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xp_logs2009-08-14 09:38 pm
x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com) wrote in xp_logs2009-08-14 09:38 pm
House of Wolves: The Phone Call
On their last night in England, Wanda gets a call from a hospital in Cambridge.
OOC Note: Takes place early Saturday morning in England.
"And there, all packed. Finally. I should have just done what you had suggested and purchased another suitcase for all things I purchased." Wanda straightened from where she'd been leaning her entire weight on one bag to make sure that it was, indeed, shut. They were to leave later that day and go back home, finally leaving after a week of going through their London contacts and riding on the embarrassment of a now sober old friend.
It was late, but Wanda was still mostly awake. Probably from the adrenaline of trying to pack everything into the same suitcases that she had brought with her. She'd nearly lost an eye at one point when a shoe had gone flying.
"It might have been less dangerous for all involved," came the reply from where Jake was sprawled on the other bed, guarding his laptop protectively from shoes and other packing-related projectiles. "You could have at least shipped the new shoes. The nice salesclerk offered and everything."
"But I wanted to wear some of them!" came the protest as she tugged the suitcase off the bed and shuffled to where its brothers were waiting. "You never know when a true shoe emergency is going to pop up, do you?"
"How many pairs do you wear in one day?" he asked, amused and incredulous. "I mean, on the one hand, I suppose you probably have to change them often in order to wear every pair at least once a year. On the other, you brought twelve pairs of shoes for what was supposed to be a short trip. And then bought how many more?"
She stuck her tongue out at him before falling over onto her bed into a giant sprawl. "It was only six pairs, originally, thank you very much. And I bought six more so I'm returning with twelve. Just be grateful I'm not stashing..." Wanda's head came off the bed as her phone started to ring - not the phone in the room but her personal one.
It was sitting on the small side table that separated the two beds, so she didn't have to get up as she grabbed for it. "Hello? Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?" There was a long pause and then suddenly Wanda was sitting straight up in bed, one hand clenching the covers. "Oh my god, are they ... both of them? Are they okay?"
Jake's retort died on his lips, along with his smile. He rolled to a sitting position on the side of the bed facing Wanda, a crease appearing between his eyes as he frowned. "Who?" he mouthed silently, trying to catch Wanda's eye.
She held up her hand, which meant it probably wasn't anyone he would know. "I see. Wait, how many were killed? Jesus." Wanda had gone pale at the start of the conversation and wasn't looking like she was getting any better. "I do live in the States, yes, but I happen to be in London. I can make it to Cambridge later today, yes. Thank you for letting me know." Fingers fumbled at the cell phone and she dropped it on the bed, staring at it.
"That was a hospital up in Cambridge. My old professor and adviser owns a museum near the University - someone broke in. Several guards are dead. Agatha, the professor, was hurt. So was my cousin, Hanzi." Wanda scrubbed her face and tried to make sense of it all. "I got him a job there a few years ago and they just wheeled him out of surgery because someone decided his internal organs looked better on the outside than in."
He hesitated. His brain had already started to categorize what little he knew--Wanda had a cousin?--and process it, but he was distracted from his impulse to ask a dozen questions by the stunned and utterly unfamiliar look on Wanda's face. After a second, he moved to sit next to her on the bed. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "Did this just happen?"
"Earlier Friday evening, about two hours after closing. The rest of the staff had gone home but Agatha was working late." Wanda didn't move to lean on him like she normally would, just sat stiff and straight on the bed with her hands clasped together. "The police think it was a burgler but they don't have anyone in custody yet. Hanzi and Agatha should be fine but I need to go up to Cambridge once I can get transportation up there."
Jake nodded, noting Wanda's posture and the way she seemed to be keeping herself contained; he'd never seen her lock up like this. "We can rent a car or take the train," he said, reaching for his laptop. "As much as I prefer taking the train, I think I vote for the car; it gives us more options and makes us less dependant on the mercies of public transportation."
That got her to look at him. "We? No, Jake, you and the others should head back. I have no idea what happened up there or how long I'm going to be." There wasn't a lot of power behind her words and her eyes kept skipping away to stare off into the distance.
Had Wanda been acting at all like Wanda, he might have laughed at her suggestion. As it was, however, he was having trouble keeping himself from banging on the adjoining door to Mark and 'Yana's room for backup. "No." For quite possibly the first time in their long friendship, Jake's tone left no room for argument.
He hooked a gentle finger under her chin, turning her to face him. "Two people you're close to have been attacked while you're in the country, which means there's every reason to believe this is an attempt to draw you out. Furthermore, even if it's got nothing to do with you, you've got a crack team of secret agents with you, all of whom are very good at their jobs. There's no point in sending us home only to have us turn around and come right back."
"And Wanda..." His tone softened then as he searched for the right words, his thumb coming up to gently caress her jaw. "I've never seen you this upset--well," he amended, "I've never seen you upset in this way." Nose-breakingly angry he could deal with, could understand; this Wanda was scattered and lost, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her run off by herself, even if it put him in harm's way. ...Which scared the crap out of him, but he could worry about that later.
For one awful moment, it was all most too much. Staring down her own death was one thing, even Mark's 'death' and rebirth had been something that she had worked through before falling to pieces. Death was an expected concern for their line of work - she could work through her worry of Remy's disappearance, for one, and bottle it carefully but this...
It was shocking that violence had touched two people completely removed from that kind of life. And Jake's unexpected strength, his words, everything, was almost the unbinding agent.
"I did not think of someone trying to draw me out," Wanda said, pulling in a long and shaky breath as she reached up to touch Jake's hand. "That is probably rather telling of my state of mind. Hanzi is family, Jake, and Agatha is one of the most frightening people I know - she is supposed to be untouchable. It does not make sense to me."
Jake raised an eyebrow in concern. Wanda's admission was even more worrisome; Jake wasn't used to being the one who was thinking smartly in their relationship. He turned his hand around to twine his fingers with hers. "All the more reason to take backup," he said, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. "If someone could hurt her..."
Wanda's lips pinched together but she finally nodded. "If they want to go home," she started to say and then rolled her eyes at the look on his face. "All right, all right, neither of them will probably want to go home. When it gets to a more reasonable time, I'll give the airline a call and have them change our tickets." But she couldn't do that for hours, they couldn't leave until a car was acquired and the idea of just sitting around...
She swallowed hard and squeezed Jake's hand, trying to regain her emotional and mental balance.
Jake squeezed back, then nudged her gently. "Hey, at least we're already packed?"
"...what the hell am I going to do with all those shoes in Cambridge?" She hadn't recovered yet, not by a long shot, but at least she could laugh a little. Even if it was strained.
OOC Note: Takes place early Saturday morning in England.
"And there, all packed. Finally. I should have just done what you had suggested and purchased another suitcase for all things I purchased." Wanda straightened from where she'd been leaning her entire weight on one bag to make sure that it was, indeed, shut. They were to leave later that day and go back home, finally leaving after a week of going through their London contacts and riding on the embarrassment of a now sober old friend.
It was late, but Wanda was still mostly awake. Probably from the adrenaline of trying to pack everything into the same suitcases that she had brought with her. She'd nearly lost an eye at one point when a shoe had gone flying.
"It might have been less dangerous for all involved," came the reply from where Jake was sprawled on the other bed, guarding his laptop protectively from shoes and other packing-related projectiles. "You could have at least shipped the new shoes. The nice salesclerk offered and everything."
"But I wanted to wear some of them!" came the protest as she tugged the suitcase off the bed and shuffled to where its brothers were waiting. "You never know when a true shoe emergency is going to pop up, do you?"
"How many pairs do you wear in one day?" he asked, amused and incredulous. "I mean, on the one hand, I suppose you probably have to change them often in order to wear every pair at least once a year. On the other, you brought twelve pairs of shoes for what was supposed to be a short trip. And then bought how many more?"
She stuck her tongue out at him before falling over onto her bed into a giant sprawl. "It was only six pairs, originally, thank you very much. And I bought six more so I'm returning with twelve. Just be grateful I'm not stashing..." Wanda's head came off the bed as her phone started to ring - not the phone in the room but her personal one.
It was sitting on the small side table that separated the two beds, so she didn't have to get up as she grabbed for it. "Hello? Yes, this is she. May I ask who's calling?" There was a long pause and then suddenly Wanda was sitting straight up in bed, one hand clenching the covers. "Oh my god, are they ... both of them? Are they okay?"
Jake's retort died on his lips, along with his smile. He rolled to a sitting position on the side of the bed facing Wanda, a crease appearing between his eyes as he frowned. "Who?" he mouthed silently, trying to catch Wanda's eye.
She held up her hand, which meant it probably wasn't anyone he would know. "I see. Wait, how many were killed? Jesus." Wanda had gone pale at the start of the conversation and wasn't looking like she was getting any better. "I do live in the States, yes, but I happen to be in London. I can make it to Cambridge later today, yes. Thank you for letting me know." Fingers fumbled at the cell phone and she dropped it on the bed, staring at it.
"That was a hospital up in Cambridge. My old professor and adviser owns a museum near the University - someone broke in. Several guards are dead. Agatha, the professor, was hurt. So was my cousin, Hanzi." Wanda scrubbed her face and tried to make sense of it all. "I got him a job there a few years ago and they just wheeled him out of surgery because someone decided his internal organs looked better on the outside than in."
He hesitated. His brain had already started to categorize what little he knew--Wanda had a cousin?--and process it, but he was distracted from his impulse to ask a dozen questions by the stunned and utterly unfamiliar look on Wanda's face. After a second, he moved to sit next to her on the bed. "I'm sorry," he said finally. "Did this just happen?"
"Earlier Friday evening, about two hours after closing. The rest of the staff had gone home but Agatha was working late." Wanda didn't move to lean on him like she normally would, just sat stiff and straight on the bed with her hands clasped together. "The police think it was a burgler but they don't have anyone in custody yet. Hanzi and Agatha should be fine but I need to go up to Cambridge once I can get transportation up there."
Jake nodded, noting Wanda's posture and the way she seemed to be keeping herself contained; he'd never seen her lock up like this. "We can rent a car or take the train," he said, reaching for his laptop. "As much as I prefer taking the train, I think I vote for the car; it gives us more options and makes us less dependant on the mercies of public transportation."
That got her to look at him. "We? No, Jake, you and the others should head back. I have no idea what happened up there or how long I'm going to be." There wasn't a lot of power behind her words and her eyes kept skipping away to stare off into the distance.
Had Wanda been acting at all like Wanda, he might have laughed at her suggestion. As it was, however, he was having trouble keeping himself from banging on the adjoining door to Mark and 'Yana's room for backup. "No." For quite possibly the first time in their long friendship, Jake's tone left no room for argument.
He hooked a gentle finger under her chin, turning her to face him. "Two people you're close to have been attacked while you're in the country, which means there's every reason to believe this is an attempt to draw you out. Furthermore, even if it's got nothing to do with you, you've got a crack team of secret agents with you, all of whom are very good at their jobs. There's no point in sending us home only to have us turn around and come right back."
"And Wanda..." His tone softened then as he searched for the right words, his thumb coming up to gently caress her jaw. "I've never seen you this upset--well," he amended, "I've never seen you upset in this way." Nose-breakingly angry he could deal with, could understand; this Wanda was scattered and lost, and he'd be damned if he was going to let her run off by herself, even if it put him in harm's way. ...Which scared the crap out of him, but he could worry about that later.
For one awful moment, it was all most too much. Staring down her own death was one thing, even Mark's 'death' and rebirth had been something that she had worked through before falling to pieces. Death was an expected concern for their line of work - she could work through her worry of Remy's disappearance, for one, and bottle it carefully but this...
It was shocking that violence had touched two people completely removed from that kind of life. And Jake's unexpected strength, his words, everything, was almost the unbinding agent.
"I did not think of someone trying to draw me out," Wanda said, pulling in a long and shaky breath as she reached up to touch Jake's hand. "That is probably rather telling of my state of mind. Hanzi is family, Jake, and Agatha is one of the most frightening people I know - she is supposed to be untouchable. It does not make sense to me."
Jake raised an eyebrow in concern. Wanda's admission was even more worrisome; Jake wasn't used to being the one who was thinking smartly in their relationship. He turned his hand around to twine his fingers with hers. "All the more reason to take backup," he said, unable to keep the concern out of his voice. "If someone could hurt her..."
Wanda's lips pinched together but she finally nodded. "If they want to go home," she started to say and then rolled her eyes at the look on his face. "All right, all right, neither of them will probably want to go home. When it gets to a more reasonable time, I'll give the airline a call and have them change our tickets." But she couldn't do that for hours, they couldn't leave until a car was acquired and the idea of just sitting around...
She swallowed hard and squeezed Jake's hand, trying to regain her emotional and mental balance.
Jake squeezed back, then nudged her gently. "Hey, at least we're already packed?"
"...what the hell am I going to do with all those shoes in Cambridge?" She hadn't recovered yet, not by a long shot, but at least she could laugh a little. Even if it was strained.