Before Billy and I could rush off for a rousing dinner with my parents at the club, we had our first sit down with a supe. I wasn't counting my lone meeting with Highlander, and I promise you that I wasn't about to remind Billy it had happened at all before sitting down with A-Train. Let's not get his boxers in a twist and make the simple check in turn into an attempt to figure out if sticking plastique up the speedster's ass and hitting the button would work as well as it had on Translucent, shall we?
When Billy had come back into the office after sending the Boys off to their next goal, he'd propped open the door again. No fear of anyone seeing our heads together, the casual touching, no hiding necessary now that the important people knew about us. And it also showed A-Train, when he arrived with minutes to spare, that we were in control and had nothing to hide, not even from the supes.
"Hello," I offered, smiling and standing. "Please, come in and have a seat." I gestured to one of the chairs in front of our desks, and waited until the young man took the offer. Sitting carefully, as Billy once again held my chair in place, I took another beat while Billy sat. "I thought, since our office is newly formed, and we're still working out the kinks of our purpose, we should meet with the remaining Seven first."
A-Train's eyes flicked to Billy and I had to bite my lip to keep an errant giggle from escaping at the reminder that Billy and his team were the reason the Seven were- I had to do a mental count, four now? "Just to check in?" His eyes came back to my face, and I could tell he was trying to piece together the point of it. "So I just come in, say 'sup' and go?"
Billy laughed, and I shook my head. "No," he offered, voice low and quiet, but also clear as a bell. "You come in. We give you a rundown of your 'powers'." I had to pick up the file on my desk to keep from hitting him for the air quotes and snark, mostly because he was making me want to laugh. "You tell us if you've gotten some added extras, and we add 'em to your file." Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I could see how supremely comfortable and confident Billy looked seated beside me. "You hold out, we find out you held out, well it'll take more than a little rehab from the Church of Twats and Cunts to fix the mess."
Taking a chance to look up from A-Train's file, I was in time to see him gulp. "I helped you," he muttered, but Billy said nothing. "I gave-"
"That's the past," I cut in, bringing his focus back to me. "Right now, after Vought's irregularities have come to light, we have to make certain that you're safe and healthy. You had a scare with your heart, didn't you?" He nodded. "I have boxes and boxes of files, all are dead supes or attempts at MAKING supes that ended less than successfully. Babies, adults, and some that are somewhere in between. Learning if your powers are growing, if your body is under more strain, that could save lives. It could save YOUR life." He was studying me, trying to find out if I was lying, but he didn't have the same abilities that other supes had, so he had to choose whether to trust me or not on his own.
Billy sighed. Standing up, he strode over to one of the filing cabinets we'd filled with the supe files. Yanking open a drawer, he pulled out three files. Then he tossed them onto the desk in front of A-Train. "Go on, pick one and read it." Nervous, but curious, he reached for the top file. If he'd gulped when Billy had first spoken to him, it was nothing to how sick he started looking as he read. "Each one, all three, and every single file in the cabinet I pulled those from are dead. Babies, children, adults, and even elderly. All because Vought wanted to play God, real or imaginary." Billy sat back down. "Don't have to tell you that I am NOT a fan of supes, but Doc here, she ain't lying when she says she's keeping track for your own good. If we know how this shit evolves, we can know if it levels out or if it amplifies and kills."
"Like my heart," he muttered, shaking his head. "But I was adding to it myself-"
"Which I've made a note of," I replied. "Even if you hadn't, from what a few files mentioned, there's still a chance that your heart would have felt strained anyway. Human bodies, even modified ones, aren't meant to bear so much stress."
He listened, really listened, and while the tension between him and Billy didn't lessen, he became more forthright with me. Telling me how he felt before and after taking more Compound V, how his body seemed to be bouncing back without it, and admitting he hadn't known about the failed attempts. He also promised, taking one of my cards, to let me know if he noticed any new issues, good or bad.
All in all, it was a productive meeting. One that I hoped would be easy to repeat with the others. A-Train left, Billy and I talked over what we learned, and he told me that good cop/bad cop worked well. I rolled my eyes.
"What?" He asked, sounding far too innocent to take seriously. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Sure, I just don't quite understand why we have to intimidate them before we attempt to just ask for information." I shrugged, still my favorite gesture. Sighing, I leaned back in my chair. "It did work," I admitted begrudgingly. "Even if I'd prefer to use the bad cop routine sparingly."
"What if I use it when we're alone," his voice had gone a hint deeper, and I could swear I felt it rush through my body. "Can I be the bad cop when we're all alone in your-" a knock on the doorframe stopped him, but I knew I had to get my breathing under control before I could say a word. "What is it?" Billy asked, attention leaving me to take over where I clearly couldn't. And I missed the entire exchange, thinking all manner of ways that Billy could play bad anything with me.
The day went by, compiling a report of our first meeting with our first supe, making sure it was sent to EVERYONE who needed a copy. I wasn't prepared when the day ended and it was time for the real torture to begin.
Billy had brought in my change of clothes after lunch, and after he locked the door, he took a seat to watch me change. I had to roll my eyes at him, but at least one of us was enjoying the moment. He sat back, completely relaxed with a smile on his face that almost kicked my worry about the evening we were headed to to its knees, almost.
The dress I'd chosen was conservative. Dark green, fitted, but covering me from neck to knee. The sleeves were short, there was a tie belt, but nothing from the knee up could be considered the least bit too sexy. I'd worn silk stockings, complete with vintage seam, and as I slipped into my heels, I realized that Billy had moved while I dressed. The heat of him was against my back, his hands sliding down my bare arms to take my hands in his, and his lips pressed against my neck.
"You are so fucking beautiful, Veronica Taylor." His breath was hot on my skin and I relaxed into his body. "And I plan on showing you off tonight, make all those wankers at the 'club' know precisely who the lucky sod is that won you over."
I turned so we were facing one another. "Are you prepared for my parents?" I wanted him to get that it didn't matter to me, their approval one way or the other, but he had to understand that they would be pleasant, even with an audience. My family was well educated in how to cut someone to the quick without making a scene. He was grinning down at me which made me think he was taking the entire thing as a joke, but he surprised me by kissing me gently.
"I'm prepared to let them know just how badly they fucked up to force you to cut them out of your life, Ronnie." His nose brushed against mine and he stole another kiss. "Let's go, fashionably late is fine, but I want to get this show on the road. After all, we have something to do when we get home." Shit, bad cop, I felt the tingle down to my toes at the promise of it. And that made leaving our office marginally easier. Just a bit.