Cathouse: Following Breadcrumbs

[x-copycat.livejournal.com]

Sarah and Vanessa meet up with various contacts in an attempt to find a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to Barry.

"Excuse me, I seem to be lost." Sarah didn't look like she would be lost in District X, what with the visible horns and all, but that was the phrase they had agreed on during their brief conversation on the phone earlier. The man across from her was short, with greasy hair and jeans ripped nearly across at the knee.

You lookin' for a good time?" he leered. Sarah fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"Not me, exactly." She paused, and looked around them, but the alleyway was empty. "I've got a boss, with more money than sense, and he likes mutant girls. If I don't bring him one, then I'll have to step in and fill the void." She touched one of her horns gently, in a subconscious way.

"Fill the void? Isn't that his job?" Sarah sighed inwardly. She hated traffickers.

"Of course, you're right. But I've got a husband at home, and my boss doesn't like to share. He would sooner kill him." Her contact considered this for a moment.

"My sister. She's married to a guy. His brother brings home big money doing that kind of stuff. I can get you his name, but you'll have to tell him that I sent you. The bastard thinks he's too good for the rest of the family. Rich as all fuck, and he won't even send us a check for Christmas."

"Imagine that."

____

Vanessa sat down in the dingiest bar she'd ever set foot in. All weapons were out of view for once, but she unconsciously tapped her fingers along the sheathed blade that ran down the inside of her forearm. The froggy looking man with a wide face, bulging eyes and that wide, lipless mouth sat down beside her, closer than she would have liked. His skin was that muddy brown-green she associated with generic frogs hopping around mud puddles.

"Ain't you a peach," he leered with a grin.

"Usually I get something in the berry family," she returned, lip curling up in a sneer.

Froggy tried to put his hand on her thigh but it was quickly brushed away. "C'mon now, just inspecting the merch."

Vanessa leveled a look at the man that froze him. "I'm not the merch, you idiot, you're supposed to be getting me the merch. Do you even know where to find what I asked for."

"Uh..." his eyes shifted from side to side.

Vanessa stood and she towered over the man. He couldn't have been more than four feet tall standing. "Ever waste my time again, Franklin, and you'll lose one of those beady little eyes," she promised.

"Aw, c'mon, I just wanted to get a taste of ya!" He licked his lips and she slugged him. He wasn't a very useful contact anyway. And he'd forgive her in less than an hour.
____

"And you think that you can get me in touch with this 'Olive'? Is she another link in the chain, or can I call my boss and tell him I've found our girl? I'm running out of time here." Sarah wrung her hands anxiously. The businessman in front of her shook his head.

"Olive is a male."

"Excuse me?"

"He doesn't like to use his real name. This is such a messy business, and he has a family to consider." And yet he was selling helpless mutant girls off to the highest bidder. Sarah was starting to really hate this case. She sighed.

"Will I know 'Olive' when I see him?"

"No, but he'll know you. Your horns are distinctive."

"…Thanks?"

"Olive meets clients in the park after lunch. I suggest you wear something nice."
____

"A mutant girl you say?" He was non-descript but seemed far more helpful than Franklin had been.

Vanessa nodded. "Boss is a bit of a collector." She gestured to herself. "He likes his prizes unique."

"Unique talents or unique looking?"

The metamorph smiled a bit. "Can't he have both?"

The nameless brunette shrugged. "Depends what's in stock." He reached out, watching her carefully to see if she would stop him. She didn't and so his finger found its way along her jaw. "I'm not sure we've got anything as high quality as you."

The contact was all she needed to slip from her own form into his and then back again. "No? That's a pity."

The shifting had taken the guy by surprise, but he was smiling by the time she was back in her own form. "I know a guy. Simon."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "Simon got a last name?"

"Simon No-Last-Name won't see just anyone. I don't know if he'll see you."

Vanessa pulled a roll of bills out of her pocket and peeled off several 20's. She held them up and then slid them into Nameless' front pants pocket. "But you'll try very hard to find out where he is so I can bump into him, aye?"

His eyes were still on her two fingers lingering in his pants pocket. "Yes, ma'am, I will."
____

"I was expecting bigger horns." 'Olive' sounded almost disappointed. Sarah might have been disappointed too, seeing as how Olive looked less like a man heavily involved in human trafficking, and more like Mr. Rogers, sitting there on his park bench in the middle of the afternoon.

"'Olive'? I'm --"

"Don't introduce yourself girl, people could be listening." His interruption was brisk, and he patted the empty space next to him on the bench. Given that he met people in the open park, the comment almost caught Sarah off guard. She obediently sat on the bench next to him. "Now tell me what kind of girl you're looking for."

"You can get me one? Oh thank god. I thought--"

"What kind of girl?"

"A mutant. He likes visible mutations," she gestured at herself for emphasis, "and not one who's going to fight back. He likes to be in control."

"I think I can help you, my dear. Let me talk to my supplier, and I'll get back to you with pricing. I think he's having a two-for one sale this month." He smiled, and Sarah suppressed a shiver.

Recovering, Sarah managed a smile. "Can I ask you a question? Why 'Olive'?"

He smiled brightly again, but this time there was no hidden malice evident in the gesture. "Dashing name, isn't it?"

____

Afterward the women meet up to compare notes

Collapsing into a chair across the table from Sarah, Vanessa set her cup of coffee down. She was wearing her people-colored alternative to her own form that she typically used for times when she needed to be herself but less obvious. She'd worn her natural form to her various meetings, but she didn't want any of them following her so she had slipped into her alt after talking to Nameless. "Productive day?" She was hoping Sarah had gotten closer than she had, but given the way the case was going she wasn't that hopeful.

"It only took me all day, but I finally met with somebody who might know what they're talking about." Sarah sighed, and leaned forward to rest her chin on the heel of her hand. "Guy named 'Olive'. Creepy as all fuck, but seemed to be serious about finding us a girl."

"You can't trust a bloke named Olive," Vanessa agreed. What sort of self-respecting man did something like that anyway? Olive, of all names... "I talked to a useless bloke and then someone who can tell me where to find someone who might be useful. Simon he said the guy's name was. He said Simon's picky about who he talks to but he can at least figure out where he'll be so I can approach the guy on my own. And hopefully not get shot by a paranoid psycho in the process. That would really put a damper on my day."

"Getting shot at is an unfortunate side effect of the job. Some people just have no manners." Not that they had any room to talk. At least Sarah waited until someone really deserved it before beating the everliving hell out of them. "Olive has a prepaid number he's supposed to call when he gets prices for me. I'll let you know when I hear back."

"Great. Nameless should be in touch some time tonight, I hope. As you can guess, I don't know his name so I tend to refer to him as Nameless and he refers to me as Blue." Vanessa shrugged. "Considering Olive, I think I'm in preference for our less imaginative names for one another." Vanessa sipped her coffee, thinking. "What do you think the odds are that they're both tied to Barry? There could be another player in the area we don't know about. Olive and Simon might actually have different suppliers." Vanessa did not like the idea of that. On the bright side, the competition would be overjoyed to have Barry out of the picture, mostly likely, and stop any associates of his from coming in and re-establishing the business.

"Just in District X?" Sarah sat back in her chair, considering. "I don't think that we're looking at two. There's a lot of assholes looking to benefit from the place, but it's not really big enough to support more than one asshole at a time. Besides, if I bring another name home to put in the trafficker database, someone's going to kill me. We only have so many eyes to keep track of people with."

"I didn't mean in District X specifically. The neighborhood is a small place, but the city is not and the tri-state area less so. It wouldn't be hard to transport the goods from a few states over. But with Barry out of the way it's possible someone working nearby enough may decide to exploit the bounty he's left behind." Vanessa thought it could be possible, but Sarah knew trafficking better than she did. If Sarah said it was unlikely then Vanessa was inclined to believe her.

"That's not to say I don't think someone won't try and waltz their way in once they hear the District is free game again." Sarah rubbed absently at one of her horns while she spoke. It had been a while since she'd had horns full-time. "We have a trafficking database that makes my head hurt, and someone will undoubtedly come in and try to fill the void Barry leaves. I just don't think they're here now."

"Ah," Vanessa nodded. "Gotcha. Think there's maybe a way to take Barry out that will make them more hesitant to move in?" Vanessa didn't like traffickers for the obvious reasons all people shared. They were slimy, they took advantage of people, enslaved people, stole loved ones away and so on. She would hardly lose sleep over one little trafficker coming to a timely end suitable for his level of lowliness.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Do you actually want to know what I plan to do to this asshole once we find him? Or would you rather have plausible deniability?"

It spoke volumes about Vanessa that she had to stop and think about that for a moment. "I'm very good at lying. But I want to be clear that my people don't wind up anywhere near it. There was an incident not that long ago and I don't want to create a domino effect for them." Mostly she wanted to keep it away from Laura. Under the circumstances Vanessa didn't think anyone would blame the girl for taking a few of those guys out. It would be all too easy for her, and it would be even harder for her once she calmed down and rehashed it all mentally. "I will happily turn a blind eye and give you my blessing on it, but I don't want my people involved in any of it. I'm already risking a lot if someone finds out what I'm up to and then connects it back to the business and therefore back to Xavier."

Sarah leaned back in her chair, relaxed despite the serious tone of the conversation. "Understood. We'll take him out somewhere where he won't be linked back and have our fun. Besides, I would rather not take out my personal grudges with traffickers in front of your entire team. I would hate to dispel the rumors that I've grown out of my crazy bitch stage. Jubilee knows better."

That made Vanessa smile. "Suppose that means I'll have to find other ways to reinforce the idea that everyone I know is terribly unstable or a crazy bitch then, aye?"

Sarah snorted. "If you really need proof, I'll send you a list of the guys I've slept with in the last five years."