Second Thoughts: Reckoning

[x-velocidad.livejournal.com]

Fate catches up with Gabriel. Well, no, okay, actually, just Eileen "Phantazia" Harsaw and Thornn. But still.


As he glanced down at the busy city streets stretched in front of them, Gabriel thought maybe he'd successfully escaped his pursuers. He'd been standing on the High Line for a terrifying few minutes now, waiting for some sign of either Jean or the menacing duo that pursued him, and so far he'd seen neither.

That, he decided, was a good sign. Maybe it had been smart to take to an old elevated rail spur. As he leaned against a railing, surveying the city, he was pretty impressed with himself. More so, considering he'd managed to hold onto the loot.

Safe from prying eyes, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the cat-lady's apparently worthless necklace. He stepped away from the edge as he inspected it closely, trying to figure out what all the trouble had been about.

"There he is!" Eileen said softly to Thornn, knowing her girlfriend would hear her. They didn't want to alert the thief though, they just wanted the necklace back. It wasn't about the price of the necklace, though it was worth a little, but the sentimental value. There was no way they'd let it go.

Thornn nodded, her eyes hard. She was completely focused. "I'll go around from one side, you go from the other. We'll box him in and you can stop him. Sound good?"

That seemed liked the easiest, most obvious thing. Did that mean he might expect it? Well..yes. If he expected them at all, which hopefully he didn't. "Sure," she agreed with a nod, waiting for Thornn to slink away and get in position before she approached. Thornn was much better at skulking than she was.

Gabriel put the necklace in his back pocket and sighed. He glanced around nervously, then pulled out his phone. "Perfect," he muttered. His battery was on life support, and he still hadn't heard from Jean. That sort of figured. High Line, he texted her, since he wasn't sure he'd confirmed, but the phone went dark before he could be sure that the message sent.

Thornn slunk off to position herself so she could approach Gabriel from the front. The plan was for her to distract him so Eileen could get him by surprise and stop him. She paused where she was, waiting a few minutes to assure Eileen was in place before she approached Gabriel, eyes hard.

"Hey."

Gabriel started when he heard her voice. She'd almost given him a heart attack, and he was dying to ask her how she managed to be so stealthy, but his survival instinct was taking over. Without even bothering to engage her, he turned to run away.

Running away wasn't an option this time. Stepping out of a shadow, Eileen didn't bother with a warning this time, activating her powers enough to stop Gabriel, "We want the necklace back," she informed him, voice hard once he was on the ground. If she was right, he wasn't hurting, yet. If she wasn't, well, oops.

Being frozen mid-step was enough to cause Gabriel to fall on his ass, which was absurd enough given how rarely women had ever made him stop in his tracks. But being asked to do something after being virtually paralyzed added another weird level of irony that he was sure he'd appreciate later if he got out of this without jail time.

In the meantime, he looked up at the less-feline woman for a second, trying not to look as frightened as he felt. "I don't—" Well, at this point the protest was useless. "It's in my pocket." His arms were working, so he fumbled around in his back left pocket until he retrieved the jewelry. Sensing perhaps the taller one wasn't meant to be dealt with, he reached toward the catlike one. "Here," he said, a little pleading. "I'm didn't mean to... I'm sorry," he finally offered, trying to look more like a pathetic abandoned teenager than his usual confident self. "I just - rent is so damn high, and I thought... I mean, I know you said it wasn't worth much, but every bit helps and I thought maybe..."

Thornn was quick to scramble forward, finding the necklace in his pocket and taking it back, hooking it around the back of her neck once more. The weight brought comfort, and for a moment she relaxed, looking back towards Eileen. "Now what?"

"In Muslim countries, they cut off the hand of a thief so that everyone knows he's a thief," Eileen suggested, more to scare Gabriel than out of any real desire to do it. That would be disgusting.

Gabriel stared at her for a second, both terrified and skeptical. "Are you — is something wrong with you people?" He wasn't sure whether he meant mutants, lesbians or these specific lesbian mutants, but this was just not a normal interaction between people. And if they were as unhinged as they thought, he was in some serious danger.

Eileen cocked her head to one side, "Well, you're the one that stole the necklace then wouldn't give it back politely," she pointed out. "It never would have come to this if you hadn't forced us," she turned to Thornn, "It's your necklace. Your call."

Thornn looked down at the man, her eyes dark, an almost primal glint shining in them. If he had just given the necklace back, it would have been a problem. But he had to make it difficult...

"Make him hurt."

She wasn't surprised by Thornn's suggestion and was more than happy to reactivate her powers, adjusting the bio-electric fields naturally inside Gabriel to cause the most pain. He needed to be taught a lesson and she was more than happy to do it. The best part was - prove it. She never laid a hand on him nor were there any marks. She was innocent.

When the cat lady had said her menacing thing, and neither of them moved, Gabriel thought for a split-second that he'd get off scot-free.

Then, the searing pain began in his legs.

Gabriel tried to stay stoic, biting his lip as what felt like a series of sharp needles ran through his lower limbs. It didn't take long before he was writhing from discomfort on the ground, trying to keep from crying out and giving the two women the satisfaction.