Maddie & Wade | Thursday Evening (backdated)

[x-deadpool.livejournal.com]

Wade catches Maddie as she's opening her secret stash of goodies and, in exchange for some Girl Scout Cookies, offers her some extracurricular lessons in lock-picking.


Maddie looked back over her shoulder, checking to see that no one was around. It's not that she was doing anything illegal or anything, it was her stash after all, she just didn't want to share with anyone. Care packages with sweets went straight into the locked box she kept in the kitchen. Who would think of looking for something in plain sight? Why yes, Maddie did think she was clever. Except that clever people wouldn't lose the key. But, because she was so clever, she knew she could pick the lock.

"Just like a jigsaw puzzle," Maddie muttered to herself as she climbed up and knelt on the counter. She reached up to the top shelf of the cabinet and pulled the box down from its resting place, then jumped down to the ground. Legs crossed, box on her lap, Maddie pulled a pick from her pocket and went to work. "A really small jigsaw puzzle that you can't see."

Wade wasn't sneaking - he didn't have to sneak. However, he might have purposefully been walking more stealthily than usual purely because he could. And also because he was approaching the kitchen. After his last few encounters in the kitchen, the mercenary felt it would be advantageous to make sure no random people were in there attempting to out cookie ninja him or something ridiculous like that.

Of course, once he peered into the kitchen, he found Miss Madelyne Pryor working on picking a lock - how delightfully deviant of her. Wade had to grin. The kid got nabbed for robbing banks, which wasn't her fault, but she apparently had other, slightly shady skills up her sleeves. "Now what've you got in there, Madelyne?"

And jackpot. The lock came free at the same time that Maddie found herself nearly jumping out of her pants and hitting her head on the paneling. "Ow. Shit." Of all the times to try and stretch her time out of her headgear, of course she would go and bump her head. She grimaced and glared up at Wade. "Don't do that! I just hurt my head. Doc Grey'll kill you if you send me back to her."

Grinning, Wade said, "It'll take more than a bump on the head to get you sent back to Doc Jean, Mads. What're you hiding in the box? Or is somebody else hiding something that you felt you needed to investigate? Either way, I approve of your methods."

She hugged the box close to her as if it were the most precious thing in the world, which in a way it really was. "My box. It's how I keep my sweets safe from the masses. And not having a key that someone can find makes it more safe."

"Your precious?" Wade asked, not attempting the creepy Golem voice but unable to stop himself from smiling nonetheless. "I like your thinking on the key front, though. Unless a lot of other people know how to pick locks, and then it's sort of a moot point. Where'd you learn?"

Maddie's grip tightened on the box as she eyed Wade warily. "I taught myself. With a book. I got annoyed at the librarian for suggesting 'Babysitter's Club' to me as reading." She gave a kind of an impish half-smile at the memory. "And I found it fun. So I just kept reading more and more. It kinda put a damper on my parents being able to hide Christmas presents from me."

Wade laughed a little. "I'd imagine so." He tipped his head to the side a little, checked the hallway behind him, then asked, "How in depth did your book go - just out of curiosity. Are you up to five pins yet?"

She shook her head. "No. Not that far. Why?"

Grinning, Wade asked, "What would you say if I offered to teach you some lock picking skills your book probably didn't offer?"

Maddie looked at him, then down at the box in her hands, then back up at him. "You're not just trying to steal my sweets are you? I have unopened Girl Scout Cookies in here. The good ones. Not the crappy ones."

Wade opened his mouth to say something, then paused and pulled up the sleeve on his left hand so he could look at his watch. "Wait a minute. How do you have Girl Scout cookies now? According to my count, which I got from the official website, they're not due to start selling here for... another five days." Narrowing his eyes a bit, he shook a finger at Maddie. "Crafty, crafty - but to get back to your question. No, I'm not going to steal your sweets. I'm going to teach you how to pick locks with more than five pins, which is a useful skill to have."

She eyed him warily, a sly smile forming on her lips. "I have my ways," she replied, darkly. "If I told you, I'd have to kill you. But if I kill you, you will be no use to me. Hmmmmmm." Maddie stared at Wade, looking him up and down, trying to take his measure. Wade had helped her out of the bank heist, and he was offering to show her how to pick more complicated locks. She supposed she could spare a box in exchange for his help.

"I have decided to spare your life," she proclaimed as she stood up straight and tall. "I will share my stash with you in exchange for these lessons you offer. But," her eyes narrowed, "you steal anything in here and I shall have to unleash my full wrath on you. And I'd know too, because there's an inventory."

Extending his hand, Wade said, "I won't steal anything from your stash and in exchange for a few goodies every now and again, I will help to advance your knowledge of covert activities."

Maddie thrust a box of shortbread cookies (her least favorite) into his hand, her eyebrow raised, daring him to argue with the choice. Like she was going to hand over the coconut-caramel-chocolate rounds of heavenly delights. Yeah. She didn't like anyone that much.

"My mom likes to send care packages," she explained, closing the box. "Next time I benefit from a bout of loneliness induced baking, I promise to share some of my loot with you."

"I was just going for a handshake, but I'll take the shortbread fantasticness instead," Wade said, half-smiling. "I've got some practice locks if you wanna meet in the garage this weekend. I want to make sure I've got the right set of tools for you and that the locks are challenging enough."

"I'll have to look at my calendar, see what I can do," the haughtiness in her voice was partly an attempt to hide her irritation. She totally hadn't needed to hand over the cookies. Gah. She was so stupid. "Maybe move some things around. Clear some time. But I believe that it will be possible to rendez-vous with you."

Opening the cookies, Wade ate one and then nodded. He was polite enough to offer one to Maddie as, after swallowing, he said, "Sweet. Have your people talk to my people. We'll set something up."

"No thank you." Maddie shook her head and waved the cookie away. "It is payment for future services. Now if you will excuse me, since you know where my secret stash is, I have to find another hiding place."

Wade ate the cookie he'd offered to Maddie and nodded. "Makes sense. I wish you the best of luck in finding a new spot to stash your supplies. Let me suggest, though, that you avoid the boathouse in general and the attic."

"And why do you say that?"

"I've already checked both of them for possible hiding spots and, while they seemed promising initially, they lack the most important qualities a hiding place must possess. Just trust me on this."