Log: Believing is Seeing -- All's Said and Done

[x-coldhands.livejournal.com]

At the police station, Lorna and Bobby take stock of the whole situation and look forward to life getting back to normal again.



Lorna sat on a hard couch, slouched and holding a tissue against the scratches on her cheek. The police station was cold and smelled like sweat and stale coffee. A paper cup of it rested on the floor by her feet. They were really just waiting to see if anyone needed to hang out longer, answer questions, identify anyone. It was more than a little strange the way it had all worked out. For all their working with outside agencies, this was the first time that they'd cooperated so closely with law enforcement.

Turning her head, she eyed her friend sitting next to her. "You're all glittery. Is that part of the job? The glitter?" Lorna was rather glad that she'd been too old and too busted for this particular mission. Even just the short glimpses of the club she'd gotten after the two SWAT officers had led off the Giordano woman made her feel like she needed a shower. She couldn't imagine having been there for a week. She was tired just after a few hours. She had no idea how Shiro was managing. He'd been in Brazil just a couple of days ago. Not that there was much chance of him staying home with Clarice involved.

Bobby glanced down, scrubbing at his arms self-consciously. "The girls wear it, mostly," he answered. He must have gotten it all over him helping with the 'crowd control' as it were, when the bust went down. "I'll take a shower when I get home." He paused for a few moments, then amended, "Or seven."

She patted him on the shoulder, her own protesting the movement. Milena had wrenched her arm pretty badly. She was really looking forward to hearing that the other mutant was going to spend a long, long time in jail. "I got into a fight with that silver woman. She pulled my hair. Did you know that she was the one in charge? Everyone seemed so surprised when that guy came out to the cars."

"Not until Clarice told me." Bobby squeezed his eyes closed, rolling his head as if his neck was stiff. Then again, he had been under a lot of stress lately. "You sure seemed to be holding your own back there."

"Just doing my job." Her part in the raid had been minimal, truth to tell. Once the few mutants who had taken exception to being told they were to come in for questioning were subdued, it was just a lot of standing around, making sure that the patrons weren't trying to sneak off. Bobby and Paige had done the hard work of getting their young coworkers to calm down. Clarice and Shiro took out the few that wouldn't give up. "That girl Paige was talking to. The one who wouldn't stop crying, she didn't look like she was more than 16."

Bobby nodded solemnly. "She wasn't the youngest either, I don't think." He shook his head and leaned back, resting against the wall. "What's wrong with people, Lorna?" He knew there were bad people out there, on both sides of the equation--hell, he'd spent months in the company of some. It still bothered him more than he tried to let on, though. How could anyone exploit another human like that?

She wondered the same thing more than occasionally. "Greed. Power. Sickness, God only knows. Maybe it's some of all of it. That woman, before she was doing this, she was like those kids. She made movies, porn. Like...why? It's not like that was the only thing she could have done with her life--why would you drag other people into it later?"

Bobby's stomach churned and he shook his head. "I dunno. But this is why we do this, right? Shit like this--putting a stop to it." Even if it meant feeling dirty for weeks afterward, even if it meant certain young men from Boston was having anxiety dreams about the whole disgusting situation.

"Yeah. We make the brave sacrifices. We in this case being you." Lorna sighed, "Did you ever read the report Storm wrote after Karolina told her about the guy who asked her to work for them? Looks like those kids pretty much all got their start on those webcams." Lorna made a face then bent over to pick up her coffee. "You guys did a really good job, Bobby. Really really good."

Bobby nodded. He'd read it over briefly, but they'd been in a hurry to get onsite at the time, so it'd been a fast debriefing, more than anything. "Yeah...it's an easy way to suck 'em in, I guess. I mean, with Myspace and stuff, who doesn't mess around on a webcam once in a while?" And then it just all spiraled down from there. "Thanks," he murmured, staring at his hands. "I think I like straightforward fights better, though." Hell, he'd almost rather face Mystique in hand-to-hand combat than do another undercover job like this one. Almost.

Lorna nodded, "Yeah, me too. Preferably without the hair pulling." It still rankled more than a little bit that she'd gotten into a girl-fight with an ex-porn actress. "I think I'm going to stay out here a few more days. See my parents, go check in on Alison and Jamie and Kitty and all. I mean, since I'm here and all."

"Yeah," Bobby replied, sitting forward and rubbing his hands together absently, as if there was something on them that he couldn't quite get off. "I'm gonna head back home. I have...plans." He grinned faintly. "Although I won't be too far from here next week."

Hurrah, a topic change, "Really? What are you doing?" Lorna practically pounced on him with the eagerness to talk about something more fun than the incredibly icky mess they'd just come through.

Bobby was just as happy to change the subject, especially for such a pleasant one. "I'm surprising Terry with a trip to Vegas for our one-year anniversary."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Vegas... Uh huh...you do remember that Terry's not 21, right? What are you planning on doing in Vegas? Taking her to Circus Circus and letting her play in the ball pit?"

"I know," Bobby answered with a snort. "We're gonna catch some of the shows, ride the roller coaster--Vegas is a lot more all-ages than it used to be, Dane," he pointed out, remembering just in time not to punch her in the shoulder. "Besides. It's Terry." Meaning without saying it in their current location that she'd likely figure out a way to gamble, if she was determined.

"Sure it is," she teased him, "That's totally what you hear all the time. Sin City, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, bring the whole family!" Lorna finished off the truly dreadful coffee and sighed, hoping they could get out of here soon. "Well, have fun. Just don't get kidnapped by Elvis or something."

Bobby rolled his eyes, shrugging. "There's tons to do. And I have tickets to Blue Man Group for us, and there are shows every night, at one casino or another." Even thinking about sweeping Terry off on a fun, exciting vacation for their anniversary wasn't enough to lift Bobby's spirits for long in the current situation. "God, I hope they hurry. I want a shower."

Lorna was about to reply when her attention was pulled away by a tired looking man walking over to the couch. He was watching Bobby but that didn't stop Lorna from tensing. "Looks like you'll get your wish."

The man stopped in front of Bobby, "I need you to come and identify a few people for me. And we have a couple questions." He glanced behind him then back, "They're claiming they don't know anything. The woman says it was the big guy's idea. He says that he was just following orders. We're going to look into it but we want to nail these two cold. Got a minute?"

Bobby ran a hand through his hair, leaving glitter glinting in the harsh lights, and nodded, rising to his feet. "Sure, anything I can do, I will." He gave Lorna a faint smile and shrugged. "See you later, Lorna. Have fun with Ali."