xp_logs | Cathouse: Checking In

Vanessa receives another phone call with yet another unexpected request.

Crystal was making another phone call to Vanessa, but this time she was calling a number that would lead directly to the blue-skinned woman rather than to the office of X-Factor Investigations. She knew only a day had passed since she'd actually seen the other mutant, but it had been hard to keep thoughts about the case from her mind. Madame Libertine, her daughter, the women in the brothel... no, she didn't plan on questioning when or what Vanessa would do, but she did intend to see if and how things were progressing.

A curious look crossed onto Vanessa's face when her pre-paid cell rang. One of them, anyway. It was the one she'd designated for use on the brothel case and only a handful of people had it. Very few of them could possibly have a reason to use it yet. She checked the number on ID but didn't recognize it. Oh well, only one way to find out, right? She flipped open the phone to answer. "Aye?" Hey, anyone who legitimately had the number didn't need more than that to know it was her.

"Hi. It might be too early to ask, and I'm sorry if it is, but I was wondering about the progress on the case we met about yesterday. I don't know how quickly these things work." She'd just brought the case to Vanessa's attention and now felt a connection to it, even though she had placed it in Vanessa's hands and could by all rights just step away and have nothing more to do with it. But she just wasn't comfortable with that.

Ah, Crystal. Vanessa relaxed what tension had sprung up from the unknown number. "Hey. Things don't move very quickly at this stage, really. The little girl is safely tucked away. If anyone gets to her and survives the attempt I would be very, very surprised. Libertine's still holed up with her mate. We've got a plan formulated but it doesn't go into effect until tomorrow so right now it's just a waiting game and trying to think up more ways to get intel."

"The sort of person who threatens a little girl like that, who does this to people..." The voice that was Riley's trailed off for a moment. "I'd like to be involved with this. Participate in the investigation with you. You might not really have needed me for back-up yesterday, but I can be useful that way. My powers have both offensive and defensive capabilities, and I do have medical knowledge."

"The sort of person who does that is a lot more widespread than you'd think. Most of them just lack the ambition to pursue it to this level," Vanessa replied, focusing on the easy answer first. The investigation...that was trickier. Vanessa didn't like involving people she didn't know well. People had to be depended on to have one another's backs and if no one knew Crystal well why would she or they go out of their way to keep each other safe? Maybe that was a stupid way of looking at it but her working group dynamics had always been more family than professional. "Don't you have a lot of time commitments?"

"What's one more? I'm not saying I should be there for everything, just for part of it. There must be something I can do that would help." What was it that she had done, years ago, while on a one-woman investigation of her own? "I can solidify air as a shield, make someone lose consciousness, eavesdrop on people who should be too far away too overhear... I don't know if any of that would be helpful to you. I don't know what your plan of action is. I can fight and defend myself, too, in case you're worried about that."

Vanessa's person who could hear through walls would be inside and only in contact with her once a day. Jean-Paul would likely refuse to leave surveillance duty, but there were things like needing to go to the bathroom and having someone to stand in just in case would be handy. Vanessa could do it herself, of course, but she could only be so many places at once. She was hesitant, but it was just her and Jean-Paul so she really could use the help. "You're never alone. You take orders from me or Jean-Paul. You don't go cowboy. You play by our rules whether or not you like them. If you can do that then...well, yeah, I could use another person on the ground."

"I can do that." Crystal didn't know Vanessa well in any of the alternate identities the two women used, so she opted against the thought of trying to make a joke by reminding Vanessa she wasn't quite bound to the ground. Vanessa had lived at the mansion and probably seen Crystal out for a flight, and even if it had slipped her mind, Jean-Paul knew. "I know how to take orders. I won't make a move until you or Jean-Paul tell me to do so." Which didn't mean she'd allow someone to walk up to her and smash her face in when she could stop it, but she figured that went without saying.

Vanessa mulled that over for a few moments. There wasn't a downside to bringing Crystal on and she had no real reason to refuse help. "While it should go without saying, you can't talk about the case with anyone outside of it. No friends, no team mates, no coworkers. Come by my place at your soonest convenience and we'll work some stuff out, figure out where I might need you and when you're available and all that, alright?"

The only person she could even think of to tell anything to would be Warren, and she wasn't quite sure what he would think of what she was about to do. "I'll be there later this afternoon. Thanks."