Wanda and North (Backdated to April)

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Chasing after leads, Wanda and North take a break from being workaholics for beer and Chinese food.

"Here, take this," Wanda said, holding out a stack of papers at North as she ducked under his arm to grab another few sheets that were in front of where he sat. They were following up on the trail that had led them to that mutant smuggling ring in an attempt to determine if there were others connected that they hadn't broken up. They'd started out at the office and somehow kept going once they got back to the mansion, ending up digging through printouts and documents in Wanda's apartment.


She was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her coffee table and North on the couch. There had been a break at some point for Chinese but other than that, they'd been hard at work trying to put together the dots. Wanda couldn't put her finger on why this wouldn't leave her alone but she was grateful that North had been willing to be her sounding board.


Shuffling through the stack of printouts, North pulled out a sheet and dropped it on a smaller pile on the coffee table in front her, then placed the sheaf he held on a larger discarded pile at the side of his laptop. There was a pen cap sticking out of his mouth and a line of post it flags stuck to his pants, but he could tell that their productivity was beginning to flag.


Which was not all that surprising, considering that it was almost three in the morning.


North stood and stretched, back cracking loudly over Wanda's murmurings to herself. He took the opportunity to rid his person of stray stationary and stepped carefully around her to get at her kitchenette.  


"Coffee? Beer? Food, perhaps?" He asked, almost rhetorically as he unceremoniously reached into her fridge and grabbed two bottles of appropriately European beer which landed on the counter top before her cupboards and freezer were rifled through as well.


It took a few moments for the actual meaning of North's words to sink in and to stop the endless churning of facts and information in Wanda's brain. She blinked and sat back, staring blankly at the papers in her hand. What finally got her to her feet was the sounds coming from her kitchen and she headed directly to where David had set out the beers.


"It is your lucky day ... night? Morning?" She shrugged and started the hunt for her bottle opener. "I had ordered some Chinese food yesterday but did not get around to eating it. It should be on the bottom of the shelf and, ah, no comments please about the amount that I ordered."


"No comment," he repeated obligingly, retrieving the food that was where she had said it was, laying out the generous spread across the counter and retrieving the disposable chopsticks, which was, surprise surprise, next to the bottle opener. He tossed that at Wanda and then emptied a carton of chow-mien and wantons onto a plate to be shoved into the microwave. Did not matter what the Americans said - cold takeout was absolutely disgusting.


"Good man. This is why I keep you around. Well, that and the fact that you let me abuse you well into early morning." She groaned and stretched, working out the kinks that had settled in her back from bending over all the paperwork. "I would apologize but, honestly, I know you would not accept it and I would not really mean it so it seems fruitless."


Catching the bottle opener, Wanda made short work of the bottle tops and took a healthy drink of her beer. "Do you think they have a twelve step program for workaholics?"


"Possible," David said, sticking another two plates into the microwave and tearing two foil packets of soy sauce over a plastic saucer. They had gotten a good and gratifying amount of work done. "Americans have n-step programs for many things. Though most places just have mandatory days of leave. For sanity and welfare and other foreign concepts apparently."


He was joking, mostly, and he offered her a small grin as he accepted the other bottle of beer and took a long pull from it.


Wanda rolled her eyes good naturedly at him as she hopped up on the free counter space near the sink, taking care not to spill her beer in the process. "Is that not what you are technically supposed to keep track of through Snow Valley?" she teased, their perspective cover roles having become so intertwined that they were as much a part of their day to day as the whole being spies. "I shudder to think of the combined vacation days we entire lot have."


The microwave dinged and Wanda precariously leaned across the press the open door button.


He steadied her with a hand against her waist, reaching around her for the plates. "We rest when we have to," he said, handing her a pair of chopsticks and claiming the plate of fried noodles as his own. "Unless you think you are capable of enforcing mandatory leave. In which case, be my guest."


"Hah!" Wanda nudged him in the hip with a foot as she piled her own plate with beef and broccoli. Chopsticks secured in the food, plate in one hand and beer in the other, she slipped back down off the counter and headed back towards the living room. "Oh no, David, that falls onto your head I believe. I will not be so easily tricked into taking the impossible off of your hands and into mine."


The living room area of her apartment was, actually, mostly a long and comfortable couch set up so she was able to bypass the stacks of their earlier research binge. She settled and smirked up at him. "Nice try, though. A+ for effort."


"I am a firm believer of independent management." Meaning, the team could take care of their own mental health. More or less. Either way, it was not David's responsibility. "Speaking of which, I am going to Chicago for a while."


That caught her attention and Wanda looked at him expectantly as she dug into her food. Her stomach was warming up to the idea of food rather quickly, reminding her that she'd had an early lunch and not much else since. "Anything interesting in Chicago? Or, should I say, interesting good or interesting bad?"


“I am not sure yet. Dropping in on some old contacts. There were several pings for help on a server that we could not get to while things were happening.”


"So you're going into a 'it could be interesting in the best way or the worst way' situation on your own?" Wanda deadpanned. "That is one way to prove that you are into independent management."


"There should not be any attempts to engage," he said, arranging himself on the couch such that he could balance the plate on his knees with his beer within easy reach. "Stock taking and the like. If it offends your sensibilities, you can come and play tourist in the summer heat."


That made Wanda smirk. "Now that you mention it, it does offend my sensibilities, Herr North. If I tag along with you, I can ensure that there are no attempts at engaging and have a vacation." The other beer was feeling neglected, so she took a quick drink. "Besides, I would <i>never</i> turn down a chance to expense a vacation. I mean a work trip, of course, a work trip."


"Of course not," David said dryly, flicking a bead of condensation at her. "I hope you don't mind flying budget."


"With these legs? You must be joking."