Operation: Dasavatharam; Morning Meeting

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

During a normal Monday morning meeting, an unexpected article brings the past back to life for Wanda.



Wanda was the last one to arrive to the meeting but she figured she had a good excuse - it had been her turn to make the breakfast run, after all.

She came in the door holding a box of donuts and a jug of coffee from the local donut place down the street; before she'd even gotten in the door, she found herself being accosted by Jubilee. "You know the rules," she said, holding it as high above the other woman's head as was possible - which was fairly high, considering Wanda's height. "If you molest the bringer of breakfast, you eat last."

"Dude, I'm like, starvin' here, positively dyin' of hunger and lack of caffeine. I feel a fainting spell coming on, there might even be some sort of light and a tunnel too," Jubilee noted dramatically, clutching onto Wanda's shoulder for a moment like she might faint at any second. "You wouldn't want to be responsible for my death, right?"

"I can just see it now - your tombstone, saying "I told you I was starving to death"," Wanda replied with a laugh, gently shaking Jubilee off of her arm so she could at least get into the room. She managed to even make it to the table without further being molested for food and drink and she set it down with a sigh, content to let the vultures have at it. "I did not miss much, I hope? The line was abysmal."

"Not much so far, just Doug's Wacky News Article of the Week," Amanda said, snagging a donut to go with her mug of tea - it was too early for coffee for her. "Jubes, leave it out or I'll pitch "Seagull" as your new field name."

Marie-Ange groaned. "Now you have done it. Now she is going to burst into "mine! mine! mine!" all of the time and it is all your fault." She snagged a chocolate donut, and broke it into pieces to eat. Tidier that way. "What? I had a lot of free time in New Orleans. I watched a lot of television."

"Today's episode of 'Doug's Wacky News Article of the Week' is a grab bag!" Doug proclaimed in a booming faux television announcer voice. "You've got your choice of - Swedish man attempts to build nuclear reactor in his kitchen, South African man wakes up in the morgue refrigerator a day after his family believed him dead, or news in SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE! Possible discovery of actual flowing water on Mars." He quirked an eyebrow at the table and snagged himself a bearclaw.

Remy rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his coffee. It was days like this he missed working in the Agency. Their meetings were generally conducted behind stifling bureaucracy or in an atmosphere of fear. Both were quieter at least.

"Considered dat threats from space somewhat low down on our radar, is dere anything dat might apply to, well, de job?" Remy said from over the rim of his mug.

Doug shrugged minutely, Remy's point taken. "Okay, the space one was just because I think it's really cool that there's water on Mars." Doug still occasionally had a little boy's fascination with space travel, and the idea of someday setting foot on another heavenly body. "Swedish guy, probably garden-variety whackjob, South African Lazarus probably just clerical error." He took his seat and began nibbling at his pastry.

"It worries me, just a little, how disappointed you always sound that these are not valid avenues for investigation," Ororo remarked, cupping a coffee mug between her hands. This was not some donut shop brew; instead of partaking in the ritual with everyone else she brought her own coffee in a futuristic-looking thermos, which she guarded zealously from anyone else who might have their eye (or tastebuds) on something a bit more refined. "That, and I am almost positive we do not have the budget to mount a mission to Mars."

Sarah yawned exaggeratedly, and curled her legs up into the chair below her. "Did I really wake up early for this? I feel like the world should be ending if I bothered to get up this early. Is that later on the agenda?"

"Your ear to God's mouth," Wanda warned as she snagged her seat, content to let the vultures have at the food. She had already eaten that morning after grabbing something for herself before buying in bulk. The packet of papers in front of her was small, a good sign, and she flipped it open, attention going fully to the information Douglas had gathered for the morning meeting. Most of it was simply interesting but nothing so important as to garner a full investigation.

It was near the back of the packet that she froze.

"The New York Times article," she said suddenly, voice carrying over the general banter like the crack of a whip. Wanda yanked it out to study it and peered at the others over it. "It appears that a Vatican Priest has been murdered in New York City - appearances point to a robbery gone wrong. However, the name that is in the article is not a name that I am familiar with. The last time I saw this priest, he was going by Father Ruprecht and was apparently in the high elect amongst a group called the Exemplars."

She shared a glance with Amanda. "You all will probably remember that the last time I ran into this group, they kidnapped myself, Jennie Domino and a surprisingly large number of other chaos and luck users from the immediate area."

Amanda choked on the mouthful of tea she'd been in the act of swallowing. "Those fuckers?" she managed once the coughing fit subsided. "I thought they'd all buggered off back to Europe after getting their arses handed to them last time."

"Coming back uner de guise of a Vatican Priest? Dat is not an easy thing to falsify, unless dey got ties wit' de Holy See." Remy said consideringly. "What were dey after?'

"I am pretty positive this wasn't a cover - Douglas, can you please verify that once this meeting finishes?" Sitting back in her chair, Wanda tapped her fingers together. "And the last time they were after us. Specifically, our powers. From what we were able to determine between their pontificating and what little was available afterwards, they see themselves as the protectors of the known reality. They take personal affront to anyone who can manipulate the natural order of things. And the last time, the bastards attempted to strip us of our powers. But that was years ago and they have been quiet since then."

She glared down at the face of the priest in the paper. There was no feeling of sympathy for this man as she remembered all too well the moment he'd drawn a gun on the group of frightened women. "This might just be a passing coincidence but I would prefer we act as if they were planning another attack. If Ruprecht, or whatever his name was, was simply here on Vatican business, fine. If he was here because of the Exemplars?"

Wanda shut the folder in front of her. "Then I am going to make damned sure we make them never want to step foot in this city again."