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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 2:19:04 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Okay then." She took a deep breath and nodded at Vance. "Enough talkin'. Let's do this."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 2:31:43 GMT -5
The drive to the Millennium Hotel was uneventful. Vance pulled the van up to the curb across the street and half a block down from the front entrance, then leaned back in the driver's seat and folded his arms behind his head.
"Now we just sit and wait for the little twerp," he said. "Should be another five minutes or so before we see him come out."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 2:41:00 GMT -5
Daws nodded in silent response, and turned her attention to the dimly-lit street outside the van.
The minutes crept by in tense, nervous silence: Daws found her hand continually sneaking beneath her trenchcoat to check that her revolver was still in place.
Finally -- after what felt like much longer than five minutes -- she perked up and gestured to a small, nervous figure that had just appeared in the hotel entranceway.
"There he is."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 2:51:58 GMT -5
Vance nodded. "Okay, Handy. Get to it."
In the back of the van, Handy had replaced his modest but well cared-for clothes with the worn and dirt-streaked clothing of a vagrant. He quickly slipped out the back of the van and began meandering slowly across the sidewalk, peering into trash cans as if in search of scraps of food. His extra arms were folded out of sight beneath his patched coat.
Meanwhile, Huber was walking purposefully down the street toward him. If he noticed Handy, he showed no sign of it.
When Huber had drawn level with the van, Handy made his move, and approached him with the somewhat feeble smile of a hopeful panhandler.
"Ya couldn't spare a dollar, could ya, Mister? I ain't eaten lately."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 3:00:05 GMT -5
Huber pressed his lips together and gave the man a wide berth and a disdainful glance. "Certainly not."
He quickened his pace and stepped past the apparent vagrant, muttering under his breath about the conditions humanity was coming to.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 3:08:59 GMT -5
With unexpected swiftness, Handy thrust his foot between Huber's ankles, tripping him. With a faint, startled cry, Huber went down face-first onto the pavement.
"Ya shoulda said yes," Handy muttered as he dropped down onto the scientist, one pair of hands muffling his mouth while the other seized his wrists.
Vance was out of the van in a heartbeat, helping Handy to drag the struggling little man into the vehicle. Rope and duct tape appeared in Vance's hands seemingly out of nowhere, and in a matter of seconds, Huber had been trussed up neatly. He lay helpless on the floor of the van, making muted noises of protest.
"Ladies and gents, I give you Doctor Franz Huber," Vance said acerbically.
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 3:18:13 GMT -5
Daws narrowed her eyes and studied the bound and gagged scientist, who glared back at her through thick glasses that had been knocked askew in his struggle with McCarty.
After a moment she glanced at Vance. "Gosh," she said dryly, "A mad scientist -- and it isn't even my birthday. Ya shouldn't have."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 3:29:01 GMT -5
With a chuckle, Vance moved forward and slid into the driver's seat. "Off to the spiderhole with him."
"He sure doesn't look dangerous now," Alex remarked, studying their prisoner bemusedly. "Who'd have thought a little guy like this would want to think up ideas for mass murder?"
"Just lookit Hitler an' Himmler," Sid muttered blackly.
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 3:37:01 GMT -5
Daws shrugged one shoulder. "They say it's always the quiet, normal ones. It's a cliche, sure -- but they're only cliches because they're true."
She glanced back at Huber, and wasn't surprised to find herself on the recieving end of a death glare. She pushed her fedora back and gave the scientist an acidic smile.
"Get used to the view, pal," she muttered, "You'll be seein' a lot of it."
The only response Huber was capable of was what sounded like muffled cursing; Daws leaned back agains the wall of the van and sighed.
Oh, it's gonna be a long couple days.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 3:52:58 GMT -5
The group got Huber back to the motel successfully, without attracting any attention. Vance slung the little man over his shoulders and carried him into the room like a sack of potatoes, depositing him gracelessly on the bed.
"It's up to you if you wanna let him loose a little," Vance remarked to Daws. "Just so long as we show him what happens if he gets restless."
To illustrate the point, Vance produced a speck of his energy, and tossed it upward as if flipping a coin. Its detonation briefly created a melon-sized ball of flame in midair.
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 4:03:08 GMT -5
From her position near the door Daws shot an appraising glance at Huber. The scientist seemed to have been both terrified and infuriated by Vance's display. Daws sighed and shrugged.
"I guess we're gonna have to listen to his squawking eventually," she muttered. She unsheathed her claws and added casually, "But Huber -- if I was you, I wouldn't advise bein' too loud about it. Nobody around here'll care anyway -- but you're liable to get on Major Vance's delicate nerves."
She nodded at Vance. "We'd better keep his hands tied -- but I guess the duct tape can come off."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 4:07:40 GMT -5
Vance eyed Huber with a savage grin, then stalked toward him.
"I've always wanted to do this," he remarked gleefully, and without reservation, he ripped the duct tape from Huber's mouth.
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 4:18:57 GMT -5
The first thing out of Huber's mouth was a torrent of profanity that even Daws (who'd been cursed at in several languages and a variety of situations) was surprised at. She raised an eyebrow, and -- once Huber seemed to have run out of epithets (or breath) said laconically "Now, really, Doctor Huber -- there's ladies present." She gestured at herself and Miriam.
Huber replied with a glare so disdainful it could have melted paint. "I should hardly think," he spat, "That there's any cause to use the plural." He glanced to Miriam, Sid, and Alex.
"I'm not stupid enough to ask the meaning of this." The scientist said haughtily. "I'll just settle for asking if there's a person here with whom I may negotiate." The intonation he placed on the word "person" left little doubt that he didn't include any of the revealed mutants in the room in that category.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 4:27:15 GMT -5
"You're talkin' ta six people," Sid spat, taking a step toward Huber. "You make me sick. It's guys like you decided my grandparents oughta die in a concentration camp. Didja ever think of that, bub? You're just a Nazi with a different target."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 4:36:24 GMT -5
Huber bristled. "The Nazis," he said disdainfully, "Made an egregious error in focusing their attention on fellow humans. That much, and no more, I will grant you. However," he added dismissively, "Since it seems apparent that you've been duped into supporting the threat to your own kind, I'll obviously find no profit in appealing to you."
He turned his attention to Vance. "You seem to be the ringleader of this little escapade," he said reluctantly. "What is it that you want?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 4:42:04 GMT -5
"Nothin' much," Vance murmured laconically. "Just to save your worthless hide--maybe."
"We know what you've been working on, Doctor," Miriam put in. "And so does someone else--someone who was planning to kill you at the conference."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 4:47:56 GMT -5
Huber blanched slightly at that. He shot an incredulous look at Miriam. "You know what I've been working on -- and yet you supposedly intervened to save my life?" He gave a short, barking laugh without humor. "I hope you're not deluded enough to think that I'll be reformed and give up my researches."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 4:59:50 GMT -5
"No. That would be too rational for a man like you," Miriam replied. "But we don't intend to stand by and let you plot our genocide, any more than that other man would."
She moved to the table, where she picked up an empty syringe with a needle. As she turned and approached Huber with it, the scientist shied away and began to protest, but Vance held up a hand.
"Just try struggling--I'll blow your head off. All she wants is a little of your slimy blood."
That threat evidently quieted Huber long enough for Miriam to take the blood sample. Having procured it, she transferred it to a vial and handed it to Daws. "That ought to do it."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 5:12:09 GMT -5
Daws accepted the syringe and nodded, slipping it into her coat pocket.
"Luke's gonna come by tomorrow -- he'll fly Upstate, and Caddy'll get started on the testing." She shot a venemous glance at Huber. "We'll know in a couple days."
"Know what?" The scientist demanded, scowling. "What are you people about, anyway?"
Daws grinned maliciously. "We know you've got a son who's one of us, Huber." She purred. "Which means there's a decent chance that you passed him the X-Gene." She tipped her head and regarded the scientist quizically. "Is that why you hate us so much -- because the taint might be in your blood too?"
Huber made a scoffing noise and looked away quickly. "I can't possibly conceive of a reason to discuss my motivations with you."
Daws smiled grimly. "I don't give a flyin' leap about your motivations. All I care about for now is your DNA -- and we're gonna know that soon, with or without your assistance."
She half-turned her back on Huber and raised an eyebrow at Sid -- silently asking if he wanted his blood sample drawn now, or later that night.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 5:22:34 GMT -5
Sid shrugged. "Yeah. Um..." He glanced at Miriam, and the pair retreated to the bathroom. When they returned a few moments later, Sid was rubbing his wrist, and Miriam slipped Daws another vial.
"Don't get 'em mixed up," Sid joked weakly.
Miriam half-smiled. "She won't. I labeled the vials earlier."
For his part, Alex--under the quizzical supervision of Handy--was investigating the bags of groceries on the table. "Hungry, Huber?" he asked, with only a slight edge of distaste in his voice.
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