This was the best, mission, ever. Cait had been asked to keep an eye out for SUPER activity at a small shopping mall. She'd basically been given free licence to have a day out with Raine. Yes, they'd both been on strict instructions to pay attention but come on. She got to spend a day shopping and eating ice cream without the grumpier members dragging it down.

"Can you believe this is all we have to do Raine," she noted to her companion absently, already eyeing up a particularly nice necklace on display. "They didn't even split us up!" They always seemed to want to keep them off the same mission. She'd always gotten the excuses professionalism, but she secretly wondered if they just could handle the pure good cheer they'd always emit when in the same room.

While Raine was distracted, Cait took another good look at her. How did she manage to make herself look so good. Her clothes were always stunning and boy could she pull of a cat suit. Cait got far to self conscious just thinking about wearing something so, revealing. Blushing slightly, she turned back to the display, she tried to focus on something a bit less embarrassing. She couldn't, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try. Checking the prices help to bring her down a bit. How were they all so expensive. Who could afford to spend that much.

Stretching languidly, she looked down at Raine. "You want to know what I think would top this mission off perfectly? A nice big bowl of chocolate ice cream." She smiled widely before continuing. "Unless you think we should be more responsible."

 

Could she believe this was all they had to do? No. She literally could not. The amount of screaming and jumping up and down that had happened at the top of the hospital got them both reprimanded for potentially giving their secret base away.

"I don't even care if this is a trap or a test or whatever." Cait was one of the most fun members of the team and they rarely got to be on the same mission. It wasn't as if Raine was going to hang out in the hole that was the X-men's hideout. She had a life to live outside of dealing with bad guys and a secret identity to keep up with.

"It's gotta be some kind of prank. I mean, there's no freaking way a somebody minted a secret group with a name that cool." And on top of that, there was no freaking way a secret group was operating out of a mall. This was a set up somehow. Raine was just having too much fun to pick at the why.

"If you like it try it on. I can watch out here." Cait had a sort of dreamy look on her face and she'd been zoning out at the same display for a while now. Raine adjusted the height of her ponytail to keep it nice and bouncy. This was her business face. But maybe the outfit wasn't to be. Cait stretched, probably to emphasize that she had twice as much leg as Raine did.

"There is nothing you can say that will convince me that chocolate isn't responsible."

Grinning at Raines response she replied quickly, "I promise, if I can find a way to make it irresponsible, you'll be the first to know." It was too nice a day to not get some ice cream.  She'd be doing it a disservice and it's not like she wasn't keeping her eyes peeled for, whoever, SUPER were. She could vaguely remember some of the details they'd been given, between the bouts of giggling, and they didn't really have much to work with. Well, that was a problem for another time, she had some serious business to take care of. To sprinkle, or not to sprinkle, that was the question.

Window shopping as they walked, she tried to keep her eyes out for anything, odd, but nothing seemed to jump out. Scanning some of the faces around her she memorised a few of the more nervous looking people. The only person that gave her a weird vibe was a tall, older man. He was standing reading something of his, phone, she thought. What gave her the feeling was the fact that as soon as she'd started looking at him, he'd seemed to notice. It's like he was trying to not glance back at her. He might be one to watch, she thought idly. 

"Can you think of anything else we should do Raine, since we're here?" she asked as they were walking. "I was thinking of getting Doc a present, if I can sneak it to him without the others finding out." She loved her fellow X-Men but the lectures were never ending. She just wanted to have some fun. Was that a crime. It's not like she was unreliable, she had a decent mission record. They just seemed predisposed to grumpiness.

Eyeing up a prospective place she pointed it out to her companion. It looked pretty good, at least, and most places would cost about the same. "How about this one? Looks pretty good, and I bet there's a good view from the window." See, she was thinking to herself, you can have fun and keep your mind on the mission. her decision had nothing to do with the cute boy behind the counter she could see from outside. Giving Raine a mischievous little grin she headed over.

They were supposed to be looking for weird. The weirdest thing Raine could see was the new Spring line.

"That is absolutely heinous." And yet, she bet Astrid would have been able to give the boxy striped dresses some shape. Ugh. Did no one take pity on the girl with zero waist? Raine would have looked like a stump. A striped stump. "Where are the shoulders?" Not that Raine didn't appreciate a good off the shoulder look, but when they just cut them out randomly it was... random.

Disgusted, she supposed there was nothing better to do than check out the area.

And since they were strolling past the kiddy play place, there was plenty that looked sketch. Like that guy with the suit and the phone. Yeah. Raine frowned at him and inclined her head ever so slowly in a 'I'm watching you, buck-o.' kind of taunt. He frowned at her, but shuffled away. Yeah. He'd better.

She went right back to smiling afterward. No need to let a creeper bring her down.

"Doc has a thing for hats. I bet he wouldn't say no to one. Maybe that should be our sub-mission. Hat shopping!" They were being so dang efficient, not even Impact would have a single complaint.

Oh my. "Are you here for a treat or the ice cream?" She ribbed the Scot. Ah. It was a good thing the place was kept cool 'cause that guy was H-O-T. Ah. But Cait had spotted him first. Raine assumed the wing-woman position which was to say that she should probably split. Cait had this on lock.

"Grab me a waffle cone? I'm gonna swing back around to double check something real quick." That guy was on her mind. The hot one, yeah, but more so, the one with the phone... those were freaking kids he'd been watching.

Thinking about it, she'd probably seen Doc in a hat more often than not. It was a good suggestion as well, all Cait had been thinking was a new book. Imagining Doc in a sombrero was too much fun. "I'll remember that, thanks for the suggestion Raine."

"One waffle cone coming up, extras sprinkles," she called over her shoulder jokingly. "If you see anything, you've got my number." She could handle herself and Cait was focusing in on her target. As she got closer, she realised just how good looking the guy was. Good god you could cut glass on his cheek bones. Engaging a nice disarming smile, she moved in for some good old fashioned flirting. She was on point. She was funny, she was whimsical, she was down right charming dammit. Yet nothing she did was working. He just seemed to be completely oblivious.

Raine probably never had this problem, she thought wistfully. She was so beautiful and self assured, she must get her pick of partners. Cait had always wanted to ask for her for fashion and make up advice but she'd never gotten the chance. She wouldn't admitted she was terrified of the clothes Raine might make her try on.

Cait would have driven herself crazy over this had the man not apologised, before going over and greeting his boyfriend. Why, oh why, were all the gorgeous guys either taken or gay, or both. They were so cute though and she didn't mind waiting while they fussed over each other.

Finally getting both her ice cream cones, she headed back outside, reveling in the rich, chocolaty flavour. Strange, she'd hadn't expected Raine to be gone long and she'd already taken a while to get the cones. Scanning the crowds for her comrade, she spotted the older man again. OK, Cait always trusted her intuition. Once was a coincidence, twice was suspicious. Quickly texting Raine, she started shadowing him, absently licking her ice cream every so often. 

She'd best not be joking. Sprinkles were no laughing matter.

Triple sprinkles.

She shot off a text just to be sure. Raine wasn't kidding. She thought about sending another one demanding quadruple but that was when she spotted the guy ducking back into the restroom. Again. Someone had problems.

Raine found herself a little makeup kiosk to peruse that gave her a view of the restroom exit, but after a while the guy was impatient for her to buy something. She could only test so much blush on the back of her hand...

She didn't want to go in after him... she could go in to the women's restroom and chance using her power in a cubicle in order to peek in from the ceiling...

"Don't-!" The kiosk attendant caught Raine's hand as she'd started to lift a tube of lipstick to her lips without thinking. "That's unsanitary. Please. Use a disposable applicator."

Well. She couldn't say no to that...

Raine was half way done removing a natural peach that was a hair too orange for her when the text came in. Shoot! She'd been supposed to be watching the restroom!

She tried to coordinate and catch up as best she could. Raine was jogging when she finally caught a glimpse of red. "Hey! Oh sprinkles, you angel!" She hadn't forgotten. <3

Which one?

They might have been walking side by side, but she still texted... just to stay all covert and stuff.

Cait nearly had a heart attack when her Raine called to her from behind. Worse, she'd almost dropped the ice cream. She was focusing so much on not losing the man she'd spotted even Raine had snuck up on her. Trying to smile and not look too flustered she handed her friend the cone. "No worries," she replied in a joking tone, "Gave me more time to appreciate the view."

When her phone went off she checked it absently, thinking it was just a work text. Keeping a straight face as she read it she was glad Raine was so on the ball. It was great they could text and talk at the same time. Be all super secret and stuff.

See the tall guy, old with the weird phone?

Pulling Raine up to a shop window when the man stopped, she kept one eye on him the other on, whatever, that dress was meant to be. "Can you believe some of this years range, it's like they've never seen a person who wasn't over six foot and a size zero."

Clocked him twice now, don't think its a coincidence.

OK, now she was sure. Even if he wasn't, whoever SUPER where, he had his phone out and look like he was taking pictures of anyone passing by. Christ some of them were just kids.

"I might slip into something a bit comfier," she said nonchalantly to Raine, "Keep an eye out for anything cute." Leaning down and pretending to kiss her on the cheek, she whispered into her friends ear. "If he is suspicious, there won't be just him, be careful." Winking as she straightened she headed off for a place she could get changed. Looks like it was time for her work clothes.

> " it's like they've never seen a person who wasn't over six foot and a size zero."

"That's fashion. Not just this year." Cait was preaching to the choir. Raine checked her phone as it buzzed in her hand. She took a quick snap of the guy so that they could show Impact later. Proof that they weren't all fashion and ice cream. It was a zoom so the image was grainy, but it was at least a full description contained in an image.

"Please tell me you grabbed some napkins." Because, while she'd been trying to reply to the text, comment on fashion, and keep an eye on creepy, her ice cream had become more of a sprinkle soup. Not that she wasn't eating it. It was just also running out the bottom of her cone and down her arm.

This guy gave me the slip while you were scoping out your scoop. 😍🍦😍 Total sus.

She glanced up from her phone. "Actually, what happened to the ice cream man?" The creep in the suit was all but forgotten.

It was good to know she wasn't the only one, she just couldn't understand why they'd make clothes pretty much no one can pull off. At least Raine was paying attention, Cait catching her in the corner of her eye snapping a picture of their guy.

"Hmm, napkins? Oh, yeah, sorry sweetie." Of course she'd need napkins, they hadn't picked the cleanest snack to get. Pulling some out of her bag she passed them across, grinning at the amount Raine had managed to get over her hands. Cait however wasn't wasting any, idly licking any stray chocolate off her fingers, keeping one eye out for their quarry.

Well at least Raine had clocked the same guy, she'd trust her own intuition but having confirmation sealed the deal.

Oh god the ice cream guy, she didn't need reminding. "Oh he was lovely, sweet, just a perfect catch. Shame he was already taken." She paused dramatically before continuing, "Him and his boyfriend were adorable though." This was becoming something of an annoying trend. The last three guys she hit on had turned out to be gay. Almost made a girl want to swear of men. Almost.

"You have any luck? Don't let my bad streak stop you," she said giving her friend a pointed look. There was a underlying message saying go have fun in the look. Hopefully she would, Cait was curious about Raines flirting methods. Maybe she could pick up some moves.

Already taken!? "Ugh. Let that be no barrier to-"
> "Him and his boyfriend were adorable though."
Raine’s lips, already poised in an “o” from forming the word “to” just stayed that way. ”Oh.”

Well! In that case, she was quite mollified that her friend had given it her damnedest and it just hadn’t been meant to be. Raine nibbled at the waffle cone. ”I mean. Maybe you could have gotten a 2 for 1?” Ah, but what were the odds? ”That’s rotten luck.”

That’s when Cait flipped the conversation on its head and asked about Raine’s love life. As if! ”Ha! Are you kidding? Between class and work and gigs like thi—” this mission!? Raine glanced back and forth, but she didn’t see their creeper.

What a slippery creep nugget!

”Parking lot?” Because if he wasn’t in here, that’d be the next logical place. ”Tell me you put on sunscreen today. Don’t want you going all lobstery if we have to be on the prowl for a while.”

>"Maybe you could have gotten a 2 for 1?"
Cait started blushing a shade of red only a few lighter than her hair. The idea was unthinkable. Ridiculous. Totally intriguing. She'd never had that exact fantasy. At all. She also didn't start to imagine that scenario. "You, are a minx Raine." Trying a cocky grin, which she was sure was ruined by her blush, she added, "Wish I'd had that idea at the time."

Aw, that sucked. As much as she got jealous when people brought up college, she liked what she did. The free time for flirting helped. "In that case we need a girls night out, see how many of the team we can drag into it." If Raine needed to cut loose and find a nice cutie to snog, she'd make it happen.

"Don't worry, after we stopped deafening any dogs around the base, I managed to douse myself in enough sunscreen, I'll probably end today with less of a tan." Her idea was good though, if their target wasn't in sight, he might be trying to make a run for it.

Now, which way was the parking lot. Cait had never had a good sense of direction and she'd already lost where they were. "Well then, lead the way I guess. I have no clue which way it is."

Minx? Raine grinned. "I like the sound of that."

She could say it all day long without blushing because she was in this acting gig for real. Truth be told, she may have thought of it, but it would only have been bravado to broach the subject in the moment. And if it ever got that far... well, she'd never gotten that far. Not that she would let Cait know that, though.

"Girl's night out." Raine could cry for how much she wanted it. "Yes. Please. There's that Inferno club I've been dying to get into. The more people we can drag along the better. Everyone on the team is so friggin hot they wouldn't dare turn us away." It was possible she hadn't dressed sleazy enough last time. That or it was the fact that she was under 21.

The ice cream at this point was a complete lost cause. The parts of the cone that were not soggy had already been devoured and all the sprinkles were gone. Between her tongue and the napkins and everything, Raine felt like a hot mess.

Such was life.

Raine looped her non-sticky arm in Cait's and gestured with a hand full of napkins down the hallway. "To the parking lot!" As if she knew where they were! But there was a map usually... somewhere. She marched them both down the hall until something caught her eye. "Ohh! What about those!"

The pants were artfully ripped, yeah, but it was the set of high heels that had caught her eye... Spike heels. With actual spikes. "Whaaat!? This says they 3D print shoes in here!" The please, please eyes were real.

Inferno. That sounded, exciting. With a name like that, Cait couldn't help but imagine all the temptations on offer. She might meet a girl or two, since apparently all the guys she flirted with were gay. What club would turn them away either, her teammates were gorgeous. "You're telling me, get us together in a room and we could do a calendar shoot." No, too many grumps on the team for that idea to fly.

When Raine took her arm she had to resist the urge to start whistling Wizard of Oz. She had a sneaky suspicion that might not go over well. She'd never understood peoples issues with height, she loved smaller partners. It opened up so many possibilities in the bedroom.

The jeans spoke to the nerdy little emo in Cait and she wanted them. rips and all. If there's one thing Cait loved about herself, it was her legs and those, those would show them off perfectly. "I need those in my life, those jeans would complete me." Glancing down, she was shock by the shoes. They looked, painful. They would deal with club creeps though.

Oh god, who could resist those eyes, they were intoxicating. "God, please not the puppy dog eyes. You know I'm weak to their power." It was soooo tempting to go in. Maybe just a look, it couldn't hurt could it? If they lost their target though, Becca would lecture her. Again. "We lose this guy and Impact will throw a fit. So will Mirage, and they probably won't let us do missions together again until we're both in our thirties."

Maybe that would be enough? Cait didn't think she could resist Raines powers of cuteness for long. She was already wavering as is.

The struggle was reeeeeeeeal.

Eventually Raine caved, but it was truly torturous. "No. You're right. Of course you're right. The parking lot is the responsible, adult decision here." And it murdered her free spirit to do it. With much reluctance she turned and since they were still linked at the arm, that turned Cait too.

"Be strong." She told herself as much as she was counselling Cait. "The clothes will still be there, but Creep Master McBadguy might not be." And it was their duty to find him. Or at least try.

A couple skips down the mall and they found a map. The map lead to the parking lot. The parking lot was hella boring and actually toasty enough that Raine let Cait go just so they wouldn't sweat on each other.

Thank god. Caits will had been crumbling quick and a lecture or too had seemed like a small price. As Raine maneuvered them away, she had to agree with her words of wisdom. The clothes would have to wait. "Well, if we run out of time here for shopping, we'll just have to come again."

They managed to eventually find the parking lot and good lord, it was boiling in here. She'd lived in New York her entire life and she still couldn't handle the summer heat. As they were disentangling from each other, she thought she saw movement from further in. Whispering, Cait pointed to where she was looking, "Did you see that? There was something over there, might be our creeper."

At least she hoped it was, losing him would not end well for Team Rainbows and Cait refused to deprive the world of that.

Checking her bag for her mask, she was glad she hadn't forgotten it this time. You forget it once and Becca acts like its the end of the world, she thought sourly.

"You ready for some creeper busting?" she joked, readying a knife in her mind, just in case.