Kit (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
pryde_and_grit) wrote2009-03-16 04:58 am
pryde_and_grit) wrote2009-03-16 04:58 am
Helping hands
Kit was always a hard one to read. The girl only let anger show, and he was sure that there was more than that going on. There had to be, if Kit'd been looking for this guy as long as she said she had. But no, Kit just sat on her tree branch, binoculars to her eyes as she watched the field below.
Toad sighed and shifted his footing, pine bark sticking in annoying patches to his feet. Pines always flaked..."That him?" he asked, a bit unnecessary, but confirmation was important.
"That's him alright."
"SHIELDS got him then. You want to call it quits?" he asked soberly. After all, this wasn't the first person he'd tracked down then had to back away from. SHIELD wasn't a group to screw with. Especially the pet projects, and this Logan guy looked like a real 'company' winner.
He didn't like the way her face went cold and thoughtful. He just knew she was going to do the dumb thing. "Follow their carrier, Mort." she sighed. "I want to know where their usual berth is and how often they shift positions."
"Yo, Kit, call me Toad. It's a good name for me alright?" he always found it a bit embarrassing that she remembered his real name from one drunken confession years ago. Kit got real stuck up on names. "Anyway, chasing a helifortress is going to cost you. You get the friends discount thing but..."
"But..." Kit cut in, almost smiling. She hadn't smiled much since she'd called him in on this job. "...it's a big risk for a family man. I know. Screw the money, Mort, I'll go you one better." she promised.
Toad blinked and climbed to a higher branch so he could look her over better "One better, Kit? We're talking a price tag that will get me and mine smuggled to some place safer..."
"No where is safe" Kit pointed out grimly. "And you'd be out of territory you know if you guys left. I can hide you and yours."
"Bullshit. I am not walking my family into the damn mansion you're holding. You told me about Xavier, and if he's gunning for you..."
Kit held up her hand to stop his building tirade "Devices, Mort. I have devices. Hologram emitters. A little tinkering and I can slot in a passive psy-block and an x-gene scan block. It won't save you from an actual telepathic attack, but just a mental scan like that damn Cerebro Xavier built? You'll look like a norm. Same with the gene scan. Won't save you from a blood test, but the SHIELD mutant sniffers will walk right by you."
He couldn't help it, he just stared for a few minutes, letting that sink in. "Shit girl, you can do that?"
"I was left with some interesting tech when Xavier...left." her smile turned predatory as she savored that last bit "He had the emitters already. The psy-blockers are a joint project between Muir and a few brains like mine over here. No reason I can't fit that tech into the hologram watches. The gene block? That's purely a Forge Underground plan, but a few favors and he'll probably let me, especially if I can show him how to mass produce the whole get up so he can feed them out to others in hiding."
Toad licked his lips slowly as he thought over the implications...but..."You've been thinking about this." he stated, glancing away back towards the SHIELD operation. "You knew it'd get rough, but that...that's a hell of a lot more than any three jobs are worth. This charity, Kit?"
Kit reached out to phase a finger through his ear; it tickled like hell. "No. It's that dangerous."
He whistled softly and waved at her target "Who the hell is he then? He looks like he's enjoying himself right where he is, no offense. There are safer people to...hell if I know what you want him for but hey, you get the point."
"He's one of mine, Mort." she stated, soft and deadly. "That means I don't stop until I get him out, get him clear, and get him home. He tells me to take a hike after that and goes back? Fine, but he's mine and I don't let people go unless they tell me to."
"Might be a smart time to start, Kit. He's not some lost kid like the group you got. He looks plenty old enough to take care of himself...walk away." he could be the voice of reason sometimes!
"No. Almost a year, Mort. They've had him almost a year and it took me too damn long to find him...and yes, he's not a kid, he's not someone who depends on me...but he dragged me out of hell once. I trust him to do it again if it needs to be done...and I'm damn well going to be there for him when he needs me."
"You got some messed up friendships, Kit" Toad grumbled, then froze as the SHIELD drop ship came to pick up Logan. The both stayed silent and still as ghosts until the engines couldn't be heard anymore. "Some real messed up friendships. He better be worth it."
"Only kind that put up with me...messed up ones I mean." Kit admitted, slipping off her branch. "And yes, he is."
She said it so simply and softly that he almost missed it. He had good ears though, came with the job. "...you soft on him, Kit?" he asked suspiciously.
She shot him a cold look "You go soft you get dead."
"Just checkin, just checkin..." he slapped her shoulder, leaving a sticky spot full of pine bark, then shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I'll call you when I got your info, girl. You better come through with my payment."
"I'm good for it, Mort." She promised simply, heading in the opposite direction from him. She had...things to do now that she had confirmation of Logan's location.
A lot of things to do.
Toad sighed and shifted his footing, pine bark sticking in annoying patches to his feet. Pines always flaked..."That him?" he asked, a bit unnecessary, but confirmation was important.
"That's him alright."
"SHIELDS got him then. You want to call it quits?" he asked soberly. After all, this wasn't the first person he'd tracked down then had to back away from. SHIELD wasn't a group to screw with. Especially the pet projects, and this Logan guy looked like a real 'company' winner.
He didn't like the way her face went cold and thoughtful. He just knew she was going to do the dumb thing. "Follow their carrier, Mort." she sighed. "I want to know where their usual berth is and how often they shift positions."
"Yo, Kit, call me Toad. It's a good name for me alright?" he always found it a bit embarrassing that she remembered his real name from one drunken confession years ago. Kit got real stuck up on names. "Anyway, chasing a helifortress is going to cost you. You get the friends discount thing but..."
"But..." Kit cut in, almost smiling. She hadn't smiled much since she'd called him in on this job. "...it's a big risk for a family man. I know. Screw the money, Mort, I'll go you one better." she promised.
Toad blinked and climbed to a higher branch so he could look her over better "One better, Kit? We're talking a price tag that will get me and mine smuggled to some place safer..."
"No where is safe" Kit pointed out grimly. "And you'd be out of territory you know if you guys left. I can hide you and yours."
"Bullshit. I am not walking my family into the damn mansion you're holding. You told me about Xavier, and if he's gunning for you..."
Kit held up her hand to stop his building tirade "Devices, Mort. I have devices. Hologram emitters. A little tinkering and I can slot in a passive psy-block and an x-gene scan block. It won't save you from an actual telepathic attack, but just a mental scan like that damn Cerebro Xavier built? You'll look like a norm. Same with the gene scan. Won't save you from a blood test, but the SHIELD mutant sniffers will walk right by you."
He couldn't help it, he just stared for a few minutes, letting that sink in. "Shit girl, you can do that?"
"I was left with some interesting tech when Xavier...left." her smile turned predatory as she savored that last bit "He had the emitters already. The psy-blockers are a joint project between Muir and a few brains like mine over here. No reason I can't fit that tech into the hologram watches. The gene block? That's purely a Forge Underground plan, but a few favors and he'll probably let me, especially if I can show him how to mass produce the whole get up so he can feed them out to others in hiding."
Toad licked his lips slowly as he thought over the implications...but..."You've been thinking about this." he stated, glancing away back towards the SHIELD operation. "You knew it'd get rough, but that...that's a hell of a lot more than any three jobs are worth. This charity, Kit?"
Kit reached out to phase a finger through his ear; it tickled like hell. "No. It's that dangerous."
He whistled softly and waved at her target "Who the hell is he then? He looks like he's enjoying himself right where he is, no offense. There are safer people to...hell if I know what you want him for but hey, you get the point."
"He's one of mine, Mort." she stated, soft and deadly. "That means I don't stop until I get him out, get him clear, and get him home. He tells me to take a hike after that and goes back? Fine, but he's mine and I don't let people go unless they tell me to."
"Might be a smart time to start, Kit. He's not some lost kid like the group you got. He looks plenty old enough to take care of himself...walk away." he could be the voice of reason sometimes!
"No. Almost a year, Mort. They've had him almost a year and it took me too damn long to find him...and yes, he's not a kid, he's not someone who depends on me...but he dragged me out of hell once. I trust him to do it again if it needs to be done...and I'm damn well going to be there for him when he needs me."
"You got some messed up friendships, Kit" Toad grumbled, then froze as the SHIELD drop ship came to pick up Logan. The both stayed silent and still as ghosts until the engines couldn't be heard anymore. "Some real messed up friendships. He better be worth it."
"Only kind that put up with me...messed up ones I mean." Kit admitted, slipping off her branch. "And yes, he is."
She said it so simply and softly that he almost missed it. He had good ears though, came with the job. "...you soft on him, Kit?" he asked suspiciously.
She shot him a cold look "You go soft you get dead."
"Just checkin, just checkin..." he slapped her shoulder, leaving a sticky spot full of pine bark, then shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I'll call you when I got your info, girl. You better come through with my payment."
"I'm good for it, Mort." She promised simply, heading in the opposite direction from him. She had...things to do now that she had confirmation of Logan's location.
A lot of things to do.