Mark & Agatha Harkness, Wednesday afternoon

[x-pressive.livejournal.com]

Mark gets the pleasure of meeting Wanda's old mentor, and Wanda pulls a vanishing act.


A cab pulled up in front of the Snow Valley offices in downtown New York and a woman paid the driver as she got out. She watched it drive away before she turned around and gave the building a critical look. It was obvious that she was older but it was hard to place the age -- her face was tanned from being outdoors and lined from that as well as age. The white hair gleamed in the sunlight and she kept it cut short, though not as severe as she had worn it after her husband had first passed. Taking her umbrella firmly in hand, she entered the building and headed towards the young man behind the desk.

"Excuse me," she said, stopping in front of the desk, hands curling over the black ivory head of the umbrella, the accent announcing her as British, "can you tell me if a Miss, or perhaps Professor, Wanda Maximoff does indeed work here?"

Mark hesitated before answering, taking a moment to size up the old lady. Wanda's employment at SV wasn't a secret, but he'd learned to be suspicious after Essex came in demanding to see Pete over a year ago. "Yes, she does. How may I help you?"

"My name is Doctor Agatha Harkness, I was a professor of Wanda's while she was studying at Cambridge," Agatha responded, giving Mark a slight smile. "Can you please tell her I have come by to see her?"

Ah, the Agatha Harkness. He'd heard that name, usually followed by an impressive line of cursing. He smiled pleasantly at her and dialed Wanda's extension. "Hey, it's Mark. Got a visitor here for you. Um, Agatha Harkness. Wanda?"

There was a rattling in the background, as if Wanda had dropped her cup of tea. "Tell her to come back another time, I am . . . busy," she said in a rush, quickly hanging up before Mark could say anything more.

Agatha, on the other hand, just looked mildly amused.

Mark blinked and pulled off his headset. "Would you like to take a seat? She's in a meeting right now." Something about this woman made the lie not sound entirely convincing, and he turned back to his computer so he wouldn't have to look up at her anymore.

She tilted her head at him in a rather birdlike fashion before asking, "Would you be a dear and go see if she's available? I promise that any potential assembled hoard of Genghis Khan will get no further than this pristine sitting room."

Mark sensed something very Emma-esque from this woman, something that told him the best thing to do is what she asks, otherwise Bad Things will happen. "Um, sure. One sec."

He came back a minute later, shrugging. "Sorry, she's gone. I guess she has an important follow-up with that meeting."

"Ah, I see. Out the back door, is it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Agatha looked pleased and reached over to pat him on the head. "Good boy, now if you could just point me in the right direction, I will get out of your hair and into Wanda's," she said, looking quite pleased by the prospect. Once he'd given her directions on how to get to the emergency exit from outside the building, she was off – not quickly but determinedly.

Oh, Mark was sure he'd suffer for this once Wanda found him. He plopped back down in his seat and sighed, then picked up his phone and quickly dialed a number. "Hey, Esteban? It's Mark. Listen, I need a place to crash for the next, oh, month or so."