"So, that's the plan, then." Lenna concluded, ending mission discussion time. She sat in Alexandra's hotel room, dressed in a black leather coat, with a blue scarf and black pants. A navy blue stocking cap and brown contacts in her eyes rounded out the look. She'd dressed for the mission. They'd met beforehand, to discuss any final measures. The day prior, they'd gone shopping for clothing. They'd been distracted by babysitting... Now, they were ready. The kid had been dealt with. They'd made their appointment with the target.

They could proceed.

Lenna rose from her chair, and turned to fire off a curt smile at Alexandra. "You've got the address. Let's go grab a cab."

Alexandra nodded quietly. There really wasn’t any necessity for her to speak; after all, they had spent almost two days preparing this mission. Yes, the shopping for clothes was also a part of the mission, of course. For this particular meeting, Alexandra was sporting a pair of cream colored pants with a white shirt and a pair of high heeled black leather boots. Her hair was styled to look shorter, not even reaching her shoulders and curly. On top of her head rest a pair of sunglasses. The blue contacts were in place, and while the make up wasn’t that visible, Alexandra doubted that her name would even appear for a brief moment in the mind of their target upon seeing this new her.

Getting up, Alexandra picked up her coat while mentally running trough her head the list of things she needed to do before she left. Keys? Check. Phone? Check. Wallet? Check. Check on Fausto? Check. Tell him to stay out of troubles? Double check.

Good. They were ready to go. “Let’s go.” Alexandra said, once her coat was buttoned up. Pulling the key of the hotel room out of her pocket, Alexandra played with it while she and Lenna walked out of the room. Closing and locking the door, they moved on to the elevator. The molecule manipulator glanced at her watch. Previously, she had called for a cab and the woman on the other end of the phone solemnly announced that a car would be there in exactly nine minutes. Seven have passed since she had made the phone call.

By the time the two women were getting out of the hotel, Alexandra still playing with her keys, the cab was waiting in front of the hotel. Getting inside the car, Alexandra waited for Lenna to do the same before turning toward the driver. “Good afternoon, ladies.” The cabbie greeted glancing over his shoulder. “Where to?” Without the need of pulling out the paper where she had written down the address of their target, Alexandra said the name and number of the street and, after the car started moving, she leaned back on her seat.

The drive to Radu Dimitrie's home was short. 15 minutes later, the driver pulled up to the house. The building was three stories tall, painted white, with rooftop finial. Lenna stared out the window from her seat, past the tree, over the iron gate, and towards the arching doorway. The word extravagant came to mind. It even had a balcony on the second floor. The rooftop was covered in snow. The front driveway had been neatly shoveled clean.

Lenna popped open her door, and stepped out. She rested her hands on her hips. The bitter cold instantly slapped across her face, and brought a faint blush. Lenna glanced back towards Alexandra.

The woman paid the driver. The cab pulled away from the curb.

Now, all that was left for the pair to do was wait. Wait, and intercept. Radu Dimitrie wasn't home from parliament yet. They'd catch him on his way to the front door.

The cab moved pretty fast, compared to the usual cab rides she had during her life. In fifteen minutes, Alexandra found herself looking at the home of Radu Dimitrie, their target. Mentally shrugging at the extravagance that politicians chose to display when it came to their homes, or cars, or clothes… or, oh well, everything, she shifted her attention to the cab driver as the car slowed down to a stop. Pulling out her wallet, she paid the man the amount of money displayed, plus a tip. After all, he did get them to the requested location pretty fast.

Payment being solved, Alexandra followed Lenna out of the cab, posting herself next to the woman. She frowned slightly. It was one of those days with stupid weather. Although the sun was up on the sky, occasionally being covered by clouds, the chilly wind made Alexandra shudder slightly as she got out of the comfortable, warm car.

Putting on her sunglasses, she sighed softly while eyeing the Dimitrie residence. “And now we wait.” she announced, shifting her attention back at Lenna while putting her hands in her pockets.

>>“And now we wait.”

"Indeed." Her least favorite part of the mission. Nothing to do but stand and wait in the cold. Why had they dismissed the cab driver again? They could have sat in the warmth of the car. Lenna held up her right hand and glanced at her nails distractedly.

Should have worn gloves...

Her eyes drifted back towards the building, looking for something to keep her attention. Maybe a body, passing by the window? A face? It seemed like this time of day, someone would be manning the homestead. A blot of black brushed past the white curtains of a window on the second floor.

Probably the maid... Lenna feather dusted the comment. Did Dimitrie's children stay home around this time? Lenna had neglected to delve into ages with Alexandra. Or was it his wife? Maybe his mistress. Scandal.

One minute passed. Two minutes felt like five. They reached the five minute mark of waiting. That felt like two. Inwardly, Lenna enjoyed the irony. They'd gotten there early. The cab ride they'd been happy to find lacking in length... hadn't done them an ounce of good. At fifteen minutes, Lenna glanced at her watch.

A black car pulled up to the curb in front of the house. A middle-aged man with curly black hair stepped out. He had sideburns that went down to his cheeks, an unshaven goatee, and a ring earring in each ear. The man was dressed in a pinstriped black Italian suit. Lenna took a step forward as he approached the front gate.

"Radu Dimitrie," Lenna spoke.

The politician turned towards her with a question in his eye. "Yes?"

"We must talk." Succinct statements translated the terse dialect better than long, poorly-converted ones, Lenna decided. Hopefully, nothing was lost in translation.

Lenna stared absently at her nails. Alexandra decided to play with the keys, pushing them here and there inside her pocket. She wished this mission would go just like movies showed, when the targeted character appeared just in time and didn’t let the heroes wait in the cold, stuck in a rather awkward silence.

Minutes later, a black car pulled up the curb. An expensive black car. Alexandra was certain that Radu Dimitrie was driving it. They waited for the man to get out and start walking toward the house before intercepting him.

Lenna made the first move. Alexandra followed, stopping to the man’s side, glancing absently at the earrings. An eyebrow arched slightly. He didn’t have those last time she’d seen the man. She assumed that he was suffering because of the middle-age crisis.

He shifted his eyes from Lenna to her. Alexandra smiled. “Nice earrings.” She commented. The man just stared at her before shifting his eyes from Lenna to her, confusion visible in his eyes. “Who are you? What do you want to talk about?”

Alexandra sighed. People never made things easy for her. “We want to talk business. We have an offer to describe to you… But why don’t we take this conversation inside? I’m freezing here.” Again she flashed a smile, as the man looked from her to Lenna once again, a bit of fear starting to be noticeable in his eyes.

Oh, she just loved when men looked at her with fear.

"Important," Lenna smiled at Radu Dimitrie, crossing her arms. "Better listen. Regret it if you don't." God, she loved monosyllabic banter. These translation errors really made every line she said sound threatening. That's what she wanted, anyways. Her eyes narrowed dangerously at Mr. Dimitrie. Alexandra was the good cop. She could be the bad one.

Radu Dimitrie seemed to sense that not listening to them was, perhaps, a bad idea. A strained breath escaped him as he turned to unlock the front gate. Fear turned to impatience."Very well. Follow me." He slipped through the gate, and led the pair to the front door. "Whatever this is, I hope you keep it professional..." The lock clicked open. Radu Dimitrie entered his home.

Lenna looked to Alexandra, then followed through the door. She surpressed a thing smile as the man waved his housekeeper away. She rounded a corner, unable to restrain her interest in Mr. Dimitrie's choice of company.

The interior of the home was light and airy, decorated in beautifully-finished luxury woods. The occasional foreign piece of furniture decorated the way to Radu Dimitrie's office. Lenna noted an expensive-looking lamp that may or may not have come from the Hermès catalog.

Mr. Dimitrie had taste.

He pressed forwards, inviting them into his office. After the door was locked, he turned to face them. His body was outlined against the leather-bound volumes of his expansive library shelves. A mahogany desk stood in the corner of the room on his right. He gestured towards two comfortable office chairs, and seated himself behind the desk.

Lenna humorlessly noted the decorative details of Radu Dimitrie's desk as the man folded his hands and asked them to 'please explain their interest'. The man had a set of brass balls.

A smile denoted Alexandra’s approval as soon as the words ‘follow me’ left Radu Dimitrie’s lips. Hands in pockets, Alexandra followed the man into the house, casually glancing at the housekeeper from behind the brown tinted lenses of her sunglasses. Out of habit, a short glance was thrown to the surroundings, the molecule manipulator taking note of the objects which could have been easily manipulated. Decorative objects, lamps, all had potential to be used against the owner if that was needed.

Heels clicking against the expensive wood of the floor, Alexandra entered Radu Dimitrie’s office but stopped near the door. A hand traveled toward her sunglasses, removing them from her eyes. Placing them on top of her head, Alexandra eyed a few of the leather-bound volumes. She picked one from the shelf, an Architecture related one. While Mister Dimitrie was gesturing toward the chairs, Alexandra opened the book, reading a few words from a paragraph who spoke about the Gothic Architecture.

Radu Dimitrie spoke again. Alexandra shifted her eyes from the book to the politician, smiling briefly while closing the book. The sound got the man’s attention where she needed it. On her. “Long story made short, Mister Dimitrie.” She said, while slipping the book back into its place. Blue eyes turned back on the man. “Our employer has a lot of money to offer if you do one little thing for him.” Alexandra paused, letting the dramatic silence to make Radu Dimitrie’s already noticeable interest grow. A few more seconds passed before Alexandra answered the obvious question. “You must speak in favor of the mutant cause and against the Registration Act in the Parliament.”

“What?!” Was the answer of the politician. The molecule manipulator was far from surprised. She smiled, shifting her attention to her partner. Time for the bad cop, maybe?

As previously noted, the man had a set of brass balls. As Alexandra explained their offer, the blond Kabal employee pulled one up, and let it set the others in motion.

Clack clack. Clack. Clack.

It was distracting. Lenna plucked a picture of Mr. Dimitrie’s son up off the desk, and turned to sit in the office chair disconcertingly. “The offer,” she repeated. “Is good. Speak against your peers, for mutants. We give you money. If you do not…” She leaned forward to snap the photograph down onto the desk. Her eyes met his darkly.

“You must realize, to do this is political suicide.” He muttered.

Lenna smiled. “Not if others agree. Talk well.” An eyebrow arched. “I am sure others will follow.”

She left out the part about making them follow. That could come later. For now… her eyes shifted to Alexandra.

A smirk appeared on the molecule manipulator’s lips as Lenna pushed the photo forward. She had to admit it, Lenna played the bad cop good. Alexandra took a few steps forward as both Lenna and Mr. Dimitrie shifted their eyes in her direction. She stopped near the desk, glancing casually at the photo of Mr. Dimitrie’s son. Andrei.

Alexandra picked the picture, gazing at it for a few more seconds before shifting her eyes in Mr. Dimitrie’s direction. “Mr. Dimitrie. You do your part. Let us worry about the others.” Mr. Dimitrie let his eyes travel from the molecule manipulator to the surface of the desk. His hands traveled up, one resting on the top of the desk the other pushing a few papers aside nervously before falling back on his lap. “You must understand that speaking pro-mutants might attract the anger of the Romanian government upon me and my family.” His eyes traveled up, shifting from Lenna to Alexandra.

The molecule manipulator sighed, placing the photo back on the desk. She sat on the empty chair, crossing her legs and placing her hands on her lap. “Mr. Dimitrie. Let’s not make this hard, yes? It’s either you talk for our cause and get money for doing it… or I make a very important call and announce the Senate that one of their members is hiding a mutant.” Blue eyes fell on the photo, then shifted to Mr. Dimitrie, a corner of her lip rising slightly. There was something in Mr. Dimitrie’s eyes… oh, yes. Shock. ‘How does she know about it?’, ‘Should I run out of the country?’. Alexandra could bet that these questions must have been running trough his head at the moment. Her smile widened. “Let’s face it Mr. Dimitrie. Your son wasn’t very bright before his mutation kicked in.” Alexandra casually ran a hand trough her hair, shoving a few rebel strands behind her ear. “And before thinking of fleeing out of the country, please consider the fact that you are and will constantly be under surveillance.” The smile faded as Alexandra sighed and let the hand slide back on her lap. Satisfied, Alexandra leaned on her chair.

Oh, so his son was a mutant. This was juicy.

"The scandal, alone. One phone call." Her hand hit the phone on Mr. Dimitrie's desk, and held up the receiver.

Dial tone. She hauled the phone into her lap, and turned in her chair, fingers hovering over the numbers. "Just one call. Your son's life, ruined. I could do it right now, if you'd like?" Her eyes rose to meet his. She wore a daring smile.

"You wouldn't," he demanded. His eyes spoke a different demand. No, please. "If they find out, I'm no good to either of you..."

"But, I'm already dialing," she chided. The receiver hopped to her ear. Lenna spoke. "Hello. Yes. I want to report..."

He ran a hand through his hair for a moment. Inner turmoil played out like a puppet show on his face. Cheeks sagged, then rose. "No, stop! Fine... fine, I'll do it..." He clenched his knees, and leaned forward.

Lenna eyed him slowly. "An order. One large pepperoni pizza. The address is..."

Radu Dimitrie's shoulders slumped as Lenna spoke on the phone. He'd been fooled... these women...

Lenna hung up. A moment later, she picked up again to confirm the address. The call concluded. She smiled at Radu Dimitrie, and set the telephone back on his desk. "... I hope you like pepperoni. Now... for the matter of our offer?"

Satisfaction indeed. It shone in her eyes quite brightly. Mission completed. In like what… less than five minutes? Alexandra smiled briefly.

The offer. Right.

She pulled her wallet out, amused and removed a few bills. “ How about we pay for the pizza for now?” The bills landed on the table, a finger placed upon them while a thoughtful look was on Alexandra’s face. She glanced up at Mr. Dimitrie’s ‘slightly’ shocked face. A smile appeared on her lips. Then she turned toward Lenna. “Maybe a new pair of earrings, too?”