House of Wolves: Old Friends

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

In order to circumvent Agatha, Wanda goes to an old friend to see if he can get them in the museum.




"I broke it off," Wanda said, slumping on Agatha's couch in her home as Arthur made himself scarce in the kitchen. She clenched the glass of gin in her hand but didn't try to drink it yet, content to stare into the flames and blink back her tears.

"You'll be better off for it," Agatha remarked. "As will Victor. He's married, Wanda, and though I believe he does..." She trailed off and pinched the bridge of her nose, a trait her pupil was picking up. "I'm sorry, my dear."

That got Wanda's attention. "You've never apologized to me before..."

The older woman sat on the couch and they both turned their attention back to the fire. "I am very often a harsh woman, I know. This is a trying time for you and you're hurting. You have heard all of my arguments before and now is not the time." She hesitated, struggling to find a balance. "Do you wish to talk about it, Wanda?"

She thought about it. "Not really, to be honest. Can I intrude on you and Arthur tonight...?"

Agatha placed a hand over the one that held the glass. "You never need ask, this is your home as well for as long as you want it."


**

Wanda had always hated hospitals. It wasn't just the smell or the quiet, it was the sense of not being able to leave once you were there. People went to hospitals to die - or at least that's how she had viewed them when she was younger. She knew better now but had never been able to shake that unease. So that's why she had gone to Victor at his office on campus and not waited for him at the hospital, though she'd been told that he'd been by several times.

She paused outside of his door to attempt to smooth down the clothes she'd been wearing since they'd arrived at the hospital the afternoon before. It didn't really help but she was far too tired to actually care. Wanda knocked and stepped back, waiting patiently.

A silhouette could be seen moving behind the frosted glass of the door, then it opened slowly to reveal a tall man with wire-rimmed glasses and dark hair brushed back from a widow's peak. Blinking in momentary astonishment, Professor Victor Shade took a moment to regain his composure. "Wanda," he said quietly. "I... how are you... ah, I suppose you came once you heard about Agatha. Please, please, come in. I had thought you were a student, for a moment. One of my current students, that is. Can I get you-- that is, it's good to see you...you look well."

She smiled a little bit and came in, taking a second as he shut the door to look around the office. It was bigger now since his promotion but still ... the same. The same level of neatness that had amused her the first time she had met him, the same things on the wall. Some things, apparently, didn't change.

"I look exhausted, as do you, but it is good of you to say, Victor." She took a seat on the little couch he'd had for years and sighed. "And yes, the police called me yesterday while I was in London. As Arthur has been gone for several years and her son still not talking to her, apparently I'm listed as a point of contact. How're you holding up?"

"As well as can be expected, I suppose," Victor replied, walking over to a cabinet and pouring two glasses of scotch, handing one to Wanda as he sat down in a wing-backed chair that had possibly been part of the office decor since the first stones of the university had been laid. "Agatha is too shaken up to speak about who attacked her, and those poor museum employees... And the young man... Hansen? Obviously terrified and hysterical."

"Shaken up?" Wanda snorted as she took a large sip of the scotch, the warm burn doing some good to unwind her stiff muscles. He'd always had good taste in drink. If not perhaps the best memory for names. "Hanzi," she corrected gently, knowing it really was not going to make much of a difference. As she'd learned from experience, it took a lot to get Victor's attention. "Agatha is not talking from being shaken up, Victor, she's being a stubborn old bat and you know it. And my cousin seemed scared but certainly not hysterical."

Victor blinked, taking another sip of scotch at the revelation. "Cousin? I see. As for Agatha..." he gave a wry smile, "I can't argue with that assessment. But come now, Wanda. You can't believe these stories about the museum being attacked by... by a pack of wolves that appeared out of the shadows. It's utterly preposterous."

"I'll agree that it sounds preposterous but Hanzi is level headed, for a Rom." She grinned a little bit. "He's not with the rest of the clan because he does not believe in the old ways. He settled down here to get away but..." Wanda shook her head. "I've seen weirder, Victor, let's just leave it at that. The problem right now is Agatha. She knows I could help but she refuses to give a statement of much use to the police, refuses to even talk about it to me. No one is going to be able to find out who did this if she's not talking. Unless..."

Victor sighed, setting down his drink and removing his glasses. As he polished the lenses with his tie, he raised an eyebrow at Wanda. "I know that tone of voice, Wanda. It means that you're about to ask for a favor, and something that possibly requires me to jeopardize my tenure if I know you at all, and I'd like to think that I still do after all these years. I should insist that this matter is already being handled by the police, who are quite competent..."

He slowly replaced his glasses, let out another sigh, and gave Wanda a tired look. "...but I won't. What is it that you need?"

She was far too tired to beam at him but the smile she gave him was warm and fond. "Thank you, Victor, that means a lot to me." Leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, she dangled the scotch between her hands as she talked. "As far as I know, the museum is Agatha's to do with as she pleases. She and Arthur started it from scratch. But I also happen to know that she and Dr. Barnares, the former head of this department, had worked out a deal. In order to allow students onto campus at odd hours or when it was close, she gave him access and certain legal rights to the museum. Not only for that but also if she were ever unable to perform her duties. Dr. Barnares may have retired but I doubt that situation did and I'm fairly positive you now have that authority."

She took a deep breath and promised herself she would sleep after she and Victor were done talking. Even if it was at the hospital. "I need you to allow us access into the museum tonight. It should not be hard to do if you tell the police you're bringing in an independent team to, well, investigate if Hanzi's claims or true or not. As long as they are done with their portion of it, you should be given free reign."

Victor's eyes widened a fraction. "Wanda, you're asking me to interfere with a police investigation? Of course you are. To do such a thing would violate the ethical strictures that I am expected to adhere to as a professor of this university."

He steepled his fingers under his chin, silent for a moment. "Of course, it would only be a matter of due diligence if I were to oversee an audit of the damages, with the university being an underwritten party to the museum's acquisitions insurance..."

Wanda look at him slyly. "Especially as I was told that there was enough damage done to make it almost impossible to tell if something was actually stolen. That could take a while." She went to drink again and paused, murmuring, "You might want to toss in that if they allow you to do this, some of their later dealings with Agatha would lessened."

"Oh, Wanda," Victor said with a smile, rising from his chair and moving over to the couch next to Wanda. "One of those little things you learn in time is that being a senior professor with tenure means that I rarely have to be the one asking permission to do anything."

At that, Wanda couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head. "A trick I shall have to keep in mind should my path ever take me directly back to academia," she responded. With a groan, she leaned against the back of the couch and looked around before focusing back on him. "I am sorry that I only seem to see you during the bad times."

"Sarah's funeral, of course," Victor remembered quietly. He stared into his drink for a moment, then sighed. "Not all the times were bad, Wanda."

"No, they really weren't," she agreed quietly. Wanda smiled at him. "It's been some years but those are good memories. Especially in times like these."

Victor nodded. "Agatha should be fine," he said hopefully. "The stubborn old battleaxe will probably be up and ordering around doctors by the morning."

"Well, let's hope it's a bit longer than that. I'd like to be out of the country when she finds out I went behind her back to look into this mess."