xp_logs | Stalemate (Nathan and Gideon, Sunday afternoon)

After a fruitless meeting over coffee with the person he'd hoped would be able to answer some of his questions about his 'Kashmir mystery', a frustrated Nathan heads back to his car, where he gets a call on his cell from his uncle. When the stakes are high enough, even stupid risks seem acceptable, and, not unexpectedly, Gideon knows just how to appeal to Nathan's reckless side.

Nathan was not in a good mood. For the UN representative of a major NGO working in the area, the man he'd just had coffee with had some distinct gaps in his knowledge of Kashmir. Not only did he claim to know nothing about whatever DRMA was doing now, but he hadn't even been aware of what it had done in the past. And had brushed off the questions, looking almost offended. Just because they're handing out food aid means they should be above suspicion? Nathan wondered gloomily, clicking the keyring to disengage the car's alarm and unlock the doors.

At least he'd made a contact. Not a valuable one right this moment, but you never knew what the future might bring. Nathan pulled the car door shut behind him and breathed out, willing the tension away. Not wasted effort, he told himself, rubbing his eyes; not entirely. And a little time away from the mansion hadn't been such a bad thing. But he should head back, Nathan told himself with an inward sigh, yanking at his tie to loosen it. Damned suit... Although Moira would still be working away in the lab, and he doubted Rachel would have noticed he was gone yet. Not with Ororo introducing her to the whole concept of gardening. Rachel was very fond of Ororo.

His cell phone rang, and Nathan nearly jumped out of his skin, a little chill of fear running through him as he pulled the phone out of his pocket. "Hello?" he said uneasily, half-expecting it to be someone calling from the mansion with bad news about Haroun. When there wasn't an answer right away, Nathan glanced quickly at the screen of the phone. Not a number he recognized. "Hello..." he ventured, more tentatively.

The voice was almost abnormally clear through the cell phone. "Good afternoon, nephew mine. And how is this fine day treating you?" Speaking as though this were the most normal conversation in the world, Gideon drawled out the words lazily.

Nathan managed not to drop the phone. Barely. "I'd ask you how you got this number," he hissed finally, once he found his voice again, "but I try not to ask too many pointless questions." His hands were shaking. "What the hell do you want?"

"What, an uncle can't check up on his brother's child?" There was no hurt in Gideon's voice as he spoke, however - rather, a touch of amusement was creeping through steadily. "For shame, Nathan."

"You are the last person in the world who should be talking about shame. Or family." Nathan grabbed hold of his temper with both hands. Murdering piece of shit, he thought, but didn't say. "And I don't buy that this is a social call for an instant." His eyes darted around. Too many cars. Too many people. He started to scan, but he was in the middle of New York and filtering through all of these psi-signatures would take a while. Please let him be calling from Philadelphia...

"Don't scowl so, nephew. You're scaring the poor newspaper boy." After a mock sigh of resignation at Nathan's stony silence, Gideon continued. "Very well then, if you're going to be that way. I thought I would propose a little game for you! Something to keep you busy, maybe even cheer you up, you look so glum. A courier of mine is downtown at the moment, preparing to drop off a package containing information on several training camps located in Africa. You might have seen a similar camp before? Yes, well... I'll text you an address in a moment. If you hurry there, you might even catch him before the drop and get the information for yourself. Don't say I never gave you a gift, mmm?" With that, the line disconnected.

Nathan sucked in a sharp breath, the color draining from his face as he processed the implications. Oh, fuck... It was a trap, obviously, but if the bait was real... Hurriedly, he hit the button to end the call from his end and watched the phone's screen. It beeped, loudly enough in the silence of the car to make him jump, and the address came up.

The other side of the city, damn it, Nathan thought, stricken, and then froze as an additional line appeared.

1 hour. Courier is a telepath. Come alone or he won't be there.

He'd never make it. Not with the traffic. And trust the bastard not to have mentioned that last little caveat. Nathan swallowed, staring blindly ahead for a moment as his mind raced. Did he take the chance? This was Gideon testing him somehow, almost certainly. Wanting to see what he did. Another telepath... And possibly Gideon himself?

But if the bait was real, if he could get that package, one way or the other... GW and the others were right there. On the ground, ready, willing and eager to take these camps down if they could only find them. All they needed was to know where to look. And if the hints Dom had uncovered were true, and Eris had consulted on an entire network of training camps, Gideon would have that information.

Did he take the chance?

How could he not?

Hands shaking, Nathan fumbled with his keys, starting the car and dialing the mansion simultaneously. I can't believe I'm doing this... But the frustration he'd expressed to Alison was still there, hiding under the facade he'd donned when things had gone so wrong on that mission this week and he'd known he'd needed to focus on the crisis at hand. The possibility of breaking this one intolerable situation wide open was enough to shatter the facade and bring all of it back to the surface.

I'm being predictable. This was exactly the reaction Gideon expected. But he's only going to have the upper hand if I don't take it away from him.

"This is Cable. Get Cyclops on the line now," he snapped in response to the all-too-chirpy sounding response from whichever of the trainees was sitting coms duty. He ignored the response as he pulled out into traffic and ignored the indignant beeping of horns.

It was a full two minutes by his watch before he heard Scott's voice asking him what the situation was. "Listen," Nathan said hurriedly, not letting Scott get more than a few words in edgewise. "Gideon just called me... no, damn it, Scott, listen! He's got a courier dropping off information on those training camps in Africa in an hour, here in the city... no! The courier's a telepath. If I don't come alone he'll back off."

Nathan sped up, beating the red light by inches. "Tell Charles to keep an ear out for me," he said. "...I know, Scott, but I can't pass up the chance. Not if there's any chance that it's true." His jaw clenched. "I know. But it's worth the risk. I'll be as careful as I can."