ALL DISCLAIMERS APPLY

Brennan, Shalimar, and Rei stood at the hotel entrance and watched as the black SUV disappeared into traffic. The bell boy had been confused when the vehicle had pulled up and the only luggage the three arrived with was a small box that contained three identical envelopes. Then again this was Vegas and it wasn't his job to ask questions. He smiled at the tip handed to him by the lovely blond as he made his way up to their suite with their belongings, meager as they may have been.

The two members of Mutant X seemed to think their mission so far was going well. At all outward appearances it did seem to be falling into place. They had met their contact and been tentatively hired for the upcoming job. An audition, as Mr. Duval had phrased it, would be their last hurdle and then the details of upcoming events would be provided to them. As it was, the details of their "audition" were waiting for them up in the suite they had been furnished in the upscale hotel they now stood in front of. On the surface all seemed to be smooth sailing so far.

The youngest member of the team wasn't so sure. Rei just couldn't shake the dread and apprehension that clung to her at the thought of Duval. She had a bad feeling.

Rei turned and met Brennan's teasing stare. "What?"

"Retirement plan?"

The red head's skin immediately flushed in embarrassment thinking back on the little program she had left behind in the Mandalay Bay's computer system. "It's not like I was going to use it … I just couldn't resist!"

"SURE you weren't going to use it." Shalimar chuckled. "Come on, let's go upstairs. I can't wait to take a very long, very hot shower."

Tension broken, the others turned to head up to their hotel room. It took a few moments for the red headed feral to find her voice again. "Hold on, let's go get something to eat first. I know a place we can get some good food and won't have to worry about anyone listening in."

Their destination was a hole in the wall diner a few blocks off the main strip. It was a local place much loved by the blue collar crowd that staffed the casinos. The place was clean, quiet, and having already missed the breakfast crowd but still too early for the late lunch rush they found themselves with only three other diners, a waitress, and the cook for company.

Not looking up from ringing out a customer the waitress invited them to pick their own table and assured them she would be with them in a moment. Rei lead the way to the corner booth opposite the door. From this vantage they could see the entire front of the house, a good portion of the back kitchen, and the windows were spaced just right that they could see out to the street but someone out on the street couldn't see them. Satisfied with her chosen spot they scooted into the booth and Brennan and Shal picked up the menus that already waited on the table.

Brennan noticed that Rei didn't pick up a menu. "I thought you said you were hungry, aren't you going to order anything?"

"I know what I want already. I don't need a menu." She laughed a little as Brennan's face scrunched up a little confused. "Last time I was in town we were here a few weeks casing everything. This place was on the way to the casinos from where we were set up."

The waitress walked up before he could reply and greeted them. They put in an order for two cups of coffee and a soda and ordered their food as well. When the waitress got to Rei, she asked if Joshua was behind the grill today. When the dark haired waitress confirmed that he was in fact working the young feral put an order in for the rainy day special. With a confused look she explained that wasn't an item on the menu, and Rei reassured her that the cook would know what she wanted. With a skeptical smile the server disappeared for a few moments and reappeared with their drinks before she checked on the other guests and popped back behind the counter.

"So, what did you want to discuss that we needed to be wary of prying?" Shal asked as she dumped a few packets of cream and sugar into her coffee.

"I don't get a very good feeling off Duval at all. Something about him sets every fiber of my being on edge, and since he furnished our hotel room I didn't want to risk alerting him to our mission when we filled in everyone back at…"

The conversation was abruptly interrupted by a loud booming voice coming from the kitchen. Rei jumped out of her seat slightly startled as the swinging door to the kitchen suddenly swung open. Before any of them could move a bear of a middle aged man grabbed Rei from behind lifted her off the ground and swung around once in a circle before depositing her once again on her feet and taking a step back so she could turn to face him.

"Rainey Laney!" Arms wide and smile even wider Joshua waited for Rei to find her feet before embracing her again in a big bear hug.

Brennan and Shalimar relaxed as Rei greeted the apron and hairnet clad cook with a giggling hello and a returned hug. After a few moments he released the young woman and drew his attention to her two companions.

"Its good to see you again Joshua, I would like to introduce you to my friends, Shalimar and Brennan. Shal, Brennan, this is Joshua; best cook in the city, and overall standup guy."

He nodded to the two in the booth. "Nice to meet you folks. So Raina what brings you back to Vegas? It's been what, two years since the last time?"

"It has been just over that since I've been in town. I'm happy to know you remembered. We are in town for a job. Not quite sure yet how long we will be staying but shouldn't be more than a few days. I had to make sure I stopped in."

He smiled at her fondly. "Well I'll let you get back to it and have your food out in just a jiff. It was nice meeting you two, and you little lady make sure you stop back in before you head off to your next

if you can. If y'all need anything while you're here, you just holler at ol Joshua."

Shalimar couldn't help but laugh as Rei sat back down. "He seems fun." She arched an eyebrow at the younger feral. "Rainey Laney?"

Rei shrugged. "I was in here a lot avoiding Taylor when we weren't working. Lane was the last name I used. If you couldn't tell Joshua isn't the kind of guy to let a person keep to themselves. He was a good friend while I was here."

While they waited on their food, they took the time to catch the rest of Mutant X up to speed. Adam confirmed that Duval was in fact who they were hoping to make contact with. Rei voiced her apprehension about the man and while not ignored,

Adam seemed to just file it away and reassure his team. They set up a new check in schedule and made sure all the tracking and audio for all three of their comlinks was working without flaw. Shortly after, the waitress appeared from the back with their food. Brennan had ordered a burger and fries, Shalimar's plate consisted of a fluffy stack of French toast covered in strawberries and powdered sugar with a side of thick cut bacon, and the Rainey day special included a large helping of hash browns, a couple sausage patties, and on a separate plate two almost overly crispy waffles drowning in butter and syrup complete with a few slices of banana and a generous serving of whipped cream on the top.

Brennan shook his head at the two ferals with a grin. "Damn that's a lot of sugar."

The girls looked over their plates. "You're just jealous." Shalimar teased before digging into the food in front of her.

It was early afternoon when they finally made their way back up to their hotel suite to see just what they were going to be in for the next few days. Their room consisted of a tiny kitchenette, small sitting room, and connected to the sitting room to the left and right were two sets of double doors that led to the bedrooms. Both bedrooms had two king sized beds and their own bathrooms. Along the back wall of the sitting room three suitcases waited, along with the envelopes containing their personal effects, and a laptop.

The ferals curled up on the couch as Brennan started rummaging through the items left for them. He tossed each teammate their envelope and handed Rei the laptop. After pulling the first suitcase onto the coffee table he unzipped it and examined the contents. The bag contained equipment that was obviously for their "audition" and included all the bells and whistles that any cat burglar would need for all three of them. The second bag included specifics on the building: blueprints, employee schedules, security information, and uniforms which included employee badges with their pictures on them. The last suitcase was filled to the brim with clothing, accessories, and necessities for the trio.

As soon as the girls spotted the contents of the case they both claimed first dibs on the bathroom, while digging through the clothing marked as theirs. Before the good natured arguing came to blows, Brennan informed the females that they should each take a bathroom and he would get everything set up while he waited for his turn. Faster than he could blink the ferals kissed him on either cheek and took off toward the bathrooms. The elemental chuckled as he separated the contents of the suitcases and worked to settle them into the hotel room for the next few days.

TBC...