xp_logs | Kurt and Wanda, backdated

After she gets the letter from her father, she goes to take refuge in the greenhouse. Kurt has the same idea, and they talk about family.

Wanda knelt in the darkening greenhouse, hands clenched tightly on her knees. She was cold and numb, not only from Saturday's hellish actions but also from more personal thoughts. The letter sat stuffed in her pocket, seemingly burning a hole through the denim on her hips. A part of her wanted to read it again but she refused and tried to find her center, tried to relax. They did not need her letting go of her powers.

She was still there when Kurt came up to the greenhouse, in search of a quiet place to spend some time. Seeing her there, he quickened his pace, worried. "...Wanda?"

She drew in a shuddering breath and glanced over her shoulder, smiling grimly. "Hello, Kurt. Come to seek solace, as well?"

He nodded quietly, moving to sit on a bench nearby. "The mansion is more than usually... restive, tonight. Are you well?"

Wanda shook her head. "Ah, ever the truthful person am I. No, not really. It has not been an easy day for me. I doubt it would have been even if the mansion had been quieter."

"Would you like to talk about it?" It was an offer, one that would be dropped if the answer was 'no'.

"He knows I'm here," she said, softly, shifting so that she was no longer kneeling painfully on the ground. Wanda figured Kurt would know who she meant by 'he'. "During the blood drive he dropped off a letter to the Professor, even used his own last name instead of the one that I took from my mother." Rage pumped through her veins for a second before she forced it to settle. "He knows and that has me worried."

Kurt nodded, understanding. "What does he have to say?" he asked gently.

"He invited me to join him whenever I wished." Wanda's jaw tightened slightly. "There were some...implications that I should watch myself. And it would seem he still does not know my mother has died. Good. There is some slight hope that he does not know it was my brother who gave me warning."

Kurt's jaw set just slightly, the only indication that he was angry. "Would he harm your brother if he knew?"

"I do not truly know. _I_ think he would but I am not sure what Pietro's role in that... cult is." She shook her head, curls moving dangerously around her head in a dark cascade. "I have not heard from him since I left."

"He will not get to you here", Kurt tried to reassure her. "The Professor will do all he can to ensure it, as will all of us."

"I do not really fear for myself. It's Pietro...oh." She laughed softly. "I am still so very, very angry with him that he left. But I have never missed him quite so much as I have right now. Brothers and sisters separated can be hard enough. For twins, the pain is even deeper."

Kurt nodded, eyes dark with some memory. "I never had a twin..." he murmured, almost to himself.

Wanda glanced over at Kurt and then stood slowly, dusting off her legs as she joined Kurt on the bench. "You have siblings, then?" she asked, recognizing some of that pain in his eyes.

"I do. A brother and a sister, Stefan and Jimaine. And... there was another, but she was taken from us long ago."

"Taken?" There was a bite of anger to her words now. If this was what she thought it was...

"I was very young, but I remember a man in a suit," he answered with a shrug. "My mother told me later he was an official of the German government."

Wanda snorted and shook her head again, jaw clenched tightly. Her brother had jokingly said she looked like one of their angry horses when she did that...until she had made him take it back, of course. "The law," she said, dryly. "They ignore our people unless it's convenient for them."

"She was only two", Kurt told her quietly. "I suppose that is why they took her and not the others... she was young enough to be... re-educated easily."

"I think that is why we stuck to the countryside," she murmured, thinking back to the hectic travels of her youth. "Less to protect us but less to hinder us as well." Reaching over, she put her hand on top of Kurt's gently. "~I am sorry, my friend, for your loss.~" The switch to Rom had been deliberate on her part.

Kurt replied, also in Rom, "~I thank you~", squeezing her hand momentarily before letting go, and switching back to English. "Perhaps your brother could also be brought here, if he is in danger?"

"I do not know how to contact him," Wanda said, though she had an idea of how. Perhaps, anyway. "I'm trying to get word to him but I think he would leave if his life was in danger. Pietro has a very high sense of self-preservation, unless it comes to me. The idiot."

Kurt tilted his head, confused. "How do you mean, unless it comes to you? That he would protect you, even if it meant putting himself in danger?"

Wanda nodded, face pinched slightly. "Yes. It has happened before, that he risked his life for mine. That is why he was smuggling those letters out of wherever he currently is. To make sure I was safe."

"Your father will not come for you here", Kurt said quietly. "He would not take such a risk."

"I know," she said, softly, before standing. "I think I need some more time alone, Kurt, but I thank you for your company." Wanda smiled at him, a bit more relaxed than she had been earlier, before heading out, head bowed and hands in her pockets.