As some of you have pointed out, I accidently updated posted chapter 10 of a different fic where this one was supposed to go.
I plead tiredness and would like to request a lighter sentence from the jury.
The muted sounds of the active nightclub crept through the floor of the room Gregor and I inhabited. My gloved hands remained steepled in front of my mask as the door to the room opened and a waitress entered, a tray of drinks held in her grasp.
I nodded at the waitress in thanks as she sat a beer in front of me. She gave a small smile in return before moving to Gregor and giving him his own drink, a fruity cocktail that I couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. He thanked her and she nodded before making her way out of the room, closing and locking the door behind her.
Now that we were alone, I removed my mask, sighing in relief as a wave of air conditioned wind blew onto the heated skin of my face. I reached forward and grabbed the beer, bringing it to my lips and relishing in the chilled amber liquid.
Across from me, Gregor did the same with his own drink although he did so with much more composure. There was a moment of comfortable silence as we both enjoyed our chosen beverage. I took a moment to enjoy the quiet before I placed my drink back on the table and looked toward my compatriot.
I leaned back in my chair, the leather creaking softly as I put my full weight on it, "So what do you think? Our newest recruit performed admirably didn't she?" I asked my long time friend. In my opinion, Valerie had done more than admirably on her job last week. Successfully defeating a cape on her first outing would increase her reputation massively in the community, more so given that said cape had been one of Kaiser's enforcers.
Gregor took a sip from his cocktail as he nodded at my question, "She did. I'll admit, I was a bit leery at your decision to send her on a solo job this early into her membership, especially so given the nature of the contract. She proved me wrong however. I have few complaints."
I nodded at his assessment. Gregor had been with me the longest out of anybody in the crew after I had found him bouncing at a club for petty cash. I had offered him a permanent spot at my side as my right hand, he accepted and the rest was history. And as my right hand, his criticism of my decisions helped keep me on the right track.
I took another swig of my drink, swishing the bottle for a moment as I thought about our newest recruit, "But you do have complaints."
Gregor nodded, leaning back in his chair, "From what I have been told, the Empire members she encountered had severe injuries, nothing lethal but still enough to raise eyebrows at the PRT. It wouldn't be a good look to have our newest member constantly going around maiming their enemies."
I nodded, it was a valid point. It was an unspoken rule among the more civilized capes to practice restraint against unpowered enemies. It made civilians feel more comfortable, knowing that they weren't going to be hospitalized for stealing from a convenience store or something similarly asinine.
But still, considering what Valerie had gone through at the hands of that gang, it was to be expected that she would be a little rougher than most.
I told Gregor as much, "Honestly, considering what she has been through at their hands, they were lucky she was so merciful." I commented, bringing my beer up to my lips, "To tell you the truth, I was a little worried that the first time she came across the Empire while on a job, we would have to deal with multiple bodies. It's good that she is capable of restraint."
I took a small sip of my drink, savoring the bitter flavor before placing it back on the table. "Although if Hookwolf were there instead of Alabaster, I have a feeling we would be having a very different conversation."
Gregor hummed softly at my statement, "You think she would have killed him?"
"She would definitely have tried her best. Whether she would have succeeded or not, I'm not sure. Hookwolf is Kaiser's top lieutenant for a reason, he's not a pushover in any sense of the word. And while Valerie's powers may be a good counter to his, Hookwolf has been around for a long time and has fought more than a few capes much more powerful than him. There's honestly no telling how the fight would go."
I tapped a pattern on the table as I thought, "With how quickly she's been growing into her powers, if we give her a few months I'd honestly put my money on her. That power of hers is extremely versatile, she just needs to use it more creatively and she'd be a menace on the battlefield."
"High praise coming from you." Gregor commented and I just shrugged. I simply gave praise where it was due. We didn't really have any close quarters heavy hitters barring Gregor, and he worked best at range. Newter was a close combatant but if his opponent had their skin completely covered, his power was rendered impotent. Elle was self explanatory, the girl was a Shaker through and through.
Valerie, on the other hand, worked best when she was up close and personal with her enemies, not to mention her potential for stealth with that melding ability of hers. She had the ability to become a powerful force multiplier if she kept utilizing her power in new ways, and the team would be much better off for it. Really, it was a godsend that Newter had found her on that pier. And speaking of Newter…
"She and Newter have been growing close, they're practically best friends at this point. I'm happy for him, I could tell he had been growing despondent recently despite the brave face he puts on."
"Do you think their relationship might become…unprofessional?" Gregor asked, concerned.
I hummed, "It's possible. She is the first person he has been able to actually touch without her being rendered incapacitated. He's already taken advantage of that fact, practically hanging off of her every chance he gets, and she hasn't complained yet." I took another swig of my rapidly emptying drink, "I personally don't think their relationship will evolve that way, when I look at them I see close siblings not romantic partners."
"And if you're wrong?" he asked.
"As long as they remain professional on jobs, they can do as they wish. Their personal business is their own and I have no desire to get involved." Newter was old enough to make his own decisions as was Valerie. What they decided to do in their personal lives was no business of mine so long as it didn't affect the crew as a whole.
Gregor nodded, seemingly satisfied by my decision, "Where is she now? She hasn't been in the club for a few days." He asked.
"She's visiting a friend, that Christine girl she sometimes talks about. Apparently she's having troubles with the Empire and Valerie is helping her sort them out. She was pretty cagey about the specifics but that's her business." He nodded at that.
With that business done, I turned my attention away from the topic and to the table, or more accurately, the files on the table. We had received a contract, one that would most likely require the entire team to complete.
Accord, Leader of the Ambassadors, had contacted me several days ago with a job offer, one that he was sure would interest me. And upon taking one look at the contract, I knew he was right.
Apparently, the mastermind had caught wind of a rogue Biotinker operating just outside of his territory in Boston. He had originally assumed it to be Blasto, a Biotinker that he'd had an ongoing rivalry with since the Boston Games several years ago, but according to his informants, Blasto was out of the state visiting his girlfriend in Nevada. This parahuman was new, a rogue element. And Accord despised rogue elements like nothing else.
The more information poured in about the unknown Biotinker, the more angry Accord had become. Apparently this parahuman, appropriately named 'Darwin', had been kidnapping Case 53's he came across on Boston's streets, sequestering them away to his base and performing experiments on them to find out how they tick. He had already gone through three test subjects, dumping their mutilated bodies in alleys for the authorities to find days later.
It was causing unrest in the Ambassadors' territory and so Accord wanted him gone and whatever information he had been able to glean from his horrific experiments stolen. Simple as that. And he had contacted us to get the job done. It had confused me at first as from what I knew, Accord already had a team of mercenaries on retainer. When he explained however, I understood.
Apparently, while Accord indeed had his own team of mercenaries at his beck and call, the Travellers, he didn't think their abilities were suited to the job, and I somewhat agreed with that assessment.
From what I had been able to glean from him, the Travelers were best suited for assault based jobs instead of covert ones like this, as while they had several powerful capes on their team, only two of them had powers that could be used with any sort of discretion, Genesis and Trickster.
My own team, on the other hand, practically specialized in covert operations. Even more so now that Valerie had joined. Accord wanted this job done with as little noise as possible, so he contacted us.
It was a deceptively simple mission on paper: get in, secure as much information about the experiments as possible, destroy the lab, and get out. Easy. Until one factors in the inherent dangers that come with infiltrating a Tinker's lab in the first place.
Unlike other capes, Tinkers were the most dangerous when left to their own devices for extended periods of time. Give a Tinker enough time to build a base and the defenses that come with it, and they become practically untouchable. That wasn't even mentioning what sort of Biotinkered creatures Darwin had likely infested his base with in case of intruders.
This would be one of the most difficult jobs they had received so far. And yet…
"Are you going to accept the job?" Gregor interrupted my thoughts curiously and I nodded, my decision already made.
"Of course I am. This is the biggest lead we've had in a long time, it would be stupid to let it slip through our fingers." Information on Case 53s was sparse in the first place, but something like this? Biotinkers had a propensity of gleaning information where others would find nothing. Not to mention, if this one was good enough to make Accord of all people want the information instead of just having us destroy it, it had to be important. It was not something I could just ignore.
Gregor shifted in his seat, nodding at my decision, "Do you think we should try to recruit that girl before the job? It could throw a wrench in our team's dynamic if we have too many new members on a job like this. It might be better to just wait."
I hummed as I thought about who he was referring to. Around two days ago, my contacts had informed me about a new unaffiliated parahuman running around the Bay.
According to my informants, the parahuman, Spitfire, had already been approached by the Undersiders with a recruitment offer. Although apparently there was some discourse in the Undersiders ranks, as the moment that Spitfire had approached them, Hellhound had chased the poor girl off, much to the dismay of Tattletale.
Since then, Spitfire had been seen at various spots around the Bay before seemingly settling in the Boat Graveyard, where she likely still was according to my informant. That would make it easy to approach her with an offer.
While Gregor was correct that it might be more trouble than it was worth to bring a new member on the job, while Valerie had acclimated to our lifestyle quickly, there was no saying that the other girl would do the same, if we waited too long to approach her, it was likely that she would be snatched up, either by the PRT or another group with better people skills than the Undersiders and we'd lose our chance completely.
No, it would be best to approach her as soon as possible.
I shook my head and told him as much, "No, if we wait too long someone else might snatch her up before we get to her. From what I've heard, the Undersiders already tried even if Hellhound screwed that up masterfully." I raised my beer to my lips and drank what little was left, shaking the empty bottle momentarily before placing it back on the table.
"And besides, the date of the job isn't set until next month so she should have time to acclimate to the crew. Assuming she's willing to join in the first place." I commented.
There was a possibility, however small, that Spitfire would want nothing to do with the cape scene. Some parahumans were content to simply live life as they had been, albeit with their newly acquired powers giving them an edge over everyday civilians. It was possible that Spitfire's recent encounter with the Undersiders had put her off of the idea of cape life in general.
Hopefully she would at least be willing to hear us out. The crew could always use more muscle on jobs.
"I'll send Valerie and Newter to go check her out. Hopefully that narcissist didn't give her too many reasons to mistrust capes in general. In the meantime, I've got to make some calls." I commented and Gregor nodded, finishing his own drink before standing and making his way to the door. I followed close behind, mind buzzing as I stepped out into the noisy club.
Honestly, given Tattletale's habit of running her mouth about things that would be better left alone, not to mention Hellhound's constant borderline hostility, I wasn't holding out too much hope of a successful recruitment.
But I had been surprised before.
And a huge thanks to my Patrons:
JustAUser, JVR
Next four chapters are available there
