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xp_logsAmanda has returned to the brownstone to confront her little sister. It proves unfruitful, so whilst Amanda is off phoning Kurt to come and try his luck, Doug and Marie-Ange try theirs.
Doug waited until Amanda left the room, eyeing Jimaine quietly. When she had left, he got to his feet, prowling the room with nervous energy. "You know why pretty much everyone in Europe hates the Rom, Angie?" he asked abruptly, breaking the silence. Before she had an opportunity to respond, he answered his own rhetorical question. "Because they all think that Gypsies are a lying, cheating pack of SNEAK THIEVES!" he wheeled to bellow in Jimaine's face.
Jimaine stood her ground against his anger, just looking him stolidly in the face. "I know what they think. Don't you think I've known it all my life?" She even mustered a sneer for her next words. "And Gemile is Rom too, don't forget."
"Do not even try to make the dirty looks." Unlike Doug, Marie-Ange's voice was calm and even, almost cold. "Your sister may be Romani by birth, but your 'family' cast her out and if your actions are any indication, she is far better off without you." She stood up slowly, closing the gap between Doug and the door.
"I gotta say, you got big brass ones. Did you think you wouldn't get caught?" Doug asked, leaning over and invading Jimaine's personal space. "Thought you were smarter than us?" He snorted. "We've dealt with cult leaders, and crazy flesh computers, and -gods- before. You don't even make the top ten, ~bitch,~" he hurled the epithet in Romani.
"She was a danger to the clan!" Jimaine snapped at Marie-Ange, ignoring Doug as best she could for the moment. "My mother did right to cast her out, if it's the likes of you she's fallen in with."
"Do not speak of things you know nothing about." Marie-Ange said icily. "Your mother is obviously foolish, if she sent you here and thinks we are so dangerous and such a bad influence. She has far too much faith in you." She shrugged diffidently and then added. "Or perhaps you are just expendable. After all, she has your brother, and Meggan, yes?"
Jimaine raised her head proudly. "She sent me to do a job for her, nothing else. And I did it. It doesn't matter that I got caught." Stefan would be the leader, she'd always known that. But maybe, if she was a dutiful daughter... but the truth was, for all her reasoning, she was terrified. She just wasn't going to show these people that.
It didn't matter if she wanted to show it or not, Doug could see the tightly controlled fear in Jimaine's body language. He circled in like a shark scenting blood in the water. "It doesn't matter, Jimi?" he asked silkily, the diminutive a subtle jab at the girl. "It doesn't matter that you got left here alone to take the fall? Alone here with those 'dangerous influences' you were talking about?"
She glared at him. "You won't hurt me." But her voice didn't come out as certain as she might have liked. "You wouldn't dare. My brother..." She didn't mean Stefan.
"Is not here," Marie-Ange replied tersely. It did not truly matter whether the girl was referring to Stefan or Kurt, because neither could stop her from what she was about to do. Doug, on the other hand...
Her hand flashed out from her hip with no windup, cracking like a whip across Jimaine's face. Then she stepped back, admiring the livid mark that was already beginning to show on the Rom girl's face.
Doug merely stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest. He'd seen the mental preparation for the slap, but done nothing to halt Marie-Ange. If she'd kept on swinging away, he might have pulled her off, but seeing the way Jimaine raised a hand to feel at her jaw was definitely satisfying.
Jimaine had staggered under the blow, being short and slight like her mother and sister. She'd let out a gasp, quickly stifled, when the blow hit, and now her mouth set firmly closed and she took a step back, towards the wall.
They'd get not another word out of her. She was determined of that.
It was at that moment that Kurt bamfed into the room, and took in the scene instantly. His first move was to step in between Jimaine and Marie-Ange, looking from one to the other. "What is going on here?" he demanded.
"Your sister is a belligerent lying sneak thief?" Marie-Ange stated flatly. "Who seems to be trying to pretend to be Amanda." It was certainly the facts of the matter, even if delivered in the worst light possible. Which was the only way Marie-Ange was going to see it.
Doug's idle pose with his arms crossed over his chest quickly turned a bit defensive and hard at Kurt's accusatory tone, just by virtue of leaning forward a bit and shifting his hips. "She appears to be under the impression that Amanda is some sort of danger to the clan," he told Kurt. "If you think you can get any more out of her, you're welcome to try," he told the X-Man. He met Marie-Ange's eyes, then flicked his own toward the door in a silent signal. "I think we're done here," he said flatly as they both headed out of the room.
Kurt watched them go with hard eyes, then turned to Jimaine without perceptibly softening. "You are going to tell me what you have been doing, and why", he informed her. "And you are going to tell me right now."
Kurt, having spent some time talking to Jimaine, emerges somewhat more successful, but definitely less than pleased about the treatment of his sister. Things get tense.
It was something under an hour and probably closer to half that when Kurt emerged from the room, Jimaine shivering and tear-stained under his arm, to find Amanda, Marie-Ange and Doug waiting.
"She was sent by our mother", he informed them flatly. "To do as you have said, set Amanda up to seem a thief. Margali is also behind your increases in power, Amanda. There is something deeper here, but Jimaine knows little of it - and it is a family matter."
Amanda's eyes narrowed. "But I thought we didn't count as 'family' any more... what's Margali playing at?"
"When it comes to this", Kurt said coolly, looking only at Amanda, "it is a problem concerning the clan and to be dealt with by those who know the clan. Even its outcasts. No one else."
"No." It was said quietly, but with more than a hint of steel. Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, meeting her brother's eyes unflinchingly. "It stopped being a clan problem the minute Jimaine here posed as me, broke into my boss's apartment and stole from her. Not to mention whatever the hell is going on with my powers. The clan dragged my friends, family and workmates into this by setting me up to take the fall, they get to deal with the consequences."
"Oh, there will be no leaving us out of it." Marie-Ange raised an
eyebrow at Kurt. "Kurt Steven Sefton, family is much more then blood
or who raised you and you should know better then to think otherwise!"
"I will leave out who I want to", he retorted, cool turning to cold. "So you will tell me why I should take those who try to gain their information with pain, or you will find the clan without my help or Jimaine's."
Marie-Ange rolled her eyes. "You can stop that now. She deserved it, and not because I wanted information." She shook her head and looked towards Doug and Amanda. "Can you please tell him that he is being ridiculous and that a slap across the face does not mean I am a horrible evil vile bitch? Because I think he will not listen to me."
"And using magic to boost my powers isn't serious? This is more than family, Kurt, more than just a slap that my bratty little sister probably bloody well deserved - if Margali's behind this, there's something seriously fucking wrong, and I won't go without backup I can trust." Amanda's eyes flicked to her younger sister, who was obviously enjoying the dissent. "I'm just wondering if they used the same spells Rack did when he did the same thing," she added deliberately.
Kurt paled, and then his eyes narrowed at her. "You do not speak his name in comparison with them", he said in a low voice. "Not in my hearing." Exile or no exile, his continued feeling for the clan had never been clearer. "Whatever is wrong, it is Margali's plan, not Jimaine's. Which of you would not do as Pete or Remy asked, for someone you have no liking for? You had no right to harm her, Marie-Ange." His eyes flicked from face to face. "But if Amanda insists, you may come along."
"I do insist." Later she'd talk to Kurt about the Rack crack, but not now. Not when they were messing with her life, the one she'd worked so hard to rebuild. She glanced at Doug and Marie-Ange. "Sound out the troops, see who's up for joining in? I want some heavy hitters, just in case."
Doug had been watching Kurt and Amanda trade words the entire time, ready to step in if it looked like Kurt wasn't going to accept him and Marie-Ange coming along. Because there was no way that he was getting left behind. "I can practically guarantee Wanda will want a piece of this," he predicted before striding off to make the rounds of the brownstone.
Kurt watched him go, grim-faced, then looked down at the girl leaning against him. "And you can stop smiling, Jimaine", he said sharply. "You should not think you are getting away with this. You will come back to the mansion with me now, and when you are there, you will speak to no one. You will not leave the mansion, not to so much as go out onto the grounds. In fact, you will not leave my suite. And if you do when I am not there, take it from me, I will be told, and then I will put you in the care of our groundskeeper until I can see you home."
Jimaine's smile utterly vanished mid-way through the speech, her face turning sulky, but she nodded.
Amanda nodded, satisfied for now. "Guess I'll go start making flight arrangements," she said, glancing between Kurt and Marie-Ange. "I'll let you know when we're leaving." There wasn't anything much else to say, really. She knew Margali didn't want her in the family any more, but this? She couldn't process it. "We'll sort this out."
Doug waited until Amanda left the room, eyeing Jimaine quietly. When she had left, he got to his feet, prowling the room with nervous energy. "You know why pretty much everyone in Europe hates the Rom, Angie?" he asked abruptly, breaking the silence. Before she had an opportunity to respond, he answered his own rhetorical question. "Because they all think that Gypsies are a lying, cheating pack of SNEAK THIEVES!" he wheeled to bellow in Jimaine's face.
Jimaine stood her ground against his anger, just looking him stolidly in the face. "I know what they think. Don't you think I've known it all my life?" She even mustered a sneer for her next words. "And Gemile is Rom too, don't forget."
"Do not even try to make the dirty looks." Unlike Doug, Marie-Ange's voice was calm and even, almost cold. "Your sister may be Romani by birth, but your 'family' cast her out and if your actions are any indication, she is far better off without you." She stood up slowly, closing the gap between Doug and the door.
"I gotta say, you got big brass ones. Did you think you wouldn't get caught?" Doug asked, leaning over and invading Jimaine's personal space. "Thought you were smarter than us?" He snorted. "We've dealt with cult leaders, and crazy flesh computers, and -gods- before. You don't even make the top ten, ~bitch,~" he hurled the epithet in Romani.
"She was a danger to the clan!" Jimaine snapped at Marie-Ange, ignoring Doug as best she could for the moment. "My mother did right to cast her out, if it's the likes of you she's fallen in with."
"Do not speak of things you know nothing about." Marie-Ange said icily. "Your mother is obviously foolish, if she sent you here and thinks we are so dangerous and such a bad influence. She has far too much faith in you." She shrugged diffidently and then added. "Or perhaps you are just expendable. After all, she has your brother, and Meggan, yes?"
Jimaine raised her head proudly. "She sent me to do a job for her, nothing else. And I did it. It doesn't matter that I got caught." Stefan would be the leader, she'd always known that. But maybe, if she was a dutiful daughter... but the truth was, for all her reasoning, she was terrified. She just wasn't going to show these people that.
It didn't matter if she wanted to show it or not, Doug could see the tightly controlled fear in Jimaine's body language. He circled in like a shark scenting blood in the water. "It doesn't matter, Jimi?" he asked silkily, the diminutive a subtle jab at the girl. "It doesn't matter that you got left here alone to take the fall? Alone here with those 'dangerous influences' you were talking about?"
She glared at him. "You won't hurt me." But her voice didn't come out as certain as she might have liked. "You wouldn't dare. My brother..." She didn't mean Stefan.
"Is not here," Marie-Ange replied tersely. It did not truly matter whether the girl was referring to Stefan or Kurt, because neither could stop her from what she was about to do. Doug, on the other hand...
Her hand flashed out from her hip with no windup, cracking like a whip across Jimaine's face. Then she stepped back, admiring the livid mark that was already beginning to show on the Rom girl's face.
Doug merely stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest. He'd seen the mental preparation for the slap, but done nothing to halt Marie-Ange. If she'd kept on swinging away, he might have pulled her off, but seeing the way Jimaine raised a hand to feel at her jaw was definitely satisfying.
Jimaine had staggered under the blow, being short and slight like her mother and sister. She'd let out a gasp, quickly stifled, when the blow hit, and now her mouth set firmly closed and she took a step back, towards the wall.
They'd get not another word out of her. She was determined of that.
It was at that moment that Kurt bamfed into the room, and took in the scene instantly. His first move was to step in between Jimaine and Marie-Ange, looking from one to the other. "What is going on here?" he demanded.
"Your sister is a belligerent lying sneak thief?" Marie-Ange stated flatly. "Who seems to be trying to pretend to be Amanda." It was certainly the facts of the matter, even if delivered in the worst light possible. Which was the only way Marie-Ange was going to see it.
Doug's idle pose with his arms crossed over his chest quickly turned a bit defensive and hard at Kurt's accusatory tone, just by virtue of leaning forward a bit and shifting his hips. "She appears to be under the impression that Amanda is some sort of danger to the clan," he told Kurt. "If you think you can get any more out of her, you're welcome to try," he told the X-Man. He met Marie-Ange's eyes, then flicked his own toward the door in a silent signal. "I think we're done here," he said flatly as they both headed out of the room.
Kurt watched them go with hard eyes, then turned to Jimaine without perceptibly softening. "You are going to tell me what you have been doing, and why", he informed her. "And you are going to tell me right now."
Kurt, having spent some time talking to Jimaine, emerges somewhat more successful, but definitely less than pleased about the treatment of his sister. Things get tense.
It was something under an hour and probably closer to half that when Kurt emerged from the room, Jimaine shivering and tear-stained under his arm, to find Amanda, Marie-Ange and Doug waiting.
"She was sent by our mother", he informed them flatly. "To do as you have said, set Amanda up to seem a thief. Margali is also behind your increases in power, Amanda. There is something deeper here, but Jimaine knows little of it - and it is a family matter."
Amanda's eyes narrowed. "But I thought we didn't count as 'family' any more... what's Margali playing at?"
"When it comes to this", Kurt said coolly, looking only at Amanda, "it is a problem concerning the clan and to be dealt with by those who know the clan. Even its outcasts. No one else."
"No." It was said quietly, but with more than a hint of steel. Amanda crossed her arms over her chest, meeting her brother's eyes unflinchingly. "It stopped being a clan problem the minute Jimaine here posed as me, broke into my boss's apartment and stole from her. Not to mention whatever the hell is going on with my powers. The clan dragged my friends, family and workmates into this by setting me up to take the fall, they get to deal with the consequences."
"Oh, there will be no leaving us out of it." Marie-Ange raised an
eyebrow at Kurt. "Kurt Steven Sefton, family is much more then blood
or who raised you and you should know better then to think otherwise!"
"I will leave out who I want to", he retorted, cool turning to cold. "So you will tell me why I should take those who try to gain their information with pain, or you will find the clan without my help or Jimaine's."
Marie-Ange rolled her eyes. "You can stop that now. She deserved it, and not because I wanted information." She shook her head and looked towards Doug and Amanda. "Can you please tell him that he is being ridiculous and that a slap across the face does not mean I am a horrible evil vile bitch? Because I think he will not listen to me."
"And using magic to boost my powers isn't serious? This is more than family, Kurt, more than just a slap that my bratty little sister probably bloody well deserved - if Margali's behind this, there's something seriously fucking wrong, and I won't go without backup I can trust." Amanda's eyes flicked to her younger sister, who was obviously enjoying the dissent. "I'm just wondering if they used the same spells Rack did when he did the same thing," she added deliberately.
Kurt paled, and then his eyes narrowed at her. "You do not speak his name in comparison with them", he said in a low voice. "Not in my hearing." Exile or no exile, his continued feeling for the clan had never been clearer. "Whatever is wrong, it is Margali's plan, not Jimaine's. Which of you would not do as Pete or Remy asked, for someone you have no liking for? You had no right to harm her, Marie-Ange." His eyes flicked from face to face. "But if Amanda insists, you may come along."
"I do insist." Later she'd talk to Kurt about the Rack crack, but not now. Not when they were messing with her life, the one she'd worked so hard to rebuild. She glanced at Doug and Marie-Ange. "Sound out the troops, see who's up for joining in? I want some heavy hitters, just in case."
Doug had been watching Kurt and Amanda trade words the entire time, ready to step in if it looked like Kurt wasn't going to accept him and Marie-Ange coming along. Because there was no way that he was getting left behind. "I can practically guarantee Wanda will want a piece of this," he predicted before striding off to make the rounds of the brownstone.
Kurt watched him go, grim-faced, then looked down at the girl leaning against him. "And you can stop smiling, Jimaine", he said sharply. "You should not think you are getting away with this. You will come back to the mansion with me now, and when you are there, you will speak to no one. You will not leave the mansion, not to so much as go out onto the grounds. In fact, you will not leave my suite. And if you do when I am not there, take it from me, I will be told, and then I will put you in the care of our groundskeeper until I can see you home."
Jimaine's smile utterly vanished mid-way through the speech, her face turning sulky, but she nodded.
Amanda nodded, satisfied for now. "Guess I'll go start making flight arrangements," she said, glancing between Kurt and Marie-Ange. "I'll let you know when we're leaving." There wasn't anything much else to say, really. She knew Margali didn't want her in the family any more, but this? She couldn't process it. "We'll sort this out."
