End justifies the means... How did getting police on their tails again serve them any use at all? And 'aggravated bartering'?

"You know, I do have other guns..." Lenna trailed. "You could borrow one, I guess... just..." Don't make me look bad around the weapons dealers. Please. Reckless moves were what got them into this body fiasco. They certainly wouldn't help get them out of it.

With a sigh, Lenna walked her dishes to the sink. She turned on the water, and rinsed.

"And honestly," Lenna called back to Michael. "If you want jeans, I have pants you could use. You don't need to wear a dress 'just because' it's yours."

Men could be so confusing sometimes... especially when they were women.

In response to the Ranger's talk of using less than legal methods to attain either a firearm with current funds or to acquire increased funds, Lenna mentioned borrowing one of her guns. And then after she carried off her dishes to the kitchen she called back that s/he could borrow a pair of her pants.

The Ranger returned to the kitchen, what was the sense in yelling back and forth when s/he could just enter the same room again. "Thank you, if it's no inconvenience. " The Ranger felt that s/he been just one massive inconvenience to Lenna and there was no real desire to compound on to that if not necessary. S/he then hoped that a few inches in height difference wouldn't make the jean legs annoyingly long, not that the difference was great, but it would undoubtedly affect the fit. "And if you're offerin' ta let me borrow a more reliable gun, I guess I'll have ta take you up on that."

The Ranger often would justify actions with the quote from Thucydides, '...the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.' In this present situation he felt weak and using another's weapon, and wearing the pants of a woman he recently met to not wear a dress was the suffering he must endure to seek out Lori.

Inconvenience? No. "It's none at all," Lenna replied. Her eyes stayed fixed on the dishes. Lather, rinse, repeat...

Which gun would she give him... hmm... she supposed she'd just pick out a better-functioning model of the same one he/she had had. She'd have to stay close, though. She still wasn't sure what all that magnetic field of Lori's would do to her gun outside her aur... outside her aura. Lenna paused, and set another dried dish away. It was still strange thinking of it like that.

My aura... It was a wonder the gun had worked as well as it had for the blond.

She finished the dishes, and eyed Mr. Missus's outfit. Lenna ran the towel over her hands as she spoke. "Alright. I'll go get the gun, and some clothes for you to change into." She tossed the towel against the side of the sink, and stalked off to her room, leaving The Ranger with her thoughts.

A few minutes later, Lenna came back with a change of clothes for Michael, and a new outfit, herself. Lenna wore a black long-sleeved over a white tank top, boots, and blue jeans. She held out a navy blue jacket, a pair of blue jeans, a pair of white tennis shoes, and a frilly shirt out in a stack for the blond. Against the folded jeans, a gun was pressed into place.

After Michael was dressed, the two exited the apartment. Lenna hailed a cab. They'd discussed crazy locations ManLori might take Michael's body before. Lenna had a hunch a night club was one of those locales. Thus, to the night club they went...

"Alright. I'll go get the gun, and some clothes for you to change into." Lenna replied before heading up to her room. The Ranger leaned against the counter to wait for her return. S/He was anxious to get onto Lori's trail, all that was needed was to find the trail.

The Ranger mentally ran over the information about Lori that Mars had given them, as well as a basic assessment of Lori from first hand experience. Before long Lenna returned, her clothes changed, with a stack of clothes crowned with a Colt m1911 that appeared in much better condition than the degraded, junk weapon in the living room. He had hoped for a Sig, or at least something chambered for .357 Sig rounds, but this would suffice.

The Ranger took the stack, thanked Lenna and went into guest room to change. The outfit was defiantly preferable to a dress but the frilliness of the shirt gave him/her pause. The Ranger didn't want to be rude and look a gift horse in the mouth and so s/he donned the jeans, shirt, and jacket before stashing the firearm in a purse and returning to the public area of the apartment. S/he slung the purse over a shoulder and slid on the tennis shoes. Thankfully Lenna thought to provide shoes, running around New York in flip flops or heels would be murder.

The Ranger and Lenna then headed out and on the way the Ranger grabbed up the garrison cap and when s/he crossed the threshold to the outside s/he donned the cap. Lenna hailed a cab and after a discussion of where to search for Lori. And then they were off.

The night club was silent during the day. It wasn't open yet. Perfect. They weren't looking to club yet. They were looking for information. Lenna paid the cabbie, and stepped out of the cab. She gestured for Michael to follow.

Silently, they entered the establishment. It was done up in light blues, that'd probably look better under dance lights. Lenna looked around for someone to talk to. Eventually, she found a bouncer.

"Hey," She caught his attention with a gesture. He came over to loom over them. "We're looking for someone who might have come here last night. Brown hair, brown eyes, good-looking. Texas accent? You see anyone by that description?"

The bouncer screwed up his eyes, and looked at the two women. "Maybe. I needs a refresha. Maybe one 'o you two gals could help?"

They arrived at the club while the sun was still high in the sky. They would obviously be closed but an employee may have noticed Lori in his body. Lenna paid their fare, stepped out and motioned for the Ranger to follow. S/He slid out of the cab and followed Lenna into the building.

They wandered the blue themed club for a short while in search of someone, and before long they located one of the bouncers. Lenna called and gestured the man over, "Hey," She caught his attention with a gesture. He came over to loom over them. "We're looking for someone who might have come here last night. Brown hair, brown eyes, good-looking. Texas accent? You see anyone by that description?"

The bouncer looked at them and answered with, "Maybe. I needs a refresha. Maybe one 'o you two gals could help?"

The Ranger smiled and strolled up to the bouncer chiming in with, "Oh, I'm sure I can help you with that." The Ranger knew what the man was hoping for and he was going to wish he had just answered the question. The Ranger's training on 'helping memory' had in one instance led to a pair of broken bones.

S/He moved so that s/he was about an arm length's away from the bouncer, slightly to his left. Reaching with his/her left arm the Ranger lightly pressed his female hand on the man's chest, a smile came to his lips. Lips that would soon be contorted in pain.

The Ranger used the arm as a ruler for this body's different dimensions and stomped her left heel into the man's instep. His eyes opened to their maximum. The Ranger then drove his female right arm forward jabbing the man in the solar plexus. Waves of pain forced him to lean forward, right into the rising left palm of the Ranger. The bouncers bloody face went back up as the ranger moved her left leg behind the bouncer's legs and pulled it back while shoving the mans chest with her left arm. The bouncer went crashing down onto the floor followed by the Ranger who flipped him onto his back, took hold of his wrist and wrenched it behind his back and up toward his neck.

The attack was fast and executed with trained precision, the bouncer was down before he could react to the attack. The Ranger dug a knee into the man's back and pulled the arm while calmly asking, "Can you remember now?"

The man was trying to yelling in pain, and yelling was not an acceptable answer so the Ranger's hand found the back of his head and slammed his face into the ground. "Come on, brown hair, brown eyes, Texas accent. Let's hear it!" S/He then pulled up the arm into a wrist lock, twisting it near the point of real damage before he answered.

"Lots of brown-haired brown-eyed handsome men with Texan accents come in! And... and you should come back later when there are people around and see for yourselves!" The man quickly squealed in a hurried and panicked plead for the end of the pain.

The arm was released and the Ranger stood up and backed away from the man should he try to lash out while still down. "That wad't so hard now was it?" The Ranger took a deep breath as his/her heart rate slowly came back down.

Aaaand before Lenna could show the guy just how serious they were, the one true man in the room did it for her. And boy, did she ever.

Lenna watched, and tried not to smirk. Operation 'not-smirk' failed, but the man's comment wiped the look from her face. That didn't help. They'd have to burn daylight before his suggestion served a use to them. She shook her head, and looked to the door.

"Guess we come back later, then. Let's go for a walk until then," she said, walking towards the door. As she walked, she looked to the Ranger. "Gotta say, though. You were good. Next stop, crash site of your car then?"

"Guess we come back later, then. Let's go for a walk until then," Lenna began as she walked o the door, "Gotta say, though. You were good. Next stop, crash site of your car then?"

The Ranger looked from the beaten man laying on the floor to Lenna, s/he then moved to follow Lenna out. Taking a few quick steps to catch up. "Thank you," The Ranger began, glad that in this body he could still ruin someone's whole day if need be. "And yeah, it seems ta be the best lead so far... Hopefully it idn't too banged up." The last part the Ranger knew was only wishful thinking.

Stopping at the door the Ranger turned back and barked toward the bouncer, "We'll be back later, you had better let us right in or there'll be a repeat performance."

Their cab hadn't waited. For this one, they caught a bus. The bus was crowded. Lenna took special care to stay near Michael as they made their way to a window seat. She didn't want his electricity frying the bus's engine when her proximity broke. They sat down between a blob with a mohawk and and old lady with short hair and shades.

A half-hour later, they got off in front of the shop. It was cordoned off with crime tape. Lenna crossed her arms, and looked at the sign for the store.

"... Well, that's a heck of a way to go." A perfectly good vehicle rammed into an adult store. Tsk, tsk. "You see any clues?"

That's New York City for you, the cabbie was off in search of other fares. In his absence Lenna and the Ranger hopped on the bus. A dilapidated slice of public transportation. Although in the Ranger's experience if something public isn't new then it isn't pretty. They made their way onto the bus and navigated the human sardine can to a pair of seats, between an overweight rockstar wannabe and and an old lady. What fun.

After a short half hour trip they climbed off the bus, the Ranger reminded of why he enjoys driving or at least riding a motorcycle around the traffic. The Ranger observed the scene. An adult store missing the better part of a wall, police tape blocking off the area, a pair of officers keeping watch of the scene, and the most dreadful thing since waking up a woman. A totaled General.

"That's jus' not cool." the Ranger muttered too himself as he stared in disbelief. Mentally rejoining Lenna the Ranger hears,

"You see any clues?"

The Ranger scanned the area, nothing seemed to jump out at him. The Ranger then watched the police. They were talking to each other just outside of the tape on the far side of the taped off area. "I have an idea... I jus' hope someone has insurance. Hang back a second."

The Ranger selected a red Miata as the unlucky target. S/He moved about seven feet away from Lenna and moving his female hand diverted a cab from traffic into the little Miata. Good thing they aren't focused on driving, that would have been hard had he fought it. The police hearing the crash looked behind them and running to the scene spoke over the radio.

"We might only have a few minutes, shall we?" The Ranger asked lifting the police tape to walk under it.

Cab hit Miata. Well, that's one way to keep them busy... Lenna mentally trailed.

>> "We might only have a few minutes, shall we?"

Lenna ducked under the police tape, and entered the scene. "We shall."

And so, the pair set to playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. They knew what had happened. It was more difficult to piece together how it occurred. Lenna peered through the door of the wrecked wreck, and stuck her hand to feel around. Nothing. She went around to open one of the doors. It wouldn't. Lenna tugged. She looked to female Michael.

"... Is it locked?" Tug, tug.

The pair moved about the scene, Lenna peering through the window and the Ranger moving to the crumpled hood. The crumpling gave the Ranger a handhold to grab and lift, forcing the hood open exposing the engine. Totally destroyed. "The hell's wrong with her!? Crashing the General!" S/He looked over and saw Lenna fiddling with the door and looking to him/her.

"... Is it locked?"

"Permanently. The doors're welded ta the frame. You have ta go in through the windows.

The Ranger then, being struck by a thought, made his/her way to the trunk. It was open a crack, s/he lifted it up to find the case inside which stored a few of the Ranger's more prized firearms, gone. "Son of a..." The Ranger trailed off and quietly shut the trunk.

>>"Permanently. The doors're welded ta the frame. You have ta go in through the windows.

"... Why would you even?" Ugh. That thought gave her a momentary headache. "What good is a door if you can't get in through it...?" It just didn't make sense. Ugh... Lenna shook her head.

"Alright. Is there a way we can get in there without looking stupid? I think I see something..." Maybe the police hadn't seen the TASER under the seat? Maybe they hadn't figured out how to get into the car?

"It's what stock cars use t' do back when they had doors. It's safer at high speeds t' insure they cain't open."

"Alright. Is there a way we can get in there without looking stupid? I think I see something..."

The Ranger took stood next to the trunk on the driver's side and replied with , "Either stand sideways an' go one leg at a time, or like this." The Ranger then, refrained from yelling out 'yee-haw' and grabbed the metal near the back window and jumped in. Which in this smaller body was much easier, except that the arm length barely cut it.

The Ranger then felt around under the seats and produced a taser lacking an air cartridge. S/He held it out to Lenna, "I believe this was yours."

>> "It's what stock cars use t' do back when they had doors. It's safer at high speeds t' insure they cain't open."

But this wasn't a stock car, was it? Lenna inwardly shrugged the thought off. It didn't matter. All that mattered... was getting the door open so they could get a clue as to where that crazy body had gone. This brought her to her next question...

Her reply had... not been what she'd expected. The Ranger slid right into the window, as easy as Southern flags and apple pie. Lenna blinked, and mentally refrained from uttering the comment 'men'.

>> "I believe this was yours."

"Mhm," Lenna pocketed it. "So, someone must have used this... wonder if that had any bearing on whether or not the car crashed?"

Her eyes dropped to the jerky wrapper, then swung to the interior of the shop. A bloody polka dotted brassiere sat all alone on the floor a ways in.

"It looks like it hit something before the window," She noted, pointing out the dent in the front bumper. "That'd usually be less prominent, if all they hit was glass. Looks almost..." She paused. It almost looked Mars-sized. "Hmm..."