Danger
The next night, Frances came back to the hide out looking grim. Andrew had taken the day shift that day, so he was hanging around the living room with Matt and everyone else. "Rae…" He said with a bit of his lip, "We have company."
"Who?" Rachel asked, not liking the look on Frances' face, "Is it for me or for Ian?"
"It…ah…why don't the Informers meet in there," Frances said as he glanced over at the private living room. "And I can lead them in, not that they need it. It's Lightening Force and Jason brought three people with him."
Andrew, Matt, and Rachel exchanged a look with one another before they stood up and made their way to the private living room. "This isn't good," Andrew muttered as he took his spot behind the couch. Matt and Rae both decided to sit down on the couch and stayed silent. No, this wasn't good.
They didn't have to wait long. Frances brought them in almost immediately. Jason looked ragged and restless, carrying folders and envelopes. The three men behind him were armed, obviously from the way they stood and the way they shifted. "Evening," He said as he went to the couch facing to them. The three stood behind, positioned and waiting.
"Since you're not saying it's good, I can presume you're not here on pleasure." Rachel replied her voice turning cold and emotionless. "And judging from the way you brought three guards instead of the usual two, I can also assume that this…is a dangerous mission."
"They're dangerous times, Lynx." He tossed the two envelopes and one folder on the table. He leaned back and propped his feet onto the coffee table, "Too dangerous for me to just wait by and wait for you anymore. I want a hunt and I want the quarry."
Gabriella had heard the happenings from the stairs and barely stopped Raphael from going down. Now they were safe from being caught, she lead him silently towards the training room and started climbing the rafters, "Hurry up, or we'll miss the talk!" she called softly to Raph.
Raph only nodded and climbed up as well, crawling through the narrow passageways and she finally paused, opening a window at the end of the passage which looked at an angle over the entire private room, "We can see them but they can't see is," she explained in a whisper.
"The whole underground and the Foot," Jason said with a growl. "I want to know every gang, underground or rising stars. I want to know their allies, their allies allies and their enemies and their enemies enemies." He said. "I'm asking a lot."
"Indeed you are. You're paranoia knows no limits." Rachel replied coldly. "You're asking me and not only myself and of my team a hard mission."
"Are you saying the gay girl and the wuss can't handle the job and neither can you since you're carrying a burden?" One of the guards asked.
Raph clenched his jaw and balled his fists together, 'A burden?' he thought angrily.
The guard suddenly went still and his eyes went wide. Rachel grinned as if she was the one that was causing it, but when Andrew narrowed his eyes, the guard suddenly grabbed the gun and pointed it. Not at the Informers, at himself. "I wouldn't shoot that if I were you," She said in a coaxing manner, "Not when your mind is being inflicted by images and when you're under the influence. I wonder what images my Matthew is giving you and I wonder if Andrew is making you think you're suicidal. After all, one controls the mind and the other the emotions behind it. If I so wished, I could join in the fun too. I bet the only reason why you can hear me is because these two are being nice. I wouldn't want them to kill you in front of your boss, but I do warn you to take care of words…otherwise I might kill you and pay for your stupidity."
Jason snickered, "And I would let her too. Tell your men to let him go." He said with a wave, "I can deal with him at a better time. He's a rookie."
"New and ignorant," Rachel agreed as she did a wave and the guard suddenly went lax, dropping the gun and going to his knees. The other two didn't even move, but they were smirking, "I suppose me killing him would be quite cold, now wouldn't it?"
"You killing him would be." Jason said with a smirk. "But I would think of it as an honor, since not very many men gets to have their last sights on a beautiful woman."
"You flatter me," Rachel said as she sat up a little straighter. "I miss talking with you sometimes." She looked at the folders that were lying on the table, "What do you two think? Shall we accept the mission for all it's worth?"
"How much?" Andrew asked as he cocked his head to the side. His voice was also a little cold, "I am not doing this for free or for cheap prices."
"Neither am I," Matt replied, but her voice had a hint of anger from the insult the guard had given him.
Jason grinned widely, "I'm being generous. I'm letting you three name your price tonight."
"Hmm…" Rachel looked over at Andrew and Matt and they looked as if they had an idea of what price to name. She looked back at Jason and crossed her legs, "Matt? What price shall we name?"
"Thirty thousand in advance and seventy thousand each," Matt responded.
"Does that sound fair Jason or do you want to bargain?" Rachel grinned.
"Thirty thousand in advance and fifty thousand each," He replied.
"That's twenty thousand lower than the original price. It's almost like you're cheating us." Andrew replied with an eye roll, "Sixty thousand each."
"Fifty five," Jason retorted.
"I can actually live with that price," Matt said with a smile.
Rachel smiled, "Deal. Now then, what are these?" She asked as she gestured on the table.
"The folder will have to come last I'm afraid. The two envelopes on the other hand," He said with a smile. "One of them is blank checks for me to fill out and the other one, well; let's just say I know how you are." He said with a smile at her, "Those are lists of resources you can use. Black Market sellers, for your poisons and antidotes and of course any weapons or supplies you might need."
"A hefty list," Rachel said as she reached for the envelope and flipped it. "Ah, and there's also a list of people that work for you and where we can track them down, along with a map of the gangs nearby, possible enemies, possible allies…you did your research before coming to us. You just made our lives a little easier Jason darling." She said grinning wildly, "Aww, you even provided phone numbers to some of the gang leaders!"
"That you should thank Frances for that," Jason replied as he folded his arms around his head, "He's quite useful when he's not being cheeky."
Rachel laughed warmly, "Well, Frances is Frances. He's going to be cheeky no matter what anyone says."
Jason nodded a few times before taking his feet off the table. "What ever happened to washing your hands of this anyway? Couldn't name an heir?"
"Random question?" Rachel asked, surprised. "It's not that I couldn't name an heir, it's just that I didn't want to. I suppose in the end, the streets screams for me. It feels…so very out of place, even though I'm married and going to have a family."
"That's what it's like when you live on the streets since fifteen. Nothing can change that. Just don't run from what you got." Jason assured her. "You don't know how lucky you are, it will take me a lot more than a year or so than to get someone to marry me and know everything."
"I bet so," The guard that they had taken down replied. He had managed to stand up and just glare at them. Now that he knew what they could do…well…it didn't matter anymore, "Does your husband know everything?"
"Why you suddenly are taking an interest to a life that's not yours I don't understand." Rachel said with narrowed eyes, "I won't respond to that answer."
"Because you haven't right?" The guard sneered.
Jason glared at him. "I brought you here to understand how the Informers work. If you keep this up-"
"Please," Andrew said, too calm for anyone's comfort, "Allow me." He suddenly disappeared and reappeared and pressed his fingers against the lower back of the guard. "I don't have speed, that's just another trick that Matt used. She is a mind-master, the eyes are no different. As for me, I'm a doctor; the body is something I'm familiar with. I know how to use it and abuse it without a worry. Since you're being too loud, I suppose I'll silence you." He jabbed all of the pressure points that brought he guard to his knees and while he jabbed them he had used a little bit of his power to influence him to become "numbed and stunned".
"If you can get out of this trap, then we can assume you're too dangerous and if Jason wants to pay a little extra…well…I'm sure you got the picture even without Matt's help, don't you?" He grinned at the guard's angered yet frightened face.
"Andy's handling this very well…" Gabriella whispered smiling to herself.
Rachel rolled her eyes at Andrew, "Careful now, you might give the boy a heart attack." She looked over at Jason and smiled. "I'm supposing you're done with business now? Going to leave me and my team to our lonesome?"
"Not quite. Now you can look about that folder you were about to pick up earlier." Jason said with a smile, "It's meant as a treat, not as a bribe."
"Oh?" She asked as she raised her eyebrow as she opened up the file. Her eyes blinked a few times. "You want me to re-work here?" She asked, "You know that I would love to-"
"Non-smoking sections only until the babe is born." Jason told her gently, "You get the same pay you left with and, of course, the same hours you enjoy. You're going to want to start getting back to socialization and since drunkards are so easy to talk to, why not a lounge?"
"You really did think of everything. I'll consider it," Rachel said gently to him.
"It is all I wanted to hear," He smiled at her as he stood up, "Now, my business has concluded." He turned to his guards and pointed at the one on the floor. "Pick him up for me." He told them. They obeyed and they made sure to shove him around as if he was too heavy for them and dropped him a few times out of playfulness before they really did pick him up. Jason went over and kissed Matt's hand, shook Andrew's and hugged Rae's and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek and a brush of the lips. "We'll come by again."
"Services are always open," Rachel responded. She waited until the door shut and she laid down and rested her head on Matt's lap.
Andrew frowned, "I'm going to out into the living room." He said, "To clear off anyone who wants to know what happened."
"That will be good," Rachel sighed.
Matt folded her legs as she played with Rae's hair, "Carrying a burden. That just ticked me off so much." She huffed, "And a gay girl?" She scoffed. "That boy needs his tongue cut out."
