The Marauders: Two Diana Ramsey came awake almost instantly, the brown haired woman who called herself Codex tensing up slightly as she felt the presence in her bedroom. She sat up, rubbing at her eyes and saw the woman who was standing in the doorway with a casual smile. "Breakfast is ready," Jenny Gibson said simply, her trademark shades covering up her light sensitive eyes. Oddly she wore pajamas too, the sunglasses looking even more odd on the black haired young woman. "Thanks," Diana swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, not really caring that she was just wearing bra and panties. "I thought it was my turn to cook?" she asked her as she looked around for her sweatsuit. "I kept you up helping me with my correspondence courses," Jenny shrugged, "seemed only fair to let you sleep in this morning." "It's not that hard for me," Diana answered dryly, swiftly pulling her pants on. She followed Jenny out of the room as she got her sweatshirt on. Voice a bit muffled by the cloth she asked her, "So is Freelance up yet?" "Yeah," Jenny agreed, "I had to scold her about doing battlesuit maintenance on the kitchen table again, though." "I'll try to talk to her," Diana sighed as they walked through the lower floor of the converted warehouse towards the kitchen. The warehouse was a compromise that Diana had made between giving her people some independence and having them be available when they were needed. The interior had been torn out and refurbished into something that resembled a apartment building, two floors of suites plus a large common room, dining area and a well stocked kitchen. Not all the team members lived here full time, of course, but the majority did. "Commander," Freelance said in greeting, looking up from where she calmly sat waiting at the table, her blue hair wet from a shower. Her skin was oddly pale, normally concealed beneath her namesake armored suit. "You can call me Diana, you know," she offered as she headed straight for the pot of coffee. Freelance just blinked, gazing at her calmly, Diana poured herself a cup with a sigh, looking a bit surprised as she sipped. "This is better than usual," she noted, "who made it?" "That would be me," Rusty Collins answered her from where the redheaded man stood by the fridge, pouring out cups of orange juice for the others as he added cheerfully, "I tried adding just a bit of cinnamon this time." "Keep it up and I'll make you the official coffee boy," Diana chuckled as she took another drink, savoring the taste. "He's good at it," Skids agreed, the blonde carefully setting out the forks and dishes. Unable to entirely shut down her slippery personal forcefield she always had to be cautious or things would slip right out of her grasp. "So what do you two think of our happy abode?" Jenny asked them curiously, smoothly flipping the pancakes that were cooking on the stove. She was a very good cook, especially considering how long she had lived rough out on the streets. "Surprisingly comfortable," a smiling Rusty quietly admitted, "especially considering how run down looking it is outside." "Protective coloring," Diana shrugged casually. "So how many of us are living here?" Skids asked curiously. "We five," Diana answered, "and Steve stops in pretty regularly for the food. Blaze and Reaper both maintain suites in different parts of London." "Why does Blaze call you a different name?" Rusty asked. Diana looked a bit uncomfortable as she said, "I first contacted her under an alias, and she doesn't let me forget about it." "Foolish," Freelance surprised them by quietly remarking, the dark blue haired girl sitting quietly at her seat. "Well," Rusty put the cups of juice down at each place as he said, "I just wanted to say thanks for giving us rooms here." Diana flashed a smile as she drawled, "Trust me, it's worth it to have you all available when I need you for missions." Jenny shook her head with a smile, setting the plates down for everyone. "Like you don't do charity cases, boss," she remarked as they sat down to eat. "Oh?" Skids asked as she dug into her pancakes eagerly. "Jenny," Diana frowned. Jenny looked up, black sunglasses gleaming as she said with a smile, "She's been known to take in lost sheep at times, but I can't really say more." Diana shook her head, "You have a big mouth at times." "I thought it looked about average sized," Freelance noted quizzically. "Figure of speech," Jenny offered an explanation to her cheerfully. "Ah," Freelance went back to eating robotically. They finished up breakfast in a less than comfortable silence, Diana volunteering to stay and help Jenny clean up. Rusty and Skids walked down the hall together, waiting until they reached their room before beginning to talk. "So what do you think so far?" Skids asked Rusty as she flopped down to sit on the side of the bed, bouncing on the soft mattress. Rusty ran a hand through his reddish hair, "It's almost too good to be true, honestly. We're getting well paid and offered a place to stay in return for using our powers for Diana." "And for whoever she's working for," Skids reminded him. "It bothers you, not knowing who she reports to?" Rusty asked her with a sigh as he sat down beside Skids, covering her hand with his. "Doesn't it bother you?" Skids narrowed her eyes, "However nice she may seem Diana's a professional mercenary, taking jobs from the highest bidder." "Which is exactly what we resolved to be," Rusty reminded her. He puffed out a sigh, "After our tenures with the Mutant Liberation Front and Magneto's Acolytes there's no way we'd be welcome at Xaviers again. We have to be ready to make our own way in the world." Skids sighed softly, laying her head on his shoulder as she said, "I know." Back in the kitchen Diana rinsed a dish off, setting it in the drying rack. "If you want to tell your own story go for it," she lectured, "but Freelance's story is her own business." "Sorry boss," Jenny sighed, scrubbing a plate clean then passing it over. Softening her voice a bit Diana asked, "Do you think that you want to try to make contact with your family? I could arrange a neutral meeting place...." "No, thanks," Jenny answered firmly. "They're worried about you," Diana said softly, "my sources say they've even posted a reward for any information about you." "They could have been worried about me when my invisibility first manifested," Jenny gave her a pained smile, "instead of throwing me out of the house." Diana put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder as she quietly said, "I won't push." "You never do," Jenny answered with a sigh. She washed another dish, "So what's the word on our two new recruits?" "I think they'll end up staying," Diana answered her calmly, "they'll debate it awhile but I'm pretty certain that they'll stay on." "Good," Jenny flashed a grin, "it's been hard enough trying to get a date around here, some new blood will make it interesting." "Jenny!" Diana scolded.
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