The evening was settling upon the scene. Shadows were getting longer,, no longer content with hiding among the trees of the park, now bathed the whole park in their shade. A thick fog shrouded the Park, shrouding everything in a heavy cloak of shadow and mist. One could slip and fall and no-one would even know.  People were rushing into their homes to avoid the autumns colder bite, no-one wanted to be out in this. No-one except  PD Linely. 

Linely  was nearly invisible, an outline in this weather, given the grey colors of his clothing. The cold was mostly avoided thanks to the protection of three layers:  Trench-coat,  armor jacket and suit. Mostly. Linely couldn't help but shiver in the cold. He knew what his orders were though, and he would make sure he followed them. Meet with the X-Mutant that they had assigned him, find the "M" dealer who was apparently working for a criminal mutant group, put an end to the madness. At least temporarily. 

He leaned against one of the trees, wondering whether he was early , or late-or maybe it was the fault of the X-Men's agents. They could be unreliable at times, but they were in general good people. Though their powers were normally pretty scary. He checked his watch: 9pm. The X-Man was now late. He wondered who it would be. The MRC had told them that it would be a serious operation, so Linely hoped they were experienced.

The cold was getting through even his goat-skin lined leather gloves, "whoever it is better arrive soon" he mumbled to himself, not only did he need to properly brief them, but the dealer would likely have sold his remaining stash if they didn't get to him quickly. The latest shipment had been disrupted thanks to Linely and one of the X-Men, and it hadn't been very pretty or subtle...

Linely sighed , and water vapour emitted from his breath, he had little doubt that should it have rained there would have been sleet falling down. Fortunately he was saved that indignity of appearing wet and disheveled in front of an X-Man. Thank God. He started slowly tapping his foot, if only to keep moving in order to stay as warm as he could, and also out of impatience. 

It wasn't like Sara was not thrilled about working with a policeman.... OK it was toldally that Sara wasn't thrilled about working with a policeman, but who could really blame her? She had a bad history with men and woman in uniforms and for her, the mental scars were still present. Still orders were orders and even if Sara was taking her dear sweet time, Though in her book it wasn't too much time, she was still following directions. (Other might disagree)

She had arrived on the scene with the fog thick in the air. So she didn't use her eyes as much as she used her nose as her bare clawed feet scuffed the pavement. Her natural fur protected her from the chill in air so she hadn't bother with sleeves. Though if weather decided to rain, she might end up regretting that choice. Instead she had a black tank top on. Worn under a soft leather vest. A thick leather bracer wrapped around her right forearm hiding an old scar and cargo pants covered her bottom half. A hole in the back side had been carefully tailored into the pants to allow a comfortable place for her tail.

Nostrils flaring now and then, she'd only caught the smell of one person that had braved the cold located where she was supposed to meet the policeman. Her right ear twitching slightly at the sound of him tapping his foot. "Detective Linely?" Sara asked as she closed the gap between them. The fog diluting with each step till he came into focus.

Sara was slightly surprised not to see a uniform. It's a start. She thought to herself.

>>"Detective Linely?"

Linely saw a woman come into focus, so this wasn't going to be the X-Man he had met before, in fairness, he needed more subtlety this time, rather than an individual that could freeze someone solid. Stealth and speed were what were needed here, and getting any details they could about Judgement Day's new appearance upon NYC was absolutely crucial.

His hopes for speed and stealth were answered well, the woman that approached him looked somewhat like a human-cat hybrid. He'd not been given the files of the X-Men, but the fact that she knew his name made it obvious that this was indeed the person he was supposed to meet. He couldn't help but smile in satisfaction.

"Yes I am Linely, I assume you're the X-Man they sent me to help with this? " He asked expectantly, he certainly hoped she was, the skills of someone with the speed of a cat would be very useful. Plus the somewhat rugged look she had to her lessened the chances of their cover being blown. He offered a hand in gentlemanly fashion.

"Just so you know, we're likely to come up against pretty heavy opposition if this goes pear-shaped. "M" Dealers aren't exactly known for being pleasant people to deal with at the best of times." It would be worse if he had any customers with them, most of them couldn't deal with their powers even at the smallest of doses.

The chances are the fog would conceal their approach, but they had to move quickly. "Thanks for doing this by the way, I know that you X-Men often have a lot of work on your hands, but trust me, if this dealer is working with the group we think he's working with, we'll need as much information as we can get."

Thank goodness she had found the right person on the first try. Had the weather been pleasant she probably would have had to pick him out of a crowd but with the two of them the only two willing to hand out on such a dreary evening she'd certainly have approached the wrong person. Feeling relief when she'd taken Linely's offered hand to return the hand shake and at the same time, careful to avoid catching him with any of her clawed digits. "For now... Call me Were." Sara said, briefly. She'd considered giving him her real name but he hadn't earned that yet.

She pulled her hand away with a smooth motion but the body language she displayed afterwards wasn't so confident as she sounded when she spoke. "Sam sent me though he didn't share all of the details...." Sara crossed her arms. She might not of been listening once the phrase police was dropped. She might of been imagining other items of his that she could break. He knew that she wasn't that found of the police.

"Just so you know, we're likely to come up against pretty heavy opposition if this goes pear-shaped. "M" Dealers aren't exactly known for being pleasant people to deal with at the best of times."

She ended up shifting her weight so that her hips were slanted slightly. "I know of few of those types of people...." Sara mused. And she had the metal still in her gut and chest to prove it. "I'll follow your lead...." for now. her tail twitched behind her heals expectantly. "You got a plan for getting this information?"

"Were it is then." He smiled again, she seemed a little distrusting, but he could work with that. Many X-Men had difficulties with authority before they had joined the academy. It didn't help that many policemen had been pretty keen on beating up mutants just for being different. Add to that the bird hunter infiltration and purges , many mutants would need time getting used to trusting the police. Of course, he didn't know the specifics of Were's distrust, maybe she just didn't like the look of him.

"We're going in as a pair of potential suppliers." He took out a small pack with a white powder inside. "It's the real stuff, these guys are professionals, so we have to seem as legit as possible. We're basically going to ask a few questions about who they're working for, so we can be assured of complete discretion." This was how Judgement Day financed their operations.

"After we get as much information as we can, we take the man off the streets. I really don't want to leave without arresting him. If he's working for Judgement Day, we're all going to have to be prepared for the worst." And then some, from the little he knew about them from browsing online forums and the proxies they used, they seemed to be a bunch of psychos. Brutal murders and "M" dealing were the tip of the iceburg, he was sure of that.

"We are allowed to use lethal force if things turn violent, we should consider exposure as a clear and present threat to our lives. Anyway, we best meet this dealer, "M" users will come out in all weathers, even on days like this." He walked in the direction that Were had greeted him from. He hoped she was as capable as most X-Men were.

Linely started his explanation of what they were doing and he produced a package of the said 'M' that they would be dealing with. Whether he intended to hand it to Sara or not, she reached for it intending to pluck it from his grasp. If allowed to she intended to open the stuff up and smell the air around the package, shielding the contents from the weather. She'd never smelled the stuff up close before and if she was going to be of any help to the police she wished to add the smell to the millions of other smells she remembered in her mind.

"So in other words, don't blow cover, keep someone who's secretive talking, stay alive, and manage not to catch a cold while out in fantastic weather like this. Simple enough." Sara said between taking in the different scents. The words made her sound cocky but at the same time, her tone of voice was serious. Killing was a nasty business and Sara had only ever gone that far twice in her life. She was in no hurry to repeat the experience.

She now wasn't just taking in the smell of the 'M' but also Linely, and she was starting to take in the different surroundings. It seemed that part of the path that they were going to take back was where she had already been and with every step, she found her amber colored eyes were starting to wonder and search past the haze of the fog for where Linely was leading them and whomever they were about to meet.

Linely let her take the bag and get the scent, it was sensible to do so, always good to be able to identify a "M" user from an ordinary mutant. They tended to be more erratic normally, but you always had to be on the look out for such things besides. She was perfect for this job, absolutely perfect.

She sniffed and spoke to him in a serious tone, sure she had every right to be confident with this mission, as any X Man would be, but Linely did have some concern that this confidence may be a sign of lack of experience? He hoped Sam had sent him someone that knew how to work with a team, otherwise this could go pair shaped pretty quickly.

"Glad you've understood the briefing" He spoke clearly, professionally. "I promise that I will do all I can to get us both back in one piece." That was an issue with these guys, their murders would have almost been called a twisted art if they weren't so grizzly. Their victims died slowly, he was sure of that.

They began walking, and it wasn't long before they reached some iron railings, where two men were talking. One seemed frantic, the other as calm as the moonlit sky. They appeared to exchange something between the two of them, and the frantic man ran off... too quickly.

"Hello? Are you Paul?" Linely was almost able to talk to the man but opted for a somewhat reserved call.
"Yeah, I'm afraid if you want the stuff, I'm running low , fucking MRC busted my mule." He spoke with a rough voice, mangled by long-standing use of tobacco. He looked at Were, and seemed to smile somewhat. Linely wasn't sure if it was relief or not.

"So it's not "M" you're after I take it?" He spoke almost methodically, pleased that he may be able to sell more mainstream drugs for once. "I must say, your friend here is a pretty sight on a day like today." He leered at Were...with a stare that Linely found uncomfortable.

"My assistant Catherine, I picked her for more than just her good looks, I can assure you." Linely deliberately overemphasized his formal, British accent when speaking to him, if he was going to act the part, he might as well flaunt what he had. "She will explain the details, but it appears you have a shortage, and we have an... oversupply."

Sara carefully resealed the little package before handing it back to Linely. Satisfied after a few minutes that the scent was in her memory banks. She puffed through her nose a little kind of like a sneeze but intentional. It wasn't the most lady like thing to do but she didn't care about things like that when it came to her own comfort. "Godawful stuff." She mumbled more to herself than to Linely.

"Glad you've understood the briefing. I promise that I will do all I can to get us both back in one piece."

Sara's lips pressed together on that though. shifting her jaw ever so slightly. She liked to think that it took a lot to rattle her but there was also something to be said for recognizing when a situation was bat @$$ crazy. That thought mixed with the fact that Sara had never had a formal positive interaction with professional authority figures other than running into burning buildings and she wasn't sure exactly how he expected her to react. One telling her that he was going to look out for her.... It made the more childish side her of wish to run away. As much as her childish side screamed distrust, Sara trusted Sam. His judgement to have called her, kept her in place and kept her agreeable. "Dido."

As they walked through the fog Sara found herself aware of the other figures whom had ventured out this evening. The smell of cigarettes. The dealer. The other who was obviously a client took his product and left. Already smelling as though he didn't only use 'M' but abused other products that Sara caught a whiff of as they had blended with the oils in his skin. They could track him later. She thought to herself as her eyes followed him till he disappeared through the filter of the fog.

"I must say, your friend here is a pretty sight on a day like today."

There were three ways that people responded to Sara's looks when she first met them. Most were surprised. Others were indifferent treating her like anyone else. The third group reacted exactly this way. Sometimes looking for something more because she was part cat... She could use that.

She picked up where Linely had left off. Taking only a second to collect her thought as she bought herself time by pulling some spare strands of longer hair out of her face and guiding them down where she wished for them to stay with her finger tips. Her steps with her feline feet became slightly more fluid as she started to talk. "Our problem is that our distributor got our order mixed up. We thought that he had simply raised his costs till we got the shipment." Sara stopped at a respectable eight feet away from the dealer. Close enough that no one would have to raise their voice but a respectable distance away to show her intent was no harm either. She'd prefer that he closed the gap the rest of the way to her. Then she'd start looking for a decent time to pick his pocket where she could just barely make out the edge of a piece of paper sticking out.

"We all know that time is money. We'd rather not be sitting on this amount of product and wait for it to financial investment when it could do somebody some good out there." Sara's chin and head tilted in the other man's direction as she finished her side of the conversation. Her amber eyes meeting his and she let the corner of her feline mouth turn into a smirk.

Gosh, the X-Men deserved their reputation for being good, and Were was no different, she had noticed the man had an obvious attraction to her. He had to admit, his comments about "Catherine" were not untrue in terms of her looks. She had a feline grace to her, even though Linely wasn't particularly interested in that kind of thing, at least not with anyone but...it wasn't important.

He was going to look forward to arresting this creep when they had gotten the information he needed out of him. The X-Men and Police force needed to be prepared as possible,  so he'd probably be safer in prison once they were finished with him.

Paul came somewhat closer to Were, not invading her personal space...yet. "I like a woman who knows what she wants." he spoke in a tone that Linely assumed he thought was flirting. Linely rolled his eyes slightly, as if this was pretty common with "Catherine".

"We will have to have a higher price of course, given that supply of the drug is... limited. Simple capitalism you understand" Linely saw Paul's face barely acknowledge that, he was too busy staring at Were to give a damn what he was saying.This was going better than expected.

"Catherine will have a few questions about the person we're supplying, we need to make sure that we're not going to be traced. I'm sure you'll .... answer her questions." Linely hoped the X Man wasn't afraid of getting a little up close and personal with Paul, not too far of course, but honey traps were used by secret services for a reason.

Sara's eyes flicked back to Linely as he tried to talk to Paul but it seemed that she had Pauly boys complete attention. "If course we're not just giving our product away." Sara brought agreed with Linely though the way she formed the statement Sara sort of left that up to interpretation. The more distracted Paul was the more likely he was to make a mistake and either give them some little bit of information or allow Sara to pick his pockets witch, as he closed the gap between them, was also becoming an interesting possibility. This was going to be a real test of her patients. How long would it be that she could keep from knocking Paul out?

"So...." Sara trailed off as if she was in some sort of thought when in reality she had to tell her hand and her shoulders to relax. "Would it be you that we would be dealing with for such a transaction? Are you the boss of this little operation?" She shifted her weight to her other hip that gave her a couple of more inches distance from Paul without making her feet move. One hand brought up to her chin. Did Paul know he needed mouthwash still? "Or is there a third party whom we would need to deal with? Thomas and I like to keep the steps between us and our next payday short and sweet. You know. Kiss. Keep it simple stupid."

Come on. Just a few more steps. Sara thought to herself. If he moved just a little closer she could not only have a chance to take that little piece of paper out of his pocket, but also she could maneuver herself so that she was upwind of his breath.

Paul was now invading poor Were's personal space , "Catherine" was doing exceptionally well. Paul smiled at the suggestion he might be the boss "Well the people that supply me, they give me a lot of autonomy, I just have to make sure that some of their profits filter back to them." He then exhaled , giving Catherine a nose full of what his breath smelt like. Linely guessed it smelled awful.

"They're very secretive you see, and they only trust people with information they need to know." Bloody Judgement Day and their proxies! He might have next to no information whatsoever! Linely felt exasperated at this, but hopefully there was something. If this proxy gave them anything to prepare for , it would be a job well done. Even if they just wound up arresting him and taking some trash with a fetish for felines off the street.

"I might be able to give... more information to a pretty little thing like you. " Paul shot Linely a somewhat resentful look. "But it would come at a little... price." He then tried to touch Were's arm, gently stroking her fur, almost as if wanting to hold each moment in suspension with time,  then attempting to get lower than just the arm. Something told Linely that it wasn't going to be all he wanted if this continued.

Ok. They were obviously starting to play a new came. How long would it take for Sara to knock this sicko's block off. Any bets? Any? Seriously now was the time to start placing bets because Sara could feel the hand on the arm facing away from Paul flex into a fist again. She hit the arm behind her back in clear view of Linely. Flexing again particularly when Paul exhaled in her direction just when she took a step up wind of him. Making her right ear twitched.

"I might be able to give... more information to a pretty little thing like you. But it would come at a little... price."

Paul had her by the arm petting her hair and to be honest there wasn't much more that Sara could take as he actually rubbed some of it the wrong way. She chuckled but it wasn't a pretty chuckle and once again it could be read completely the wrong way by one who wished for fantasies anyways.

Sara then felt his hand try to go lower and a couple of things happened at once. Sara's body dipped down dodging Paul's hand. For a moment she stood shoulder to shoulder with Paul and her own positioning wasn't by accident as the hand that was behind her back opened and the claws on the index and middle digits flexed. The tips of those two claws dipped into Paul's pocket and pinched around the little piece of paper that stuck out, effectively picking his pocket in the same motion she used to step out of his reach. Her hand with the picked piece of paper stuck it half way in her own back pocket. Clear for Linely to see as she backpedaled two steps. Straightened herself so that she was standing tall again with her hands upturned into a shrug pose. It had been a long time since she had picked anyone's pocket, but she hadn't lost her touch.

"I think that you over estimate my value of such secrets..." Sara's steps took her smoothly back just in front of Linely. With some distance between herself and Paul again, she managed to regain her composure and with her hands still held up in a shrug like pose her head tiled. "I doubt that the information is really that Juicy anyways."

Linely watched as Paul took in the scent of Were, as she dipped so she was shoulder to shoulder to him. The dealer gave a heavy sigh as he sniffed her, as if wanting to take in every second of this moment. He didn't even notice that "Catherine" was perhaps not interested in him, but rather what was in his pockets (if Linely's guesses were correct about allowing such a man to touch her without getting a scratch on the face).

>> "I think you overestimate my value of such secrets"

Paul was still in an almost fugue like state, as if oblivious to the words. He then snapped out of it pretty fast.  " Suit yourself" He spoke bitterly, as if he felt he was owed more than he was given. "So, how much do you want for the "M" then?" There was clear disappointment in his voice, but Linely knew his type enough that he would try again.

"I think we want...twice the normal market value that you would normally buy it for" Linely said this in a cold and considered tone. "I'm sure Catherine would agree that this is an exceedingly reasonable price." He could see Paul's eyes widen, but seemingly accept the proposition.

Linely then walked gently so he was facing Were. He gave her the package of "M", he whispered to her under his breath. "Something tells me he isn't going to give up that easy. But perhaps you can use that to your advantage?" He then turned to face Paul again. "Give Catherine the money, she'll give you the goods, and we'll be on our way."

As Linely picked up where she had left off, Sara crossed her arms. Somewhat enjoying the fact that Paul looked so cross. He really should be considering himself lucky so far. He wasn't forced to eat through a straw yet.

Linely stepped between Sara and Paul and Sara took the moment to shove the piece of paper further into her back packet while her hand could easily be concealed. She took the little baggy of M lightly in her right hand weighing it loosely between her fingers. "You know I'm going to need a shower after this..." Sara mumbled just loud enough that Linely could hear her. Shower.... Herbal tea... Sara was starting a list in her head for what she wanted to do when this was all over. Maybe work out some mental anguish in the danger room....

Linely stepped out of her way and she wiped the scowl off of her face making her eyes relax and the corners of her mouth curved into the slightest of smiles. Still shifting the small bag containing a large amount of M between her finger tips she re approached Paul. "I'd watch yourself with this amount of product." In her right hand she held the 'M' close enough that she could get a decent sniff of it even at her shoulder's height. Her left hand stretched out expectantly waiting for payment.

>> "You know I'm going to need a shower after this"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want him touching me anywhere either, I feel uncomfortable just looking at it." Linely quipped, before stepping out of the way and watching Were give a smile and approach Paul once more, he hoped the man was sensible... though he also kinda hoped that he wasn't. He'd be able to arrest him soon, regardless of what happened next.

>> "I'd watch yourself with this amount of product"

Paul approached Were extremely quickly, using a fast walk without actually running, Linely could only guess that the man needed enough "M" to supply the number of addicts he had to deal with. "Don't worry, I will" he then grinned, revealing the truth about what was said in terms of "M" dealers and their lack of proper regard for dental hygiene.

Paul took something out of his pocket. He made a mock attempt to give whatever it was to Were, then proceeded in a sudden burst of speed to attempt to hold the knife at Were's throat, whilst darting behind her, grabbing her around her waist with his free hand, and then speaking in a manner that clearly proved his intentions.

"I tell you how it's going to go Kitty Cat Catherine, your associate is going to leave us here, you're going to drop that bag of "M" and you're going to give me what I want..." Linely realising that his power may be needed, began to reach out to Paul's nervous system. It wasn't really surprising, but he could guess that Were had been in similar situations before.