Manipulation and Malcontent.

"We've got a favour to ask you, Hank" Tom Jordan, who actually was in charge of Hank McCoys department but generally stayed in the much prefered shadows and let the blue-furred mutant scientist run the show, said as he gestured to the chair opposite his desk, his expression carefully blank though Hank caught the tiny hint of ruefulness in his tone. Hank McCoy, dressed impecably in a well fitting and incredibly well tailored suit, paused in the act of sitting down, both wireless glasses and signet ring glinting in the soft golden light of the afternoon.

"Should I be worried about this?" He asked shrewdly though tempering it with a slight smile. He knew his boss well.

"I was wondering if anyone in your department has said anything about a Miss Kit Kincaid?" Tom asked his voice apparently innocent, pressing his fingers together as he sat back.

Ah.

That explained it.

Kitty Kincaid.

Hank hadn't yet heard of a single person who liked her. According to rumour she was rude, cold and ruthless, having been shifted from department to department she seemed set on personal gain and little else. She was unscrupulous, ready to tread on others just to further increase her wage and was loyal to no-one.

"Not thus far" Hank replied in neutral tones, irritation prickling at the back of his neck. He knew exactly what was going to happen, Miss Kincaid was going to get shifted into his department, ransack it for whatever it was she was after and move on - just as she had with nearly every other department. Why hadn't this woman been fired yet?!

"She was a lawyer once upon a time, highly trained and she has-"

"A killer instinct?" He asked dryly. Tom smiled slightly.

"Ah, so you have heard of her"

"You want her in my department?" Hank said, already tired of dancing around the point, Toms smile broadened out as if he'd won already. Which he probably had, Hank's department was too short of staff for him to be picky. No one seemed to want to get involved with the most controversial and, frankly at the moment, dangerous departments of the government. Even the Home Secretary wasn't getting this much grief from people. The protestors were a constant irritation in Hanks side, constantly forcing decent, upright members of his staff to quit their jobs for fear of the violence that might be done to them...damn it. Tom had won.

"We would like her in your department, we feel that she'd be a, uh, good addition to the perfect team" There was a pause that Hank refused to fill with the question he was expected too, "but someone informed her of the move and she threatened to hand over her resignation if it goes ahead"

"Ooh I knew this wasn't as simple as it sounded" Hank pinched the bridge of his nose beneath his wire framed glasses, staving off the start of a headache. "Tom…if she's determined to hate the job what's the point of trying to force her into it?"

"Exactly, we would like you to...persuade her that this job is…worth it" Hank stared at him for a long moment, one elegant blue eyebrow raised in an expression of 'definitely-not-pleased', "come on, McCoy, we need this woman, she's good, really good, nearly as good as you" There was a pregnant pause, Hank wasn't going to respond to flattery either. "They call her the cobra, you know" Hank turned round but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Why? Is she mutant?" He asked, trying to flatten out the interest in his voice.

"Not that we're aware of and we have been watching her" Came the flippant reply, "They call her that because once she gets hold of an idea, she holds on and doesn't let go until it dies of exhaustion or boredom. She'll fight over any issue as long as the grounds are solid"

"And if they're not?" He asked sharply, a little sharper than he intended. "Tom, most mutant rights are brand new, some of them made up on the spot by government officials who think they're doing good. A lot of the issues we fight have no grounds whatsoever, will she fight for them?"

"Yes, we have reasons to believe that she'll fight for any mutant cause that you give her" Tom said with so much confidence that Hank took a moment to think.

"And these reasons are…?"

"Classified" Came the firm reply before Tom grinned, suddenly looking mischevious and capable of much naughtiness. "Or maybe we just offered her an obsene amount of money...come on, Hank-"

"As a favour?" Hank interupted, almost tiredly.

"As a favour" Tom nodded solemnly, though his eyes twinkled merrily. The doctor sighed heavily as he stood up.

"I don't appreciate being bullied into working with someone who's a known sponger, Tom" He said irritably, noting the relief drain from the other mans face, "I will want this favour repaid at some point in the future and if she unsettles my department-"

"I know, I know…I'll have her out and re-deposited before you send the memo"