The Two Sided Coin: Log 7: A hard truth

[x-invisiblegirl.livejournal.com]

XFI presents the information they have to their clients.

The scent of coffee dominated the room as most members of the X-Factor team entered, followed by Hope and Julian. Seats were taken and coffee was poured till everyone was settled in.

Warren, as customary, had taken the seat at the head of the table, and sat there, pensively, as he watched everyone settle. In front of every seat was a briefing note explaining what they had, and more obviously -- what they didn't have. It was a little disconcerting that their list of information was tiny.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news," he began, once all places were taken and papers were looked at. "But here's our reality -- we have some footage. We have some articles. We have a bit of motive. But put it all together -- we have fuck all." He frowned. "At least, that's what I'm seeing. Please, someone, anyone, prove me wrong."

"You should've hired a real detective agency," Quentin lamented, notes in one hand and coffee mug in the other. "Probably would've gotten better results that're actually admissible in court."

"Geez, Quire, drag us all down." Jessica replied. "We caught that seedy bastard paying off that other seedy bastard. Isn't that something? I mean, that was some low down, dirty shit." She added.

"That it was, yeah, but I'm afraid that doesn't make Quentin wrong." Bobbi hated to admit that as she took one more glance at the note in front of her, but he had a valid point. "I mean, enough circumstantial evidence can add up to something but what we have, well..." Warren had said it best when he'd said they had fuck all, unfortunately. She sighed and pushed the note back further on the table.

"A real detective agency? Hate to break it to you kid but sometimes even the "real detective agencies" don't have squat shit." Lorna placed with the metal coin in her hand. "Did we miss something?"

Arthur had settled himself with his chair backwards, and he was tilting forward dangerously as if poised in deep thought. "We tried really hard, though, and that counts for a lot! But... we cannot connect either person in our video to the theft. Sleazeball B could have just been owed money by Scienceball A. How do we fix that?"

They, of course, had names for these people now... "sleazeball" was just more entertaining.

"I cannot think of anything..." Hope shook her head slowly. "I think I need to go call my lawyer again..."


Later Sue and Julian retreat to the balcony to plan the next move.

"We'll get him you know," Sue pulled her jacket tight around herself as she stepped out onto the balcony and crossed over to stand next to Julian looking out over the city. "They're really very good at what they do, even if they don't look like it."

With a deep sigh, Julian slumped against the banister and looked down at the street below. The cold air bit at his face, but he was too tired to care, they'd been up almost to sunrise trying to put together a case. "It's not them I'm doubting," he didn't look at his friend as he spoke; keeping his eyes cast down- they were losing.

Sue opened her mouth to reply then closed it and slumped next to him, "It's a lot harder to pin this guy down than I thought it would be. I mean he's doing a lot of what I would if I were in his shoes." the blonde sighed, ""Actually almost exactly what I do, it's annoying when you come up against someone who tosses your own tricks back at you."

Suddenly glad he'd never gone up against a telekinetic, Julian nodded, "You'll get through, you always have before." In truth he'd never seen her do this sort of thing before- not on this scale- but apparently it was old hat to them as old friends. "You're Susan Storm, hacker extraordinaire, what could some common thief have on you?"

"Apparently a lot," She countered, "otherwise your protégé in there wouldn't be stuck in this situation. If I didn't know better I'd say we were up against me, although I only ever used my powers for good and holy causes...or just straight up mischief."

"Could it be you?" Julian shook his head at her reaction and held up a hand, "I mean, like...your evil twin, a clone, alien-crafted-robotic-duplicate...."

"I...you..." Sue gave her friend a long unhappy look, "Thank you for that lovely image Julian." she shuddered, "You know, knowing our luck it's going to be something like that isn't it?"

"Could be worse," Julian scratched his head, "I'm not sure how, but I'm sure it could be." With a sigh, he looked back to the warmth of inside the apartment, "We need to figure this out," he turned back to Sue, "Hope is counting on us, and she's been through enough. If I get my hands on whoever did this...."

"When we get our hands on him I think you're gonna have to get in line, I'm pretty sure Hope has first dibs on him. Then you better leave some of him over for me. I have a lot of anger and questions right now I want to get out on him. Now we're just at the mercy of the stakeout, sooner or later he'll screw up, and when he does we'll have him. Apparently that's how these things work; I don't think I'd ever have the patience to be a real PI."

"We'll have to leave that to Quire, I guess," Julian chuckled then slapped the railing. A moment of silence later, reality sunk in, "Look, when we get this guy...what do we have against him? Because from where I'm standing...there's really not much to turn over to an attorney."

"Right now, a lot of circumstantial evidence," Sue agreed, "but that could be enough to get a conviction, or at least convince the board for Hope's hearing. That's how these things seem to go most of the time, we never seem to have anything and then all of a sudden they make a mistake and we've got them."

Julian ruffled his hair and groaned, "If, they make a mistake, they haven't yet...." He paused, "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way...didn't you tell me you used to break into places or something...."

"I may have mentioned something like that once or twice in the past," Sue allowed cautiously, "I might have found my way into places where I wasn't supposed to in my sordid and secret past. You’re not thinking what I think you're thinking are you?"

Her friend shrugged, "I don't know...if you're thinking you should go and break into the bastard's apartment to find something to hold over him...maybe."

Sue shot a glance back at the door to the balcony to make sure it was closed, "Are you sure?” she whispered, "Apart from the whole you know it being illegal, we can't use anything find in there. You think it’s really that desperate?"

Julian was quiet for a long moment, looking first to Sue, with the wind blowing her blond locks about, then up to the cloudy night sky. "You know how against this sort of thing I am," he levelled his gaze on her, "but...I'm not seeing a lot of other options. I might still be able to get my suit back from the institute, but it's probably a little small."

Sue gave Julian a long look, her eyes flicking up and down his frame, "I think I might be able to find something that would fit you," she allowed. "If we can, I'd rather not let anyone know what we're planning, and sneaking off with your suit might raise some questions. Besides, I've always wanted a sidekick."