Amanda Sefton (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
xp_daytripper) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
xp_logs2006-08-06 06:10 pm
xp_daytripper) wrote in xp_logs2006-08-06 06:10 pm
Remy, Amanda - Sunday
Backdated to last Sunday. Following this post in the Snow Valley comm, Remy appears with a proposal and a bunch of plane tickets, plus an added surprise. Too bad the conversation didn't end there.
Amanda sat on the office couch, staring sightlessly at the whiteboard full of scribbles, idly letting George flicker in and out between her fingers. The werelight was flickering in happy shades of green and orange, apparently appreciating the attention. Her lap top was on the coffee table in front of her, on and open to the Snow Valley comm as she waited for a response to her request. Doug had already offered to go with her, should they be given the go-ahead, which made perfect sense: his power meant they'd have to communication issues no matter where they went, and he could generally talk her down if anything should happen.
"At least it'll get me out of the office for a bit, huh George?" she murmured letting the werelight roll over the back of her knuckles before turning her hand over and repeating the motion over her palm. She'd been keeping her head down, concentrating on her work and on her powers, trying to work out this mysterious 'way' of hers that Tante had alluded to. So far she managed much progress in either - too distracted for both. A change of scene might help and at least it would give her some distance from Remy, who she hadn't really spoken to since his Healing. His miracle, as Forge had put it.
Amanda herself didn't know what to call it.
"If dat thing is on de power bill, it's coming out of your paycheck." Remy walked into the main room, a thick sheaf of papers in his hand. Ever since he'd been back, there had been some distance between him and the rest of the staff. Everyone had been careful around him, not wanting to remark on his new found mobility. If it hadn't been for the amount of work settling the guild members he'd somehow taken responsibility for, he might have been able to correct that.
"I've got a job for you."
She started a little, not having heard him coming. Right, no cane and no limp. Back to silent stealthy Remy. It was going to take some getting used to. "Job?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him as she flicked George upwards to hover in its usual pattern around her head. "More filing?"
"Mostly. However, in dis case, it's in other countries." Remy dropped bonelessly on to the couch and tossed the packet on the table. "This one is officially off de clock. Information on my blushing bride and her psychotic guild. I want to know what she's sent around to de other contacts she's got around de world. Since you bringing Doug, it means dat he can tell if something is a setup before you even get involved."
Remy tapped the packet and smiled. "Dere an awful lot of plane tickets in dere."
"Plane tickets?" Amanda reached forward and grabbed the packet, riffling through it. Cairo, Paris, Beijing... Despite herself, she grinned. "Two birds with one stone, then. Should be enough travel here to well and truly test this theory of ours about my power." George bounced around her head enthusiastically, as if picking up on her mood. "I'm going to have to find a sitter for you, tho'," she told the light. "Since you won't bugger off like you're supposed to." She glanced back at Remy. "You sure you're all right trusting us with Guild stuff? Wouldn't you rather take care of this yourself?"
"Some of dis I can't take care of myself. I'm a big damn target for any of Belladonna's cronies, and it doesn't make any sense to stir de pot if I don't have to." Remy grinned lazily. "Besides, amount dat you spent wit' Tante, you should be able to pull of a credible creole accent."
"Hah." Amanda returned to her perusal of the packet, frowning a little as she realised Madrid featured. Not the place she'd have chosen, but she wasn't going to be so unprofessional as to let her personal shite get in the way. Besides, Spain was a big place - Manuel might be anywhere else and even with his range, there were thousands of people in Madrid and he wouldn't be able to sense her even if he was there, not with the link gone. "Anything we should know going in? Any history that might bite us on the arse?"
"Shouldn't be. Most of dis is either intelligence gathering or making a statement. Dat's why I'm giving it to you and Doug. If something goes wrong, Doug's going to see it a mile away." Remy stretched out, still not used to full mobility. "Speaking of Doug, dere's something else."
Remy reached into his pocket and tossed a sealed package of CDs at Amanda in a long arc.
"If this is Doug's porn stash or something, I don't wanna know," she told him, catching the CDs.
"Dat's right. I really need seventeen thousand photos of naked redheads and four movies of a man and a donkey." Remy paused. "Come to think of it, e-mail me de redhead photos."
She snorted at him. "Like you don't already have plenty of your own. With green hair photomanipped in." Turning over the CDs in her hands, she peered at them curiously. "So, what is it? One of those Mission: Impossible things with our top secret instructions that'll explode when we finish reading them?"
"Potentially." Remy said. "Dat's de contents of Charlie's hard drive."
Amanda froze, for a long moment not even seeming to breathe. "Oh," she said at last, her voice very small and far away. Her fingers trembled slightly as she tucked the CDs away almost reverently. Yes, it would help her with her powers study hugely, perhaps even be the breakthrough she'd been looking for, but moreso it was something tangible, something that had belonged to Charlie. Something that remained of their friendship. She closed her eyes, fighting to control her reaction.
"You weren't going to say goodbye, were you?" she found herself saying. "That day at Charlie's grave, you were planning to go to New Orleans and deal with this ex-wife of yours, even crippled, and you knew it would kill you. You knew, and you didn't even say anything." There was no accusation in her tone, just a flatness. Opening her eyes, she looked Remy in the face, in those eyes that now matched again. "You're a prick, you know that?"
"Oui." Remy's face had no emotion. He'd stopped running away from anything. "Dat was de choice I'd made. Fortunately, you got in de way. And den Lorna. Funny how dat happens." He could apologize or try to explain himself, but to be honest, he felt no real need. His new life had changed everything, and that was what was important.
"Yeah. Really fortunate." She'd thought she'd at least earned a word, but apparently not. "So, that's it, is it? You're all put back together so I don't even rate an email? 'Hey, 'Manda, guess what? Remy not crippled no more.'" He'd been right about her pulling off a credible creole accent. "I even asked Lorna if she'd heard from you. I thought you were different, but it turned out the same as the rest of 'em. Get your miracle, bugger off without a word." She hated the sound of her voice, a child whining, but she couldn't help it. It had hurt, especially finding out he'd run off with Lorna.
"Dat's 'bout right." There wasn't any emotion in LeBeau's voice. It was factual, almost offensively so. "Time dat you learned dat 'bout me. No matter what, inside and behind me is de monster, petite. Stupid to think dat dere was ever a way past dat. But dere is a job, and de job is important. Dat's all dat matters."
"Yeah, there is a job." Amanda clamped down on herself, locking everything down behind the old mask. Bastard. "I'll get hold of Doug, let him know we're off first thing in the morning." She scooped up the packet and stood, movements quick and jerky. "One thing, tho'. Don't expect me to be your go to girl whenever someone in this group breaks a toe - until I work out what the fuck I'm using for Healing, I'm not doing it again. Not for any of you." She gritted her teeth, trying to stop the tremble of her jaw. "I won't go back to that again."
"If you do dis right, dere's no need. If not, dat's your choice." Remy got up from the couch and walked out of the lounge area. "Call me when you get back in town." He turned into his office and shut the door.
Amanda sat on the office couch, staring sightlessly at the whiteboard full of scribbles, idly letting George flicker in and out between her fingers. The werelight was flickering in happy shades of green and orange, apparently appreciating the attention. Her lap top was on the coffee table in front of her, on and open to the Snow Valley comm as she waited for a response to her request. Doug had already offered to go with her, should they be given the go-ahead, which made perfect sense: his power meant they'd have to communication issues no matter where they went, and he could generally talk her down if anything should happen.
"At least it'll get me out of the office for a bit, huh George?" she murmured letting the werelight roll over the back of her knuckles before turning her hand over and repeating the motion over her palm. She'd been keeping her head down, concentrating on her work and on her powers, trying to work out this mysterious 'way' of hers that Tante had alluded to. So far she managed much progress in either - too distracted for both. A change of scene might help and at least it would give her some distance from Remy, who she hadn't really spoken to since his Healing. His miracle, as Forge had put it.
Amanda herself didn't know what to call it.
"If dat thing is on de power bill, it's coming out of your paycheck." Remy walked into the main room, a thick sheaf of papers in his hand. Ever since he'd been back, there had been some distance between him and the rest of the staff. Everyone had been careful around him, not wanting to remark on his new found mobility. If it hadn't been for the amount of work settling the guild members he'd somehow taken responsibility for, he might have been able to correct that.
"I've got a job for you."
She started a little, not having heard him coming. Right, no cane and no limp. Back to silent stealthy Remy. It was going to take some getting used to. "Job?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at him as she flicked George upwards to hover in its usual pattern around her head. "More filing?"
"Mostly. However, in dis case, it's in other countries." Remy dropped bonelessly on to the couch and tossed the packet on the table. "This one is officially off de clock. Information on my blushing bride and her psychotic guild. I want to know what she's sent around to de other contacts she's got around de world. Since you bringing Doug, it means dat he can tell if something is a setup before you even get involved."
Remy tapped the packet and smiled. "Dere an awful lot of plane tickets in dere."
"Plane tickets?" Amanda reached forward and grabbed the packet, riffling through it. Cairo, Paris, Beijing... Despite herself, she grinned. "Two birds with one stone, then. Should be enough travel here to well and truly test this theory of ours about my power." George bounced around her head enthusiastically, as if picking up on her mood. "I'm going to have to find a sitter for you, tho'," she told the light. "Since you won't bugger off like you're supposed to." She glanced back at Remy. "You sure you're all right trusting us with Guild stuff? Wouldn't you rather take care of this yourself?"
"Some of dis I can't take care of myself. I'm a big damn target for any of Belladonna's cronies, and it doesn't make any sense to stir de pot if I don't have to." Remy grinned lazily. "Besides, amount dat you spent wit' Tante, you should be able to pull of a credible creole accent."
"Hah." Amanda returned to her perusal of the packet, frowning a little as she realised Madrid featured. Not the place she'd have chosen, but she wasn't going to be so unprofessional as to let her personal shite get in the way. Besides, Spain was a big place - Manuel might be anywhere else and even with his range, there were thousands of people in Madrid and he wouldn't be able to sense her even if he was there, not with the link gone. "Anything we should know going in? Any history that might bite us on the arse?"
"Shouldn't be. Most of dis is either intelligence gathering or making a statement. Dat's why I'm giving it to you and Doug. If something goes wrong, Doug's going to see it a mile away." Remy stretched out, still not used to full mobility. "Speaking of Doug, dere's something else."
Remy reached into his pocket and tossed a sealed package of CDs at Amanda in a long arc.
"If this is Doug's porn stash or something, I don't wanna know," she told him, catching the CDs.
"Dat's right. I really need seventeen thousand photos of naked redheads and four movies of a man and a donkey." Remy paused. "Come to think of it, e-mail me de redhead photos."
She snorted at him. "Like you don't already have plenty of your own. With green hair photomanipped in." Turning over the CDs in her hands, she peered at them curiously. "So, what is it? One of those Mission: Impossible things with our top secret instructions that'll explode when we finish reading them?"
"Potentially." Remy said. "Dat's de contents of Charlie's hard drive."
Amanda froze, for a long moment not even seeming to breathe. "Oh," she said at last, her voice very small and far away. Her fingers trembled slightly as she tucked the CDs away almost reverently. Yes, it would help her with her powers study hugely, perhaps even be the breakthrough she'd been looking for, but moreso it was something tangible, something that had belonged to Charlie. Something that remained of their friendship. She closed her eyes, fighting to control her reaction.
"You weren't going to say goodbye, were you?" she found herself saying. "That day at Charlie's grave, you were planning to go to New Orleans and deal with this ex-wife of yours, even crippled, and you knew it would kill you. You knew, and you didn't even say anything." There was no accusation in her tone, just a flatness. Opening her eyes, she looked Remy in the face, in those eyes that now matched again. "You're a prick, you know that?"
"Oui." Remy's face had no emotion. He'd stopped running away from anything. "Dat was de choice I'd made. Fortunately, you got in de way. And den Lorna. Funny how dat happens." He could apologize or try to explain himself, but to be honest, he felt no real need. His new life had changed everything, and that was what was important.
"Yeah. Really fortunate." She'd thought she'd at least earned a word, but apparently not. "So, that's it, is it? You're all put back together so I don't even rate an email? 'Hey, 'Manda, guess what? Remy not crippled no more.'" He'd been right about her pulling off a credible creole accent. "I even asked Lorna if she'd heard from you. I thought you were different, but it turned out the same as the rest of 'em. Get your miracle, bugger off without a word." She hated the sound of her voice, a child whining, but she couldn't help it. It had hurt, especially finding out he'd run off with Lorna.
"Dat's 'bout right." There wasn't any emotion in LeBeau's voice. It was factual, almost offensively so. "Time dat you learned dat 'bout me. No matter what, inside and behind me is de monster, petite. Stupid to think dat dere was ever a way past dat. But dere is a job, and de job is important. Dat's all dat matters."
"Yeah, there is a job." Amanda clamped down on herself, locking everything down behind the old mask. Bastard. "I'll get hold of Doug, let him know we're off first thing in the morning." She scooped up the packet and stood, movements quick and jerky. "One thing, tho'. Don't expect me to be your go to girl whenever someone in this group breaks a toe - until I work out what the fuck I'm using for Healing, I'm not doing it again. Not for any of you." She gritted her teeth, trying to stop the tremble of her jaw. "I won't go back to that again."
"If you do dis right, dere's no need. If not, dat's your choice." Remy got up from the couch and walked out of the lounge area. "Call me when you get back in town." He turned into his office and shut the door.