Another Heart: Juggling Act
Major is awesome. Fact.
_
Jess had taken the job with a pretty good feeling.
Tinker lab, basement, giant key, steal.
Easy as fucking pie.
Except it wasn't. It wasn't pie by any stretch of the fucking imagination, the lack of security was the first tip off that something was wrong. Keynote, partnered with Parian, was suspected of being a tinker with a melee weapon talent. Tinkers can do some pretty extreme stuff to work their specialty into traps and virtually every Tinker's lab made a fucking minefield look bloody safe.
Like, Jess had once heard about a guy with a size changing speciality. Giant spiders were suddenly a very real thing. The damn fool tried to become a giant during a hero invasion of his lab and exploded out of his fucking skin.
But here, there were no traps. Jess could see nothing, no obvious mounds in the earth, no blinking lights of a camera, no trip wires, no external power sources for any of the nastier options. She'd even checked the fucking roof and nothing, nada, zip. There wasn't even an alarm on the fucking front door! There weren't any traps anywhere! So Jess went for a window, it may have been cliché but she was tired of the night already. Circus, the thief of Brockton Bay, had spent two miserable hours circling the building for fucking nothing. Not even a goddamn silent alarm. It was too easy, too simple.
The lack of machines should have been her second big tip off that something was fucking wrong, but the door number matched, the street was correct and Coil never fucked up. So she carried on, certain this was the place and…
Then she saw the kid, Keynote, had to be.
Unmasked.
Mistake number two. Huge fucking mistake.
Panicking slightly, Jess spotted the Keyblade and moved. Focus on the job, nothing else matters. She just had to get the weapon, steal it, own it, make it hers.
Then things got sort of... fucking messy after that.
The girl was fast, fucking nearly impaled her a few times, the eye was thankfully making her aim pretty shit.
Keynote, Taylor from what the other girl had screamed, had passed out. Keynote's weapon, the Keyblade, had gone into her bag when Jess had finally had enough of the whole fucking scene. Usually she liked to run with her prize in hand admiring it, holding it, hell, even caressing it. Somehow, having her prize right there in her hand made it more real. It was a rush even better than fucking swearing; that thrill of freshly stolen goods resting in her hand. Hot property was just so fucking hot! But that had gone wrong too when the Keyblade had ripped out of her like a fucking bullet in reverse.
That had never fucking happened before. The feeling still made her head thump violently.
Still what ever happened to Jess, had happened double to Taylor as the younger girl passed out instantly, eyes rolling up and head snapping back like someone had kicked her in the brain.
So she ran. Jess fucking ran as fast as she could with the Keyblade now in hand, but it just vanished again. Suspecting Keynote was back up she rushed back, to apologize or knock her out, she wasn't fucking sure which.
Mistake number goddamn fucking three.
Parian had eventually worked herself free of the cloth and spotted Jess standing over Taylor, who looked dead. It did look fucking bad really, thinking back on it.
Then Jess flinched as a scream that sounded like something she'd only heard from the Teeth, primal, wild, and angry ripped from Parian's throat. The noise surprised Jess as she had the other girl pegged as meek, just backup for Keynote who seemed to be their power house.
When she grabbed a hold of Jess's sleeve, Jess was already preparing to knock her aside, when her whole costume rippled violently.
Jess had watched stunned as the whole front of her costume had bulged and then fucking exploded. It felt like someone had fucking smashed her with her own sledge hammer, she'd swear she felt a rib crack and shit did it fucking hurt afterwards. Jess lost a few minutes of memory there, or maybe more, she wasn't sure.
Still, Parian could explode shit. Duly noted.
When Jess was confident that the room was real and not some fucking hallucination, she staggered upright and heard Parian speaking to someone... Meg? Who the fuck was Meg?
Looking around for an escape route, Jess saw Keynote was back on the fucking couch, looking peaceful. Lucky for some.
Looking down she spotted bare skin peeking out, her smooth chest and flat stomach exposed to a pissed off girl who could explode her and to passed out ninja key girl.
Inspecting herself whilst Parian was occupied, Jess examined her exposed ribs, prodding them as they were starting to turn a nasty blue and hissed as her body shouted it's protest. She prodded them again, wincing at pain. Luckily none felt broken, but Jesus fuck did they hurt. Still, if none were broken she could run and if she could run then she could get away. Looking back Jess saw Parian had her head stuck through a door, talking to Meg who was probably on a phone, maybe in the other room, who fucking knew? Still, the other girl was distracted so time to fucking leave.
Jess has taken two steps when lots of fabric fell upon her, smothering her a bit. It was pushing down on her, making her bruised chest ache.
Reflexively and stupidly, she sucked all of it into her bag.
The fresh air, as it was, made her feel better, but the scope of the situation wasn't clear until a giant mouse stepped on her.
Hard. Jess's ribs ran a complaint to her brain that they were in fucking agony. Her brains response was 'no shit Sherlock'.
The mouse raised its leg again and Jess tried to send it away to her space. The mouse rippled and then it tore into two. Raining fluff down over them.
Jess felt the disemboweled mouse's legs appear in her bag.
So, Parian could explode her, squish her, and interfere with her fucking powers?
Lovely.
What would Jesus do in her shoes? Jess asked, her mind rattled.
Turn shit to wine and get wasted. Not a fucking option sadly.
What would Coil do?
So a little bit later, after surrendering, Jess found herself in the kitchen, returning things that belonged to Parian. Bloated as she was Jess still fucking hated giving it back, even if she didn't have much use for it.
Worse, Jess had needed to curb her language as Parian showed her a mannequin turned into a pin cushion from top to bottom, in perfect symmetrical lines of sharp little sewing needles. In five fucking seconds.
Then she'd felt the nudges behind her and then saw the needles circle her slowly.
Parian had used the distraction of her demonstration on the mannequin to get them into position.
Crafty bitch.
"So... what now?" Jess asked the dark skinned girl, cocking her head sharply. A needle floating around Jess's head trembled suddenly at her movement and then continued to float slowly.
So… Sudden moves upset the needles? Good to know.
Parian stared at her. Jess's paint was still on, her cap a sad looking thing, but the jeans and shirt ruined the effect really.
"Now, you tell me what you wanted with Ta-Keynote." Parian responded with a hint of steel. She looked calm, but all the needles were quivering slightly.
"Nothing, well nothing personal. I was hired to steal her fu- um, sword." Jess said, biting back her swear.
Swearing was like smoking to her. The more she swore, the better she felt, but it didn't work in her head. She'd tried. It'd failed. Now she had too and this whole 'watching her language' shit was getting old real fast.
But those needles looked sharp.
"Why?" Parian snapped, her lip curling.
The rising sun streaming through the window behind Jess allowed her to see the other girl's red rimmed eyes. Oh yeah, Parian was fucking pissed as shit and tired to boot. Jess slowly shrugged, trying not to move too fast in case Parian had fucking itchy needle work. Needle fingers? Fucking something like that.
"I was hired, so I don't fudging know, this job was fudging weird from the get go." Jess said, trying a safe substitute for her favorite word. It didn't make her feel better, it lacked the fucking bite she needed.
Still, Jess could see why the other girl wanted to bloody know. She had some fucking questions herself. Coil hadn't told her everything, far from it, but she had fucking expected that.
In her experience, there were three fucking kinds of villains that held territory.
First were the Power Houses, one's that ruled with and for power. They'd be your Lungs and Kaisers, even the Butcher when she'd worked up in Boston.
Second were the Unrootables, groups or people that fucking got stuck in like a dick in a rubber, like the scum stuck at the bottom of the gutter no fucking amount of hosing got fucking rid of. They clung to whatever they could fucking get their hands on. Just one trick pony's or sheer numbers letting them fucking cling on instead of fucking brilliant skill or power to dodge the pigs and tin men. Merchants were a prime fucking example of that kind of shit.
The third was the Masterminds, they weren't always the smartest or the most powerful or even the fucking cleverest… Though they were usually Tinkers or fucking Thinkers. Didn't mean shit though with some of the Thinkers she'd met, with them common sense was a fucking super power and it was one they didn't have. And the less said about fucking Blasto the better. Still, Masterminds, they had a plan, a long term one even and nobody would ever fucking figure it out. Mostly because they were insane and it was smart not to try and puzzle out their fucking troll logic. Masterminds looked at everything and just saw fucking numbers, chances, value and potential.
Coil was a Mastermind and fucking slimy one too. He was definitely a man with a plan, though what fucking for Jess had no fucking clue. He had hired Jess for this contract with a lot of money. Too much really. It spoke of deep fucking pockets if Coil could splash 150K on a simple fucking theft… Okay, maybe not so fucking simple but she doubted Coil had known that. More though, what really said he was a planner… When he'd put her on retainer a month back. 5K a month to obey some simple fucking rules and take any jobs he asked? She should have known it was too fucking good to be fucking true.
Still, Coil's rules had been simple: stay quiet, never join anyone, and never draw attention.
Basically the asshole didn't want anyone connecting Coil to Circus or the crimes she committed.
Until tonight, Jess had been doing pretty fucking great.
Then, well, Jess had fucked up. She'd fucked up hard. But it was mostly Coil's fault. He and his 'Destiny Control' were supposed to back her up and the fucker had failed. He'd let her fail. So fucking much for 'I never lose' Coil.
Jess doubted she'd have a job with Coil after this. Assholes like him and Accord took a pretty dim view of failure. A fucking terminal one. So what could Jess fucking do that would let her get away from Miss Needle stabby time and get some leverage against Coil to keep flowers for her button hole instead of her pushing the fuckers up?
"Then, who?" Parian said, her teeth gritted tightly.
Jess snapped back to Parian. That… that was a bad fucking question. One Jess really didn't want to answer.
Given how he'd fucked up, Jess doubted Coil had any real power, maybe some kind of shitty pre-cog but nothing that could hurt her. But that's why he had an army of beefy men with fucking laser guns to shoot her.
"I can't tell you that, my fucking life would be over as soon as I did." Jess said bluntly, her mouth twisting into sneer.
Parian's eye started twitching as she walked back and fourth.
Jess felt and saw every needle tilt slightly as Parian moved, they followed her direction as if she was a magnet.
"You broke into our home, unmasked us, attacked us, did something to my friend and you think you're safer here?" Parian stopped pacing, turning so her eyes could bore into Jess's.
Jess couldn't really argue, it sounded fucking stupid but… Coil was a killer, a ruthless asshole who'd make her fucking disappear. Parian though was a civilian at best, one who had never had to lay out a body out or go to a funeral, at least Jess hoped. The dress maker wasn't someone who'd bury her, so she was a much more fucking attractive option than Coil right now. Especially with a fucking healer on tap. Jess couldn't help but chuckle. Fucking grab bag capes, even if Jess didn't have much room to talk at least she wasn't some healer blaster striker bullshit. Bitch had almost offed her with whatever the fuck that icy shit had been, not to mention the bloody sword that Jess was coming to suspect was a projection. More, a fucking healer, those were as rare as finding a fucking gold nugget in a whore's purse.
So between Coil and Parian, Jess had a choice. Who would be safer? Coil's probably non-existent mercy or Parian's anger and whatever shit she had to take from Keynote when the bitch woke up. On a roll of the dice, Jess would bet on Parian and Keynote's number coming up every time over fucking Coil.
But if Parian turned out to be a maniac killer, one like that mad fucker, what was his name… Yeah, fucking Skinslip. Slaughterhouse bastard. So, if Parian turned out to be some psycho who used the skin of her victims to make pretty dresses, then Jess was going to be feeling real fucking stupid. Not that it was fucking likely but Jess had encountered stranger things.
Fucking Blasto.
"I do. I really think I am. First of all, I didn't know you fuc-dging were here. I thought this was Tinker basement lab or some shit-ake, second, I didn't unmask you. I found her unmasked, the Keyblade in her hand did all the fudging unmasking for me. Thirdly, I tried to run, but it didn't work all that bloody well." Jess said, each defense nothing but a smoke screen.
Well, not just a smoke screen. They were all true, but Jess couldn't let herself believe them fully. Neither could Parian evidently.
"None of that matters, since none of that would have happened if you hadn't broken into my home. And you didn't run until you stole the Keyblade, so that excuse is quite frankly vapid." Parian said, her lip still curling as she pointed at Jess accusingly.
"If I knew you fuck… fudging lived here, do you think I would have broken in? And don't give me that 'stealing is bad' crap, I don't feel bad about it, I don't take stupid risks. We both know the rules." Jess said, feeling her temper rise just a little, did Parian think she was an idiot?
"If you just turned around and never mentioned it again, then maybe it could have been ignored or something. But you didn't. You kept trying to steal the Keyblade, so the rules aren't going to save you." Parian huffed, blowing some of her frazzled hair out of her face while her eyes glared at Jess.
Jess felt her mouth go thin.
Parian was right. Jess had broken the fucking unwritten rules, paper thin though they really were, more like guidelines in practice. After all, Coil had their fucking address.
Still, excuses didn't mean shit to the people who had everything to lose if they were made public. Parian was a colored girl living at the edge of the Empire's territory, not high on the Nazi's priorities. If it was known she was Parian though… Well, either Brockton Bay would be down a Rogue or more likely Parian would be forced to move. Jess though… Circus. Ha! Circus would be dead.
Kaiser, the metal King, would skewer her on the fucking spot if he knew how badly Jess had screwed the pooch tonight. Kaiser might have been a fucking Nazi but he stuck to the unwritten rules like a fucking religion and killed anyone who didn't. He was someone important, everyone knew it. Kaiser couldn't afford people to start breaking the rules… So he killed anyone who did.
Jess' mind raced as images of her own crucified body and hole ridden corpse flashed through her mind. There had to be to be a fucking way out of this. Jess pursed her lips, bushing her brain to come up with an idea.
Could she kill Parian and Keynote? Organic flesh wouldn't go into her hammer space, too much work, too much cost, to herself.
Jess knew she was a fucking messed up person, her head not screwed on right, but she didn't like killing kids, or killing in general really. Strip em' of everything not nailed down, then steal the nails and take the rest, yeah. Leave them poorer than dirt, fuck yeah. But not dead. Killing was just… It wasn't her thing.
Hmm, could she bribe them? They were Rogue's after all and most of them fucking loved money. Jess took one look at Parian and discarded that plan, the telekinetic was far too emotional to accept something like that, at least right now.
Beg? No. Never.
Mutual destruction? That was... possible.
"You're right. I did... something fuc-fudge-fucking stupid. But you need to understand that, even if I unmasked you, it doesn't benefit me. You think I'm going to tell everyone? That I'm going to blab that the great Shirley Temple, Parian is a middle eastern clothes savant? You think Kaiser will appreciate that? You think I'm going to casually tell Lung that Keynote is a young white girl? Give me a break, that is suicide. Kaiser would bloody crucify me before I could even finish getting the fucking words out. Outing people is stupid and I'm not stupid."
"I mean, he might still use the information, but I would be frigging dead." Jess added, as an afterthought.
Villains liked the comfort masks offered them, but it didn't mean they wouldn't fucking ignore a meaty piece of information, just cause Jess wasn't suicidal, doesn't mean there wasn't a fucking cape wannabe or some shit for brains, who would try to use the information.
Parian paused, her eyes moving quickly as she debated internally .
"So, what? I'm just supposed to believe the crazy clown when she says that I have nothing to worry about? If you didn't know about us, but the person who sent you did, then that means there is now two people that I wouldn't trust with my garbage that have our identities. Do you know what will happen if you let that slip?" She asked, her lip curling as she stared into her eyes, fist balled.
"I fucking-"
The needles all began to vibrate around her. Fucking hell, Parian was sensitive.
"I fudging know. If I out you, ignoring what happens to friggin' me, you get a huge target on your back. The E88 will flay you alive; PRT will suddenly be more interested in your business, sticking their noses into where they ain't fudging wanted, not that they can do much if you don't give them any rope to hang you with. Worse, some fu-dger like Accord might try and kidnap and sell ya'. Point is, I know, but I'm not going to talk. 'Cause no matter what ship happens to you, I end up friggin' dead, or joining you as a slave. And ya' know what? I like living and bein' free and… stuff. So, instead I want to make things fair, even the fudging field." Jess said, grinding her teeth at the lack of goddamn. Mother-fucking. Swearing!
Immediately Parian was on alert, her tired eyes narrowed in suspiscion.
"Explain." Parian ordered.
Jess could have, but she was feeling a little bit strung out and mean.
Jess was aware of everything that touched her skin, that was bigger than a marble. It was the effect of her power, the power to store things didn't seem great in the Cape power lottery, but over time she had come to like it a lot.
For example, anything she put away was kept safe in a bubble or something pretty fucking close, and the bubble froze things in time. So, if she sent a hot plate of food in, as long as it wasn't meat, she got to have it fucking hot whenever she pulled the shit out. That was fucking sweet in her opinion, hot food whenever she fucking well felt like it.
The best thing though, was that her costume was so fucking easily applied, ignoring the first year where she kept fucking trying to put the shoes on her head and cap on her foot. The bells helped keep track of her costume in the huge fucking clutter that was her hammer space, more often then not.
Jess loved things. Other people's things were even nicer. Somewhere in the space was an old doll. It belonged to that up start bitch across the street. That bitch always had new bikes, new clothes, holidays, the pretty fucking jewelry and yet, she never traded in the doll, a ratty old thing, but now it was Jess'. Jess didn't know why she had the old fucking thing. It reminded her, she guessed, of how far she'd fucking come.
Or how far she'd fallen.
Back in the doll girls kitchen, she felt around her head with her mind, the paint would go as one, as long as the paint was all touching correctly, there was always spots she missed, but in her mind she felt the paint connect with her skin and then like a gate way, fall into her space. Her bare skin on view, the cap quickly followed.
She placed both bubbles near the top of the pile, easy to reach; she never got to see the space where they went, only slightly feel it.
It felt fucking hot.
So here she was, Jess the Jester, unmasked and Parian's mouth was open.
"Ta da." Jess said dryly. Parian closed her mouth, opened it, closed it again, it opened one more time and finally spoke.
"Are you crazy?" She asked, her voice practically squeaking from how the pitch was.
Jess shrugged, a half grin hiding her fear.
"Quite fucking possibly."
"Why… Why did you do that?" Parian asked, still shocked.
Jess lips turned up slightly, her grin stretching.
"To make it fair, MAD right?" Jess said, fucking amused at her own joke.
"Mad? Of course it's mad you psy… Wait, you mean MAD? Like, Cold War MAD? Mutually Assured Destruction? You think this somehow makes it fair? That I know your face so…"
"Jess Quinn, age 22, current address is 7/13 Black Garden street. There, you can send your friend to check when she fudging wakes up, but now... We're even on that front. Friggin' still owe you a coffee table and a door, and something else to make up for what I did to your healer friend." Jess said, thinking hard on it.
"What... why did you... stop saying things! And don't tell people about that either. Who hired you?" Parian, a bit fucking overwhelmed, said.
Jess raised a brow. Girl was fucking amusing when she got flustered. Heh, she'd have to fucking needle her more… Wait, bad word choice there.
"Shut up and speak? You wan'na retry that?" She teased, testing the fucking waters on how far exactly the Rogue was gone, since she was obviously in a pretty emotional, and therefore fucking dangerous, state.
"Speak." She replied tersely, her jaw clenching.
Jess mentally sighed in relief. The girl was willing to listen and hopefully let it slide.
Could only bode fucking well.
"I can't tell you, exactly. The guy has fudging assassins and scary as ship people working for him, but what if I dropped him a call?" Jess said, sounding as helpful as she could manage.
Coil would need the fucking report one way or the other, and if it got her ass out the frying pan doing so, well, then all the fucking sweeter. Jess watched as Parian bit her lip, the cons playing in her mind, the pro's tempting.
"I want you to tell them it's off, the job, you saw it yourself. The Keyblade is unstealable, tell them... tell them that you're returning any fee you got." Parian said, getting her confidence going.
Good, if Jess could make her think she was in control, and who was she kidding, the girl fucking was, then it was less likely to be needle stabby time.
"Okay, anything else? World peace? Egg Mcmuffin?" Jess said, her phone appearing in her hand, the instant the phone reconnected to the internet and reset it's time to match the real world, it lit up with various emails, calls and one text.
Parian didn't reply, her mouth in a thin line.
"Report - WS"
Jess rolled her eyes at Coil's spy kink, code names here, secret bases there and god knows what else. Fucker seemed to think he was bloody Ernst Blofeld with all the cloak and dagger shit. Still, his 'code name' was fucking hilarious for this mission, 'White Snake', as if that would be given by anyone other than fucking Coil. Like she said, Thinkers were fucking dumb. Now Jess would have went for something much more unique and fucking fun; COM, Circus on Mobile, or BBS, Bad Booty Shaking or even DDD.
Dangerous Dancing Death.
Trust Coil to be boring with his fucking code names though. Fucker.
Bringing her focus back to the situation at hand, Jess opened her phone and dialed, the number could only be called once, so Coil better be fucking awake.
"Report." Coiled answered, his tone clipped, revealing nothing. How much did he know already? How much could Jess get away with on both ends of this call? One wrong word could mean needles in the eye, or shot in the head later.
Time to find out.
"Hey, boss, so the thing went belly up." Jess said cheerfully, feeling her gut harden in response to the creep's voice. There was a pause and then he spoke, his voice now honey coated. Fucking. Creep.
"Am I to suspect you are making this call under duress? Are you compromised?" He said, sounding only a tad bit more interested. Jess wanted to swear at him, she had quite a few fuckingfucks saved up. Problem was though, bastard was even worse than Miss Prissy Lizzy Lezzy for making her watch her language. Fucker had threatened to shoot her when she sworn one too many times for his fucking taste.
What made it hard for Jess to keep her grin though, even more than biting her tongue on the fucks, was that Coil loved these things. Like playing speed chess, trying to see if he could come out on top against some other player. Never with himself at risk of course, Coil liked gambling otherpeople's lives, but that was details really. Jess knew what kind of people employed thieves. Part of the fucking job.
"Well, I'm not in any immediate danger, but that's not why I called. Your info was f- faulty and this job is a bust. The Keyblade is not leaving its owner, and trust me f- I tried. The other thing is I'm quitting this job." She said that last part a bit quickly for her own liking. Parian nodded, more to herself, at Jess's words, clearly liking them.
Coil voice slowed a little, becoming more... dangerous.
"The job or this job." He asked, enunciating his words carefully.
"I said I was quitting this job, you need to pick up your signal." Jess said rudely, covering for her double answer. Coil was silent for a few moments, then he spoke with far more confidence than before.
Something had changed.
"Very well, do what you can to get out and report back to me. If you aren't here within 12 hours, I'll cut you loose. You may use my name if you need to, just don't let them know more than that." There was a click the fucking dial tone was ringing in her ear and then a nice robot lady said that the number was no longer fucking available.
Jess felt the weight of Coil's name make her heavier, not lighter. To fucking give away any information… It went against everything she knew of the megalomaniac. More, well, it was bad for Jess' reputation, giving up her employer. Jess would if she had to but she'd rather avoid it if possible.
Still, this was a huge risk on Coil's part, letting two Rogue's know a Villain had targeted them. What was he thinking? The fucking snake had had his entire operation run through six different loops and he was just causally dropping his name here? Did he really think so fucking little of the two rogues? Sure, Jess knew that they weren't big time names, neither really seeming to have the power, though Jess was beginning to doubt that part, or the ambition to make it to the big time. But it only took one fucking rock to trip you up and make your whole fucking house of cards collapse.
Whatever, if Coil sank his whole gig down in concrete shoes because he'd fucked up and made her fuck up, then Jess Quinn would cease to exist. She would become a Harley, or Alice, or maybe even Lola.
Hell, she might even become a he rather than a good mix like now or the girl's she'd previously used.
The point was that, Jess wasn't fucking real. Coil thought he had his hooks dug into her, but really, he'd caught nothing more than a paper thin disguise. One bad move and she'd deflate and drift.
You could get pretty fucking far when you carried everything important inside you.
It was a shame. She was liking Jess a lot. It was fucking unfair, she just got a house plant for the first time in forever. Plant's never seemed right after she spaced them.
"Are you happy now? I did what you asked, now I'm risking a bullet when I step outside." Jess snarled, slamming the phone down on the counter making the girl jump.
Good.
"A little." Parian said, her eyes becoming alert at Jess' show of temper.
"Sorry, that guy just gives the fucking creeps." Jess admitted as she leaned slightly into the counter to take the weight off her feet.
"Then why do you work for him?" Parian asked, sounding as uninterested as she could.
Jess shrugged, her eyes glazing slightly as she looked out at the rising sun.
She needed sleep, a good whole days' worth of sleep.
Some fucking painkillers for her headache wouldn't be amiss either.
"Who else? Kaiser? Lung? Uber and Leet? Just a matter of the guy having the least amount of clauses to the contract. He has his own thing in mind, doesn't really care about gang wars or people. So it seemed easy, but the guy is a nut. Thinks he's a real life James Bond villain, you know? Secret bases, Code Names. All that shit." Jess said, her finger spinning at her temple. Trying to see how far Parian's gang knowledge went, someone who was involved and knew the workings would able to narrow Jess's employer down to Coil, or even Faultline's crew.
"Sounds like someone who would drop you in case like this." Parian noted, her eyes on the cracked screen of her phone.
Jess nodded.
"It's always risk versus reward with those types. The moment I become a risk, I lose the reward. But... now what?" She asked, Parian shifted and spoke softly.
"I don't know, I was going to call the police. Still might. Thankfully you missed my landline." Parian's eyes trailed over the mess of the room and her eyes seem to focus on something, there was a few seconds of silence, which made Jess itchy, then Jess saw little pieces slowly pick themselves up and float over into one single pile. Wood chips, fluff and so on, slowly picking themselves up in an expanding circle from Parian.
"You could. But you haven't so far. Why?" Jess asked the girl with the thousand needles.
Parian paused, and then slowly spoke, voicing her thoughts.
"I was about to when you unmasked. Now if I call them, in a way that is total bullshit I could be breaking the rules like you. Hmm, if I don't mention you being Circus then it could work..." She said.
Jess shook her head, chuckling.
"My prints are all over the country. They get a match, fresh from the source? Then they'll know they have Circus. Then it's all routine from there. They inform the PRT, since a cape is involved with a crime, and the PRT take the fuc-fudging case. They get me, outed thanks to you, and then they'll investigate you two. You know, barge in here and turn up the mattresses all that shipping." Jess said airily.
Parian's frowned, looking skeptical.
"I think you have the PRT confused with the FBI. The PRT wouldn't barge in here." Parian said, amused at Jess's logic.
Jess had to gawk at her, which in turn made the smile drop from Parian's face.
"What?" Parian asked hesitantly.
Jess sighed, a disbelieving smile stretching her face. How fucking naive were these two?
"If they know I am Circus, through no fault of you own, then they have my profile. I don't do petty theft, I aim f-grrhigh. This place is your home, not an art gallery or a bank. Why would I fudging come here? Then someone suggests 'Tinker tech' or 'drugs', 'secret villain lair dispute settled with mud wrestling' well maybe not that last one, but you get the picture." Jess said, stretching.
Parian shook her head.
"But why would they just come in? They'd need warrants." Parian said stubbornly.
Jess shrugged.
"Would you risk it? People just showing up, confiscating anything deemed 'dangerous' or 'evidence'? A Keyblade perhaps? Or anything else you f- got hidden here?"
Jess saw the girls face go ashen.
The pretty doll girl had something hidden in her closet eh? Well, besides herself if Keynote's reactions were any fucking clue. Still, hidden secrets? Another time Jess wouldn't mind taking a peek. Right now? Not a fucking option, sadly.
"That's a fudging yes then. So if the PRT come, then what or whoever you're hiding will be taken away. You make clothes, that doesn't give you a lot of wriggle room in any legal defense. Rogue's being, you know, fudging frowned on pretty hard when they get caught doing illegal ship."
Jess pointed out to the the other girl. The look of being stuck in a bad place was pretty clear on her face, she almost looked ready to scream or cry.
Jess really hoped she didn't cry, she was no good with crying people. All those fluids, her shirt getting soaked, getting wet...
Jess's mind told her to cut the outburst off, her mouth evidently agreed, but somewhere along the way message between them got fucking hijacked, her words going from cheery to slightly comforting.
"Hey, but what do I know, I'm a f- evil villain remember? I'm sure the PRT would respect your sanctity and all that s-jazz. I just have no fmmm reason to think so due to experience. But then, you don't have a rap sheet or any of that ship. Not even anything that came out a f- tinkers lab right, and girlie over there can just hide the Key, yeah? So guess you would be fine. They arrest me, I get bailed by the boss for my first strike, thefts are surprisingly cheap law wise and we all go our own ways." Jess said, pretty impressed with herself, not a single sarcastic word and managing not to swear, even if she'd nearly slipped up on that. But instead of making Parian perk up or feel better, it seemed to have the opposite reaction.
"Where? Where did things go wrong with my life that I need you to try and cheer me up?" Parian said with a tone that just screamed 'why me'. Her eyes trailed over a door in the wall, the bedroom most likely.
"Even if you're lying your ass off, I can't risk having people coming in here. So no police and no PRT, I've already had enough bad experiences with them, I'd rather not repeat the joy." Parian said, actually talking to Jess.
Parian's guard was dropping, not that Jess would act on it with every inch of skin being threatened.
"So, keep me hostage or let me go." Jess concluded out loud.
Parian nodded.
"I'm not keeping you hostage, moral reasons aside, if you know about those, I wouldn't be able to sustain this and work and I really don't see myself throwing my life away to keep you here. But… We both know now that neither of us can act on what happened tonight." The other girl said, her eyes in striking contrast to the rest of her. Jess liked them.
She stole a pair of rings the same shade once.
"Exactly, my boss evidently already knows and everyone else would sooner cut me down where I fudging stand than let me divulge this kind of shit. Too many people have too much too lose if someone starts shooting their mouths off. I like my head where it is." Jess said, running a hand over her chin.
"You could just post it online, nothing to stop you from being petty and doing it just to screw us over once we let you go." Parian said, sounding like she'd thought of this a while back.
"I could, but all it would take is for you to make a statement saying 'Circus leaked it' along with my own name to anywhere and we're back to square one. Besides, like I'd give something away for fudging free. This information is mine. Some wants it; they'll beat it out of me." Jess said, managing to sound a little closer to her jester persona.
Parian backed up a step, folding her arms. The other girl looked down, her lips pinching as she thought.
"I suppose. So nothing happens if I let you go?" She asked dubiously.
Jess shook her head.
"Sorry sugar, things will and are happening. If someone grabs me and actually tortures me, I will sell you out to save myself, and I expect you to do the same to me." Jess explained as she poked one of the needles hovering in front of her. It didn't budge.
"Well your boss already knows, and I still want to know who the hell he is, but will anyone else guess that you know our identities?" The smaller girl inquired.
Jess shrugged and shot back with her own question.
"Does anyone actually give a crap? You guys aren't exactly the Triumvirate in the making." Jess pointed out and then cut off the girl's next question.
"I'm about to go into your fridge, don't kill me." She said with a grin. Jess ignored the spluttering behind her and turned slowly, all the needles rotating with her, and opened the white door, letting the cold air rush out.
Salad, pass.
Raw meat, nope.
Ice cream, potential.
Cake.
Oh yes.
"Hey! That's mine, put it back!" Parian screeched, quietly, in indignation at the defilement of her dessert.
With a smile, Jess pulled a fork out of her space and carved a piece of before spearing it. Grinning at the other girls outraged face she popped the chunk of dark, chocolaty looking cake into her mouth.
Hmm, chocolate-whiskey. Not bad, needed cream though.
"I'll pay you back, hell I'll add it to the damn tab I owe you." Jess said, around the piece of cake.
"You're an ass, and this is how you begin repaying us, payment that I've already told you doesn't even begin to make up for what you did? By eating my cake, my last slice of cake?" Parian said with a dark look, her hands balled into tight fists. Jess paused and then smiled as she spotted a figure approaching in a daze. Time to have some fun, maybe see if she was right and they were both lesbos.
"Well I thought, 'Poor girl has got this really fattening piece of cake and she has no will power, I better fucking eat it before she gets fat,' so that's what I fucking did. Nice of me, right?" She grinned at the confused look on Parian's face at her sudden shift in language.
"Morning, sunshine. Slept like the dead you did."
_