If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
With only a few people needed on the bridge to run the Long Voyager, this left the majority of the Custodes time to contemplate events. Despite that, it somewhat grimly amused Jean that only Ben, Reed, Ororo and Stephen seemed bothered by what they had done. The rest of the Custodes saw the release of the virus as a grim necessity, which the objectors did as well, although it was one an action none of the three men would have taken on their own. It it was undeniable that the virus removed a threat to humanity whose enmity and actions would have been unpredictable in the extreme and Jean sensed that all three men were almost obscenely pleased with the fact that someone else had made that decision.
Ororo too understood it had been necessary. But in her case, she approved of it, had indeed voted to release the virus. She simply acknowledged that, saying it was a grim necessity and while that didn't mean it was any less vile and was prepared to live with that knowledge.
Harry, however, Jean reflected as the water of their suite's shower cascaded down her face, is keeping secrets, darn it. He spent the first seven or eight hours afterward being morose and brooding, then Ororo said something. He buried himself in a book, and ever since he's been busy with E, Reed, and the ship's computers. Hell he was smiling and um… quite suave last night! Jean bit her lower lip shivering despite the hot water as she remembered what she, Harry and Ororo had done for much of the night. In a good, almost ebullient mood, Harry had wined and dined both ladies, and Jean's questions about his shocking change in attitude hadn't stayed in her mind for long, too busy just enjoying herself.
Yet now, a day out from when they should reach the meeting point with the Starjammers, Jean was thinking about it, and determined to get an answer for his abrupt change in attitude. Some of that thinking left Jean's mind as she reentered the bedroom, seeing Ororo snuggled against Harry, both of them naked as jaybirds, and with evidence trailing down Ororo's thighs and in the air of the room that, instead of a leisurely shower, they had found a more vigorous way to celebrate the morning.
Harry looked up from where he had been nuzzling into Ororo's hair, eyes alight with devotion and a certain amount desire, as evidenced by his wizard's staff standing to attention once more.
Licking her lips, Jean slowly untied her towel, letting it drop, which cause Ororo to turn, looking at Jean with appreciation as Harry let loose a little hum of pleasure at the sight. Smirking at their looks and feeling her body react, Jean moved forward until she got to the foot of the bed. There she got on all fours, prowling to Harry's other side. However, after a brief kiss, she simply sighed and molded herself into his side, smiling as one of her hands found Ororo's on his stomach. Two women exchanged a smile, as Ororo whispered, "Looking forward to getting back?"
"Yes," both of them her bed companions replied, with Jean going on quickly. "It's odd. I hate the physical changes and everything else that came with it from my pregnancy, but I do miss the feeling of those two little lives being so connected to my own, if that makes any sense."
"Considering you're a telepath love, I think it makes perfect sense Harry chuckled, the sound carrying through his chest to Jean where she'd laid her head. "For my part, I think that you are already deserving of a mother of the year award for going through with it at all."
"I don't think I would've embraced being pregnant so quickly if I wasn't the avatar Phoenix, but thank you for your vote anyway," Jean chortled, leaning up to kiss his neck, before looking down at the ring on her finger, then smiling as Ororo's hand once again found her own, her Panja ring gently clicking against Jean's simpler but just as important one.
Then Jean shook her head, waving a finger up in Harry's face. "But, don't expect me to have any more kids Harry. Going through this whole pregnancy thing once was enough. Especially with twins. And I am more than a little scared of what is going to hit me when we get back…" Jean paused then, a stray thought arresting her mind from worries on that score. "I remember reading a series of science fiction books where in-body pregnancies were a thing of the past. In vitro was the main thing. Something else to throw at the medical and science teams when we get back."
On Harry's other side, Ororo let the conversation from her lovers wash over her as she pulled out a data pad and began to read a Shi'ar history she had personally stolen from the palace. She wanted to see if she could discover the moment when the Shi'ar it turned away from imagination and dreams as a society, if such a moment existed.
To think they came so far, created such a large empire without the ability to dream, indeed with such being seen as anathema, a sign of insanity. Strange. The lack of empathy was actually more easy for Ororo to understand. That was a societal thing. Just look at the Nazis, The Kree or the Spartans. A society can be built to reward a lack of empathy. The Spartans concept of we are not of these people, we are invaders and must keep our foot on their throat or be destroyed, or the whole Nazi and Kree concept of a supreme race.
It was disturbing, but she could understand it, even if the Shi'ar had taken it to extremes even the Kree would have found alarming. The lack of an ability to dream, however, there were so many things tied into that, it defied logic that the Shi'ar could have created an empire without it. So when did it begin?
All three lovers looked up as the door to their quarters open, not with alarm, only with a certain amount of amusement. There was only one person aboard the ship who could enter their quarters without one of the three opening it for them.
Hela strode into the room a few steps before pausing, her head cocking to one side as she stared unashamedly at the trio of naked people on the bed. Then with a snort she used a spell to levitate the bedsheets onto Harry. Ororo giggled lightly, pushing away and popping up through the sheets, which had covered her head given her former position. "I would have thought you would have enjoyed the view for longer than that, sister."
"I have already seen what our Seidr man has to offer, Ororo, which is actually more the propriety would allow as it is." Hela shook her head as she now continued her aborted approach. "While I am looking forward to my wedding night most hungrily, I will not dishonor myself by pushing the bounds of decency any further."
Despite her words, Hela' eyes flicked sideways behind her half-mask, and watched the tent now poking up under the sheets, which had twitched at the mention of their wedding night. Giggling internally, Hela turned her gaze away before sitting down, leaning back and crossing her legs languidly, then looked across Ororo and Harry at Jean. "Am I correct in assuming you haven't broached the subject of our interest yet?"
Jean shrugged her shoulders, looking a bit sheepish as she pulled the cover over to cover her legs. "When I returned from my bath, my mind refused to stay on target," she answered dryly. "And then afterwards, I simply decided to wait for you."
Hela scoffed slightly, but then gestured, and another tendril of magic reached out. Several trays of food floated through the air from still open doorway toward the bed, and Harry quickly transfigured conjured shirts for himself and the other two, as all three sat up, allowing the trays to rest on their laps. "And what's this topic you wanted to broach that would require softening me up with breakfast in bed?"
"You were quite maudlin and withdrawn as we left the Shi'ar's capital system. Yet, that seems to have changed. And you, Reed, and E were thick as thieves until last night. None of your fellow conspirators have said anything, but you should know by now Harry Potter, that a curious woman is a most dangerous beast. So, my Seidr Man, talk, or else the honey goes away, and the stick makes its appearance," Hela quipped, a faint smile on her face despite her words. "What plan is going around your head that has you suddenly more upbeat?"
Harry smiled, taking a bite of the pancake in front of him. When he went for a second bite though, Jean elbowed him in the side, and he decided not to keep two of the most important people in his life waiting any further. "Well, for one thing, E and I went over the long-term impact of the virus again while it is self-propagating it should become increasing obvious as people try to rebuild that it works along the Shi'ar Empire base operating program. Therefore, if any of the other races come up with an entirely new underlying code language they will be able to start rebuilding. And all of the races of the Shi'ar are much more capable of doing that than the Shi'ar themselves."
"And then," Harry kissed Ororo on the cheek. "I was reminded of history, a book that Ororo actually gave to me. That gave me the idea, and with E and Reed, I had the resources to think about it."
"And she hasn't spoken much about whatever this is either," Hela mock glared at her future sister-wife."
"I simply came to Harry to remind him of the need to make friends," Ororo demure. "He is the one that actually found the proper example to follow in this case. With, admittedly, a twist."
"What idea are you talking about?" Hela asked frowning. "I've made a study of history, and I can't imagine what…"
"You haven't quite gotten to the end of World War II and the Cold War love, at least not in any depth as far as I know," Harry answered, making his words a question.
"On the contrary, I studied the Cold War in great depth," Hela objected. "I felt it most helpful during and after the Eurasian War."
"But you didn't concentrate on Pacific history, especially the occupation of Japan, and its postwar rebuilding."
Hela frowned for a moment, but Jean, who hadn't always been the best student of history, but had conversations about history with Ororo even before joining her and Harry's relationship, sat up, the sheet falling away from her chest. Ignoring the staring Harry, she looked between him and Ororo. "You are not serious!? You want us to help the Shi'ar get back on their feet!?"
"No," Harry said shaking his head to ignore Jean's nakedness, something he would never normally do. "Not the Shi'ar, but their subject peoples."
"What are we talking about here?" Hela questioned, her frown still in place. "I remember the war ended with the Hiroshima bomb broke the spirit of the Japanese. But I didn't read about what happened after that, you are correct."
After World War 2 ended, Japan rebuilt its infrastructure with a great deal of help, both material and monetary, from America," Ororo supplied.
Hela's eyes narrowed behind her mask. "America. The same nation that Japan attacked in a time of peace without any warning, helped them rebuild after the war?"
"Well there were a lot of stipulations and a ton of social changes going on in Japan thanks to their total collapse. But yes, essentially without American aid, Japan's rebuilding after the war would have been much, much slower. But in so doing, America made a friend out of an enemy."
"And they acted out of the goodness of their hearts?" Hela's sarcasm was positively scathing.
But Harry simply shrugged. "Of course not. In doing this they also created a base in the Pacific to challenge China and Russia which came in handy later. And while altruism is part of my thinking, I'm afraid it isn't the totality."
"Very well, I see the long-term benefit, but I am uncertain how it relates to our issue."
"Think about it. Eventually, someone's going to figure out how the virus works. But it will take a while since the Shi'ar's domination of their empire is so extreme. Yet the whip hand of that domination is gone and isn't coming back. Without that, the various races in the empire will fall back to their own devices, heck that might already be happening. And if humans can be part of that rebuilding that would put us in a tremendous position to make certain that the Empire doesn't ever return. It'll also help us build strong allies the former empire's remains," Harry explained excitedly, his eyes gleaming eagerly.
"And where exactly will be getting this largess?" Hela asked tartly. "The last I looked, humanity had all it could handle in the EDF already."
"We'll start off small," Harry answered instantly. "Reach out to planets which desperately need food or a specific type of material. Then we'll start spreading, helping the non-Shi'ar races to link up and ally in turn."
"This is a tremendously large project, no matter how small we start," Hela scowled, shaking her head. "I'm not certain if you really thought the logistics of all this through.
"Actually I haven't." Harry admitted. I've had E and Reed crunching numbers for me. By the time we get back to Earth and start setting things up, though, I want to have started the ball rolling. Using Corsair and the Starjammers."
Hela was still skeptical, though she was thankful Harry wasn't just haring off to champion a new cause, he had really thought this through and had roped other minds in to do even further thinking. "And you think they will be willing to help?"
"They will," Harry answered. "Depending on how we sell it to them."
OOOOOOO
As Harry spoke about his plans going forward to help the Shi'ar Empire's disparate species, Emma was finally leaving her bed after several days' convalescence. She had been incredibly weakened after the attack on her led by Hammerhead due to blood loss. Una, who had become the chief medical officer for the Custodes and Camelot, had seen to her care personally, and although the blood transfusion was annoying to deal with, just like being bedridden in the first place, it worked.
On the other hand, Una couldn't do anything about the migraine that had hit after the adrenaline of the attack faded bar giving Emma some painkillers. Despite the pills, the migraine had stayed with Emma for most of the time she was bedridden, which she couldn't do anything about, no matter how hard she tried to think through it and use her powers to try to deaden the pain.
Now, standing in front of a full-body mirror, she trailed one finger down between her breasts to her side, where the wounds from the ambush had once been. "Or rather the most recent ambush," she mused, somewhat amused. "I mean, really, am I just a magnet for those things?"
With that thought, Emma's finger left her side, trailing up her body to a tiny scar underneath her armpit. She held her finger against it, feeling the contours of the scar slightly puckering out from the rest of her skin, the memory of a childhood accident. "Now, let's see if this works."
With that, Emma concentrated inward, driving her mind's eye deeper into herself, pushing beyond the edge of her mind into her body on a cellular level. A tingling sensation soon began at the back of her mind, quickly becoming painful. But as Emma kept pushing, she found the barrier between her mind and telepathy and her body once more giving way. The tiny scar slowly faded, becoming smooth skin to match the rest of her body.
Emma raised her hand away, turning slightly to look at the spot in the mirror. Then, seeing the scar was gone, Emma hefted one of her breasts up a touch before placing a finger under it on a beauty mark right below her breast.
That always annoyed me, now to see if I can do something about it. A few moments later, the tiny beauty mark disappeared. Then she moved up to her face, where a few tiny wrinkles could be seen around her eyes. No one else had ever commented on them, but Emma was a perfectionist and had seen them in the mirror after she took part in the Genosha campaign.
They too disappeared under her attention, and Emma released a throaty little laugh at that, turning away, noting that the tingling pain at the back of her mind had faded with time as well. It's official now. If I can do things like that, I can also stave off the effects of aging if I so wish. Which means I won't be left behind by the others.
That had been a concern in the back of her mind, one that, while distant, had loomed as a near certainty, even if Harry had only ever brought it up once. Ororo was a witch, and witches and wizards could live well into their second century or longer, depending on how strong their magic was. And seeing that Ororo was connected to Gaia, she would never lack power. Jean was connected to the Phoenix Force, the personification of life, and thus would probably also have a life best counted by centuries rather than years. And as for Harry and Hela, well, enough said there.
In both power and longevity, Emma had been very much the odd woman out. But, of course, she'd never let that bother her, not in terms of her importance to their causes or in the relationship. But the longevity issue had been at the back of her mind occasionally. And now I have a solution for it.
"However, right now, I have other things that need doing. And talking to yourself like this is a sign of incipient loneliness, Emma, best to stop before you become maudlin at the fact none of your lovers are around for you to crow at." With that, Emma turned to her walk-in closet and began to dress for the day.
Moving down the hallway to the stairwell that would lead down to the rest of her mansion, Emma found Piotr sitting in one of the small sitting areas set to one side of the staircase. He glanced up from the book he was reading, setting it aside and looking at her closely. "Are you all right, Ms. Frost?"
Piotr was always respectful like that, and most of the time, it made Emma smile, enjoying the bit of formality when Jean and Harry, in particular, were so informal off the battlefield. After so long, however, her pleasure in the respectful term had waned. "I've told you before, Piotr, call me Emma. How many times do I have to tell you? As for my health, I am well enough now, and I was hoping to check in and see what I've missed."
"Just one more time, Ms. Frost, as always," the former Russian farm boy teased gently before becoming serious. "Una will want to examine you, but so long as you aren't going anywhere for the day, I doubt she'll object to you being up and about."
Biting back a retort along the lines of 'Since when did I need permission from anyone to do anything', Emma merely nodded, understanding he was simply concerned. "Fine. I can do most of my work from home anyway. I only use the offices for meetings and running Frost Industries. But what are you still doing here? Don't tell me you all think that the Maggia are foolish enough as to attack me again, and this time in my own home."
"Danielle and I talked about it and decided that for the most part, the rest of the team really doesn't have much to offer when it comes to investigations, especially in cities. If it was out in the countryside, we could have brought in Garm, but with Kitty busy on one of the new teleportation rings with Laura, there isn't a way to make certain that he can't be spotted, or, if they're following a trail through a public portion of the city, doesn't just bump into someone."
The fact that Garm had flatly refused to help on the hunt in the city was another factor. The giant wolf had said that he might be overwhelmed by the smells of the city. And Piotr certainly wasn't going to argue with him. The last time he and Garm had wrestled, the giant wolf had beaten him hollow despite Piotr's metal body.
"Does she have any backup?"
"Most of the team and I are here staying in your mansion, but she didn't want any of us with her, except for Wyatt, and he is busy in San Francisco with Johnny. Apparently, one of the FF's old enemies was seen in California recently, and the two of them are hunting him down. Oddly there, we were able to get Garm to help since the villain was seen in a national park."
Emma's lips twisted into a faint frown, not liking the fact Dani was acting alone. But the Cheyenne huntress was a big girl and had proven herself extremely capable on her own before. The combination of her suit and her mutant powers makes her quite formidable. Well, that, and she has that Sigyn's Gift weapon. Still, I think the first order of business is to reach out to her to see what's going on.
With Piotr falling in behind her, Emma descended the stairs, exchanging greetings with several of the others who were moving around her mansion, including an ex-follower of Magneto, Anne-Marie Cortez, sitting with James Proudstar across a chess set. Her presence was somewhat odd but given the number of other Custodes with Harry at present, Emma supposed that Cortez had been brought in to make up numbers. She also proved herself in the fighting in Genosha, so if Cortez becomes a full-time member, I won't object. Although she will need a codename.
More surprising than Anne-Maries's presence was her younger sister Cordelia barreling into Emma, nearly taking her feet out from under her as she hugged Emma hard enough to draw a gasp from the older Frost. "I know that Una said you would be okay, but you were so pale for so long! I mean, I know that you're pale normally, you really need more sun. But this was like vampire pale, only not sexy, and not just because you're my sister and a woman." The younger girl babbled for a moment.
Patting Cordelia on her back Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes. Cordelia has really just completely forgotten all the training that our parents gave us on decorum, hasn't she? Still, I can't deny that our current relationship is far better than the one we had before I had Father and Adrienne killed. Now, if only our mother was responding at all to the help we've gotten her to deal with her alcohol issue, we might actually become a real family rather than the barely contained soap opera we were before.
The woman had been placed in a separate wing of the house months back and stayed there. Despite numerous attempts to get her help, the woman seemed fully content to be on her own, drink, be waited on by the servants, and not interact with anyone while slowly killing herself.
It sometimes hurt Emma when she thought about it, but frankly, the woman had been such a nonentity in her life that he really didn't matter much.
"Yes, yes, thank you for your affections, Cordelia," Emma drawled, patting the younger girl on her head, much to the younger girl's annoyance. "But as you can see, I'm fine."
The two sisters spent a few moments together, with Emma promising to spend more time with Cordelia later in the day. Then the young girl and Firestar were off to the indoor exercise room, it being too cold here in New York for them to use the outdoor pool, even if it wasn't as cold as it was in Camelot.
At that point, Una arrived from Camelot and moved quickly to Emma's side, gesturing her peremptorily to sit down. 'You should be fine, but I want to make certain."
With a sigh, Emma moved over to the couch, where she lay out lengthwise sending her mind questing for Dani as Una began to examine her.
OOOOOOO
Dani moved across the skyline of New York, trusting her speed and the fact that she was on the rooftops to help some of the spells that she had asked Wanda and Kitty to put on her rather than activating her full Chameleon array. Moving at night would've been a much easier thing to do, but during the day, especially here in New York? Not so much.
But a hunter had to track wherever their prey went, regardless of night and day. Although I think it's a little unfair that criminals seem so willing to move around during the day. Isn't that against the rules? She thought with some exasperated amusement.
Her target at the moment was a man who was currently walking down a busy street, looking like every other New Yorker around him. But Dani had marked him out earlier in the day and wasn't about to let him out of her sight.
Thanks to the information Emma had been able to pass on before passing out, much of Hammerhead's businesses had been hit by police and federal investigators over the past few days. But Emma hadn't told them about two businesses that Hammerhead was connected to, and one of them in particular, a small Italian restaurant (which Dani thought was so cliché it hurt) was a front that Hammerhead used as a base of operations.
The man she was following had shown up at the restaurant that morning. A thin, spare man with sallow features and black hair ordered around some of Hammerhead's surviving men, who had quailed and then left quickly. Then he had taken possession of the contents of a safe from the restaurant and then left. The men he had spoken to weren't Dani's concern, but she had still marked their faces out and would pass them on to the New York police later.
Dani hoped her quarry would lead her to something she could use because she'd had no luck so far in finding any connection to the shooter who had given them all the slip after the ambush. The Winter Soldier had disappeared so completely that he was out of the US before Dani could find any trace of him, although the trace had also led to the restaurant, hence her interest in this man. He's not one of Hammerhead's lieutenants, but he sure as heck has clout, a messenger from another Maggia family, maybe?
But as the day wore on, keeping track of the black-haired, sallow-faced man had proved very difficult. He had used taxis several times, then went underground to take the subway. He even changed clothing a few times. In turn, this had forced Dani to ditch her Ghigau suit, and trying to follow him on the subway had been extremely annoying.
Now it was somewhat easier, and she stepped from one rooftop down to onto another, landing with a short blast of air from her hover skates, then flung herself to the side and over the street to the next building on the other side as the car the man was driving made a turn. Unlike in many spy or crime movies, the car actually wasn't a limo or SUV or, indeed, anything unusual. Instead, it was an old Ford truck, one that is certainly seen better days.
Her next landing, however, was nearly messed up as Emma's voice sprang into her head. "Dani, how goes it? I'm fully recovered now, and I have to say I was kind of annoyed with your decision to go it alone on this."
It was only her hover skates that saved Dani from an ignominious crash onto the other building's tilted roof, and she had to scramble for a moment to grab onto the top of it, holding herself there, then using her hover skates once more to regain her balance. "Your timing leaves something to be desired, Emma," she thought tartly, knowing the telepath would pick up her annoyance. "Next time, wait until you can sense I'm stationary at the very least."
"Sorry," Emma replied, not sounding at all to Dani. "But I felt it was more important to check in with you as soon as I could. Now, how goes the investigation? Do you need help? And if you don't want to take the rest of the world guard along, do you need access to code breakers, observation equipment or anything similar?"
"No, I don't need anything. I'm on the trail of who I hope is a messenger from one of the other gangs to Hammerhead's group. I'm not really hopeful about leading us directly to the sniper. I tracked him to a private airport, so it's anyone's guess where he is. Do you think you could find his mind and discover whatever he knows?"
"I could… but following him would probably do more. He has to report to someone after all, and who knows if that will be in person or not?" Emma mused. "And if he has been as careful as you sense, he might have access to technology that warns him of his mind being manipulated. I could tear the information out of him, but that might warn our real targets. After all, Hammerhead was merely the local muscle. I want the people higher up who gave the orders."
That technology, while not common, was much more prevalent than a part of Emma could wish. And given the tech that the Maggia had access to, it was a given they would look into that kind of thing.
"Will he ever be able to eat solids again? Or be able to go to the bathroom on his own?" Dani inquired, amused both by that thought and how hard it was to make conversation even in her head as she raced after the truck containing her targets.
"I hope not. That was what I was going for anyway," Emma retorted. "Hmmm… you seem to have a plan, and I sense you have it well in hand for now. But don't hesitate to call him back up if you need it. But would you object to me piggybacking on your mind for a bit?"
"I don't mind much, just don't jog my elbow unless you have to," Dani answered, skidding to a halt on a roof and ducking out of sight, the better to help the spells covering her before she looked over the edge of the roof and down to the truck below which had stopped at a red light.
Several minutes later, Dani's hunt was interrupted once more by a voice speaking up from behind her as she crouched once more on a rooftop overlooking the streets below. "You know…"
By the time the second word was out of the mouth of whoever was speaking, Dani had turned, notched an arrow, and let fly. Now she watched as Spiderman caught the arrow and finished his sentence without pausing. "Normally, when I see costumed people around moving around the rooftops that aren't me, I get a little nervous. I don't suppose you could tell me what you're up to, or should I assume the worst? And have I mentioned how scary that costume of yours is?"
"You surely recognize me Spiderman, I refuse to think you're that ignorant or was that a rather sad attempt at witty repartee?" Dani grumbled, keeping one eye down on the truck even as she thrust out her hand peremptorily for the arrow. Waste not want not, after all.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I don't 'attempt' repartee," Spiderman huffed. "You'd be amazed how many felons get completely thrown by my talking at them."
"I actually probably wouldn't, and I'll note that you didn't try to defend the witty part of my comment," Dani retorted, chuckling quietly. "As for what I'm doing, why do you want to know? Again, you must know I'm part of the world guard, so it's not as if I'm…"
"You're moving around the rooftops, and if I hadn't seen you stumble a bit of a moment ago, I don't think I'd be able to even see right now, which means you're after something or following someone. And while I don't like to make that big of a deal of it, New York is kind of my town, okay? Hence the whole 'friendly neighborhood Spiderman' bit. So if there's some big thing brewing some huge anti-mutant rally or a crime being plotted, I'd like to know about it."
Spiderman cocked his head then, as if in question. "Or is this about the attack on Emma Frost? I know that Frost Industries are a major business partner with Magical Minds, and their hiring policies are some of the best for mutants. So it stands to reason that someone on the other end of that argument might have a problem with her."
"The boy is quite bright," Emma remarked. "But would you like me to make him go away?"
"No, remember? Harry reached out to Spidey in his Peter Parker persona, and he hasn't replied to us yet. So maybe we can start easing him in by having him take part in the investigation," Dani replied. "Even if he wants to stay in New York, Spiderman could do a lot more good if he had Magical Minds backing."
"Perhaps not as much as you might think. Although, we could certainly do something for Spiderman's public image. Even getting a few of the other newspapers to show what really happens during his fights would be better than the extremely lopsided and biased opinion of J Jonah Jameson," Emma ended ruefully. "Still, if you want to see if you can work with them, go with it."
Decision made, Dani motioned Spiderman to follow her as she leaped across to another building, following the truck through a series of turns, before traffic forced it to a halt once more, and they were able to carry on a conversation more normally. "Actually, the individual in the truck is a messenger between two crime families. The attack on Ms. Frost was paid for by criminal types, not terrorists. The crime families apparently want a piece of the Potter Pie."
"Does he really call it that, or did you just come up with that on your own?" Peter asked, and almost faster than Dani could blink, tossed what looked like a tiny spider flew down, smacking into the back of the truck, where it stuck. "If you want to follow it, we can follow it using my little tracker."
"That'd be a good idea if this guy wasn't so damn slippery," Dani began, and then the chase was on once more, the two of them now moving closer together so that they could actually converse on the move and Spidey could stay out of sight. "He's ditched two cars since I started to follow him, gone down in the subway twice, backtracked several times, used those freaking yellow taxis and changed clothing! Have I mentioned I hate those yellow boxes!? There are so many of the damn things."
"Wow. Okay, this guy really does take his security seriously. And he isn't moving toward the docks either, which is where I've normally found groups connected to organized crime." Spiderman paused, then twisted around to swing in an entirely different direction as screams abounded from below.
Dani looked in that direction and saw that a group of thugs had just broken into a jewelry store and in broad daylight no less. Dani estimated their ages as being barely out of their teen years from their sizes and youthful features, which probably meant they were stupid. After all, what kind of criminals would rob a bank or jewelry store during the daytime?
Shaking her head and leaving Spiderman to it, she continued to move after the truck. Spiderman caught up quickly, able to swing his way across the city much more easily and in a straight line cutting off the angle on her and the truck, which had started to double back again before going into hiding.
"You could have helped you know," the web crawler grumbled as he landed next to Dani on a rooftop. Below, the sallow-faced man had just left his truck, entering what looked like an extremely run-down apartment complex.
"I have my own mission, and I'm not going to set that aside to get involved in local issues unless I have to. Besides, it didn't seem as if you needed help against a group of common thugs," Dani retorted. "Honestly, what is it with criminals in New York thinking that they can get away with moving around in the daytime anyway?"
"The previous police Commissioner was really soft on crime, and the budget for the police wasn't all that good either. It's changed in the past few months, but that hasn't quite penetrated a lot of the criminal minds out there." Spiderman shook his head. "You would not believe the ranting I've heard from Commissioner Stacy on that point."
"You know the Commissioner personally? Dani asked quizzically, frowning as she began to circle the apartment building just in case, not wanting to jump to its rooftop in fear of there being some kind of security. Indeed, she was now looking around for any video cameras and thankfully didn't see any visible. "Listen, wait for me here for a second. I want to get a little closer, make sure that he's not going to come out in another direction or something."
"Why…" Spiderman began, then frowned as someone from across the street moved to the truck, hopping in and driving away. "Okay, was that just a moment of utter irony and a criminal getting his car stolen or…"
"I told you," Dani began as she moved towards the apartment complex slowly. "This guy is tricky." With that, she tapped the control rune on her Chameleon cloak, which activated the Disillusion runic array she'd had Kitty add to her suit.
Spiderman gaped at where Ghigau had just disappeared. "What the heck…"
Now invisible, Dani moved around the building, frowning as she didn't find any other exits. The apartment complex didn't even have a backyard or anything like that, it was just a tall thin building, graffiti all over its surface, and a lot of trash built up in the areas of the interior she could see through a few smashed windows. Finding a smashed window big enough for her, Dani moved through it silently, knowing that sound was more difficult for the cloaking array to block. As she did, Dani began to feel a little tired from the bioenergy portion of the array leeching off her to empower the spells. But they should last her long enough for this. "Emma, is there anyone else around?"
Using Dani as the center point of her search, Emma spread her mental feelers out, discovering several minds directly below Dani, but only one on the first floor. "Since I don't want to probe too deeply, I can't tell whether or not that one person is your quarry or the others."
Dani nodded at that, then moved down to the next floor, where she heard men and women all talking in a tumble, with some music playing in the background. She doubted the messenger she was following would fit in with that crowd, so she moved down to the first floor. There the huntress found a single apartment set into the opposite wall of an office of some kind.
Before Dani could reach the doorway, the man she had been following came out, once more having ditched his clothing. Before, he had worn a heavy winter coat, along with jeans. Now, the black-haired, sallow-faced man wore khaki pants and a larger, somewhat better-looking winter coat over a good button-down shirt and a tie.
Still using the Chameleon array, Dani faded back into the shadows, watching him as her quarry exiting the building only to find a much better-looking car, a BMW M5, waiting where the truck had been before.
The man entered the car and drove away rapidly, causing Dani to scramble, using her hover boots to zoom into an alleyway and up a fire escape before moving on across the rooftops again.
Spiderman joined her, admitting, "okay, this guy really is tricky. Another guy in a suit came by, dropped off the car then walked off. I marked him with a tracker, figure he might be part of the local crime scene if not as high as this guy is."
"Good thinking, but I hope we're near to the end of this trek. Before this, the guy was careful to look like a middle-class man or maybe even poor. Now he's in a suit and has a rich car, which might mean he'd heading uptown," Dani answered.
As Dani had predicted, that was the last changeover her quarry did before reaching his real destination. She and Spiderman watched as the M5 arrived at another apartment complex. This one had a private parking lot guarded by a gate and a security guard at the front. The man checked in, and the car disappeared inside.
Here, Dani once more had to leave Spiderman behind. Once again hidden under her chameleon cloak, Dani followed the man up to the third floor to a corner apartment.
Once she knew the name and place of the apartment, she rejoined Spiderman, who had cased around the apartment complex, finding that there weren't any security cameras facing the other rooftops around the building. "Even here in New York it isn't normal to think of danger coming over the rooftops, I guess."
With Spiderman's help, Dani situated herself below one of the apartment's windows, breathing a sigh of relief as she began to hear voices from within. "Emma?"
"It's some kind of communication, I can't sense any minds beyond your quarry, and again, I don't want to probe too hard," Emma replied. "Will your psychometry work here?"
"Hopefully," Dani answered, then turned her attention to the voices within the apartment. Most of them were male and sounded middle-aged and very self-important. One was a woman, with a low, gravelly tone of voice, like someone who had damage to her throat or lungs.
However, that was all she could tell. The windows seemed to have been treated with some kind of filter or something, so she couldn't make out exact words. But that was all right. All I needed to know was where the meeting was taking place. My mutant power can do the rest.
Dani felt her stomach grumble a bit as she hung there, her bio-energy being drained once more by the Chameleon Array.
Luckily, for a given value of the term's meaning, Dani didn't have to hang there for long.
Unfortunately for her current mission, the interruption did not come from Dani suddenly hearing what was going on above her. Instead, it came from a loud crash and several car alarms going off just out of sight through the buildings around her. Appearing in that direction, she scowled, wondering what was happening and noticing that Spiderman wasn't on the rooftop he had been in a moment ago.
Did he spot something, one of his regular rogues gallery? The world guard was aware that Spiderman, and generally speaking New York, seems to act like a magnet for trouble, especially the superpowered kind, and also knew that Spiderman had dealt with several opponents several different times since his appearance. Although that was before the Vault was replaced by a newer facility. Since then, I don't think he's faced the same opponent more than a few times, only when the opponent was able to actually get away rather than taken into custody.
Dani's thoughts caught off abruptly as a beam of energy seared through a building to one side, looking as if it was aiming straight for her. She dodged to one side, watching as the beam carved into the side of the building right above where her head had been, cutting into the floor of the apartment that she had been observing.
The energy beam cut off at that point, and she saw another beam flash out straight up in the distance, while she could also start to hear sirens as the police responded to the violence. At the same time, she heard a shout of shock and sudden fear above her. Then the man's voice shouting, "what was that! Is someone attacking you? Have you been followed! You know the price for failure."
Another male voice answered, sounding fearful, the voice coming closer. "I don't… with all of my precautions, there's no way I was followed, sir. Please wait a moment!"
Realizing that her sudden movement had broken the Disillusion charm covering her, Danielle hastily realized her grip on the windowsill. She dropped down a few four, aiming her fall further to the side where Dani saw a balcony. Dani hit the balcony feet first, then skidded to one side, and flipped up and over the railing there. Grabbing onto the bars at the base of the railing, Dani hung there, hopefully, unseen from above.
The violence in the distance began to get even louder, but Dani hung there still, waiting, then flipped herself back upright and over. When no attack on her was forthcoming, Dani made her way up the building using a combination of Sigyn's Gift shifted into a rope with a grapple on the end and her hover boots.
A moment later, Dani popped her head slightly above the rim of the window destroyed by the beam of energy. She couldn't see anyone inside, and she scowled, turning back down, racing down the side of the building toward the parking lot.
However, the car was gone, and Danielle scowled. No way am I going to find him again, number five-minute head start. Still, he was having a conversation with someone up in that room. If so, my powers of psychometry can give me some more information. It's not the whole lead me to your lair thing I wanted, but it is at least another step.