Date: 23 Dec 98 15:14:12 PST From: Matt Nute To: outsidethelines@mailing-list.net Subject: [OTL]: Genetic Superiority, World Domination, and a Double Chocolate Mocha Latte To Go, Please Genetic Superiority, World Domination, and a Double Chocolate Mocha Latte To Go, Please or Reunion at Starbucks by Matt Nute DISCLAIMER: Hark, the herald angels sing! Characters aren't mine, and I'm not earning a thing! Property of Marvel, see.... If you want to archive, just ask me! "A venti caramel mochaccino, please." "$3.95" "Two grande cappuccinos and a buttered scone, please." "That'll be $8.50." "Sir? Sir? Your order, sir?" The man returned his attention to the tousle-haired youth behind the counter. His ice blue eyes surveyed the boy, who regarded him with an air of bored contempt. Pulling up the collar of his coat and brushing a lock of white hair out of his eyes, he glanced at the menu. "Yes, a coffee, please." The youth looked at him with an aura of disdain. "What kind, sir?" "Oh. A large. 'Venti'. Please." "Right, right. What kind of coffee, sir?" The youth yawned and pulled absently at one of the metal studs in his ear. The customer arched an eyebrow, then nodded. "Black." The boy sighed. "What kind of black coffee?" "Excuse me?" "We have Colombian Black, Colombian Brown and Black, Sumatran Java, West Indies Ground, Indian Karmic Blend, Colorado Blend..." "Just black coffee." The customer began to look impatient. The youth at the register sighed, scratching a pimple briefly. "Sir, what *kind* of coffee? We have Colombian Black, Colo--" His voice cut off as the earrings in his left ear began to jump and twitch painfully. He felt the fillings in his teeth vibrate as the ivory-haired man glared menacingly at him. "Flatscan. I am going to go sit over there. I want a cup of black coffee. If I do not have it in two minutes, I will pull all the iron in your bloodstream into your pancreas, then jettison you into the stratosphere." The boy gulped, sweat streaming from his forehead. "One large black coffee. Yes sir." Suddenly, the pull on him released and he was able to breathe easily again. The customer smiled. "Thank you." he intoned, pushing a quarter across the counter. The boy let it lay there as he bolted to the coffee machine. ********** "I'm telling you, we should have brought the rest of the Avengers!" "Over this? Pietro, don't be silly." "We get a covert communique from one of the most dangerous mutant terrorists of all time, and you think I'm being silly?" "Pietro, we got a Christmas card. You're overreacting." "Overreacting? Do you have any idea what he's done?" "I have every idea. I'm his *daughter*, remember? And you, Pietro, are his son. Whether you like it or not." "That man used us like pawns in his scheme for genocide!" "Exactly. So we're going." "WHAT??" "Think of it as a holiday greeting from a former employer." "Wanda, I fail to see the humor in this." "Oh, relax, Pietro. You have your Avengers ID still. It's in your left back pocket. You can call for help if you need it." "..." "Agreed?" "How did you know where my wallet is? Have you developed telepathy without telling me? Are your mutant abilities growing beyond your control? It's probably due to some mad experiment of his.." "No. I did your laundry for years when we both were Avengers. You ALWAYS keep your wallet in that pocket. Now shut up, I don't want to miss the Jersey exit." "I still do not understand why you would not use a Quinjet. We would at least be more tactically prepared." "Because you can't fit a Quinjet in a parking lot. Simon tried once." "And about Simon..." "Drop it, or I'll make you RUN all the way to Jersey." ********** Magnus sipped at his coffee, absently toying with a lock of his hair that kept falling into his eyes. Swallowing the last dregs of the brew, he cleared his throat and tapped his mug on the small table. In an instant, the counter boy was at his side, with a fresh pot of plain black coffee, refilling his cup. The door opened, bringing in a blast of chill wind and a few snow flurries. Two figures walked in, stopping suddenly. "Are you sure this is the right place?" "Of course. The directions he gave said to meet here." "I still think it's a trap." "Oh, of course, the greatest mutant terrorist of all time is going to ambush his own children in a Starbuck's Coffee. Wait. Let me call in the rest of the Avengers for backup. Maybe the New Warriors too." "Now you're being silly, Wanda." "You're right. Not the New Warriors. Power Pack, maybe." "Is that him over there?" "No, Pietro, that's another white-haired megalomaniac waving at us. I'm going to go sit down." Pietro sighed as his sister made her way through the crowd towards Magneto's table. Pietro followed, muttering to himself. "Still say it's a trap stupid sister just because she's thirty seconds younger always gets her way... ********** "Wanda!" Magnus stood up with a smile. "You look more and more like your mother every time I see you." Wanda smiled. "It's been a long time, Magnus." The white-haired mutant master of magnetism sighed, pulling out Wanda's chair. "Yes, it has." echoed Pietro, "Or should we call you... Joseph?" Magnus looked around frantically, then raised a finger to his lips. "Shhhh!" he hissed. "Let's NOT bring THAT embarassing matter up, shall we?" The three sat, Pietro still glaring at his father. In seconds, there was a girl at their table. "HellomynameisSandiethat'swithan'ie'notwitha'y'howcanIhelpyoutoday?" Wanda smiled. "I'll have a decaf raspberry cappucinno. With a little bit of cinnamon, please. Pietro?" Her brother hmphed, crossing his arms. "I'd like a triple, no, make that a quadruple shot double espresso, please. And a box of sugar packets. Not that Nutrasweet stuff." As Sandie-with-an-'ie' hurried off, Magnus sipped at his coffee. "Could you pass the cream?" he asked Pietro. The speedster stood up suddenly, pointing a finger at his father. "Your mad plans will never succeed, Magneto!" "Pietro!" Wanda chided, "He just asked for some cream!" Pietro sat down, slowly as Wanda slid the cream to her father. "Well, it's the principle of the thing..." Pietro muttered, "Today it's 'pass the cream', tomorrow 'overthrow humanity'. You've just got to draw the line..." Wanda sighed. Magnus placed a hand atop hers. "It's all right." He remarked with a slight smile. "So how is Crystal doing, Pietro?" Pietro looked away. "With her FAMILY on ATTILAN, last I heard." he groused bitterly. Magnus nodded. "And Luna?" "With her. Doing rather well. Finished reading Pliny's Epistomology last week. She's an exceptionally bright girl." Magnus smiled proudly. "Takes after her grandfather, I see." Pietro scowled. "Yes. At this rate, she should be sinking Russian submarines by her seventh birthday." Wanda winced. "Pietro!" "No, it's all right, I suppose I deserved that." Magnus sighed. "And you, Wanda? Still married to that robot?" "Vision is an ANDROID, Magnus," Wanda replied, "And no. I'm with Simon now." Pietro rolled his eyes. "Oh, Simon..." he mocked in a singsong voice. "My manly hunk of ions, Simon..." Wanda gasped and punched her brother in the arm as Magnus chuckled. "To see the two of you," he sighed, "I truly miss watching you grow." Both siblings looked at their father. "And what of you, Magnus?" asked Wanda. "What are you doing these days?" "Well," he began, "taking some time to 'smell the roses' as it were. I'm not a young man anymore." "You were the LAST time we saw you..." Pietro grumbled. Magnus ignored him and continued. "I mean, the human-mutant conflict can run itself without me. And I was sitting in my secret lair thinking to myself, 'You know, I've never SEEN a Humphrey Bogart film.' So I decided to take a vacation." "You took a 'vacation' to watch Bogart movies?" Wanda spouted with an expression of incredulity. Pietro merely arched an eyebrow. Magnus shrugged "Well, among other things. Have you ever seen 'The African Queen'? It's..." "Pietro's favorite." Wanda blurted out. Magnus smiled. "Is it now?" he leaned back, interlacing his fingers. Pietro bit back a scathing comment just as their drinks arrived. Wanda accepted hers, handing a ten-dollar bill to Stacie-with-an-'ie' and telling her to keep the change. She delicately sipped her cappucinno while Pietro began tearing open the paper packets of sugar, adding them to his espresso. "So, building another asteroid, Magnus?" Pietro asked offhandedly. Magnus waved a hand in dismissal. "I have SUCH trouble getting them to stay up." He moaned. "And suddenly it hits me, a simple condo in Barbados is much more conducive to group bonding. And I can work on my tan." Pietro stirred his coffee slowly. Actually, he was using his super-speed, but the sheer amount of sugar that he had poured into his quadruple-shot espresso has thickened the beverage into a mudlike sludge. Smiling, he tipped the mug to his lips and noisily slurped down the mixture. When he finished, he met the astonished (and somewhat disgusted) gazes of his sister and father. "What?" he protested innocently, "I have a high metabolism! Do you know how hard it is to get enough calories to stay awake? I find myself falling asleep for micronaps throughout the day." Pietro blinked slowly. "There! I did it again! What did I miss?" The three of them chuckled as one, then suddenly paused. Magnus fiddled with a spoon, magnetically bending it to and fro. "You both laugh exactly like your mother." Wanda placed her hands atop Magnus'. "Magnus, this... sabbatical you're on," she whispered, "how long do you think it will last?" Magneto looked into his daughter's eyes. "I do not know, Wanda. I honestly do not know." Pietro cleared his throat. Glancing at his wristwatch, he stood up. "I hate to be rude, but I really must be going. I promised the Knights of Wundagore that I'd have a few rounds with them before the holidays." Magnus nodded. "Give my regards to Bova, will you?" he asked. Pietro merely nodded. "I will... Fa-... Magnus." He bent over, kissing his sister on the cheek. And in the seconds it took for the door to swing open, he was halfway down the Jersey Turnpike. Magnus sighed. "Such bitterness." Wanda nodded. "Pietro does not forget easily." "And you?" Wanda looked into the distance, perusing her brother's footprints in the snow. "I..." she began, "I have learned to accept, and forgive." Magnus raised his hands, clasping hers. "That, then, is a start." He rose, lifting his coat from the back of the chair. "I must be going. Paris has probably left dozens of messages on my answering machine by now." Wanda rose as well. "And I have to be getting back. Simon and I are spending the holidays at his estate in Los Angeles." Magnus held the door open as they walked out into the snow-covered parking lot. Magnus gestured, lifting slightly off the ground in a shimmering blue aura of energy. Wanda gave a small wave. "Merry Christmas, Mag... Father." Magnus nodded. "... Merry Christmas, Wanda." And as he flew away, above the storm, a passing bird may have been the only one to see a lone tear flowing down the cheek of the master of magnetism. Or maybe it was just the snow. ~FINIS~