Hank & Vanessa | Thursday Evening

[x-copycat.livejournal.com]

Running into one another in District X, Hank and Vanessa discuss Hank being torn between staying and his son. Then she kidnaps him only to chase down a bad guy.

District X was busy in the post-christmas season as families darted from shop to shop, returning and exchanging gifts. It was not why he was in the area, he'd been cooped up in his lab since his return from the West coast to the point that he actually found himself needing some fresh air. It wasn't as if they needed him on campus anymore, Jean had returned, though the lack of a presence from Scott was disturbing to him. No, Hank had simply been driving around when he realized he needed more shampoo and conditioner for his fur, something that he could easily whip-up in the lab, but since he was already out....

Grooming products in hand, Hank was heading back to his car when he walked past the changing window display at a toy store. A blue rabbit was being removed by a clerk and another pang for home and William hit him- before he knew it, he was at a display rack full of the fluffy coton-tailed critters.

District X had become home to Vanessa in the months since she'd opened the X-Factor office with Bishop. Working and living in the neighborhood had been quite a shift from the neighborhood the brownstone was in, but she'd adjusted quickly. There was a charm in being able to walk around as herself with scarcely an odd look from others on the street. Not everyone here had a physical manifestation but they weren't wholly out of place. Vanessa was by far not the oddest looking person on the street and that had become somewhat intoxicating.

Today the metamorph was wandering for the most part. She'd found having a presence in the community garnered more trust from the inhabitants who may have been reluctant to come to the agency for help otherwise. It was while she was watching the excited gesticulating of a child outside a toy store that she spotted a familiar like-colored individual inside. Rather than going in she simply watched Hank through the window. His shoulders were a little slumped and there was a bit of a frown tugging down the corners of his mouth. They were subtle signs, but she wondered what had the scientist so sad in a toy store.

Hank gave the cashier, a young woman with abnormally large ears, the money for the toy and a weak smile. Pulling his coat tighter around himself, the doctor exited into the street and resumed heading to his car a few blocks away. As he made his way down the streets, the chilled winter winds he got the strange feeling that someone was following him, but amongst the crowded street it was impossible to tell. After a couple blocks, the mob was not thinning out, so Hank made the choice to turn into an alley, where he moved quickly to the top of a dumpster, where he launched himself up to a fire escape- there he waited for his tail.

Vanessa hadn't turned down the alley immediately. Rather she'd moved out toward the curb and lingered only near enough to barely have a good line of sight down the concrete walkway between the buildings. She'd seen Hank hop up on something but it took her a few moments to spot where he'd stopped. Shadows, dark fur and a world class X-Men training regiment could make things difficult like that. By the time she stepped into the alley she wore a faint smile. "It's just me, kitten," Vanessa called up to him from where she'd stopped in a shaft of light. Vanessa had on a hoodie under her jacket and its hood concealed her hair, but her eyes gleamed bright red in the light.

Having the memory of an elephant was a gift and he could identify the cool and even tones that the woman following him was making. With a sigh of relief, he launched himself over the fire escape and landed on the damp cement in a crouch. Brushing himself off he took a few steps toward her, "Vanessa Carslyle...I'd heard you'd moved to this part of the city."

"Aye, the office is just a couple blocks over from here." Internally, she wished she'd been given a mutation that would make her so graceful. The association in her mind of him moving like a feline only led to images of him rolling over and then off the bed like most cats she'd ever met. That was an image that wasn't going to fade any time soon and it was an effort to suppress the amused expression that wanted to crop up as a result. "What brings you out of the lab?"

Hank shrugged and held up the bags, "I needed to pick up some products for my fur and on my way out, I saw," he reached into the paper sack that contained the azure rabbit and held it up, "this...do you think William will like it." He was genuinely smiling now, a warm expression as he looked at the bunny.

Vanessa smiled more at Hank's apparent and sudden happiness than at the stuffed animal. "I dunno, who's William? He's a cute bunny, though."

Hank's eyebrow raised slightly as he put the rabbit back into the bag, "William is my son, but he's back in Edinburgh with Madelyn at the moment."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." Had she known he had a son? Vanessa wasn't sure if her memory was started to get a bit shoddy or if she'd just never known. "How old is he?"

On that matter, Hank had to think for a moment, before he answered, "My goodness, he will be turning six this May- and here I've been over in Westchester for over a year now." His smile faded into another forlorn look.

"We should probably get out of the alley before someone thinks one of us is trying to hire the other one for sex." And Vanessa honestly didn't know who people would assume was the john. She gestured back to the street and waited until Hank was heading that way so she could fall into step with him. "You miss him, aye? William, I mean."

Hank nodded and offered his arm to Vanessa, "A great deal I'm afraid...don't mistake my words, I do go and visit every chance that I get, but...it's not the same."

"Why doesn't he come stay with you for a bit then," she asked as she hooked her arm through his. "Don't get me wrong, I've got almost no maternal instinct and zero desire to be a mum, but it seems to me that it's the easy answer. You miss him and visiting isn't the same so why not have him come stay here with you for a few months?" Six year olds...they were old enough to be serious headaches. But also old enough to be cool kids depending on how they were raised. Vanessa had little experience with kids that age, though, and very little desire to change that.

"I would," Hank shrugged, "but my stay here in America was supposed to be a temporary one until the professor could find a viable replacement to assist in running the medical center at the mansion. Then I was supposed to return home...and now that Jean is back...." Another shrug.

"Now that Jean's back there's someone to run the medlab so you're no longer obligated to be here. You've fulfilled your promise." That left one very obvious question. "So why are you still here instead of there?"

Hank paused and turned to his companion, adjusting the bags in his hands and sliding them into his pockets. "There's a number of reasons I keep coming back to, I've started to make serious progress in my research and the X-Men need me as an unofficial team leader pro temp until Scott returns from getting the West Coast Annex into order...but it seems like there's something else too."

"It sort of sounds like you don't want to go. You're making headway in your research but you don't need to be here to do it, do you? You could set up shop somewhere near William. The X-Men could always use a seasoned pro to help guide the younglings, but they'd figure it out if you really wanted to be with your family. I'm not saying you don't want to be with your family, but it sounds like you want to be here, too. Or am I wrong?" Being wrong was entirely possible. Vanessa was very good at reading expressions, body language and tone of voice but she also didn't know Hank like the back of her hand.

His eyes narrowed and a genuine smile spread across his feline features, "You're a dangerously insightful person, Ms. Carslyle. I have heard rumors that you were starting a detective agency of some sort," he deflected the issue at hand.

Beaming, she leaned forward and gave Hank a rather playful kiss on the cheek. Then she slipped her arm around his shoulders and continued on down the street with him. Vanessa's intention was her favorite cafe which was a block away. He was already here, he was pleasant company and she had it on very good authority that he was an intelligent sort of fellow. Therefore, Vanessa had decided to abscond with Hank. "Aye, sir. I roped tall, dark and stoic into it as well. After all, with the Xavier Institute bankrolling us I needed a legitimate PI around. And then I found a handful of oddball miscreants - read, whomever I decided was both handy and useful - and an agency was born! Complete with unpaid girl friday. Actually, I'm not sure I'm using 'girl friday' correctly here but I think Peaches would prefer it over 'nagging assistant I handed off.'" By the end of that little ramble Vanessa was giving Hank another beaming smile, the sort some children wore when they were affectionately playing around and feigning innocence. "We've been up and running for a few months now, actually. We're the ones who found that lady who had zapped the mutations out of some of the kids at the mansion. It was by accident while following some missing persons reports when we first opened. I think people assume we'll care more than the cops because we're mutants."

Hank nodded in agreement as they entered the cafe', "Yes, the police do tend to underinvestigate certain crimes in this city...I'm sure we can all sleep better knowing that you and Mister Bishop are on the case." He chuckled in a teasing way as they approached the counter. "In all seriousness though- if you ever need any forensics work, don't hesitate to call upon the services of one Doctor McCoy." There was only one woman in front of them, she was taking her time to order and flirting with the barista as she did, out of the corner of his eye, Hank noticed a young man in a gray hoodie next to the window.

"Really? Thanks." Forensics. God, that'd be great. And very handy at that. "I'll take you up on that if need be. Bishop's mostly there to be eye candy, though. Former detective or not, don't let him fool you. He's just there so we can throw him at women to distract them." She smirked. "The straight ones anyway."

While Vanessa joked with Hank the kid in the grey hoodie watched the flirting woman in front of them. He moved when the woman moved off to the side to wait for her drink. He moved fairly inconspicuously, but Vanessa had a tendency to watch everyone around her. If he was up to no good then he was a veteran shady sort. He moved with confidence and drew very little attention to him. Right up until he came up behind the woman and snatched her purse, anyway. He was already halfway to the door before the woman yelled about her purse being taken.

Vanessa was already chasing the kid, but Hank could move faster than she could. Once she realized how much faster the metamorph decided that when he caught up she would mostly get out of his way so he could get the kid faster. She didn't give up the chase herself, but she wasn't going to slow him down when it came down to it. The kid, though, was fast. More than just human fast but not exactly fast enough to make Jean-Paul even so much as blink at his skills.

With a smile, Hank handed his bags to the woman who'd just lost her purse and set his hat on the counter before dashing out the door and after Vanessa and the boy. They were nearly a block away, but Hank had a few years of experience on both of them and began acrobatically making his way to the rooftop of the cafe.

The gap between Vanessa and the fleeing junior hoodlum was increasing with every step she took. It was times like these when she really wished she could tap into past mimics without hanging out to cuddle for an hour and a half. Jean-Paul would have been very handy right now. Hell, Manuel probably would have even been useful. Then again, Domino's luck powers could have done a lot to work in her favor as well. Instead Vanessa had very long legs and a penchant for running on her side. The kid turned a corner and Vanessa sprinted so that she could get him in sight again.

Hank was running on all fours across the rooftops, easily clearing the ten to twenty foot gaps that sustained the alleys bellow. Aside from a few carrier pigeon enthusiasts, or hormonally driven youths, there weren't as many people up above the streets than there were on them. Finally reaching the end of the block, he perched on the edge and looked down as the hoodlum ran by below him.

No idea where Hank was, Vanessa skidded at the corner when she took the turn sharp. Her balance was nearly lost, but she regained it with her next step and continued her sprint after the grey hoodie. The guy with the purse, however, knew he was still being chased. He quickly ducked into the first doorway he could find that would give him cover. He hoped whoever was chasing him wouldn't manage to see him pressed into the corner by the wall beside the door and keep running.

From his vantage point he could see where the purse snatcher had holed up and silently made his way down the building's face until he was on the small, stone awning above the door. He watched as Vanessa approached, giving her a signal that the boy was just below him, "Son, you have two options," he spoke in soft tones as Vanessa caught up. "You can either give us the purse and go home, find an honest job, or we can take you down and hand you over to the police."

Vanessa slowed when Hank had pointed out where the kid was. She stopped just out of sight, hidden by a stone pillar next to the stairs. All she'd have to do was clothesline him if he tried to make his escape.

The kid, meanwhile, was trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. His eyes darted up to the awning, but it was too dark for him to try to spot a shadow through. Who was this person and how'd they get on top of him? Was there more than one or was the person who'd been behind him capable of flight? That was the trouble with snatching purses in District X, he never knew what he was dealing with. More so, who said the Voice From Above would keep his word? Deciding it wasn't worth the risk of handing himself over to the cops all quiet-like, he took a breath and made to dart out into the street.

He'd gotten a step and a half before he felt his chest hit something solid. The purse snatcher went reeling back and landed on his back.

"They still always pick the hard way," Hank sighed and dropped down to the street. A number of people were looking on as he picked up the purse, a lone police officer raced up to them and the duo explained what had happened as he cuffed the boy. A cruiser showed up a short while later and the boy was roughly shoved into the back seat. By the time that statements had been given, the sun had set and snow was falling from the dark skies above. "Well, Miss Carslyle, still up for that cup of coffee?"

"Sure. Do gooding always makes me crave a caffeine boost," she joked. "That lady totally owes us coffee, for the record. We should've told the cops to tell her that." She was only half serious. People needed to appreciate their resident do gooders more often and it certainly wasn't like X-Man status got Hank a holiday bonus. A blue arm slipped back over Hank's shoulders and she pointed in the direction of the cafe. "To the coffee!"