xp_logs | Vanessa and "Riley" - Summer in the City

Crystal and Vanessa finally have the chance to speak in person after the conclusion of the brothel case, and the princess reveals how she'd like to spend her summer vacation.

Normally Vanessa would have been curled up in the back on one of the bean bag chairs, out of sight should any potential clients come in. Curling up with her lap top didn't precisely make her look professional, but it was comfortable and she was sick of her desk. She was waiting, however, for someone and in the spirit of not appearing to be where she said she would be the metamorph was instead curled up in an arm chair, legs over one arm and back against the other. She had been busy with work in the past month or so, but that wasn't entirely the reason she hadn't managed to get the schedule conflicts resolved enough to meet with Crystal since the business with the brothel had been wrapped up. No, Vanessa was equal parts busy with work and busy with the shiny new boyfriend she felt the need to hoard as much as possible and busy putting together her greenhouse and garden up on the rooftop. There was a pang of guilt over putting off meeting with the princess for so long, but Vanessa was settling into a sense of equilibrium she hadn't had for months and didn't want to give it up. Selfish, of course, but she was unrepentant.

When the door to the office opened Vanessa's eyes moved to glance over. Her chin wound up on the back of the chair as she peered over to see the sparkling, brunette alter ego of Crystal's walk through the door. The princess wasn't really Vanessa's type, but she had a healthy appreciation for the brunette image she wore when dealing with X-Factor thanks to her inducer. And today Riley was wearing a halter top. All that bare shoulder and upper back. Man, Vanessa loved the hotter months for so many reasons. She grinned when Riley looked over at her, the look on her face clearly saying she was up to some sort of mischief or general no good. "Ms. Chase, how are you today?" That was one way to put Vanessa in a good mood.

Crystal had wanted to meet with Vanessa earlier than now, but it had been hard to find a time when they could both be in the same place at the same time. Crystal had classes, both the ones she was teaching and the ones she was about to finish taking, and she knew Vanessa could be called away on a case at any moment. Such was the life that each of them had chosen to lead, leaving open the potential that something could happen to take them away from the city. Although in Vanessa's case, it actually seemed to happen a lot, while Crystal had only gone on trips planned in advance.

So now they had managed to find time to meet, and Crystal was curious about what Vanessa wanted to talk to her about. She knew it couldn't have been anything time-sensitive since it had waited this long. Also, she had something she wanted to bring up to Vanessa as well, something she'd been thinking about for a month now.

"I'm great," she said in Riley's voice once she'd located Vanessa, smiling back at her. Crystal would never say something like this, but when she used Riley's appearance, she also took on a different persona. "You've been keeping busy with cases, I take it?"

"Busy like a beaver." Knowing nothing about actual beavers, Vanessa hoped that saying wasn't ironic or sarcastic in a way that she didn't know. The metamorph unfolded herself from the chair and stood. She gestured for the other woman to follow her as she headed to the back of the office by the wall of windows. Vanessa much preferred the nook at the back nestled into the corner behind the wall of the bathroom that cut it off from the larger area of the room. "Thanks for coming down. I know it's been a nightmare and a half trying to figure out when we're both conscious, coherent and free at the same time. It's not anything all that important, honestly." As they passed the kitchen area Vanessa gestured to it with one hand. "There's coffee and cookies our girl Friday made if you want any." Vanessa, however, made a bee line for her favorite bean bag chair which was off in the corner of the nook.

The brunette followed Vanessa to the back "We both have busy lives, don't we? It's better than having nothing to do and being bored, right?" She glanced around the bean bag area and selected one to sit in. "I've been wondering about our meeting. I knew it couldn't be because something else went wrong at Madame Libertine's because I've been back there a few times to check on her girls."

"No, nothing went wrong there." Vanessa stashed her laptop against the wall and pulled her knees up to fold her arms over. "She told me you've been out a few times now to check on the girls and make sure they were okay, medically speaking." It was something that had endeared the princess to Vanessa. Crystal had been helpful before and seemed to genuinely care about people, but she had decided to go above and beyond for a group of prostitutes. And without any apparent judgement about how they put food on their tables. Vanessa respected her for that.

The other woman nodded. "I just wanted to make sure they were OK. There can always be damage that isn't noticed right away, and if it isn't discovered in enough time, lives can be in danger. Even with wounds that were already treated, there's always the risk that something could go wrong, such as an infection setting in. I wouldn't have felt right if I didn't know they were all doing as well as can be expected both physically and mentally."

A smile found its way onto Vanessa's face at that. "That's very kind of you. A lot of people wouldn't have bothered checking up on them. It means a lot to Libertine and the girls." In fact, several had mentioned they were big fans of Riley for having checked up on them. Prostitutes weren't exactly universally respected people. "Anyway, I mostly wanted to meet up with you to thank you, both for bringing the situation to us and helping out. I'm sure it goes without saying, but obviously I can't have knowledge that X-Factor was involved getting out to anyone who wasn't involved. I can't risk it landing on Xavier's doorstep. I know we discussed it before, but I'd rather unnecessarily impress the need for discretion upon you than not do it and have it wind up being necessary. I'm sure you understand."

Golden eyes met Vanessa's. "I understand. I figured the same applied for me. Just as no one who wasn't directly involved knows that X-Factor was on the case, no one other than the people working for X-Factor who were involved with it know who Riley Chase is when she's not a sparkling brunette." It was a matter of trust, really. And, of course, Vanessa wouldn't say anything about either Riley or Crystal being involved with the brothel when she didn't want anyone to know that she herself had been involved. Plus even if Crystal had wanted to tell anyone about X-Factor's involvement, she couldn't exactly do so without revealing the part she had played. "I really wouldn't have any reason to tell anyone what happened. The situation was taken care of, the matter resolved, and no one else needs to know."

Vanessa nodded. "Precisely. For the sake of covering bases I just needed it said aloud. Riley's identity," she smiled as she interrupted herself, "not that I'm saying she has any other identity, is no one's business but her own. As someone with more previous identities than anyone's got a right to have, I can certainly understand and respect that." While she had not appeared particularly anxious or apprehensive before, the metamorph visibly relaxed a little. "If you hear of anything else untoward or sketchy in your EMTing you'll come to us?"

"That's over now," was the reply. "That was part of my classwork, and finals were this week. I had an assigned number of hours to spend working as an EMT, and I completed those hours. I'll need to take a test to become an official paramedic, but I'm sure I won't have a problem with that." Of that she was absolutely confident. She knew the material, had even known a lot of it before she began her training, and learning new things had never been an issue for her. "But if it would be helpful to you if I continued with that work, I could do it. I could see about volunteering my time so I could keep an eye out for things."

"Don't go out of your way on account of us. We've got plenty of ways to get information, an EMT was just a new venue for information that we thought could prove useful in the future." Vanessa waved the whole topic off with her hand. "If you decide to pick up work as a paramedic or what have you on your own that's different. But don't go and pick up more work just to help us out with occasional information. We have our ways." She emphasized the last word, making it sound as mysterious as possible, then grinned.

"I could be a part of those ways if you were interested." And there it was, what she had wanted to talk to Vanessa about. "I think I could help you, and I'd like to do that if you wouldn't mind extra assistance. The school year is almost over, and I was planning on leaving for the summer. But leaving doesn't mean I have to go back home or visit exotic locations all over the world. I can stay here and work with X-Factor if you'll have me."

Now that was unanticipated. The look Vanessa gave the other woman was curious, head tilting to the side as she considered the offer. "We never mind extra help. Some days we have no need of it and other weeks we are desperate for it. Your classes and EMT work are concluded and with school out at Xavier's that basically only leaves your royal duties, whatever those actually are, to contend with in terms of work, yes?" Vanessa wasn't saying yes yet. She was certainly considering it, but she needed to know what she would be getting into with hiring on a princess first.

A grin appeared on the sparkling face, and she spoke in a mock-whisper. "I've heard a rumor that the princess of Attilan is going to be taking a sabbatical this summer. I hear she'll be away for three months, mostly unseen, possibly appearing here and there when she has the time so she can keep up appearances. If she's already made prior commitments, she'd still like to keep them, but those dates are already known so she can plan around them."

"Ah, is that so?" The stage whisper was cute, Vanessa would give her that. "I hope she'll be vacationing in distant, exciting places then. It'd be terrible to waste a sabbatical. Though, since her lack of schedule frees up yours..." Vanessa gave her a grin of her own. "I think something might be possible here. I'd have to talk to Bishop but I think we'd likely be looking at part-time work from you. You wouldn't be sent off solo on anything until we were sure you had your feet under you for that particular type of case. There's a lot of dull shit like background checks and a lot of surveillance stuff as well. It's all fairly boring, as I'm sure you figured out the last time. A presence in the neighborhood is useful, though obviously not required, as it helps people associate you with the agency and makes you one of the people they are likely to walk up to in a cafe or on the street if they need help since they can't always be seen coming in to see us depending on what sort of trouble they've got going on."

Crystal considered what Vanessa had just said. "What is it that Bishop would be told about me? And what of your 'Girl Friday'? Riley Chase is the one who will be spending her summer assisting X-Factor, and if she is to do that, this will need to be made clear to others who will be spending time with her.

"I don't keep secrets from my people," she told the other woman candidly. "This group of people is something of a family, rambunctious as we can be at times. We trust each other and we have each other's back. I trust every single person who works for me and Lucas. That means that like Laura and Jean-Paul, Lucas and Laurie would know who the girl behind the curtain is. No one outside of the agency need know that Riley Chase wasn't born and raised and had a full life before landing on our doorstep. I can work with alternates, so to speak, and I've a fair bit of experience in getting other people to deal with them as well. Lines can blur at times, but if people know that Riley is Riley and no other name or identity need be references when dealing with you then they will do just that." There was a small upward tug at the corner of her mouth. "Just like people dealt with Morgan even when they knew Vanessa. Just because they come from the same place doesn't mean they are exactly the same person for all practical reasons."

She considered all the potential holes an alter ego needed to fill in order to be plausible. X-Factor would be the only ones to know the truth about Riley so that avoided a lot of the pitfalls. Crystal was obviously comfortable with the image inducer and working with it. She'd likely need to develop Riley a bit more, flesh out her history and the like but that could be addressed at another time. There was only one hitch Vanessa could think of and it was the same one she had run into with Snow Valley. She frowned. "One thing, though. Since we keep the books legit, your name has to be on them as an employee. Even a temporary, part-time one. We could put you down as an independent contractor to help preserve some privacy and secrecy, but one way or another we're going to need you down to cover our asses with the IRS."

The young woman looked surprised. "The IRS? Why would they need to be involved?" Suddenly, she realized just what the blue-skinned woman had been saying. "Being paid didn't even occur to me." She'd just meant that she wanted to help, and hadn't even thought about the idea of receiving a paycheck for doing so. She'd actually framed her first paycheck, given to her at age 16 for what she had thought was unpaid volunteer work in the mailroom at Xavier's. It was an amusing reminder of the way things had been back then.

"People don't work for free around here. Unless you're Laurie and she strictly files, answers phones and is generally Bishop's bitch. She keeps her own schedule, comes and goes as she can and is generally just an added perk. That's what unpaid people are around here. So if that's what you're looking for we can keep you off the books, but if you're going anywhere near a case you're an employee and on the books." Her tone suggested this wasn't a point up for debate.

"No, I wanted to do more than be an office assistant." Crystal had to think about this. She hadn't realized her real name would need to be known to anyone outside of X-Factor. "I think it could work. As long as no one who doesn't know exactly what's going on stays that way, it could work. If anyone questioned it, I'd figure out what to say depending on the situation." She smiled a bit. "No one else needs to know the specifics, but if word did get out, it's not as though working as an investigator would be regarded as the worst thing a public figure has ever done."

"I doubt anyone would find out unless they went digging and had someone in the IRS who could find out. I don't think employee listings are public record or at all easy to access." She should probably ask Doug about that. If anyone knew how easy to access information was it would be her favorite hacker extraordinaire, wouldn't it? "We don't keep our employee records online. They would need to hack our database to find out or, as I said, have an in with the IRS to find out who filed taxes with our business tax ID number. But no one would be able to do that until next year anyhow."

"I understand. Is that a potential yes, then, depending on what Bishop says?" She'd had a moment of doubt there, but maybe this could work after all. Attilan would always be there (or at least she hoped it always would) and so would vacation spots, but this would something new for her, and it was something she really wanted to do. "And at least one of us would need to talk to Laurie in advance about the name she should call X-Factor's newest employee."

"Yes, pending his approval it's a yes." Vanessa grinned then, a wide and utterly self-confident look. "But Papa Bear generally gives me what I want. And I can talk to Laurie about how she actually knows our newest recruit but needs to keep that knowledge to herself and not share it with anyone otherwise I will do terrible things to her. Or, you know, torture her in small, annoying ways that will eventually cause her to have a bit of a mental breakdown. Like fucking with her filing system. She loves her filing system." If she honestly thought getting Laurie on board would be a problem Vanessa would be a lot less playful about it, but she didn't anticipate it being an issue. Laurie had been one of those people to know her as Vanessa before most had and she had been one of the people who could ID Morgan versus Vanessa. She got the weird alter ego shit already.

Riley smiled back at Vanessa. "Let me know when it's definite, and tell me if there's any training or research I need to do before I begin going out on cases. Now I just need to figure out where to live this summer."

"You can read a lot of Harry Dresden and watch a lot of Burn Notice," she joked. Sadly, working for X-Factor wasn't nearly as dangerous or entertaining as either of those were. "We'll worry about training once you're free enough to do it. If you want to start in the afternoons since your paramedic and EMT stuff is finished up we can do that once I've talked to papa bear. Or we can wait until Xavier's gets out for the year. Either way is fine with me."

"If there's something I can begin to do already, that would work. I'll need one week out of the country next month, so if I can already start training, that would be great." Having a princess appear to vanish for most of the summer was going to require some set-up back in Attilan.

Vanessa nodded. "Get me any of the dates you need to be out of town or otherwise engaged in writing as soon as possible. I'll work out some sort of training schedule with Bishop for afternoons and evenings and any weekends that are feasible. You'll be shadowing us a lot for a while and I think I'd rather have you start off with Lucas since he has legit detective background." The metamorph grinned. "So you the right way to do things before I start giving you shady bad habits."