Wanda and Charles

[x-scarletwitch.livejournal.com]

Wanda stops by to see Charles who has a letter from Magnus waiting for her. To say she's unhappy about it is an understatement.



Wanda had wasted very little time in getting down to the Professor's office. They hadn't talked much beyond when she arrived but from the sounds of the e-mail, this was important. And one, also, did not keep someone in his position waiting. At least not long, anyway. Knocking gently, she called out "Professor?"

"Enter," Charles called out, the neatly closed envelope neatly centered on this desk, the thick and crisp paper gleaming at him almost tauntingly. "Good evening, Wanda," he continued, smiling at her just a touch. The tension was present though and he thought she'd pick up on it.

"Good evening, Professor." Quietly, she walked over and sat in the chair he nodded at and she frowned slightly. The last time they had spoken, he had been much more at ease, more relaxed. Certainly, it could be explained away because of the shooting but why call her down for this? "Is there something wrong?"

"Not... exactly." He sighed a little, looking down at the envelope again. It hadn't moved of course, since he'd carefully placed it there. "You are aware, perhaps, that Erik was present at the blood drive, this past Saturday?" He steepled his hand on the desk, carefully not touching the white square of paper between them.

Wanda stiffened slightly, the muscles in her back tightening with tension. "Yes," she responded, slowly, eyes closing part way. "I was made aware that he was, for some unknown reason, there. Thankfully, without the rest of his group."

"Well. If they were present, they escaped out notice." As had other things, Charles reminded himself bitterly. Clearly Erik's presence had unsettled him - that would not happen again, he promised himself. "Regardless of that - Erik left something for you in my care." He glanced down at the latter, then picking it up gently, settling it on the far side of his desk where she could chose to pick it up or not, as she willed.

Reaching over slowly, as though afraid the envelope might be something else in disguise, she nudged it closer. And then froze as she caught sight of the name. 'Wanda Leshnerr'. Not Maximoff but his name. Quickly, she reached over and picked it up, opening it carefully but wasting no time. If something had happened to Pietro, maybe that's...she stopped thinking and started to read.

Quietly, Charles observed her features, even though the waves of emotions coming from her were hard for him to completely ignore - she was broadcasting that loudly, even for one who was headblind. Tightening his shields a mere fraction he blocked her out entirely and waited, suspecting she would be less than pleased with whatever Erik has sent her.

"Of all the...~arrogant, passive-aggressive bull-shit~," Wanda seethed, slipping in and out of Rom and Romanian as her moods escalated wildly, her control of her powers slipping slightly, enough that the paper ripped slightly without her moving her hands. "~To use family against me, my _mother_...~"

He blinked at the odd sensation. For a moment, as her powers seemed to surge and the paper was affected, she had seemed to disappear entirely - physically present but mentally absent. He made a mental note of this, to tell her later as now was clearly not the time. Instead he took a deep breath and murmured her name quietly, seeking to draw her attention and perhaps help calm her anger.

She glanced up, eyes wide, at the sound of her name. "~How did he know I was here?~" she asked and then stopped, slightly panicked. English had been one of the last languages she had learned and at times of deep stress it was harder to remember than the others. If she didn't calm down, she'd jibber at the Professor in at least five other fluent languages before she eventually got back to English.

Expression still calm and serene, he reached touched the controls of his chair lightly, wheeling it from behind the desk to come to a standstill next to Wanda's chair. He held out his hand for her, speaking calmly. "Wanda. I do believe you're speaking Romani at me. It's a beautiful language." The mundane did tend to jar people out of a panic, at times.

"~I...~" Reaching out, she got a hold of his hand and took a deep breath, concentrating. "Yes, it appears...I was. And thank you, most people think it is rather rough." There, English. Much better. She shook her head. "How did he know, Professor? Pietro would never have told him, no matter the reason my brother is there now. He would give his life for mine, not put mine in danger."

"There are many ways for him to find out, I'm afraid. Be it from a simple scan of the passenger lists of the local airlines to aerial survey of the estate..." He did not mention the fact that Erik might have simply had Wanda under surveillance for years already, keeping track of her whenever she moved.

"He frightens me more than I let on to the others," Wanda admitted, taking a deep breath. "What he is capable of doing, my mother's death, all of it makes me very leery of the man."

Charles chuckled, more than a little wryly. "My dear Wanda," he murmured, still holding on to her hand as he glanced out the window. "He frightens me as well," he murmured contemplatively. "One would have to be insane not to be leery of the man, after all."

"It is good, then, that we are rather crystally sane, no?" she asked, calming her breathing as she soothed her frazzled mind, tucking in the loose power before it could leak out again.

"Oh yes. There is such a lack of sanity these days, I'm told. A precious commodity, to be sure," he smiled at her, the office seemingly warming up slowly once more after the chill the letter had brought along with it. "Will you be all right?"

Wanda nodded and squeezed his hand before pulling it back. "I will be, once I think on this some more. I do not blink an eye when there is a demon in front of me and yet I babble incoherantly at you in different languages because of a letter from my father." She smiled, a little easier. "But yes, I will be all right. I will not let him get the better of me."