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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 5:30:56 GMT -5
Huber seemed to have decided on disdain as his best reaction to everything. He shot Alex a haughty look. "It shouldn't take very much intelligence to understand why I have very little appetite at present."
"Well, I'm hungry if he's not." Daws said, taking a seat on one of the rickety wooden chairs and glancing curiously at the groceries. "Kidnapping's hungry work."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 5:41:44 GMT -5
"I'm afraid about the best I can do is ham sandwiches," Alex replied. He glanced around the room, and with a pained grin he added, "Whoops--I guess we have to eat the ham anyway. There's no fridge in here."
Vance rolled his eyes. "I toldja only to get stuff that'd keep, Handy."
"Sorry, Boss. It looked good, an' I was hungry."
While Alex and Miriam busied themselves throwing together sandwiches at the table, Sid sat down in the armchair and regarded Huber thoughtfully.
"I'm curious, pal. Ya mind explainin' to me why you think my fourteen-year-old kid became a menace ta society overnight, just 'cause she can breathe underwater?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 5:52:10 GMT -5
Huber's jaw tightened, and for a moment he seemed unwilling to reply -- but at length he let out a martyred sigh and regarded Sid with the patience of a teacher adressing a particularly dense pupil.
"The problem you people have," he said, "Is in viewing mutation in terms of the individual cases, rather than as a symptom of global genetic disease."
Huber maneuvered himself into a half-sitting position against the bed's headboard.
"Your 'fourteen-year-old-kid', to use your term, is in reality a cell in a giant, worldwide, and increasingly virulent cancer. Should we choose to ignore the overall threat because of the emotional connotations of the individual outgrowths, humankind cannot avoid being consumed by that threat."
Huber raised his eyebrows. "One would hardly advocate avoiding a chemotherapy regimen out of sympathy for the cancerous cells. Well, mutation is a cancer; and if we do not treat it, it will spread, it will worsen, and it will overtake humanity. At which point," he nodded contemptuously at Daws and Handy, "A world full of things like that will be the inevitable result."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 6:05:11 GMT -5
Sid stared at Huber for a long moment... and then he laughed.
It was a very harsh, unkind laugh; but it was actually a laugh of genuine amusement, mixed with incredulity. He shook his head and glanced at Daws.
"This one's a real specimen," he said simply. "Guess I shoulda known better. If this guy thinks his own kid's a 'cancer', he's not gonna care about anybody else's either."
He turned to Huber again, and the amusement was gone.
"Personally, bub, I'd like ta see the tough guy over there take you out and turn you into a smoking crater in the parking lot. I hope what they are plannin' for ya works, 'cause it'll be just what you deserve."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 6:12:24 GMT -5
A fleeting look of pure fear flashed across Huber's face, although it was quickly replaced with disdain once more. "And just what, may I ask, does this 'plan' of theirs entail?"
Daws raised an eyebrow at Huber before turning her attention back to her sandwich. "Why not tell the guy, Sid?" She said conversationally, lazily examining the claws of her right hand. "It'll give him somethin' to look forward to -- unless, of course, y'think the suspense'd be worse for him."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 6:20:32 GMT -5
Sid smirked. "He might find a way ta kill himself before it happens. But then, I guess that'd make him one less problem anyway." He shrugged philosophically and turned back to Huber.
"The guy that wants to kill ya, Huber--he did somethin' else, too. He found a way to teach people like you just what it is to be a mutant." He grinned viciously. "Chalk it up to research, Doc. You might get ta find out how a 'cancer cell' feels."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 6:30:37 GMT -5
Huber stared blankly at Sid. "Don't be ridiculous." The disdainful confidence had faded remarkably from his voice. "You're talking about a level of genetic change that is at a purely theoretical level. It isn't possible."
"Anythin's possible, Huber." Daws replied, raising an eyebrow and turning back towards the scientist. "To someone with enough funding -- and enough hate. You oughtta know that."
Huber gave Daws a contemptuous look. "Even if I believed that, such a serum would obviously be far beyond both the technical and financial means of this crew of miscreants."
Daws grinned. "Y'hear that, McCarty?" She said, leaning back. "Miscreants. That's a four-dollar insult, that is."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 6:40:17 GMT -5
"The guy's loopy," Handy pronounced sagely, like a doctor delivering a terminal diagnosis.
"For your information, Huber, it wasn't 'this crew'," Vance put in. "Some friends of mine stole it from the guy we've been telling you about. He's practically got more money than the government; even so, the cost is the only thing that's kept him from using it wide-scale already, and doing to you what you wanna do to us. We've been fighting him, Huber--us and a lot of others, fighting and dying to let people like you live to hate us another day." He narrowed his eyes. "You won't care about that. But you'll care when the same things that hurt us can hurt you too."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 6:49:35 GMT -5
Huber blanched visibly and said nothing for a long moment. At last he pulled together a vestige of his disdainful demeanor and shook his head. "Do you honestly think . . ." he stopped, paused for another moment, and finally announced "I'll believe it when I see evidence for it."
Daws laughed. "Spoken like a man of reason. Keep that up and you might make a scientist, Huber -- instead of just a wannabe murderer."
Huber pressed his lips together in a displeased line and looked pointedly away from Daws.
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 6:59:07 GMT -5
Sid shrugged. "I guess we better start talkin' about who's gonna take shifts babysittin' this guy."
"Handy and I can handle him," Vance replied, then smiled wryly at Daws. "Of course, you're afraid I'm gonna fry Huber when your back's turned, so I guess you wanna be around too."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 12:56:35 GMT -5
Daws gave Vance a lopsided grin. "Don't think of it as me not trustin' ya, Vance. Think of it as . . ."
"Just a moment!" Huber interjected angrily, directing his comments to Vance. "It's bad enough that you're holding me in these squalid conditions. But if you also expect me to share accommodations with those two deviations . . ."
"Shut up." Daws interrupted pleasantly, "Or we'll put the duct tape back on."
She turned back to Vance. "Now, as I was sayin' -- don't think of it as me keeping an eye on you." She jerked her thumb towards Huber. "Think of it as me takin' the opportunity to irritate him as much as possible."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 23:32:50 GMT -5
Vance gave a low, gravelly laugh. "I like that way of thinking. Alright--I think those of us that are more experienced--" he indicated himself, Daws, Sid, and Handy--"should be the ones keepin' watch. The Doc and Malone can drop in to keep the food stocked, but I wouldn't leave Huber alone with 'em."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 23:39:39 GMT -5
"Don't do me any favors." The scientist snapped acidically.
Daws scowled at him. "I meant that last crack about the tape, Huber. I've spent the last two days arguin' for keeping you alive -- don't think it means I won't do my bit to keep you quiet."
Huber rolled his eyes and glanced at Sid. "At least I won't be entirely deprived of human company."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 26, 2006 23:48:21 GMT -5
Sid gave a snort. "If that's how ya feel, I'm tempted ta bow out totally an leave ya with 'em. I got a job elsewhere, ya know."
He glanced at Daws and Vance. "But seein' as I want my pals here ta get rest... yeah, I'm in. Only don't go thinkin' I'd like any less ta take a poke at ya than they would--an' if you start spoutin' that 'cancer' crud again, I just might."
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Post by skybright on Jun 26, 2006 23:54:07 GMT -5
Daws chuckled maliciously at Huber's displeased look. "Aw, Sid, you've gone and spoiled his plans. I bet our buddy here was already thinkin' of clever arguments to lure you away from your mutie-lovin' ways, and turn you into a good little norm-supremacist like him."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 27, 2006 0:02:26 GMT -5
"He can argue with the wall fer all I care," Sid retorted, and turned to Alex. "You oughta take the Doc home. Stash that car in the garage. You can use it when ya come around here for feedin' time at the zoo."
"Are you sure you don't want us around to help?" Alex asked.
"Nah. I wouldn't want anybody babysittin' Huber who's not used ta guns yet. 'Sides, somebody's gotta look out for the kids."
"I guess that's true." Alex turned to Daws with a shrug. "I guess Miriam and I are gonna take off, then. Is there anything you want when we drop in again?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 27, 2006 0:08:33 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind a change of clothes." She dug the key to her apartment out of her pocket. Then a thought struck her, and she raised an eyebrow at Vance, Sid, and Handy.
"Any of you guys play chess?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 27, 2006 0:15:21 GMT -5
"I do," Vance replied, with the promptness and confidence of a strategist.
Handy shrugged--a gesture which always looked odd on him, as his second pair of arms shadowed the movement. "He's tried to teach me, an' I can do it, but not so good."
"I'm okay at it," Sid replied. "Better at poker."
Handy perked up at that comment. "Really?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 27, 2006 0:20:12 GMT -5
Daws grinned and turned back to Alex. "There's a chess set an' a deck of cards on the coffee table in my living room." She pulled out a small notepad and pencil, scribbled a few quick directions and her address, and handed them to Alex along with the key.
"Just watch out." She grinned sheepishly. "My place's kind of a perpetual mess. And if Mrs. Marcos downstairs gives you any grief, just tell her that Mrs. Hudson sent ya. It's a safeword we worked out." She rolled her eyes. "On account of Mrs. Marcos is the worst busybody in New York, an' I got tired of burglary charges getting pressed against friends of mine."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 27, 2006 0:31:48 GMT -5
Alex nodded. "Sure. We'll get a few hours' sleep and make breakfast for the kids; then we'll pick the stuff up at your place and be back here. We'll bring something better to eat than what you've got here."
He frowned at Huber. "And if you annoy my friends, you won't get any."
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