What am Ah supposed to do now? Rogue's personality fumed in Jamie Williams's body.
He looked Mrs. Watts in the face. "Do you know where he went? It's real important."
"Oh, sure." She smiled. "Sure thing… He always leaves a note…" She tottered off to get it.
Williams waited at the door and looked around. Finally she returned. "He's gone to The Imperial hotel in town where he's going to meet some people in the lounge." She waved the little paper. "He always lets me know where I can find him!" She smiled wide. "If you hurry you could catch him." She smiled. "You were always a good friend to him. I know he'll want to see you and visit."
"Thanks mam." He said in a southern drawl. "Ah'll just go see if ah can catch him now…"
She looked oddly at him. "What happened to your hair?" She asked.
"What?" Williams cocked his head at her.
"Well, it's gone white in the front." She smiled. "But it looks nice. Very distinguished."
"White, really?" He asked.
"Ahhh!" She waved her one hand back and forth. "We're all getting older now dear. No need to fret over it. It's bound to happen."
She closed the door slowly and then locked its many locks.
Ah'd better get going. It Imperial's almost all the way across Bayville… LONDON! Ah'm in London!
He hailed a cab in no time.
"The imperial!" He told the driver, handing him a large bill for the fare. "As quick as you can."
"Sure thing." The driver smiled. "About ten minutes tonight with traffic." He pulled away from the curb and didn't bother with setting the meter. "Shouldn't be too long."
"Thanks." Williams replied like a schoolgirl.
They passed a bus with a great advertisement lining the side. "Channel Twelve: Your source for Excalibur – And the future!" Kurt's face was plastered in profile over the end of the bus.
The Rogue in Jamie Williams laughed.
"Wot's so funny?" The driver asked.
"I know him." Rogues words came out his mouth and she pointed his fingers at the bus. He could do nothing to stop either motion. "We went to school together. Even found out we were related… in a round about sort of way."
"Hunh. Then you might appreciate this. I had Lucy Logan in my cab not too long ago."
"Hah!" Jamie heard himself reply. "I met her too. A long time ago, when she was on the wrong side."
The driver nodded. "Well, she's on our side now. Britain's side. I can't get over it either. I talk to people all day long and you know what? Most of them can't tell you Captain Britain's real name to save their life. But you say Lucy Logan or mention the name Hunter… And they perk right up."
"Really?" His inner Rogue proceeded.
"Oh, yeah. People here in England love her. I know it's just the way they put it together, but those interviews they all did a while back… She put it all in plain words. Told you who was lying and who wasn't… And you can just tell… She meant it. No foolin' there. Just honesty and plain answers."
Williams felt his head bobbing up and down, his mind racing over how this would effect Logan and how – for being so much alike – they really were leading different lives.
"Yeah… I'd have to say that when you say the word Excalibur to a person… Wagner might jump to mind as the most repeated name, but that Miss Logan… She's the first one anyone believed in. She's the one who cleared up all that harassment talk… She made us trust her… Just by being too honest to argue with. Oh sure, she used to kill people, but she admits it. Talks about it like it was. She's not a killer who was trying to hide among us. She's grown up and seen the difference between right and wrong and made the choice to defend Britain. How can we help but love a girl like that? Especially after some of the things they say she's been through. Did you see that expose that channel fourteen did on her?"
"Uhhh… No." Williams replied as neither he nor Rogue had seen it.
"They're all muckrakers over there at channel fourteen. I don't watch them much, but when they were talking about Lucy Logan, I made the time." He sighed. "Seems she was attacked in New York by a man who wanted to... you know... take her… when she didn't want him to."
"That's gross." Rogue added with Williams's mouth.
"It is at that." The driver agreed. "But still, most people get mistreated and become either abusive of withdrawn, right? But not her. Nothing seems to slow her down. They say she's even dating that inventor fella who works for Excalibur." The cab driver shook his head. "And I swear it… He'd better treat her right, or he won't be welcome in my cab!"
Rogue twisted Jamie's face in to a smile. "If he didn't treat her right she'd clobber him!"
The cab driver laughed and so did Williams/Rogue.
"I bet she would." The driver said, still enjoying the joke. "But even so… She's a rare rose that chose to flower here in England and I can tell we're lucky to have her. I was ready to hang Wagner and his office out to dry after a week of those harassment reports. I don't know that I ever would have believed a word he had to say in his defense. Probably wouldn't have been interested at all if he did the commercial for that first news story by himself. I wouldn't want to give him the chance to explain it… Much to my embarrassment."
"You really are impressed with her, aren't you?" Williams asked.
The cab driver nodded. "She was a nice, polite young girl when she was in my cab. And that's saying something about a trained killer, now don't you think? A dangerous girl like that saying please and thank you to the likes of me… You can tell… She's got respect. For herself, for others…" He nodded. "For life."
He pulled slowly over to the curb and turned around to face his fare. "You know what she told me when she first got in to my cab?"
"What?" He asked, his curiosity more than piqued.
"She told me that England was a magical place. That she thought it was like a great dream that she was afraid to wake up from. And you know why she said that?"
"Why?"
"Because I asked her how she was getting along here in England. If she liked the people and the place." He smiled. "And you know what? When she said it… magical… like a dream… I could see it through her eyes, you know? I could see all those things that might charm a foreigner who had it rough… And I still can. I wake up every day in a world where Excalibur is more than a myth. I can actually respect people like her and Wagner. I can trust them to solve my problems before they get out of hand and I can believe what they say… That's a kind of magic all it's own you know. And I have it everyday now. They're a blessing, all of them. But Lucy's got a place in the heart… and not just mine. Most everyone I talk to says nothing but good about her. Even the last holdouts that think Wagner really grabbed that girl, despite her confession and the deal he cut her… Not a one of them ever says a word against Miss Logan. Not even to call her a liar. And I think it's because most people are like I am. They know who to believe and they believe her."
Williams nodded. "Thanks for the ride… and the conversation."
"Any time miss… I mean Sir… Sorry, slip of the tongue there or something."
Or a psychic perception. "No problem." He replied in a Rouge-like fashion. "Have a great night."
"Ahh, you know I will!" He laughed. "You know!"
Williams slipped out of the cab and on to the curb, closing the door with a seductive flip of his hips before running his fingers through his hair and checking his 'look' in the mirror.
He felt the Rogue's confusion at his reflection.
Don't worry… he told her/himself. This is only for tonight. A few more hours at most. Just long enough… I hope.
And he turned, put his head down and walked in to the lobby of the great hotel. He spied the lounge off to one side and slipped in. A few people who were probably regulars dotted the bar. A few couples sat quietly out of the way holding hands and talking quietly.
Williams turned his attention to the bathrooms.
I need to check everywhere… He decided as he passed the bar towards the facilities.
And without missing a beat he walked right in to the women's room and collided with a woman on her way out.
"Oh, sorry. Ah just…" He looked around. "Needed to check my makeup."
The woman eyed him suspiciously. "It looks… fine honey… Now you better turn around before somebody screams or something." She told him warily.
"Oh, right." He winked as he took two steps backwards. "I should ummm…" He stepped backwards and aimed at the men's room door.
Ah can't go in there! He thought to himself as he pushed through the door. Then he felt a devious rush as he realized. Oh my God… I'm in the MENS ROOM!
He glanced towards the stalls and under the doors. No one seemed to be there. Then he stopped to wash his hands at the counter.
A handsome man with dark hair and blue eyes came in to the bathroom and approached the urinal next to the sinks. He quickly unzipped and suddenly…
Williams found himself face to face with the man as he stopped Mr. Williams from 'peeking' over the small divider at what hung below.
"Do you mind?" The man asked, obviously insulted.
"Not at all." Williams shook his head. "That's impressive." He added, opening the door and stepping out. "Really… wow."
The man swelled with a strange form of macho pride. "Well… thanks!" He said at last even though the door was already closing and his new, odd 'friend' was already gone.
"I always knew it." He said defiantly with just a hint of superiority. And he walked off, sporting a smile that wouldn't fade for more than a week.