Spook, Natalia and Mouse
Christina watched the hotel the Hansons were staying at miserably. Christ, this was so pathetic. She couldn't do what she'd always loved doing. At least she'd had enough money and contacts left that she could get here. She couldn't have borne to stay in Houston. At least here, she was a bit away. She could've kicked herself however when she realised that Hanson had a concert scheduled here. However she couldn't keep away...
She stiffened and then drew back further into hiding as she saw a man she remembered get out of the hotel and into a car that drove away quickly. Blakesley. What was he doing here? Playing more mind games, no doubt.
After about two hours, Christina got up and walked over to the hotel. Well, wasn't as if she had anywhere else to be...just a bit of a look see, and then she'd skip again. She entered the hotel coolly, but radiating fury and bitterness.
Natalia had managed to make her way downstairs again, primarily in the hope of seeing Ewan, then blinked as she saw someone unexpected. "Spook?" She said hesitantly. The older woman turned her head to look at her, cheeks slightly sunken in and looking travel weary. "What's happened?" Suddenly Natalia's back stiffened. "You can;t hurt the Hansons or Mouse." She lifted her chin slightly. Christina chuckled slightly.
"And nice to see you too, Natalia. Why don't we sit down and chat for a bit? I'll tell you what's happened to me, and you tell me how you got out."
"O-ok." Natalia nodded slightly, and followed Christina docilely to the cafe part of the hotel. Cursing slightly, the now defunct alien hunter dug in her wallet, and managed to scrape together enough to buy them both coffee.
"So, spill, chickiedee. Sing for me like a birdie." Christina grinned at Natalia as she sipped from her coffee. That brought to mind another cup of coffee and her green eyes darkened for a moment in bitterness and hurt.
Natalia sipped at her own cup, and then sighed. "Ok. Not nice, not really..."
"And I am so sorry I couldn't get you out." Christina reached out and took Natalia's hand for a moment. Natalia smiled waveringly at the older woman.
"I know," Natalia said simply, then told her what had happened. Christina listened carefully as she sipped her coffee slowly to make it last. Might be the only one she got for a while...damn, she needed to get a job. Damn Tanya! Damn that telepathic alien bitch...
"So, now I owe two aliens a debt," Christina mused. "Damn, does my life suck or what? Ok, here's my deal, chickie babe." Christina told Natalia what Tanya had done, getting angrier as she recounted it. "I mean, damn! Why didn't she kill me? It would have been cleaner! I'm f*cking muzzled, Natty. I can't...I can't *do* what I spent hours training for. What I dedicated my life to. I'm f*cking neutered! God, I hate telepaths. Hate them with a vengeance." Christina bowed her head and put her hands on the sides of her face.
"I'm sure it's not that bad..." Natalia soothed as the hunter wept silently, tears dripping onto the fake wood of the table.
Mouse came downstairs looking for Natalia. She saw the blonde haired girl sitting at a table with an ebony haired woman, and winced slightly at the rage, bitterness and trapped hopeless feeling that radiated from her. Reminded her of the panthers she'd seen in a zoo somewhere. Trapped predator, snarling as it tested the bounds of the cage. She wondered how Natalia had managed to get into this, and walked over. "Nat, I was wondering- *you*." Mouse's voice dropped into the sub-zero range as she saw Christina. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Oh, sit down and relax, Mouse," Christina said wearily as she wiped her eyes. "I can't kill you."
"Didn't seem to stop you before," Mouse spat back in a low voice as she remained standing.
Christina tapped the side of her head. "That's before I met up with Tanya, queen bitch telepath."
"Meaning...?"
"Tanya took a walkabout in my head and now Spook has to play nice with all the other kids on the playground now. Happy? She erased all my bankaccounts too," Christina said angrily. "I *die* if I kill an alien, anyone with a touch of other then earthly blood in their veins. Gives me a killer headache if I hurt them on purpose too. I'm muzzled, you don't have to worry. Broke too. Besides, I always kinda liked you, Mouse."
"She should have just killed you," Mouse said softly, her own link with predators making her feel Christina's pain with a shocking clarity.
"What I told her," Christina said bitterly. "Exactly what I told her. So, sit down. Just talking with another regret here."
"I said I understood, Spook," Natalia said softly. Mouse's head swung to look at her as she sat down at another chair.
"You know her?"
"Tried to save her," Christina said tiredly.
"You know, you really don't look that good, Spook," Natalia said worriedly.
"Chalk that up to Blakesley. My ribs are still a bit broken. Course, Christian can get himself healed by a healer, I have to wait for naure to take its course." Christina scowled. "Stupid scientist...should have killed more GI Joes on my way out."
"You met Blakesley? Do tell," Mouse purred, ready to take vicarious enjoyment through another's revenge. Christina grinned.
"*Knew* there was a reason I couldn't kill you, Mousey. Shake?" Christina offered her hand and Mouse hesitated, before shaking it. "Promise when I get this undone, whixh I will, somehow, I won't come after you or any of the Hansons. My word is my bond." Christina gripped Mouse's hand tighter for a moment. Mouse nodded slowly, feeling the hunter's sincerity.
"I believe you. Now, why don't I buy us all some lunch?" Mouse suggested. Natalia nodded eagerly.
"Pizza?"
"I can do pizza. What topping do you like, Spook?" Mouse looked at the hunter, who was already shaking her head. "C'mon, I know what it's like to be broke and hungry. Ignore the fact that I'm an alien, and let's all make believe that we're three normal human girls out on a lunchdate."
"You're on, Mousey." Christina smiled slowly. "I'm up for whatever's going. And congrats. Guess Taylor finally popped the question, hey? And uh. Sorry bout the collar thing." SHe had the grace to look embarrassed. Mouse nodded.
"We're cool if you tried to help Natalia. And anyone who's an enemy of Blakesley's is a friend of ours."
"Cool. Cool. Lunch?" Natalia looked at Mouse beseechingly, and Mouse laughed before waving the waitress over to order.
Isaac
Isaac wandered down to the hotel restaurant. He needed to get away from Zac and Saku. Although Zac had stopped encouraging Saku to pick on him, he hadn't ceased his death glaring streak, and they hadn't always been able to organise seperate rooms for them on the tour.
"Well, hello ladies," Isaac said, noticing Mouse and Natalia sitting with someone he didn't recognise. "May I sit down? Who's your friend?"
Spook, Mouse and Natalia
Christina gave him a considering look. "I remember you...how's the leg?"
"Don't be so dismissing, Spook," Natalia said. "He's a knight."
"Is he now, chickadee? Well, he did come to Mouse's rescue. Such a good boy." Christina grinned lazily.
"Spook..." Mouse said warningly.
"What? Tanya may have drawn my fangs but I can still bite. Rawr." Christina snapped her teeth together, then kept wolfing down the food Mouse had bought.
"When was the last time you *ate*?" Mouse asked.
"Two days ago...I think." Christina shrugged. "God, I *hate* telepaths. So, sit, kinetic. Can't kill you, and you helped Natalia. So, I wouldn't even if I was able to."
Isaac
"Oho!" Isaac said, sitting down. "So you're Spook. Y'know, I had a feeling you looked familiar. But then, I get that feeling about a lot of women."
He paused, realising how that might sound. He had so been around Zac way too long.
"Not like that," he hurried on. "All those fans you meet backstage... most of them are women, you see, so... yeah I'll change the subject now. So, why the sudden change of heart?"
Spook, Mouse and Natalia
Christina explained briefly, between bites of food. Natalia ate quietly, having heard it all already. Mouse listened carefully.
"Tanya...Tanya's alright," Mouse said quietly.
"If you're not a hunter. I...dammit." Christina scowled. "Why the hell does Christian get another chance? Tanya's in for a rude shock if she thinks he won't turn on her one day. Craig...he'll have had a lasting effect. Perhaps more lasting then we know. But I have to say, at least he did get me out of the labs. Which is more then I deserved."
"Got that right," Mouse agreed. Christina flashed her a grin.
"Yeah, what can I say. I'm an unprincipled bitch. I *don't* like aliens. At all. Telepaths are the worst of 'em though. Fiddling with people's minds...it's not...right, somehow. Not at all fair." She fiddled with the cutlery, then looked around. She spotted a sign saying it was alright to smoke, and got out a cigarette. "Do ya mind if I..."
"Um, pregnant. So please don't," Mouse said carefully.
"So, who knocked ya up?" Christina asked as she put the cigarette away regretfully. "Taylor?"
"Um. No. Mad scientist."
"Oh. Oh!" Christina tilted her head slightly. "Bad Blakesley."
"Yes, bad bad Blakesley. What happened to your neck?"
"Garrote. Also Blakesley. Carved my name into his chest though. And cut him up a bit. Christian broke his fingers and his arm. Yay for Chrissy baby."
Isaac
"Ouch," Isaac replied. "I wish I could tell you that there's a healer with us, but unfortunately, we don't have one of those. A word in Tanya's favour though, she gave me a telepathic shield, and I swear, without it I probably wouldn't have survived very long trying to rescue Tay from the Spider."
He winced at the memory.
"Now those were an insane few days."
Spook, Mouse and Natalia
"I had quite a lot of money, and now I don't. So, not only am I unable to do the job I trained for years to do, also broke. Really not happy with her." Christina finished off the slice of pizza she had. "The Spider...he's the Eye now. Creepy, creepy man. Never worked for him, and don't plan to. Ever. Unless he's the only way to get this out of my head...but I don't have anything to trade. And he won't do anything unless there's something in it for him." She sighed.
"Poor kitty. All caged up, stalk so restlessly the cage's confines," Natalia said in sympathy.
"So. Anyway. How's the tour going? Good?"
"Yeah...tiring. The concerts are fun though." Mouse smiled.
"Hanson. Not my thing. I like 60's and 70's stuff." Christina shrugged fluidly.
"So, how exactly did you get out?" Mouse asked curiously. Christina bared her teeth in a predatory grin.
"Killed a lot of people." She tapped her boot heels and the knives shot out. "Careful now." She stuck her foot out so Mosue could see.
"Nice."
"If you can kick high, which I can, you can take out a lot of people at neck height." Another series of complicated taps and the blades disappeared back inside. "They're springloaded, and pressure activated."
Isaac and Zac
"It would seem to me that your livlihood isn't gone then," Isaac pointed out. "Yeah so you can' t go after aliens any more (for which I have to say I am relieved) but you could always try going after terrorists or something."
Then a dopey grin crossed his face.
"You could always play bodyguard for Mouse and Tay and Nat for a while. One thing is for sure, they need to protection."
"Especially when you're not around huh?" Zac spoke up from behind.
Zac, holding Saku in his arms, joined them at the table. And here Isaac was htinking he had escaped them for awhile.
"That was not what I meant," Isaac replied.
"Uh huh."
Mouse and Spook
"Zac," Mouse said warningly. "Play nice."
"Ah, so this one is the brat?" Christina looked Zac up and down.
"Slightly, yes," Mouse said with a grin.
"And no, I think I'll pass on the bodyguard job. According to Natty, you've got it covered already. Thanks for that," Christina said off handedly to Ike. "Blakesley didn't really want me, per sey...I was the object lesson as to what happens if you screw up. And it wasn't my fault. They gave Christian more things to throw back! How stupid can you get? If you don't get a telekinetic on the first shot, you run. You don't keep shooting. Learnt that one the hard way, myself."
Isaac and Zac
"Ahh," Isaac replied nodding. "Yes, the fun that is telekinesis. I could talk for awhile about catching bullets, but yeah... my little secrets and all that."
"Your little secrets," Zac said, shaking his head. "And I am not a brat. You don't think I'm a brat do you, Saku?"
"No."
"He's only saying that because you told him," Isaac accused teasingly.
"You sure about that?"
Spook and Mouse
"Zac, no using Saku as emotional leverage or as a physical annoyance," Mouse said with a sigh. Saku stuck his thumb in his mouth and looked around owlishly.
"Cute kid," Christina remarked. "You can at least work around telekinesis. Out of sight, out of mind. Telepathy...that's the power I stay far, far away from. Shoulda left after the first time, but nooo. I had to still be there when Tanya came home. Stupid libido."
Mouse giggled. "That good?"
"Sweetie, you have no idea." Christina grinned. "If Taylor is half as good as his clone, you're in for a hell of a ride." Mouse started to blush and Christina laughed harder. "Teasing, Mousey. Just teasing ya."
Isaac and Zac
Zac gave a mock shocked look.
"Would I ever do such a thing?"
"Yes," Isaac replied firmly.
"Well, okay, I conceed. But he's so cute how can I not?"
"And as for working around telekinesis," a sly smile crossed Isaac's face, "there's an interesting basket of eggs right there. YOu like your rubber mousey, huh Saku?"
Saku beamed.
Spook and Mouse
"'Es," Saku lisped.
"Bad Zac. Bad bad Zac. We've already talked about this," Mouse said.
Christina gave both Ike and Zac a look, then shrugged, deciding it was none of her business whatever it was that was going on between the two of them. "Blakesley wants you back."
"I know. And next time I'm going to let Fafnir rip out his throat," Mouse said coldly.
"Oh, good!" Christina beamed. "He's dishonest. Didn't pay me like he was supposed to. How is the wolf?"
"He's fine. I just suggest you stay as far away from him as possible. He still wants your throat."
"Understandable. I did kinda shoot him a few times."
Zac and Isaac
"No, you told me I shouldn't let Saku abuse Ike all the time," Zac interjected. "But they like playing together now. And as for Fafnir... don't worry girl, you ain't the only one who has to stay away from Fafnir. I have no idea why he doesn't like me."
"I know why he doesn't like you," Isaac grinned. "Julie, Zada, Desiree, Nyx, and who know how many others."
Zac poked his tongue out at him.
Spook, Mouse and Natalia
Christina put her hand to her mouth and coughed something that sounded suspicously like 'manwhore'. She looked at Natalia innocently as the mutant started laughing.
"Bad kitty! No milk and cream for you."
"That's what you think, chickadeedeedee." Christina smiled.
"So, what happened the first time you tried to take Christian?" Mouse asked, curious.
"Oh, way big set up. *Not* my idea. Not my plan. Je suis Christabelle from N'Awlins, ouiai? So, flirt, get him out of the bar...being such a gentleman too. I start the fight with a guy they hired to play the part of Louis, my abusive and possessive ex. And then signal given, the dart is fired. Christian sent it straight back at the firer. So, what do they do? They fire more darts." Christina shook her head in disgust, then grinned. "Apparently I hit him with my shotgun later though."
"So, how did you...?"
"Walked up behind him quietly and hit him over the back of the head," Christina laughed. "Gotta love it sometimes. The simplest things usually work the best."
Zac and Isaac
"Yeah," Isaac agreed. "Too many people like to complicate things."
"And too many people generalise?" Zac suggested.
"Funny, Zac."
"I thought so. Hey, y'know if I were you," Zac went on to Christina, "I'd track down Blakesley and steal all his money and kill him. You'd kill him after you stole his money because that way you have the pleasure of seeing the look on his face when you rob him."
Spook, Mouse and Natalia
"God, I never want to see him again." Christina made a face. "Part of the reason why I've stayed alive in the game so long. You *don't* go looking for trouble, and if you have your ass kicked once, you don't go back for another ass kicking because this time, you just might wind up dead."
"So...game?" Mouse raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Always a game, Mousey. The hunt is always a game." Something cold flashed through her green eyes. "Except when it's not."
"Ah, and that explains so much."
"Sometimes the game is deadly serious and the trap comes down on the hunter's paw," Natalia said.
"See, Natty gets it."
Isaac and Zac
"Sometimes, though, the game comes to you," Isaac said quietly. "Whether or not you chose to play."
"Meh, and why, pray tell, are we being so meloncoly?" Zac demanded. "Cheer up people. What doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger. I say after we've eaten we head on upstairs and watch the comedy channel."
Mouse and Spook
"I'm gonna get going." Christina rose to her feet. "I havta say, not the reception I expected...more in the tune of go before we kill you."
"You'd still get that reaction from Fafnir," Mouse said carefully. "You won't..."
"My word is my bond. You're safe from me. The Hansons and you." Christina slid her shades back over her eyes. "Be safe, Natty."
"Uh huh." Natalia nodded as Christina ruffled her hair briefly.
"And I'll be very annoyed if you lose the game, Mousey." Christina grinned briefly. "You're an excellent player."
"Uh...thanks?" Mouse looked slightly unsure whether to take it as a compliment or not. "You'll be going where?"
"I thought...Kansas, actually. Heard some things." With a brief enigmatic smile, Christina stalked out the door. "Be safe!" And she was gone into the traffic of the streets.
"Why am I suddenly very glad we have her word that she won't hunt us when she can again?" Mouse said softly.
Isaac and Zac
"Kansas?" Isaac repeated. "If she's... that's insane!"
"My guess is that she's desperate," Zac replied.
"You'd have to be."
Mouse and Natalia
"Oh, she's very desperate." Mouse bit down on her bottom lip. "Cleaner if Tanya had killed her. She's going to be a lot of trouble when she gets the block out...she's just filled with anger about it."
"Kinder to drown the cat then declaw it," Natalia interjected. "Clean and free, rather then caged. Don't like zoos."
"Me neither. It's what Tanya's done. Created a cage for Spook inside her own head, and she can't escape it however hard she runs..." Mouse sighed. "She's desperate. And desperate people do desperate things."
Isaac and Zac
"Yes, they do," Isaac agreed. "I'm sure Tanya had a good reason for doing what she did, but still... Kansas..."
Zac rolled his eyes.
"Come, Saku," Zac said. "Let's go back upstairs and play more games. These people are being too down in the dumps."
" 'kay," Saku replied.
Goody. Da didn't let him be a cat in public.
Mouse and Natalia
"Yeah...she could've heard about, you know...Miette..." Mouse said almost in a whisper. "Figured maybe something there could help her. Because, I gotta tell ya, she's simply burning up with envy. Every time we mentioned powers, it just sky rocketed."
"A bird without wings always envies the ones who can fly," Natalia said, and then looked around. "Can we go back up to the rooms now?"
"Yeah...I'll just pay and then we'll go." Mouse stood and went over to the register.
Isaac
"Hmm... sorta makes you think, huh?" Isaac mused. "I mean, there are a lot of hybrid who don't have powers - Mindy for example, and two of Miette's brothers. Makes you wonder how many of them are jealous?"
Mouse and Natalia
Mouse was back in time to hear Ike's statement. "Yeah, makes you wonder what she might be like if she hadn't...you know, she was actually nice to talk to, and except for the alien hunting thing, a nice person. An honourable person. Her own brand of honour, sure, but still..." Mouse shook her head slightly. "Let's go back upstairs."
"Yes." Natalia nodded strongly.
Mouse smiled at her. "You're doing good, Nat."
Natalia smiled hesitantly back.