| Fragments of Intel |
| Summary: | Illyana, Nate and Neena meet up at Xavier's mansion and confront where their respective paths are taking them… |
| Date: | 2016-06-27 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | NA |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. |
Fade in…
It's early morning for Xavier's Mansion and while there's some foot traffic here and there, most of the Mansion is still cozied up in their rooms, whether asleep, or just starting to wake up.
There is one room, however, that holds some activity.
The Foyer.
With a loud crack of lightening, a portal, or stepping disc, opens into the large spacious room. From the depths of the portal steps Illyana Rasputin(a) and in her hand is the arm of a student. She's literally dragging them from Limbo back to Earth, lecturing as she goes.
"You're lucky I heard my cellphone, kid. Most of the time I wouldn't have." Thanks to her being in a club at the time of the emergency bzzt bzzt of her phone. "Next time use a better fake ID to buy alcohol." Which probably isn't what anyone else would say, but, this is Illyana. She doesn't always say the safest or correct things. Once the portal is closed, the blonde will push the young man towards the main rooms. "Go get cleaned up and ready for classes." The boy turns to give a protest about being tired, but one look of Illyana's face causes that 'no' to die in his throat.
With head hanging low, the teenager will shuffle off towards the stairs that lead to his room.
Nathan Dayspring leans against the wall of the foyer, casually flicking through 3D images projected by his left forearm like a man with a TV-remote, constantly switching channels. When Illyana's portal opens up, he looks up from his idle entertainment with muted interest.
The words 'use a better fake ID' elicit a grunt from the mercenary — his approximation of a short chuckle, at the moment. "Since when did you turn chauffeur, Magik?" he calls over to her. The holographic images wink out, and the big man folds his arms across his chest.
He glances at the student.
"More like… animal wrangler. Snag 'em, bag 'em… Now there's a thought. Put 'em in a bag next time."
Early morning. Driving up to a school. In a car that screams 'British Mob Boss.' ..They have those, right? Whatever. Domino's schedule is only consistent in that she doesn't really -have- a schedule, the xenon headlights cutting a pale blue path through the darkness as the car rolls up toward the main entrance then parks. But a moment later its lone occupant steps out, the moonlight causing her ghostly face to almost glow in the dark.
If Cable's listening, he'd hear uncertainty. Like (this is stupid, why are we even here, probably shoulda waited a couple of hours, god that beer tasted awful last night.)
Rather than knock or look for a doorbell and risk getting everyone in the building up, she simply tries the door.
There's a shake of Magik's head now, as she mutters, "Kids." With the unsaid 'are stupid' at the end of that.
Still, whatever else she might have done or said is paused, as Cable makes his presence known. Pivoting upon her heel, the darkly dressed young woman will offer a faint smirk, "Have portal will chauffeur?" She states with a hint of sarcasm, before she adds, "But really, it was because I was the closest one to him." Well, more like the one who could easily go and GET the would-be alcoholic. Crossing state lines to buy alcohol to drink wasn't the smartest idea for that kid - to say the very least.
"He decided to test his ID across the border, the border, however, didn't fall for it." Another shake of her head is given even as she makes her way towards the rather large man. His mention of animal wrangling earns another one of those half-quirky smiles, before the blonde asks, "So, what're you up to? Beyond eavesdropping."
Domino will find the door quite unlocked at this time of day, as both faculty and students have odd schedules at times. At the sound of the door knob turning, Illy will automatically look towards said door.
"Ain' eavesdroppin' on no-one," comes Dayspring's curt reply. Then he adds: "Gatherin' intel," and sort-of smirks (the corner of his mouth twitches). He glances upward and the man's left eye starts to glow. "Kid upstairs is cheatin' on his math-test. Reckons no one'll notice. …hold on."
Pause.
"Affirmative. Teacher knows now. Counter-strike measures to be executed soon as class starts." He grunts again, looking satisfied with himself when Domino shows up at the door. The man's left eye flashes again, and the door opens for the new arrival.
<~ Over here, Dom. ~> he projects to his friend, although it would not be hard to find him or Magik, standing there in the foyer.
Casper calling! Nah, it's just Neena looking quite out of place. "Thought I saw light in h…" she quietly starts before getting a projected thought in her mind. Now -there's- a wake-up call… No one's done that to her before! By the time she steps fully into the foyer she's staring at Cable with pale blue eyes gone wide. It takes her a moment to pull her own thoughts back together.
First, she points at Cable. "I'd ask how you knew I was looking for you but I think I already know." Then, she points to Magik. "And you have got to tell me where you shop for clothes."
Back to Cable, more hesitant than before, "I can't..shake this feeling like we have a lot more to work out but maybe this isn't the best time…"
Cable's curt response is enough to bring Illyana's blue eyes back to the big man for a moment. His words, once more, cause her to look amused. "Gathering intel." She says slowly, "I need to remember that one. In case I ever need to use it."
Which she will … because this is Illyana and she loves learning everyone's secrets. The dirtier the better.
The remark about counter measures being deployed earns another humorous look from Illyana, but thankfully, Domino's presence causes the blonde to now focus on the pale skinned woman. A true full-fledged grin is now earned by Domino, thanks to her remark about shops and clothes and Illyana will simply say, "Sure. I can share that intel with you. No big deal."
Clearly Cable's going to get a little verbal ribbing from Illyana now, even as the demoness looks between the two thanks to that hesitancy on Domino's part. "I can leave if you like? Though privacy here at the school is at a premium."
"Yer fine," Dayspring replies to Illyana before turning his attention to Domino. The big man waves her over with his right arm, then folds both across his chest once more.
"Anytime's a good time, Dom," he says with uncharacteristic warmth. "I wanted ta talk to ya both anyway. Somethin' ain' right with the world — can't put my finger on what it is yet. Either that, or it's somethin' wrong with us. Bah." He tilts his head forward a bit in order to massage his brow with his left, techno-organic hand.
"Hate shootin' blind. Gotta get the lay o' the land. Work the terrain. Fer all of us." And he glances between Magik and Domino, frowning in thought while still rubbing his forehead with his fingertips.
His gaze settles once again on Domino.
"Ya ain' wrong, either way. I got the same feelin'. Question is: whaddya wanna do about it? This ain' much of a 'mission briefing', but… there's stuff I gotta know too."
Emphasis on the 'intel.' Dom's not sure if that's a rib on Cable, whom she barely knows at this point in her existence, or toward her, because apparently everyone and their mother knows who she is in this existence.
Man, this reality-hopping really is an ordeal in itself.
Instead, perhaps solely because of Illy's own grin, the albino smirks back. "Fantastic. I'll prep the team for a covert sting asap."
Then there's another glance toward Cable when the offer for space is mentioned. It starts with shaking her head, perhaps with a little more enthusiasm than necessary. "No, no..it can wait."
When Cable starts talking she falls silent, right up until the end. "Yeah… There's stuff I gotta know, too."
Her entire demeanor changes in an instant as she comes striding closer to Cable. He might get a warning off the top of her mind just before it happens.
*THUNK*
"Motherf — !" she blurts out and half stumbles away from the giant mutant, hopping on the foot that didn't just give Cable a swift kick to the shin.
The All Metal Shin.
If it wasn't for steel toes in her boots she might have broken something. "The hell are you!? Friggin' half-metal and psychic and you left me in the van!"
Illyana was going to respond to Cable, really she was, but when Domino makes her move, Illyana can only offer a short laugh. The laugh is for both Cable and Domino and their respective pain.
"You know - " Begins the demoness, "- I'm going to get your foot some ice. You both stay right here and I'll be right back." Already she's moving towards the doorway that leads into the main room, "But save any really juicy stuff for when I get back, okay?"
With another echoing laugh, Illyana is through the door and on her way to the kitchen for some first aid.
Cable doesn't move — initially.
After seeing Domino's reaction for kicking him in his cyborg leg, he raises his eyebrows and peers down at the aforementioned limb… and then looks across at Domino.
"Feel better?" he asks coolly. "I… didn' recognise ya, okay? Those… flarkin' mobsters were hollerin' like drama-queens — drama-queens with automatic weapons and the aim of a sugar-crazed toddler pissin' on a wall."
He pauses talking to give Magik a nod, and watches her leave.
Cable lets out a breath.
"I had my orders, too," he admits to his friend, frowning. "Hey — you're… you. How'dja get trussed up like a turkey in the back of a van anyway?"
Dom finds somewhere to sit. Promptly. Her injured foot is pulled upward with a grimace, muttering "There's the backfire of the year…" She almost doesn't hear Illyana mentioning the bit about getting ice, though her departure isn't missed. Despite the earlier deflection, now she's alone with the big scary time-traveling mutant.
And she nearly wrecked her foot while trying to enact some timely revenge. (Way to go, Dom.)
"Okay, so this isn't exactly how I had envisioned this going down," she admits while looking waaaay up toward Nate. Though, with the two alone and the question raised she breathes out a long sigh. "..When I first got here, to this timeline thing, I was hiding behind a car while getting shot at by a bunch of Russians. Turns out they hold one hell of a grudge, and they seem to know me way too damn well. I have no intel, shooting in the dark same as you. I can't even predict where they'll come at me from or who's all working with the guys. I just ..don't have all the damn variables. This world is kicking my ass and I don't like it."
Telekinetically pulling over a chair, Dayspring sits down next to Domino, his expression grave. He maintains his silence for a while, not needing words to display his understanding of the situation.
And how it is wearing on his friend.
"I don' remember much," he eventually says. "Pieces o' memories like shards o' broken glass after a grenade takes out a window. We did some travellin', you'n me — mainly Eastern Europe, and the States o' course." His head comes up and he rubs at his chin a bit.
"I reckon we start with those Russians. Get me close'n I can pick their brains fer whatever they know about ya. It'd be a start, if nothin' else." He gives Domino a look with raised eyebrows as if to say: what do you think? Worth a shot?
(Okaaaay… He can also -move- things with his mind. Not creepy at all…)
Domino might be staring again. It's really hard not to! At least when Nate starts talking again he's describing things in a way which she understands. Grenade taking out a window. Who else talks like that! It's just another one of those (Huh…) moments in a growing list. It also further suggests how they might have known one another in another reality. Which, as now explained, had definitely happened.
"You said you had your own orders. I saw you dragging that one guy off. You weren't operating alone that night, were you. So, what's the deal? What's got someone like you wrapped up with a bunch of idiot mooks?"
She isn't saying no to his idea, at least. Heck, he could read it off the top of her thoughts that it's something worth pursuing.
There's another thought on her mind, too. Something that's been slowly eating away at her thoughts like acid for a week. It's a thought which refuses to stay buried any longer.
"And what the Hell is 'SHIELD?'"
Dayspring gives his friend a sidelong glance. It has just enough of a sparkle in his eyes to suggest he is impressed with what she has 'divined' about him, and what he was doing that night with the Russians and the SUVs.
Without answering straight away, he clears his throat and leans forward so as to rest his elbow upon his knee, and his chin upon his fist. "Some o' that's 'need to know'," he tells Neena after a few moments of silence. "What I can tell ya is that I'm lookin' fer someone. Someone dangerous. Some folks're helpin' me find him — a favour fer a favour."
Another pause.
"That Russian was my favour fer them. Now I gotta see if SHIELD comes through fer me. Ain' had much luck, myself. SHIELD has… hmph. Bah, nothin' fancy. Just more people than me. I don' have much time fer spooks," he goes on to say. "Too heavy on the bullshit. 'Least it's useful bullshit."
At first Neena simply sets her jaw, her features tightening around the edges. 'Need to know.' Yeah… Just like JARVIS refused to tell her anything more about it because they didn't know if she could be trusted.
"Okay, this whole 'clandestine' bullshit is really getting on my nerves," she offers right back in a tone which, despite the rest of her demeanor, has dropped into something a bit more soft. "Either everyone knows me or they don't know me, you can't have it both ways to Sunday. So what's it gonna be, 'Nate.' Am I a part of this mess or a confused outsider trying to catch a glimpse through the window?"
Once again there's more going on than what she's showing. Cable might notice that she's looking at his cybernetic eye more, and the metal surrounding it, with more than a passing interest. As if she's studying it, and not in a creeped out sort of way.
(Easier to open up with that damned artificial awareness than another person… Guess they don't feel the same about albinos.)
"Easier ta show you…" Nate replies in a murmur. Then, making a gentle 'shushing' sound with his lips, he holds up his right hand toward Domino's temple, his fingers slightly splayed, motion very slow and careful. Right before his fingertips quite touch her face, images appear in both Domino's mind and his.
Gunfire, laserfire… a battlefield of sorts. Two mercenaries wielding pulse rifles and handcannons face off against militant religious fanatics similarly armed. One of the mercenaries is clearly Cable, looking younger than he is right now. The other…an albino woman with a tell-tale 'patch' around her eye…
The albino woman standing as though looking into a camera, directly at the audience… when two hands wrap around her waist from behind. One hand is flesh and bone, the other… a techno-organic substance.
Men and women sitting round a table, some of them with their feet upon it, resting while others talk about a recent mission. There are injuries among those gathered — some of the faces belong to people Domino might recognise. Others… would be complete strangers, or something in between.
A man laughing in the dark, his body only barely visible as damaged lights flicker on and off sporadically. He looks familiar… very familiar. It is not until he steps further into the light that the man's identity becomes apparent… he is the spitting image of Nate Dayspring, only… evil. Very evil. The 'real' Cable steps into view, facing his doppelganger with a handcannon. Both lookalikes move quickly to fire at each other…
The images stop, and Cable lowers his hand a bit.
"His name is Stryfe," he explains to Domino. "An' he's… me. Sorta. A clone. He's a walkin' crater of darkness just beggin' fer a thermal grenade down its hole. That's who I'm huntin'."
He doesn't comment on the visions that include Domino. Not right away.
Neena isn't yet familiar with how this whole 'psychic' thing works yet. The hand coming toward her temple is peculiar, but..wait, didn't she see the two redheads out in the courtyard doing something like that the other day?
That memory is very quickly put to rest. It's the weirdest feeling being stuck in a mental daze that isn't your own thoughts. Again those pale eyes widen, staring vacantly forward as she has the closest thing to an out of body experience thus far.
And what a trip it turns out to be…
Cable might be focused on the endgame, this 'Stryfe' character, but..it's Cable. Why wouldn't he be?
Dom's a little caught up with everything -else-. The stuff which he isn't yet talking about. When the connection is broken she's completely still, save for blinking a few times. The motions aren't quite enough to catch all of the tears from falling. It's just one, though one is all it takes.
Still silent, still seemingly riveted in place, all she can do is slowly bring one hand up to touch the side of the bigger mutant's face. The metal half. With just one word being whispered.
"Nate…"
The shift happens suddenly, as though she gets mentally slapped across the face. She sits back and upright, lowers her hand, dips her head, sniffs once, then almost angrily wipes the tear off of her cheek.
"I'll see what I can find," she says in a low, firmly held tone while quickly standing, stepping, then hissing sharply as she's suddenly reminded of the state her one foot is currently in. Another instant later and she's heading for the door, doing her damnest not to show the new limp.