Arrival

[scarletwitch]

Wanda stood in the train station, a crimson floor-length stress covered tightly by a three-quarter-length red jacket in the same colour. Her dark red hair was loose around her face in long waves, and as usual, she kept to herself. The stares from others were disregarded, she kept her eyes on the road.

Several days ago she had phoned the school after someone had notified next of kin that Lorna was dead. She hadn't called her father; the powerlessness he would feel at having Lorna die at the school and he unable to do a thing to avenge her would have driven him more mad than Wanda already thought him to be.

So she had called and told them she was coming. She'd spoken to a young man named Bandero, who sounded nice enough but held a tone of skepticism she didn't much care for. Nonbelievers tended to be her greatest challenge. She was not in the mood for a challenge regarding her half-sister.

Folding her arms over chest, Wanda waited patiently for the car Bandero said he would have sent for her.

[bishop]

Lucas Bishop had been away from the Institute for a couple of days following his discussion with Logan about staying on as a trainer/tutor. He'd had things that needed to be sorted out and arranged. Contrary to popular belief, Lucas Bishop didn't just roam around from place to place; he actually had a rather comfortable apartment on the upper East side that he often retreated to.

He'd retreated there to collect one or two things, pay a couple of outstanding bills and to make a few telephone calls that he considered weren't really appropriate to be heard by anybody at the Institute.

Forge had given him a shout not so long ago and had asked if he'd swing by the rail station on his way back to Westchester and pick up a young woman called Wanda to bring back with him.

"She sounds a little, well...strange," Forge had said, but Bishop could deal with strange. He could deal with a lot of things in his stoic, quiet way.

He swung the massive four-wheel drive into the drop-off zone at the railway station and glanced at the clock on the dash. He was ten minutes late, which for him was like saying he was twenty minutes early.

[scarletwitch]

Wanda nudged off of the railing she'd been leaning against and walked towards the SUV. She wasn't sure if this was the man Bandero had sent to retrieve her, and wasn't really concerned if he wasn't- there was only one way to find out.

As she came closer to the large vehicle the digital clocks on the dash warbled and spun through several different symbols, most of them unrecognizeable. Wanda looked up at the man inside, her arms crossing again.

She didn't say anything, hoping the chaos orb around her wouldn't frighten him. Judging by the look on his face as he'd driven up, he was the sort that would point a gun at her when cornered. And so much the worse for him.

[bishop]

It was rare to get any sort of response out of the usually impassive Lucas Bishop, but when the clocks started playing up, he quirked one eyebrow in consternation. Now that was decidedly not right.

"Are you Wanda?" he asked of the woman approaching him. "Speak to a guy called Bandero a while back?"

That was Bishop. A man of few words, and very short ones at that. He'd long been of the opinion that long-winded discussion was for politicians, lawyers and ignoramuses. He was a man of action. And right now, that action consisted very simply of waiting for a reply in the positive or negative.

[scarletwitch]

"I am."

She tilted her head just slightly, considering him. He reacted well. SHe was pleased.

Walking around the front of the massive vehicle, she waited for him to open the door for her from within. What a hurking piece of metal. her father would have loved it.

Getting in, she adjusted her coat around her. Looking sidelong at him, she folded her hands in her lap.

"I suppose you have a name as well."

[bishop]

"I do. Lucas Bishop. Or just plain Bishop will do."

He felt faintly uncomfortable with her in the car, although he couldn't quite put his finger on why. It was like the hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, almost as though there was inherent danger. But then Bishop had spent enough time in the jungle dealing with drug barons and killers to keep any reaction at bay.

Checking his mirrors, he pulled the SUV out into the main flow of traffic. "Should be at the Institute in about twenty minutes or so. You travelled far?"

[scarletwitch]

"I have been many places," she nodded. "All over the world. Travel can be dangerous for someone like me. When I go somewhere, it is most often for a very good reason."

Wanda watched the town go by as they drove. "How long have you been with the X-Men, Mr. Bishop."

[bishop]

He laughed, a surprisingly rich, warm sound. "Drop the 'Mr', plain 'Bishop' will do. And as for how long I've been with the X-Men, well, officially, not long at all. Dropped by to see an old friend and seem to have ended up staying. From what I gather, the place has a habit of doing that."

Bishop navigated the busy traffic with consummate ease, taking the Westchester turning after a painless journey in. Forge hadn't told him anything about why he was collecting this strange young woman, and he wasn't the type to pry.

A few short minutes later, he was bringing the SUV to a halt outside the front of the Institute. "You get yourself inside, I'll park this old heap in the garage."

[scarletwitch]

Wanda looked at the man curiously for a moment, though it wasn't clear why the questioning look was on her face. If Bishop knew the whole of it he'd realize there often wasn't a reason Wanda did much of anything.

"Thank you." She said, and stepped out of the truck, separating herself from the perverse juxtapose that was the dramatically dressed woman and the overly large piece of american machinery.

Looking up at the mansion she had not seen for nearly twenty years, Wanda stepped across the lawn in a direct line to the front door.