Wanda meet Scott. Scott meet Heartattack

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Wanda discovers the joys of the garage and, more importantly, Scott's pride and joy. He finds her admiring it and they get to talking about roles of leadership and letting go. And then she gives him a heartattack and then laughs at him. A lot. Luckily, he manages to laugh back



Wanda peeked through a door and found herself looking into a huge garage. For something with that many cars, it certainly was kept up rather neatly, she thought, walking further into it. She passed by several very nice, very expensive looking cars but she wasn't that awed by them. Wanda had never bothered learning to drive a car, there had been other, better, modes of transportation available to her.

In one of the corners, put aside carefully, there was something that caught her eye. The motorcycle was very well cared for and it gleamed even in the dullish lights of the garage. "Well, hello there," she murmured, stepping closer. It was a real beauty, that was for certain, expensive but not overly so. Now this was more like it.

Scott stopped in the doorway of the garage, watching the woman admiring his bike. He cleared his throat softly, so that he wouldn't startle her, and as she turned towards him, blinking in startlement, he offered her a smile. "Hi, Wanda," he said. "You like her?"

She beamed at him over the bike and nodded. "She's in excellent condition, on top of being a gorgeous bike. You must take very good care of her." Wanda reached up and brushed her hair out of her eyes. Scott, that's right, he had been on the plane that flew her back. "I can't drive a car but I enjoy a good motorcycle."

"You'll have to take her out for a spin at some point," Scott said, his smile a little stronger. This sort of conversation, he could deal with. "Tell me how she goes. I think sometimes I'm too close to be an appropriate judge."

Wanda blinked and her smile grew even more. "Are you certain? You do not even know how good of a driver I am." There was a teasing tone in her voice, despite some of the tired in there as well. "But I will have to take you up on that offer, especially since I don't know how long I'm going to be here."

"Consider it my way of helping you feel at home, then," Scott offered lightly, going over to the tool bench at the side of the garage. "We want you to be happy here, as long as you're with us. Not just safe."

She tilted her head slightly at him and watched him for a second. "Thank you, that means a lot. The recent events have thrown me off more than I like to admit. I am very much accustomed to change but nothing like what I had gone through."

"I can only imagine. Having your life threatened, having to uproot yourself from it... not to mention incidental hijackings." Scott picked up his toolkit and went over to the SUV that needed attention, popping the hood. "Are you settling in okay? No problems?"

"Mmm, none so far. I have apparently scared the living daylights out of one Jamie Madrox. Though he was polite enough to not freak out at me in the entry. But other than that, smooth sailing. Thankfully. I just need a few days to unwind and meditate and I will be completely myself again."

"Jamie..." Scott paused, grimaced a bit. "Long story. Having to do with your father. Probably not anything you really need or want to hear - Jamie will sort it out, either himself or with help. He's a level-headed young man."

Wanda smiled and settled back on her haunches. "That is good to hear. I knew coming in that my father would not be an easy topic to bring up. I wish I hadn't been right."

"As difficult a topic as it may be for some of us," Scott said, opening his toolkit, "I imagine it's more so for you."

A shrug made the light red top shift slightly. "You know, it is funny. I do not know much about him, other than he is an insane, power hungry man. I know what my mother told me about him and I know some from my brothers letters. I have no wish to know more, only to know that I am better than he is. What he has done is unforgivable, many things, but they do not pass on to the children."

"No, they don't. And if anyone doubted it, the fact that you're here, that you came to Charles, should be enough to prove the point." Scott took out a wrench, frowned at it, then replaced it and took another.

"I could not sit idly by with the threat of one of his men coming after me," she said softly. "My people, my extended family, mean a lot to me, even though I travel away from them now. They are human and wouldn't have stood a chance."

"You made the only choice you could, it sounds like," Scott said. "I can imagine it wasn't easy. But you've protected them and yourself--" He stopped, shaking his head a little. "You know, this morning I wouldn't have believed you if you'd told me that tonight I would be saying that the best way to protect the people you love is sometimes to leave them."

A light chuckle came from Wanda, deep and throaty. "To put it as some Americans might, it sucks. But sometimes distance is the only protection we have to offer them." With a groan, she stood up and walked over quietly to stand next to Scott. "Is something wrong with this car or are you working on it just to be working on something?" she asked.

He gave her a slightly sheepish smile. "To be honest, I'm working on it as a way of making sure I don't try and work on anything else. If that makes any sense at all."

"Loads, actually." She smiled back, pleased to see someone slightly taller than herself. "I'm a bit of a stereotype, I'm afraid. I like to tinker in my spare time. And I have done my fair share of tinkering with something to avoid messing with something else."

"My way of relaxing," Scott said, waving a hand around at the garage and the vehicles it held. "I used to do the same for our jet until Charles found someone more qualified."

Turning, Wanda leaned against the car and crossed her arms. "A little perturbed over that?" she asked, stifling a smile.

He gave her a meek look. "Is it that obvious?"

Holding up a hand, she measured barely an inch with her fingers. "Just a little bit, I'm afraid," was the cheerful reply. "Why don't you work with whomever is hogging your precious plane?"

"Oh, he lets me work with it. Under his supervision. His very careful supervision." Scott reminded himself that sounding five years old and petulant in front of the new addition really wasn't good. Especially when she was giving him one of those half-amused, half-tolerant looks. That was never a good sign. "To be honest, I think it was intended to free up my time for other things. Which it did." Even if there still weren't enough hours in the day.

"It's hard letting go of anything when you're used to having to do it all, isn't it?" Wanda guessed suddenly.

Scott blinked. "Yeah," he admitted slowly. "Difficult to delegate, when there's so much of importance that needs doing." Was he that easy to read? He really needed to work on his poker face.

"Again, I understand. After my brother left the caravan and then my mother died--the Maximoffs were the 'ruling' family, so to speak. Not in so many words but when push came to shove, we were the ones in charge. I got used to it and then other things called. School, the outside world, my work with Cambridge. And yet, it was so very hard letting go of those day to day responsibilities." Wanda looked at Scott again. "I still have a good deal of say but all the little things are gone now."

Scott gazed at Wanda for a moment, then caught himself smiling - faintly, almost wistfully. "I keep getting people telling me that it's all about trust. Trusting people to be able to help you carry the load."

"It is _so_ much harder than it should be," she grumbled, thinking back to that first year. Poor Jacob had been nearly driven to insanity with all of her worrying. "Trust comes easily. Trusting people to help you is an entirely different colored horse."

"That it is," Scott agreed, starting to turn back to the car and then pausing, giving Wanda a measuring look. "You said you liked tinkering?" He grinned a bit hesitantly, waving a hand around at the garage again. "Plenty of stuff to tinker with, in here..."

Her gaze wandered, eyes lighting up a bit at the thought of playing with the things in front of her. "Oh, there is...but you might have to tell me who does not want me to tinker with what," she said, eyes flickering back over at him, eyebrows raised. "Someone might take offense."

"Don't worry about that," Scott said cheerfully, his gaze roaming over the garage. "We'll find you something that needs attention, and then you can get up close and personal...."

The corners of Wanda's mouth twitched ever so slightly and it took her a second to respond. "I do so enjoy working with my hands," she replied, blithely. Scott was either clueless or purposely avoiding the subtle question. She mentally shrugged. "I will keep that in mind about the cars and such in here. But to segue, for just a moment, are you single?"

Scott dropped the wrench. "Uhh..." He blinked at her, trying not to look too bewildered by the blunt question. "No, I'm... Betsy, have you met Betsy?" Stop stammering, idiot. Then it struck him just how Wanda must have been taking the tail end of their conversation here and he wanted to bend over, pick up the wrench, and hit himself in the head with it right now. A convenient head injury would be nice.

Rich, nearly hysterical, laughter erupted suddenly and she pressed a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle it in. "Oh, I am so sorry," she replied, snickering from behind her hand. "_Not_ that you are with someone, a little disappointed but it is no surprise, really. I did not mean to startle you." Wanda grinned at him. "I did say on the journals that I am an open woman, did I not? I make my intentions clear, disliking the beating around the bush people play. And no, I have not yet met this Betsy, though now I am intrigued enough to do so."

Unbelievably, a laugh slipped out. He was sure his face was roughly the color of his glasses, but Wanda seemed to be finding this humorous, so he should probably make the effort to do so, too. After all, you couldn't actually die of embarrassment. "I'll have to introduce you," he said, a helpless smile tugging at his lips. "I'm not precisely sure why she puts up with me - as I've just demonstrated, I'm rather dense..."

"It is rather cute, though." Her tone, while teasing, had lost some of that flirting tone she had developed for a few seconds. Wanda was not taking any of this personally. She had asked, found out the answer, and was past it. He was cute, though. "Again, my apologies. Flirting is sometimes a coping mechanism."

She really needs to meet Haroun, then... Scott grinned, still a bit sheepishly. "No need for apologies, really. Shall we find you something nice and mechanical to play with? I mean, according to the kids, I qualify, but you know what I mean..."

Wanda nearly snorted at that one and coughed slightly, snickering gently. "Yes, please. I think it would be just the thing to sooth my nerves."