A/N: Dubble update!!! :-)


( Volume: 4 Arc: first strike 4 Issue: 1/2 )

Chapter 137 : low blow

"Joo," Nate said, having sidled up to his father's knee as he sat on the sofa, flipping through channels on the TV with a bored expression.

"What's up, dude?" Julian asked, still focused on the TV.

"What was you an' mum doin'?"

"Huh? When?" Julian changed from fashion to music to news, then found the WWF and set the remote down.

"Las' night," Nate said.

Julian froze. "Uh—I—" He searched, wildly, for an answer. They'd thought the Shrimps were safely asleep last night, and had gone for it, careful to be quiet. And, yet, here it was—he'd
always known somehow this moment would be all his, and that Laura would be conveniently absent. She was, indeed, absent; out with Cessily for coffee.

"—she was choking," Julian said. "I was giving her mouth to mouth."

"Weeally?" Nate asked, his eyes wide.

Julian looked at the boy, and saw this, somehow, coming back to haunt him later, but he nodded. "Yup."

"Oh." Nate paused. "What was mum chokin' on?"

"Her tongue," Julian said, thinking, since he was lying anyway, he would embroider the facts. "You know how she says mean things sometimes? Well, it's because her tongue is mean. She
can't control it…it totally gets away with her, sometimes. Ask her when she's in a good mood…she'll tell you all about it."

"Weeally?" Nate was buying every moment of it.

"Uh-huh." Julian's eyes returned to the TV.

"Joo?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Why can I wift thin's without touchin' thems?"

"You're a mutant," Julian said, ruffling the boy's hair. "Just like your old man."

"Oh." Nate paused. "I don't has an olds man."

"Sure you do."

"Weeally? Who?"

"Me." Julian flipped the channel again, restless.

"Oh. But you's not old!"

"It's a saying."

"Oh." Nate paused. "What's a sayin', Joo?"

"Something I use when I'm trying to tell you what something's like."

"Oh."

Julian thought Nate would leave, to play with his Lego, but then the boy raised his knee and forced himself up onto the sofa, beside him, obviously intending to stay and ask him more questions.

"Joo, what's a mootant?"

"Like you, and me, and mom. And Dr. McCoy."

"Oh." Nate looked puzzled. "Why 'm I a mootant?"

"Because you can lift stuff without touching it," Julian reminded him patiently.

"Oh."

Nate suddenly sat up straight; a few seconds later he ran to the door, as it clicked and opened, to reveal Laura, with a few shopping bags.

"MUM!" Nate said excitedly. "Why iz your tongue mean?"

Oh, Christ. Julian tried to keep staring at the TV, but he was aware that he had a guilty expression—and that Laura was gazing at him suspiciously.

"Because it's pierced," Laura said, sticking it out at the boy and bending over slightly so he could see. "Itz angry abou' id."

Nate gazed at the metal barbell. "Why?" he asked.

Laura withdrew her tongue. "Because elephants have flat feet, Nate," she said firmly.

"Oh."

Julian waited for the next question, but it never came. He finally turned and looked at Laura, incredulous. He'd never gotten Nate to stop asking questions.

Had it really been that simple all the long?

"Rumor is I have a mean tongue," Laura said in explanation.

He rolled his eyes.

…

Laura leaned back in her chair, with folded arms, as she stared across the table at Daken, who stared right back. Their faces mirrored their hatred and distrust of one another; each was accentuated
by identical looks of derisive amusement at the other's existence.

"A-hem," Julian said. "So we're going to talk over the last few missions…Cyclops wants us to put our brains together and look for clues about who the hell is doing this. So we can take them down."

There had been a death—a tragic, mutant death in the middle of Time's Square, just as the New X-men arrived. The gore had been quite spectacular; the beta-level mutants' insides were splattered
across the great courtyard, along with a shockwave of energy that Julian had barely shielded them from. Luckily the energy had been electrical; Nori, with Cessily's help, had absorbed the overload,
and no one had been injured, except the poor dead guy, as Laura put it.

That night, in bed, staring at the ceiling, Laura had felt a shift. The itch in her spine returning, telling her trouble—massive trouble—was underway. Unexplainably she felt as if the happy, golden period
she'd been experiencing in her life had snuffed out. They weren't kids on the squad anymore.

She couldn't put her finger on it, why the event had triggered such a warning for her, instinct-wise. She'd seen plenty of gore. The things she'd done in her childhood, and had continued to do in her
teenaged years, would stay with her a lifetime. Yet, seeing the man's ribs clatter against her boot had been a warning.

They were living in a dark time, and nobody cared.

Of course, staying up all night, reveling in this horrifying, fascinating thought, Laura was now grumpy. And now Daken was sitting across from her, his eyes mocking. The things I've seen, and you haven't, they
seemed to say—but, oh no, he wouldn't even lower himself to actually tell her that.

Laura was annoyed by people who weren't straight up.

So she stared—glared—back, and thought nasty things. Didn't Daken mean Dog in Japanese? Yes, yes it did. Son of a bitch, she thought. HAH! He looks just like one too, what an ugly fucker. Thinks he's got it made
with his ridiculous hair…it looks like a mop…or a really bad toupee…is that glue?! HAHAHAHA!

Julian barely needed to hear Laura out loud anymore; he could almost imagine what she was thinking. Probably she'd pick on Daken's name first. She'd make up all sorts of little mean jokes about it; then
she would begin insulting Daken's appearance—his hair, for sure. She would compare it to something, perhaps several things. He rolled his eyes.

"If people could concentrate," he said, looking at Laura sternly.

"What? I'm listening," Laura said.

"You're part of the brains," Julian said.

"Yeah, the hearing part."

"Laura…"

She rolled her eyes.

…

Laura watched from across the room, drink in hand, one ankle bent to the side as she tilted her head, her eyes on Julian as he sat on a stool by the bar—across the room—while speaking
to a blond-haired female, standing in front of him. They were supposed to be undercover; three pairs of the new team of X-men had been assigned to different restaurants in what Scott
and Emma had narrowed down as the source of the Legacy victims. Laura, Sofia and Daken had been assigned to listening, while their respective partners (Julian, Josh and Nori) were
supposed to be talking to the locals to derive as much information as possible.

Her hand tightened on the glass. She'd almost forgotten to listen to her surroundings; instead she had been focusing, for the past twenty minutes—on the dialogue of light flirting between
her partner and his 'target'. They had begun by discussing how unpleasant it was in the establishment, moved on to the topic of recent events (including Time's Square; the girl had lingered
on this for a while, then allowed Julian to turn the conversation); and then lifestyle.

"You look like you're in really good shape," the girl (who hadn't revealed her name) said to him, her eyes wide. "You must work out a lot."

Laura grinned to herself, and waited for his response.

Julian seemed to buy this line, looking smug.

"Yeah," he said, leaning back against the bar. "You could say that."

"I love working out," the girl said. She stretched out her hand. "I'm Lisa…could I buy you a drink?"

"Sure," he said, examining her more closely. Laura folded her arms, annoyed, then pulled out her cell phone and pressed speed dial. He stiffened at the buzz in his pocket, then flipped his phone open.

"Hi," he said.

"Why is she buying you a drink?!"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," he said casually. "Sorry. I'll fix it tomorrow. It's going somewhere, I promise…we'll have it ready for Thursday. Ok?"

"Asshat!" Laura hissed, knowing the girl couldn't hear. "Don't make me come over there! I'll—"

Julian rolled his eyes. "Uh huh…no, it's fine. Thursday. Bye." He closed the phone and smiled at the girl. "Sorry…it was work."

"Work, on a Friday evening?" the girl asked. "What do you do?"

"Own my own business," he said with ease, although the words were obviously meant to impress her. "Ever heard of Keller pharmaceuticals?"

"No! Really?" the girl asked, incredulous.

Laura paused, sucking her tongue. There had been something about the girl's reaction—a slight pause—as if she'd already known who Julian was, and had needed to summon the
right response. Maybe he was right. This was a lead.

"Yeah."

The bartender approached, and the pair ordered their drinks, then the girl slid up on the now-empty seat beside Julian.

"What's it like to be in big business?" the girl asked as their drinks were poured.

Julian thought for a second. "Hell if I know. I'm more of a playboy than anything else. I've got…other concerns." He accepted his drink and thanked the bar tender; the girl did the same,
then downed hers—a shot—with one toss of her head.

Laura couldn't read the girl's expression, as her back was turned to her; but she watched carefully her body language. She could tell that they were now on a topic of interest for the girl.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Oh…sports team, kinda," Julian said. "And, well, socializing."

"What sport?"

Julian paused, then leaned closer to the girl's ear. "I lied. I'm…I'm a mutant."

There it was—the girl did stiffen this time. "Are you serious?"

He grinned and leaned back. "Am I a mutant? Sweetheart…I'm one of the most powerful mutants on the planet."

"Ohh…I knew it," the girl said. "I can just tell. Listen…what are you doing tonight?" She leaned closer, holding Julian's eyes. Laura watched as her arm moved, just briefly, over the glasses; her eye
caught a tiny white disc as it dropped into the fluid and dissolved almost instantly. She flipped open her cell phone and pressed redial.

Julian rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket again. "Yes?" he snapped into the phone. Laura turned her back to him. "Don't drink it. She just dumped something in your drink…it dissolved right away."

"Oh. Great." Julian mouthed something to the girl. "Well, I'll be in on Monday to look at it then. Uh huh. Sure. Bye."

"Doesn't sound like a playboy to me," the girl teased.

"Like I said….sort of," he said, returning her smile. He picked up his drink, held it to his lips, then paused and looked at the girl intently. "You know what would make me really happy?"

"What?" the girl asked, a bit breathless. Obviously waiting for him to take a sip.

"If you drank this," he said, holding the glass out towards her.

"W-what?" the girl stopped, her eyes wide. She had been caught off-guard.

"Never like to see a girl without a drink," he said teasingly. "And…don't wanna come off as an asshole…but I think it might help you loosen up a bit. I got an idea of what I'm doing tonight..."

"Really—I'll just order another one," the girl said. "I wanted to buy that for you."

"I insist," Julian said. "You can get the next round for me."

"…" the girl stared at the drink held out to her. Finally she accepted the drink and decided one small sip wouldn't hurt; she was so close to bagging this piece of shit that she could almost
see his blood splattered on the concrete.

Plans would still proceed, even if she was delayed.

Her lips touched the glass; she tilted her head back and took a quick shot that was deceptive in size.

It was enough; moments later her eyes rolled up in her head, which crashed down on the counter. Julian leaned back, doing a good job of looking alarmed.

"Holy SHIT!" he said.

Laura headed towards them with swift strides. "Out of the way," she said, pushing some bystander to the side. "I've got this," she announced. "She's my younger sister. I've been looking
everywhere for her. She shouldn't be out drinking—she's a minor! My god, don't you guys card in this place?!" She shouted the last part at the bartender, who leaned back, startled that such
a loud, angry noise could come of a girl about two feet shorter than himself.

The affront had the desired effect; Laura was able to pick the unconscious girl up by the shoulders and drag her out unheeded. The bar soon returned to a more normal level of activity; Julian
remained for about fifteen minutes, spoke to a few people, then tossed a bill on the counter and exited the bar, hurrying to the designated meeting spot where Laura was waiting.

He found her leaning on the alley wall, the other girl hanging over the edge of a trash bin like a rag doll.

"That's some powerful stuff," Julian said, looking into the bin and noting that the girl was still unconscious, her face lying in a bag of unpleasant looking rubbish.

"Mmmhm," Laura said. "Should wear off soon. She didn't have much…"

"Did you check her for wires and communications?"

"You know it," Laura said, holding up a small microphone, cord and iPod-like device. "We'll just hang on to these…David or some other tech-geek can trace the signal easily."

"Nice," Julian said, digging in his pocket for his cell phone. "I'll just give the others a call. I think we've got what we're looking for."

His cell rang. He flipped it open. "Hey, I was just about to—"

Laura froze, also hearing Daken's calm, nasal voice as he said:

"They've captured the Ashida girl."