Officers only?

[Paladin]

A secret entrance to the back of the hotel had yet another poster plastered on it. Whoever was putting them up was very well informed.

[Cyclone]

Cyclone landed a few blocks away after the incident with Pyroclast, opting to take the rest of the journey back to HQ on foot. Which gave him a few good minutes to think about things before finishing up the last of the paperwork for the night, and before he had to start guarding his thoughts again.

What did I do to tip her off? Have I really been so sloppy? I wonder how long she's known, which one she she figured it out with. He turned a corner to go down another street. He could see some of the CCTV cameras here that had been hijacked by The General's forces. Always watching.

Maybe it was a telepath who figured it out. Goddamned telepaths. Back-stabbers, all of them. He stuck his hands in his pockets, looking down as he walked. You knew this is was going to happen one of these days, Richard.

But that being the case, why should he care? He was secure enough in his place in the army. It didn't matter what happened to the human women anyway.

Approaching the "hotel," he turned down an alley along one of its sides and walked toward a nondescript back door. That was when he saw the poster.

"Shit," he muttered, it's that 'freedom fighter' again. Gritting his teeth, he walked over to the poster and ripped it from the door. Yep, it was him, all right. But how did he know to put it here, of all places? He muttered a few curses and crumpled it up between his hands. Others would be even more furious than he was if they had seen it. He opened a stronger security door with a key card, pressed a button that read his fingerprint near a bank of elevators in a small, dark hall, and stepped in when the door opened.

This is all Mom's fault, he thought bitterly. It wasn't his fault that the man she used to be married to hid the fact that he was a mutant from her for so long. She went ballistic after that, though. He never saw his Dad again. That was when she started belittling me all the time. Telling me I'd better not have the X-gene, that I really wasn't worth loving. It was all just self-esteem issues, he knew.

I'm a worthy man. If I wasn't, I wouldn't have worked my way up so far. Then why was it that he still had problems being with mutant women, his supposed equals? Why did it just feel more right with a human woman? And why did he always have to...?

No. You're almost back on duty, best to not be thinking about things like that.

The door opened to the elevator and he stepped out, past a few armed guards who were always posted there. He wondered if they would be able to stop this "Paladin" if he decided that he really wanted to come into the building, but that didn't bear dwelling on, either. He headed for his office and stuffed the crumpled poster into the hands of one of his flunkies. "Take this to the lab, have them run prints. Again. Even though it won't turn up anything." None of them had, so far.

After the underling nodded and walked out, Richard looked back down at his hands. There was some blood under one of his thumbnails. Cursing again, he walked into the bathroom and turned on the sink. He looked up into the mirror as he washed, and saw cold grey eyes that somehow didn't look like his own.

You can get over this, Richard. Just try.

He sighed, looking away. He couldn't ever look into his own eyes for long. He shut off the sink and walked back out, ready to finish his work for the night.

[Hellsmith]

As Cyclone worked, a nearby speaker came on.

"Somehow I don't think the General's next move is what has you sleepless."

[Cyclone]

If he had been in any better of a mood, Cyclone probably would have smirked at the intrusion. Instead, he heaved a sigh as he sat down and flipped through some intel documents.

"I've had too much time to dwell on things today," he gave as an excuse. Though it wasn't entirely untrue.

[Hellsmith]

"And I'm sure our new visitor has nothing to do with that."

[Cyclone]

"Which visitor are you referring to? The sphinx, or the one going happy with the goddamned posters all over town?"

[Hellsmith]

"I could care less about the arts and crafts fanatic."

[Cyclone]

"Unfortunately, I have to care. He may not be an imminent threat, but the message he's trying to spread is another story." He tossed the papers onto his desk, frowning. "She isn't helping, though."

[Hellsmith]

"She's playing what she knows towards wanting greater access to the General. If she can have us wrong-footed as a result, all the better in her eyes, I suspect."

[Cyclone]

"Mmm. She do something to piss you off as well, or is that just healthy caution speaking?"

[Hellsmith]

"Tried. Didn't know as much as she thought."

[Cyclone]

He grunted at that; the noise sounded slightly pleased. "I like useful intelligence. I don't like people who think they can come in and shake up the established order." He looked up at the speaker. "How long do you think the General will keep her around?"

[Hellsmith]

"As long as she's still serving a purpose, or as long as she still amuses Harbinger. Either/or, I suppose."

[Cyclone]

"Mm. The latter part might keep her around longer. Do you know the full nature of her gifts? She apparently wasn't truthful with me when we first met...imagine that."

[Hellsmith]

"She couldn't hide her gift from me if she tried, inside here."

"Always reacts a split second before what she's reacting to actually happens. That's your clue..."

[Cyclone]

His brow furrowed. "Precog. Might've known it would be something like that.

[Hellsmith]

"Playing her cards close to her chest for now, though."

[Cyclone]

"She's no fool, that's for certain." He rubbed his chin. "Still, I'm guessing you'd rather either of us know that we know her secret yet."

[Hellsmith]

"Just something to keep in mind. I'd trust you not to do something stupid more than I'd trust Croyden."

[Cyclone]

"Such a major vote of confidence," he said, smirking. "Still, she did catch me off guard today." He glanced back at the speaker again. "Perhaps you saw." He was obviously somewhat embarrassed by the whole mess.

[Hellsmith]

"My job to see, isn't it? And to intervene, if necessary."

[Cyclone]

"True enough. I just love how she thinks she can come in here and threaten whomever she pleases in the command structure."

[Hellsmith]

"Then you're already forgetting a detail I mentioned."

[Cyclone]

"I know. Hopefully she'll only be...useful to her for so long."

[Hellsmith]

"If you're adamant that our new friend know her place, perhaps you'd best convince Harbinger that her new toy is more trouble than she's worth."

[Cyclone]

"I don't speak with Harbinger all that often, it could still possibly work..."

[Hellsmith]

"Remember, she rather likes to think she's in charge of the situation. If you insinuate that she's not..."

[Cyclone]

"Then it changes the game for our new friend. Drastically, perhaps." He looked down, rubbing his chin. "It could work."

[Hellsmith]

"As long as she doesn't think that you've stepped out of line."

[Cyclone]

He gave the speaker a look. "I know that I got to where I am mostly from what I've done on the battlefield, but I can be subtle when necessary."