Disclaimer: still don't own it, or daredevil or Batman or superman.

AN: I would like to say Happy Holidays to everyone, and that's the only reason you get this chapter :D I'm still waiting for more reviews to post the next chapter. If you have something you think they should do in Manhattan, tell me and I'll see if I can write something. -Raven

Chapter 7 A Crazy Convention

There was so much paper work that it wasn't until lunchtime two days later that it was all done. No one minded as it gave them more time together and Vicki a little more time to get settled in and all the necessary changes that had to occur with her returning to the world as 'Victoria Tracy' instead of 'Victoria Crighton-Ward' which is what all her ID said. (So that she wasn't THAT important to the world and no one accidentally found her secret.) She had finished most of the required paperwork the first morning and had put it in and envelopes and sent it to where it had to go, whether in England or the States. Then she was taught the basics for the 'Birds, winch controls and how to use the extra 'little' equipment mostly. They did other things too, like playing 3 on 3 water volleyball and trying to swipe Grandma's cookies, and watching movies together.

The twins, dressed similarly in slacks and TE shirts, were ready with everything by 1:30 and left soon after, after Vicki had a little discussion with Alan about her promise (which would be upheld, she would always come back.)

They flew to Manhattan, entertained by conversation and stories (and even a few joined flashbacks (twalepathic perk)) about nearly everything. They got to their hotel, checked in and discovered something very interesting.

"Why is it so busy in here?" Virgil asked the desk clerk.

"Well sir, we are currently hosting the second annual Thunderbirds convention. We have everyone from inventor and designers to toy and tee-shirt vendors. They are in the ballroom if you wish to see them." He said.

"Thank you." said Virgil, turning away.

"Let's go if we have time after our meeting with the lawyer. What's his name,

Michael?" Vicki said as they crossed to the elevator.

"Matthew, Matt Murdoc's one of dads old friends from college, He's one of the best lawyers in the city." They got into the penthouse elevator. 'He's out logistics lawyer for the 'birds. Makes sure we don't step on too many toes. I think we're one of his few paying customers. He's retained for us too.' Few, or more likely, no one, was about to eavesdrop on that. Twalapathy was great for keeping secrets.

They got to the penthouse and, once their luggage arrived, they decided what to do next.

"Would you believe it's supper time?" asked Vicki, standing in the doorway to her brothers room.

"Why, are you hungry?" Virgil asked, putting his still full suitcase in the closet.

"No, but I was wondering when the convention closed."

"Call down and ask while I get changed," He said, unzipping his suitcase. Vicki turned and left.

'All ready did. It's open 'till nine," she said twalapathically. Virgil shook his head and got changed.

When he came out of his room he found Vicki lounging on the couch with a newspaper, one of the several that their father had delivered daily when they were there. The headline on the front page of the paper she was reading was "Do what you dare, the devil is watching."

Underneath was the sub headline 'Accounts of the mysterious DareDevil grow in numbers, but the police do not acknowledge the vigilante's existence."

"Anything interesting?" Virgil asked.

"Not really, but this guy's got as much press as Batman does in Gotham, or Superman in Metropolis. Some of it's good, some bad. Whoever he is, he has an interesting nightlife." She said, folding up the paper.

'Matt,' her brother said, walking towards the door. She raised on eyebrow and grabbed her purse.

'The lawyer? I thought you said he was blind.'

'He is, just wait till you meet him.'

"What do you think this thing will be like?" asked Vicki as she pushed the elevator call button.

"Interesting, honky, crazy, amazing, insane…"

"In other words, you have no idea. But it will be fun." She said, smiling.

"Yep," he said, as the elevator finally showed up and they got in.

They got out of the elevator in the lobby wearing designer sunglasses. In jeans and loose t-shirts, they looked uncannily like the two professionals that had exited the elevator only a half hour ago. Vicki, however, managed t ruin this effect by having her hair up in a loose ponytail, instead of a tight braid, by wearing bright pink sunglasses and a light zippered sweater over her t-shirt. Virgil, however, had on gray sunglasses and a darker t-shirt that was about two sizes too big for him.

The desk clerk had seen the twins enter and exit the elevator. He knew they were the Tracy twins in disguise. All the staff knew that they were Jeff Tracy's twins, his daughter having returned recently, but as Mr. Tracy and his children valued their privacy, and paid the hotel very well, no one would ever dare tell anyone that they were at the hotel. This particular hotel was the best hotel in town and never leaked information on their tenants. For a very high price, that is.

They walked across the lobby and into the ballroom. The other guests ignored them completely. The ballroom doors were wide open, letting people see the decorations inside that invited them in. Whoever had decorated had done pretty well. The big green leviathan that hung from the ceiling in front of the entrance was no where near as sleek as the real one, it having no real wings. That earned a grin from both of the twins as they stood under it and looked around the ballroom.

'Divide and conquer?' asked Virgil as he surveyed the rest of the ballroom. Virgil went left and Vicki took right, both of them circling the room. They soon

discovered there was no order to the mess. Toy salesmen and t-shirt booths were mixed in with all sorts of inventors and scientists. Though no one actually had anything close some (unbelievably) had a few things they didn't have.

'Do we have 'personal water to air converters'?'' Vicki asked.

'Say what?' He asked from across the room as he picked up a miniature Thunderbird 2 and studied it.

'It's a little thing that turns water into air. According to this guy you pop it

between your lips and dive right into the water. You breathe through your mouth and it splits the elements and releases the unused elements back into the water.' She was watching as the vendor demonstrated. He put the device between his lips and dunked his head into a 10 gallon tank of water and started breathing.

'Interesting. See if it's a dud.' She could feel him roll his eyes. 'Half the stuff

I've seen is and the other half is dangerous.' She smiled as he mentally turned away to continue his exploration.

"That's neat. Can I see how it works?" she asked the vendor, who tried to show her a disassembled converter on display. She'd already looked over the piece and found nothing wrong with it, though it could be a dud. She smiled a bit more, trying the ever useful Tracy charm.

"That one, I've seen. While I doubt anyone would question the integrity of someone like you, who sells them to the Thunderbirds, I would like to see the inside of the one you used." She said.

The vender relented and opened the casing of the one he had used a few minutes before to breathe in the water tank.

'Seems fine to me. Should I get one?' she asked her brother as she thanked the man.

'Yeah, but don't use a card. we are anonymous.'

''K.' she turned and asked the vendor how much they were.

"Well normally they run about a thousand dollars each." he said. Half the crowd promptly wandered off. "Today, for a short time only I'll sell you one for 350 dollars, same as the Thunderbirds get them for." he said.

'Worth it?'

'He's actually mostly honest, it would cost a thousand dollars to mass produce one. Yeah, get one and I'll talk to him when I get a chance.'

'K.' She had left the room with about 400 in cash distributed around in her pockets and purse. There was even 20 in her sock. She pulled six 50's from her wallet and two 20's and a 10 from her pocket and handed it to him as he handed her one from the box behind him. She snagged a card and put both in her purse before thanking the man and walking away.

Since they had entered the room they had both been sending and receiving mental snorts of laughter and pics of what made them laugh, but Virgil saw now made him laugh out loud,

'Hmmm?' asked his sister looking at , of all things, Thunderbird shaped(ish) decorative dishes.

'I'm so getting these' he said, walking up to the table and sending her a picture of what they were.

It was in fact a display of t-shirts. They each had something different written on them. There were ones for the thunderbird pilots, one that said 'The Boss' and others with things like 'The Brains', 'Medic', 'Backup', and 'Secret Agent'.

"Just how many different 'extras' do you have?" he asked the vendor.

"Just the ones you see here. But they do come in different colors." She said, a little tired as if she'd had the same question all day and waved to a lighter color on display.

"They're twenty dollars each and come in small to XXL." She didn't really thing this guy was worth her time. It's not as if he was going to buy any.

'Penny's a medium, want to get me a large?' Said his sister's voice in the back of his mind.

"Can I get six XL ones? A 'Boss' one with black letters, a One Pilot one with blue letters, a Two Pilot one with orange and a Five Pilot one with Gray letter. And I need a large Brains one in blue, a Large Buck up one in Green, A Medium secret Agent in pink and a Medium 'Medic' in Red." The Vendors eyes widened and she dived into the boxes, looking for the requested shirts as he pulled money from his pocket. A few minutes later, he left the table $200 lighter and ten neatly folded t-shirts heavier.

'That's awesome' said Vicki, deciding to come back later and buy the plate set.

Things continued until they reached the far end of the room, where the evenings final presentation by an inventor and a clothing designer was being held.

"I swear to you people that this material is nearly indestructible. Drag it through mud and all it needs is a wash. It doesn't rip, tear, fray, or wear. It's comfortable, too." He said as he used a knife to stab the middle of the material. An audience member raised their hand and the presenter nodded to her.

"How do you turn it into something someone can wear then?"

"We get the measurements ad they are woven into the overalls of the correct size." He answered. Several eyebrows lifted in the crowd and some people actually left.

"You don't believe me? You, miss, could you come show these people I speak the truth?" He asked, pointing at Vicki. She nodded and walked up to the stage. She had expected something like this to happen. She had added gum and changed the way she walked, creating the image of a bimbo. She reached the stage and once she'd gotten onto it she took the knife the professor offered her and tested it against her thumb. the presenter ws sweating. she had walked up to the presentation, the world's dumbest bimbo, but in the last 20 feet or so of her walk to the stage she had shown that not only was she not a bimbo, but in fact some sort of intelligent, independent, trained woman. There was a gasp as Vicki tossed the knife over her shoulder onto the ballroom floor where it slid a few feet to where Virgil had just stopped. He picked it up, tested it, them put the blade to the palm of his hand and pushed. Nothing happened. The shocked audience turned back to the stage where Vicki stood waiting, a knife in her hand. She used it to cut an orange in her other hand, then reversed her grip on the handle and plunged the knife into the material held by two assistants. It stabbed through the material and then she dropped the knife, took the material, put her hands in the hole and pulled. The material gave and ripped in two pieces, which she handed back to the inventor.

"Don't false advertise like that again, or drag the Thunderbirds through the mud with you. They wouldn't use THAT for a cleaning rag." she said to him fiercely. then she went down the stage steps and met her brother.

"That was kind of mean you know." he said.

"Yeah, but there's only so much exaggerating one is allowed to do and he just went WAY over the edge. They can say things like 'we've sold some to the Thunderbirds' but that guy was WAY too overconfident and way over the acceptable level of exaggerating. I could hear that guy 50 feet from the stage, wen he was on it, and before that he was bugging some of the vendors, calling them liars and frauds and all sorts of things." she said, buying a bottle of water. She sat down and poured some water into a balloon before Virgil noticed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Testing" she said, pulling the 'personal breathing thingy' from her purse. She put the balloon on the 'water' side of the breather and turned the whole thing over. a woosh escaped the breather and something remained in the balloon. She peeled the breather off, careful not to let too much gas escape from the balloon and held it tightly closed. She flicked her wrist a bit, but no sound came from the balloon.

"Guess this one works too." she said, putting the breather back in her purse and tossing the balloon in a nearby trash can. She sipped some water then put the lid on the bottle as they stood up and went down the middle aisle of displays. By the time they were done it was nine o'clock and everyone was leaving the room. Several vendors came up to them and thanked Vicki for what she had done.

"That man has been obnoxious for the last two days, saying all sorts of things about how he knows the Thunderbirds and the rest of us are fake pretenders. Would you accept a set of my dishes as a token of our gratitude?" the woman who had noticed Vicki admiring her plates asked.

"Thank you, no. I only did what was right. I'm sure someone else would have done the same eventually." said Vicki.

"Well, all right, but the offer stands. We are all here until the end of the week, if you change your mind." said the woman smiling. They reached the elevators and the woman walked away.

"She may have other ideas as to how to get you to have that set." warned Virgil as she stood next to him and the doors closed. Boy, was he right. The woman waited until the doors were safely closed, then she went to talk to the desk clerk.

Here's chapter seven, and now I'm reminding you to hit the little button and review please. Happy Holidays

-Raven Artemis