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Dingy was the word he was searching for. This place was dingy. It was small, dark, damp and inhabited by people that barely qualified as human. In many ways it reminded him of one of his early laboratories except for perhaps the torn pool table that stood unused in one badly lit corner and the continual cloud of smoke hung just below the roof. He noted that the man behind the bar seemed capable of only one expression, which seemed to be displeasure and his clientele weren't much better. He hoped that his rather up market appearance wasn't the cause of their discomfort. Despite the suit he wore, it was evident he was a powerfully built man with broad shoulders and large arms. His dark hair was tightly cropped and even in the darkness of the room, his pallid skin was noticeable.
Unconcerned with the glares he was getting, he took another drink from the beverage in front of him and marveled once again at just how unclean a glass could get. Still, it was the price you paid for getting the right kind of hired help. It was merely a shame that the right kind of help choose to arrange meetings in establishments such as this.
It was a good twenty minutes before the man he was due to meet arrived. He slid into the bar, practically unnoticed by the rest of the patrons and took a seat opposite. He was a lean athletic looking man with delicate hands and an easy manner. He wore his light brown, almost red hair loose and a pair of dark sunglasses hid his eyes.
"You Essex?" he asked, his Cajun accent thick with suspicion.
"That's correct. Would you like a drink of some kind?" Essex asked in a genial manner.
"From dis place?" He couldn't hide his disgust, "Live longer if I don't."
Essex merely shrugged.
"Jean Luc say you have job so we talk business or do I walk?"
"Of course," Essex began, more then happy to get straight down to brass tacks. "There is an item currently residing in New York that I would like to possess. The owner of said item is aware of its value and thus is naturally disinclined to part with it so I was hoping that you might be able to somehow convince him on my behalf."
"Dis item...big or small?"
"Oh...Roughly disk sized," he answered with a small motion of his hand
"So it's information you takin'. So is dis information on the disk or is dere some hardwiring involved."
"There will be no need for any hardwiring as you say."
"What's on da disk?"
"Does it matter?" Essex answered, the slightest hint of annoyance evident in his calm voice. "There is however an element of danger involved in its retrieval."
"Dat's okay. As long as da money's good, Remy okay wit' a little danger."
"Look gentlemen...it seems that the fair Mrs. Frost has returned in disgrace after failing to get into the blind man's pants," Sebastian commented more to himself then anyone else from where he sat in a large recliner reading a broadsheet newspaper.
All of her fellow housemates were gathered in the library that doubled as a den of sorts for them when they had nothing more pressing to deal with. A number of large recliners like the one Shaw was seated in were placed in a circle in the center of the room with a large couch near the wall furthest from the window. Save for that windowed side, the remainder of the walls were covered in books covering every known topic known to man.
Emma pointedly ignored him, her attention solely focused on Jason who was idly passing the time by flicking through a large book. He was aware that she was having one of her moments when she grabbed the tome from his hand and threw it into the wall, creating a large bang that startled Donald who had been dozing on the couch. Jason turned to face the fury with a bored expression. Emma's temper tantrums were not exactly on the endangered species list and they had all been on the receiving end of her ire at one stage or another.
"What crawled up your skirt?" he asked, not particularly in the mood to deal with her petulance.
"Obviously not Scott Summers," Sebastian stated wryly, getting a laugh from Pierce.
"Where did you find those steroid abusing morons. They were ten seconds away from dragging me in the toilets and doing..." she faltered slightly here, her palpable anger and genuine disbelief getting the better of her.
"Just like how all your dates end eh?" Donald mocked.
In a one swift move Emma caught up a book from a chair side table and flung it at Donald, who would have got hit squarely in the face had he not got his arms up in time.
"You bitch," he exclaimed as he jumped to his feet, his forearms screaming out in pain for revenge.
"All of you, enough!" Shaw exclaimed in that tone of his that brokered no argument. He was conscious that Essex would have all their heads if any harm came to Emma prior to the completion her task. "The boys Jason asked to brutalize you did what they were supposed to. Summers interceded and you got your opening. Mission accomplished. If there's a problem now it's with your handling after they were gone. Is there a problem?" he demanded.
"I don't answer to you," she replied haughtily.
"While Essex is away you do," he reminded her. While nothing was ever said on the subject, it was accepted wisdom that he was the defacto leader of the students and he always acted as such even if the others had to be forcibly reminded from time to time. However he could now see the predicament he had placed her in. In private she would reveal everything that happened but to climb down in front of the other two would be a complete lose of face for her. Despite their adversarial natures he decided against tormenting her further.
"Pull yourself together and we'll discuss this later." Though it sounded like a harsh dismissal, it was in fact an easy way out for her rather then staying for a confrontation where she would lose more then her dignity. A flash of genuine gratitude crossed her face as she stalked passed him, her head held high maintaining that holier then thou look of hers.
"Stupid whore," Pierce exclaimed as he sat down rubbing his arms, trying to deaden the pain there.
Shaw spun on him, seeming to grow in stature and taking up all available space between them.
"You imbecile Pierce...what do you think Essex would have done to you if you had laid a finger on her. He tolerates her mood swings because she's important to his plan but the three of us don't occupy such an exalted position. Keep his unhappy face in mind the next time you think about lashing out at Emma like some love struck child."
A clearly chastised Pierce sat down again, knowing that there was no refuting that point. Though Essex was always nicer then nice, there was something deeply unsettling about him that chilled them all straight to the soul. Emma didn't see or refused to see this side of him but she unlike the rest of them had not witnessed Essex being less then nice. The results were...messy.
A temporary calm restored, Jason couldn't help himself and threw some more oil on to a simmering Pierce.
"Heh, that's right, I remember now. She cut you off at the knees...poor old Donald doesn't float the Frost boat." Jason laughed; it was a shrill and mocking laugh that served to put the others further on edge.
Seeing there was no sport to be had with Pierce, his laugh subsided and he randomly grabbed another book from the shelf and began scanning through it. Pierce mumbled something under his breath before he panned out again on the couch, his thoughts focusing on revenge and a blonde haired woman as he stared at the beams across the ceiling. Shaw was left to ponder why he suffered such fools and why Essex had them all here in the first place.
It was a well known fact that Rogue and Jean Grey weren't exactly what you would call friends. It seemed strange that they weren't at least someway close given that either of them would happily walk through fire for the other while they wore the uniform. But once that X came off, so did any cordial relations they might have. It wasn't that they were at each other's throats or actively disliked each other; they simply had an understanding where they tried to avoid interacting with one another.
So Jean was more then a little surprised when Rogue joined her in front of the large vanity mirror in the girl's changing room just after a particularly intense evening Danger Room session. Jean had just finished washing her hair when Rogue arrived in silence, removed her gloves and thoroughly washed her bare hands. There was nothing strange in that but for the fact that she did it standing right next to Jean when normally she would have done it at the opposite end of the room.
"Looks like Taryn might have some competition," Rogue stated simply, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled between the two.
"Oh," Jean replied in an absent manner though she knew her pulse had gone up a notch or two. "For class president?" Jean asked absently.
Rogue didn't bother rolling her eyes. It was a game the two of them had played from the very beginning. Rogue pretended not to be openly interested in Scott and Jean pretended that she didn't hold any sway over Scott or cared where his romantic interests focused. But rather then come out and say anything regarding the topic, they had invented the handy Taryn shorthand, whereby they could say what they thought but imply that it was Taryn they were talking about.
"Maybe for the potential class president," Rogue clarified. They couldn't even bring themselves to say his name to each other for fear of lighting a fuse that was ever present between them.
"Oh," Jean repeated.
Rogue finished washing her hands and grabbed a towel to leave Jean to stew for a moment, deciding that the least the redhead could do was work a little for the information she so obviously wanted. Rogue wasn't disappointed.
"Someone on the cheerleading squad?" she asked breezily.
It was a poor guess but she had once been interrogated after practice by one of the more...forward cheerleaders about Scott as everyone believed Jean was now a reliable and unbiased source, given that she was seeing Duncan. Jean thought that it would be nice and simple if it were one of them. Even though he was more then capable of acting typically...male when he wanted to, Scott actually believed the adage that personality counts and would certainly look beyond any cheerleader's bare midriff and tanned legs.
"No," Rogue responded. "It's that new girl, Grace Frost, you know the quiet blonde one. She sits in the back for biology." It was the only class it seemed that the three of them had in common.
Jean nodded though her mind was hastily attempting to picture a face that matched the description.
Rogue continued, "Well, ah got the story from Risty. Seems some of Duncan's buddies were harassing her by her locker when Scott did his Dudley Do-Right thing and marched in and saved the day."
Jean couldn't help notice that Rogue's frown matched her own. If you asked Scott if he had a hero complex, he'd laugh for ten minutes solid. What he failed to realize however was that he had a deep rooted do-the-right-thing complex that was almost worse. In fact it really irked her how often he tried to help when his help was neither welcome nor wanted.
"Let me guess, she was oh so thankful for the big macho man coming into save her," she stated, making no effort to hide her scorn in scathing baby girl voice.
"Ah guess," Rogue answered though she actually found Scott's chivalry kind of...charming.
"The infatuation won't last," Jean predicted as she grabbed a different towel to begin drying her hair.
"Why not?" Rogue couldn't help but ask, secretly feeling that Jean wouldn't hear of any relationship of Scott's lasting to a stage where it might be considered serious.
"Two reasons," Jean replied evenly as she leaned over to throw her hair forward over her shoulders, blocking her face from Rogue's view. "For one; Taryn will pull out all the stops when she finds out to make sure she's the apple of his eye and two; Scott holds things back and that eats away at you after a while. And that's not even getting into the mutant thing."
Rogue said nothing but could feel her blood rising. The mutant thing...That's all it was to Jean; a minor inconvenience. For Rogue, the mutant thing dominated her every waking moment. It was the little things like that which kept and maybe increased the distance between them. Part of her knew that Jean didn't do it intentionally but that almost made it worse. She took it all so much for granted.
"Have you spoken to her...the new girl I mean?" Jean asked from somewhere behind a wall of red hair. Jean still hoped that she might be an airhead. Things like that made it easier to dislike her.
"No, she keeps to herself must of the time. Could be a psycho for all I know," Rogue suggested though she knew better.
Jean said nothing for a moment before she up righted herself creating a cascade of hair, another thing that annoyed Rogue.
"I don't think Taryn has anything to worry about," Jean decided, which broadly meant that neither of the two of them had anything to worry about.
Rogue said nothing and replaced her gloves before leaving Jean alone with her thoughts which at this moment were whirling around in a maelstrom.
She tried to remember when things had gotten so complicated around the mansion. Before it had just been a small happy unit. The Professor, Ororo, Scott and herself with Uncle Logan popping in from time to time to complete the happy family unit. She had hoped it could go on like that forever but then things changed and new faces appeared; first Kurt and Kitty followed soon by Rogue and Evan. More appeared almost every month and now the place was a regular hive of activity.
She knew though that she couldn't blame any of them though for her current situation with Scott. Was it even a situation? She was well aware that his feelings towards her had blossomed significantly from when they first met. It wasn't really evident in how he acted towards her but plain as the nose on her face in how he acted towards Duncan.
Taryn, who had been very much a neutral party at the time, had put his behaviour down to jealousy on Scott's part, which Jean naturally dismissed though secretly she hoped it to be true. She despised the fact that the weak and childish part of her found great comfort in the fact she was being fought over by two not unappealing guys.
She knew that for Duncan it might primarily have been a matter of pride. As the captain of the team and number one athlete surely he deserved the prettiest and most popular girl at school. Though it seemed incredibly vein on her part to think she was that person, it was tough to deny as stray thoughts told her that's what people actually thought about her despite what they might say. That he actually did manage to make them an item said something about his charm and self-belief. She knew that he loved being seen with her at all the parties and enjoyed being the center of the school universe. And for her it was escapism. Why shouldn't she enjoy being the envy of other girls when tomorrow she may have to face Magneto while their greatest worry was homework.
No life certainly was simplier with Duncan though a growing part of her knew that it wasn't her real life anymore.
The other side of the original triangle that didn't exist, she told herself, was Scott. Life was never easy with Scott. She hated to admit it but he always challenged her, forced her to be honest and at her best all the time. Nothing made her feel lower when he gave her that look that spoke volumes. I'm disappointed in you. You are so much better then this.And worse was how he applied those standards of his to every little thing.
She remembered one evening in particular where she was going to the hottest club in Bayville or at least what amounted to hot in Bayville. She had spent ages preparing so that she would look stunning for Duncan. The doorbell had rung announcing his arrival and she was going to answer it when she met Scott going the opposite way on the stairs. He looked at her once and smiled briefly before moving on but a certain sadness practically radiated off him. Unable to stop herself she brushed off his mind and learnt that he felt she was somehow degrading herself for Duncan. That he could believe that infuriated her, ruined the entire night for her as a matter of fact. When she returned later she fully intended to confront him about his notions when she heard voices by the pool talking about everything and nothing.
Against her better judgment she remained out of view and listened as Evan, Kurt and Scott talked about the women of the house. She figured that all groups, both male and female had this conversation at one time or another, comparing the merits of the opposite sex with whom they interacted with daily.
Kurt had kicked it off by expounding on all the girl's beauty; from Ororo's exotic and noble bearing, Kitty's bambi like grace, Rogue's soulful eyes to her own girl-next-door appeal. Well he had been a good deal more descriptive then that but that was the gist of it. The other two had murmured agreement or even added a comment or two of their own with typically boyish glee.
Unseen, Jean had blushed slightly. She guessed it was only natural that sometimes when they were watching the girls at breakfast or whenever, they were really watching them. That's what boys did...and girls too though a lot more discreetly.
But what she stuck with her was what Scott said after the trio had been silent for a while.
"You know what's even better then all of that?" he asked, like being attractive didn't matter in the slightest. His voice had a far away quality as he continued, "It's their spirit, ya know? It's so reassuring and...inspiring to know that when we do...the stuff we do, you can count on the fact that standing right by your side, sharing all the good and the bad with you will be these amazing women. It's the best feeling in the world," He stated without shame or hesitation.
Even as the other two audibly agreed, Jean could practically feel herself glowing. It was then she felt she knew why Scott would have been so disappointed in her earlier that evening. It wasn't that she had worn practically nothing which again was probably the true but it was because she had done it for the wrong reasons. That somehow she had diminished her character by doing it so that Duncan would get a thrill from letting everyone see that he had the prettiest girl in Bayville on his arm. All of them may have been living the lie but she was enjoying it.
That evening coupled with Rogue's arrival had signalled the start of her problems. It was hard to see someone take such a shine to Scott just as she herself started to see him in a different light. Taryn's strongarm tactics in going after him only crystalized what she felt. So to remain somewhat sane, she bottled those feelings up as best she could and carried on living the fantasy she had created with Duncan. After all what choice did she have.
"Hey J," Kitty's greeting startled her from her thoughts. She realized with a start that she had been standing there for a good ten minutes staring at the mirror.
"Hi Kitty," she replied weakly as she pondered just what another female would do to an already fragil romantic situation.