Somewhere I Belong
Chapter 9
Alton Lanson walked slowly through the Tyler Brown Memorial Park, only twenty minutes away from Xavier's Institute. It was almost 11:30 as Alton shoved his hands in his pockets to keep them warm, turning down the same path for the third time.
The man was late. Alton never would have agreed to met this late at night so far away from the city, but Dominic had insisted the man was good for it. Dominic Jean-Pierre, the newest member to his little company, knew the mystery man personally, though Alton hadn't decided is that was a good thing or not.
Erik Lehnsherr was the man he was to meet, alias Magneto, one of the most dangerous mutants alive. Alton Lanson & Company were a group of rag-tag post-CIA agents who now hired themselves out for odd jobs, mostly leaning towards the wrong-side of the law. Alton had to loyalties and he didn't recruit any one who did. They were the perfect group for Magneto, Dominic had said.
"Yeah, and where the hell is Dominic right now?" he asked himself as he pulled his coat tighter. Dominic had only been working with Alton for a few weeks. One of the stranger ones, Dominic always wore a pair of dark sunglasses whenever Alton saw him. Not sure what Dominic was hiding, Alton never asked. On the younger side of the normal members of the group, Dominic had proven himself to be tough in even tougher situations. Alton had no idea how he did it.
Three days ago the kid had come busting into his office, shouting about some great new case, big pay off, extreme action if things worked out. Alton had listened, promising to meet his Magneto.
Now he was frozen stiff, wandering around this park, half a million things on his mind he could be doing. He was going to chew Dominic's ass out when he got back to the office.
"Mr. Lanson," a voice said from Alton's back, causing him to jump.
"Jesus," Alton cried as he turned to find a man behind him. Alton had to bit his lip to keep from laughing at the guy. He wore an odd helmet, cape, tight suit, all in red or purple.
What in the hell has Dominic gotten me into?, Alton thought as he shoved his hands back into his pockets. "Mr. Lehnsherr."
He smiled. "Magneto."
"Magnetos," Alton repeated, "right. So what can I do for you, Magneto?"
"Well, Mr. Lanson, I have a job for your company," he stressed the last word. "There's a girl I need, and I want you to get her for me."
Alton frowned. "A girl? I've never done a kidnapping, don't think I'm going to start for a mutant."
"No?" Magneto smiled. He raised a hand and made a motion, like a sign.
Suddenly, Dominic walked out from behind a bush, a suitcase in hand.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Alton's eyes were wide with surprise, but he stopped when he noticed something odd. Dominic wasn't wearing his normal sunglasses. He wasn't wearing anything to cover his eyes, which Alton could now see were bright red in color. "Holy shit," Alton whispered. Before he could say anything, the so-called 'Dominic' popped open the suitcase.
"Holy shit," Alton repeated as he stared at all the money in the case.
"Not even for a mutant with 3 million dollars?"
Alton's mouth fell open. "3 million… for one girl?"
'Dominic' snapped the case shut, then turned the handle towards Alton.
Thinking quickly, Alton looked up at Magneto. "What's the catch?"
"Catch, Mr. Lanson?"
"Yeah, the catch. This deal is too perfect. A cool 3 million for one little girl?"
"Well, I assure you there is no catch, though she's not a little girl. She's 18."
Alton shrugged. "That's not bad."
Magneto raised an eyebrow. "She's also a student at Xavier's School for the Gifted."
"Xavier's?" Recognition dawned on Alton's face. "You want me to kidnap one of Xavier's mutants?"
Magneto continued to stare at him. Alton looked between Magneto and 'Dominic' "This is crazy," Alton said with a nervous laugh.
"C'est t'ree million dollars, mon ami," Dominic smiled.
Alton shot him a look. He couldn't believe he'd been fooled by this guy. He was barely out of his teens. Alton never should have hired him.
"Who are you?" Alton asked him.
The kid gave a small bow, a real show-man. "Name's Gambit."
"Gambit," Alton repeated, slightly flabbergasted. He sighed and looked at the case.
After a quiet minutes, Alton nodded his head. "Ok, we'll do it." At that, Gambit handed the case over to Alton. He was surprised by how heavy 3 million dollars was. He smiled to himself, but frowned at Magneto. "I'll need a picture and through dossier on this girl. A layout of Xavier's would be handy, but if you can't get it, I can."
Alton took a step back, then stopped. "One more thing." He pointed at Gambit. "You're out of my company, son. If I ever see you again, I'll kill ya." With that, Alton turned and walked away, 3 million dollars in his hands.
Magneto watched him walk away, finally noticing Gambit beside him. "Keep an eye on him, Gambit."
The Cajun nodded, then cleared his throat, watching Magneto. "Gambit don' get it. Why send dis guy t'get de fille when -"
"When I could use you?" Magneto finished for him, smiling. He began walking away from the meeting spot, Gambit slightly behind him. "The girl has an odd fascination with trust. I doubt she will be willing to stay and help us if we are the ones to kidnap her from Xavier.
"Instead, we'll leave that to Mr. Lanson. While Xavier tries to find her with Cerebro, we will know exactly where she is, and will be the ones to help the poor thing." The smile on his face was just plain devious.
Gambit furrowed his brow and followed behind Magneto, still not convinced this was the best plan. Who's to say they could trust this Alton Lanson anyways?
****Notes****
Gotta give thanks real quick to Amy Michelle [ff.net: dark_english_rose] for helping with the Cajun's accent. The one I had written was horrible, and she was kinda enough to change a few things for me. Also, I needed to add that whatever happens in the new episodes of Evo won't affect this story, seeing as how I finally got it finished. Meaning, if Gambit becomes good on the cartoon, he'll still be evil, for the moment, in this story.
