Her and Combatant were on a mission. Together. Alone. This was awesome and exciting and probably explosive because they might have not been on a actual mission, so to speak. More a de-stressing session Cait had planned for her over worked and far too grumpy friend and what better way that to enjoy some drinks, dancing and goo times at a bar where they were not as likely to be hit on. By guys. Mostly.

Thank god the boss hadn't taken much convincing to lie to Agnes if she suspected any shenanigans from the Scot and they had come out here under the guise of finding a drug ring hiding out in a nice establishment, so no combat clothes, no knives and no ninja stuff Combatant had stashed on her at most times. No, this time they were just dressed up nicely (well she was) and ready to do some 'undercover' investigating, with the little white lie that Raine was way to busy with other stuff to be her back up. Dressing up for places like this was always so freeing, this time she'd managed to find a really nice pair of black leggings, hot-pants and a very nice fitting t-shirt, now if she could just get past her whole dress issues she would be stunning.

Maybe the best way to thank Raine and Becca would be some good old fashioned retail therapy. Lord knows they could all use the break after that mission. Ooo, they could get Astrid into some really cute clothes! Wait, stop, focus girl. One ill fated trip at a time, for now she needed to try and rein in Combatant when she found out the truth.

"Almost there, it's just around this corner," pointing forwards for the both of them, she was really hoping the ruse wouldn't blow up in her face because seriously that girl needed to loosen up. In more ways than one.

Rounding the corner and seeing only a small queue and smiling at the sign, she was glad she'd picked this place. The Blue French Horn was kind of her favourite club now and after meeting Alice here she'd been around a few times and had more than her share of fun. Not many creeps or problems people here, they kept a pretty tight ship when i came to making customers feel safe and comfortable. Maybe dropping the news of the real reason they were there would result in less, people crushing inside the place.

No, leave it until they were inside and the testy woman had a drink in her hand.

"Come on, the guy on the door will let us both in, he's a friend and owes me a favour." In fact a lot of people around the city owed her a favour, one way or another. She was very good at the whole networking thing after all, "And please, try not to kill anyone until I get a drink, kind of hard to get served when the police are on their way."

There was something off about this. Agnes really wished that she were able to put her finger on what it was, but something just felt…strange. A lot had happened recently and the best use of her time should be patrolling the streets and laying the hurt down on whichever ne’er-do-wells she came across. But it seemed as if the boss had other plans in mind. There was news of a drug ring that was operating out of a legitimate business. It seemed very possible, but Agnes had been shaking down drug dealers left and right for the majority of the week – why hadn’t see caught wind of this?

Oh well, as much as she wanted to give it a hard, scrutinizing eye, she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. Sometimes a tip was just a tip and she figured that she may as well roll with it if it mean bringing down some scum bags. However, there was one slight hiccup to this that she was all-together not looking forward to…

>>"Almost there, it's just around this corner,"

Cait. Ugh. Of all the people to get stuck with on a mission. To be fairly honest, the two of them didn’t work many missions together. Not because Cait wasn’t a capable fighter, but they just didn’t run in a lot of missions. The majority of the time, Cait and Raine were the duo who were plopped together, while Agnes tended to run missions on her own, or begrudgingly, with Impact. Them being foisted together was, all-together somewhat suspicious.

But, if they were dealing with a drug ring, she guessed that she could use some back-up. She was steadily learning her lesson that she needed to place nice with others if she planned on surviving through some of her more dangerous encounters. Still…how dangerous could these guys be if she were being sent out with Cait?

Begrudgingly, Agnes agreed to the mission. Upon preparing for the mission, she initially was getting ready to don her stealth gear and was just beginning to gather her shurikens and a baton, but was stopped by Cait. This was supposed to be a somewhat fancier spot they were going to and weapons weren’t going to be necessary. That…made absolutely no sense. It took patience but two eventually arrived at a compromise – Agnes would ditch her usual stealth gear and her bevy of weapons for something more appropriate, and in return she would get to taken a pair of throwing knives, secretly hidden, of course.

Making it around the corner, the two ladies appeared. Cait had dressed up more like she was going to a club than taking down a drug ring. Agnes guessed that was the look they were achieving? Still, while Cait, surprisingly, looked good in her finery, Agnes couldn’t have felt more stupid.

First of all, she wasn’t wearing a dress, rather she had stepped out in clothing she had used before for undercover work. The billowing black pants hugged her hips but flared out further down her legs. Her top couldn’t have been more than eye-catching, consisting of black strips of fabric that crossed over her chest in an X pattern, lined with neon shades of blue and red. Her belly button was exposed by this top, showing her smooth, white skin and the defined abs of someone who worked out.

Shoes clicking on the pavement, Agnes cast her blue eyes down, holding tight to her clutch and trying to ignore the jingling of the hoops in her ears. She couldn’t have felt more ridiculous.

>>"Come on, the guy on the door will let us both in, he's a friend and owes me a favour…And please, try not to kill anyone until I get a drink, kind of hard to get served when the police are on their way."

Agnes rolled her eyes as she followed next to Cait, eyeing the small line of people they were passing. ”Whatever…” she grumbled. She then sighed remorsefully. “Ridiculous…” she said in a firm whisper so only Cait could hear. ”…I look like a butterfly.”

It was kind of weird seeing Agnes in normal clothes. Like really weird. And awesome. She was really cute when she wanted to be and frankly it just seemed a little unfair. Some people had to put in work to look good and then some could just change outfits and boom, an adorable and approachable girl was there. Still, this was not a normal opportunity and she was taking every effort to memorise this look because lets be honest Cait was not going to get her to do this again. Ever. Because she might get killed by the grump for the deception. A little.

Thank god though, that the weapons her friend had stashed, somewhere, were small and unassuming. Seriously who took a baton to a gay club!? Wait no, scratch that, there were probably a few clubs that encouraged those kinds of.....props. This wasn't one of those places but, well now that the thought was in her head she was kind of curious what they'd be like.

Maybe she could visit one someday, just out of purely scientific curiosity.

Biting back a more sarcastic comment, "Yeah, a butterfly that could tear anyone one of these people sods apart with it's bare hands. Don't worry, you look fine. Trust me you'll probably be one of the more normally dressed people in there." Should she have mentioned it was a pretty popular bar for guys into crossdressing? Because maybe that would be worth telling before anything happened

"OK, just as a heads up there will probably be a few people in drag here, a lot of gay bars tend to have some and this one they are treated fairly respectfully at. Just you know, try not to make a thing out of it." Not that she thought the woman would have any problems with it, but when Cait had first gone to a bar like this she had been more than a little shocked.

Oh god please say Pat wasn't here. He would be way to familiar with one of her friends and as much as she loved the dear man, he was an awful influence. Seriously, he needed to stop introducing random girls to her to see her flail. It was very annoying.

"Lets get a couple of drinks first, we'll seem more natural and approachable. Blend in better as well." And less likely to murder a certain Scotswoman with some sweet booze in her. Oh god wait, what if it was just an improvised weapon.... Lying to the most volatile member of the team was seeming like a dumber and dumber idea right now.

Screw it, this was stressful and a drink was very much in need, consequences be damned, "What's your poison? My treat." That had to help, right?

For herself, she was getting something fruity, sweet and with enough shots in to stun a horse. Usually took a couple of them to even give her a buzz, so that was fun. Made for expensive nights out but hell, made it hilarious watching friends get way drunker and acting like adorable like drunk babies. Or when some poor guy thought they could out drink her and tried it on. They never had a chance the precious dears, they just couldn't beat the advantage she had. A culture of alcohol drinking did have some benefits.

Agnes rolled her eyes when Cait tried to make her feel better by saying that she was a kick ass butterfly. She understood the woman was merely trying to make her feel better and, while it did earn the smallest flick of a smile on her lips, that was all it would earn. She didn’t need to comment on it because talking about it would only continue to make her feel stupid. She really didn’t care for her outfit, but she understood it was an appropriate type of club wear. If they were going to be at a club, they needed to dress the part.

Walking alongside the redhead, Agnes held her breath as she tightened her grip on her clutch. She tried to plaster on a smile upon her painted lips, but it was half-hearted and forced, at best. Unfortunately Agnes suffered from a severe case of “resting-b*tch-face” but that was just because she was normally in a bad mood. Sadly, even that didn’t deter the woman from actually looking quite pretty. Though she wasn’t normally one for make-up and doing her hair, she did possess the skill to achieve such looks, especially when she needed to be undercover. As this was the mission, she was “dolled up” as best as she could manage.

As they moved in through the front doors, Agnes listened in as Cait gave her details. Maybe not mission specific, but it was just a warning as to the type of clientele that she was going to be meeting here. It was a gay bat so she should expect to see some men in drag. That didn’t bother Agnes in the least, but she had to wonder why Cait would bring up the point. With a hand rested upon her hip, Agnes dipped her head down as she scrutinized the redhead.

”Okay? I don’t have a problem with that. But…wait…” she said, her foot tapping impatiently as eyed her comrade. ”…are you telling me because you think I look like a guy?”

So now she was mildly offended. She didn’t think she looked anything like a guy in drag. As a matter of fact, she thought (by her standards) that she was passably pretty. She supposed it didn’t matter since they were here to bust up a drug ring, but still, feelings hurt.

As they moved on towards the bar, Agnes winced at the loud music that seemed to be pulsating from every direction. As her blue eyes swept over the scene, she found several men, laughing, dancing, sharing intimate touches and kisses. She didn’t really pay any of them any heed as her focus was primarily set to looking for targets and suspicious individuals. Except for one man who was drinking heavily at the bar, sobbing as he flipped through photos on his phone, there was nothing of note.

Odd.

>>Lets get a couple of drinks first, we'll seem more natural and approachable. Blend in better as well."

Her eyes narrowed on Cait. She followed her to bar, shaking her head as she did so. Normally she didn’t drink while she was working (she needed her senses sharp) but she was going to have to make the exception today. This place was just grating and she needed something to take the edge off. So she relented as followed her teammate.

>> "What's your poison? My treat."

She sighed. She didn’t need something overly extravagant, or as colorful as some of the drinks she was seeing, so she kept it simple. ”Just a beer. Bottle of Otter’s Crest.” She turned her back to the bar, leaned against it, crossing one leg over the other as she looked over the scene. She waited until the bartender wasn’t close enough to eavesdrop before she leaned towards Cait and whispered. ”So what are we looking out for? What did your lead say about this place?”

"What!? God no Agnes that's not what I'm saying. Jesus. If either of us is going to be mistaken for a guy it'll be me." Did she really think that little of Cait that she thought she might be making fun of her about something like that. Considering the two of their outfits and general, builds, the Scot was the more boyish one. "I mentioned it because when you send a night flirting with a pretty girl, take her home and find a little 'surprise' it's a mild shock." It's not like she was upset, just a little bit unexpected. What had been a pretty guy and the poor guy thought she knew. Still stayed the night though, no way she as letting someone that cute get away.

It did hurt a little that someone she did count as family could think she was that harsh and b----y. Christ did the woman not dislike her for being way to sunshine and glitter anyways, now she even thought she was cruel.

"Beer it is, but I'll be honest it doesn't go with the look." Women who looked like Agnes did right now were pretty and flirty party girls, downing cocktails as quick as water. It'd be annoying to see her pulling off the look so well if she wasn't tickled pink by the idea of it. That fact alone she was sure would sink her great plan to force fun upon the perpetual frown that was Combatant.

Ordering the beer and a house special daiquiri for herself maybe some good old fashioned booze would cut the bad mood. In fact, now that she thought about, had she ever drank with her companion? Like ever?

"He didn't give me much," starting with a whisper, not that it was needed with the music, "all he could really get me was this place and the fact that whoever was passing it out was trying to hook young women on it. Flirts with them, plays nice then try's to give them something for a fun time." All totally lies but musicans could tell them like the best. How else did you pump up a crowd with a three day hangover pounding through your skull?

Now for the kicker, maybe the woman would walk out, maybe Cait would see a new side of her, "So we need to get cosy with people, flirt, play nice and generally look like your enjoying yourself. Don't worry about being randomly touched, here they always ask first, if you want to dance etc." There was a reason so many straight women came here, although that was more than a little depressing for the poor girls looking for some partners in a gay club only to be hitting on someone who wasn't into your gender. "I know you might be p---ed that you're on this job with me but frankly Agnes, this is my area of expertise."

"You might beat me black and blue any day of the week and still have time for dinner, but you suck at social stuff. Consider this tutoring." Good, treat it as a challenge and it might just keep her interested. Maybe.

Taking a nice long look of the room and spotting a regular she knew to be very nice and understanding and pointing her out, "Start with that lass. She's probably not involved in the ring but if people see you with her flirting a little and having a nice conversation they'll be less on guard. Unless you think you're not up to it?" Hang on, what was Agnes preference regarding partners. Had she even had any? "Unless you think you'd prefer talking to a guy, most of them here are pretty harmless to us girls." Couldn't hurt to dig for info.

As long as no-one actually had drugs on them here they would be fine. Most clubs were really harsh with anyone with it even on them, never mind pushing it, so the chances were low anyone would actually offer either of them a party favour.

Cait had gotten notably agitated at the idea that Agnes was admonishing her for thinking she looked like a guy. With a roll of her eyes, she held up her hands in a defensive positioning, muttering over and over, under her breath her apologies and that she was sorry. The last thing she needed was for Cait to get pissy at her when they were supposed to be on a mission. As much as she didn’t care for the woman’s upbeat personality, she was useful in the battlefield and she needed to stay on her good side to ensure that she stayed there.

That bit of misfortune out of the way, Agnes tried to loosen up a little bit. Deep down she knew that Cait would never insult her like that, but being in this new scenario, surrounded by so many people, so much skin exposed, she felt just the smallest bit vulnerable. That was a feeling that Agnes didn’t care to ever feel and the fact that she was feeling that, here, with one of the most huggy X-Men ever, made her just the tiniest bit uncomfortable.

Her drink ordered, and one again admonished for not being lady like, Agnes turned to survey the crowd. She didn’t comment on Cait’s words about her order “not going with the look”. If she was going to drink alcohol, she was going to drink what she wanted to drink. Besides, they were supposed to be undercover, not completely taking over the lives of these vapid party girls, right?

Cait then tried to fill Agnes in on what her contact had said about this place. She nodded her head, listening intently to the small details that she had. Someone was getting pretty and young women hooked on stuff when they weren’t look. Clearly that was not a state that Agnes liked to hear. She broken jaws for lesser deeds and these guys were well on the way to eating permanently through a straw.

She’d make sure it would have to be a tiny one.

>>"So we need to get cosy with people, flirt, play nice and generally look like your enjoying yourself. Don't worry about being randomly touched, here they always ask first, if you want to dance etc."

She blinked out of her carnage filled thoughts and zeroed back in on Cait. She turned to her, narrowing her eyes. ”Wait, what?” she asked. The idea of flirting and “getting cosy” was certainly not one that she had considered when needing to play undercover. ”You didn’t say anything about having to interact.”

Agnes was visibly growing more irritated by this whole endeavor. She had expected this to be more of a stake out, of hanging back in the shadows, than to actually have to be this deep into the mix of things. She gave Cait a sour look, one which was immediately met with a response…

>>"I know you might be p---ed that you're on this job with me but frankly Agnes, this is my area of expertise. You might beat me black and blue any day of the week and still have time for dinner, but you suck at social stuff. Consider this tutoring."

She opened her mouth to defend herself but, really, what defense did she have. It was true, deep down she knew that. She could blend in with a crowd, she could vanish from a scene, and she could beat the ever-loving hell out of anyone who crossed her path. But when it came to having to be social, well, she blamed her years of being on the run for lone wolf tendencies. What was obnoxious as the fact that Cait was 100% right. If anyone could lead this mission, it was her.

Ugh. That made her stomach turn a little.

>>"Start with that lass. She's probably not involved in the ring but if people see you with her flirting a little and having a nice conversation they'll be less on guard. Unless you think you're not up to it?"

Agnes eyes drifted to the woman who was standing off on her own, nibbling on her bottom lip as she looked out over the dance floor. She was pretty and it was a shame that she seemed to be by herself. Still, she wasn’t the type of woman (or anyone) whom Agnes would approach – that is until the gauntlet was thrown down. Cait sat there and so clearly goaded the warrior on to make a *** of herself for the sake of staying undercover.

She fumed a little, her lips set into a thin and unamused line. Crystalline eyes shifted between Cait and the lone woman in a corner. She shook her head.

>> "Unless you think you'd prefer talking to a guy, most of them here are pretty harmless to us girls."

Her head hanging low, Agnes pushed herself off the counter, took a long sip of her beer and sighed. She turned, facing Cait. ”You’re contact better be right about this place, ‘Tutor Cait’, or Hell itself is going to lock its doors to keep me out.”

The warning was given, but the challenge was accepted. She’d show the redhead she wasn’t completely inept. Resting her hand upon her hip, she tried to think back to other, similar times, when she needed to be undercover. It was hard picking out any one but, when one did finally click in her head, she did her best to recall. There were a few shaky steps but, with her beer in hand, Agnes did her best to slip into a more comfortable persona. She moved over to the woman, her gaze averted, trying to not appear too interested in her. It was all part of the act.

When she had found herself next to the young, Asian woman with the jet black hair, Agnes took another comforting sip of her beer, bobbed along to whatever pulsating music that the other woman was dancing to. When they caught one another’s eyes, the other woman blushed and turned away – surprisingly, Agnes did to. She gulped as she gestured to the area around her, her smile looking shy and yet genuine.

”Love this song…” she chuckled.

“Yeah? Um…me too…” the other said. She looked down, chewing her lip again as she took a sip from her glass of layered orange-colored liquid. “It’s…nice to meet you…”

”Winnifred…” she said with a small shrug. ”Most just call me Winnie.”

The other smiled more sweetly and innocently, nodding her head. “O-Okay…Winnie.” She stuck out her hand with jingling bracelets. “My names Jasmine. Jasmine Honey Blossom…”

Most of Agnes' responses just made her grin broaden. For once she was getting the better of the woman and boy did the grump know it. It was a really weird feeling and chances are, it wasn't going to last much longer after her friend discovered the ruse. Maybe she wasn't going to break everything in sight when that happened, Cait liked this bar. Getting barred for what would, admittedly, be her fault was not a prospect she was looking forward to. How else was she going to meet cute girls in a safe, no groping bar?

Rolling her eyes, what did Agnes think they would have to do in a nice bar like this, kick peoples teeth in until they had answers? There was good reason they were dressed up like any other person here, albeit not truthful ones. The people at the base were running themselves ragged, burning themselves out way too quickly and as much as Combatant might hate her after this, Cait didn't care. Sometimes there were more important things than being liked and if this burned any chance of her getting that sweet hug from her biggest target, so be it. If being an nuisance, an annoyance got someone to de-stress that was fine by her.

God did she want that hug though.

"I'm sure it will, now go, flirt and be free! Just don't scare the poor girl." That was usually a bad idea when you were trying to chat someone up. Right next to insulting them. Still, the Scot was very curious to see how the woman would go about this and frankly, how receptive the regular would be. From personal experience she knew the woman was nice and sweet, perfect for some light flirting and talking.

Watching how Agnes' stance and movement changed, she had to give it to her, the woman could play a part. She was pretty convincing, if a little stiff and got nice and close without being noticed as being interested. Hmm, her stealth skills certainly came in handy here, looking inconspicuous while she got into positions, blending in and seeming completely at ease in the environment. Clearly the woman wasn't to be taken lightly and only because Cait knew her could she pick out little hints that she wasn't entirely pleased with the situation. It took more than a little self control to not snap some pictures to show others later but if the lies didn't get her killed, sharing pictures from tonight certainly would.

And then there was the moment of truth, the shy glances, the words she couldn't hear and.....it worked!? She actually flirted! This, this was huge. The grin on her face must have looked positively cat like at the sight in front of her. The stone-cold grump herself was acting like a shy and innocent party girl, successfully apparently. How the hell? Since when could she be human?

"You have got to be kidding me!" shouting a little louder than she expected and getting more than one glance, she quickly ducked her head and took a few gulps of her cocktail, before resettling her eyes on the scene. Oh dear, an offered hand, how was she going to navigate that one? This was going to be sooo good.

Well, until the truth came out. Then it might be not so fun.

There was one time, in Milan, where Agnes had to pose as some starstruck college student on Spring Break because she had gotten wind that S.U.P.E.R. was on her trail. It was about a year after her Uncle Blood had died and she was still getting used to being on her own. She had relied a lot on her uncle, but the man had been brilliant and had imparted as much of his skill to her as he could before he passed. Once she found herself on her own, despite being grief stricken, Agnes was surprised by how easily she managed to slip into these persona-gloves.

One such glove was that of Winnifred Wickham, shy college student and sometimes partier who managed to fumble her way through meeting someone cute. It was an identity that had managed to save her life that day and, therefore, had earned it a spot in her rolodex of personas. It was this persona that she attempted to try out on the cute, quiet girl, Jasmine, whom was pointed out to her.

Lo and behold, it actually seemed to be working.

As the second’s passed, Agnes found herself more easily slipping into the identity, trying to think of it in that respect, as opposed to having to “be herself”. She was here on a mission, after all, and a mission required that she be undercover. It would have been better if she had some preparation for this, but so far she seemed to be doing well enough.

A soft smile and a nervous bite of her lower lip, and Agnes averted her gaze when Jasmine tried to catch her eye. She too seemed to be the shy and nervous type, but not enough to keep her from being a regular at a club like this. The warrior could respect that, that she was keeping persistent in her pursuit of love, affection, or whatever it was she was after when she came to this club so often.

The two continued to converse, making a rather cute duo to anyone who was watching. However, as Agnes attempted to further engage in conversation, she was thrown off when Jasmine offered her hand to shake. Agnes looked uncomfortable for a second, as if trying to decide how to avoid the handshake or make it a quick one. But she was suddenly shaken out of her thoughts by the suddenly loud voice of someone at the bar.

>> "You have got to be kidding me!"

Agnes turned to look, as did Jasmine, and the both of them stared at the redhead who seemed momentarily surprised that people were watching her. Agnes locked eyes with Cait, raising her eyebrows at her in a slightly annoyed manner. This, clearly, was not the best way to blend into the crowd, now was it. After ensuring that Cait wasn’t going to cause any more of a scene / blow their cover, she turned back to her new “friend” and gave her a sweet smile.

“Wow, she seemed upset.” Jasmine added.

A sigh and a nod followed Agnes’ reply. ”Yeeeeah. She’s just…a little excitable.”

Jasmine turned back, tilting her head to Agnes. She thought for a moment, paused, and then opened her mouth understand. “Ohhh…Um…I…I guess she’s your….?”

Agnes eyed Jasmine, waiting for her to finish her sentence and, when she did, managed to piece together what she was thinking. Agnes laughed and shook her head. ”OH! No, no, no…” Thoughts of her and Cait popped into her head. ”…no…” All the smiling…all the…hugging. ”…no…NO…” She might have oversold that a little. Instead she cleared her throat as she tried to cover. ”She’s just a friend. An embarrassing one.”

Agnes winced, expecting maybe that her new friend wouldn’t care to hear her speak of her friend in such a manner. Thankfully Jasmine just giggled at that, covering her mouth to keep from laughing too loud. A smirked curled Agnes’ lips; she was glad she didn’t mess up so quickly.

“Well…she sounds fun,” Jasmine said with a sweet smile. She then, took a second, glancing at the dance floor as she gestured towards it. “Um…w-would you like to dance?”

Her heart stopped for a second. Agnes was fine with slipping into her talking persona but, dancing, well, that ran the risk of touching and that was something that the warrior was still not okay with. However, thankfully the music stayed away from anything too slow as a new song flowed out through the speakers. Agnes sighed in relief as this was probably something she’d be more comfortable moving to. It would help her maintain her cover.

So she nodded. ”Y-Yeah. Sure…” She confirmed, without noticing the sigh of relief from Jasmine. Instead she took another drink of beer, downing the last of it, and setting it on a nearby table.

Taking a calming breath, Agnes slowly stepped out onto the dance floor with Jasmine who was already swaying her hips, obviously more comfortable with dancing than talking. Agnes smirked, following her movements and nodded her head as she started to follow her patterns, moving her hips and turning her body in tune. Maybe…this wasn’t so bad. Idly she lifted her gaze to see if Cait were still behaving. God she hoped she was otherwise they wouldn’t be able to stop this drug cartel.

Well, she'd nearly messed up the plan from the get go, the curious looks she got from the young woman and Agnes's reaction could have sank the thing from the start, thankfully the flirting was going well and her friend diverted the attention away from her skillfully. So maybe she wasn't too bad but could she handle the next thing her quarry had planned. 

Cait had seen the young regular dancing here enough that she knew how good she was, and how many people would stare. Which she did, a few times. If Agnes could deal with the probing eyes while trying to dance and avoid casual body contact well the Scot would have to give her credit. Not that she was secretly hoping her companion would fail but seeing her in a less familiar environment and needing a little help would have been so cute. She might have also wanted to be able to teach the strange warrior something, even if it was just a little. But from the looks of it, for now, she was still going to have a disadvantage when it came to teachable moments. Shame, having a student was kind of awesome.

Once the pair were happily dancing away she relaxed a little, let the music wash over her and just experience the place. She'd gotten used to being able to get the feel of a place and tended to do it on a night out from sheer habit. It wasn't a wild night at least, it seemed like the mood was set to be a bit more relaxed and fun than intense. Pretty perfect for what she was trying to accomplish.

Now if only she could find a nice partner for the night it'd be perfect, but that might raise some suspicions if she looked too into the scene.

Instead, she had a nice chat with a couple of the people at the bar, one of them a person she'd seen here a few times and another who was a very convincing cross-dresser. She looked like a tall dashing gentleman and was a delight to talk too. The dear even tried to give Cait some tips if she ever felt like giving it a go and if she wasn't so self conscious about certain parts of her body, she'd be more than a little interested.

When a dance was offered she had to fight her inner party girl to keep control, but she did manage to get a phone number out of the deal and a promise of a night on the town. Even when distracted she didn't do to badly.

Speaking of, how was the adorable pair doing now that song was coming to an end. Would they keep going or was a number going to be passed over. Oh god please say Agnes got a number on her first outing, there was no way she'd get away with just blowing that off. Frankly she seemed the type that needed a good bout of stress relief with someone, maybe only rivaled in the base by the boss but well, she couldn't really do much about it until they got Jesse out of the Mirrors.

If she could wing-woman her favourite grump, that would be a better result than she could have hoped for. "Come on girl, impress me. Show me what you can do." Cait had only been musing out loud but a passing dancer gave her a pleased smile and a little shake of her rear towards the Scot. Damnit resisting something had never been so hard.

So admittedly this wasn’t all that bad. Jasmine had actually turned out to be some rather interesting company. As the two of them stepped out onto the dance floor, Agnes could feel the tinges of nervousness trying to creep up her spine. She wanted to feel scared, to feel unsure. She could dance, she had to do so undercover before, but only fast songs where she had to pretend to be sexy. Slow numbers, those, admittedly, were fairly impossible for her. The second she touched someone, felt them cuddle in close, she could feel her mutation kicking in as each cell in her body tried to find a combat experience to latch onto and milk for all it was worth.

That would decidedly prove to be a distraction that she couldn’t afford. Thankfully the music turned out to be rather fast paced. Agnes could deal with that.

The music swirled about them and Agnes moved in tune with it. A shake of her hips, her arms above her head and a mostly fake smile upon her lips. She turned for the other woman, grinning as Jasmine gave her an appreciative once over, nodding her head as she danced closer. Jasmine was certainly more skilled than Agnes could ever hope to be, but it was a welcome experience. The two briefly made eye contact, which made Agnes dip her head down in confusion and some annoyance. She really hoped this mission wouldn’t last too long as she was starting to feel guilty for lying to this pretty woman.

Her eyes drifted over to Cait. She was busy chatting with someone, a man by the looks of it. Agnes could only guess that she was just seeking conversation to help blend into her environment. So, turning back to her own “partner”, Agnes danced and tried to hide her smile. As their song came to an end, Agnes was almost disappointed but was also somewhat thankful for the change.

The two stopped, shyly looking over one another, until another song came on, this was a tad bit slower. Agnes blushed as she glanced about, watching other couples as they started to press in close for a slow dance. Her gaze shifted over to Jasmine who looked at her in an expecting manner. She almost looked like she wanted to step forward and just slip into the dance but she maintained herself…barely.

After a second, Jasmine did take a step forward, cautiously. “Umm…did you want to…?”

”Um…” Agnes glanced over to Cait. The two looked at one another briefly before Cait’s eyes then began to follow a rather curvaceous woman who shook her moneymaker for her. ”…oh. I…I think my friend is calling me. Um…I’ll…be back?”

“Oh…okay…” Jasmine said with a slight disappointed tone in her vouce.

Without looking to see if Jasmine stayed on the dance floor or not, Agnes slipped through the couples dancing, making her way back to the bar. As she got there, she immediately waved for the bartender to give her another bottle of beer. She took a calming breath, standing next to Cait, ignoring any greeting or comment she had as she waited for her beer to arrive. When it did, she took a quick swig to calm her flushed cheeks. Beer filled her warm cheeks, making her look like a chipmunk storing nuts. After a second, she swallowed and then turned her gaze back to her redheaded companion.

”There. I interacted. Have I blended in enough yet, Master Cait-nobi?” she asked.

The dancing was by any metric, adorable, but clearly things had to come to an end and just as she was distracted by the very pretty woman, Agnes appeared next to her at the bar and stonily ordered a beer without even acknowledging her. "Well someone looked they they've had fun, got to hand it to you, you're better than I thought. Manage to get her number?" And she was being ignored. That was......odd. Normally she had at least a comment or jab at the younger woman or even a veiled warning about any attempted hugs. Silence was all together different. Had, had she actually enjoyed it?

The big gulp of booze was a bit of a clincher. Something had gotten to her for some reason. That just made the prospect of telling her this wasn't actually for real all the scarier. If she made the girl feel for no other reason than her own amusement there would be serious ramifications in the future to deal with.

The boss would probably throw her under the bus too. No way she was taking a dive for such a stupid plan.

"Yeah, you did fine but be serious now, you OK? I've not seen you act like this." There was genuine concern in her voice and as much as she knew Impact disliked her nice, glittery personality she was still important to the red head. A member of their weird little family.

Well, a little more wouldn't hurt, Combatant was already going to kill her at this point anyway so it was time for mingling. "Right, I'm not going to tell you how to get info so circulate, ask questions try to get a bigger picture and any small leads you can."

Which reminded her, there were still little gaps Agnes needed to work on when interacting like this, "Try to stay loose, people might not see much but subtle ques put us on edge. When you stiffen up every now and then when you think they're going to touch you it puts people off, makes them apprehensive and they'll clam up." Wow, saying it out loud made it sound a lot like manipulation, worse it made it clear she was very adept at messing with peoples heads. That was a little worrying.

"And as you walk, move with the music. It forms a connection in onlookers head. In fact if you're not it makes you stand out, makes you noteworthy." Not exactly what they were going for and chances are she already knew some of this but this was training of a sort. Not mentioning things she'd noticed would be doing a disservice, after all she might not like Cait, but she trained her earnestly at the base.

"I'll do the same, meet back here in ten minutes or if you find something seek me out. Clear?" She was trying hard to not sound bossy but chances are it came out that way a little.

Too bad, this was way too much fun to not milk it and she'd be dead by the end of the night so she might as well enjoy it.

Needless to say, Agnes was fairly uncomfortable this this point. Her dance with Jasmine was…nice…and things were rarely nice for the young warrior. The last time she allowed someone to get that close to her she had nearly been killed. On top of which, it turned out that the woman had simply been trying to use her to get close to her on behalf of SUPER. She had been manipulated and twisted via the woman’s abilities to affect emotions and it nearly cost her life. Since then, Agnes never allowed anyone to get close to her out of fear of the same event happening.

Still, it happened on occasion. Nothing to the degree of that night, but mostly to do with her new team, or rather, her new family. Agnes wasn’t big on making connections but she could see herself not being as annoyed whenever she was bothered by the group. They were good people who only wanted to make the world a better place. She could respect that; even enough to actually think these X-Men could be a new home for her. Wasn’t that what her uncle had wanted all along?

But this was decidedly different. This was not a friendship or bond that was slowly formed after years of work. Jasmine was a stranger, just something who was trying to get close to her after a single night. Sure it wasn’t a proposed marriage or anything, but it did certainly make her give pause. She wanted to slow dance with her, she realized. She did. But that was letting her guard down and, therefore, a bit no no. She and Cait were on a mission, after all, and even then, she had to wonder if it weren’t for mission, if it would even matter.

>> "Well someone looked they they've had fun, got to hand it to you, you're better than I thought. Manage to get her number?"

Cait barely registered in the warrior’s mind that she had spoken. Instead she was just background noise, distractions which Agnes needed to filter out to get her head back into the mission. After downing a good portion of her second beer, she took a deep breath to settle herself before she finally turned to Cait and inquired if she had interacted enough. She was ready to get down to hurting people and, the sooner the better.

>> "Yeah, you did fine but be serious now, you OK? I've not seen you act like this."

”Fine…” she said with somewhat short patience. Again, she was ready for this night to be over. After a second of feeling Cait’s concerned gaze upon her, Agnes rolled her eyes. ”Can we get on with it…please?”

>> "Right, I'm not going to tell you how to get info so circulate, ask questions try to get a bigger picture and any small leads you can."

Information. Agnes knew how to get information out of people. However, before she could break away from the redhead, she was stopped when the Scot continued talking. Apparently she felt that Agnes needed some pointers in how to interact with the people in the club. While she wasn’t trying to make and one-on-one connections like she had with Jasmine out on the dance floor, she apparently needed some tips in subtlety. Ridiculous. She was a goddamn ninja. Subtlety was her middle name.

Cait didn’t share this opinion. She explained how to quietly move around the dance floor, to appear more loosened up, to even dance a little as she interacted. She hated to admit that some of it was sound advice; not that she would ever tell Cait that as she would never hear the end of it. Instead she kept her stony silence, merely watching the redhead as she spoke, waiting for her to reach the inevitable end of her pep talk.

>>"I'll do the same, meet back here in ten minutes or if you find something seek me out. Clear?"

She didn’t say anything. Agnes was still reeling from her time on the dance floor and a want for this mission to be over, or to at least get to the part that she was good at. So, without another word, she plucked up her beer, turned on her heel and headed off in the opposite direction. All she knew was that Cait’s informant better have been right about what was going on around here because if not, someone was going to end up with a broken nose.

---

The minutes ticked away and an impossibly slow pace. She hated being out here, trying to talk to people. The most that she wanted to do was to linger in the shadows and observe. It was what she was best at, lurking, scrutinizing, learning, and connecting dots. It was her contribution to the team because they clearly needed more than just another fist. However, Agnes couldn’t do her job effectively from being within the group; much less being so uncomfortable in this setting.

Agnes tried to do as Cait instructed. She milled about, she danced a little to the music to herself and tried to keep herself occupied. She was sure that Jasmine had forgotten all about her by now, or at least realized that Agnes wasn’t interested in her after all. A glance out in the dance floor and she spied the young woman dancing with someone else: she seemed to be having a much better time because of it. Good. She was better off.

Still a slight flush in her cheeks from the thought, Agnes shoved the strange feeling down into the pit of her stomach as she continued on her fact hunt. Jesus, how long were these guys going to take to make their move. She tried asking around if anyone knew of any good times to be hand and, aside from a few clumsy pick-up lines, nothing at all rung of some dangerous cartel using this place as a front. Surely she asked enough people that at least it would has raised suspicion. And still! Nothing!

Then her eyes narrowed. No…there was no way that Cait made this up. Her wrath would be so terrible and not even Cait was that stupid. Stil…

Her eyes narrowed. Her fists clenched. She was about to whip around to seek the redhead out when she stopped. Quiet voices behind her cut through the din of music and good times.

”Come on, baby, I got the good stuff…”

”Yeah?”

Agnes slowly turned around, spying a young lesbian duo as the leaned in close in some secluded table. Lips had returned to ears and immediately the warrior was suspicious. She breathed a small sigh of relief. Okay. So maybe Cait wasn’t lying after all. She would mentally apologize to her later. Seeing an empty table directly next to the couple, Agnes carefully stepped over and slid into a seat. She would listen in carefully. Maybe whomever made the offer was one of the dealers, a member of the cartel. She could lead the warrior directly to them!

A flirty smile upon her lips at a random person passing by, Agnes pulled out her phone. She needed Cait over here before someone tried to hit on her for being alone. At least if Cait were approached and played luvvy dubby, the two of them could get approached by the same dealer. And, if not, then at least they could tail her together.

Quickly Agnes typed up a text message and sent it off to Cait. The Scot better have her goddamn cellphone on.

Get your butt over here. Found them.

[SEND]

If she didn't want to talk about it, no point pulling teeth. If Combatant had wanted to say something she really would have, with plenty of swearing and threats to accompany it, Cait didn't see any reason to force the issue. Plus, well baby steps, simply getting her to dance so close to someone else had been way more than she'd been expecting so that was cool.

Separating from her friend and slowly making her way around the place, she was getting a better feel for the place now that she could actually focus on it. Everyone was relaxed, having fun and doing all the things they did in a packed club. So plenty of people snogging in corners, the occasional pair disappearing out the main doors hand in hand and a few who'd clearly had just a wee bit too much to drink. It was glorious, like the second (or third) home for a friendly Scot and more than one person she passed had inviting looks on their faces, practically begging her to dance.

Too bad she was here for 'work' but if she was slacking and Combatant saw her she'd be in for a fair bit of pain. Not just that but these places did get some idiot trying to pass off their product, seemed fair to keep an eye out for it, if only to alert the staff. They couldn't be everywhere at once and some trained eyes might pick out someone they'd missed.

Caught between following two people who looked a little, seedier than the usual clientele, the phone alert went off. Oh dear, she'd clocked it hadn't she, Cait was a dead woman and no running would save her.

A more than slightly shaky hand checked the message, a long deep breathe of relief escaped and her heart slowed back down. Not dead, not yet at least but had Agnes actually found something? Trust her to find trouble on a fake mission, that girl was a walking trouble magnet. Seriously, did her mutation have some sort bad guy attractor attached to it?

On my way. How do you want to play it?

Heading in the direction her friend had heading, going deliberately 'normal' speed to not get too many eyes watching it didn't take her long to spy the familiar figure of the woman in a booth. Those clothes did stand out, more for how completely wrong it was to see her in them than anything else. Once again she had to offer a silent thanks to Becca for lying for her.

Putting on a big smile and approaching the table, this was going to be a laugh. Combatant clearly had a plan, from the look on her face and Cait was more than happy to be a part of it. "Hey Sweetie, you been sitting here long?"

Finally! Some action. Agnes was in full work mode not, little caring about how much trouble she had to go through just to get here. They were going to take down this drug ring, or at least learn as much as they could from them so that they could be more easily dismantled later on. Either way, the action was finally going to be in full swing soon and that was enough to quell her suspicion for her fellow X-Man. Really it was a stupid thought to have. Cait was maybe have been a peppy ball of sunshine, but there was no way that she was going to do something as stupid as make up an entire mission just for the sake of going to a bar.

Really, it was ridiculous concept.

She felt the familiar buzz of her phone alerting her to a new message. Plucking it up off the table, Agnes flipped through the screens until she saw the latest message from Cait:

On my way. How do you want to play it?

She thought for a second. She couldn’t bust the duo outright, not without drawing attention. Rather they needed to stay close to the two women. So with a plan in mind, she quickly tapped out message and sent it back to Cait.

Flirt with me.

[SEND]

There. That was her good deed for the year. Surely allowing the redhead to flirt with her, even if it was just for a mission should be enough to quell her desires to hug her. It wasn’t exactly the same but affection was affection, no?

It seemed that she didn’t have to wait long. As she sat at her table, legs crossed, sipping at the beer in her hand, she watched as people passed by. She could see Cait in the distance, cutting through the crowd. In the meantime, Agnes ignored the appraising looks and raised eyebrows of those people who were passing by. She got a few winks, and even another woman who blew her a sweet kiss. Awkwardly Agnes caught it in the air before she flicked it away, subtly, over her shoulder.

Thankfully the illusion of being a lonely, desperate girl all on her own was finally shattered when Cait approached.

>> "Hey Sweetie, you been sitting here long?"

Her eyes lifted and, instead of the usual grumpiness or stubborn respect for the other woman, Agnes watched her with a twinkle in her eyes. She was still a little awkward at this, but the warrior was a fast learner so she gave the other a smile. Her heel-clad foot reached out, slowly pushing the chair opposite of her out for Cait to take.

”Not long at all, beautiful,” she said with a grin and a cute wrinkle of her nose. ”You’re worth waiting for.” She retracted her leg and straightened her posture a little, her chest pushed out a little as the curves became even more defined against the criss-crossed straps that covered her front. She nodded to chair. ”You going to sit…or you just going to admire me all night?”

While her eyes were on Cait, her ears were straining to listen to the lesbian couple next to them, at the neighboring table. One of them was the dealer, they just needed to hang on them until they figured out which one…

Holy c---. Agnes had just given her full permission to flirt. In a gay bar. On the fake mission. This was a trap right? This couldn't be real, the dangerous woman had discovered the ruse and was messing with her right? Well, she wasn't missing the opportunity no matter where it had come from, if she was told to flirt, oh she was going to flirt. It was as close to hugging her as she was every likely to get.

"Oh I could admire you all night but a conversation? That sounds even better." Taking the offered seat with a lovely smile on her face, this was going to be sooo much fun. Nevermind the fact she might not die tonight, she was doing something she'd always wanted to. Crushes on some of the other girls in the base were hard to ignore when they all looked like freaking supermodels and it really made it tough to remember her rule about dating co-workers.

Which ones was she keeping track of? From the booth it was hard to tell which side they should be paying attention to, with all the music it messed with fine hearing as well. Maybe two conversations needed to happen at once here, she'd done it before after all.

Switching her phone to silent, she forced herself to keep her eyes mostly on her well dressed partner. Just, not too much on some bits, as hard as they were to ignore with that top. "So, what brings someone like you to a place like this? Not that I'm complaining, you are just the kind of person I was looking for." Nice, not too much and anyone looking from the outside was likely to just see two girls getting their flirt on and having a good time. Weird to think this was actually (kind of) work. It was getting back to the parts that Combatant was clearly better at and she looked a little less, embarrassed by the situation. Or angry.

Which side did you clock? Your left or right?

It was weird to think this was a skill she had gotten good at practicing with Raine, the ability to text and hold a conversation like nothing was going on. For a nice girl she was very sneaky around people sometimes.

Then again, everyone on the team had to be sneaky in their ways, some were just better in some respects. Or most respects.

Leaning onto the table and resting her head on an upraised arm, she kept her expression open, if a little flirty. Exactly the one she'd used in the past to get an interested person to stick around for some light flirting. Thankfully though, her back was to the majority of the floor, she could ignore most of what her eyes were telling her to focus on her hearing.

It was hard to separate the talking from the music, especially considering her natural inclination for it but she did finally start to pick up fragments of conversation around her, the usual people chatting, a couple of nervous conversations and a slightly more insistent one. Well that one was interesting.

"You know you want some," something, whatever was next got swallowed by some random chatter, "just trust me, it's good stuff." That had to be their guy right, Agnes had been right to bring her back, it did sound a bit dodgy and fit the cover story she'd thrown out.

"Oh I'm so sorry, how rude of me, I completely forgot to ask for your name. I'm Olivia by the way, pleasure to meet you," she was more than a little tempted to offer a hand, but that would have probably been a bad idea. Mainly for her health.