Cathouse: We've got nothing

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Laura meets up with Vanessa to share what she's learned of the brothel and Barry while Vanessa lets her know she and Sarah will be trying to find a trail of breadcrumbs to follow.

Jubilee was inside with Laura now. Vanessa kept telling herself that as she made her way to the back booth of a cafe where she was supposed to meet the young woman. Jubilee would watch the girl's back and make sure she was as alright as was possible. But that still left the clients. Hopefully Laura would have information that could help Vanessa and Sarah put their plans into better practice. She destroyed a napkin while she waited, the glossy black hair of her mimic's bob falling in a curtain to obscure her face as she did. Stress was mounting and eating away at her with every passing day she left Laura inside. Vanessa was never letting the girl in on a case like this ever again. Hell, she might never take a case like this again.

Laura was okay. She really was. Okay. Yes. Or at least the monologue in her head that had almost completely numbed the noises around her seemed to be of that opinion. And she was, actually. Her body showed no mark of injury, she looked as good as she always had -or even better?- and her mind still seemed to work. It wasn't that it bothered her; no, bother was too much of a strong word. Laura felt numb to a certain point, and that was the alarming thing. Laura spotted Vanessa and, snapping out of her little gray world, she went to sit in front of her like she had done last time. She didn't offer a fake smile this time, but looked less shaken than before. "Hey", said as she slowly placed her hands over the table, her eyes fixed on her bitten nails.

Vanessa's eyes followed where Laura's gaze went. She almost had no nails left. "It's just a job," she told the younger girl quietly and covered one hand with her own so Laura couldn't stare at what little was left of her nails. Her healing factor would likely replace them overnight anyway. "It's always easier once you tell yourself it's just a job. You clock in, you clock out and what happens in between doesn't matter as much. You leave it behind when you walk out."

Laura sighed heavily. "I know", said in a tired tone. "I know", repeated, this time with a lot more energy; it seemed to do her good. "We are close, I can feel it. I managed to talk with several of the girls, and asking around I have an idea of how much things have changed." Her eyes moved from Vanessa's hand to her face, eyes serious as she leaned a little on the table. "They changed a lot."

A slender, black eyebrow rose slowly. "Changed how? Or I suppose changed what?" She wasn't sure if Laura meant the girls at the "spa" had changed or if procedure had changed or what. She didn't want to assume anything either way. Assuming the wrong thing could divert her attention long enough for her to make a mistake that could get someone hurt. Someone like Laura.

"Let's just say...the spa has seen brighter times." She leaned more, so Vanessa alone could hear her. "Libertine cared for her girls, which is something that doesn't happen anymore. You could say the new ruler is more interested in profit rather than...health. I don't think that all of them are going all rose tinted glasses on me; this guy is making their - our - lives a living hell." There, she said it. Trying to look as natural as she could, Laura leaned back, closing her eyes and reminded herself to breathe.

Allowing the younger woman a moment to seemingly settle herself, Vanessa leaned forward, propping her elbow on the edge of the table and her chin in her palm,. "I figured he was the sort, but I'm glad she wasn't." It was easy to think the old guard had been great when the new guard was so much worse. Subjectivity could make accuracy hell to find, but Vanessa trusted that Laura had talked to enough of the girls about the old madame to be relatively certain. "We haven't much on our end, truth be told. There isn't any movement in the areas we'd expect if he was up to the sorts of things we think he is." It was possible he had gotten out of trafficking to run a brothel. If he was then he was a lot easier to dispose of but if he wasn't he had a whole network worth looking into.

Laura opened her eyes, already frowning. Nothing on him? "Well, there has to be something useful, somewhere. Maybe Kitty and I can take a closer look." She remembered Jubilee's fake name, and decided that she could never be too cautious. Besides, Vanessa would get what she meant. "He's a sneaky one, I'll give you that." Anything that gave her an excuse to keep doing her work and not kill everyone in there in a fit of rage.

"If you two could get into his office maybe? It would be easy to displace the jerk. Kitty could do it singlehandedly, honestly." Vanessa had not forgotten just how capable Jubilee was from their days working together. "But if there's someone else ready to step in for him and continue to make life hell? It shoots us in the foot to not deal with it ahead of time. We'll keep working our contacts on this side. Hopefully we can follow breadcrumbs back to him."

Laura nodded slowly, the idea taking form in her head. "I think we might be able to get a chance to do that. I'll talk to her; even if Kitty can do it on her own, she might need a lookout." God only knew what would happen to Jubilee if she were to get caught sneaking into Barry's office. "Hopefully we'll get at least some dirt on him. Hopefully." She felt silent again, but after a few moments, she looked at Vanessa, a question building up inside of her. "What do...the rest think of me being here?"

Vanessa had meant Jubilee could "displace" the guy by herself, but she didn't feel the need to clarify that point. Focusing instead on Laura's question, the metamorph frowned. Her mimic looked almost thoughtful in the expression. "Jean-Paul's pissed at me, but he's dealing. He's gone a bit papa bear about you. Riley wasn't happy but she has no say anyway. Lucas doesn't know." She chose Bishop's given name to avoid anyone overhearing his name and associating her and Laura with the agency. Crystal's name for her image induced persona seemed a better choice than mentioning the princess's real name as well.

Sighing, Laura tried to keep her feelings from taking over. She was making Jean-Paul worried and mad at the whole thing. She would need to have a talk with him. And Vanessa, too, wasn't completely out of harm's way. That was perhaps the part she liked the least of the whole deal, because she couldn't control it. "Once again, because of all that I have to make this worth." It was more something she said to herself, but Laura considered that Vanessa deserved to hear it. Sighing again, she made a weak attempt to shrug off the worries. "Well, that's that; I guess I can be yelled at in French once we are done with it."

There wasn't much comfort for Vanessa to offer on that front, unfortunately. Jean-Paul understood why things had fallen down the way they had, but understanding did nothing to make him more accepting. It hadn't made Vanessa any more accepting either so she couldn't exactly blame him for the reaction. "It's the job," she told Laura with more surety than she felt. "You make the best decision for the job to get it done the best way possible. It gets complicated when people matter to each other off the job because they think more with their feelings than their heads. But you were right when you made your case. This was the best decision for the job and letting personal feelings get in the way of the job would have made the job suffer." She gave Laura a somewhat weak smile. "We're professionals, after all, we need to try to remember to act like it, right?"

Vanessa was generally very good at separating work from her personal life. This case hit home, though, with the nature of Laura's role and it had been harder than usual to compartmentalize as a result. Vanessa had been doing her best to keep her personal feelings out of the investigation since, but the stress of Laura being inside the brothel still managed to build up daily. Vanessa told herself that was because she cared about Laura as a person and an employee, not because of her own issues. If she said it often enough she might even believe it.

More nodding; Laura felt like a robot for a moment. She didn't have many choices when it came to reacting, not until they were done, and the longer she kept the act, the harder she was going to hit the floor later. But, that was a problem she would deal with later. Smiling weakly on her own, Laura messed with her hair a little before looking away. "So, I should be going now." More time with Vanessa would only make her lower her defenses. The reasoning was a bit cruel in her mind, but it was needed.

"Alright, love. You know where I am if you need me." She gave Laura a smile that she didn't necessarily feel but that looked genuine. If Laura needed to go then for now Vanessa would let her. People could have feelings later. She could try to be there for the kid later. For now she would remind herself to focus on the job so Laura could get out of there before she broke. It's only been a couple days, the metamorph reminded herself. Most people could survive a week, even under these circumstances. But the person who comes out the other end isn't always the one who went in. And that was Vanessa's worry.

Laura nodded as she stood. "I know, and I remind me of that every hour or so." She let out a little laugh. "It helps me relax a little." Smiling a little more realistically, Laura set her eyes on Vanessa for a little while. "So, see you soon", said before she turned around and left, as if in a hurry.