Wanda & Arthur | Asks (Backdated)

[x-longshot.livejournal.com]

Wanda asks Arthur to risk his life by bringing a little luck to her friends.

"I was saving this for a special occasion, you know." Wanda appeared in the doorway to the entertainment room, holding a bottle in one hand and a bag in the other. She was dressed for riding her motorcycle in the winter, though from her wind swept hair and ruddy face it was clear she hadn't bothered with a helmet. "But I figured I had held onto it long enough."

She headed towards the couch where Arthur was and dropped to the other end with a sigh. "Gave the others enough distraction?"

The room itself was a mess. The remains and carcasses of snacks laid in final repose as pillows and chairs were clustered around the coffee table as to hint at the number of people who had since vacated for bed or more adult beverages elsewhere.

Longshot didn't turn, and instead stared blearily at the Disney film that sat on mute across the large screen. He shrugged a little. "The show must go on."

He stretched languidly with a sigh. "I have a unfair advantage, though."

From the bag came two wine glasses and a bottle opener which Wanda immediately put to good use. "I would not call it unfair at the moment, not if it helped any of them deal or cope even for a few hours at least." She grunted slightly as the bottle popped open and proceeded to pour two full glasses of red. "I knew what Jennie and I were getting you into when we helped convince you to stay at the Mansion - it has never been the quiet, summer retreat type of place. But I never thought..." Her voice trailed off and she rubbed her face in exhaustion.

Arthur blinked, "I meant my stunning good looks and debonair charm," but his shock was soon matched with a wink. "You all saved me from more a life not remembering one week to the next. Helping grieving children seems like a fair trade. Still..."

He frowned, now locking eyes with her. "I thought the whole 'family' line was part of the sales pitch."

"Sales pitch?" She smiled at him and shook her head. "I can see how it might have sounded like that, yes, especially considering your past experience. But we meant it. Oh, some come and go but a majority - this place is home to many. Even for those of us who have drifted down different paths, we all forged friendships and family here. No, the family line was no sales pitch..."

A memory of Nathan and Moira bickering in the kitchen as Wanda looked on in amusement; talking with Yvette over a map of Europe; even that stupid memory of Wanda and North peering over the fire escape as Sam yelled at them about Vanessa...

The TV screen suddenly flickered violently, the silent Disney movie disappearing under a storm of flickering white and red snow and Wanda froze. Cursing quietly in Rom, she tried to calm herself, leaning back against the couch as the lights joined in their flickering. A few breaths and she sighed. "My apologies," she said as the movie flicked back to life, reaching for her wine.

The other man's eyes flicked between Wanda and the television with genuine concern. "No need. They are your family too." He took a sip of his own wine, mulling over things, before his face lit up with a brilliant change of subject.

"So, sales pitches," his tone switched so quickly it could have caused whiplash, "Tell me about this proposition."

Wanda blinked at the tone switch and took a moment to answer. She stared into her wine for a few moments and thought how easy it had ended up being to make the hard decisions. To ask good people to fight the good fight. But she shook it off and forged ahead. "Well, I am fairly positive there will be no tentacles but do not quote me on that. I do not know the particulars other than you will probably be working as, well ..." She smiled at him and it had genuine amusement in it. Wanda didn't know Arthur that well but she figured he was going to get a kick out of her phrasing.

"Well, as a spy."

There was a beat as Arthur waited for the joke to fizzle. When there was only silence, and, well, that stare Wanda was giving him, the man cleared his throat with a laugh. "I... well, I mean I've played a spy before. Sure. That's just acting."

He looked around suspiciously and leaned in to share a whisper, "I know may be hard to see, but I'm not a very good actor."

She patted him gently on the shoulder. "Trust me, you would do fine. I mean, you would not be James Bond levels just yet but you will have a good team with you. And there's your powers." Wanda shrugged out of the leather riding jacket and tossed it on a chair off to the side. "If nothing else would help you, they certainly would."

Wanda met his eyes. "It will be dangerous but not as dangerous as where the rest of us might end up. It is a poor consolation prize, I know. And I would never ask this of you if things weren't so desperately bad."

"So," and he frowned sympathetically, "The world really is ending then. There's loss and grief, sure, but there's something worse coming." He slumped backward into the couch, running a finger along the rim of his wineglass. "My powers aren't reliable."

The world was really ending. Wanda had lost count of all the times that it had seemed that way or all the times that someone tried it. But - there was no coming back from this one. Not the way they had been before.

"They aren't," she agreed, probably a little too quickly. "But, despite it all, I think you are. You sticking it out to help these children - you could have run," Wanda continued softly. "Most people would have. Your ties here are short and cutting them to run, well, most of us would have understood. So I feel like putting money on you right now is a good bet."

"I never considered that." He shrugged. "I don't like to overthink things. I see something that needs to be done, and I do it. I doubt that you're asking me to go survive in the wilderness. What needs done?"

Well, "help save the world" was a little vague. "Remy LeBeau is the man you'll be working with - or, well, Remy and the team that will be with him. I do not know much about what you will specifically be doing but I know you'll be helping to track down the Dark Riders." Pausing, Wanda topped off his wine glass and then hers. "It will involve travel but that will probably be the least of your worries."

"Dark Riders?"

Wanda tapped her her fingers against her knee for a few moments before she answered with a question. "Where were you when New York was invaded back in 2008?"

"That would have been the second season of Wild Ways," Arthur tapped his fingers against the wine glass in thought. "So. Patagonia. That was a busy year."

"These Dark Riders appear to be working for the man -" The disgust and anger in that one word told the story of what she thought about that. "- who was behind it all. We won but barely it seemed. He was involved in more but there's been nothing for some time. And now he has these Dark Riders following him." Wanda sat the wine glass down and leaned her elbows on her knees for a moment. "I shouldn't be asking this of you, Arthur. But we need all the help we can get."

She stared down at the dregs of wine in her glass and thought about all they had lost so far and wondered who else would be gone before this was done. And wondered if she was asking the man next to her to go to his death because she thought his powers might be useful.

As always, Arthur's first line of defense was a smile. "Hey now. Don't fall in there on me. Sounds like there isn't anywhere to be safe here. You lot saved me. Least thing I can do is being a little lucky."

"So," and he got back to topic while offering the woman a refill, "These are the people who attacked Muir."

Wanda wordlessly took more wine and nearly tossed it back. But it wasn't a shot and she would eventually need to get back to the Brownstone. So she forced herself to breathe and sip slowly. "Yes. These are the people that destroyed Muir and helped kill so many people. They are not to be messed with but you will have good people with you. My hope is that you manage to be lucky enough to get your hide out of there in one piece. Seems to have worked for you so far." The smile she gave him was small but real.

"Well," and he couldn't help but smile a little, "A little luck is better than none all at. I'm a bit between life goals afterall, so helping keep your friends safe sounds like a good weekend."

"It's decided then," Wanda said with a sigh that seemed somehow a mixture of relief and concern. She titled her wine glass in his direction, "Here's to luck and to seeing each other on the other side of this."