[OOC: Continued from: A Complication Simplified]

Alexandra opened the door of Streak’s room and stepped out, starting to walk down the hotel corridor at a slow speed at first so Streak would catch up with her. Once he did, she adjusted her speed according to his. “I hope you didn’t forget what we're supposed to do in this mission.” She commented as she stopped in front of the elevator.

Pushing a button, she turned her head toward Streak, smiling, almost half-tempted to make another comment. Perhaps, she refrained herself from doing it or perhaps, the doors of the elevator opening stopped her. Shifting her attention back to the elevator, Alexandra walked in positioning herself next to the console and waited for Streak to follow. Once both were in, she pushed a button and the elevator started to move.

Streak grabbed his room key and left the room as he walked out to catch up with Alexandra. It was easy for him to catch up because she was walking so slowly. Thankfully, she didn’t have any time to ask questions because they’d reached the elevator doors, which opened for them. It wasn’t hard to tell what Alexandra wanted to talk about, although he wasn’t going to be the one to bring up the subject. There was a thing called privacy and he was going to try to keep his as long as he could. Even though Alex had basically walked in on them and he was probably obligated to give her an answer he was still going to try to go as long as he could without answering for his actions.

“Who me? Forget what we’re doing? Of course not.” Streak commented back with a sly smile. Streak walked into the elevator after Alex did. She’d taken up position near the buttons. The elevator soon moved and landed them safely on the lobby floor. When the doors opened again Streak stepped out and started to walk towards the exit and made sure that Alex was keeping up. Once they were outside Shawn asked Alex, “So which way are we heading first?” He waited for her to lead the way because she was more familiar with the area than he was. Of course, the amount of time Streak had spent pouring over maps he wouldn’t exactly consider himself a tourist in the area.

Alexandra replied Streak with a simple smile and a shrug. If he said so, then she was going to believe him, either he lied or not. She, of all persons, would have been the last one to blame him for forgetting anything and instead enjoying a moment of happiness with a person close to your heart. And from the looks of it, Alexandra had been right last night when she told Lily that Streak might feel the same. She was well aware that most of them were straining themselves to make things right. A pause from all the planning and the missions was probably a good thing. She wished she could take one too.

The doors of the elevator opened just as the molecule manipulator sighed realizing that she’d never rest until things were better. Maybe they were doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. She did it because it was the only way to relieve herself from the guilt. Alexandra stepped into the lobby, casually glancing at the receptionist. It was still early in the morning and apparently Abram’s shift wasn’t over. The look of the man as soon as he noticed her was something priceless. He looked as if he was ready to dive under the desk for safety in case she made another step in his direction. Alexandra offered the man an apologetic smile, and she even managed to see his shoulders relaxing slightly before she shifted her eyes to the hotel entrance. Maybe she should apologize later, she briefly thought as she exited the hotel.

“So which way are we heading first?”

“Well…” Alexandra started as she leaded Streak to the parking lot. “We’re heading to the car first.” She said, briefly smiling. It wasn’t like she was going to mention where they were going outside the hotel where a few people were standing within hearing distance. Retrieving the keys from her pocket, she pushed a button on the small remote attached. Her rented car beeped announcing the doors have been unlocked. Patting the car lovingly, Alexandra opened the door and slipped in, relaxing on the chair while waiting for Streak to get in.

As soon as the silver eyed mutant was in, Alexandra started the car and maneuvered it out of the parking lot and into Bucharest’s streets while explaining Streak where they are going next. “Well, there are two locations which we should check. The old Concentration Camps and the Camps used during the first Registration Act. But-Oh for God’s sake move faster!” She pushed the honk a few times as the driver in front of her apparently was admiring the landscape or something. As the car in front of her started to move faster, Alexandra turned her head briefly to Streak before paying attention to the road again. “Now, where was I? Oh yes. But my contacts tell me that the Concentration Camps have been checked and there’s nothing there.” AKA the Kabal had checked the Concentration Camps rumors and proved that they were false. But, of course, Streak didn’t need to know that. “So that leaves us the camps used during the first Registration Act. Any questions?”

[OOC: Calley, I assumed that Circe would be informed that the Concentration Camps are being checked by someone else. Let me know if I need to change this. Also, Streak, I moved things a bit forward. Again, let me know if I need to change anything.]

(OOC: That’s fine with me. Lead the way.)

Streak followed Alex to her car and smiled when he saw what they’d be riding in. traveling in style… that was always a plus when they were on a mission. He spent enough time playing in the mud and was sure that the time would be spending more time in it soon enough. He understood her hesitation in spilling the beans right away.

No one wanted to get caught saying something that they weren’t supposed to be saying and no one wanted to even be suspected of what they really were. Only once the silvermancer got in and they started driving away from the hotel did Alexandra start explaining where they were going. He knew about the purpose of the mission but he wasn’t aware of where it was going to take place. Shawn smiled an understanding smile as Alex demonstrated some well placed, good ol’ fashion, New York City road rage on a driver in front of them.

“So that leaves us the camps used during the first Registration Act. Any questions?”

Her contacts? Shouldn’t he be aware of who her contacts are. After all they were on the same team and he was second in command if something should happen to Sam. Hopefully Sam knew who her contacts were. Maybe she’d tell him, out of the goodness of her heart. “Who’s your contacts?” He asked curiously. She probably expected this question and so she probably had a ready answer.

If she told a good lie then he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference and it wouldn’t matter to him. If she told a bad lie then he might become just a tad suspicious and wonder why she wasn’t telling the whole truth. “Nope I’m good to go. I already know most of it so I’m ready for whatever’s coming.” Streak said this and sounded maybe a little too happy about the fact that they were going on a mission to snoop around where the possibility of getting caught hung in the air. At least they were traveling in a nice car for the moment.

Streak’s question, while totally expected still made Alexandra to want to grin. Instead, she just smiled briefly remaining quiet for a few more seconds as the car approached a traffic light. Alexandra slowed down to a stop and turned her head toward Streak. “Streak, I can and I will tell you who my contacts are if you wish to know but I doubt that you can pronounce the names of half of them.” The molecule manipulator smiled slightly. “They are people I grew up with. My friends. Mutants. And they want to help.” Alexandra shrugged, still keeping a half-smile on her face as she lied Streak. It was easy, unlike when she was lying Sam. Not much of a heavy heart when she hid the truth from Streak.

A few names of members of the Underground ran trough her head, in case Streak decided that he wanted to know their names. People who existed in case any of the X-Men decided to check. Just that they couldn’t contact them. Alexandra turned toward the traffic light, spying the moment when it would turn green. But until then, she reached for her backpack and after a few seconds of rummaging trough it, Alexandra retrieved a pocket pc out of it. With a careless motion she threw the backpack in the back of the car while extending the hand with the pocket pc toward Streak.

“Keep this with you. It has blueprints of the building and the most detailed Bucharest map. Try to remember most of the twists and turns in the building, it might prove useful. Also, remember where the location marked with M1 is. That’s our meeting place in case we get separated. If we can’t meet inside, meet me at the location marked with M2. It’s outside of the former camps perimeter. The maximum time for waiting is 5 minutes. If I’m not there in 5 minutes, go back to the hotel.” The traffic light turned green and the car moved again, smoothly passing by cars, buildings and people. “And please, no heroic stuff. I don’t wanna be worried about you throwing yourself in front of the danger like I do when I’m on mission with Sam.” She smiled when speaking this and yet she was serious. Alexandra wanted both her and Streak to get back to the hotel and preferably in one piece.

Another red light and another little talk from Alexandra. Streak was satisfied with the answer that she gave him. whether it was the truth or not didn’t matter because what she’d said was just as likely as anything that he could have thought she said. “No. I’m fine with not making a fool of myself with name pronunciation.” He said returning her smile. Streak took the device that Alex offered him and started to look at it. It was pretty high tech but it wasn’t hard to figure out. “Ok.” Was all he said as Alexandra continued on about their meeting points. What she was saying was nothing new to him when he was on missions. You always needed to have a backup meeting spot just in case something went wrong and you had to get separated.

Just like with every mission he always hoped that they’d never have to use their second meeting point. With the meeting points memorized he moved on to looking at the blueprints that she’d managed to get from her ‘old friends’. It was definitely a complicated system that the Romanians had come up with. They definitely didn’t want people getting out of this place once they were in it. At least not unless they were allowed to get out. “Oh don’t worry about me. When it comes to fighting I’m a coward.” Streak said, his smile broadening. Shawn knew that Alex was serious, even though she may not have sounded like it. he knew that Sam was one of the guys, and actually so was he, that would take more risk on himself than was necessary to protect his team mates. Or wingman depending on the number of people he was working with. Of course their goal was getting back to the hotel in one piece, but as he knew it never seemed to go just the way everything had been planned. “Got it.” Streak said.

“Good.” Alexandra replied while shifting her attention between the driving and Streak. As Streak started to analyze the maps she provided, Alexandra focused on the driving. About ten minutes passed before the buildings started to be scattered on one side of the road or another, and, most of them were either factories or warehouses.

With the traffic being much lighter as they were nearing the city’s exit, Alexandra relaxed on her seat. “I’m glad you and Lily are together.” She said, finally breaking the silence. With a rather off topic subject and yet, something that had been on her mind ever since she’d found Lily in Streak’s room. Alexandra smiled, although she didn’t turn to look at Streak.

The silence started to build up as Streak studied the maps. When he glanced up he noticed that everything was starting to thin out. Buildings were becoming more and more apart, while the spaces between them with overgrown grass or farm land were becoming more and more frequent. Less frequency was good because that told him that they were going to be arriving soon. The silence started to grow awkward but after meeting Alex it seemed like there was one thing she was good at and that was breaking an awkward silence. This time was no different.

“I’m glad you and Lily are together.”

“Ya me too. It’s about time huh?” Streak said with a smile to her. She didn’t look at Streak at all when she said this and he just kept looking down at the maps. He wasn’t really paying attention to the maps now, he was more just looking at them so that he’d have something to look at instead of staring at her or off into space. He knew that she probably had a million questions that she wanted answered about what happened, or didn’t happen in some cases, last night. Alexandra probably also had a lot of assumptions about what the two did, or didn’t do, last night. Streak finally looked at her and said, “Is there something you want to ask me about it?” There obviously was, otherwise she probably wouldn’t have brought it up. Unless she just wanted to let him know that she was glad they’d finally sorted it out, which he highly doubted.

“Ya me too. It’s about time huh?”

At this, Alexandra laughed, turning her head to Streak. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, you know.” The molecule manipulator grinned. So she was correct when she assumed that Streak had been feeling the same way as Lily but for whatever reasons he didn’t mention it. Eyes turned back to the road while she still smiled. Funny thing that they needed a country troubled by the Registration Act and some large amounts of alcohol to finally admit it.

“Is there something you want to ask me about it?”

Alexandra blinked, looking at Streak again, carefully pondering her answer. “Uhmm, you know, I usually like people to share whatever they have to share when they’re ready instead of me curiously poking around their lives.” But… then again, there came into her mind that conversation with Lily last night. First boyfriend and stuff. And the fact that she’d found them in some… rather inappropriate clothing which leaded to some assumptions... Also the boys’ reputation of being eager to…. Err, get intimate. Then again, in her relationship with Sam, she didn’t remember him prodding things to go quicker when it came to … snoo snoo, as Dom liked to name it. And maybe she wasn’t the one to talk with Streak about it…. But Lily was her friend and her partner in crime and as far as she knew, she was the only one who currently knew about them and about Lily’s inexperience. So maybe…”But… heh. Some advice.” Her cheeks reddened. Certainly, she wasn’t the one to talk about it. “Take it slow… I don’t know if Lily… well, told you… but you’re her , errr, first boyfriend. So…”

Yeah. Good luck with getting your words out of your mouth first, Alexandra Kettler.

(OOC: I wasn't aware that Streka had a reputation.)

"I know you coulnd't that's why I said it." Streak said smiling still. He didn't usually think that sharing previous nights events were a good thing but then again most people didn't walk in on him in only a towel. That being the case he felt that a little explanation was in order. "I know about that. She told me. And in answer to your unasked questions nothing happened last night except for some converstaion. I'm sure you're feeling pretty prrotective of her since you got her in trouble but don't worry I don't intend on going fast."

Streak was sure that she was just trying to make sure that he didn't screw this up. He was aware that he had a track record that probably wasn't the best. But he was trying to correct that with Lily and not push it. "All we did was talk..." and kiss. However, Shawn was going to leave that part out. He felt that if Alex was going to find out then he would let it come from Lily and not from him. He didn't want Lily to hear that he'd been talking about the night they spent together and that he was now going around bragging about it. Eitehr way unless Alexandra asked for anything specific, which didn't seem likely since she didn't ask in the first place, then he was going to avoid any and all details. "So what?" Streak asked since it seemed like she cut off her sentence. There had to have been more that she wanted to say, but he doubted that he would be pressed for information from her. At least until she had a chance to talk to Lily.

[OOC: Circe was thinking about all the boys, not only Streak. ]


“Talk is good” Alexandra nodded in agreement. So Lily told him. That was good too. No danger there. “And yeah, feeling a bit protective cause-” Blink. Wait. She didn’t get Lily in trouble. As a matter of fact…“Pft, you should thank me. If Lily didn’t get drunk then who knows when the two of you would have gathered up the courage to talk.” A slight desire to stick her tongue out at Streak appeared. However, Alexandra suppressed it. Instead, she just laughed briefly to announce Streak that she was joking. Maybe getting Lily drunk wasn’t exactly good but at least something good came out of it.

“And… so nothing.” Alexandra sighed. “I’m not the type of person that talks about these subjects easily. Words kind of stuck in my mouth.” She turned her head to Streak for a moment, laughing nervously. “But… I wanted to make sure you know what Lily told me the other night. Sorry if it seems like I’m poking around in your private life.”

“I don’t exactly think that getting her drunk would have mattered much. It also wasn’t exactly the way I’d pictured that conversation. I’d imagined it more…sober.” Streak answered her. Se was right. It did seem like they wouldn’t have talked unless one of them wasn’t exactly themselves. He laughed with her, but it was true he probably should thank her for that. “Hey don’t get me wrong talking to her was a lot easier with her intoxicated than it was sober… So thanks.” He said once he’d finished laughing.

Streak bit his tongue at her comment. As a joke he could have said something but he figured that it would have been funnier if he kept it in his head and not out loud. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll get a lot more questions when we get back from Sam or someone else.” Streak admitted. He didn’t think that Sam would be able to contain his curiosity with Jewel and would end up asking her questions. “But I’m actually kind of glad you did get her drunk. Otherwise it may have been longer before we talked.” Streak said. He really was grateful but he was sure that Sam would be asking questions just like she was. “So how are things with you and Sam? Getting better after last night?” He had a vested interest in that and he didn’t want them to get caught or blow up over something that might have been small.

Funny thing. She should have expected that at one point or another, the conversation will get to the ‘her and Sam’ subject. But, no mater how much she had expected it, Alexandra still shifted her eyes when ‘she’, ‘Sam’ and ‘last night’ were mentioned together.

She glanced at Streak, smiling slightly. “Yeah… things were certainly better in the morning than last night.” She admitted with a sheepish smile. “Sam didn’t need to worry about his well-being while being near me this morning.”

Eyes returned on the road, as Alexandra shrugged. “Being upset and drinking certainly isn’t the best combination for me.” A small frown appeared on her face. “I guess I needed to try it myself to realize that.”

Buildings were now non-existant on the sides of the road, tall trees taking their places as they entered a forest area. Second road to the left after you enter the forest, her contacts said. Alexandra's hands tightened against the wheel, body tensing in the seat as the car moved forward. "We're close." She announced.

Getting the conversation off of Lily and him was something he was glad for. Now it was Alex's turn to feel uncomfortable. He was glad that they were still together and that they were getting along much better now that she wasn't full of alcohol. "Ya I've made it a rule to not drink if I'm not feeling good, cause in my opinion that's how you get an addiction."

Streak looked out of the window as they continued talking. "Good. I'd hate to think that yall were too upset to work it out. Don't tell him I said this but Sam needs you to keep him in check. Like me with Lily. Not power wise but life wise. You make him happy and that's why he got so upset. But I don't want to turn this into a psychiatry session. I think you know what I'm talking about anyways..."

Shawn trailed off and he tried to look deep into the forest. He was trying to get his mind off the current subject, but it wasn't working very well. He couldn't seem to get his mind wrapped around what they were doing. He was there but at the moment his mind was not there. His mind was thinking of Jewel. Alexandra pulled him back to where they were and what they were doing for a second. "Good. They sure went through a lot of trouble to hide these places." Her body seemed to have tensed up. She was nervous, she was ready for something to happen.

I wonder if Lily's ready for her mission with Sam. Has she prepared enough for it? Is she worried about me? Will Sam protect her? Ya he would. That was one thing Streak didn't have to worry about. Sam would definitely take care of her just like he was going to take care of Alex whether she liked it or not. Would she protect herself? I hope that I'm not causing her to not be focused on her mission. There were more thoughts that came through his head at the time, but he was still mainly hoping that she would be safe.

With a nod, Alexandra agreed. Yeah, she pretty much knew that if Sam wouldn’t be happy around her he wouldn’t bother to be jealous. But, then again, that didn’t give him the right to jump to conclusions either.

Anyway.

Those things were behind them right now. She and Sam have had their conversation about it. Hopefully, Sam understood. Yeah, she was a liar. Yeah, she was a spy. But she wasn’t a cheater.

More trees passed them by. On the left, a road came into view. It wasn’t the one they were looking for. The car slowed down slightly, as Alexandra kept her eyes on the left side of the road. When the second road came into view, Alexandra slowed down to a stop before the car could reach it.

Her head turned to Streak. “We’d better go on foot from here on. If there’s anyone around here, they’re gonna hear us coming if we use the car.” That being said, she opened the car’s door and got out, waiting for Streak to do the same.