Stephanie tried to look professional while assessing the artwork, but Jesse could tell she was struggling with the answer. What to say, how to say, how much to say, it didn't matter, she could already tell that the shadow thief had changed a lot from their younger, daring and carefree days, and not for the better. Whatever happened had to be serious, because she was still very much intent on finishing the job, and Jesse could not really stop her.

>>”Like… I do jobs when I’m called upon.”

That was... not good. Who the hell kept a high-end art thief on retainer?...
Mob bosses, that's who. Jesse's eyes narrowed at the admission.

"Steph. What the hell have you gotten into?..."

The three selected paintings were chosen because of their dimensions. They were the three pieces thin enough to fit into the ventilation system of the museum. Once she removed the art from the walls, alarms would trigger and security would be combing the halls, descending upon her location. They crux of the plan was her ability to escape through the vents with the paintings in tow; she even had a small flashlight on hand to generate light for herself in the vents.

In truth, she was ready to grab the art and be on her way. The only thing keeping her from acting was Jesse realizing the kind of mess Stephanie found herself in. She looked at the tops of her shadowy feet, shrugging her shoulders in defeat. ”It’s... it’s bad, Jesse. The kind of bad where I couldn’t get someone else involved. Not even you and your merry band of do-gooders.” The whole reason she suffered through her employment was to keep Malia safe. Getting the X-Men involved would put them in danger, but more importantly, it could result in consequences for her daughter.

Even after all this time, Jesse's well-honed thieving senses were sharp. She was aware that they had been standing around in the gallery much longer than a job should take; with every second that ticked by, the risk grew greater, and she could see that Steph knew it too, from the nervous movements and glances she had. She needed the job done, and fast. Once she took the pieces, this conversation would be over.

>>”It’s... it’s bad, Jesse. The kind of bad where I couldn’t get someone else involved. Not even you and your merry band of do-gooders.”

Jesse frowned. Bad indeed. She had guessed that much. She was also not sure what the rest of the X-men would say when she brought them this case, but she could not simply let Steph walk away.

"Well... do your thing, then. And when you're done, I'll be waiting for you at the old safe house two blocks down. If it's still there, that is..."

Jesse gave up the fight. She was letting Stephanie take care of her mission. Not that she had much control over the matter; being stuck in a mirror made it hard to intervene with a crime in progress.

There was apparently a difference between letting Stephanie steal and giving up on her entirely. Jesse was willing to get out of her hair, but she wanted to continue their conversation at an old safehouse. Being a hero apparently gave Jesse indomitable optimism, because she genuinely believed Steph was going to steal three paintings and retreat to have a serious life talk about her life choices. ”We’ll see,” she replied, avoiding any accidental commitment to the proposal. ”Now get going; some of us have to work.”

---

What was she doing?

The heist was a total success. Steph used her malleable body to reach for all three paintings at once, pulling them from the walls. With her body back in place, Steph, her flashlight, and three priceless paintings all slipped into an air vent. It was a clean getaway as long as she could lay low.

She could have laid low anywhere, yet she ended up two blocks down, exactly where Jesse wanted her to be. It was an unassuming apartment, big enough to comfortably hide out but too small to enjoy living in. Rent was paid by an amalgam account with contributions from various thieves throughout the city. It was an available resource for the thieves who knew of its existence. It was so well-located, the criminals who knew about it kept surprisingly quiet sp they did not ruin a good thing.

Steph, now out of her shadowform, set her paintings down very carefully before looking around the small studio apartment. ”Jesse? You around? Or did you decide you had better things to do with your time than harass a professional on and off the job?”

>>”We’ll see. Now get going; some of us have to work.”

She would show. Jesse already knew she would show, if for nothing else than for the well-located hideout she probably desperately needed after the heist. Jesse's knowledge of current safe houses was incomplete, but she doubted that this one would have been given up by the community. It was too useful.
She lingered long enough to see Steph in action. It was quite the sight to behold, and since she used it for criminal activity, it was not appreciated as much as it should have been. Once she disappeared down the air vent, Jesse left too. Last thing she wanted was to be caught on camera when the guards burst in.

She did not have to wait long before the shadow thief manifested inside the apartment. Jesse waited, leaning against the edge of a mirror on the wall.

>>”Jesse? You around? Or did you decide you had better things to do with your time than harass a professional on and off the job?”

"Being stuck in the mirrors gives me a whole lot of free time, actually." the redhead smirked "And this place is pretty safe, so. Wanna tell me what top criminal got to you?..."

Stephanie arrived to the safehouse with her three paintings on hand, so it was important to store them out of the way on the off-chance police came around looking for them. With a small grunt, she nudged the fridge out of the way of the wall, revealing a small wall safe. As one of the thieves paying the rent, Steph had a key to access the hiding space, so she stowed away her haul.

There was a couch in the living area of the small apartment, so Stephanie reclined into the pillowy cushions as Jesse resumed her line of questioning from the museum. ”Jesse… please remember I warned you. This isn’t a situation you should get involved in. I don’t want you involved in it.”

Steph grabbed one of the throw pillows and crossed her arms around it, holding it close to her chest. She was not happy about admitting her situation, so her answer was mumbled. ”Poseidon. I’m working for the leader of the Syndicate.”

It was good to know the safe house was still there. Not that Jesse would use it, or let the X-men know about it (unless it was an emergency). It was almost nostalgic, in a way, to be here with someone she had known a long time ago. Some things never changed.
But other things did.

>>”Jesse… please remember I warned you. This isn’t a situation you should get involved in. I don’t want you involved in it.”

"Who said anything about getting involved? I'm just curious." Jesse scoffed, even though they both knew she was lying. She would get involved to help, if help was needed. She had been a rogue, but never a selfish person - and if Becca caught wind of an old friend needing help, she would have jumped in too. It was just the way things worked among mutants. Certain mutants, anyway.

>>”Poseidon. I’m working for the leader of the Syndicate.”

Jesse's smirk disappeared. She knew that name, from rumors, and she definitely had heard about the organization. Freelance thieves tended to both hate and fear it - mostly because they feared for their own independence.

"Why... would you do that?..."

Stephanie was not so naïve she would believe Jesse was “just curious” about her situation. She was trying to be a friend to an old colleague, and if her intent was not to intervene yet, once she knew the whole story, it would be.

Still, Stephanie begrudgingly gave up her employer. She felt the same paranoid chill run up her spine she got when feeling on the brink of getting busted. The safehouse was a strict “no camera” zone, and she believed no one would ruin the sanctity of the place by bugging it, but there was always the fear that her words would get back to Jorge.

Based on her instant reaction, Jesse understood enough to know Poseidon was not the kind of man a thief should want to be working for. She asked why Stephanie would put herself in that position, which made her scoff. ”Because the benefits are great,” she quipped sarcastically.

Okay, she had to be careful; taking out her frustrations on Jesse was unjustified. ”I do it because I have to, Jesse. Poseidon’s not exactly a man who understands or accepts ‘no’ as an answer.” Someone that powerful had all the tools at his disposal to be persuasive with scary efficiency, as Stephanie was now painfully aware.

>>”Because the benefits are great,”

"Let me guess, you have dental and also get to keep all your teeth." Jesse frowned. Benefits indeed. No thief in their right mind would actually agree to employment by the Syndicate, not unless they were devoid or morals and greedy beyond measure. Steph was a strong woman, but she was neither of those things. Whatever upsides the job had, it had more sh*t in the other scale.

>>”I do it because I have to, Jesse. Poseidon’s not exactly a man who understands or accepts ‘no’ as an answer.”

Now that she could believe. To a top criminal, people were assets too; things to be collected and used to one's benefit - or simply used to show off that they had power over them, and they could do whatever they wanted, police or government or even SUPER be damned. Jesse sighed, rubbing her forehead.

"What's he got on you?"

Jesse was also not the type of person who accepted “no” as an answer, though technically she never told Jesse “no.” She told her to leave well enough alone, and that was not going to fly with the mirror-bound superhero.

If Jesse really wanted to know her situation, that was on her. Stephanie had given every possible warning and recommendation to steer clear. Any further reminders of caution would be redundant. If Jesse really needed to know, so be it. ”He found out I was in New York and he sent men to ask for my assistance. I was… maybe a touch rude when I dismissed them.” Back then, Stephanie felt bulletproof, (because she usually was,) and it led to an arrogance that led her into trouble.

Enter trouble. ”Poseidon himself found me after that. He made it clear that we weren’t safe. That we would never be safe if I didn’t comply.” That first time, with the imposing man playing with her daughter in her own living room, scarred Stephanie. It was a reminder that doors and locks and distance would not keep Poseidon away. ”I’m under his thumb because it’s the safest thing I can do. I don’t have a choice, Jesse…”

>> ”He found out I was in New York and he sent men to ask for my assistance. I was… maybe a touch rude when I dismissed them.”

Had the whole story not been headed to hell in a hand basket and fast, that comment could have almost been amusing. It would have made Jesse smirk, or smile, noting that Stephanie had not changed all that much after all, and feeling a little sorry for whoever tried to intimidate her into working for a crime organization instead for wealthy private patrons for cash. And yet, even if they did not get the job done, someone else did. And the story got less amusing from there.

>>”Poseidon himself found me after that. He made it clear that we weren’t safe. That we would never be safe if I didn’t comply... I’m under his thumb because it’s the safest thing I can do. I don’t have a choice, Jesse…”

"We?..." Jesse noted more quietly, seeing the fear in Stephanie's voice. That was not someone fearing for her fellow thieves, or even a significant other. And if the top guy paid a visit to her himself, he probably had some nasty cards up his sleeve. Assuming the worst was a safe bet. "You have kids?"

Jesse was always clever and Stephanie’s predicament was easy to piece together. If Stephanie was worried about the safety of someone else, it was going to be someone implicitly important to her who could not take care of herself. She nodded, feeling the sting of tears forming in her eyes. ”A daughter. Malia. She just turned seven.” Stephanie was upset, but she could not stop herself from smiling when she thought about her daughter. Malia was her world, and everything she did was to ensure that little girl could see another happy birthday.

Her smile faded quickly. ”I don’t even know what he’d do. If he’d take her. If he’d…” The words died in her throat because she could not voice the idea of her daughter’s death. ”I know he can get to her and that’s enough reason to do whatever I have to do to keep her safe.”

Steph looked back to Jesse reflecting on the dark screen of the living room’s television. ”Can you understand, Jesse?” The former thief had a wife now. She had to understand the unflappable need to keep family and loved ones protected, even if her wife was some vigilante badass. ”This is the best and only choice I have. It’s just like how I always used to work anyway… mostly.” Then again, when she was self-employed, she would never have considered killing someone for political benefit, but if it kept Malia safe, it was necessary.

>>”A daughter. Malia. She just turned seven.”

Jesse saw the faint smile on Steph's face. It was... genuine, like someone whose best pert of her life was this other human being in it, and Jesse could understand that. She had the same kind of smile, when she talked about Becca, or their kids. These were the best things in life, and they also made someone the most vulnerable to all. And evil ***holes like Poseidon knew that.

"Um... congratulations?"

Stephanie as a mother. Wonders never ceased.

>>”I don’t even know what he’d do. If he’d take her. If he’d… I know he can get to her and that’s enough reason to do whatever I have to do to keep her safe.”

It made sense. Jesse had to admit that she would have done the same thing. Well, that, or gone after the bad guy directly, but she did not know exactly who he was, or what he could do, so it was easy to daydream about heroics when it was not her own family on the line...

>>”Can you understand, Jesse? This is the best and only choice I have. It’s just like how I always used to work anyway… mostly.”

"I understand." Jesse sighed "I have a kid... kids too." Soon to be two of them. Which was both exciting and terrifying.

"So... it's just you?"

Being a single parent was tough to begin with, but in this case...

Stephanie did not have many friends. It was an intentional choice to keep the important people in her life to a minimum. She was amicable with the mothers of Malia’s friends, but all those women were kept at an arm’s length. Maybe it was because Jesse was part of her old life, but it felt nice to tell her about Malia. If the situation were less serious, she might have chuckled at the woman’s surprised reaction.

It turned out Stephanie was not the only one with a child in her life. Jesse had children with her lovely redhead. Stephanie warmed up at the thought. Two happily married parents and some kids; she was basically living the nuclear family life. Well, she would be if she was not trapped in a mirror and had not swapped out PTA meetings for X-Missions. ”That’s great, Jesse. Look how far we’ve come along from the old days,” she added distantly, wishing she could put more distance between her present and her past.

”It’s just me,” she confirmed, reclining across the couch so she could look up at the ceiling. ”I didn’t exactly have her with the love of my life. It can be tough, but it’s hard to find time to date when you’re a single parent and under the thumb of a mutant mob boss.”

Dating was nice in theory and Stephanie would love to have someone else in her life who could love and watch over Malia. As always, Poseidon was the problem. ”The last thing I want to do is get close enough to someone that he can hurt them or use them against me.”

>>”That’s great, Jesse. Look how far we’ve come along from the old days,”

Jesse smirked at that. She had to admit, had Stephanie told her younger self that she was going to end up married and the responsible parent of one, going on two, kids, she would have either laughed, or screamed and ran away. As things stood, she was still worried sometimes she would wake up from an amazing and baffling dream. She didn't want to.

>>”It’s just me. I didn’t exactly have her with the love of my life. It can be tough, but it’s hard to find time to date when you’re a single parent and under the thumb of a mutant mob boss.”

Single mother. Single mother, thief, blackmailed by mutant mob boss. Nothing was ever easy. Jesse sighed.

>>”The last thing I want to do is get close enough to someone that he can hurt them or use them against me.”

"Yeah, I can understand that." she nodded "Although it is not always your choice. Believe me, I try to keep my wife out of trouble... but I learned the best thing I can do is to keep her company in the field."

Which was not the same as Steph's situation. Clearly.

"So... the rumors are true, then? He's all that?... honestly, I've never met anyone who's seen the guy. Are you sure it was him?"