xp_logs | Nathan and Wanda, Monday morning

Nathan stops by to see Wanda, to thank her for what she did in Vegas. The conversation turns to the Askani, and proceeds to go in some very interesting directions, as they talk about the Lehnsherr Manifesto and counter-propaganda.

Nathan paused at the open door of Wanda's room, grinning as he saw her bending over the half- unpacked suitcase. "You've opened your suitcase, at least," he said with a chuckle, his grin broadening as she straightened and turned, smiling at him. "You're doing better than me."

Glancing over her shoulder at him, Wanda snorted in amusement. "You should be used to this by now," she teased, pulling out the red dress and shaking the wrinkles out of it. "But I have the feeling someone got distracted...?"

Nathan gave her an innocent look. "Now, I don't know what might have given you that impression..." he said, managing the slightly-bewildered tone for all of two seconds before the grin came back. "Yes. Quite distracted. It's...awfully nice to have someone to come home to," he said, the smile softening.

"I can imagine, if not quite share your feelings." The words were softened by the look she gave him that said, simply, she was more than fine with that. "It is good to be back. Vegas is not somewhere I wish to spend more than a few days in. I was assured that I could see the sky once I left the city but I will have to take the person on his word since I didn't clearly see the stars the entire time we were there."

"Not a place I'd ever want to spend much time," Nathan conceded. "It's not a particularly pleasant place, from a telepathic standpoint - and that's leaving aside psi-suppressed casinos." He made a little face, but then remembered what he was here for, and smiled again. "Wanda, without being patronizing, can I just say I was really glad you were along this week? And not just because you kept Haroun and I from throttling each other at the breakfast table..." He winked.

"Let us just call that self-preservation, since I was close to killing the both of you if it continued," Wanda said, laughing. "And thank you, Nate. That does mean a lot to me, especially as one of the newest at the mansion and in the trainee's. I had some worries there for a while."

Nathan's expression turned more serious. "I don't just mean for your part in the job, either, you know," he said. "Although you did carry that off beautifully. But I think it really helped the kids to have you there, too. You were a real steadying influence."

She really couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him. "It's good that they are receptive to me. I'm starting to get to know them on a personal level now. And I do not think Jubilation wishes to cross my path again, which probably helped some of the situations." There was an amused look in her eye at that. "I think it was a combination of knowing how serious the job was and not knowing how far they could push me. I think they know how far you and Haroun will allow yourselves to be pushed."

Nathan blinked, then smiled. "So, maybe you should stay something of an enigma?" he asked a bit wickedly. "Since it seems to have had such good results."

"Oh but I think they will realize that they cannot push me very far," Wanda said smoothly, smiling sweetly. "I do not put up with stupid or ignorant all that much, especially if I know the person doing it knows better. That is why Ms. Lee and I butted heads not long after I arrived."

"I said something to Amanda, while we were getting her her recharge, about women being more practical than men," Nathan said, a distinct twinkle in his eyes. "I do firmly believe that, you know."

"No wonder Dr. MacTaggart likes you. But I think everyone did well. More than well, actually. They are, for the most part, all good kids."

"The best, really." Nathan took a deep breath, telling himself that it was past time to let the last of it go. Job done. They were all home safe. "How does it feel to be back?" he asked Wanda, a bit distantly, wondering how this place was beginning to feel to her.

If Wanda noticed the distance, she didn't comment on it. "Like it always does, I suppose, after coming home from a trip," she commented. "I have a very fluid idea of where home is and, so, for right now the Mansion is home."

Nathan smiled. "The Askani say that home is where your people are," he said. "I'm not absolutely positive I agree. Well, I do, but there are places that can feel like home, too... more than one, which complicates the issue, I suppose." He scratched at his jaw, reflecting that he really did need to shave. Moira had giggled at the stubble, though. "We ought to start back at our sessions," he said with a chuckle. "They want to talk more to you, you know... they say you're a very good listener."

"Home is wherever you decide to make it," she replied. "I have a few places that I call 'home', actually." Wanda smiled at the last part, pleased. "We certainly will. What you have been telling me has been...mind blowing, to put it simply." Reaching over, she rummaged through a drawer in her desk and pulled out a simple notebook. "Half full already and we have not yet scratched the surface."

"I think we could be at this for years," Nathan said, part of him a little surprised by just how happy the prospect made him. "They want to talk about their record-keeping methods and understanding of history at the group this Thursday, actually..." He laughed mischievously. "I think they picked the topic deliberately, for you. Not that I haven't been nagging them a little about it, too."

She perked up at the thought of that, eyes bright. "Now _that_ will be interesting," she breathed and then laughed softly. "As if the other information as been boring!" Tilting her head, she thought for a second. "We may never be able to publish this as a history book but I'm certain we could find a way to get this published. In some form."

"It's an interesting question, you know," Nathan said, leaning against the doorframe, his eyes going distant again. "The purpose of all of this. Whether or not we can find a way to share it with a wider circle of people than just the ones who would understand..." He focused on Wanda again, his expression going more serious. "Wanda... I know this is a touchy subject for you, but have you read your father's manifesto? The one that gets circulated on the Internet?"

"Yes, I have." The words were clipped and a look of disgust crossed her face.

"It strikes me," Nathan said very quietly, "that the Askani philosophy would make some very, very interesting counter-propaganda." Her eyes widened a little, and he smiled tightly. "Look at me, advocating indirect methods... I must be getting old. But what they have to say, Wanda... I think it takes some of what appeals in Magneto's manifesto and directs it to a much more productive end."

The wheels were starting to turn and Wanda slowly flipped through her pages of notes. "I...could write that," she muttered, glancing up at Nathan. "I think, anyway. I think that could be done, on top of other things, other ways of publishing." Her tight smile echoed his.

"I suspected you might like that idea." Nathan tilted his head, watching her for a moment. "I know I haven't ever... talked to you about this, before. We hadn't gotten to that. But what Magneto believes - " He wasn't about to keep calling the old bastard her father; that would just be rubbing it in. " - it's too similar to what the Canaanites preached. The Askani see that. They don't like it. It's one of the reasons they're so keen on the idea of me being an X-Man."

"Do you--do they--think there is a connection?" she asked after a second. "As much as I hate to admit it, from what I hear he is _very_ influential. Even after his death, there is the possibility that his teachings will continue. We have seen this happen with Hitler. How many Neo-Nazis' are out there, currently? How much anti-Judaism is still being taught and passed down through a dead man's influence?"

"It's all connected, Wanda." The patterns in his mind were shifting suddenly, and Nathan blinked, realizing that they were glowing suddenly in the air around him, too. Could she see them? He dragged his attention away from the patterns, focusing on Wanda for a moment. To judge by the very slightly wide-eyed look he got in return, the answer was yes. "Him, us, the Canaanites, the Askani... the ideas are more powerful than any single person, or even a group of people. They survive. They echo down the centuries..." And he could feel them, all at once. Not just strands in the pattern, but part of the pattern itself. Shaping it? "It's a war," he murmured, the patterns flaring bright for a moment. "An intangible one, but it's there, everywhere I look."

Hesitantly, Wanda opened her powers--Nathan was already projecting strings of his own--and hissed slightly. What he was showing her, or what the Askani were showing them, she could read the threads connecting them. Only read, this was something beyond her sphere of influence. "And we know how it will end." She glanced sharply at him, rings flaring around her hand. "Unless we change the course that it intends to take."

He looked up at her again, the blue and gold patterns reflecting in his eyes. She was seeing more than someone else would, he understood suddenly. Her powers? Time intersecting with probability... and it struck him, then, that maybe the two of them should sit down with Angie and have a nice, long talk on another subject, too.

"You know why," he said, and it wasn't a question. "It's because the other way is easy. It appeals to the worst in human nature, the selfish instincts, the pride, the desire for domination... the fear. Anyone who wants to champion a way that resists that is going to have an uphill battle right from the beginning."

The chaos lines danced inbetween the lines he was showing her and she gritted her teeth. She could _not_, in any way, influence what was in front of her and a part of her cried out at that. Concentrating, she focused on what was before her. "I have never been afraid of a good fight," she breathed. "Have you?"

"Sometimes," Nathan admitted candidly. "But that doesn't mean I've ever backed off when the fight needed fighting." He let the patterns fade, taking a deep breath, astonished again by the sensation of balance, of purpose. "You and I should come at our counter-propaganda attempt from two different directions," he said. "You having the modern perspective, me thinking like an Askani half the time... "

Flexing her hands, Wanda shut her power off and rubbed at her eyes. "You with the raw data in your head, me with the ability to form it," she finished, smiling up at him. "We have much work to do, some that will not be finished in our life times."

"The Askani have a saying. Translates roughly to 'Battles fought with words have many fewer casualties.' I have to admit, they have a point." Nathan tilted his head at her. "Right now, though," he said with a grin, "I should let you finish unpacking."

She tapped book and smiled. "But we will get back to this at some point, soon," she responded, tucking it back into the drawer. "I am suddenly glad I decided to write this while switching languages...makes it hard to read."

"Very soon," Nathan agreed, then paused, thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of it that way. As sensitive information. But once we start putting some of it out there, we might want to take care with the original source information."

"I am incredibly protective over my notes," Wanda assured him. "Especially these. The notes flip back and forth between all the languages I know, on top of some of it being in short hand. Nearly impossible to read if you do not know what you are looking for."

Nathan smiled, part of him not at all surprised. "You have good instincts," he said. "Thank you, Wanda, in case I hadn't said that lately... for all of this."

The answering smile was dazzling. "Trust me on this, Nate, there are no thank you's necessary for this task. It is more than my pleasure."