Standard disclaimers do indeed apply.
Just Lucky, I Guess 17/?
The room illuminated as she entered and she binked in
mild surprise. 'Damn motion sensors..'. Tearing into a hastily prepared
ham sandwich, she grabbed a comfortably padded rolling chair and slid over
to the communications console. She pushed a small lever hidden under the
table and nodded in satisfaction as a bright array of lights and monitors
lit up. She took a long swallow of soda and leaned back, a faint
smile on her face. 'This oughta be good- Maybe he's got some juicy
gossip.'
She leaned forward and activated a sequence of numbers. A large
central monitor bearing an X logo lit up, and within seconds a massive
figure appeared. "Muir Island Research Facility- how may I help you?"
Domino nodded cooly. "Good Evening, Collossus. This is Domino of
X-Force- I need some information. Is Pete Wisdom available right now?"
During her years as a merc, Domino had learned how to interpret body
language and facial minutia extremely well. Though at first
glance the Russian seemed unfazed at the request, closer analysis
revealed a tensing of his neck muscles and a tiny, tiny tic in his left
eye, quickly blinked away. Though intrigued, she filed the information
until it could be put to good use.
Piotyr was polite to the woman, though he had to supress an
instinctive shudder at the mention of Wisdom's name. "Certainly...Domino,
is it? I will summon him at once."
She waved a negligent hand "Certainly. Thank you." Pasting an
expression of bored indifference on her face, she snickered to herself.
She knew very well of the old relationship between this entirely too
uptight (though admittedly very good-looking) ex-X-man and Pete's new
(and from what she understood, very serious) girlfriend. Grinning to
herself, she decided a little teasing might just be in order. Pete had
certainly done it enough to her- a horrible thought occured to her. Pete
didn't know about Milo- and after her ordeal yesterday she didn't think
she had the strength to go through it again. Inhaling sharply, she decided
she'd just tell him about it later- Pete would understand.
The screen was quiet for several minutes, but she heard a
familiar rasping voice in the background. "What the bloody hell do you
mean, offical business with me? Nobody I know would call the Muir
Island number for 'offical business'. Now leave me alone an' let me get
back to me coffee." A deep sigh, then muffled words in a deeper tone. "OH!
Well, why th' hell didn't ya tell me? 'Course I'll talk to 'er." She
heard a rustling of papers then a very familiar face popped onto the
screen. Before he spoke to her, though, he turned his head and scowled.
"I've got it, Comrade, thanks very much. I can 'andle it from 'ere." He
nodded at the off-screen grumble "Yeah, yeah, I'll log in whatever
'business' she called about...now leave me alone- go paint a bloody
masterpiece or beat up a bunch of orphans or somethin-"
Making a rude gesture in the other man's direction, the thin man
on the screen faced forward. He grinned crookedly, blue eyes twinkling
with genuine pleasure. "Dom! Woman, where've you been? I've been tryin' to
find your pale ass for a week now."
Her lips quirked in a grin "Glad to see you, too, Wisdom." She
shook her head. "And don't give me that shit, Pete, no, you
haven't. You've been too happy playing house to remember your old friends
anymore." At his indignant "Hey!" she chuckled magnanimously. "But that's
alright. I've come to expect that from a lowlife like yourself." Her eyes
gleamed and she lowered her voice conspiratorially "Pete! Tell me
something-"
He leaned forward "Yeah?"
"When he answered the line, I couldn't help but notice how good
Collossus is lookin'. Who is he going out with? I bet he could just
rock somebody's world..." She bit back a grin at his baleful look.
"Yeah, you always did have a thing for big ol' overmuscled
tight-assed metal men, didn't ya?" He retorted, and she
chuckled. "Touche'."
They chatted on for a few minutes in the manner of old friends
everywhere. After discussing their respective teams and their surprise at
their alliance with a group as idealistic as the X-men, the conversation
turned to more personal topics. Domino smiled, thinking of the gossipy
reports she'd gotten from some of her London contacts concerning Pete's
love life.
"How's Kitty?" She leered, waggling her elegant eyebrows for
effect. He purposefully ignored her hidden meaning, answering the question
at face value, the obvious warmth in his voice unfeigned.
"She's bleedin' wonderful, Dom. Best thing that ever happened to
me, thanks for askin'." He peered closer into the screen and frowned
disaprovingly, voice rough with concern. "Shit, Dom, you look like hell.
Anything wrong?" 'Not that she'd tell me if there was,' he growled to
himself. He changed tactics, teasing "Nate slappin' you around again?"
Rasing an eyebrow at the absurdity of the remark, she masked her
irritation with a sarcastic snort. "Hardly. I'd kick his technorganic ass
in a heartbeat. Nah, Pete, I'm fine. Just haven't been sleeping that well
lately." She shrugged nonchalantly, but he recognized the telltale shadows
under her eyes. 'Been there, luv,' he commiserated silently. 'If I didn't
have Pryde to keep them demons away from me at nights, I'd...' he refused
to complete the thought. 'Speakin' o' which, I guess it's time to get down
to business.'
He looked surepticiously over his left shoulder, then
skillfully faked a coughing fit, expertly staggering the pattern of the
sounds. He was gratified to see her head perk up immediately,
expression suddenly studiously neutral. The years both spent in
intelligence had definately paid off. 'Good girl...recognized the
code.' Even better, she recognized that the channel wasn't secure and to
keep quiet. 'I'm glad at least some of these friggin' X-types
have operated in the real world. Makes this a whole lot easier. Hell, I
shoulda known Dom would catch on...she's the one that taught me about
this bleedin' code in the first place.' He read her expression accurately-
she understood the message perfectly, and he could stop hacking like a
friggin' hyena any minute now.
Her hooded eyes disguised any emotion at what he'd just told her-
a serious threat had resurfaced and they needed to meet so he could
safely deliver more details. Apparantly there was also the possiblity that
either Excalibur or the X-Men's communications security ws compromised.
"Are you OK?" she played along, fingers steepled thoughtfully.
He 'regained' his breath. "Yeah, I'm fine. I gotta get back to
work, Dom, but tell me somethin' first. Me an' Kitty was in London an' I
saw this card that she thought you'd like. She mailed if off the other
day- did you get it?"
Her eyes widened imperceptibly, but she nodded. London it was-
and since it was Pete, probably the Crown. If not, she'd find him when
she got there. "Yeah, I got it," she lied "It was nice- tell Kitty thanks
and I'll talk to her later. And," she grinned affectionately "Take care of
yourself, runt. I'll see you later."
He grinned "Later, Dom." Leaning forward she turned the array off.
She crumpled the empty can and tossed it into an empty trash can and
stood to find Nathan. Like it or not, it looked like they were going to
London.
To be cont'd
- DuAnn!
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Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the
world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
-John 14:27
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