text; email to alpha force (sans pietro)

[roboromantic]

I think I just met my illegitimate nephew. He's like a young American Quicksilver, white hair and all. And he's a bit rude. I bought him breakfast, but I'm not sure how much I should tell him. I don't think his home situation is very good, either.

Do I tell Pietro? This seems like news one should deliver in person. I always thought he would have been more careful, but I suppose accidents happen. I don't even know who the mother is.

Any advice is appreciated.

-- Wanda.

[in reference to this thread, which pura and i started before i actually got accepted because we're hecka impatient.]

Comments

[makethatwork]

breathe wanda

first off, if we could join the ranks of official superheroes, i'm pretty sure he wouldn't be banned. i mean, between the maximoff family crime business and me working with a soviet terrorist, i'm pretty sure probably-accidentally blowing up his school would not make him ineligable for trailblazer...ness.

second off, we don't ACTUALLY know if he's p's kid, so maybe bring it up to him and suggest a DNA test? you can test off yourself these days i think.

[roboromantic]

He blew up his school!? How? Why?

And I more meant that I don't think we could get him to agree to join, especially if he's really rivals with Nomad. Who is wonderful, by the way. She could be on Alpha Force in a few years, with enough training. If Tommy is anything like his father he won't forget being wronged in a hurry.

Pietro's DNA is on file in the medical office. But how could it possibly be a coincidence? If not his son he's his clone, or a version of Pietro from an alternate universe, or a robot copy or something. It's too close for him to be just another completely unrelated random white-haired speedster with an attitude problem in LA.

[makethatwork]

i don't know and i don't know - rikki didn't even know why as far as i know, that's why i think it might've been accidental. maybe some kind of power fritz, you know how those can be when you're a teenager.

so i hear.

ahahah yeah given his reaction to rik when i met him, i doubt you could get him willingly teamed up with her. though tbh i've been-- well that's not important, we're dealing with your issues, not mine.

the world's a weird place, wand, i honestly wouldn't put it past the universe to do that. but you're right, it's REALLY unlikely. think you can get your hands on some dna?

[roboromantic]

Very funny.

I would be happy to switch over to your issues, Clint. This whole thing is getting a little overwhelming, especially adding on the fact that he's essentially homeless. I think I could get some DNA, although if CONDOR doesn't have it on file from the arrest I'll have to sit Tommy down and talk to him. Nothing would destroy his trust in me faster than him catching me clipping off some of his hair while he's asleep, or something.

[makethatwork]

my issues are very much more along the lines of "can i handle a sidekick" and "why the hell would anyone want to be my sidekick if they know me at all personally" and are not in any way time-sensitive.

i'll ask around with condor about if they have his dna on file though. i'll see if riks remembers his last name and approximately when she first ran into him.

[roboromantic]

For whatever it's worth, I think you could be ready. As long as you think you can keep it relatively professional between the two of you. Try not to unload all of your personal feelings on her too often.

I know this probably doesn't need to be said, but I'd appreciate your discretion on this. Neither I nor Pietro need the entire crimefighting community in on all of our family drama, and it could put the boy's safety at risk.

[makethatwork]

yeah well, i try not to unload on her for the most part anyway, you know? also screw you for knowing me too well and knowing exactly who i meant. :P

i'm not gonna say anything about why i'm asking - she'll probably figure it's because i was chatting with him at that picnic the other day - i can't remember, were you back for that? anyway, superhero bbq, we bonded by the food table. or not bonded. whatever. no worries, i know how to keep secrets when it counts.

[roboromantic]

I met her the other day when I went down to see the Trailblazers, she really is excellent.

I wasn't here, but I read about it on the Internet. I can't believe it went as well as it did, that seems like an unnecessarily irresponsible risk, gathering everyone together like that. I bet it was fun, though. Better than chasing after mutated deer in the woods for weeks and weeks. Never let a biohazard animal cross a border, Interpol doesn't even have its own department for that kind of containment.

[makethatwork]

told you my padawan's the best.

haha yeaaaah, that may have been part of why i went. the kid who set it up seemed nice, though, and he clearly meant well. and nobody set anybody else on fire!

i'll keep that bit about the mutant deer in mind.

[roboromantic]

Padawan? ...Never mind. Just make sure she's ready to take another mentor. It seemed to me like she's still grieving for Captain Victory, don't push her too hard to move past him.

I am now convinced that deer are evil. Venison, however, is delicious and should be eaten at every opportunity.

[makethatwork]

honestly, i'm not sure I'M ready for it. that was forrest's thing, you know?

you know you're kinda scary sometimes. it wasn't mutant venison, was it?

[roboromantic]

Right. Yes. So Legion gave me the DNA and I ran it against Pietro and it was a match for being related but not for paternity and then I thought he could be my half brother so I ran it against my father and he's just a match for relation too but we don't HAVE any other relatives and you need to get down to the lab RIGHT NOW

action;

[makethatwork]

[ Clint honestly doesn't even bother replying, just takes off scrambling downstairs to the labs, taking a few moments to talk to the CONDOR agents to figure out which lab Wanda's in.

He skids in, wearing pyjama pants and a tshirt and socks. ]

What do you mean he's not Pietro's?

[ ...great entrance, Clint. ]

permaaction;

[roboromantic]

[Wanda is in civvies too, looking only slightly more dignified in red leggings and an oversized (also red) hoodie. It's after hours at the Tower, the lab techs and the rest of the day staff have all gone home to their roommates and families.]

He's just not. Unless the stupid computer is wrong, which it's probably not because I ran the test four times, and I remember when we upgraded to these systems and they were very expensive, so they had better not be wrong, and--

[Wanda is very clearly freaking out. She takes a deep breath, centering herself before she accidentally hexes a server bank.]

It says he's my son? But it also says he doesn't have a father. And as I'm sure you're aware, I've never had a child.

Re: permaaction;

[makethatwork]

[ WTF THIS MAKES NO SENSE AND WANDA IS UPSET HOW DO FIX???? ]

The machines are wrong, then. Though bought defective computers, you contaminated the sample. [ He slings an arm around her shoulder and squeezes gently ] If it accurate, you'd have a profile for the father, right? I mean, I know how these things work, more or less, you can't have a kid with only one parent.

[roboromantic]

There's no report of the computers being broken when the techs left this evening, and I don't think CONDOR would have contaminated the sample. They usually only hire competent people.

[she runs both hands through her hair, tugging at it and tangling her fingers through her curls.]

As far as I can really understand it's showing my DNA, mirrored so it's like I'm both his parents? And then the gaps are filled in with... something else. The computer couldn't tell me what it was. He's not a clone, he's. Well. I don't know what he is yet, but I intend to find out.

[Clint probably recognizes the Dangerously Determined look in Wanda's eye. It's gotten her into trouble just as many times as it's gotten her out of it.]

[makethatwork]

Okay, well just don't try telling him until you know what the hell's going on. [ Clint rubs the back of his neck. ] I don't know about him, but if someone had tried that line on me when I was that age, I would've gotten the hell outta dodge.

[ He squints at the screens for a moment, as if he understands any of this bullshit, and then nods decisively ]

Okay. So where do we start?

[roboromantic]

I don't know. I don't know how this happened, or how to fix it, I don't know how to even think about where to start. I'm not ready to be a parent, Clint.

[Wanda takes another deep breath, partly out of habit to keep her emotions under control and partly because she refuses to cry right now. Not that she's never cried in front of Clint before, but it's not going to help the situation.]

Okay. We start by talking to someone. A scientist. The computer explained all of this to me, but I think this is as far as it can go. I'd like to keep this as quiet as possible, so maybe someone outside of CONDOR, or a CONDOR scientist who won't ask any questions. You're right about Tommy, I won't tell him anything until I have all the information.

[She takes a shaky breath, and reaches out to grab Clint's hand, squeezing hard.]

This is a trainwreck.

[makethatwork]

[ Clint squeezes back, holding her hand firmly. Yeah, this is kind of huge. She apparently has a teenaged son who has no father who she doesn't remember giving birth to. That's... kind of a big deal. ]

Yeah, kinda. But that's pretty normal for us, right? So we'll get this sorted out.

Right, so, Rikki's friends with his roommate. Or... friendly with his roommate. Whatever. Do you want me to see if said roommate knows anything about him that she'd be willing to share with Rikki? I won't tell Riks why, and I'll ask her to be discrete. She's pretty good at that.

[roboromantic]

Right. This kind of thing happens to us all the time.

[Wanda just can't stop thinking about the horrible possibility that she actually did give birth to a child when she was 18 and she and everyone she knew then is just missing 9 months of memories.]

As long as you leave my name out of it, yes. I'd appreciate that.

[She hesitates for a moment, then pulls Clint in for a hug. It's been a long, rough day.]

[makethatwork]

[ He is more than happy to hug her. And Clint gives pretty damn good hugs, he likes to think. ]

I'll see what I can't scare up. In the meantime, you can't do anything else tonight, so let's head back upstairs, okay?

[roboromantic]

[Wanda holds on for a good long hug, and there's a bit of a damp spot on Clint's shoulder when she pulls back. She nods, dragging her arm across her eyes.]

Can we have pizza with three kinds of meat?

[makethatwork]

[ He laughs and squeezes her shoulder. He doesn't mind having a damp shoulder - it's seen worse, and it's nice to be able to help a friend out instead of being the friend needing help, honestly. ]

And those deep-fried cinnamon sugar stick things with the icing dip. And beer.

[roboromantic]

[Wanda's never been much of a drinker, but a beer sounds like a good idea right about now. She takes Clint's hand again and heads for the elevator.]

Oh, the sugar cinnamon things. Those are good. Can we get two orders of those? I don't usually order delivery here because I don't like making the poor security guards answer the door and bring it up, if I'm not in uniform to get it myself.

[12 years of living in Alpha Tower and Wanda is still weird about letting the Tower staff do her laundry and grocery shopping for her.]

[makethatwork]

I think that is totally doable. We can watch Netflix, too, you got anything in your queue?

[ Clint's still weird about many things, too - he still doesn't entirely believe he'll always have access to food, for one. But delivery is great. ...Also Clint has no problem going down to the lobby to meet the delivery driver in his pyjamas, soooooo... ]