Settling In: Chapter 6

The Hard Luck was a typical dive one could expect from an all night diner. Nice enough, but understaffed even for the fact it wasn't midnight yet. What people there were here fit the bill for the place's name. Rough looking types whose only desires were coffee, food, and to be left alone.

So when two capes walked in - and wasn't that a set up for a joke - it wasn't really surprising that people looked, then turned back to their plates. We picked a table away from most and ordered when our poor waitress gathered her courage to walk over to us.

I took little notice of the waitress as she studiously avoided conversation with us as much as possible. The eyes of the few late night patrons brave enough to glance at us were as if we were some sort of disease they would catch if we got too close.

Danny was right. This city chewed on a cape's sanity, little by little. From what I've seen, heroes were - unsurprisingly - generally treated like rockstars or ignored. Villains got the short stick, being treated either like bile that had marinated in the summer sun or outright feared to the point of shaking. Unknown capes were regarded with open suspicion or hatred. There was no middle ground. Frankly, it seemed the best a villain could possibly hope for was mild disdain like Uber and Leet received. More and more I was certain that their incompetence was intentional. Hell, both acted far smarter than I gave them credit for during the game.

But there weren't many rogues here. While I was technically a villain good enough to pretend to be a rogue, as far as anyone else knew, I was a rogue. Hopefully it would just take some time for people to get used to me. Just had to stay the course, bear it out until people realized I wasn't going to suddenly go nuts and blow up everything.

Thankfully, our plates arrived in record time. I wasn't really hungry, more peckish, but the eggs really were good. Surprisingly so.

Obviously sharing none of my inner thoughts, Circus dug into their plate with gusto, quickly demolishing everything as if it was the first meal they had in a long time. On seeing me lost in thought, picking at my own food, Circus snorted.

"I can't believe you let that little twit get to you."

Smiling at their mulish tone, I shook my head. "Of course not, mon'ami. But I am curious, is Tattletale always like that?"

"She's a bitch," Circus said casually. "More so than her butch teammate. At least dog bitch is fucking honest about how much she hates everyone. Tattletale fucking thinks she knows everything. God damn annoying is what she is. Ask Faultline. She can't stand her either."

"Huh."

Stabbing a bit of onion and egg, Circus smiled. "Actually, we should do that."

"Ask Faultline about Tattletale?"

"No, go to her nightclub, Palanquin. Sits on top of the hill about two streets down from Lords Street. Pretty popular place if you're looking for hot music, decent booze, and to have a good time. Live local bands weekdays, popular dance music most nights, and all that. Place is always jumping, even on weekdays. Saturday night is crazy there. I'll go in drag, you can pick up a guy, I'll find whatever looks tasty."

Rolling my eyes at their trolling, I smirked, "We're all born naked. Everything else is drag."

"See? You get it. It'll be fun."

"It might be," I agreed half intrigued. "Tourist trap?"

"Not like you would think," Circus counted. "Faultline's got stuff all over the city, but Palanquin is her baby. Sure, tourists show up but it's a hot nightclub not the Boardwalk. Faultline doesn't cater to them, unlike a bunch of other fucking places in this city. Also, you never know when having mercenary connections will come in handy."

"True," I half agreed. "Where does she stand in the scheme of things in the bay?"

"Neutral. Got a her own code and shit. Do anything if the price is right, but prefers to work outside of the Bay. Doesn't like getting mixed up in the drama around here but will if paid enough to make it worth it. I like her, makes no bones about where she stands. Nothing personal, just looking to get paid. I can respect that."

"Interesting. Solo or does she have a team?"

"She's been collecting Case 53's," Circus informed uncaringly. "Her whole team is made of capes with the worst possible hand, but she makes it work. Several of them have weak ass powers, but I'll say this about Faultline, she's a fucking tactical genius and her people follow orders well. They tangled with the Triumvirate last month and actually came out on top. Got her job done too."

"Impressive," I said. And it was; that put Faultline in a league far above my usual level as I avoided tangling with the heavies. "Case 53's huh?"

"Yup."

"Not sure what I would need mercenaries for, but it doesn't hurt to make connections. I wonder if her people would be interested in employing couriers?"

"Couriers?"

"Yeah. I used to run a small band of them for a couple Case 53's and other interested parties back home," I explained thoughtfully as I played with the idea in my mind. "Whatever they wanted so long as it was legal and wouldn't get the runner in trouble."

"Like what?" Circus asked looking more than a bit confused.

"Whatever they wanted. Groceries, deli, fast food, stuff for their car, furniture, coffee, whatever."

"People actually paid money for a gofer?"

"For a no questions gofer, yes," I replied. "They told them what they wanted and where to take it. My people did, no questions. Cash per transaction. Has to be someone in this city looking for some easy money to run supplies. I could probably oversee it well enough until I found someone to take over. Legal work, and it would be a good startup business that wouldn't step on anyone's toes. You'd be surprised how often capes need random stuff but don't want to go out and get it."

"Chump change," Circus scoffed.

"You can't put a price on good will," I counted knowingly. "Also, it would put me in a good position to ask for and give favors. Some things are worth more than money. Also, you're over using that phrase tonight."

Nodding, Circus mumbled, "Good point. Still not going to bankroll as much as you would a good poker night, unless you're doing the running."

"Of course not, but it will work well enough for what I want out of it. More importantly, it shouldn't cost much to maintain. Practically all profit not to mention the good will. Easy work for a guy or girl in between things with rent due. This city has… a lot of those. It's kind of sad."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Fuck, I'd hate to be a hero in this town. Practically the only thing heroes get out of their shitty gig is goodwill and Brockton doesn't have much of that to give to anyone."

As if summoned, the bell at the door rang and two costumed heroes walked in. Wards. Clockblocker was easy to guess since the name was particularly as memorable as his costume. Unfortunately, while I'd done preliminary research on the heroes in Brockton, the other hero's armor wasn't enough for me to identify him. Gallant, or Kid Win maybe? I was pretty sure both had power armor.

However, figuring out which the second one was took a backseat to the fact that both turned to look right at us.

"Fuck," Circus cursed.

"Tell me you're not wanted for something, Circus," I asked without moving my lips.

"Er…I don't think so?"

"Fuck," I cursed with her as the two made a beeline straight for us.

"Hellllooo, ladies and gentle…beings," Clockblocker greeted merrily, looking from me to Circus, his faceless mask still showing a surprising amount of emotion somehow.

The poor manager looked as if he was about to shit a brick behind the counter. The last thing any employee wanted was a cape fight to go down where they got their pay. Hopefully, this didn't turn into something like that.

"Uh… ain't it past your bedtime, pipsqueak?" Circus asked.

I groaned. Here we go...

"If it were, then surely it's past Gambit's," the boy in the power suit said. I instantly categorized him as Gallant. There was no way that voice belonged to someone who had named themselves 'Kid Win'. Far too...not cultured, but definitely the voice of someone who put a lot of effort into how they talked.

Circus surprised me, and probably herself, by laughing at the joke. "Point there. What can we do for you? And please tell me you're not here to arrest me. I mean, fuck, the least they could do is send an adult. This is almost insulting! Ah, no offense, Gamby!"

"Ignore Circus," I said, indicating the cape in question. "You have to treat Circus like you would a gremlin. No food after midnight, or they turn into a very raunchy perverted evil creature."

"That hurts, Gambit."

"It's true, and you'll live, chérie."

"Seems like you're cutting it close there," Clockblocker chuckled, pointing at the clock which showed it was just a few minutes till midnight.

"I'm more curious why you would think we should arrest you, Circus was it?" Gallant asked pointingly.

"Oh, people are always suspecting me of heinous things!"

I nodded sympathetically, which was easily noted by both heroes.

"I swear," Circus continued. "You get your own little pocket of holding and people always think you're using it for something nefarious! I mean, can't a person just like having their stuff close to hand?"

"Very unfair," I agreed, playing along. "It's almost as if they expect that you're hiding something just because you can."

"I know right?"

"Are you?" Gallant asked bluntly.

"Out of sheer curiosity," Circus asked, completely ignoring Gallant's inquiry, "would a warrant give a hero or cop the right to search other dimensions owned by capes? Is that even a thing?"

Both heroes blinked. It was impressive how you could tell that Clockblocker blinked even though his face was completely covered. Seriously, that mask was cool.

"No actually," I replied smoothly. "There's no pre-existing judgments on dimensional storage powers that I know of. I know it's illegal in the United States to open pathways to other dimensions, but surprisingly there is little on actual storage space or pocket dimensions. They can ask you, but so far there hasn't been any court cases where it's come up. It's a pretty uncommon power outside of tinkers."

"Then definitely not."

Gallant frowned. Clock snorted.

"Ah… were you… expecting company?" came a very tentative question from our waitress. "Could I get you two anything to drink?"

"We weren't expecting company, but if you'd like to join us we wouldn't be averse," I said before asking, "would we Circus?"

"Bitch, you just want eye candy while you eat."

Turning to both Wards, I took a moment to look them over. Gallant didn't do much for me, though that had more to do with his attitude than physical appearance that I could see. Clockblocker wasn't bad, anyone thin enough to pull off a body suit and not look stupid wouldn't be, but not quite eye candy level. He did have a sense of humor though, and I had to admit, getting that name past the PRT was something I could respect.

"Ahh, should warn you about that," Clockblocker said impishly. "Gallant is about as taken as it gets. Even when he's not taken, he's taken. So for him, it's look but don't touch. Buildings have been damaged for less."

Circus snorted but thankfully didn't comment.

"Me though?" Clockblocker said playfully. "Well, if you really need eye-candy, it's a burden I'm willing to bear."

"Clock…" Gallant hissed, obviously not liking the idea at all.

For that reason alone, I slid over, making room. Even as Clockblocker took the silent invite, Gallant's shoulders sagged and he looked about one second away from facepalming. Whether that was because of his partner's antics or the fact that he was forced to sit with Circus, I couldn't tell.

The waitress breathed a rather conspicuous sigh of relief and then asked again for the Ward's drinks. Both asked for water, and since neither of them had visible faces, I wondered how in the hell they planned on drinking it.

"So what brings two paragons of light into a diner in the middle of the night with us icky rogues, if not an arrest attempt, hmm?" Circus asked in their usual slightly sarcastic tone.

"Would you believe, pure coincidence and the food? I mean, Fugly's is good, but I can only take so much. Sides, Gallant's having trouble fitting in his power armor, so obviously we decided to try something lighter for our post-patrol meal."

"No. I wouldn't believe that for a minute," I answered, straight faced. "Try again, Agent 86."

"Damn," Clockblocker sighed, obviously over playing it. "And I spent so much time rehearsing that lie. Oh well. Spotted you walk in. Debated about it for fifteen minutes until I finally convinced Gallant that we wouldn't get a better chance to talk to you."

Which was a fast-talking way of saying they were put up to it by someone back at Protectorate headquarters. We were unknowns, and there were civilians around. They were here fishing. I had a good idea what they had on me thanks to Simmons, and Circus hadn't been Circus long enough to attract negative attention.

At least, I hoped she hadn't. They hadn't come in guns blazing, so that was somewhat reassuring.

"So that means I'm not speaking to two Wards, but I'm actually speaking to the interrogation recording department or whatever you call it at the PRT? Good to know…" I sighed.

"I told you they don't like rogues here," Circus said chuckling. "They're always trying to get us on something."

"Hey, it's not like that," the white costumed hero explained. "Really, we aren't even technically on duty anymore."

And that was an outright lie, unless the Protectorate ran things very differently here than they did back in New Orleans. Even without that bit of knowledge, I could tell by the way he scratched his arm. An obvious tell. Yeah, they were put up to this.

Which was actually depressing, but I guess, really not that unexpected.

"You're Wards," I pointed out. "If you're in costume, you're always on duty."

Clockblocker laughed a bit self-consciously, confirming my thoughts. "Well. Gallant is, maybe. A solid half of the reason I'm here at least is your gorgeous eyes."

It was mine and Circus's turns to blink and snort, respectively.

"My eyes?" I asked, trying my hardest to make it my usual dry humor and falling admittedly short of the mark. This, I had to say, was an honest first. Even if someone put him up to it. No one had ever complimented my eyes before. Not in any way that implied they were nice.

"Really?" Gallant said indignantly, oddly embarrassed by his friend's antics.

"What? You do it all the time! I can't tell a girl her eyes are pretty?"

"Not with a cheesy line like that…"

"Says the guy who uses that line on his girlfriend every time she's about to go Collateral Damage Barbie," Clockblocker snorted, leaning back into the seat and folding his arms.

Circus's full out laughter, complete with throwing their head back and literally braying, broke the argument between the two heroes and diverted all attention. I idly wondered who Gallant was dating to provoke such a reaction. She had to be a real piece of work.

Ignoring Circus I asked Clockblocker, "Do you normally hit on a girl you just met?"

"Usually," he replied gamely without any trace of shame. "Especially if she's interesting."

"How's that working for you?"

"You haven't hit me yet, and Vista isn't around to do it for you, so I figure this is about the most successful I've ever been. Honestly, I'm really not sure where to go from this point. I don't usually get this far without someone hitting me."

"Somehow, I can believe it," Circus said, still chuckling. "I kinda want to hit you right now."

Clockblocker glared playfully in a way that made me certain that if he didn't have a mask, he would've been sticking his tongue out at her. I found myself smiling.

"I don't, though. Assume you have me intrigued," I said playing along. If nothing else, whoever was monitoring this conversation had to be banging their head against their desk for how it was going. "What would be your next move?"

At that moment, I heard a barely audible shout of "No! Way!" flow from what must've been one of their earpieces. Clockblocker winced at the noise and I snickered.

"Ah," Clockblocker mumbled, obviously thinking fast. Gallant visibly winced, judging by what I could see of his lower face.

Circus took that moment to stage whisper, "I would kiss her."

I kicked Circus as hard as I could under the table managing to hit them in the shin. Gallant leaped out of his seat as if he thought I was going to kick him next. Circus's following string of curses, threats, and other less identifiable obscenities was ignored as I continued to wait on Clockblocker's response.

Looking like he was struggling not to laugh, he finally managed to say something. "Well, ah, maybe find out if the rumors were true? You know, the...not nice ones?"

I frowned. "For you? Or for the Protectorate?" I made it clear which option I preferred.

"Both maybe?" he replied uncomfortably. After a moment of silence where my only action was raising my eyebrow, he seemed to finally regain his footing.

"I mean, Clockblocker can't date a villain, right? But on the other hand, can you picture yourself on the front of a t-shirt with me? Come on. That would look awesome."

"My you move fast, mon cher," I said, leaning back waving my hand as if to cool myself down. "T-shirts? We hardly know each other and you're proposing such...intimacy."

"Okay," Circus rasped through a gale of laughter. "This night just went from bad to good."

Her words almost covered the soft yet hysterical laughter coming from Clockblocker's earbud. I thought it sounded like a young girl's voice.

Picking up where I left off, I asked, "What makes you think Gambit is that easy? Have you thought that I might have standards?"

"What?" Clockblocker asked, shocked. "I have a kickass name and I'm a hero! What's not to like?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yes, that is a significant problem: being seen in such a...familiar manner with a hero. It would be shameful to my image. You would have to work hard to make it worth it."

"Shameful!?" Gallant practically seethed. "Being a hero is one of the most–!"

Gallant's hiss almost out rang the sound of Circus smacking him in the chest with what looked like a large hammer. "Shut the fuck up, tin can. I'm watching this!"

Following my lead, Clockblocker ignored the duo and nodded just as solemnly as I had a moment ago. "Yes, I see now. Truly a challenge of epic proportions. Hmm, what if there was an offer of, say, dinner at Cafe Mediterraneo?"

"Oh?" I muttered, just a bit impressed with his choice. Chubster had mentioned that place. Great Italian, but pricey. "Well, I would say alright."

"What?" Gallant whispered.

"What?" Clockblocker asked, sounding just as shocked.

"What!?" some high pitched voice shrieked from Clockblocker's earbud, which made me want to laugh even more. It was nice to know that Clockblocker was definitely going to be in trouble for this. It somehow made the whole thing feel… ironically authentic, considering the masks and all.

After Marcus, authentic felt nice.

Taking a card from a deck in my coat pocket, I scribbled an address on one side. Not mine but one in an area I knew a bit about.

"You can pick me up here, tomorrow night," I said, smiling despite myself as I handed him the marked Queen of Hearts. "Six o'clock. Do try not to keep a lady waiting, chérie. I will be very cross if you do."

"We… we had better go. Right now," Gallant insisted as he stood.

"I won't make you wait," Clockblocker insisted, deadly serious for likely the first time that evening as he took the card.

He was smiling intently into my eyes when he was practically yanked out of the booth. "H-hey! What's the big idea, man?"

"We're late. The others will be worried," Gallant said irritably as he dragged Clockblocker towards the door.

"No we're not, we were allowed two hou-!" Abandoning his protest he turned back to me as Gallant continued to drag him. "I'll be there…!"

The door closed behind them. The waitress never even gotten around to bringing them thier drinks.

After they were both gone, Circus turned to me. "He got you with the eyes thing, didn't he?"

"...hook, line, and sinker, in one sentence," I replied, smiling wistfully. If only it was that easy. "But we both know he's not going to show up. There is no way the PRT is going to let one of their Wards be seen with someone like me."

"You're still going to wait for him though?" Circus asked intrigued.

"Even if they don't let him come, at least he won't think I stood him up. And who knows? He got away with the name Clockblocker after all."

"Heh. Well don't get your hopes up. I can't believe that shit just happened. Best comedy I've seen in Brockton… well. Ever. Almost makes this whole night worth it."

Holding out my hand, I smirked, "Not quite. It'll have been worth it as long as you pay me for backing you up tonight."

Smiling, Circus nodded putting five hundred into my hand. "So, we on for the Palanquin next week? You can bring Clockblocker if he manages to find his balls from wherever the PRT have them stashed. And, if, you know, your Dad says you can come out and play?"

She snickered at the last line, but dropped the laughter when I frowned.

"Danny… won't be okay with it, but he'll understand. He's really good about not being controlling. Please don't mock this, Circus?"

"Shit… I… yeah, I'm sorry." As if feeling the weight that had just dropped, Circus immediately changed the subject. "Listen. Thanks for this. Seriously. I'll be able to hold this over you for weeks. Also made up for that shit earlier."

"Oh, don't worry about the Undersiders, chérie," I chuckled. "I'll take care of that."

"Oh?" Circus asked, turning fully to me.

"Nothing grandiose," I answered blandly. "Just a little something to remind them that words have consequences."