Author's Note: I own nothing.
10 Deals
The next day Kevin's mother got home, finding her living room rearranged for ease of access to the basement. She frowned as Kevin sat her down to explain what had happened.
"Your father did tell me he might be consulting on a case, but he never said he'd be taking it on fully." Kevin frowned and hugged his mother.
"I'm gonna find him. I promise mom." She smiled hugging her son.
"Promise me you'll be safe Kevin. I want you to find your father but I want you to be safe too." He nodded.
"I promise mom." He headed out shortly after that. Glen was buried under a school project with the gardening club so he met Cooper at the coffee shop to meet up and trade info with Jay. She didn't have anything new for them, but she kept checking her phone. Even when they decided to go on patrol around Bellwood she kept checking the time on the clock in her dashboard. Not too long after sundown she pulled up to Kevin's house.
"Out. I'm done for the night." Kevin frowned.
"We haven't found anything." Jay shrugged.
"Yeah well you can't win every night. Out, I got shit happening tonight." Cooper scoffed from the back seat.
"What hot date?"
"Maybe, none of your business blondie. Out." Kevin rolled his eyes exiting the car, Cooper following his lead. But as the door closed behind them Cooper turned to him.
"Do you wanna find out what she's doing?" Kevin blinked. Copper pulled a small device out of his pocket. "I finished my cloaking device, and I genuinely don't think we can trust her. She was acting super sketchy today. I want to know if she's gonna stab us in the back before she does it." Kevin frowned.
"How would you follow her, the car's already long gone."
"I left a tracker in her backseat."
"Cooper!"
"I'm sorry am I the only one who thinks that the wanted criminal that wound up in extradimensional prison at the ripe old age of ten might not have our best interests at heart!" Kevin let out a hissing breath. He hated to admit it but Cooper might have a point. "Even Glen is a little shaky on trusting her. It's why he hasn't tried any of the spell books she's given him yet. You have to admit it's weird that she's helping us without anything in it for her. She doesn't know you put her on parole, or even that you could."
"Maybe she's banking on my dad doing it." Kevin suggested. Cooper shook his head.
"Maybe, maybe not. But you've told me what happened last time she tried to help you and it didn't go well."
Five Years Ago
They'd been in the middle of a fight when the lights had flashed, transporting both of them to what seemed to be called the Mega Cruiser. Now they were being forced to fight as gladiators. Jay had snapped, her powers slashing up the reigning champion Technorg but Kevin had managed to pull her back before she killed him, though only just.
He'd been hopeful that they could get off the ship together when they started a prisoner revolt. But she'd turned on him, still blaming him for her powers going crazy, since it had gotten worse since they met. Technorg had saved him at the last moment. He knew what it was to be stabbed in the back by the girl.
Present Day
"You do have a point." Kevin said shaking his head. He bit his lip then nodded. "Fine we'll follow her, but if nothing's happening we leave." Cooper nodded summoning his motorcycle. He clipped the device to the bike and the two set off after Jay. Cooper turned on the cloak when they got close to the warehouses. He had handed Kevin his phone, so he could keep track of the tracer. It led them to a warehouse near the docks.
"Where is she?" Kevin asked and Cooper frowned, then pointed, his arm barely a shimmer in the air under the cloaking tech.
"There." Indeed there was Jay's car parked next to a warehouse. She was leaning on a wall, she checked her phone again and rolled her eyes, tapping her foot.
"I swear if you don't show Argit."
"Aw JayJay. What would you do, hunt me down?" The voice came from a shadowed alleyway and a figure stepped out of the dark. He looked like a humanoid porcupine, dressed in an orange denim jacket, grungy white shirt, and shorts, though he wore no shoes.
"Don't put it past me." He balked slightly but relaxed.
"You got the goods?" Argit asked and Kevin swore internally. She wasn't supposed to be dealing. Jay nodded standing off the wall.
"Yeah I've got a few things you're buyer should like." She opened the door to the warehouse. It was full of crates of various sizes, completely stacked. She waved a hand and several large crates sailed down from the top. Kevin and Cooper crept closer, into the warehouse still hidden with the cloaking device, though Cooper warned that they only had about ten minutes left on the charge. With a flick of her hand the crate opened and Argit peeked in. Kevin couldn't see what it was but Argit shrugged. Jay rolled her eyes opening the second crate. Argit let out an unimpressed noise. Jay narrowed her eyes and brought down a third smaller crate from the top of the warehouse. She cracked that one open too. This time Argit reached into the box, pulling out a blaster pistol. Kevin would guess the box was full of them, and it wasn't exactly a small crate.
"We need to stop this. Who knows who she's selling to." Cooper whispered. Kevin frowned. "For all we know she's playing both sides."
"Well? Will your buyer take it?" Jay asked distracting them. Argit seemed to think about it for a minute circling the crates again. He nodded.
"Weapons tech is worth a pretty penny, the flight tech he'd love. Or he would if he ever got the chance at it." The spikes on Argit's back puffed and Jay let out a curse between gritted teeth as she toppled to the floor. Kevin and Cooper blinked at each other.
"You backstabbing scumbag!" The pronouncement was made through gritted teeth.
"You should have held out on me JayJay. Just this is enough to get me out of all my debts! And the rest." He whirled arms out gesturing to the other crates in the room. "Well I can finally live a little. But I'll keep my end of the bargain." He tossed a card at her, it smacked her in the face, falling to the ground. "When you can walk again, go see him, tech dealer by the name of Vulkanus." Jay's eyes went wide. Argit grinned. "He says he knows you. Says he wants you dead." With that the porcupine creature began to shove one of the crates outside.
"We can't let him get away with that tech." Kevin said leaping out from behind the crate, outside the bounds of the cloak, spinning the dial on the Omnitrix. A scream of rage filled the warehouse, followed by a blast of deep pink light. When it cleared Jay was back on her feet Argit wrapped in a bubble of bright pink light. He chittered in fear firing off a few spikes that only turned against him in the confined space. He fell, snoring to the floor of the bubble. Kevin blinked as Jay turned on him. Her eyes were still glowing a deep pink. It was a bit unnerving considering last time she looked at that she'd been trying to kill him.
"You followed me?" It was an accusation. Cooper flicked the cloaking device off. "Oh and you brought blondie. Goody, a meeting of the goodie two shoes."
"You're dealing again." Cooper sounded angry. Jay rolled her eyes.
"I have my reasons, drop it." Kevin stepped a bit closer to Jay who floated the prone Argit between them, the bubble vanishing. She flipped him over careful of his spikes.
"You told Magister Labrid you'd stop." Kevin said, he sounded more disappointed than angery. Jay didn't look him in the eye as she laid her hand on Argit's head.
"What are you doing?" Cooper demanded.
"Not that it's any of your business but I'd like him to not be able to steal my shit when he wakes up. I'm modifying his memory."
"You can do that?" Kevin was a little awed and a little terrified.
"Not often. I'm really just blurring the past hour or so. He'll think he blacked out drunk. But it's not really your business either Levin. Drop it." She snapped it at him and waved a hand at Argit who vanished. Kevin opened his mouth, Jay glared at him. "I don't have to explain anything I do to either of you." She snatched up the card from the ground and Cooper stepped between her and the exit. Her eyes narrowed.
"We aren't gonna let you do this." She vanished in a flash of light. They blinked.
"And how do you plan on stopping me?" Her voice came from outside the warehouse. Cooper frowned his eyes flashing blue. The guns in the crate fell into their component parts. "I really don't see what Glen sees in you Blondie." A shield appeared around her car and she hopped into it racing away.
"That might have been a step too far Cooper. We have no idea what was going on here." Cooper frowned.
"We know it was illegal." Kevin frowned after the car as it disappeared.
Jay was angry beyond reason. Argit had contacted her claiming he had a buyer who had a piece of tech taken off Devin Levin. If Cooper and Kevin hadn't tracked her back to her spare warehouse this might already be over and done with. Then again maybe not, given the person who actually had the tech in question. Vulkanus. He hated her, she'd ducked and run when she got wind of the Plumbers on their way to bust the scam she'd been part of. She'd just gotten back to Earth at the time and hadn't wanted to be chucked into the Null Void she growled under her breath as she pulled up to the air field that sat at the coordinates Argit had given her. Taking a deep breath she stepped out of her car and clicked on the locks. It barely took a moment to break through the fence. She made it into the air field and was quickly surrounded by small figures wielding pick axes. They chittered at her and she rolled her eyes lightly.
"Take me to your boss." They chittered to each other, closed ranks and led her into the main hanger. One of them had scampered on ahead of the group.
"Well, if it isn't Jay. Never thought I'd see you again after that mess with the counterfeit isotopes." Vulkanus said from his seat in the center of the hanger.
"Ancient history. I hear you have a piece of Plumber tech I'm interested in." Vulkanus smiled holding up a holo-viewer.
"What'll you give me for it?" He asked as she stepped forward. Jay smiled lightly then her face dropped into a serious expression.
"All cards on the table I have several pieces of tech to trade for it. I had a crate of laser pistols too but there was a bit of an incident." Vulkanus laughed.
"Tends to be when you're involved. So you don't have the full payment." Vulkanus shook his head.
"What do you want for it? I'll make it happen." He laughed at her then nodded.
"I genuinely believe that." He reached out a hand and Jay smiled. She took his hand and he yanked hard, sending her stumbling to her knees. A glass cylinder slammed closed around her. "But I still want payback for that scam." Light crackled and Jay screamed as a horrible draining feeling filled her and power seeped out of her skin and into the cylinder.
"Do what you want to me, but Kevin Levin gets that holo-viewer!" She gritted it out through her teeth as the draining feeling spiked. Vulkanus laughed loudly, flicking the holo-viewer across the room.
"You are in no position to make demands little girl."
