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xp_logsA second contact turns up dead.
It was always Wanda and Jubilee who got the Bratislava run. It had originally seemed like an odd choice until it was finally explained; Bratislava was an extremely wealthy city that attracted twice as many tourists, many from the wealthy set, then it had citizens. Wanda could easily pass for a local if she wanted and Jubilee disappeared amid the scores of Asians there on shopping junkets. Neither women tended to complain, since their cover involved new designer clothes, high end hotel rooms and reservations to some of the best restaurants in Eastern Europe.
Her bank account would find time to complain later, Wanda mused to herself, slipping through the crowd with enough ease to look like a local avoiding the pickpockets targeting tourists without looking like she knew too much of what to look for. The numbers increased around this time of the year and she had more important things to focus on than teaching a younger version of herself some manners. She spotted a brief glimpse of Jubilee in the crowd and shifted directions.
“Gǔn kāi” Jubilee snarled, avoiding the crush as she navigated her many bags through the crowd. She’d spotted Wanda earlier but hadn’t wanted to draw much attention.
“I may kill someone.” Jubilee muttered as she fell in beside her teammate. “Or maybe just rough them up a bit, I haven’t decided yet.”
Wanda glanced down at the heavy load Jubilee was carrying and snorted into her coffee cup. "You certainly scream tourist but you might be more calm if you'd held off on the shopping. Though I suppose you could always club someone to death with your bags, should the need arise."
“I like to think of it as tactical shopping,” Jubilee replied with a grin, easily falling into step with Wanda, despite the taller woman’s stride. Jubilee was a short woman in a sea of Amazons, she’d learned to adapt early. “At least that’s what it says on my expense claim.”
"Oh, yes, I see that excuse going over well. Don't come crying to me when you have to pay for those shoes out of your pocket because no one bought "tactical shopping" as an excuse to spend a fortune." They turned a corner and dodged more tourists but their destination was in sight, a quiet restaurant with private dining spots in the back. Wanda glanced at her watch. "We're right on time."
"Eh, my bank account can handle it." Jubilee noted with a big grin, turning to head toward their destination with the slow walk of a tourist having only just arrived in the city and can't quite help constantly looking at everything in wide-eyed wonder. "Besides, give me Felicia and a month in Madripoor and I'll have earned twice the amount back on shady art deals."
When they ducked into the restaurant, the hostess was pleasant and she and Wanda chatted back and forth for a moment as someone gathered menus and started to walk them back to their reserved private dining room. The reservation was only for Jubilee and herself - the woman they were meeting to do the pickup from would be waiting for them in the room but off the reservation list. Emily Nvota, Wanda thought, thanking the woman leading them as they stopped by the door.
Jubilee smiled at the woman as she opened the door for them, heading inside to take a seat. They were a bit early for the pickup yet, so not seeing their contact wasn't that unusual. She took the menu from the waitress and ordered a glass of Merlot as she sat down. Might as well make the most out of the company dollar.
Wanda placed an order as well for a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon, glancing briefly at the menu but mostly keeping an eye on her watch. It would be nice to be able to actually order something once the hand-off was done but it wasn't the main point of their being there. She and Jubilee sat in comfortable silence, honed after years of knowing each other and years of being on stakeouts together, while they glanced at the menu and occasionally checked their phones.
She frowned as ten minutes went by and they had to tell the waitress they weren't ready to order yet as she dropped off their wine. Nvota was late - by only ten minutes but still, late was late.
"She's usually better than this."
Jubilee sounded like every friend anywhere forced to wait for another to turn up. Fond, but exasperated by their 'ditsy' companion. Doug has trained almost all of them on mannerisms and language, especially those of them that had to go into the field.
"Yes, well, perhaps she was held up by something or maybe she's not feeling well, poor thing," Wanda said in response. A quick look at her mobile confirmed there was nothing from Nvota but that didn't mean anything. "Let's postpone lunch, shall we and go check on her?" It only took a few moments to call their waitress in and explain that they needed to leave unexpectedly. Paying in cash helped to get them out quickly.
***
"If there's some kind of severed horse head involved at any point today, I'm gonna be really, really frowney faced about it."
Jubilee had always preferred to disguise unease with bravado and quips, and this time was no different. They stood outside the blocks of housing that housed Emily Nvota's apartment, and it was every bit as ugly as Jubilee had expected it would be. She'd never understood what it was about housing estates that they had to be so damn depressing.
"What do you think the chances of the lift working is gonna be?"
"That is what they call a sucker bet. I have lived in housing blocks like this and never once have the damned lifts worked." From what she remembered of Nvota's files, she wasn't at the top floor, which was nice, but there would be about six levels of stairs to climb. Wanda turned towards Jubilee and glanced towards the alley. "Not that you were going to go in the lift anyway, I'd assume? I'd say race you to the apartment but, again, I don't do sucker bets. Just don't go in until I get to the door."
Jubilee merely smiled rather than answering and moved off to the side of the building where she'd seen the fire escape. Given her history of training and how often she moved about cities as practice it was child's play to move upwards along the highway specific to an urban sprawl.
She made it to the floor Nvota's apartment was on in record time, and simply ducked through the open window that led into a hallway of doors beyond. It smelled slightly of what Jubilee had come to think of as the very particular smell that many old tenement buildings came to symbolize. A balance between neglect and hope, almost as if the people who lived here were the only thing keeping the entire place alive at all. Shaking her head at her own rambling mind, she made her way to Nvota's door, immediately noticing the broken lock but making sure to wait for Wanda as promised.
A few doors opened a crack at Wanda's passing and quickly shut again while the majority remained firmly shut. Typical. she thought, and smart of Nvota to pick a place where few would ask any questions. The inside of the building further reminded her of the places she'd lived through out Europe which is exactly why she didn't even bother to take the elevator. It either wouldn't be working or would draw attention to her, more so than just walking up a few flights of stairs.
It didn't take her long, she was only a minute or so behind Jubilee and Wanda's face tightened at the broken lock in front of them. She held up three fingers and slowly started to drop them, getting ready to go in.
Jubilee pushed the door open silently on three, taking the left side of the short corridor that led into the apartment proper. It seemed a fairly simple place, the hallway leading to a larger room and a small kitchen from what she could see, with two doors to either side of the hallway. She guessed one would be a bedroom and the other a bathroom, but it was also possible that there might be other rooms further in. She signed to Wanda, noting that she was going to try the door on the left first. Learning ASL from Artie was useful for not just talking to the younger mutant, but also for silent communication when they didn't have the telepathic switchboard in use that Emma's presence allowed.
Wanda indicated understanding, quietly walking through after Jubilee, intent on the other door. She pressed her fingertips against the worn wood, felt the bubbles of paint under her skin as she pushed the door open. It was the bathroom - she caught a glimpse of her own face in the mirror above the sink, her face tight with concentration - and she carefully pushed the door the rest of the way in so she could step in.
The figure laid out in the bathtub looked smaller in death than she had in real life. Nvota lay crumbled at the bottom of the tub, eyes closed and a leg hanging partially out. Wanda crouched next to the tub, careful even more not to touch anything, even with the gloves she and Jubilee were wearing. One bullet hole, neatly between the eyes.
A professional hit, clearly, with the killer probably long gone but they needed to sweep the rest of the place to be sure. Wanda murmured something quietly to Nvota's body in Slovak and then stood, a knife in her hand and turned to find Jubilee.
It was always Wanda and Jubilee who got the Bratislava run. It had originally seemed like an odd choice until it was finally explained; Bratislava was an extremely wealthy city that attracted twice as many tourists, many from the wealthy set, then it had citizens. Wanda could easily pass for a local if she wanted and Jubilee disappeared amid the scores of Asians there on shopping junkets. Neither women tended to complain, since their cover involved new designer clothes, high end hotel rooms and reservations to some of the best restaurants in Eastern Europe.
Her bank account would find time to complain later, Wanda mused to herself, slipping through the crowd with enough ease to look like a local avoiding the pickpockets targeting tourists without looking like she knew too much of what to look for. The numbers increased around this time of the year and she had more important things to focus on than teaching a younger version of herself some manners. She spotted a brief glimpse of Jubilee in the crowd and shifted directions.
“Gǔn kāi” Jubilee snarled, avoiding the crush as she navigated her many bags through the crowd. She’d spotted Wanda earlier but hadn’t wanted to draw much attention.
“I may kill someone.” Jubilee muttered as she fell in beside her teammate. “Or maybe just rough them up a bit, I haven’t decided yet.”
Wanda glanced down at the heavy load Jubilee was carrying and snorted into her coffee cup. "You certainly scream tourist but you might be more calm if you'd held off on the shopping. Though I suppose you could always club someone to death with your bags, should the need arise."
“I like to think of it as tactical shopping,” Jubilee replied with a grin, easily falling into step with Wanda, despite the taller woman’s stride. Jubilee was a short woman in a sea of Amazons, she’d learned to adapt early. “At least that’s what it says on my expense claim.”
"Oh, yes, I see that excuse going over well. Don't come crying to me when you have to pay for those shoes out of your pocket because no one bought "tactical shopping" as an excuse to spend a fortune." They turned a corner and dodged more tourists but their destination was in sight, a quiet restaurant with private dining spots in the back. Wanda glanced at her watch. "We're right on time."
"Eh, my bank account can handle it." Jubilee noted with a big grin, turning to head toward their destination with the slow walk of a tourist having only just arrived in the city and can't quite help constantly looking at everything in wide-eyed wonder. "Besides, give me Felicia and a month in Madripoor and I'll have earned twice the amount back on shady art deals."
When they ducked into the restaurant, the hostess was pleasant and she and Wanda chatted back and forth for a moment as someone gathered menus and started to walk them back to their reserved private dining room. The reservation was only for Jubilee and herself - the woman they were meeting to do the pickup from would be waiting for them in the room but off the reservation list. Emily Nvota, Wanda thought, thanking the woman leading them as they stopped by the door.
Jubilee smiled at the woman as she opened the door for them, heading inside to take a seat. They were a bit early for the pickup yet, so not seeing their contact wasn't that unusual. She took the menu from the waitress and ordered a glass of Merlot as she sat down. Might as well make the most out of the company dollar.
Wanda placed an order as well for a glass of the Cabernet Sauvignon, glancing briefly at the menu but mostly keeping an eye on her watch. It would be nice to be able to actually order something once the hand-off was done but it wasn't the main point of their being there. She and Jubilee sat in comfortable silence, honed after years of knowing each other and years of being on stakeouts together, while they glanced at the menu and occasionally checked their phones.
She frowned as ten minutes went by and they had to tell the waitress they weren't ready to order yet as she dropped off their wine. Nvota was late - by only ten minutes but still, late was late.
"She's usually better than this."
Jubilee sounded like every friend anywhere forced to wait for another to turn up. Fond, but exasperated by their 'ditsy' companion. Doug has trained almost all of them on mannerisms and language, especially those of them that had to go into the field.
"Yes, well, perhaps she was held up by something or maybe she's not feeling well, poor thing," Wanda said in response. A quick look at her mobile confirmed there was nothing from Nvota but that didn't mean anything. "Let's postpone lunch, shall we and go check on her?" It only took a few moments to call their waitress in and explain that they needed to leave unexpectedly. Paying in cash helped to get them out quickly.
***
"If there's some kind of severed horse head involved at any point today, I'm gonna be really, really frowney faced about it."
Jubilee had always preferred to disguise unease with bravado and quips, and this time was no different. They stood outside the blocks of housing that housed Emily Nvota's apartment, and it was every bit as ugly as Jubilee had expected it would be. She'd never understood what it was about housing estates that they had to be so damn depressing.
"What do you think the chances of the lift working is gonna be?"
"That is what they call a sucker bet. I have lived in housing blocks like this and never once have the damned lifts worked." From what she remembered of Nvota's files, she wasn't at the top floor, which was nice, but there would be about six levels of stairs to climb. Wanda turned towards Jubilee and glanced towards the alley. "Not that you were going to go in the lift anyway, I'd assume? I'd say race you to the apartment but, again, I don't do sucker bets. Just don't go in until I get to the door."
Jubilee merely smiled rather than answering and moved off to the side of the building where she'd seen the fire escape. Given her history of training and how often she moved about cities as practice it was child's play to move upwards along the highway specific to an urban sprawl.
She made it to the floor Nvota's apartment was on in record time, and simply ducked through the open window that led into a hallway of doors beyond. It smelled slightly of what Jubilee had come to think of as the very particular smell that many old tenement buildings came to symbolize. A balance between neglect and hope, almost as if the people who lived here were the only thing keeping the entire place alive at all. Shaking her head at her own rambling mind, she made her way to Nvota's door, immediately noticing the broken lock but making sure to wait for Wanda as promised.
A few doors opened a crack at Wanda's passing and quickly shut again while the majority remained firmly shut. Typical. she thought, and smart of Nvota to pick a place where few would ask any questions. The inside of the building further reminded her of the places she'd lived through out Europe which is exactly why she didn't even bother to take the elevator. It either wouldn't be working or would draw attention to her, more so than just walking up a few flights of stairs.
It didn't take her long, she was only a minute or so behind Jubilee and Wanda's face tightened at the broken lock in front of them. She held up three fingers and slowly started to drop them, getting ready to go in.
Jubilee pushed the door open silently on three, taking the left side of the short corridor that led into the apartment proper. It seemed a fairly simple place, the hallway leading to a larger room and a small kitchen from what she could see, with two doors to either side of the hallway. She guessed one would be a bedroom and the other a bathroom, but it was also possible that there might be other rooms further in. She signed to Wanda, noting that she was going to try the door on the left first. Learning ASL from Artie was useful for not just talking to the younger mutant, but also for silent communication when they didn't have the telepathic switchboard in use that Emma's presence allowed.
Wanda indicated understanding, quietly walking through after Jubilee, intent on the other door. She pressed her fingertips against the worn wood, felt the bubbles of paint under her skin as she pushed the door open. It was the bathroom - she caught a glimpse of her own face in the mirror above the sink, her face tight with concentration - and she carefully pushed the door the rest of the way in so she could step in.
The figure laid out in the bathtub looked smaller in death than she had in real life. Nvota lay crumbled at the bottom of the tub, eyes closed and a leg hanging partially out. Wanda crouched next to the tub, careful even more not to touch anything, even with the gloves she and Jubilee were wearing. One bullet hole, neatly between the eyes.
A professional hit, clearly, with the killer probably long gone but they needed to sweep the rest of the place to be sure. Wanda murmured something quietly to Nvota's body in Slovak and then stood, a knife in her hand and turned to find Jubilee.
