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Post by Jordanna on Sept 28, 2007 22:16:31 GMT -5
On Saturday evening, Sid brought Alex, Miriam, and Grace to Our Lady for the meeting that was to introduce Nathan Vance to the resistance. The basement of the church was already well filled when they arrived.
"Hiya, Padre," Sid drawled to Father Steele. "The Major an' his private bomb squad here yet?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 28, 2007 22:27:49 GMT -5
Father Rick chuckled. "No sign of 'em yet, but they won't be hard to spot when they do show up. They never are."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 1, 2007 0:18:24 GMT -5
"I'm more interested in seeing Daws just now," Miriam put in earnestly. "She should have with her the results of Caddy's tests on... the anonymous former tenant of the Paragon Club."
"That's all she's been thinkin' about," Sid sighed, in a good-naturedly longsuffering way. "There's no takin' the pathologist outta her just 'cause she ain't with the M.E. anymore."
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Post by skybright on Oct 1, 2007 20:56:27 GMT -5
Padre nodded. "I'm sure Daws'll be along soon enough." He glanced around the room. "She mentioned wanting to speak to Proteus, as well, but I haven't seen him yet." The priest chuckled dryly. "Not that that means much."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 1, 2007 22:29:04 GMT -5
Jerod Vance was the next to come along, with Nathan and Handy in tow. The Major smiled as he offered Padre his hand.
"Evenin', Pop." He tilted his head toward his son with a grin. "This is my boy. Nate, meet Father Rick Steele."
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Post by skybright on Oct 1, 2007 22:35:21 GMT -5
"Your son?" Padre grinned wickedly at Vance. "Suppose it's too much to ask that he'll be less explosive than his old man, eh?"
He extended one of his wide, calloused hands to Nate. "Glad to know you," he said, "You can call me Padre -- most everyone here does."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 1, 2007 22:45:21 GMT -5
"Pleased to meet you." Nate pumped the Padre's hand firmly.
"Nate's talent is... a little different than mine," Vance said to the priest. "We've agreed he'll give everybody a little demonstration later, just so the people he may be working with will know what to expect. In the meantime, we've got introductions..."
He turned to the rest of the group. "Nate, this is Miss Van Linden, Miss Duval, Mister Rosenstein, and Mister Malone."
Nate went through another round of handshakes. "Dad's told me a lot about all of you already."
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Post by skybright on Oct 1, 2007 22:50:08 GMT -5
Father Rick chuckled. "Don't believe more than half of it."
Daws chose that moment to arrive, slipping off her fedora as she descended the stairs. She caught sight of the group, and made a beeline through the crowd towards them. "Evening, everybody."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 1, 2007 22:55:41 GMT -5
"Hi there." Vance fondly put a hand on Daws' shoulder. "We just got here ourselves. No sign of Proteus yet--at least in any form we recognize--but I don't doubt he'll show."
Miriam looked eagerly at Daws. "Were you able to get the test results back from Caddy?"
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Post by skybright on Oct 1, 2007 22:58:22 GMT -5
By way of answer, Daws produced a manila envelope which she had held tucked under one arm. "Every test he could think of to run." She smiled ruefully. "I hope it'll tell you something. Caddy says the results are in English, but I had to take his word for it -- I certainly couldn't make anything of 'em."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 2, 2007 22:19:45 GMT -5
Miriam slid a sheaf of papers out of the envelope and began to leaf through them.
"I don't see much that we didn't know or guess," she admitted after a few minutes. "Based on the bone growth in the girl's wings, and a few other factors, she probably manifested between five and ten years before she died--so she was a mutant for quite a while. And we can pretty well pin down her pregnancy at about three months." Miriam frowned. "As far as Caddy could find in what was left of the remains, there were no drugs in her system. Of course there are some that wouldn't have any traces left after all this time... but I don't think that was it.
"The blow to the head probably wouldn't have killed her, either. I think..." She shrugged sadly. "I think she was probably strangled or suffocated. She could have been killed by a knife in a way that wouldn't leave marks on her bones, but there would have been a lot of blood in that case. If the killer didn't pick up the broken bottle, he probably wouldn't have cleaned that up either."
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Post by skybright on Oct 2, 2007 22:27:31 GMT -5
Father Rick shook his head sadly. "Poor girl," he murmured, "What an awful way to die."
Daws sighed. "Yeah, and without anyone but her killer to know about it, either -- until now." She shrugged. "I guess asking Proteus for anything he remembers is about the last thing we've got to fall back on, at this point."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 2, 2007 22:43:34 GMT -5
"Remember about what?" a voice asked behind the group, and they turned to find Proteus. What form he had arrived in, and how long he had been there, was a mystery--but he now stood before them as the well-worn and placid figure they knew, with his faint, enigmatic smile.
Before anyone could answer his question, his silver eyes turned inquisitively toward Nate. Vance took the cue and clapped his son on the shoulder.
"Proteus, this is my son, Nathan. He was an Army lieutenant until a few days ago. Now he's one of our party."
The shapeshifter appraised Nate calmly before giving him a firm handshake. "I won't say I'm happy to see more cannon fodder in the mix--but welcome home, all the same. I was a soldier, once."
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Post by skybright on Oct 2, 2007 22:51:21 GMT -5
"I'm glad you could make it." Daws told Proteus. "It might be better left until the meeting's over and the crowd clears out some," she gestured around the room, "But we've had a mystery turn up -- an old mystery.
"I was sort of hoping I might be able to ask you some questions about the way things were around here back when it happened -- see if it could shed a little light on things."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 2, 2007 23:02:29 GMT -5
Proteus looked politely interested. "I've spent a lot of my time keeping to myself, Miss Dawson--but I'll help you if I can."
"In the meantime," said Vance with a wry grin, "I guess it's time for Nate to make his social debut."
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Post by skybright on Oct 2, 2007 23:09:50 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "That'd make this lot 'society', wouldn't it?"
"Bit of a stretch, if you ask me." Padre replied with a grin. He moved to the front of the room and held his hands up, causing the subdued rumble of conversations to gradually subside.
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 3, 2007 20:56:50 GMT -5
Vance gave the Padre an appreciative nod, then stepped up to address the assemblage, pulling a slightly blushing Nate by the elbow.
"Evening, everyone," Vance said clearly. "You'll all be glad to know this is pretty much just a social meeting. I want to introduce you to my son."
He gestured to Nate. "This is Lieutenant Nathan Vance, just back from Iraq. We won't go into how, but he heard about me and our fight on the home front, and came back to join us.
"For the time being, I'm going to be keeping Nate busy within my own organization, learning the ropes. But when he does start joining us in joint operations, I want you all to be aware of his strengths--and his limits. He still has a lot to learn about our fight. On the other hand, he's bringing us the latest training and tactics the U.S. Army has to offer. And besides that, well... he has his own talents." The Major glanced at his son. "A little demonstration, please."
Nate shrugged--a movement his shadow did not mirror. It was at that moment becoming darker and solidifying, just as it had when he demonstrated his gift the day he arrived. Once again, the shadow ambled off by itself, as Nate watched it with detached interest.
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Post by skybright on Oct 3, 2007 22:08:03 GMT -5
A faint stir of conversation rose once again as the shadow continued its somewhat halting exploration of the room.
Father Rick nodded. "And not too shabby a talent, either." He remarked with gruff approval. "Welcome to the fight, m'boy."
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Post by Jordanna on Oct 3, 2007 22:16:34 GMT -5
Nate gave a self-deprecating shrug. "Thank you, sir."
He glanced somewhat shyly at the crowd, and gestured to his shadow. "Just so you all know, I can't do this in the dark. The stronger the light I have, the stronger it is. And it's more useful than it looks. Uh... like this."
The young man frowned in concentration, and his shadow turned, moving with new purposefulness toward Handy. Vance's lieutenant made a disconcerted noise as the solid shadow grasped him by an upper arm and pulled him up out of his chair.
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Post by skybright on Oct 3, 2007 22:23:51 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "Nice trick."
"What about line-of-sight?" Asagi Tam leaned forward with a keenly interested look on her face. "Do you have to be watching it to make it do things?"
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