Gwen twisted and pulled on the pants and sweater. It was a lot easier to get on than her usual outfits, that was a plus. It definitely took a lot less time. That was nice, at least. 

She perked a brow as Charlie came over and fixed her jeans onto her hips. Gwen blushed and nodded, "Yeah, that is a lot better. Thank you." Lucky for her she met Charlie, otherwise she'd probably be struggling for a while by herself. Oh... What if she hadn't ran into Charlie? 

Gwen grabbed the coat as best she could but she wasn't exactly prepared for it. No one had ever really thrown an article of clothing to her. She shakily put the coat on and began to follow Charlie. She perked a brow, grab her hand or arm or something? Well, alright. She was just like a kid. If you get upset, pull on mamma's hand. It made Gwen feel weird but she was in a whole new world, a whole new place. She was a baby in terms of being in the 21st century. 

She nodded, "Alright, I hope this works out..." and followed Charlie down the stairs.

>>"Alright, I hope this works out..."

”It will, trust me,” Charlie said. ”I’ll make sure of it.”

The two of them walked through the streets of New York with Charlie doing her best to shield Gwen from anything too crazy. She just needed to get through here without freaking out so they could get to the new Syndicate location. Thankfully, with the change of clothes, no one really gave a glance their way. It was just the issue of the cars and the billboards and the constant noises that were very different from the ones in the 1840s.

Thankfully, she was able to usher the woman quickly enough through the streets and to the newest location of the Atlantis Club. It was a branch off from the one on the AV side (she still wasn’t really sure how that name had come to be) and it looked really similar. The only thing that it was missing was the constant presence of Poseidon, but she was doing her best to make sure that things ran smoothly anyway. She did have enough expertise and the responsibility had been left on her shoulders. She needed to live (or die) up to it.

Charlie sauntered easily through the front doors of the closed Atlantis Club, holding the door open for Gwen. She knew where she was going, and no one questioned her. It was very much against the rules to question a captain of the Syndicate, especially if they had such a low rank.

”This is the Atlantis Club,” Charlie told Gwen, gesturing to the space before them as they entered. It was only the afternoon, so the club hadn’t opened yet, which meant that it was just workers cleaning and setting up the place for the night to come in there. ”It’s partly a business and partly a front for the work that the Syndicate does. Oh, and the club is completely mutant-friendly,” she explained in a whisper. One could never be too careful around the minimum wage staff.

The blonde led Gwen past the beautiful oceanic decor and through a door that read Restricted. A badge that she had produced from her purse had granted them access to what lay behind. ”Alright, are you ready to see where the real magic happens?”

She blended in. Mostly, at least. That was a good sign. That made things a lot easier, that's for sure. No one staring, gaping, trying to figure out who she is or was. She could just observe, watch, and stay as close to Charlie as possible. She observed the 'cars,' the billboards, the what seemed like endless people walking on the streets. There was so, so many people. Even in her there hadn't been this many people, goodness. She wasn't sure if she enjoyed the huge, overwhelming presence of millions of people or not. 

Gwen took a step inside the Atlantis Club and her eyes widened as she glanced around. There was a flurry of activity from the workers. It looked like there was going to be quite the party tonight. Interesting place to get a job at, that's for sure. She nodded. She wasn't entirely sure why Charlie whispered but she figured there must have been a reason so she didn't' to stay mostly quiet. 

Following behind Charlie, they arrived in front of a door that read restricted. Real magic happens? Did magic exist now...? She had believed it to be fake in her time, superstition, "Magic...? Real magic...? I thought those were for witches and devils... Fairy tales." She whispered, her eyes wide. What did she get herself into?

Charlie seemed to keep forgetting the fact that the sayings in the twenty-first century were not the same as the ones used in the 1800s. Back in Gwen’s time, magic would have been taboo. It was evil and to be avoided. In 2017, it was parodied and tested and used in everyday phrases. It wasn’t a big deal for Charlie to say it, but it was for Gwen to hear it.

”No, no. No real magic. It’s just a saying now. A figure of speech,” Charlie muttered as she shook her head. She needed to be more careful. ”What I meant was that behind this door is where the Syndicate operates. Anyway.”

Charlie pushed the door open, revealing a series of hallways not unlike the ones that Poseidon had originally led her down. The model in the AV worked so well that they had done their best to replicate it as best that they could. The area was very different from the interior of the club. Aquatic finishes and low lighting had been replaced with shiny, stainless steel structures. It wasn’t comfortable; they meant business.

Charlie led her through and gestured to things as they passed by. Various offices and a large area where most of the actual work was done. At the end of the hallway, they came to a glass box structure that was best described as an overhang. From there, they could see the entirety of the open area and the business that was going on below.

At the farthest place in the box, Charlie stood with her arms crossed over her chest and let out a contented sigh. Things were running smoothly that day. Boxes were being packed and sent out (luckily, Gwen wouldn’t be able to see what was inside them from that angle), people were training, and there was logistical talk being done at a table on the far side. ”This is where it happens. The Syndicate works out of here and figures out where we’re going to work next in the world.”

The blonde turned to her companion and looked her in the eyes. ”You wanted to know what you’d be doing here, right? I can honestly tell you that you would be doing good for all of mutantkind. You’d be helping out our logistics team by ‘seeing’ as you say, through the eyes of the people causing… setbacks for us.”

She turned back and faced the work that was happening below again. ”In exchange for that, we’ll outfit you here in this century. You won’t have to worry about food, lodging, or money while you’re with us.”

Gwen nervously waited for Charlie’s response. Magic wasn’t too big of a deal to her, at least in her time. She brushed it off. But in this new world, new time, she really had no idea. Her nerves had skyrocketed and she really had no idea what was going on.

She nodded slowly, a small sigh of relief escaping her mouth. Gwen stayed very close to Charlie, slightly confused about how shiny the inside of the building was. What type of material was this…? It reminded her of some of the very large, big buildings. Questions for another day, though.

Once on the overhang, Gwen’s mouth nearly dropped as she looked at the scene below her. There were so many people, loads of boxes being loaded up, a table with meetings. Wow. How would someone ever even find out about this place? They had their own town here.

She nodded again. So, she’d be using her powers to spy on people that hurt the organization – hurt mutants, like herself. Humanity never changed. It may have been naïve for her to jump into a position where she was spying on people, but they were only helping people, right? If it was for helping, then Gwen would happily do it. Plus, not worrying about starving or homelessness was a great bonus.

“Okay… This actually sounds pretty great.”

>>“Okay… This actually sounds pretty great.”

Charlie broke into a genuine smile. There was nothing… Charlie about that smile. She’d only spent a few hours around Gwen, but she was still glad that she’d been able to get her attention. She would have been… disappointed (if that was the right word for it) if she’d been turned off by the idea of the Syndicate.

”Perfect,” Charlie said and clapped her hands together. ”It’s up to you, then; we can either walk around some more, or we can get you set up with somewhere to stay. You’re probably hungry and tired, huh?” There was no use bombarding her with more things when she was likely overwhelmed already. Some soup and a nap. That’s what she probably needed.

A large man appeared in the doorway with his hands clasped around his back. He nodded to Charlie and then gave Gwen a once over. Duke Manchester. He would be able to figure some things out. ”Duke,” Charlie nodded to him. She strode forward across the room and met his eyes. ”If it’s not too much trouble, would you be able to figure out…”

Charlie trailed off. She could get Gwen a place to stay for a while, but leaving her alone in a strange new place to figure things out alone didn’t seem like a good idea. There were enough new things that she would likely end up getting herself accidentally killed before Charlie saw her again. No, there were better options.

”Never mind,” Charlie waved to Duke, ”I’ve got it figured.”

“If you’re sure,” Duke said slowly, raising his eyebrow at the two women.

”I’m sure.” Charlie turned away, ignoring the sigh from Duke as he realized that she was no longer including him in the conversation. Instead, she was talking only to Gwen. ”You can stay with me for tonight. It’s a safer option, anyway. At least until you get a little more settled.”

Gwen couldn't help but give a wide, bright smile back towards Charlie. The smile she gave nearly gave Gwen goosebumps. Her cheeks felt... Warm. It was a weird feeling and Gwen nearly shook her head to get rid of the strange feeling. 

She had to think about how she felt - she still felt overwhelmed, unaware, and well, alone. All of which was true, but she knew she wasn't entirely alone at least. Was she hungry and tired? She felt weak. And she honestly wanted more whiskey, but that might be an inappropriate comment at the current time. She'd already had a couple shots - she didn't want Charlie to think of her as unladylike. With that in mind, food did sound good, "I am a little hungry, honestly." Tired, too, but she didn't want to admit that yet. She wasn't even sure if she'd be able to sleep.

She watched as a large man appeared. Gwen's eyes widened a little and she slinked behind Charlie, in an attempt to hide away. She knew he wasn't a danger due to Charlie talking to him, but everything seemed to scare her. It was... Annoying, to say the least.

Gwen nodded quickly at the suggestion of staying with Charlie, "Yes, I would quite love that. I would feel much better being with you." She gave a small, flirty (although not intentional) smile.