Post by Nightingale on Sept 11, 2006 12:47:19 GMT -5
They hadn't been expecting an overnight stay, and Angie was glad that they'd had a chance to do some shopping while they'd been in the city earlier. They were to meet this Poseidon character soon - an interesting codename, but she called herself Nightingale so she didn't feel she could talk - sometime over the next couple of days, Gill hadn't been overly specific to her, and she didn't want to meet him wearing three day old smelly clothes. Not exactly the best impression of the Brotherhood. Though she was a little unsure what kind of impression two young girls could make when trying to entice people to an international terrorist organisation, really.
She'd stopped by a grocery store and had cooked them dinner, but now she didn't have a whole lot to do and she kept finding herself staring past the words of 1984. She was thinking about Pyro - surprise, surprise - and had a stupid urge to call him, though a quick glance at her watch told her that it was pretty early over on Genosha.
She'd be waking him up, surely.
But wouldn't he want to know about Hepzibah?
Gill would have told him, wouldn't he?
Well, if she called his office, and he was sleeping, there would be no harm done.
Angie was fiddling with her phone, and she pressed in his number and hit send once she'd managed to justify it to herself. Just a few rings, and if no-one answered then there'd be no harm done, she could call him another time. Python looked over to give her an odd look, and she just smiled at him and pressed the phone to her ear, listening to the ring.
"Thank you for calling the psychiatric hotline," came John's voice over the phone. "For problems with obsessive behaviour, press '1' repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, ask someone to press '2' for you. If you have multiple personalities, please press '3', '4', '5' and '6'. If you are paranoid delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line whilst we trace the call. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press. Finally, if you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer."
A pause.
"How can I help?"
A familiar laugh pealed through the telephone, her pleasure evident at his choice of greeting. It wasn't the first time John had answered in an unusual manner, and it seemed unlikely to Angie that it would be the last.
"I don't think that you can, but you're welcome to try." Her smile was evident in her tone, and she noticed Python giving her another odd look.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping? Says the girl who called anyway."
"I was up with Dharma for sunrise," came the reply. The young man sounded relaxed and happy, two things that she didn't often associate with him. "How's it going in the Big Apple?"
That was interesting - Angie had intended on practicing Kata with Dharma at sunrise, but she hadn't known that he'd been teaching Pyro as well. Would that stop her from going down to the beach anyway? Hard to say.
"Yeah, not bad. Pretty boring. Did you talk to Gill anytime? Hepzibah never showed." She hoped that it hadn't been some kind of trap to get them there - though it made her think that it was definitely a good thing Pyro hadn't been allowed to come.
"So I heard," said John, leaning back on his chair to reach a ring binder behind him. "How long before you ladies turn around and come back?" The chair almost over balanced and she heard him swear across the miles.
"Run into any difficulties? Any anything? What's it like out in the REAL world?"
"Gill's got us sticking around about some other potential, but shouldn't be too long I wouldn't think." She shrugged, though he couldn't see it. "Had to explain what a lift spider was in a cafe today - like a, um, float? But not made with root beer. And Aurora's spending, but the real world's actually pretty boring. I'd rather be back there with you... lot." It was true - as boring as Genosha was sometimes, Angie wasn't finding New York as exciting as everyone had told her it was. Just kinda crowded and busy and expensive.
"Root beer tastes like soap anyway," he said, his voice conveying the fact that he had just wrinkled his nose. "Give me a good old can of Doctor Pepper anytime...there you are."
It was evident that he was doing something whilst talking to her.
"Any updates on our activities, or am I relegated to page nineteen instead of the front page now?"
"Your face is still all over the place, and there's been a bunch of stuff happening with the government - they released a picture of you and that X-Man that grabbed me in the burning warehouse, and they've got a new task force - shield or something." She shrugged, not mentioning the fact that she hated Doctor Pepper.
"I can pick up some papers if you want. Start a wall of fame." Angie laughed.
"Do the photos catch my good angle?" He was making light of it, but she knew that it bothered him greatly. "I look like a twelve year old when I get caught in profile."
There was the sound of clattering as a file fell on the floor. "Damn," he swore. "Hang on."
She heard him put the phone down and scrabble about the floor.
When he came back, he had dropped his voice almost conspiratorially.
"When you get back here, I need your help with a project. It's ... um ... a bit personal."
Laughing again, Angie reassured him, "You look great."
She bit the skin next to one of her nails as she waited for him to get back on the phone. What he said next surprised her, and he could hear it in her voice.
"Sure, anytime. What's... Did you need me to get anything?" She'd been about to ask him what it was, but maybe he wouldn't want to talk about it over the phone.
"Nah, there's just a bunch of stuff I need to filter through and I reckon as how you're best placed in my team to do it. Being from Australia and all."
There was a pause.
"I'm trying to track down my father. One of those projects I was gonna start a couple years back but never got round to, what with one thing and another. Since I have a bit of time on my hands..." He left it hanging, sounding faintly embarrassed.
"Oh yeah, of course." She'd been given the strange sixteenth birthday present of meeting her own father for the first time, and though she had decided never to speak to him again after he'd supported her being cured, Angie knew the feeling of wanting to know your family. There was a whole side that she didn't know - she hadn't even known his last name until her mother had tracked him down, she'd been given her mother's family name. Which had pleased her grandfather, since her mother's generation was all girls and Angie was the only one still carrying along the family name.
"We'll work it all out." She spoke carefully, since she wasn't alone. There were a lot of people in Sydney, though, and there was every chance that John's father had moved away in the last twenty years.
"So anyway, I guess I should get going... Don't want to run out of credit. I just wanted to call you, let you know what's happening." Living vicariously through them wouldn't be the best feeling, but Angie hoped that it would be better than nothing. She wasn't going to come back gushing over how great the trip had been, but if she spoke about it now then there'd be less reason to start later and forget herself.
"Thanks for the call, I appreciate it." He was distracted again already. "Hey, Angie?"
She made a sort of 'hmm?' noise.
"Which number did you press?"
"Yours...? Why?" She wasn't entirely sure what he meant.
"On the psychiatric hotline," he clarified, a grin in his voice.
"Oh!" She laughed.
"I didn't press one. There wasn't anyone who could press '2' for me." Nat had given her a big talk once about how she cared too much and if she wasn't careful she'd end up a co-dependent.
He laughed back at her, warmly. "I'll bear that in mind. Take care, OK?"
John didn't wait for her reply, and the line went quiet.
She'd stopped by a grocery store and had cooked them dinner, but now she didn't have a whole lot to do and she kept finding herself staring past the words of 1984. She was thinking about Pyro - surprise, surprise - and had a stupid urge to call him, though a quick glance at her watch told her that it was pretty early over on Genosha.
She'd be waking him up, surely.
But wouldn't he want to know about Hepzibah?
Gill would have told him, wouldn't he?
Well, if she called his office, and he was sleeping, there would be no harm done.
Angie was fiddling with her phone, and she pressed in his number and hit send once she'd managed to justify it to herself. Just a few rings, and if no-one answered then there'd be no harm done, she could call him another time. Python looked over to give her an odd look, and she just smiled at him and pressed the phone to her ear, listening to the ring.
"Thank you for calling the psychiatric hotline," came John's voice over the phone. "For problems with obsessive behaviour, press '1' repeatedly. If you are co-dependent, ask someone to press '2' for you. If you have multiple personalities, please press '3', '4', '5' and '6'. If you are paranoid delusional, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line whilst we trace the call. If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will tell you which number to press. Finally, if you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press. No one will answer."
A pause.
"How can I help?"
A familiar laugh pealed through the telephone, her pleasure evident at his choice of greeting. It wasn't the first time John had answered in an unusual manner, and it seemed unlikely to Angie that it would be the last.
"I don't think that you can, but you're welcome to try." Her smile was evident in her tone, and she noticed Python giving her another odd look.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping? Says the girl who called anyway."
"I was up with Dharma for sunrise," came the reply. The young man sounded relaxed and happy, two things that she didn't often associate with him. "How's it going in the Big Apple?"
That was interesting - Angie had intended on practicing Kata with Dharma at sunrise, but she hadn't known that he'd been teaching Pyro as well. Would that stop her from going down to the beach anyway? Hard to say.
"Yeah, not bad. Pretty boring. Did you talk to Gill anytime? Hepzibah never showed." She hoped that it hadn't been some kind of trap to get them there - though it made her think that it was definitely a good thing Pyro hadn't been allowed to come.
"So I heard," said John, leaning back on his chair to reach a ring binder behind him. "How long before you ladies turn around and come back?" The chair almost over balanced and she heard him swear across the miles.
"Run into any difficulties? Any anything? What's it like out in the REAL world?"
"Gill's got us sticking around about some other potential, but shouldn't be too long I wouldn't think." She shrugged, though he couldn't see it. "Had to explain what a lift spider was in a cafe today - like a, um, float? But not made with root beer. And Aurora's spending, but the real world's actually pretty boring. I'd rather be back there with you... lot." It was true - as boring as Genosha was sometimes, Angie wasn't finding New York as exciting as everyone had told her it was. Just kinda crowded and busy and expensive.
"Root beer tastes like soap anyway," he said, his voice conveying the fact that he had just wrinkled his nose. "Give me a good old can of Doctor Pepper anytime...there you are."
It was evident that he was doing something whilst talking to her.
"Any updates on our activities, or am I relegated to page nineteen instead of the front page now?"
"Your face is still all over the place, and there's been a bunch of stuff happening with the government - they released a picture of you and that X-Man that grabbed me in the burning warehouse, and they've got a new task force - shield or something." She shrugged, not mentioning the fact that she hated Doctor Pepper.
"I can pick up some papers if you want. Start a wall of fame." Angie laughed.
"Do the photos catch my good angle?" He was making light of it, but she knew that it bothered him greatly. "I look like a twelve year old when I get caught in profile."
There was the sound of clattering as a file fell on the floor. "Damn," he swore. "Hang on."
She heard him put the phone down and scrabble about the floor.
When he came back, he had dropped his voice almost conspiratorially.
"When you get back here, I need your help with a project. It's ... um ... a bit personal."
Laughing again, Angie reassured him, "You look great."
She bit the skin next to one of her nails as she waited for him to get back on the phone. What he said next surprised her, and he could hear it in her voice.
"Sure, anytime. What's... Did you need me to get anything?" She'd been about to ask him what it was, but maybe he wouldn't want to talk about it over the phone.
"Nah, there's just a bunch of stuff I need to filter through and I reckon as how you're best placed in my team to do it. Being from Australia and all."
There was a pause.
"I'm trying to track down my father. One of those projects I was gonna start a couple years back but never got round to, what with one thing and another. Since I have a bit of time on my hands..." He left it hanging, sounding faintly embarrassed.
"Oh yeah, of course." She'd been given the strange sixteenth birthday present of meeting her own father for the first time, and though she had decided never to speak to him again after he'd supported her being cured, Angie knew the feeling of wanting to know your family. There was a whole side that she didn't know - she hadn't even known his last name until her mother had tracked him down, she'd been given her mother's family name. Which had pleased her grandfather, since her mother's generation was all girls and Angie was the only one still carrying along the family name.
"We'll work it all out." She spoke carefully, since she wasn't alone. There were a lot of people in Sydney, though, and there was every chance that John's father had moved away in the last twenty years.
"So anyway, I guess I should get going... Don't want to run out of credit. I just wanted to call you, let you know what's happening." Living vicariously through them wouldn't be the best feeling, but Angie hoped that it would be better than nothing. She wasn't going to come back gushing over how great the trip had been, but if she spoke about it now then there'd be less reason to start later and forget herself.
"Thanks for the call, I appreciate it." He was distracted again already. "Hey, Angie?"
She made a sort of 'hmm?' noise.
"Which number did you press?"
"Yours...? Why?" She wasn't entirely sure what he meant.
"On the psychiatric hotline," he clarified, a grin in his voice.
"Oh!" She laughed.
"I didn't press one. There wasn't anyone who could press '2' for me." Nat had given her a big talk once about how she cared too much and if she wasn't careful she'd end up a co-dependent.
He laughed back at her, warmly. "I'll bear that in mind. Take care, OK?"
John didn't wait for her reply, and the line went quiet.