Lance and Wanda | Backdated to 4/10
Apr. 10th, 2018 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ax_mainThe Brotherhood co-leaders discuss team issues, and come to some conclusions
Wanda eyed the coffee maker longingly. She wanted coffee. No, she fucking needed coffee after the past few days. Unfortunately, they didn't need another melted coffee maker, and given the past few days, going anywhere near small electrical devices was just asking for major malfunctions.
Sighing, she sat down at the table. Sooner or later someone would come in and she could hit them up to get her a cup.
"Stop sighing, you're driving me nuts," Lance told her as he walked in the room, making a beeline for the coffee maker.
"Good, that was my plan. Get me coffee?" Wanda asked hopefully.
"Was that your plan too?" he grumbled, clunking two mugs down onto the counter before pouring out enough for them both.
"You want me going near the coffee pot?," she countered. "Before you answer, this is already the emergency spare."
"Remind me to steal us a new coffee pot," Lance made a face, then carried the mugs over to the table, setting one down in front of her.
"Thanks." Wanda offered a crooked, exhausted smile and gestured for him to grab a seat. "I'll add it to the To Do list. How's Pietro?"
"Crabby. And stop looking at me like that," Lance mumbled, sliding into a chair across from her.
"Wow, you're in a great mood." Wanda let her smile fade and sipped at her coffee.
"Sorry," he took a slow sip of the coffee and sagged back. "We just have a lot to think about, you know? And Pietro's mood is rubbing off on me. We picked up Illyana, but lost Fatale and Alex, and that's kind of pissing me off."
"We didn't lose them." Despite her assertion, Wanda looked defeated as she settled her elbow on the table and propped her head with the hand not wrapped around her coffee cup. "They'll be back, they said. Alex just needs a break or something." Which sounded good, in theory. In practice, she figured once he got settled in at the school he'd stay, especially with Scott there.
Lance gave her a look. "He's with his brother, Wanda. What would you do?"
Wanda sighed, then gave Lance an apologetic look. "Sorry. Yeah, I know. If I were him, I'd stay. And if he stays, Fatale will. Unless they kick her out."
"So we're up a teleporter and down a teleporter, and down some serious firepower," Lance pointed out, starting to organize the sugar packets into little teams. "The government's still looking for our bodies in all that rubble, and we're still licking our wounds. What the fuck do we do now?"
"Fuck if I know." Wanda stared into her coffee as if trying to find the answer inside the cup, then looked back up at Lance. "I'm sorry. About what happened. You should be leading this team on your own. I'm no tactician, and I should've kept my mouth shut."
"Jesus, Wanda, you're the only reason we're all alive right now," Lance breathed, looking up at her.
"I'm also the reason we damn near got blown to hell in the first place," Wanda pointed out. "And you got a shield up just as fast as I did."
"Only cause I was trying to make sure yours held," Lance told her. "Anyway, I wouldn't have told them to do anything different. It wasn't you that was the problem. It's our whole way of doing things."
Wanda frowned, but looked more curious than annoyed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean as much as we've got fucking amazing powers, we're not invincible. We gotta start doing this smarter. Looking before we leap. That kinda thing," Lance told her.
"Okay, sounds good in theory. In practice? You're probably the closest thing we have to a look before you leap kind of person. So we do that how?" She gave him an apologetic look. "Not saying you're wrong. I'm just not sure how we do it."
"So, we gotta try and knock it into the others' heads. Get Pietro to do recon before we go in. Or Illyana. Whoever," Lance told her.
"Okay, I can see that." Wanda took another sip from her coffee and mulled that over. "Eileen might be able to help with that too, if we can get her to do her "where the harmonies lead" thing from outside the place. Might give us a working map."
Lance waved a hand at her. "Exactly."
"And then come up with a plan." Wanda nodded slowly. "We need a better way of getting information up front though, too. You think anyone will keep feeding us information, now that we're officially uninvited from the school? Which reminds me," she added, "we need to remind everyone that it's time to stop sharing info with them, too. I'm still pissed they got the jump on us with the two bases, when Alex and Fatale were in on the whole thing. Not that there was a whole lot we could've done," not with the number of injuries they had from Montana, "but it's the principle of the thing."
"Hey, we could barely handle Pam," Lance pointed out. "What are we gonna do with six more crazies?"
"Point." Wanda smiled faintly and shrugged. "Though I met one of them when I took my library books back. Other than pinning my arm because I touched him, he didn't seem all that bad."
Lance had a feeling that Wanda just wanted more guys around that she could flirt with, but he sure as fuck wasn't going to say that to her face. Instead, he took a big sip of coffee as he figured out what he was going to say that wouldn't get his ass fried. Finally, he just shrugged. "It's a loss, but if we can talk any of 'em over, it's worth a shot."
He paused, then shuffled the sugar packets a little more. "You know, I was thinking, we should start wearing shit that's flashy - that really catches the media attention, you know? Not uniforms, because fuck that - but something that's individual to each of us - make us more recognizable on camera. Enough of this shit where we're getting confused with other kids."
"I won't argue that." Her eyebrows rose. "Though I'm trying really hard not to picture Freddie in spandex now, so I'm hoping you're not talking comic books."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Fuck comic books. Spandex doesn't stop bullets. I was thinking we raid a military supply store."
"Go on..." Wanda made a rolling motion with her hand for him to continue, and leaned back in her chair, intrigued.
"Or warehouse, or wherever you get bullet-proof vests," because he sure as hell didn't want to see that happen to Pietro again. "Then, I don't know, we...mutant it up. However Pyro would say it. I'm not saying we hide our identities. But jeans and t-shirts aren't gonna cut it anymore."
"I'm for it. I'm guessing some of the guys won't be." Or...maybe they would, if they put the right spin on it. Pyro and Eileen would likely be up for anything that made them stand out from the flatscans, and Pietro'd like anything that made him stand out, period.
"Maybe we can get Blob something more durable to wear," Lance said thoughtfully. "And some shoes for Mort that give him a bit of cushion."
Wanda got up, walked over to the fridge, and grabbed the pad of paper and pen they used for the grocery list. "Something speed resistant for Pietro. Including shoes with soles that don't burn off from friction," she added as she started jotting notes down.
"You need anything special?" he asked. "I kind of think some kind of protective glasses for me would be nice - keep the earth out of my eyes when I'm working."
"Something to keep my hair out of my face, maybe." She wrote down the glasses for Lance and shrugged. "Elastic bands always snap at the worst possible time; I've actually been thinking of chopping it again, but I'd really rather not if I can come up with an alternative. Otherwise, there's no way to predict."
"So we've got a shopping list," Lance smirked. "I'll see if I can find a few good places to hit. We're down Pietro and Eileen for now."
"Pretty sure we can hit a military supply warehouse after hours without them." Wanda smirked back. "We can get Illyana to do recon if you want."
"It'll be fine. Let's spread the word that we're going, and for others to think of things they need," Lance told her.
"Sounds good." Wanda came back and sat back down at the table. "There's something else we need to do, too. And that's figure out what to do about the media."
"Fuck the media," Lance snorted.
"The media's fucking us," Wanda corrected. "And yeah, they're going to - but the whole message is getting lost. There wasn't a single fucking report that there was an ammo stash in that building, just like there was no report when my father was shot. All they say is that a bunch of teenage mutants blew up an office building because we didn't like what they represent." She shook her head. "We need to get our side out there."
Lance eyed her. "What, do you wanna start a YouTube channel or something like that dragon girl?"
"Fuck if I know," Wanda admitted. "Just throwing it out there as something to think about."
"I don't know the first thing about that shit," Lance told her, frowning.
"And I do?" Wanda waved it aside. "I'll give it some thought. Maybe Pietro'll have some ideas. If nothing else, he'd love to be interviewed."
Lance frowned. "Pietro may have a better idea how to handle it, yeah. Fuck, make him our PR Manager or something, I don't know. Maybe he can get us a Twitter account or something."
Wanda grinned and shook her head. "Okay, picturing Pietro with a Twitter account. We have to do it, now. Just to see what he does with it. But yeah, good idea - we can dump it on him. It'll give him something to do other than be pissy."
"I'd do it just for that," Lance mumbled.
"Is he being impossible?" Wanda gave Lance a sympathetic look. "I can stay with him a while. I just haven't wanted to interrupt." Or, well, she had wanted to. She'd just been trying really hard not to.
"Interrupt what?" Lance asked curiously.
Despite all resolutions to the contrary (and she'd made a few half hearted ones, at least), Wanda smirked. "Whatever you two have had going on." Because yeah. It hadn't escaped her attention that something had changed there. Or at least, that the two of them seemed less oblivious to it than they'd been before.
Lance rolled his eyes. "You mean the fact that I'm totally gay for him? Yeah, it's a thing. Might as well get it out there."
"Yeah, but you could've gotten it out there any time in the last couple of years." Wanda's smirk softened into a smile. "So yeah. It's about time."
"Well, it's out there now," he grumbled, taking another sip of his coffee.
"Which means I finally get to give you the 'you hurt my brother, and I'll turn you inside out' speech. Though I'm guessing you figured that anyway?" Lance wasn't stupid, after all.
"Trust me," Lance rolled his eyes. "If I hurt your brother, I'd have a lot worse things to worry about."
"True," Wanda admitted. "But I'd do my part. It's a twin thing."
"What isn't?" Lance asked without thinking, then froze, immediately regretting it.
Without another word, Wanda got to her feet and headed for the kitchen door. As she passed, Lance's coffee began boiling in his coffee cup, bubbles spilling over the edge within seconds.
"Shit," Lance suddenly shoved away from the table, fingers pulling away from the boiling over bubbles.
"I'll talk to Pietro about the Public Relations thing," Wanda said without turning, so that Lance couldn't see the smirk that had appeared at his outburst. Because yes. Everything was a twin thing, when you got down to it. He really should remember that.
Wanda eyed the coffee maker longingly. She wanted coffee. No, she fucking needed coffee after the past few days. Unfortunately, they didn't need another melted coffee maker, and given the past few days, going anywhere near small electrical devices was just asking for major malfunctions.
Sighing, she sat down at the table. Sooner or later someone would come in and she could hit them up to get her a cup.
"Stop sighing, you're driving me nuts," Lance told her as he walked in the room, making a beeline for the coffee maker.
"Good, that was my plan. Get me coffee?" Wanda asked hopefully.
"Was that your plan too?" he grumbled, clunking two mugs down onto the counter before pouring out enough for them both.
"You want me going near the coffee pot?," she countered. "Before you answer, this is already the emergency spare."
"Remind me to steal us a new coffee pot," Lance made a face, then carried the mugs over to the table, setting one down in front of her.
"Thanks." Wanda offered a crooked, exhausted smile and gestured for him to grab a seat. "I'll add it to the To Do list. How's Pietro?"
"Crabby. And stop looking at me like that," Lance mumbled, sliding into a chair across from her.
"Wow, you're in a great mood." Wanda let her smile fade and sipped at her coffee.
"Sorry," he took a slow sip of the coffee and sagged back. "We just have a lot to think about, you know? And Pietro's mood is rubbing off on me. We picked up Illyana, but lost Fatale and Alex, and that's kind of pissing me off."
"We didn't lose them." Despite her assertion, Wanda looked defeated as she settled her elbow on the table and propped her head with the hand not wrapped around her coffee cup. "They'll be back, they said. Alex just needs a break or something." Which sounded good, in theory. In practice, she figured once he got settled in at the school he'd stay, especially with Scott there.
Lance gave her a look. "He's with his brother, Wanda. What would you do?"
Wanda sighed, then gave Lance an apologetic look. "Sorry. Yeah, I know. If I were him, I'd stay. And if he stays, Fatale will. Unless they kick her out."
"So we're up a teleporter and down a teleporter, and down some serious firepower," Lance pointed out, starting to organize the sugar packets into little teams. "The government's still looking for our bodies in all that rubble, and we're still licking our wounds. What the fuck do we do now?"
"Fuck if I know." Wanda stared into her coffee as if trying to find the answer inside the cup, then looked back up at Lance. "I'm sorry. About what happened. You should be leading this team on your own. I'm no tactician, and I should've kept my mouth shut."
"Jesus, Wanda, you're the only reason we're all alive right now," Lance breathed, looking up at her.
"I'm also the reason we damn near got blown to hell in the first place," Wanda pointed out. "And you got a shield up just as fast as I did."
"Only cause I was trying to make sure yours held," Lance told her. "Anyway, I wouldn't have told them to do anything different. It wasn't you that was the problem. It's our whole way of doing things."
Wanda frowned, but looked more curious than annoyed. "What do you mean?"
"I mean as much as we've got fucking amazing powers, we're not invincible. We gotta start doing this smarter. Looking before we leap. That kinda thing," Lance told her.
"Okay, sounds good in theory. In practice? You're probably the closest thing we have to a look before you leap kind of person. So we do that how?" She gave him an apologetic look. "Not saying you're wrong. I'm just not sure how we do it."
"So, we gotta try and knock it into the others' heads. Get Pietro to do recon before we go in. Or Illyana. Whoever," Lance told her.
"Okay, I can see that." Wanda took another sip from her coffee and mulled that over. "Eileen might be able to help with that too, if we can get her to do her "where the harmonies lead" thing from outside the place. Might give us a working map."
Lance waved a hand at her. "Exactly."
"And then come up with a plan." Wanda nodded slowly. "We need a better way of getting information up front though, too. You think anyone will keep feeding us information, now that we're officially uninvited from the school? Which reminds me," she added, "we need to remind everyone that it's time to stop sharing info with them, too. I'm still pissed they got the jump on us with the two bases, when Alex and Fatale were in on the whole thing. Not that there was a whole lot we could've done," not with the number of injuries they had from Montana, "but it's the principle of the thing."
"Hey, we could barely handle Pam," Lance pointed out. "What are we gonna do with six more crazies?"
"Point." Wanda smiled faintly and shrugged. "Though I met one of them when I took my library books back. Other than pinning my arm because I touched him, he didn't seem all that bad."
Lance had a feeling that Wanda just wanted more guys around that she could flirt with, but he sure as fuck wasn't going to say that to her face. Instead, he took a big sip of coffee as he figured out what he was going to say that wouldn't get his ass fried. Finally, he just shrugged. "It's a loss, but if we can talk any of 'em over, it's worth a shot."
He paused, then shuffled the sugar packets a little more. "You know, I was thinking, we should start wearing shit that's flashy - that really catches the media attention, you know? Not uniforms, because fuck that - but something that's individual to each of us - make us more recognizable on camera. Enough of this shit where we're getting confused with other kids."
"I won't argue that." Her eyebrows rose. "Though I'm trying really hard not to picture Freddie in spandex now, so I'm hoping you're not talking comic books."
Lance rolled his eyes. "Fuck comic books. Spandex doesn't stop bullets. I was thinking we raid a military supply store."
"Go on..." Wanda made a rolling motion with her hand for him to continue, and leaned back in her chair, intrigued.
"Or warehouse, or wherever you get bullet-proof vests," because he sure as hell didn't want to see that happen to Pietro again. "Then, I don't know, we...mutant it up. However Pyro would say it. I'm not saying we hide our identities. But jeans and t-shirts aren't gonna cut it anymore."
"I'm for it. I'm guessing some of the guys won't be." Or...maybe they would, if they put the right spin on it. Pyro and Eileen would likely be up for anything that made them stand out from the flatscans, and Pietro'd like anything that made him stand out, period.
"Maybe we can get Blob something more durable to wear," Lance said thoughtfully. "And some shoes for Mort that give him a bit of cushion."
Wanda got up, walked over to the fridge, and grabbed the pad of paper and pen they used for the grocery list. "Something speed resistant for Pietro. Including shoes with soles that don't burn off from friction," she added as she started jotting notes down.
"You need anything special?" he asked. "I kind of think some kind of protective glasses for me would be nice - keep the earth out of my eyes when I'm working."
"Something to keep my hair out of my face, maybe." She wrote down the glasses for Lance and shrugged. "Elastic bands always snap at the worst possible time; I've actually been thinking of chopping it again, but I'd really rather not if I can come up with an alternative. Otherwise, there's no way to predict."
"So we've got a shopping list," Lance smirked. "I'll see if I can find a few good places to hit. We're down Pietro and Eileen for now."
"Pretty sure we can hit a military supply warehouse after hours without them." Wanda smirked back. "We can get Illyana to do recon if you want."
"It'll be fine. Let's spread the word that we're going, and for others to think of things they need," Lance told her.
"Sounds good." Wanda came back and sat back down at the table. "There's something else we need to do, too. And that's figure out what to do about the media."
"Fuck the media," Lance snorted.
"The media's fucking us," Wanda corrected. "And yeah, they're going to - but the whole message is getting lost. There wasn't a single fucking report that there was an ammo stash in that building, just like there was no report when my father was shot. All they say is that a bunch of teenage mutants blew up an office building because we didn't like what they represent." She shook her head. "We need to get our side out there."
Lance eyed her. "What, do you wanna start a YouTube channel or something like that dragon girl?"
"Fuck if I know," Wanda admitted. "Just throwing it out there as something to think about."
"I don't know the first thing about that shit," Lance told her, frowning.
"And I do?" Wanda waved it aside. "I'll give it some thought. Maybe Pietro'll have some ideas. If nothing else, he'd love to be interviewed."
Lance frowned. "Pietro may have a better idea how to handle it, yeah. Fuck, make him our PR Manager or something, I don't know. Maybe he can get us a Twitter account or something."
Wanda grinned and shook her head. "Okay, picturing Pietro with a Twitter account. We have to do it, now. Just to see what he does with it. But yeah, good idea - we can dump it on him. It'll give him something to do other than be pissy."
"I'd do it just for that," Lance mumbled.
"Is he being impossible?" Wanda gave Lance a sympathetic look. "I can stay with him a while. I just haven't wanted to interrupt." Or, well, she had wanted to. She'd just been trying really hard not to.
"Interrupt what?" Lance asked curiously.
Despite all resolutions to the contrary (and she'd made a few half hearted ones, at least), Wanda smirked. "Whatever you two have had going on." Because yeah. It hadn't escaped her attention that something had changed there. Or at least, that the two of them seemed less oblivious to it than they'd been before.
Lance rolled his eyes. "You mean the fact that I'm totally gay for him? Yeah, it's a thing. Might as well get it out there."
"Yeah, but you could've gotten it out there any time in the last couple of years." Wanda's smirk softened into a smile. "So yeah. It's about time."
"Well, it's out there now," he grumbled, taking another sip of his coffee.
"Which means I finally get to give you the 'you hurt my brother, and I'll turn you inside out' speech. Though I'm guessing you figured that anyway?" Lance wasn't stupid, after all.
"Trust me," Lance rolled his eyes. "If I hurt your brother, I'd have a lot worse things to worry about."
"True," Wanda admitted. "But I'd do my part. It's a twin thing."
"What isn't?" Lance asked without thinking, then froze, immediately regretting it.
Without another word, Wanda got to her feet and headed for the kitchen door. As she passed, Lance's coffee began boiling in his coffee cup, bubbles spilling over the edge within seconds.
"Shit," Lance suddenly shoved away from the table, fingers pulling away from the boiling over bubbles.
"I'll talk to Pietro about the Public Relations thing," Wanda said without turning, so that Lance couldn't see the smirk that had appeared at his outburst. Because yes. Everything was a twin thing, when you got down to it. He really should remember that.
