Author's Note: You've seen Trouble/Holly. You've seen Artemis/Juliet. You've seen Foaly/Root.. ;;v_v (Ok, maybe you haven't.) But are you ready for...
The Aftermath of the C Cube
II: An Unexpected Pairing Pt. 1
"Mr. Spiro, Mr. Spiro, wake up!"
He wasn't sure it was a dream: that sight he had of a boy and a – a – thing beside his bed. The boy was pale, even in the context of a totally white bedroom, pale as a vampire with anemia. And the thing looked female, but was shorter than a child, and had a spiffy uniform on and a dangerous-looking thing aimed at his hand. "One cut," the boy said, "Clean."...
He woke up, taking a moment to look carefully at his thumb. Was it supposed to be? - waves of uncertain doubt washed over his mind – it was there alright. No, it was probably a silly nightmare. He wondered, though, why his hand looked much healthier than it ever had. It was probably the sleep, he thought, good, refreshing sleep: he would certainly ask cousin Jon for the opportunity to sleep here again. Although he had no idea why he had been invited to sleep there in the first place.
"Mr. Spiro! Wake – ah, sir, your breakfast is in the normal place."
"Mr. Spiro?"
"Yes, sir, do you want your breakfast or not?"
"Wait – can I have a mirror? Please?"
The servant ran out and fetched the mirror in double quick time. Mr. Spiro, the tough-as-nails mogul of a corporate empire, biggest customer of the Chicago Mafia, saying please? Please? Next thing you knew, he'd merge with Phonetix. The servant shivered in his shoes as he handed the mirror to Mr. Spiro.
Costa looked into the mirror. He looked exactly like...
"Mr. Spiro? Do you want your breakfast?"
"Mr. Spiro? But I'm Costa! Wait, Mr. Spiro gave me a facelift! Here, look here!" He pulled back the top lobe of his ears to show the servant a clear area of skin.
"Mr. Spiro? There's nothing there."
"Wait – what?" He suddenly realized that he was, very convincingly, Mr. Spiro to everyone who saw him. He decided to take advantage of the fact.
"Yes, where's my breakfast?"
"It's right this way sir." The servant decided he would be too disoriented to find the way himself, so he offered, "Follow me, Mr. Spiro."
"Call me Costa – I mean, call me Jon."
"Yes sir." It was probably the thin air, the servant told himself. The thin air at the 85th floor of the Spiro Needle. A few hours of recuperation would probably restore the old Mr. Spiro he was used to. Not that he was excited at the prospect, though. He was beginning to like this guy.
Carla was waiting at Jon Spiro's conference room. Not that she had an appointment with him, as the secretary had tried to argue. "No, Mr. Spiro is asleep now, and anyway you don't have an appointment with him. To make an appointment with Mr. Spiro, go down to the ground floor and speak to - "
Interesting, though, how most people comply to your wishes when you put guns to their heads.
Anyway, Carla was waiting for Jon Spiro, clad in his typically immaculate linen suit, exclusively tailored for him by the best designers in Chicago -
- not a Jon Spiro in a casual T-shirt and jeans. Carla had to admit immediately, he did look a lot better than in that linen suit. It made him look like an anorexic Hindu swami. In this, he looked tall and lean. Actually likeable.
Likeable?
"Yes, Carla?" His T-shirt had an arrow pointing at its collar with the caption, "Insert Brain Here." Carla started wondering, half-seriously, how that would be done if necesssary. "Call me Ms. Frazetti, please," she replied coldly. Not that she minded "Carla". It had been a while.
"Yes, Ms. Frazetti?"
"My team."
"What team?"
"The metal man and the monkey. What's happened to them?"
"Eh?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Spiro. What's happened to the metal man and the monkey team I gave you to get Artemis?"
"Er...I dunno...I think I lost them..."
"It's forty grand for them. Normally I'd charge you thirty-five, but those two were my best guys, you know?" Carla was angry in spite of beginning to feel attracted to him. "More jobs pulled off, both of them, than the rest of my men put together."
"So, when can I pay you?"
"Wire it from your account to mine. Now."
