Setting In Chapter 5

Parking in the driveway then turning the engine off, Danny sighed.

Deciding to break the awkward silence, I turned to him saying, "Those mash potatoes were so creamy."

Meeting my eyes, Danny cracked the first smile I'd seen on his face since I told him I had a headache and we left the Barns house. "They were, weren't they?"

Sighing again as he turned away, Danny said, "So I take it your talk with Emma didn't go very well?"

"She's," I said, pausing as I tried to find the right way to put it. "Not what I expected."

"Oh?"

"I would imagine you don't need to be an amnesiac for a person to change," I said slowly as I formulated my thoughts. "But she seemed, strange, I guess would be the word. Not like you described to me."

"How so?"

"Emma seemed more interested in trying to figure out how me being back was going to affect her world and less on that I was back," I answered. "Unlike the others. You never said if I knew Anne very well from before, and I don't think that's the case by how she was acting. I can't imagine that my relationship with Emma's big sister would be better than the one I had with Emma. But Anne seemed genuinely glad to see me again. As did Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. It's an interesting contrast to how Emma acted."

"That is strange," Danny agreed, frowning as he digested my words. "I vaguely remember Alan saying something a few years ago about a car accident he and Emma were in, but not the details. He never mentioned it again. Or if he did, I don't remember it. I was rather busy trying to find you at the time. Maybe the accident rattled her and she's still struggling to get over it?"

Nodding at the points raised, and those that weren't, I said, "A car accident might explain a few things."

"I can ask Alan, if you liked."

"It's not really that important," I assured Danny. "Honestly, whatever's wrong with Emma isn't going to change just because we look into it. She said she 'outgrew me' so maybe just leaving it alone would be best. It's not like either of us are missing anything if we do."

"Harsh, but I can see what you mean," Danny said reluctantly.

"I'm not saying you should avoid your friend, Danny. Not on my account."

"Well, Alan and I have grown apart ourselves," Danny admitted. "We're a long way from college and his world is very different than the one I live in. Different social circles."

"Up to you, Danny, but don't give up on a good friend just because real life has gotten in the way. Make some time for him, maybe you will find your old friend in there waiting for you."

"And when did you become the Mistress of Advice?" Danny asked playfully.

Smiling at him, I adopted a haughty tone, raising my nose into the air. "I have always been knowledgeable. You are only just now realizing how far my talents reach. Do not be so surprised and have no fear, mon cher. I ask for nothing but that you bask in my brilliance, as is proper of a henchman."

Danny threw back his head and laughed which broke my composure and had me laughing with him. After a moment he shook his head. "Well, it could have gone worse..."

My phone chimed. Curious at who was texting me this late, I took a look, and saw that it was a message in code from Jess.

Sighing, I smiled apologetically at Danny. "I have to work tonight."

"Renée…"

"Relax, Danny. A friend needs me for a meet and greet with the Undersiders. One of them apparently found a way to contact them through their PHO account. They are not amused," I assured him, with little success. "They think it's a recruitment pitch, and one that's already gone badly. My friend just wants me there in case they don't like the word, 'no'."

His face was so conflicted, I couldn't get a read on him. After several long moments, Danny asked softly, "And if I was to ask you not to do this?"

"That would...put me in an awkward position," I answered vaguely, but honestly hoping that this wasn't going to be the issue it was looking like.

Nodding, Danny whispered, "I'm just worried about you, kiddo."

"I know," I said, leaning over to put my hand on his shoulder. "It's very sweet of you but I can take care of myself. I've been doing this for a while."

"I know. When we were in New Orleans, after we saw Bennie, I talked a lot with Sam and Penny while you were away," Danny stated, looking out into the night in a way that made me wonder if he was even seeing any of it.

"Sam had questions about the Bay, and I had questions about the kind of things you guys did. Penny told me about the orphanage you guys helped to keep kids out of the Street Rats. I know about all the effort you have gone through to help people either stay away from that life, or keep them out once they had an option for better while employing those who liked doing the kind of work you were doing."

I let Danny gather his thoughts and say what he had on his mind. It was obviously something that had been bothering him for a while.

I knew about the talks, of course. I had to be in a lot of places making sure the right people went to ground after meeting with Simmons. The whole thing was actually Penny's idea. Both to spare me from having to do it, and to give Danny a different perspective than my usual explanations. Sam went along with it to gauge Danny's reactions. He respected Danny a lot, but I think part of Sam would always be distrustful of anyone who wasn't a part of the Guild. In a lot of ways, I couldn't say I blamed him for it.

"Sam told me, reluctantly mind you, about some of things you did that you didn't like. The...hard choices that come from that kind environment."

"Danny," I tried to say but stopped when he held up his hand. He continued when I nodded.

"They were choices you shouldn't have had to make. But you did, and I know from personal experience that those kinds of choices take something from you. I...know something of the temptation that is in the cape world. What this life can be like, if one was to let it become their everything. I just wanted to say, Renée, that I was so very proud of how you handled it all. It's not everyone who can walk a line that thin and still be the wonderful girl you were when you found me."

I blushed, feeling both the weight of his words and the expectations that had never really been there before. He wasn't done, though.

"I might not like how you choose to help people, but I can respect that in a world without options, you did something special. You are something special. Just, promise me something?"

Leaning away to give him my full attention, I nodded. "If I can."

"This city," Danny stated, seemingly to gauge each word spoken as he did. "It's not like New Orleans. For whatever reason, it's a hard city where hope is a fragile commodity that people are afraid to have. I've seen cape teams and empires rise and fall. In the last twenty years there have been a lot of people who've tried to help, even succeeded to some degree, then were either wiped out, or gave in to the life and started doing horrible things just to keep their little piece of it. I've seen this place take good people, and ruin them. Slowly at first, but it happens. Please don't let the cape life do that to you? I...I don't think I could handle losing you again."

"That… that I can promise, Danny."

XxXGambitXxX

The nights were thankfully getting warmer, but it was still not to my tastes. Sitting on a cold unused bit of machinery on an open airy rooftop, was less so. At least the sky wasn't overcast and I could see a few stars. Well, the really bright ones. The city offered way too much light pollution to really see anything, but I'd take what I could get.

Looking at my pocket watch showed there was still a few minutes before the Undersiders were due to arrive. Pacing, Circus muttered curses in their own unique style to pass the time. They seemed to be working themselves up to something truly epic by the few phrases I could hear.

Adjusting myself to a more comfortable position, I stayed in the shadows away from the main action. I was just here as backup. Circus said that one of them - Bitch, but I wasn't sure if that was just them being colorful or that was actually what she preferred to call herself - had a tendency to maim people she didn't like. Which was most people according to Circus.

The sound of loud huffing and nails on stone brought both of our attentions to the west and the three large shadows bounding through the night toward us. Checking my watch again, I nodded respectfully. Right on time.

The three shapes turned out be three giant demonic mounts. Bulging muscles, mouths full of sharp teeth, and bone spikes jutting from their bodies shone in the limited streetlight from below, and the moon above. Our silent wait was broken by their heavy breathing, low growls, and snarls.

Add impressive entrance to the list. It was hard not to like a bit of showmanship. Not bad.

One dog carried two riders, the other two carrying one apiece. The first down was a guy dressed in black leathers, smoke boiling around him in a nice horror movie way. What I first thought was just a cloud of pitch darkness around his head showed what looked like a skull hovering in the black smoke. His costume did a lot for obfuscating his mass but I couldn't help but like what I could see. Had to admire a guy who took care of himself, and this Grue obviously took his fitness seriously.

Next was his passenger, a girl dressed in a skintight black and lavender outfit that made me wonder if it was something she put on, or poured herself into. Once her feet were on the roof, I could see the stylized eye on her chest, prominently placed in a way that one couldn't look at it and not also notice her modest bust. Which had to be intentional. Her look was complete with a simple domino mask that covered her eyes and upper face. Tattletale, according to Circus's information.

Regent was the most flamboyant of the team, and the least objectionable according to Circus, if only because he was the most honest about himself. He was third down and looked like a guy right out of a renaissance fair, complete with leggings and a loose open shirt that made me think he got his outfit ideas from the covers of bad romance novels. Sadly, Fabio he was not. Far too scrawny to pull it off, not that it seemed to bother him any judging by his swagger. Unlike his companions, his colors were mostly white, with a powder blue vestment. A full face mask that would have been right at home during Carnival, also white with gold bordering. He completed his look with a silver coronet around his head, and a scepter, of all things.

Last, and certainly the most reluctant of the new arrivals, was Bitch, with a cheap dime store rottweiler mask covering her face. No real costume unless you counted the fatigue jacket she always wore and her ripped jeans. Big girl, or rather, mannish I would suppose. She definitely looked strong enough to give Grue a run for his money. Then again, she controlled giant mutant things, so that made quite a bit of sense.

"Circus," Grue greeted my friend. "I'm Grue, this is Tattletale, that's Bitch, and last, and certainly least, is Regent."

"Fuck you, Grue," Regent said lazily without any real heat.

Ignoring his teammate, Grue continued, "Thanks for coming."

"Nice to fucking meet you assholes. So, which one of you fucks thought it was funny to message me on a fucking public forum?" Circus asked in their usual blunt manner.

Grue turned slightly to Tattletale, which was answer enough. Unrepentant, Tattletale shrugged. "You were hard to contact. It was the only channel I could find."

"Ever think I didn't want to be contacted, bitch?"

Well, this was going well, I thought while keeping an eye on things. Still, it would have been nice if Circus didn't decide to open with hostility. It made these kinds of thing so awkward.

Tattletale shrugged again, smirking as she replied, "How else would we get in contact with you to discuss financially profitable ventures?"

"You don't," Circus answered. "Because if I wanted to work for you, I'd have come to you."

"With us. We want you to work with us. It's a sweet gig..."

"And I don't want to work with a bunch of worthless assbags," Circus cut in, anger bubbling over and sounding surprisingly weird coming from her demented clown costume. "Much less a bunch of snot nosed assbags. We're done here. Contact me again, and I'll ass fuck you hard enough you'll never get your virgin cheeks to clench again."

"Well that's just bad manners. You haven't even heard our proposal yet."

"You fucking contacted me on a public forum. A place where any tech savvy cunt can fucking track me. I don't care how smart you think you are, from a recruitment standpoint, you're a goddamn idiot!"

Watching Tattletale I easily noted her eye twitch at Circus's comment. So, she didn't like slights to her intelligence then. Interesting.

"Just for the record, I really don't like it when people say I'm stupid," Tattletale said smoothly, confirming my thoughts on that little quirk. "And you are seriously undervaluing what we could offer. Like I said before, it's a sweet gig. Protection in numbers, access to your very own psychic and lots of money. What would you say to forty gees? Hmm? That was our take for the last job we pulled. Free and clear, clean bills."

"Why the fuck are we still here?"

"Bitch," Grue growled warningly. Bitch huffed, folding her arms, clearly unimpressed.

Stepping forward, Grue turned his attention to Circus. "Just hear us out, alright?"

"Make it fucking quick. I got shit to do that isn't standing on a rooftop listening to pimply fucktards who can barely wipe their own asses."

Nodding, Grue made his pitch. His voice sounded unexpectedly normal from his intimidating mask, aside from a slightly haunting quality that was actually neat. He had to have practiced that. I would have. "Two large a month, just for being on the team. Even split in the take after we run it through the cleaners, which we have connections for."

If anything, Bitch seemed to bristle even more staring holes into Circus in a way that spelled nothing good.

"A five way split?" Circus scoffed. "Why the fuck would I care about than when I can keep all the money I earn?"

"Makes a good point," Regent casually said. "I'm kinda of wondering why we want the potty mouth anyways."

"Regent's right," Bitch half snarled.

"I am?" he asked sounding pleased. "You know, in a year, I think that's the first time any one of you has ever agreed with me."

"Shut up," Bitch said while staring at Grue.

"Oh good," Regent mimed, wiping his brow. "For a second there, I thought it was the End of Days."

Sighing in familiar frustration, Grue turned his back on the two of them, looking at Circus. "Enough, Bitch. You were outvoted. Think about it Circus. More hands, bigger and better jobs. An even say in the jobs we pull or don't. More than money, we're offering a team. A team that will have your back. We all know how this city is."

Tattletale took that moment to purposely look right at me. Eyes narrowed darting back and forth between Circus and I. A bit late, but still, a good catch, as I had yet to move. Her brow furled, as if she was thinking hard. Whatever it was about, she seemed to instantly take a disliking to me.

"Maybe to snack on my ass," Circus shot back. "And not in the way I like it. You fucks can't even decide if you want me on the team, and you expect me to trust you assholes with my rep or to not throw me under a bus? Fuck you."

Grue nodded as if he expected Circus to say that, but before he could say anything, Bitch did. "I already said I don't want this shit. Brutus…!"

"Don't…!" Tattletale shouted too late.

My playing card struck Bitch in the throat, sending the heavy girl to the ground, coughing. Stepping out of the shadows, I smiled, holding up my hand, showing the five burning cards held within.

"Don't worry," I drawled, pulling all attention to me. "I have a card for each of you."

Circus stood ready, sledgehammer draped over their shoulder. Circus's lack of surprise was easily noted by the Undersiders. The beasts all growled, standing protectively over Bitch while Grue held up his hands clearly not wanting things to escalate.

"Enough!" he shouted, stepping in front of his fallen teammate. "Who the hell are you?"

"You can call me...Gambit," I replied.

Grue's helmet turned to Tattletale for a moment before facing me again. "You're working with Circus?"

"Just insurance against hostilities," I replied. "Circus seemed to think that after the last two people you tried recruiting got mauled, it would be prudent."

"What did you do to Bitch?" Grue snarled. It sounded more frustrated than angry as he looked from the downed cape, then back to me.

"Not as much as I could have," I answered honestly. "She was about to break a truce."

"What about you, gambler girl?" Tattletale asked, completely ignoring the tension everyone else was feeling. "Looking for a team?"

"No thanks," I answered. "I generally try to avoid working with people who don't hold to courtesy truce rules."

Growling, Bitch made to stand up, but before she could get more than a knee under herself, Grue put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. "Just a misunderstanding…"

"Obviously," I drawled. "Which was why I only paused her, instead of put her down."

"Yeah, I can see where you would be a real stickler for that kind of thing," Tattletale interrupted. "But I would have thought you would be interested in getting back in the game, considering how badly things went for you down south."

Keeping an amused expression on my face, I gave Tattletale most of my attention.

"Tattletale," Grue growled. "Not the time."

"I don't know, she's got me curious," Regent chuckled. His voice lazy and overplayed as he continued. "Tell us, o psychic one, the dirty secrets of our new friend."

"Psychic?" I asked playfully. "Do you tell fortunes? It's been a while since I've had my fortune read."

That seemed to be enough as Tattletale started talking, eyes glued to me as if she was looking for something.

"Fortune reading is for fakes," Tattletale snarked. "I'm the real deal."

If anything my smile widened. She was pretty good to say that with a completely straight face. It was almost believable. Then again, maybe she could read me. With powers, who knew?

"Heard your entire network got taken down recently. A nice setup that must have taken a long time to build. Whole groups of people and locations. All gone. Bad luck."

"I had a network?" I asked playfully, turning to an equally amused Circus. "I wasn't aware I was such an enterprising person. It's going to ruin my image as a degenerate gambler when word gets out."

Circus chuckled, though that was the only sign of amusement.

"Also heard several rumors that you ran away from the crackdown," the blonde cape pressed intently. "That you got sloppy on a job. So much for that master thief thing you had going, right?"

My answering chuckle seemed to only egg her on. That tic in her eye as she stared at me was getting worse, as was her tone as she continued.

"So, now you're in the Bay. Going to start over? Not sure how much confidence people are going to have in someone who let their entire team down. Then bailed when it all went to shit. Maybe you should join a real team. One who've never messed up a job. Might learn something."

It was everything I could do to keep my laughter in and only show a small smile at her barrage. Okay, so maybe she couldn't read me. Still, she knew of me, which was in itself interesting. Some of my amusement over the situation must have bled through as the talking villainess' eyes narrowed. Only for a moment, then she smirked.

"Especially with that accent," Tattletale said, a vulpine grin on her face. Obviously anticipating the moment I would crack. "Pretty strong. Not many people in New England with a cajun accent. Especially someone who recently moved here at the same time as a cape with the same accent. I bet it makes having a civilian ID hard to keep."

Oh, she really went there?

"Looking a little puffy around those devil eyes. A bit...rough. Makeup only gets you so far, yeah? Contacts for day time? Contacts you're not used to wearing regularly. Pretty flimsy disguise if that's all you're doing. I bet you don't even do anything with your hair. Amateur mistakes, but I guess that makes sense considering everything else you've screwed up."

Yeah, she actually went there. Tattletale obviously didn't like being ignored. Either that, or whatever she hoped to gain by rattling me wasn't working. Either way, this was quickly entering forbidden territory and becoming personal.

"I would have expected more effort considering the interest in you recently," Tattletale finished looking very smug. "Not exactly trying to hide the fact you moved to town. Walking around openly and hosting poker games? It's almost like you want to get caught."

Whatever victory she thought she had died when I turned to Circus. "Pizza at God Mom's?"

"Scrambled eggs at the Hard Luck," they replied smoothly.

"I like eggs," I agreed, turning away.

Letting the sledgehammer vanish, Circus backflipped to the edge of the roof, doing a one handed handstand so they could flip off the Undersiders, completing their exit by flipping down and out of sight.

Shaking my head at their antics, I leapt off the roof, grabbing the light pole across from me, sliding down. A sharp laughter, which I as sure belonged to Regent, cut the night. It cut off abruptly and a look back as I was sliding showed me that Grue had covered the rooftop in his power, blocking all sight of the villains we had left behind.

I suspected he did it more to avoid letting others see the chewing out he was about to give his little motormouth than to hide their exit. I couldn't see enough of him to really gauge his reaction to Tattletale's stunt, but that was what I would have done. But then again, I what did I know about their team dynamic? For all I knew this was how they operated.

I did know one thing, uncontrollable thinker powers or not, I was going to have to do something. Something to show them that the rules existed for a reason and that they weren't meant to be trod on, even a little bit. To do that, my response would need to be equally...dramatic.

Smirking as I followed Circus to their jeep, I felt pretty sure how I was going to do that. It would also kill two birds with one stone, and who didn't love a plan that covered multiple problems?