen the girl, I may not. The more clothing you remove, the more I will remember.~' Just in case, he felt for his pistol.

"~I do believe you have yourself a deal.~" Fingers danced their way up the smooth material of the jacket, hooking the single silver clasp. Gracefully shrugging it off her shoulders, it pooled across the back of her arms for a second before she slide it the rest of the way off, letting it fall where it went. With the jacket gone, it showed just how much flesh was left uncovered as she leaned in closer, tilting her head in a silent ask of permission to sit...closer. Much closer.

He took it, leaning forward on his elbows, appreciating the curve of her breasts in her top. reluctantly, he tore his eyes away from her bosom and held up the photograph. "~Now that I look at her, she does seem familiar.~ Devereux flicked his gaze back to her, waiting.

That was one of the things she had been waiting for, the acknowledgment that Jennie had been there. And he wasn't lieing, either. The other was to reconfirm exactly where the security cameras in the room where. The change on her face was quick, going from wanton to hard in a heart beat. Wanda lunged, a flash of red the only sign that the cameras had suddenly gone offline and the automatic lock on the door had died, sealing them in together.

She knocked him back against his chair, one hand reaching up to grip him by his hair while the other one slithered down in between them. But certainly not the way he had originally been hoping, not when she pressed the cold steel of the knife against his groin, painfully but not cutting. Not yet. "~Now, you listen very carefully, Devereux,~" she hissed into his ear, "~I know your operations have grown since I've left. You've been getting greedy, little man and it may have just come back to bite you in the ass. I have heard rumors of the slave trade coming through your doors, you piece of shit and you had better start talking fast to convince me that my girl was not taken by those creatures. And you will tell me where you keep your information on the traders in your desk or else your future enjoyment of all things pleasurable will come to an abrupt, painful end.~"


Devereux was many things, but he was not a brave man. It was why he surrounded himself with well-armed and well-paid bodyguards. But time had made him sloppy. There once was a time he wouldn't have let Maximoff on the same block. Now he was realizing, there was a reason for that.

He swallowed painfully, adam's apple bobbing as he tried to not shift perilously closer to the cold blade pressed against his groin. "~B-bottom right hand drawer. Under the false bottom. Papers marked 'Alcohol sales'~"

She sneered and released his hair but before she stood up, Wanda reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the gun. "~Pitiful, like always.~" Standing up, she shoved him away from her, keeping the gun as she went over the desk. It only took her a few seconds to find what she was looking for and she glanced through it all. Interesting. She had no idea if they were related to the ring they had just dealt with but she was sure Remy and Pete could worry through it all later.

"~That was the first part, Devereux. Give me the information on my girl, if you please.~"

He flinched slightly and rubbed his head. "~I don't remember your little bitch at all. Now get the hell out of my club.~" he sneered.

With practiced ease, Wanda flipped the knife around in her and threw it, slicing through his hand as he started to reach for something--a panic button, most likely--and pinning him to the couch. She stalked back over and gripped his chin in her free hand. "~Talk before I remove your balls and feed them to your men outside.~"

"~Ah-Ah...ha....All right! All right! You crazy bitch! I remember her! Young girl, black hair. Was here a few times in August. Saw her talking to our other mutant patrons. That's it! That's all I know!~" he wailed

Her grip became crushing for a second as she squashed down the wall of disappointment that threatened her. It was something, after all. Something more to chase, to follow. "~It was good seeing you again, Devereux.~" Stepping back, Wanda retrieved the envelope of money and her jacket. Stopping at the desk, she looked disgusted as she picked up the gun but she preferred to dump it in a bin on her way out and not have to worry about catching a bullet in the back.

Turning, she studied the far wall, ignoring the sounds of pain from the Frenchman behind her. A man like him would have multiple ways of fleeing and it only took her a few looks with her powers to find the section of wall that was movable. She stopped, though on the first stair and turned back.

"~I'll bill you for the cost of the knife,~" Wanda purred, blowing him a kiss as she left.