Shockwave - Part Five: Fun And Games

by Sabia

Jimmy parked the borrowed limo in front of Julia's place and honked the horn. It had taken a lot of begging to get the car but it was only thing outside a minivan that would fit them all comfortably. Julia stepped out a moment later.
"Madonna." Roberto breathed from his shotgun seat. She was wearing a little black dress with gold embroidery down one side. Her hair was down for a change making her look more feminine than they could ever recall seeing her. Shatterstar smiled and opened the door. She got in and Roberto couldn't help but notice she was wearing heels and seamed stockings.
"Hi guys." Julia inspected the group. "I like the dress, Tabs. Where's Terry?"
"Thanks," Tabitha said, smoothing down the small red dress. She played with the cuffs of the matching jacket, getting the folds just right. "Terry is going to meet us there. You get to meet her boyfriend tonight."
"Gosh, the excitement just builds." Julia looked at Shatterstar. "You look nice." Black suit with collarless jacket. His red-gold hair looked brighter than ever. I am not staring, she told herself firmly. I am admiring the colour on him. Well, maybe I'm staring a little.
"I am glad this meets with your approval," Shatterstar said. "Roberto insisted that I try a new style of clothing."
"And aren't you happy I did?" Roberto said, turning around. "We're a real collection of the beautiful people tonight." He patted the lapels of his black Armani suit happily.
"Why'd you get tagged with driver duty, Jimmy?" Julia asked as she surveyed his nifty almost-hoodlum outfit. Never thought he'd be the leather suit type, but whatever, she thought.
Jimmy grinned at her in the rearview mirror. "'Star drives too fast, Tabs didn't want to and 'Berto can't reach the pedals."
"HEY!"

***

The Palladium had everything, just as the brochure promised. The first floor was a regular bar with a small dance floor for whatever house band happened to playing. Tonight though, it was kareoke. They couldn't escape since they agreed to meet Terry and Wade in the area. They watched the next gentleman climb onto the platform. He was apparently tone deaf and chose to perform all the accompanying gyrations to his song.
"Do they do kareoke in Argentina?" Tabitha asked Julia.
"Not more than once. It's an offense punishable by death."
"That sounds like an appropriate penalty," Shatterstar commented.
Roberto looked surprised. "Really? You're just given lashes in Brazil."
"We do that to mimes. Then they're drowned in greasepaint," Julia explained.
"Ah. National differences," noted Roberto. "We float them out to sea on rafts."
Tabitha looked back and forth at them. "Are you guys kidding? Say yes."
"Maybe," Roberto smirked. "There's Terry."
They saw her approach on the arm of a good-looking blond man. Jimmy tried not to frown.
Terry smiled. "Hi everybody. Wade, I'd like ye to meet Julia de Santos. Julia, this is Wade Wilson."
Wade glanced at her. "Hey. Nice to meet you."
"How do you do?" Julia asked brightly.

They relocated on the next level that was set up as sort of a lounge/dance floor. The tables were in semi-private alcoves around the dance floor. Tabitha declared she was going to enjoy her new fake ID and went to find a reasonably short bar line-up. Jimmy and Roberto excused themselves and went off to explore the rest of the club on their own.
Shatterstar leaned over to Julia as they watched Wade and Terry on the dance floor. I would have not guessed him to be so proficient at such things, he thought. "Something is bothering you."
Julia nodded. "I'm not sure if this bothers me yet," she moved closer to him. "Is Wade the mercenary friend you mentioned?"
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"Do you know if he wears a black and red outfit when he's working? With a complete mask over his head?"
Shatterstar blinked. "Yes."
"Then I've met him. On business. I don't think he's recognized me yet," she said mischievously. "Want to have a little fun with the merc?"
Shatterstar smiled slightly. "Of course."
They waited until Wade and Terry came back.
"I'll be right back." Terry said as she picked up her purse. Wade looked forlornly after her.
Julia slammed her glass down. "Last call, you loony bastard!" she exclaimed, letting her speech loose its acquired American accent.
Wade jumped and Shatterstar tried not to smile at the man's response.
"Who the hell are you?!" Wade snapped.
Julia sighed. "You don't remember? I'm devastated!" She blinked at him, eyes round with hurt. "You, me, a lot of dead men in black pajamas. It was so special."
Shatterstar thought she sounded quite different with a heavy Spanish cadence to her words.
Wade pointed a finger at Julia. The voice had clicked it. The last time he'd heard it he had been fighting out of horrible ninja stronghold with a strange mutant chick. "Damn! I know you! Termites!"
"I am not an insect exterminator!" Julia replied haughtily, raising her glass.
Wade laughed and they clicked their glasses together. She was a whole lot better looking than he imagined her to be. When they'd last met, she'd been wearing a mask and body armor so he hadn't been able to form any opinions. He'd rather thought, since she'd been covered head to toe, she'd been as physically messed up as him. In his experience, most mutant women didn't seem to wear very much in the field.
"It's nice to see you again. I think you and Terry look good together," Julia was saying. Her friendliness derailed him. Mind you , they were sitting in a nightclub, not in a enemy base knee-deep in bodyparts. Come to think about, she'd been pretty nice then, too. Must be just the way she is, he thought. What a weirdo.
"Thanks. I think so too." Wade paused. "What are you doing with this little spandex brigade?"
Julia smiled proudly. "Fighting with my genetic compatriots for the glorious mutant cause. Long live the struggle."
Wade snorted his beer up his nose.
Shatterstar emitted a sort of strangled snicker.
"Jeez, you've been hit on the head too many times. Why the hell did you give up your day job? That stuff doesn't make a dime." Wade muttered. "How much did you make for that job anyway?"
"What a tacky question. I'm shocked." Julia smiled. "More than you I'll bet."
Wade looked insulted by the very idea. "What? No way! Not a chance! Let's hear the numbers."
"Five point six," Julia said sweetly. "In your money."
Wade blinked. "Damn," he said mournfully. "I knew I gave in too soon." He took another swig of his drink to console himself. "You know, you didn't tell me your name before. Or any name come to think about it."
"That's my usual policy. Do you hand out business cards?"
"I got myself a fancy codename. People hear it and go running the other way," Wade bragged. He lowered his voice. "I'm Deadpool."
"I can't understand why anybody goes for that codename stuff. I've heard of you under that name, though," said Julia. "Quite the rep, too."
Wade puffed a little then asked, "You don't have one? It's all the rage these days. Every fashionable costumed lunatic has one."
"That explains you then," said Julia, unable to resist. "I've sort of been tagged with one. Fury's group of busybodies calls me Shockwave."
Wade gasped. "Holy shit. I don't believe it. The killer mutie I knew and snuffed ninjas with is the single-serving nuke. I am impressed."
Julia blinked. Gods, that name is public? That's scary. "Thanks, I think."
Shatterstar was laughing quietly. "Am I correct in assuming that termites are what you call ninjas?"
"Yeah," Wade said as he finished his drink. "Just a stupid number of them too. It took, what? Almost all day to get them all."
"About that," Julia acknowledged.
"I have never actually faced one but I understand they are a difficult sort of foe," Shatterstar commented.
Julia shrugged. "No more so than any other well-trained person. The ones that I've run across are all highly formalized and none of them seemed terribly creative. I don't think you'd have any problems except for the odd mutant powered one."
"That one who could turn into that thing with all the tentacles was tough," Wade reminisced. "All the slime jammed my gun."
"That was disgusting," Julia agreed.

"Ahem."

Wade turned to see Terry and Tabitha watching them. "Doll, there you are!"
"Ye didn't mention that ye knew Julia," Terry said.
Wade recognized the tone. I'm in trouble with my girl, he thought. And for once, I'm entirely innocent. Sheesh.
Tabitha looked at them. "You guys know each other?"
"Somewhat. We just figured it out though," Julia said. "Terry, I think I would have fainted if I knew this was the guy you're dating. Have I got stuff to tell you."
"Oh no you don't," Wade said defensively. "Babe, don't listen to her. She's slandering my good name."
Shatterstar smirked. "I was not aware you had a good name. What is it?"
"Shut it, ponytail boy." Wade was too flustered to think of anything wittier. Women problems always rattled his nerves.
"I told ye his name," Terry said to Julia.
"I thought it was familiar but we really didn't do the introductions before," said Julia truthfully. "What was I going to ask? Is your boyfriend also a crazy merc with bad taste in clothes?"
"What! My outfit's great!" Wade exclaimed. "What's wrong with it?"
Julia looked like she was going to say something when Terry leaned forward batted her lashes. "Nothing. It's tight all over. I think it's great too."
"Ooh, flattery," Wade cooed. "I like it. More, please."
Tabitha gagged. Julia glanced at the ceiling in mute appeal to whatever gods were handy. Shatterstar looked amused at Wade's discomfort.
Terry leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "How did ye meet then?"
Wade relaxed. All was still well. He glanced at Julia, who shrugged. "We met, uh, professionally when parties who really hated this unlovable SOB paid me and her separately to make sure he and his hit the afterlife ahead of schedule."
"Now that's a bad day, having two people looking to snuff you. Most people just dread opening their mailbox," Tabitha said. "How'd you two decide then?"
Wade shrugged. "We flipped a coin. I lost but I got to tag most of the guards on the way out."

***

Jimmy wandered around the fourth floor. Up here it was mostly Latino-style music. I am going to have a good time, he told himself firmly. He spotted Roberto on the dance floor with pretty brunette. Unbelievable, he thought. We've only been here maybe ten minutes. He perched on a barstool and waited for the bartender to notice him. Then he saw someone in the bar mirror he recognized. The cute stalker from the mall. He turned around enough to see her clearly. She waved at him from her table. Should I? Go on, Proudstar. Live a little. He walked over and sat down across from her.
"Hi. You waved?"
"Yes. I wanted to meet you." she said. "I'm Risque."
Now that's a sign, he thought.
"James Proudstar," he said holding out a hand.
Risque smiled at his formality as she shook his hand. A definite winner, she decided. She'd been impressed when she'd seen him in her former employer's files but in person? Wow. She'd followed him around that mall like some sick puppy. Pet me, she invited silently. Or I can pet you, either way's good.

***

They left Terry and Wade downstairs and moved up the more pub-like atmosphere up a flight. More classic rock and pool tables.

Julia looked up at the man who was attempting to entice her out to the dance floor. "No, thanks. Not interested."
"C'mon pretty baby. One dance." he wheedled with oily charm, as he looked her up and down. She suppressed her desire to plant her cue stick into the man's gut and just shook her head.
"You don't like men?" he asked snidely.
"I like men fine. Insects are out." she muttered.
He looked at something over her shoulder. "Your loss," he tossed off as he left.
Julia glanced around. "Hey. I'm glad you showed up."
"What did that person want?" Shatterstar asked.
"Take a guess."
He frowned. "I don't think I like the guesses that occur to me."
"Neither did I." Julia sighed. "At the risk of sound homesick, in Argentina I'd be free to gut him in the parking lot."
"I would help. Do you wish to break?" Shatterstar asked as he removed his jacket and hung it over a chair. She blinked at the tight-fitting gold shirt he was wearing. My day has just been made, she thought taking in his perfect form. Stop that, she added automatically.
"No, it's your turn." She handed him the chalk. "How do you guys know Wilson?"
"He attacked us on several occasions. In addition, he is responsible for Domino's abduction and replacement by a duplicate," he said dryly.
"And Terry's dating him now? And this is okay with everybody?"
"Domino and Cable were," he paused. "less than pleased at first but they honoured her choice."
Julia shook her head. "Very strange. Still, he's an excellent merc and he seems to be quite hooked on her."
Shatterstar stood back as his last shot just missed. "You think highly of his skills?
"Yes," she said distractedly as she lined up. "Some of what he does isn't what I approve of but I'm not going let that get in the way of an honest assessment." she smiled as the ball sunk. "After all, I'm not the one to be casting moral judgments, am I?"
"I suppose considered from the conventional morality here, no," Shatterstar admitted as Julia walked around the table. His thoughts were halted as she leaned over the table and her skirt rode up her legs. What was I going to say? He wondered. I cannot remember.
"What do you think of him?" she missed her fourth shot. "Phooey."
"A good attempt," he said as he surveyed the table. "He is indeed dangerous." he gave her a small smile. "He once bested me in unarmed combat."
She stood next him as he targeted the eight ball. "Well, according to the rumors, he's a product of the same program that gave the world Wolverine." she told him softly.
"Za's vid. Now I find that out," Shatterstar sighed. A thought occurred to him. "Has he ever attacked you?"
"No. We got along that one time," Julia said as they collected the balls again. "I heard he went a little insane afterwards."
"Was he not when you met him?" he asked as he racked up.
"It was hard to tell. I put it down to being hyped up and in an enemy base for too long. I thought he was just talky and a little weird."

***

"So de Santos is hanging around you guys full time now, huh?" Wade asked as they danced.
Terry nodded "Aye. Cable was quite keen to bring her on board. We get along great so it's nae like we've got an unknown person joining up." she considered. "What do ye think of her?"
He paused. She's gorgeous? No, that would not be a good thing to tell your girl. "Um. If she was after my hide, I'd be worried."
"Sakes, that good?" she teased.
"In a straight fight, I could do her," Wade amended. "But she isn't known for a straight fight. Strictly show up, kill people dead, and leave. Fun to watch when it's happening to someone else." The women had been a peculiar combination of friendly and totally cold-blooded. No talking to the targets. Not at all. It had be amazing how someone being silent at them could spook ninjas. But she would talk to him. He recalled when she had decapitated a few guards and then gave him an educated and hilarious critique of the sake that had been lying about. "I kinda freaked out at one point when we did the gig but either she didn't notice or she's just as nutso."
"I donnae think yer truly crazy, Wade," Terry said with a small hug.
"When you say it, Red, I think I can almost believe it," Wade sighed.

***

"Okay, guys. We're going upstairs!" Tabitha decreed upon return from her explorations. "The seventh floor is the coolest."
"You mean a guy asked you to dance." Roberto translated. He had come downstairs after Jimmy had made it obvious that he'd rather been left alone with his new acquaintance.
"Same thing. The layout's awesome and the music's better than this old stuff."
Shatterstar looked up at that. He didn't really care for 'oldies' rock. "It would be interesting to see the rest of this facility."
Julia put her cue stick down. "Whatever. Lead on, fair Tabitha."

The layout was spectacular. It had the largest dance floor with the tables hidden among smoked glass alcoves around the edges. Small stages allowed the more outgoing patrons the chance to perform more visibly. There was a platform in the centre overlooking the entire floor and loud techno-dance music pounded out from the speakers.
"Good call, Tabs." Roberto said approvingly.
She grinned. "No doubt. Let's grab that table."

***

They finally came downstairs because he wanted to see what his buddies were up to. After some searching, they found the gang on the seventh floor.
"Hi everybody." Jimmy said. "This is Risque." There was a chorus of 'hi's in response.
"Hey." Risque smiled. She could tell they were scoping her out and figuring out how to take her down just because they could. Cool. My kind of crowd. The redheaded girl looked at her strangely then smiled and cuddled up to the blond guy.
"Jimmy, are you wearing rouge?" Tabitha asked with a wicked grin. He rubbed his face and neck self-consciously in an effort to get the lipstick off.
Risque just grinned. "Do you think it's his color?"
"Sure," said the dark-haired girl. "He needs a little color in his life."

Risque perked up at a song that began. She grabbed Jimmy and lead him away into the crowd on the floor.

"Sort of a hit and run introduction." Wade noted. He was actually pleased that Proudstar had found some other interest. He didn't want the competition.
"Do ye think that 'Risk' is her real name?" Terry asked only slightly sarcastically.
"Faux is in. I've got a fake face, she's got a fake name and that waitress over there has got fake -bmph-" he said from behind her hand.
The waitress in question looked over then shrugged and walked away. Terry dropped her hand.
"Yer terrible," she giggled.

***

Julia climbed the stairs up to the center platform. There was a small bar at the top and a line of barstools lining the edge of the railing. She picked up another drink and found a seat with a view of her friends on the dance floor below. Roberto had apparently convinced Shatterstar to at least try to dance and she could see them out on the floor with a pair of blonde girls. She smiled to herself. Roberto might not claim any mutant ability to charm people like Remy had but the effects were pretty damn similar when he tried.

She surveyed the crowd and attempted to figure out whether she actually feeling anything or just going through the motions. She'd learned early on how to mask her naturally detached manner with all the popular behaviors. I like this, she decided. I like being out my friends. I guess I can say for certain I am having fun. Hmm. Anything else? It was so hard to tell some days. It was as though there was a blank were her emotions should normally be. I can understand why other people get mad or happy or whatever but for me? Nada. It's still all an intellectual exercise. I can get annoyed at things so that's a start. I guess my reaction to things that annoy me is more extreme than normal so I can pass for getting furious. Well, I like being 'Star so let's start there. She tapped the railing in time to music while she considered.. We get along well and I look forward to being with him. She focused on the memory of what she experienced when he met her at the door that morning. I liked that a lot. Looks like I can 'happy' to my repertoire now. I'm happy when I'm with him. I'm attracted to him. Is that the same as desire? Ooh, that means I feel two new things. Even if I'm not about to do anything about it. What else? I would be not happy to leave them now, so does that count as something? Loyalty, maybe. Is this concern? Am I concerned about them? I guess so. Do regular people feel things independently or do they feel things in reaction to other people? Either way, they probably don't have to concentrate to do it. She spotted Tabitha dancing with her current admirer. She likes the attention and she feels appreciated, Julia concluded. She's happy right now. I can analyze it, categorize it, understand it but I just don't feel it. Everything passes over me without actually affecting me. She sipped her drink. It's what makes me a great assassin. No empathy, no emotions but I can pass as normal so people can't pick me out of crowd. Most professionals had some quirk that always gave them away. Wade's a borderline psychotic. Domino is a secretive, abused survivor. What are you running from, Dom? She wondered. You've got overcompensation written all over you. Cable is harder to figure out but there's an undercurrent of desperation in him. He fears losing so badly that he feels pushed to do things that are abhorrent to him.

She put down the empty glass. What was that anyway? Oh, right. A 'rusty nail'. Not bad. Well, enough navel-gazing for today, she thought. She saw a flash of blond hair beside her and turned to see Wade Wilson hovering close by.

***

Wade sidled up to Julia as she watched the crowd. She appeared to be contemplating something and was oblivious to the gazes of the men around her. She turned and smiled at him.
He glanced over the railing. "Good view. You'd be able to pick off nearly anybody from here."
"Yes. What I wouldn't give for a box of rubber bands right now," she said impishly.
"I gotta remember to bring some if I ever come back." he grinned. "So, as one pro to another. What's with you and ponytail boy?"
"Gods. Not you too."
"C'mon, Terry is dying to know. It'll mean points for me if I can find out."
"We're friends."
"Yeah, but what else? You even dress like a matched set."
"What?" Julia looked down at her dress and realized Shatterstar's black and gold suit did match her outfit. "That was unintentional."
"You didn't get dressed together this morning? Discuss hair accessories over coffee?" Wade speculated suggestively.
Julia sighed. "No. Drop it."
"You just ain't any fun."
Julia raised an eyebrow. She leaned foward so far she was practically in his lap. "I can be plenty of fun, Wilson." she purred at him. "It's too bad you never found out before." She sat back coolly as his eyes got very big.
"Yowza!" he leered at her. "Are you going to change your look to one of those skin-tight spandex things? Hubba, hubba!"
"No, body armor is my friend. Are you still wearing the tights? No, wait. Of course you are. Terry has mentioned it several times."
"She has? I thought she'd didn't tell you who I was."
"She sort of stressed the nearly naked aspect of the fit," Julia smiled slyly. "You know, you still don't know very much about me but I know a whole lot about you."
"What?!" Wade sat down heavily on the next seat. "Spill it. What do you know? What did Terry tell you?"
She regarded him silently. He twitched nervously when she looked him up and down.
"Jeez, tell me already. This is cruel and unusual punishment."
"Not a damn thing actually," Julia admitted with a grin. "I just wanted to see you squirm"
"That was evil!" Wade declared.
"Well, yes. What did you expect?" Julia waved a waiter over. "May I buy you drink in atonement? Sake, perhaps?"
"Oh jeez, not sake. I think I OD'd on that crap last time. But if you're buying, I'm getting the expensive stuff."

***

Shatterstar wandered up after while. He'd been wondering where Julia had disappeared to. This outing was for her after all, he thought. He frowned slightly as the mercenary finished telling some story to her. She was laughing quietly and from the strange, almost nonsensical, descriptions he could overhear he concluded that the story was in fact some mission.
"Oh look. It's the poster boy for hot-oil treatments." Wade smirked.
"Hello." Shatterstar said. Hot oil? He knew better than to ask about the man's reasoning. "Terry is looking for you."
"Yeah? I'd better run along then," Wade said, getting up.
"My, your leash is short," Julia snickered. "But, no joke, go pay attention to her or she'll be difficult to work with."
Wade didn't deign answer that as he hurried off. He was already feeling vaguely guilty for enjoying her company.
Shatterstar sat down in newly-vacant seat. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I am, actually," Julia said with a dazzling smile. She'd rather liked talking to the man, even if he was a mercenary. "How did you find dancing?"
"It was interesting," Shatterstar allowed after a bit of thought. "Not especially strenuous or difficult."
"It's not supposed to be a workout. It's supposed to be meaningless fun."
"Then I would say it was as it was supposed to be," Shatterstar pulled out a small piece of paper from a pocket. "She gave me her phone number. Roberto indicated that this was a favorable sign."
Julia nodded. "That's sort of the done thing when people get together in this kind of place."
"You mean if they wish to pursue further association at a later time?"
"Got it in one." Julia patted his hand. "You'll get this social stuff mastered yet."
"But I do not wish to continue to associate with her," Shatterstar said flatly.
"Well, that's okay too," she said easily. "Americans are a bit uptight about this kind of environment. Having a loud time out is usually mistaken for being on the prowl for a partner."
Shatterstar sighed. "You make this sound simple."
"It is simple. You'd be hard pressed to explain to me how having a good time is supposed to be complicated." Julia stood up. "Did you want to go see what everybody else doing?"

Shatterstar noticed the glances directed their way as they moved towards the main floor. Men and women watched them with eyes full of interest and invitation. He ignored them. Anonymous hunger bothered him in a way that had nothing to do with the human obsession with sex. The Spineless Ones looked at him that way. Amusement piece, every glance had said. Their mouths had repeated it no matter what words they had spoken. Toy. Entertain us. He had hated them all. He still hated. Time and distance had not softened that.

"What is done in your country?" he asked as he followed Julia down the stairs.
"The capital is a party town. Sort of like this but all the time, day and night. Nobody takes anything very seriously at clubs. Or at all, really. The smaller cities are more mellow." They reached the bottom of the steps. Julia put one hand on his arm, obviously not fooled by his trival question. "Tell me what's really bugging you," she said.
"I'm still uncertain how serious to take the actions here," Shatterstar admitted. "I do not 'get it'."
Julia sighed with exasperation. If gentle guidance doesn't work, try shock therapy. She grabbed his belt and yanked him so close to her that air molecules would have to be in single file to get between them. Shatterstar started but she held fast. "Are you here because you're looking for a sexual partner?" she hissed in his ear.
"Fekt, no!" Shatterstar exclaimed loudly. The alarm in his tone caused a few people to stare curiously at them.
"Well then, don't worry about it," Julia said, releasing him and stepping back with a smile. "Simple, no?"
Shatterstar stared at her unblinkingly for a few moments. "Yes, I suppose," he said finally. "I'm grateful you explained this to me."
"You're welcome." Julia batted playfully at a lock of hair that had escaped his ponytail. "You're so serious all the time, do you realize that? Life can be a lot of fun if you let it."
Shatterstar grabbed her around her waist and spun her around as easily as he would a doll. He couldn't help his grin as Julia squeaked with surprise. "I think I am able to learn that," he said with great assurance.

***

Tabitha was lingering at the edge of the dance floor. A few drinks and a few cute guys asking her to dance made for a great night out. Small blondes in a party mood attracted a lot of very flattering attention and dispelled any lingering doubt she might have had that she didn't have it anymore.
"Excuse me, miss. Would you like to dance?" asked someone behind her.
She smiled and turned around. "Sam!"
Sam Guthrie was in his one real set of party clothes and had big smile on his face. "Hi, Tabs."
"What are you doing here?" I kinda still wanted him to show but now what? She wondered.
"You said if Ah wanted to be with you, Ah had to work for it. So here Ah am." Sam pulled her out on to the floor as a slower song started. "Ah asked Bobby to do the watch tonight and he doesn't have anything better to do."
"Scotty really let you do that?"
"Nah, he doesn't know yet. But Cable always said sometimes you got to break the rules to do the right thing."
Tabitha thought about her resolution. He's chasing me now, she thought. I can live with that.
"Guthrie, some days you really impress me," she grinned.
"Good thing. Ah've been working all day to do it," Sam said. "You look really nice," He touched her face gently. "Ah'm sorry Ah've been ignoring you. Ah didn't mean to."
Tabitha blinked at his sincerity. I'm such a sucker for that 'honest and country bred' voice. "Just don't do it again," she said at last.
"Ah won't."

Tabitha pulled Sam back to their table after the song ended.
"Hey, guys. Look what I found."
"Tabs, don't pick up strays," Roberto smirked. "Now he'll want to follow you home."
Tabitha pouted. "But he's so cute. Can I keep him, Terry? Please?"
Terry smiled and made a show considering the request. "I guess so. But ye'll have to look after him yerself."
Sam looked around at the assembled crowd. "Hi everybody."
"HI SAM!" They chorused. There were more than a few inebriated giggles.
"Ya'll are being silly," Sam declared. He'd missed this kind of thing. Most of the X-Men wouldn't know a good time if they tripped over it.
"No, we're being irresponsible and juvenile," Terry corrected with authority. "Get it straight, boyo."

***

Julia waved as they pulled away. Shatterstar had been the one to drive after all since Jimmy had taken Risque up on her offer to continue the party elsewhere. Roberto, Tabitha and Sam hadn't been any condition to drive after they had their little shooter drinking contest. She closed the door and smiled. I think I could really like it with them.

Across town, Terry hugged Wade to her.
"Did ye having a good time tonight?" she asked softly. He'd been kind of reluctant to hang around with them at first.
He thought for a moment. His first impulse was to say yes because he knew it would make her happy. But he had enjoyed himself. It'd been a long time since he'd been out with people who knew who he was and weren't out to nail his fast healing butt. Not anymore, at any rate. Friends, even by proxy, were hard to come by.
"Yeah, babe. I did."

***

Much to everyone's disgust, they had a training session the next morning. Julia bit back a yawn and sauntered into the Danger Room with Terry. The rest of the team was already there. Tabitha looked up from her seat on the floor. Roberto was leaning against a wall and looked like he was sleeping. Jimmy was standing up on his own but staring into space. The only person who seemed alert and ready to go was Shatterstar.
"Yo, morning guys."
"Hey, Tabs," Julia said with a wave. "Hi guys."
"Good morning," Shatterstar said. "Are you not using one of your swords for this?"
"No. I've never trained with a bunch of people before so I thought I'd better get used to it first." Julia smiled slightly. "I don't want to freak out and accidentally skewer anybody." She patted the small rifle hanging from its strap on her shoulder. "I'll just use this for now."
"We appreciate your thoughtfulness," Roberto said with his eyes still closed. "Did you have a good time last night, Terry?"
"Aye." Terry blushed and hoped that would be the extent of the questions. "How about ye?"
"Great. Haven't been out in ages." Roberto opened an eye. "Jimmy did all right, too."
Jimmy blinked at his name. "What? Oh. Yeah. It was great."
"She must have been," Tabitha grinned. "You just got back."
Jimmy flushed slightly but kept his own council.

Cable and Domino stood in the control looking down at the team arranged in a rough circle around Julia with her firearm of choice. She waved up at them. "So this is a straight timed takedown?"
Cable leaned forward into the microphone. "Yes."
"Any points for style?"
"None."
"Okay."
"On my signal." X-Force tensed.
"Three." Terry took a deep breath. Roberto hovered a few inches off the floor. Shatterstar drew his swords. Tabitha readied a small timebomb. Jimmy crouched to spring. Julia smiled.
"Two." Had they been looking down, they would have seen the air very close to the floor start to shimmer.
"One." Faster than the eye could follow the force wave surged straight up and slammed the team against the ceiling. Julia raised her paint gun and shot every member with a colourful orange spatter. She looked at Cable and Domino who were gazing with stunned surprise at their highly trained strike force attached to ceiling like modern art.
"I win."
She closed her eyes and concentrated. It was a lot harder to reduce the wave in stages than just shut it down all together.
To the pinned X-Force, it felt like they were on a broken freight elevator as they were lowered to the floor. Roberto and Theresa flew away as soon as they were clear of the ceiling.
Julia opened her eyes to see them standing on the floor again. Purple and orange just don't go, she thought.
"Everybody okay?" she asked. "Are we done now?"
"I could barely breathe! It felt like there was a truck parked on my chest!" Tabitha complained.
"Sorry. It took a little more power than I thought it would to hold all of you up at once."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't let us just drop to the ground," Jimmy commented.
"Of course I didn't. I don't want to be on the receiving end of a lynching any time soon."
"Why did you do it like that?" Shatterstar asked in a somewhat disappointed tone. He glanced down the orange stain on his chest. As it was, it was a good shot.
"My ribs hurt," Roberto said from overhead.
"I must say that's the fastest anyone's ever taken us down," Terry said as she landed.
"I though that was the point," Julia said, taken aback. "If this was for real, I would have used enough force to kill everybody with the first strike."

Cable sat back in his chair. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised Given her background, she'll always shoot to kill unless told not to."
Domino was cycling through a selection of possible program scenarios. "That's why we wanted her, remember? Anyway, why don't we get them to do another round?"

Cable's voice rang from the speakers again. "Okay, let's try this again. A simple game of tag. Julia, you can use whatever you want except your powers. You're 'it'. Just try to tag everybody else before they tag you." As he finished speaking the room changed. They were standing the centre of a bombed-out village at twilight.

Julia tapped the wall nearest her as she dropped the empty paint gun. Seemed solid. "Neat." She looked up. The wall was about twelve feet high.
"On my signal." Cable said again. When he reached 'three', Julia backflipped upward onto the top of the wall and ran along until she could jump to the nearest rooftop. She disappeared into the shadows.
"Hey, she didn't say she could do that!" Tabitha said playing with a timebomb. Shatterstar grinned. Now this would be fun.

"Roberto, go up and see if ye can see where she went," Terry said. "Everybody else spread out. She's nae allowed to use her powers and she's nae carrying anything so this shouldnae be too hard."
They moved out cautiously. The village remains provided plenty of cover. Roberto flew in a spiral pattern overhead.
"Why aren't you up there too?" Jimmy asked Terry quietly.
"With me scream, she'll hear me coming ye big lug." she responded. "I'll sneak around like everybody else."

Roberto circled closer to the buildings. I think I saw something moving, he thought. Julia sprang out from a rooftop and tackled him in mid-flight. He wavered as he adjusted to addition of her weight.
"Tag!" she said as she tapped the top of his head. She let go and dropped behind a building.
"Droga!" he cursed as he landed. "I'm out already." On the plus side, he could go and veg while he waited for the others.

Behind a wall, Julia pulled a small cylinder free from her armor. With a barely audible whisper, her bo-staff telescoped out. No powers, no problem, she thought. This was fun. She edged out and cast a locator spell. Not flashy, almost no range but still useful on occasion. Like in an enclosed room in the dark. She'd be able to mark each of them and sense their positions now. Heh, she thought as she concentrated. By the pricking of my thumb, the blonde bomber this way comes.

Tabitha crept down a ruined alleyway. She had one small timebomb ready. There was a soft sound to her left and she turned quickly. She felt her feet tangle on something and she was pinned to the ground an instant later.
"Omph!" she gasped as someone landed on her back.
"Tag, Tabs!" Julia said patting her on the head. She jumped off and ran into the shadows again.
"Oh, man. I'm out too."

Who next? She pondered from her perch on a roof. Hmm. That's Terry down there and the boys are closing in. I can lift her, I'm pretty sure. She hooked her feet around a drainpipe and reached down silently.
"Saints!" Terry yelped as she was pulled up by the collar of her uniform until she was dangling a few feet off the ground. A hand patted her head.
"Tag, Terry!" Julia said. She dropped her and vanished over the rooftop. Better get away before Jimmy decides to flatten me. I hope 'Star remembers that I don't have fast healing if he tries to tag me with a sword. She found a convenient hiding spot and considered her next move. She cast a second spell. This one on Jimmy. A partial mask on the senses. He won't be able to scent or hear me coming now, she thought pleased. Now, do I try to trip him or what? He likely not even notice if I tried to tackle him.

They came around a around a corner at the same time.
"'Star, we're the last ones left. She just got Terry," Jimmy said. His instincts were screaming at him. She had to be close but he couldn't track her at all. His head felt like it was wrapped in wool. I must be tired, he thought. Risque really wore me out.
Shatterstar nodded. "Yes. Julia is not using any weapons so she is trapping us one at a time. Be cautious."
"Oh yeah."
They moved apart again. Behind him, Shatterstar heard someone running along the rooftops. He turned to see Julia somersaulting over Jimmy.
"Tag!" she called as she flipped away.
"Damn. She bounced off my head." Jimmy complained. "Didn't even hear her coming."
"You are fatigued. I heard her clearly."
Julia watched as Jimmy slunk off to join the others and released the spell. Try the same thing on 'Star? No, better not. He said his people are into magic so he might be able sense something that direct and I'd rather they didn't know about how much unconventional stuff I can do. Just be sneaky. She doubled-back and followed him at discrete distance. She contemplated possible attacks behind a wall. He was in the open space on the other side and wasn't moving from what she could sense. She stopped breathing as he came closer to her position. She could see his head over the top of the stone. Can I reach? Sure. Game over, you transdimetional cutie.

Shatterstar considered. He was fairly certain she'd run off in this direction. Should I give chase? She will have to come after me to finish the game. I will wait. He stood with his back to a crumbling wall. Suddenly his head was yanked back as someone pulled his ponytail. A hand patted his forehead.
"All's fair, 'Star. Tag," Julia said softly.
"Fekt," he muttered as she released her grip on his hair. He turned to see her smiling at him and standing on her toes on the other side.

Domino burst out laughing. "I was wondering when somebody would do that."
"Do you think he'll get a haircut now?" Cable asked with a smirk as he hit the program stop. The lights came back on as the village dissolved. He switched on the microphone. "Okay. That was fine. Everybody to the briefing room."

They went over the session afterwards. Shatterstar wasn't pleased when everyone started laughing at how he was tagged. Julia reluctantly pulled out her armor's other embedded weapons: the garrotte, the small knives, the poison darts, and the throwing stars.
"What can I say? Assassins don't do unarmed," she said in the awkward silence that followed the divestment. "What do you guys put in all those little pockets?"
Tabitha was gingerly inspecting one of the throwing stars. "I don't know about these guys, but I got gum, matches, and some spare change in mine."

Cable thought about how he wanted to ask his next question. They needed to know and it would give a good indication how she thought things through.
"Julia, if you were tasked to assassinate us how would you go about it?"
The team stopped talking. Julia raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Why? You've been targeted before. My methods would be skewed because you all qualify as metahumans in terms of power."
"That doesn't matter. I'd like to hear how we'd be considered from a professional point of view, skewed or not."
Julia tapped the table. Just leave off the magic, it'll be close enough. She let herself fall back into her training. These people were no longer friends. They were targets. She knew a great deal about them. Now, how what would be the optimal way to exploit that knowledge?
"Okay," she said finally. "I apologize in advance if this bothers anybody. First I'd go after Domino."
Domino looked surprised at her status. "Thanks. I like being first. Why me?"
"Besides the fact you're a expert mercenary? You manipulate probability. That's hard to predict or counter. I would guess that your ability doesn't work when there's overwhelming set of odds against you so I'd pick something that would be close to overkill. Also, your absence would deprive the team of a leader and Cable, who's next by the way, would be personally affected."
Cable winced at her assessment of their relationship. Not exactly the secret romance, is it Nate? "Me next?"
"Yes," Julia said. Her eyes held nothing but dispassionate consideration. Her voice was flat and calculating. "You're famous for your guns, Cable but your telepathy and telekinesis hasn't made the rounds yet even if you're starting to use them more. You're a big bugger so a one-to-one fistfight is obviously out." There were snickers around the table. "I would most likely use extreme force like my full power at close range since I can't estimate how sturdy your cybernetic components are."
"They're probably not sturdy enough for me to be thrown through the sound barrier and then walk away," Cable commented. "I'm glad to hear you won't try a direct fight."
"I'm an assassin, not an idiot," Julia said, a little more normally. "I don't let my ego get in the way of a score. Did you guys want to hear the rest?"
Terry nodded. "Aye. It's sort of fascinating."
"Roberto is next. I'm not playing favorites just because he's also South American."
The South American in question affected a wounded expression. "No? I'm hurt."
"You've got long range firepower and you can fly," Julia said, propped her elbows on the the table and rested her chin on her hands. "In addition, I'd dare say you can keep using your power at full strength longer than I can. But then, I'm a good shot with a gun. It's bad form to injure anybody else during a hit so I'd only try to blast out of sky with my power if we were outside a metropolitan area. In general, energy users, that means you next Tabitha, are taken out ahead of everyone else."
"Oh, boy! My turn!" Tabitha grinned. Julia smiled. "You can't fly away but you're damn destructive."
"Thanks!" Tabitha preened as she played with a mini-timebomb.
"You're welcome. Anyway, because she can't fly there's the option of doing this either with or without my power. I'd normally opt for without and use a gun. I couldn't afford to get close enough to use my sword as she could just fry me with a plasma bomb. Terry would be next."
"I can fly," Terry reminded her.
"Yes. And I'm not about to go chasing you across rooftops either. You really can't creep up on anybody due the nature of your power so I wouldn't worry about that. However, you're effective at long range so it'd be a sniper strike that would be most effective."
"That's how I've been dropped the most times," Terry said reflectively. I should really watch that.
Julia paused as she considered. "Jimmy is simply ridiculously stronger than I am. Also, your senses are enhanced aren't they?"
"Yeah."
"I would have to go for a quick fatal strike then first off. Either behead you or put a bullet in your brain during a surprise attack. I don't think I'd be able to sneak up on you twice."
"Jeez. What a happy thought." Jimmy rubbed his neck self-consciously.
Julia smiled at Shatterstar. He was looking ambivalent. Warriors and executioners were two different things and it still bothered him on some level that she could be both. "You're a fast healer, 'Star so I wouldn't be playing around. You'd be able to recover too quickly for that no matter how much fun it would be."
"Of course not. I would not expect anything else. Let me guess then," Shatterstar said. "You could use your power to finish me but you are not normally inclined to do so. So that leaves a distance weapon such as a throwing blade or a gun."
"Give the man a prize!" Julia cheered. "Would anybody like to tell me how they think I could be dropped?"
Domino and Cable looked at each other.
~It'd be a good idea for them to start thinking like this, Nate. It'll give them insight into their own weaknesses~
~Yeah. I'll start then~
"You're shielded from telepathy so I can't just zap your brain." Cable began thoughtfully. "I'd have to do things the old-fashioned way and gun you down."
Julia smiled. "It's nice to see somethings don't change."
"What can I say? I'm a traditionalist."
Domino nodded. "I'd try something similar since I know you could hold your own in a sword fight. You're faster than normal too so I'd have to take that into account."
"I'd be able to overpower you if you're not carrying anything," Jimmy said tentatively. "but since I don't have a healing factor I wouldn't risk it if you had your sword."
"Fair enough."
"I'd try flaring you from a long ways away." Roberto grinned. "Preferably when you didn't have a gun. Or maybe I'd try wooing you with my irresistible charm."
Terry looked speculative. "She'd kill ye for sure then. I'd try something at a distance too. Ye'd be too hard to get at close up without me scream."
"This is kind of fun." Tabitha said. "I'd just try to blast you with a big frigging bomb. I'm not going to try throwing knives at you 'cause you'd probably catch them and throw them back. And once you knew I was aiming for you I'd be hooped."
Julia laughed. "You got it."
Shatterstar considered. "You would be a threat to me if we were in actual combat. I would use my own mutant power against you sooner than I would with another opponent."
Julia leaned on the table. "Better make it good shot then."
Domino smiled. "Let's open the floor. Everybody has to come up with a way to nail everybody else."

When Scott Summers poked his head into the briefing room ten minutes later, they were loudly throwing wild suggestions at each other. He could make out the words 'poisoned Corn Pops' and 'exploding TV remote control' amidst the noise. He shut the door again. Some things he didn't want to know.

[next part]

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