Rio -- Lorna and Cain

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Upon arriving in Brazil, Lorna and Cain go undercover (well, as undercover as a woman with green hair and a seven-foot tall man can) and start looking for Nathan. Lorna gets a headache and they get a lead.

Any resemblance to other angry red headed men or fiery green haired women is purely coincidental.



Cain Marko lounged casually on the bench outside the small cantina, sunglasses over his eyes and loud Hawaiian shirt covering his massive frame. As he took leisurely pulls from the squat bottle of beer that had been provided for him, he felt a minor pang of regret that the temporary tourist identity was only a cover.

"So, 'Beatrice'," he called out jovially, remembering the right alias to look for Lorna, "have you seen any sight of our tardy friend?"

Oh yeah, I'm so cut out for this covert stuff.

Lorna turned away from the street vendor she'd been haggling with and tilted her own sunglasses up into her vivid green hair. "Not even a glimpse of him, Guy." What kind of alias was Guy anyway? Or Beatriz for that matter? "I think we may have been stood up. Are you sure you got those directions right?" She rested her hand on her hip, her own Hawaiian shirt tied at the waist above bright blue shorts.

Cain shrugged, once more reminded of Remy's unique sense of humor when it came to fake identification papers. Yet another little gift his former housemate had left behind, along with burned DVDs of Punjabi soap operas and women's volleyball tournaments.

Standing up, Cain glanced around the square before turning to Lorna, making sure his broad body blocked the view of anyone who might be reading lips from a distance. "You sure you can pick out Nate's electromagnetic whatsit from here? I mean, we're only in one of the biggest cities in the world..."

"Not sure at all but given that it's about the only thing we have to go on, it's worth a shot. Besides, I'm pretty sure that he's not in this section of the city. He's got a unique feeling to him." She dropped her sunglasses back into place then swatted him on the shoulder, raising her voice slightly. "I told you we should have gone to the hotel first but no, you had to have your way. Let's go. He's not here and I'm not waiting anymore."

"But honeybunny," Cain whined with exaggerated petulance, "we came all this way, I'd hate not to see the sights. Maybe the... beachfront?" he suggested, tugging on the lapel of his shirt where his communicator was fastened out of sight. Two quick vibrations signalled an affirmative from the command team in the Blackbird, and Cain gave a subtle nod to Lorna. "I really think he might have gotten mixed up and headed that way."

"Or maybe you read the directions wrong," she replied a touch sharply then sighed and looped her arm through his. "Okay fine, we'll go to the beach. But this is the last part of the city you drag me over, Guy. I mean it, I need to sit down soon. Maybe have a drink and a massage. You promised me a vacation but all we've done so far is run around this city!" With her hand on him, it was easy to slip into viewing the world as EM fields, letting him guide her along. Nate, where are you, you idiot?

Walking through the streets, Cain knew that a seven-foot tall man with a green-haired girl on his arm would get some attention - but in Rio, an occasional doubletake was the only acknowledgement that the pair were anything out of the ordinary. But distinctive enough for any of Gideon's pigeons to pick up on, and hopefully give them a trail to follow.

Nothing, nothing and more nothing. There wasn't anyone around with anything more sinister than a pistol and certainly no unusual EM signatures except for... "Guy, sweetie, hang on a sec, I think there's a rock in my shoe." Lorna knelt, her dark glasses hiding her eyes as she tracked down the source of the field. She kept her head down, her hair covering her face as she spoke into her own comm. "The tall guy on the corner with the cellphone is some kind of energy projector." She stood, "That's better!"

Cain nodded, leaning slightly to whisper into his collar mike. He nodded imperceptibly to the man Lorna indicated. "See if you can't figure out what tower his signal's bouncing off of," he murmured to Lorna. "They say that'll narrow down our search."

"Not really my specialty," she said through a smile but focused on isolating the thin, faint thread of communication. It was a bit like narrowing down a single grain of sand on a beach and following it out to sea. Her hand tightened on Cain's arm to maintain some kind of stability. Her head started to pound dully. "Got it. Business district." The headache slammed into her as she opened her eyes. "Ow."

"Right," Cain said, supporting Lorna with one arm. "Maybe you're right, honey, we should head back to the hotel. Get you one of them cabana boys to bring you drinks with umbrellas, get out of this sun. We'll make a couple phone calls, maybe hook up with our friend later?"

It was a little embarrassing to have to lean on him like this but she had been using her powers all day. "That sounds great. I love cabana boys bearing drinks." The cell connection she'd been monitoring vanished. She glanced over her shoulder. "I think we might have company soon enough anyway."

Cain narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Then we'd best move our asses before happy hour's over. Backup's waiting."

"Oh good. The cavalry." She leaned on him a second longer then straightened and nodded. "Race you."