[closed] /)___(\

[roboromantic]

Who: Tommy and Wanda
Where: Tommy & co's shitty warehouse
When: April 21st
What: SURPRISE FAMILY
Warnings: Tommy, the Maximoff family

Wanda did head over to the warehouse immediately after her meeting with Jack, but she just couldn't bring herself to go in and talk to him. Her... her son. It had taken her a week to collect herself and prepare - she'd even made notecards, although Cint had finally persuaded her that no teenager had ever taken an adult using notecards seriously, and she'd left them at home.

Now, as prepared as she's ever going to be, Wanda is standing outside the warehouse in what she hopes is her less intimidating but more professional uniform. She knows Tommy is in there - she's been watching him all week with strategically commandeered security cameras, courtesy of CONDOR software. It's no good waiting any more. She's faced evil scientist dictators, thirty story tall radioactive beasts, robot overlords, saved the planet a half a dozen times, fended off alien invasions. Why does a teenage boy have her so nervous? Taking a deep breath, Wanda steps up to the dented metal door and knocks politely.

Comments

[roboromantic]

This is bad. At least in her surveillance Wanda hadn't picked up any traces of TRIDENT ops, but that didn't mean they wouldn't show up eventually. Still, they probably weren't going to drop through the ceiling in the next five minutes.

"No. You're inexperienced and out here by yourself, doing the best you can. Not stupid, never stupid. But you and your friends should not keep living here much longer. You can all stay with me, until we figure things out. Because TRIDENT is involved I can't promise not to keep CONDOR out of this, but none of you will be in trouble."

Wanda knows she's making a lot of promises - including some she doesn't technically have the authority or the security clearance to keep. But anyone who tries to get to Tommy (and by extension his friends) is going to have to go through her first.

"I won't let them hurt you."

[crotcharrow]

He looks up at her as she speaks, looking concerned. He really doesn't want to get Aña and Matilda messed up in his shit. Aña already sort of was--but that was her choice. It wasn't fair to bring a six year old into this mess.

"You don't get it. We're not exactly trusting of adults. And I'm not just talking about me," he starts, feeling sick. He needs to text Aña. He needs to find Matilda and he needs to move them. They lingered too long. He sees that now. God, he's only just realising that getting an apartment is a really bad idea. Maybe Alpha Force was the best place for him. But not for them. They weren't involved.

When she finishes, he laughs wryly, giving her a shrug. "It's kinda late for that."

[roboromantic]

The thought of what TRIDENT could have already done to Tommy makes Wanda's stomach clench, but she quickly pushes that to the back of her mind. She's livid, but there's time for revenge later. After these children are safe.

"Tommy, I do understand. But I need you to trust me for now. Your friends are involved, whether they wanted to be or not, and they can not stay here. I need to at least bring them in for a few days, just until Alpha Force can assess the situation. I don't think I need to tell you how serious this is, but maybe your friends don't understand the danger they could be in? I can try not to spook them, but... it's not a good situation."

She doesn't want to think of what her Alpha Force teammates will say when she shows up with three kids who refuse to have anything to do with CONDOR. Yet another thing to deal with later.

[crotcharrow]

"I wasn't gonna let them stay here. Gonna make them move," he starts, frowning. Staying here isn't an option anymore, and he almost has enough saved for them to get something that's not got windows missing. Tommy'd go. They could stay, just not in this building.

"But I'm not going anywhere. Not 'till I talk to them. They won't listen to you."

[roboromantic]

It stings a little, but Wanda knows she's One Of Them now and that Tommy is right, and she nods.

"I'd really like to bring them in for just a couple days while we survey the area, so we can make sure it's safe before they go back out. But please, talk to them."

She puts her pointy headband-mask back on, and fluffs up her curls around it. It's amazing she even still has a secret identity.

"I can wait."

[crotcharrow]

He knows how Aña's going to react, which is why he looks so reluctant when he slides his phone out of his pocket and fires off a text to Aña to try and get her to come home. He makes a face at his phone and pockets it again, frowning, before he glances up as she continues to talk, expecting her to take her leave.

When she doesn't, he blinks a little.

"Uh, what, wait here?"

[roboromantic]

"What, you expect me to go home so I can come back in the morning when you've all skipped town? I'll get us some dinner." She whips out her own phone (who even knows where she's keeping it, it doesn't look like her uniform has any pockets) and orders a very large amount of Chinese food from a local place, giving the delivery address as an old warehouse renovated into faux-artsy condos two blocks away.

"You can go get the food when they come. He said twenty minutes." It isn't very good Chinese food, but it'll feed them all.

[crotcharrow]

He's intermittently replying to Aña on his phone, but he does groan in the way only a teenager can when a parent is being embarrassing, and rubs the bridge of his nose, muttering 'that was the idea' under his breath. Though, none of them have had a decent meal in weeks that wasn't from someone else's party, even if Tommy doesn't feel like he could eat anything right now. He just really wants Aña to get here, to help him try and make sense of all this.

Tommy flops back into the ratty sofa, moving the book he'd been reading onto the arm, kicking his feet up onto their makeshift table (it's an upturned box).

"We have food here y'know." Lie.

[roboromantic]

"I'm sure you do," Wanda says in a way that makes it pretty clear she is not sure at all, "but this food will be hot, and it's my treat. And everybody likes MSG and fried things."

Years of working with the Trailblazers have taught Wanda that the true way to the heart of a teenager is through copious amounts of a) fried foods and b) sugar.

Wanda wants to sit, but warehouse doesn't have much in the way of furniture. The couch is inside Tommy's personal bubble, the bed is too invasive, the coffee table box doesn't look like it could hold an adult's weight. What she wouldn't give right now to be able to drag some furniture over from her pocket dimension. Eventually, Wanda settles for leaning against the wall, texting a contact in CONDOR's anti-TRIDENT taskforce for updates on their activity in the area.

[cazamitad]

Aña tries, for her part, not to come busting in through the window like she's expecting a fight. She's not, not yet anyway. But she is wary of the fact that there is an Alpha Force member in their home, and she's acutely aware of the fact that Matilda could come home from the library or whatever at any time.

So she enters with maybe a little more than usual crash and bang, obviously on her guard She immediately scans the room for Wanda and once she locks on, doesn't look away, only clenching her metal fist a LITTLE.

"¿Está bien?" she asks Tommy, not looking away from the intruder in their home.

[crotcharrow]

Tommy knows she's almost there but that still doesn't stop him from jumping a little when she busts into the joint. He can tell her entrance is particularly showy just by how much noise she makes. Aren't spiders supposed to be quiet? But he's glad she's here. All this had been a little much to take in on his own.

"Sí," he responds, burying one of his hands in his face a little because he knows this isn't going to go smoothly. What is his life.

[roboromantic]

Clearly Wanda is the first person to use the door since the warehouse was actually being used for its intended purpose. She doesn't speak Spanish, but living in LA for the past twenty years and knowing enough Italian and French to get around means Aña is going to have to use way more complex sentences if she doesn't want Wanda to understand anything.

"I'm so sorry to have barged in like this. Please, call me Wanda." Because there's not really any point in keeping her secret identity with this girl, if Tommy hasn't told her in a text already. Wanda holds her hand out to Aña, smiling politely.

"It's a rather complicated story, but I'm Tommy's mother."

[cazamitad]

It's less about her understanding and more about Aña asserting herself in the situation. Sort of.

She narrows her eyes at Wanda's offered hand, crossing her arms over her chest. If it was just a matter of herself, Aña would be perfectly happy to be polite and maybe even consider the offer. But it's not just about her. Tommy and Matilda have both been through more shit than they should have, and she has no reason to trust that it won't go bad again.

"Yeah, I heard," she says, every ounce of Brooklyn Latina oozing out of her. You don't scare her, lady. "I also heard you're tryin to get us to move out with you or something. Eso no va a suceder, you can go ahead and walk right back where you came from."

[crotcharrow]

Tommy gets up as soon as he can tell where this is going to go, and goes to stand between them. He puts his hands up, but of course has no alliegance with Wanda, yet, so he turns to look at Aña, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her away a little.

"Hey, tune it down. She could've taken me by force already, right?" He sighs, not really believing that he's being the voice of reason here. He glances over his shoulder at Wanda, wishing she'd left so they could've done this in private.

"Look. They all know where we are. CONDOR, Alpha Force. ... Potentially the other one. We gotta move. She's the only thing that's stopped CONDOR from busting in here already. Apparently."

[roboromantic]

In her years as a runaway, extremist gang member, Trailblazer, and A-list superhero Wanda has heard it all. She gets it, Tommy's friend is just trying to protect her home and her family. There was a time in her life when Wanda would have done the same. Tommy's intervention is actually very touching, though - she's not quite sure if he's trying to protect her from Aña or Aña from her, but Wanda appreciates the gesture.

She lets Tommy explain, but keeps giving Aña her most polite smile, and quietly says "Nu am de gând să te rănes." She can speak other languages too, kiddo.

[cazamitad]

The comment gets a bit of a scowl from Aña, but she turns her attention (almost) fully to Tommy, finally.

"So what are we supposed to do, just go with her and hope for the best?" she asks softly. The room is too small to really keep Wanda from hearing, but Aña can least keep it from being super easy. "If here isn't safe, we get out of here. We take mija and find somewhere else, and we don't have to deal with CONDOR or the bruja."

[crotcharrow]

Tommy's glad that he has her full attention, but he looks as though he doesn't know what to do with it. He looks pale and tired, and he tightens his fingers around Aña's shoulder when Wanda speaks in another language--not knowing if that was a threat or something else.

"I know that," he hisses, dipping his head a little, wishing that Wanda had the decency to slip outside and let him talk to her on his own. He doubts she trusts him very much. The feeling is certainly mutual. "But I'm not dragging you and M into my shit."

Tommy lets go of one of her shoulders, only so he can run a hand through his hair. "I don't think she's giving me much of a choice here. And if they know where I am, what the hell is stopping TRIDENT from knowing? They weren't exactly done with me, Chica."

[roboromantic]

Wanda is at least giving them a little space, hanging back in her spot at the wall and not right up in their faces. But she's not an idiot, she knows that the minute she leaves they'll leave and find a new base in a new (probably worse) neighborhood, if they'd even stay in LA.

Her phone chimes from its undisclosed location in her uniform, and Wanda pulls it out. "The food is here. Tommy, could you pick it up? You stay here, girl-who-doesn't-introduce-herself. I think this whole discussion will go better over a meal, don't you agree?"

She pulls out a few bills and hands them over to Tommy, just enough for the price of the meal and a healthy tip. "Make it quick, try not to be seen around this building. And use the door like a grownup."

[cazamitad]

Aña bristles again, very on edge about the idea of being here alone with Scarlet Witch, even if it'll hardly take Tommy a moment to grab whatever food this crazy lady ordered.

"I disagree, but it's not like you're giving us a choice," she says tightly. "And I didn't introduce myself because honestly, lady, it's none of your business."

Deep breaths, Aña. Be calm and collected. You can handle this. She gives Tommy a little shrug like "what can we do? go get the food", and continues to eye Wanda suspiciously. "What's your angle here, anyway? Sudden guilty conscience or just a desire to meddle in the lives of people who have no reason to trust you?"

[crotcharrow]

Tommy's getting quite good at the indignant child groan, and rests his head against Aña's shoulder briefly, before pushing off and looking at Wanda with the most don't do anything to her expression he can muster. He takes the cash, and rubs his face.

"Nobody uses the door," he snorts, before he pointedly uses the window, like he always has, and then he's gone in a flash of white.

[roboromantic]

Wanda rolls her eyes at him, but she's struck by fondness. Not that there was really any doubt at this point, but he's her son through and through, and too much like his uncle for his own good. She stares affectionately after Tommy for a few seconds, then turns to Aña.

"No angle. I found out I had a son, and I'm trying to have a relationship with him. Two sons, actually. Twins. It's all very complicated and it involves magic, and before you ask, yes. I did apparently have children without knowing it. And then I came here and he told me TRIDENT was after him."

[cazamitad]

Aña looks dubious about all this, but slightly - slightly - less hostile. It's not Wanda's fault if she had no idea Tommy even existed.

Still, she snorts a little derisively at the mention of TRIDENT. "'After him', yeah that's one way to put it."

[roboromantic]

"He doesn't know about the brother yet, by the way. I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me tell him, otherwise he'll be very angry with me. I was getting there, but we got sidetracked."

Wanda's expression is very serious when talking about TRIDENT. She's dealt with them plenty of times, none of them particularly pleasant. She's no stranger to being captured or lightly tortured herself, but that's been nothing compared to the months or years of torture and experimentation TRIDENT has a reputation for subjecting its victims to.

"What has he told you about them? Anything you can tell me will help me protect him."

[cazamitad]

"He hasn't told me much, and I'm not going to betray his trust by telling you without his permission." Aña purses her lips. On the one hand, she absolutely does not trust this lady not to force them to come with her, break up their family, and make them register. On the other...

She's pretty sure Tommy would rather all that happen than end up back at TRIDENT.

"He was in really bad shape when I found him, though," she says after a moment's consideration. "They'd been fucking with his legs. It was pretty bad."

[roboromantic]

Wanda clenches her fists. Those TRIDENT nemernici would pay. She'd take them apart piece by piece, turn them inside out.

"Thank you. You're a good friend, for keeping his secrets. And I swear, I will make them pay." There's a fire in Wanda's eyes that's been known to make adult criminals wet themselves and run away.

She forces herself to take a deep breath.

"I'm really not here to get you in trouble with CONDOR, you know. I've been in your position before, I know you have no reason to believe anything I say. But for whatever my word is worth to you, I will not just turn you over to the government."