xp_logs | Hank, Madelyn, Saturday night.

The Thomas Edison Memorial Dinner, part one

Hank and Madelyn go out to have some intellectual-type fun. He lets her drive his car, and she meets new and appreciative people.

Hank adjusted his tie and inspected himself in the mirror. Very dashing, if he did say so himself... pity about the furry face, but the rest of him looked very smart. His tuxedo fitted perfectly - as if it had been made for him, which in fact it had - his shoes shone, his hair was as tidy as it ever got... yes, he'd definitely do.

Miles was settled for the evening, and there'd been a dozen volunteers to keep an eye on him until morning. Moira was keeping an eye on the Medlab. All was, in short, well in hand, and he could go out and have fun with a good conscience. He gave himself one last look, and gathered up the roses he'd bought for Madelyn. Even a purely friendly date ought to be given a little token of appreciation, and he'd thought the sheaf of sweet-scented, creamy white and yellow-tipped-with-pink roses was suitably appreciative without being suggestive or forward. And a gentleman always collected a lady from her door, and returned her to it, even if they were both living in the same mansion, so he sallied forth and headed for her suite.

He tapped on the door, grinning a little in anticipation. This was going to be a lot of fun... intelligent conversation, good food, champagne, and last but certainly not least, a lovely, intelligent lady to share the evening with. Alas, merely as a friend, but that didn't mean her company wasn't greatly enjoyable. "Madelyn? The evening awaits us," he called through the door, settling his bow-tie one more time.

"Be right there!" came her reply through the door. Inside, Madelyn adjusted the bodice of her dress - the same black 'slinky dress' she'd gotten for the HeliX dinner - wondering briefly at the wisdom of wearing something strapless to this sort of occasion. If drunken scientists started tossing olives at her cleavage there was going to be an appearance from Agent Bartlet, rather than the good doctor. Still, she had admit, she looked good. Too many sweet things lately and all. Slipping on her shoes, she went and answered the door, brushing back the loose curl that had escaped her best efforts at putting her hair up but which Carlie would have said looked better any way. "Hank. Wow, look at you. All dashing," she said with a warm smile.

"And you, my dear, look positively ravishing. I suspect I'll have to fight my colleagues off once they see you," he said, gazing at her admiringly. She really did look quite enchanting. "And these are, of course, for you," he added, offering her the roses. "To thank you for keeping me company this evening."

Madelyn blushed. A lot. "For me? Hank, that's... Um, thank you." Accepting the roses, she used the excuse of smelling them to hide her flaming cheeks and regain some composure. "They're lovely. Thank you," she repeated. "Give me a sec to put these in some water and grab my coat?"

"You are very welcome, and I'm glad you like them." He smiled, a little relieved. Flowers not too much. Oh, good. And the blush was charming, too. "And of course. Please, there's no need to hurry, we have plenty of time." Besides, it gave him an excuse to stand here and look at her a bit more, and he was not at all averse to spending some time looking at a lovely young woman.

"Come on in - I won't be a minute..." Madelyn beckoned Hank inside, waving in the direction of the couch before moving over to the kitchenette to find something that would serve as a vase. Hmm, tricky... "I can't remember the last time someone gave me flowers," she said with a wry chuckle, settling on one of the over-large mugs they'd originally gotten in at medlab just for Hank, but which the other doctors had sneakily acquired. "Maybe my dad when I graduated. And these are very pretty. So thank you again." Flowers arranged to the best of her satisfaction (and the parameters of the container) she scooped up her coat and purse from the arm of the couch. "So, any famous scientific names at this thing that I should know about so I don't turn into a blithering idiot fangirl when I'm introduced?"

"That is a crying shame.... that you haven't been getting flowers lately," Hank said sincerely, settling on the couch. "Every lady should receive flowers on a regular basis. Clearly I've been neglecting my duty." He smiled at her. "And.. hmm... I'm not entirely sure who's going this year. Reed Richards will almost certainly be there, and I'll introduce you to Stephen Welling... he's the old friend I was helping out over the new year." Stephen was well known for his work with diseases, she'd probably heard of him.

"Dr Welling? Ooh." Madelyn's expression was gleeful, not unlike Jubilee's when someone mentioned rollercoasters. "I've been doing a lot of reading on his latest research into blood-bourne viruses, so at least I won't be lost for anything to say." Pulling on her coat, she gave him a contemplative look. "Shall we?"

"But of course!" He smiled, offering her his arm. "Your chariot awaits, my lady... well, a rather nifty little blue sportscar awaits. And I'm sure he'll be delighted to meet you. Please, ignore my friendly attempts to drown him in the punchbowl... that's just my little way of reminding him not to attempt to steal you. He's a fine fellow, but very susceptible to beauty." He certainly hadn't hired that wretched assistant for her intelligent and well-reasoned conversation.

On cue, Madelyn blushed again, laughing. "You are the most outrageous flirt, Henry McCoy," she said, shaking her head at him. "Although fine feathers and all of that..." She took the offered arm, giving him a big-eyed pleading look. "Sportscar? Can I drive? I like driving sportscars, they're all zippy and fast."

"I am indeed, but I'm told it's charming. And you may certainly drive, if you wish." He smiled down at her. "However, no speeding... I would like us to reach the champagne and salmon relatively unscathed."

"You've never driven with me before, have you?" she asked with a grin. "Haroun says I drive like an old lady. Which is to say I stick to the speed limit and don't cut off people willy-nilly. Your fine furry pelt is perfectly safe."

"Oh, well, in that case..." He fished the keys out of his pocket and handed them to her solemnly. "I place myself... and my car.. entirely in your lovely hands, my dear." He grinned a bit wickedly. "We are yours to toy with." He could always show off his own skill at driving on the way back, and if she'd enjoy driving, he certainly was not the man to deny her.

Giving his arm a squeeze - he was really too silly for words sometimes, but she rather enjoyed it, given the definite lack of humour in all their lives recently. "So I get to have my wicked way? What fun," was all she said as she took the keys and let Hank escort her downstairs in a rather grand fashion.

* * *

As had become tradition, the Thomas Edison Memorial Dinner was held in a rather nice hotel a bit over an hour from the school, in a charming little tourist-trap of a town. The staff at the Davola Hotel had presumably grown accustomed to it by now. They'd set up a lovely private room, a lavish dinner, and princely amounts of champagne... and made sure that nobody else was in the vicinity to be disturbed, since there had been small explosions a few times.

He helped Maddie out of the car, and tucked her hand through his arm again as they headed for the door. "I hope you enjoy yourself," he said a little nervously. Most of the other attendees were a lot of fun at parties - at least, what their fellow intellectuals called fun - but there were always a few..."Please do recall that some of these gentlemen spend a lot of their time... ah... immured in their labs. As I have a tendency to do myself. Feel free to slap them if they get forward, by all means, they're quite used to it." They'd learned to behave around most of the ladies who were regular guests, but a new and lovely face could sometimes unsettle a man who'd spent too long in the company of his own inventions. "And should such an occasion arise, please point the beaten body of the offender out to me when you're done, so I can toss him out of a window."

She laughed. "Did Al tell you the bar fight story?" she asked, glad for the distraction since she was actually nervous about tonight. She was a simple and relatively inexperienced (in terms of actual practicing years) MD, and some of the people here tonight were going to be the creme of the intellectual crop. Maybe Moira would have been a better choice for Hank to bring... "I'm pretty sure I can handle whatever happens, even if I do think you're exaggerating shamelessly."

"My dear, the moment you open your mouth and they realize that you're as intelligent as you are beautiful, you're going to be mobbed." Hank grinned, and preened just a little. He'd managed to snare quite the marvellous date for this evening, just friends or not. "I intend to keep you close to me, in order that I may bask in your reflected glory when people ask who was lucky enough to bring you."

"Uh-huh." Madelyn rolled her eyes as they arrived at the coat check and handed over their coats before being directed to the conference room. She clearly thought he was going over the top with the compliments here. Then she caught sight of a familiar face and poked Hank. "Over there - it's that snake, Pym. _Him_ you can throw out of windows as much as you like."

Hank grinned ."I'm serious," he said, handing over his own coat. "Of course, you have to keep in mind that there are some very, very lonely men here. You're probably the first unfamiliar woman some of them have seen in months, and they're going to be terribly impressed that I actually managed to convince you to accompany me." He glanced over, and scowled a bit. "If he comes near me, I probably will. Should such a thing occur, would you be a dear and hold my jacket? I'd hate to rip the sleeves out while swinging him around my head to get up speed."

"With pleasure." Madelyn scowled at Pym, as he headed up the stairs towards the dining room, trying hard to catch the eye of two younger women chatting halfway up and failing miserably - word was still circulating about certain photos in women's underwear Domino had arranged. "Too bad he knows me, or I'd be tempted to set him up for something embarrassing. Using my fabulous good looks and amazing brain, of course. And then the handcuffs and the taser later." Putting the thought of him out of her mind for now - why spoil the evening? - she smiled at Hank. "Did I mention how nice that tux is? Only men of a certain presence can carry off a tux properly."

"Why, thank you!" he said, beaming delightedly at her. "It's wonderful of you to say so." He glanced up the stairs and grinned rather toothily. "And I, I assure you, do not care that he knows me. I've known Moira for more than ten years, and although I did not get a chance to royally pound him at the time... well. Should the opportunity arise..." He smiled ruefully at her. "Rather undoctorly, I know, the urge to injure someone instead of healing them... but I did used to constitute a large portion of the X-Men's muscle power, once upon a time. The old training does rather stick with one, as I'm sure you know yourself." He liked that about her... her tough independence, her confidence that she could handle herself.

"Just a bit..." Madelyn's tone was wry. "And I was thinking more of the undercover value of Pym not knowing me - I have the feeling if he sees either of us coming, he'll flee, and the revenge factor in letting him pick me up and then handcuffing him naked outside the front of the hotel is too tempting for words..."

Hank paused. "That IS a delightful notion, isn't it?" he said wistfully. "Maybe we'll be able to find a third party to help us in that plan. Meanwhile..." He waved, as they entered the conference room, and a lanky blonde man waved back and loped over. "Steve, I want you to meet Madelyn Bartlet. Madelyn, this is Steven Welling."

Steve looked at Madelyn and grinned. "Wow," he said admiringly. "Now I know why you rushed off in such a hurry when we finished working. Where have you been hiding her, and is it too late for me to try to cut in?"

Hank laughed. "We are merely friends, sad to say," he said regretfully. "But you're to behave anyway. She's savage when irritated, or so I'm told."

"The tranquiliser gun story has been highly exaggerated," Madelyn told Hank, poking him and smiling at Steve. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Doctor Welling. You're probably going to hear this a lot, but I read your articles on blood-bourne viruses and thought they were fascinating."

"I never get tired of hearing it again," he admitted, grinning. "We're all rampant egotists here, I admit. We all get together and brag about how clever we are." He gave Hank a reproachful look. "And here's where I'd say something charming and complimentary if the Big Blue Baboon had mentioned you."

Hank looked injured. "I have! I told you about her several times! The donuts? The skillful hand with a surgical needle? The amazing ability to go without sleep that almost rivals my own?"

Steve blinked. "Oh... yeah, you did!" He paused. "I kind of assumed that Dr Bartlet was.... well... a guy."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Steve, just because you append 'and great (insert bodypart here)' to any description of any being even remotely female, does not mean we all do. As attractive as Madelyn is, that is not the sole extent of her achievements, or even the most important."

It was impossible not to laugh at the mortified expression on Steve's face. "You wouldn't be the first to assume that, especially when it was Agent Bartlet as well," she said with a wicked grin.

"I should have known better anyway," Steve admitted, giving her a sheepish little grin. "Hank does tend to rave more about a woman's brain than her external body parts, when he's impressed with someone. And... Agent Bartlet? And a doctor too? With red hair?" He grinned. "May I call you Scully, or will that get me into trouble too?"

"Actually no, you can get away with that one, since no-one at the school tends to go for it any more. To tell the truth, I rather miss it sometimes. Although I was never allowed to choose that as a costume for Halloween." Madelyn was starting to relax - the Big Brains weren't that scary. And all these compliments were going to her head worse than champagne - it had been a long time since she'd gotten _this_ much attention. "Although a hint? Women like to be complimented for their brains as much as anything else. Because at least those we have some hand in developing. The rest is all the genetic lucky dip and basic taking care of yourself."

"I can appreciate both. Really. I'm smart, I have the brainpower to do two things at once." Steve grinned impishly. "So, want to go someplace quiet to discuss blood-borne viruses?"

"Later," Hank said firmly, taking hold of Madelyn's arm in an ever so slightly proprietary fashion. "She still has lots of people to meet." He indicated a tall, greying blonde woman with a distinctly valkyrie-ish look about her. "Ava Ivorssen, for example, would love to meet you, Madelyn. She's always insisted that a background in criminal investigation is a great asset to a scientist.... she's a physicist, and I must say, given how she treats her theories, I'm glad she never arrested me. The relentless questioning would break a far stronger man than I."

Ooh, protective Hank. Normally she'd be a bit irritated, being very much about the looking after herself, but when faced with the Science Geek Hordes, she was perhaps a little grateful for the assist. And this Ava person sounded fascinating... "Ah but imagine it - you cuffed to a chair, with her interrogating you..." she suggested wickedly. Hank needed retaliation for all the blushing she'd done already tonight.

Hank blushed and grinned at her. "She's too terrifying for that to be a particularly appealing image," he said quietly but firmly. "Besides, she's very happily married to an accountant. Nice fellow. Never comes to these things, though. I think we make him a little nervous." He waved at Ava, who ambled over, sipping her drink. "Ava, this is Madelyn Bartlet. Former FBI, now an MD, and strikingly good at both."

Ava brightened. "A fellow investigative thinker!" she said cheerfully. "Me,I was a policewoman for twelve years, before I went into physics. It is good training, don't you think?"

"You mean the whole training in deductive thought and the sense of logic?" Madelyn said, grinning broadly at the prospect of someone who actually had a similar background. "I also find the firearms training's good for difficult patients as well. All I need to do is mention getting out the tranq gun and suddenly they're very co-operative. What lead to you to go into physics?"

Ava laughed. "I got tired of dealing with stupid people. The laws of physics... although they are often bent and even broken... at least do not actively try to fool me, and make me waste time and energy banging them against the wall of a cell until they talk. Unfortunately, I also cannot threaten them. The tranquilliser gun must be very useful."

***