"Girls don't get down here on their own." Jude whispered his reminder to her. "Decide quick. He's on his way over with—" girl in tow.

Jude clamped his lips shut just to be sure he'd stop talking well before they could start listening. Svetlana could probably tell who he was talking about by now. The secret had disappeared as he had been listening. It went from a 'I could never...' type thought to a 'I bet my girl won't go for it, so I won't give her a choice.'

"Excuse me." The "gentleman" cleared his throat and brushed closer than was polite. "May I buy you two a drink? My girl's thinking about a swap and," he made an appreciative sound in his throat, "I don't quite blame her."

>>"Girls don't get down here on their own. Decide quick. He's on his way over with—"

There was no way of getting out of this now - it was all or nothing. They either take their one shot and finding some things out, or leave empty-handed.
Sveta had already had enough frustration for one night.

>>"Excuse me. May I buy you two a drink? My girl's thinking about a swap and I don't quite blame her."

"Oh, vat a lovely idea" she flashed a broad smile at the man as she emerged from Jude's cover and straightened her dress, careful not to be too quick about it. She played up the accent. Now that she was one of the girls, not having an accent probably would have been more suspicious.

"De more de merrier" she added, looking up at Jude "Right, honey?.. Can we? Please?" she added, siding up to the girl and putting an arm around her waist "I bet she is special."

All of them were. Also, Sveta didn't miss the flare of green int he girls eyes when she touched her. Mutant, then. Question was, what kind?

She was mad at him. He could tell because behind the mask, behind her smile, she had a bit too much fierceness. He just hoped that didn't translate into something suspicious for Randy McAbout-To-Get-Himself-Murdered.

He took it as eagerness and mimicked Sveta's movements. He draped himself around Jude like he was a Macklemore accessory. Cheap. Now it was Jude's turn not to give a tell.

> "Right, honey?.. Can we? Please?"

He smiled at Sveta in a most indulgent way. Partly because it would irritate her because of his age. Partly because it made sense. Because of his age.

"I'm afraid if you drink too much," he slipped back into his British inflection now that they had an audience, "you'll get even sillier. And I don't intend to let you pass out from anything but exhaustion." Jude smirked and shared a "amiright?" moment with the man breathing down his neck.

"If they get too silly, we can always find new ways to tire ourselves." With his hand on Jude's chin, there was no question what he meant.

Jude tried not to be sick. Tried not to look like this man could go die in a fire. "I-uh... I've never..." That should cover his unease, right?

"Really? Well, we can fix that. Come on, girls. He says he doesn't want to drink anymore. We'll have to show Mister..."

"Black." Jude supplied. Obviously fake, but whatever. Plenty of people would be using psuedonyms.

"Let's show Mr. Black how much fun we can have without another round." He was ushering them all toward that back hallways now.

Yep. No turning back.

Jude was pretty sure they'd never actually have to go through with what this douche suggested, but all the same he found himself wondering if he could get him arrested for being inappropriate with a man-child.

>>"I'm afraid if you drink too much you'll get even sillier. And I don't intend to let you pass out from anything but exhaustion."

No drinking, then. Things were on the fast track now. Sveta could sense the tension in the girl as they came to that conclusion. She was not here for fun either.

>>"If they get too silly, we can always find new ways to tire ourselves."

>>"I-uh... I've never..."

>>"Really? Well, we can fix that. Come on, girls. He says he doesn't want to drink anymore. We'll have to show Mister... Let's show Mr. Black how much fun we can have without another round."

The guy had no inhibitions, and Jude seemed to be very uneasy about the situation. Too bad. The only way out now was going through with it.

"It's okay baby, I promise it'll be fun" she smiled, leaning over and brushing her cheek to his. She didn't quite kiss him, but made sure there was skin contact. He either needed a boost of Evelyn's powers to figure this situation out, or needed to pick a new one up, a.s.a.p.

The man ushered them towards the hallway with the doors. Sveta walked with the girl, holding her at a familiar closeness.

"It's okay, I got you" she whispered to her in a way that seemed playful (and too soft for the guy to hear), but she hoped would ease the tension.

The bouncers let them through, and the man patted on on the shoulder. A door opened, and they were in a room that looked more like a salon than anything. It was definitely a step up from what Sveta had pictured - carpets, armchairs, curtains, and a bed definitely big enough for four. This was a luxury suite, even if a small one.

Sveta escorted the girl inside, and waited for the door to close and the real fun to begin.

Svetty just had to figure out a way to call him baby. Still, Jude took what comfort he could. This pretending was new business to him which was kinda strange considering his power set. He could be anybody, but he was almost always himself.

He wasn't about to let this opportunity go to waste, though. He'd just have to get over his nerves. This was what he'd worked toward, after all. He was standing shoulder to shoulder out in the world with Sveta.

It was that thought that gave him strength once the door was closed and it was just the four of them.

"Girls, why don't you warm us up?"

Jude raised an eyebrow at Svetlana in a silent question. 'Can I slug him now?'

>>"Girls, why don't you warm us up?"

Sveta could tell Jude's mood was dark (with a chance of murderous). She flashed him a bright smile and pushed the girl (gently) to the opposite wall of the room, as far from the guy as possible. Leaning over, she rested her hands on the girl's hips and buried her face in the side of her neck.

"He is a bad, bad man" she murmured, low enough that the guys could only hear the purring "We're here to help. You won't scream, will you?"

There was the flash in the girl's eyes again. Maybe it was her touch, or maybe her powers activated when her heart rate picked up. Sveta pulled back enough to see her face, and she could see part determination and part... eagerness? The girl gave her a little nod, and that was all she needed. She turned back and winked at Jude with another bright smile.

"He's all yours, babe."

While Svetty had taken the girl across the room the other mister had gotten... handsy. Jude's neat tux was no longer properly buttoned.

"Relax, ducky. I won't hurt you."

>"He's all yours, babe."

Jude exhaled with relief. Music to his ears. She had to mean that he could get his own kind of handsy now.

"There you are." The sleaze encouraged him quite quiet coos and gentle touches, taking Jude's nonverbal relaxation as assent.

The copycat rolled his shoulders wishing he had some other power, but he wasn't as useless as he had once been. Now, thanks mostly to Gawain and the other X-men, he knew how to throw a good punch.

Face, meet knuckles.

Oh, sure, the face wasn't a great target with all those bones that could rip his hand up, but Jude really, really wanted this guy to stop talking.

Sleazeball rocked back on his heels, caught completely unawares. When he looked back at Jude, there was some heat in his eyes mixed with a bit of challenge. No doubt he was thinking this was still part of their seduction until Jude continued his assault with ruthless efficiency. He slugged him in the belly, doubling the other man over and knocking his breath from his body and stomped down on the guy's calf in a crude attempt to take out his knee.

"I can sub. Wait!"

"No, you wait." He may have been a kid at heart, but he was a man in his peak body right now. Jude grabbed him by the collar and jerked the man to his knees. "I don't care that you have money enough for the luxury suite." Jude jerked him to keep the man off balance. "Someone's gonna pay for this."

Furious with a chance of murder indeed. As mad as he'd been with Svetty earlier, it was nothing compared to the anger he felt now.

"Ask him, Red." She was bound to have better questions than he did and this way he could listen to more than just the words he said out loud.

The girl winced as Jude went ballistic on the guy, but didn't scream. Sveta held her by the shoulders and held her gaze.

"It's gonna be okay. What's your name?"

"Pearl" she said softly.

"No, not dat one. You real name."

"Rosa."

"Good. Where are you from, Rosa?"

"Venezuela."

Sveta nodded towards the man that collapsed on the floor under Jude's hits. It didn't escape her that Jude looked very confident and effective. He must have been trained by Sam, or some other X-man. Apparently he was old enough for that now.

"Did he bring you?"

"No" the girl shook her head "He... paid for me, here. I came to study, and they..."

"Kidnapped you?"

The girl nodded again, hugging herself.

>>"No, you wait. I don't care that you have money enough for the luxury suite. Someone's gonna pay for this. Ask him, Red."

Sveta sat the girl down on the bed and then reached into her cleavage and under her dress. She assembled a syringe and a needle, and unceremoniously stabbed the guy in the shoulder.

"Dere's your tracker" she said "You can run, but you can't hide. Now." she pulled the mask off the man. He really didn't look like anyone special. Sveta pulled a knife and leaned down to look into his face "Names. Now. Yours first."

This guy wasn't a fighter. He wasn't even fighting back or doing much beyond lifting an arm to put between himself and Jude. If the scum had an ounce of training this wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Or quietly.

Whoa! Jude held the man and directed his body by moving his collar as he squirmed. Jude was quick to understand the sudden panic.

>"Dere's your tracker"

Yeah. Totally part of their plan that he had no clue about. Jude tried to look confident in what seemed like a very one-sided struggle.

>"Names. Now. Yours first."

"G-Greg. I'm just Greg." He squeaked his words like he really wanted to say 'please, dear God, don't kill me' instead of answering. Or maybe that was Jude's power reading into his words.

'They'll kill me if I tell.'

Jude wasn't sure if that meant the man was afraid of Sveta and Jude or whoever he was supposed to be tattling on, but both men were uncomfortable with Svetty's knife.

"Who'd you pay?" Jude prompted the guy.

"Not like I asked for credentials!" He squeaked. "I'm just a guy!" Jude listened in to all the things flickering through his mind. Just a guy with some nasty habits.

"He's not important. He doesn't know." Jude confirmed. "Describe the guy who took your cash." That at least could get them somewhere.

The man was so relieved to have something he could answer that he described the tattoos, the skin tone, everything he thought of even down to a mole the man had noticed on the money-taking man's ear.

>>"G-Greg. I'm just Greg."

Just Greg was positively terrified, but even Jude looked uncomfortable. Sometimes Sveta forgot that the X-men had standards and such. Which was exactly why Sam kept her on a separate payroll. She had no uniform to respect. Also, injecting random people with saline solution was probably morally questionable at best.
(Yes, it was a bluff, why would a vigilante have the money for nano-trackers anyway?! It wasn't like the job paid so well.)

>>"Who'd you pay?"

>>"Not like I asked for credentials! I'm just a guy!"

>>"He's not important. He doesn't know. Describe the guy who took your cash."

Sveta listened to the description, playing with the knife. Jude was efficient, but this was definitely his first rodeo. Once they got the description (which she made sure to pay close attention to), she took over the questioning again.

"Listen here, Just Greg. Dis is a V.I.P. party. Someone had to vouch for you, someone who knows you well in the real world. So. Who got you the pass? Name."

If they were not going to get to the big boss, they might as well unravel the clientele piece by piece.

If Greg was pale before, he was positively ghastly now. If this was a VIP party, who had vouched for them? Jude could practically see the cogs turning in his head, but he didn't hear much of anything related to a name from what he was deciding not to tell them.

Jude raised his hand and Greg blurted out the name. "Andre from the Tasty Olive, it's a-a swingers bar. Don't— Not the face, man. Please."

He frowned and kicked the guy in the 'nads. Well. It wasn't his face. "What about the girl?"

>>"Andre from the Tasty Olive, it's a-a swingers bar. Don't— Not the face, man. Please."

Now that was a good lead. Sveta smirked. Jude was getting the hang of the job too, although he seemed a little too eager to hurt. Sveta did not see a problem with that.

"What about the girl?"

Now that was a good question. If they took the girl, someone would know something was wrong, and by the time they could get to the rest of the girls, they would be gone without a trace. Sveta thought about that for a moment.

"If we take her now and leave him, they will know someone's on to them. He paid for her, not us."

She looked up at Jude.

"We all gotta walk out of here together, and make it look believable."

"There's not like a window somewhere? No?" Well, they were underground so he hadn't expected to see one. He just wished it would be that easy. "We're only gonna walk out of here with one?" It just didn't seem right. Yeah, it would matter to the one, but to the rest...

Well crud. Jude had kicked Greg so they might spend a little time with the girl. From what he could tell, she was cowering... from him. The copycat sighed. He shouldn't have let his temper get the best of him, but at least he hadn't knifed the guy. Or let Svetty knife him.

Grumbling, Jude knelt next to Greg, just Greg. "You heard the nice lady. We're not gonna have a problem are we?"

"What's her deal?" Jude motioned to the girl across the room with his chin. He didn't mean the cowering. He meant the power. That flash of green eyes had not escaped his notice. His power reached unerringly for Svetty's power, but then, it liked her. It really, really liked her.

"Maybe you should walk with Greg...?"

>>"There's not like a window somewhere? No?"

Sveta rolled her eyes. The whole thing was in the basement, probably for a good reason. Harder to smuggle out the goods without properly paying for them.

>>"You heard the nice lady. We're not gonna have a problem are we?"

Greg was past resisting. At least that was good. Hopefully he was not past walking yet.

>>"What's her deal?"

"Mutant" Sveta said, glancing at Rosa "If she had a useful power, she would have gotten away by now. Right?"

Rosa nodded.

"I grow flowers." she added quietly. Not useful. Sveta sighed. She had been suspecting that the dealers would not kidnap anyone with a potentially dangerous ability.

>>"Maybe you should walk with Greg...?"

"We all go" Sveta decided "Get him to his feet. Here is the deal, Greg" she said, looking into the man's face "We had a great time, you are drunk, and you are taking this girl home with you. There should be an extra fee, and you are happy to pay that. We all get out of here, Rosa comes with us, and you go and crawl back into whatever hole you crawled out of. If you tip off anyone, or do anything suspicious, I will use the tracker, hunt you down, and cut pieces out of you until you die. Got it?"

He got it.

Flowers? That interested Jude. He studied Rosa as if he could ascertain from the outside whether she could make a flower of any color she chose. Maybe even blue roses?

Pipe dream. That girl was going to need therapy before she talked to a guy she'd seen being violent.

That made Jude feel embarrassed. Someone was actually intimidated by him?

"Come on." The copycat put a hand under Greg's elbow and helped him up. The lech leaned heavily on Jude as if standing straight up was not an option right now. Pansy. He was almost sure Svetty had hurt him worse before... or maybe those were just bruises of the heart. Almost definitely Saph and Sam had hit his worse.

"That's it." Jude used his thumb to smear away the blood that had pooled at the man's busted lip, the worst of his visible injuries, and looped the man's arm around his shoulders and shook his head. Time to act a little silly. They were supposed to be drunk.

"You ready, girls?" They could drape themselves where they pleased now and then they could all stumble out of here.