Summary:A very angry family of Frosts plot the destruction of pirates that attacked a Frost International humanitarian aid shipment near Greece. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Emma is a bit irritated, more than a bit, when she exits her home office. Eyes of blue flash, and she briefly is glad to /not/ be a telekinetic. Muttering, she strides statefully to her room, not unlike the majestic glide of a Destroyer across a bay, and emerges a few minutes later dressed in a (for her) modest bikini and sandals. A white towel over her shoulder she heads for the balcony and pauses - looking at the full bar. Tempted. So tempted.
She pauses…and then moves on, firing up the jaccuzi and just sinks into the thing to let it soak the rage out of her.
It is the single ongoing challenge of living with an empath, especially one that has long since learned to slide right past one's normal mental defenses. It is less than ten minutes later that a certain mocha-skinned purple-eyed daughter comes padding barefoot out onto the balcony. She doesn't say a word, just climbs up and lowers herself down into the jaccuzi to join Emma. It is not much later that Emma's currently silent daughter shimmies around the bubbling pool and slides behind Emma, starting to massage her neck, shoulders, and up along her temples.
Pris never once says a word. Doesn't ask any questions. Does not pry, not even telepathically. She just makes herself present, and tries to help Emma through her palpable stress and upset.
It is a very difficult thing to cope with, a loving daughter you can't hid your cranky from—-but, Emma is starting to understand, and she has little choice in the matter. It isn't like it would even cross her mind to protest. Truth is she -needs- the attention, and they all need the love and support of their family.
After a few moments, she lets out a soft sigh, and then the tension starts to melt away. "Thank you, Pris." She murmurs. Inside there's still turmoil, and then Emma continues. "One of our humanitarian aid shipments overseas was attacked by pirates, all hands lost." Oh. Well. That IS a good reason for the rage.
Pris can feel the /dark/ urges inside her mom, the need to punish. "I'm probably going to do something fairly…final about it."
"Not alone, you are not." Priscilla answers softly as she continues to hold and massage Emma. There is no condemnation there for that rage, nor those urges to punish. Not in the slightest. "How much do we already know?"
Emma can't help but snuggle back into Pris, needing the touch, needing the contact, frankly — needing the love as much as Pris needs to give it. "No, not alone." She agrees. "I have agents gathering intel, so far it seems to be an outfit based in the Dodecanese islands, somewhere, near Greece. Once we have a location I am going to scout it Astrally, and then we'll see what happens next. Likely won't be a for a few days, but I'm not going to just wander about without a plan." A hand moves up over a shoulder, cupping Pris's neck, sliding into the mocha beauty's thick hair. "So…we wait."
"You could let me scout them." Priscilla murmurs as she continues the massage, cradling Emma, supporting and soothing her. She cannot take away the pain of that loss, nor the anger it fuels. Nor would she. But she can and will support Emma, especially in this; innocents have been murdered, and others endangered by someone's vile greed. Pris may not be a 'big damned hero', but that's one of those things that will get her off her dark, secretive arse and ready to fight. "For now, can we establish better security, and put another flotilla of aid on the way? Catseye and I can stow away on the ships, kill anyone who comes for them, and take what evidence is available. And then those people don't have to suffer at the destination."
"I want to be there." Emma says with absolute finality, Emma's a doer. She works through intermediaries well, and she can delegate, but -vengeance- is a hands on thing for her. Still, the woman has a very keen mind and a healthy dollop of sense. "Though your idea does have appeal." A faint sigh as Pris's strong and very very talented empathy guided fingers find and eliminate tension node after tension node. "Gods, we should definitely get you training in physical therapy, you'd win a Nobel Prize." A smile up to her daughter over a shoulder. "It would also let us see if there's a leak onboard…and yes, a second relief ship is being prepared now, it will launch in about twenty hours."
Priscilla smiles and leans close to kiss the back of Emma's neck, meeting that smile over the shoulder with her own dancing purple gaze. "I cannot fit all three of us on my bike, Emma. We'll need one of your planes, I am afraid. And neither my sister nor I are letting you come along unless you have proper body armor and weaponry. We are not taking the chance these assholes are somehow immune to telepathy." That said, Pris is only too happy to get said training, and eagerly will apply herself to it. "I will let Sharon know, so she can clear her schedule and deal with classes." Because she is not leaving Catseye out of this mission; her sister would never forgive her, and it should be her own decision.
Vengeance needs to become a family affair. They're so damned good at it!
A soft sigh at the kiss, her smile fully 'real' and her eyes backing that up. Emma is only ever this open with her daughters, really. There's pretty much nobody else in the entire world she is this trusting of, though she does have considerable fondness for T'Challa of Wakanda and Mari McCabe 'Vixen', they're friends, and trusted ones.
A soft laugh. "Obviously we just need to build on a side car." Emma teases, knowing that would play merry hob with the flight profile of the bike. "I do have a few plains, and a number of helicopters we could use, so that won't be a problem. Either of which can carry the bike as cargo." Eyes of blue half lid, and then she just curls up against her daughter, heed resting on the dark skinned beauty's shoulder, fingers plied to scalp through Pris's dark hair, her free hand resting curled up between them in the bubbly-hot water.
Priscilla offers a warm chuckle of amusement at Emma's joke. "Believe me, if I thought we could get away with a pair of sidecars on the bike, I'd go for it in a heartbeat to take you two with me." And Pris means it. "You going to be OK, now, if I go call Sharon? The sooner I tell her what is happening, the sooner she can adjust her schedule. And she needs to not feel like we're holding out on her, even a little bit." Pris knows what can happen when a tight-knit group has problems with someone feeling excluded from the telepathy club; she won't let that happen to her family.
Emma thinks before she answers, and then mmms softly. "I think I am, thank you, love. I'll just conventionally soak for a bit longer I think." A kiss to her daughter's chin, and then Emma slips to the side to let free her lap. A roll of her shoulders, and then a soft and happy sigh, before Emma sinks until her chin rests just barely submerged. "Don't mind me, let her know, tepe if she needs anything or you do…and Pris, thank you very much. I love you, I am so happy we ran into you in that leather goods store." A chipper wink. "Give Sharon my love, I'm done with it for now. Oh, you can have half, of course."
Only enough minutes later for Priscilla to have climbed out of the jacuzzi, wrapped herself in a towel, returned to her room and thoroughly dried her hands, Sharon's phone will ring, or buzz, or otherwise display the notification that the lovely lavender-haired beauty and brilliant Colombia University student has a phone call from her sister.
Catseye answers the phone, "Hihi PrissySissy." Her tail twists with amusement at giving her sister yet another nickname, especially since Priscilla is anything BUT Prissy. "On way home… made a few stops. Need anything?"
"Nothing too important, Catseye." Priscilla offers, her voice warm but tense as she responds to Sharon's greeting. "Calling to say I love you a lot. But also calling to say that Mother has a problem. I thought you should know as soon as possible, in case there's some way you can rearrange your schedule and join us in dealing with the problem." No bad details over the phone; just in case.
Sharon's tone gets serious. "Can be there in ten minutes, traffic permitting. Less if abandon car." How serious is it? She'll parkour-kitty across the few blocks left if needed. Either way, it won't be long before Sharon is rushing into the penthouse to find out what is wrong. Since the kidnapping she has been a tiny bit paranoid about something happening to Emma.
"No need for any of that, Sister Dear. I promise you that. I would tell you it was an emergency if it was. But Mother and I are going to be going away to deal with something." Priscilla explains. "I knew you would prefer to come with us, and I knew the more time I could give you to make arrangements, the better that would go for you." See? Love and respect from family. Cooperation and understanding. "So, don't rush. But when you get home, we'll talk. If you can, try to arrange to be gone for about a day, probably starting … fifteen hours from now."
That said, Pris does dry off the rest of the way and put on some clothes, if only because it's a bit rude to flop around all nude on Emma's nicest furniture in the common areas of the home.
Sharon comes in, bags over one arm. "Emailed assignments to professors… said coming down with cough, might have to miss class." Yes, she did it from cloud storage via her phone. Yes, she has most of her assignments finished way in advance. Yes, she is paranoid something will go wrong and she'll need the cushion. "MotherMotherFrost alright?"
Priscilla stands and shimmies over to Catseye promptly and wraps her in a big hug. "She is, absolutely. I promise. I would never lie to you about that. She has not been hurt, and she is not in danger." That said, Priscilla lets go after giving her sister a kiss to the forehead. "Now, let's go put your things away, and we can talk about her problem, and what we were thinking we'd do about it. Since you have things arranged, I'm going to assume you'll want to join us."
Catseye drops food off in the kitchen, her books and backpack off in her room. "Want to know, yes. Want to _help_." Her eyes are round, worried, but she keeps her peace for now, until she knows what is going on.
Priscilla follows Catseye to Sharon's room, and settles on her bed with her, taking the lavender-haired girl's hands in her own. "Have faith in me, as we have faith in you. If she was in danger, if she was hurt, I would tell you. I will never hold out on you. Breathe, sister dear." Pris is good at being a calming, reassuring influence. She's not even using her projective empathy; she could, but she considers that cheating. For now support, reassurance, and words are all she needs.
"Short version, Mother was sending a shipment of humanitarian aid. Pirates stole it, and they killed the crew. She is rightfully upset. We are going to go find those responsible, and set things right." Emma's daughters are as capable of dark intensity as their mother. Such a lovely family.
Entering from the patio dressed in a thick terry robe and toweling at her hair, Emma tracks them to Sharon's room by their auras, and heads up before joining them on the bed. A hug for each of her daughters and a kiss for each on the cheek. "Hello Sharon. Up for a boat ride?" She asks with a smile that is anything but warm, a predator's smile eager for the hunt. Something all three of them share.
A brief scan of Cat to see what Pris shared, and then she nods. "They killed people of MINE. They did so when there was /no/ need. I have agents seeking their base, we will be going there, and we will -end- them." Her fury is FULLY kindled as she says this, and it is a /glorious/ firestorm.
Catseye starts a rumbling growl, coming deep in her throat and chest. "Not worried about silly things like -arrests-, yes?" The glint in her eye would be at best called vengeful. "Remove pirates, reclaim ship. Keep some alive long enough to find out if they had backer?" She tilts her head, and nods. "All black costume, no emblem. Let Catseye change." Black bodysuit, boots and gloves, all of which will shift with her. Ending up naked in front of pirates not one of her preferred methods of distracting that type of person. They usually find staring at their own viscera sufficiently distracting.
Priscilla hugs both her sister and her mother. "The new ship won't be ready for almost nineteen hours. No need to change yet. Besides, whatever the agents can find might be useful." She shrugs. "My idea was that we should secret ourselves on the new convoy, and ride them to port and safety. If the pirates hit, we hit them then and there. If not, we've made sure that the aid gets to those in need. And then we can go after the bastards who did this, knowing those in need won't suffer for the wait."
"I was originally going to scout from the Astral, but Pris's idea was sound and also put me in situ for the d%<233>nouement." A fond smile to both girls. "Apparently she was averse to her mother taking action." The sense of wry is /tangible/. She teases, knowing full well that Sharon is about 9 thousand percent in accord with the 'protect mothermotherfrost' paradigm.
"So…yes, 19 hours, then we hide aboard the shipment, I actually have used special shipping containers for just that purpose in the past, I'll have one loaded, we'll be able to ride in comfort and monitor the ship's systems within it."
A firm nod. "No 'captures', no 'arrests', this op is blacker than Blackest Black /or/ VANTA black. Nobody can know we're there, were involved, agreed?"
Catseye nods, "So time for dinner, sleep, and good breakfast before go." She snags a go bag from under the head of her bed, tossing it on the bed. "Will leave phones here. Have app to backload on them, choose up to five apps, set times, will open app, run it for set time, close it again. Can even choose websites to browse. Have similar app for computers, will delete both when return." The apps will make it seem like the three of them are home, online at something close to their normal patterns, nothing to set off alarm bells and giving them electronic alibis.
"Wow. So NICE having a genius sister!" Priscilla crows, hugging Catseye from behind. "That's awesome. Sure." And she promptly fishes out her phones. Yes, she has two. "I'll change my message on the burner, just in case something comes up while we're away." And she might, just might, telepathically tell her girlfriend not to panic, but that she'll be unreachable for a day or so. Not where. Or doing what. Just so she doesn't panic.
Said girlfriend words for SHIELD. Pris has good reason not to let her panic.
"Just in case, we're taking the bike. Mother, do you already have proper body armor and weapons? Or should we go visit my safehouse?" Pris inquires.
Awww. Isn't it cute? Even Emma's daughters have plans within plans, and safehouses.
"Clever." Emma approves, handing over her own phone, and her smart watch. She's sure Cat has already got her computers infiltrated, she counts on it in fact, -knowing- that Cat is better with them than herself. "I have already informed the board that I was going to be incommunicado for two days." They were not thrilled, but…she does have close to 60 of the total stocks, so…yeah…nothing much they could do about it.
Emma smiles to Pris. "And pretty, don't forget pretty." She adds.
And then at the question of armour she goes not to her closet, but to her makeup table. She pushes down on the oval mirror, and then the entire thing splits down the middle, separating to reveal a storage space inside of which is a shiny silver costume, a matching helmet, and several weapons cases. "You're both on the security, make sure you grab the rose at the top of the mirror so it can scan your biometrics." The space? Hollowed out of one of the support beams. Emma gets kitted up, and then once the helmet is on, adjusts a dial on the belt, darkening the suit to a pure matte black.
"HOw's this?"
Catseye nods approval. "Is good. If was doing sneaky-sneaky would want dark grey, not black. But not going to be sneaky for long once pirates arrive." She doesn't so much smile as bare her teeth. "Though might want to strap down a little, make less obvious pirates are going against three women." Pris can shift herself more flat chested, and Catseye won't be in smoothskin for long but… "UGH… purple fur too obvious. If want to keep our crew alive, either have to have mothermotherFrost erase memories or catseye has to DYE fur!" She gives a pitiful mew at the idea.
Priscilla sighs. "I need to take Catseye to my safehouse so she can talk to the computers there. I have no idea how to add anyone to the security." She hasn't needed to do that, like, ever. So it wasn't a thing. "Catseye is right. But yes, I much prefer black for this op." She eyes her sister and frowns, considering her situation. "We're going to need a vacuum cleaner." Usually Pris doesn't care about trace evidence left behind, because her cells don't fall off like normal folks; hello healing factor. But she is aware of the problem, it's something the old team discussed many times.
"Cat sounds like she hates the thought, and feeling, of dying. So I am more inclined to go with telepathic, and then clean up after ourselves. But I'm listening. I've never planned an op for more than just myself before."
"The coloration can go from shiny silver, to white to deepest black, it is very flexible." Emma says with mind-smile for the girls. "It is only conventional body armor otherwise, not meant as front line. Still, it will do the job." He combat harness has a sword, a pair of gravity knives, and a pair of handguns. "Odds are they are not immune to my power, but…this is not the same as we're SURE they aren't."
A moment of thought, and then she nods. "We'll clean up both forensically and via mindwipe, Sharon, you'll be in charge of the electronics erasures, Pris, you'll assist with the mindwipes and I will aid you with the forensic clean up. Good training for us both."
"OK. That's a good plan. Mother, we will need to go over the rest of the gear later. We split everything evenly. Acid spray. Bleach spray. Vacuums. Water canons. We can leave them in the container until the fight is over, then clean up and leave." Just in case it comes to that.
And yes. Priscilla used to be a member of a Covert Action Team that hid itself and its operations from the likes of SHIELD. So she does know how to do this.
"Why don't we relax for now. Dinner. We can talk about the convoy, what it was carrying, where it was going. We have hours to go before we leave, we might as well let ourselves unclench for a bit." Pris offers. Yep. There goes the empath, looking after everyone's emotional well-being.
Catseye nods, "Catseye had stopped on the way home from school… brought dessert." A strawberry cream cake! But dinner first. Food is important.
"I believe that dinner is curry chicken and shrimp fried rice." Emma smiles towards Cat after removing her helmet. "Also shrimp spring rolls." Because the chef knows his audience! "Dessert sounds very nice, Sharon."
She nods to Pris. "The plan does seem solid, I confess my usual 'black ops' were done through mercenaries and patsies in most cases." She seems to accept the approval. "So, yes, we should eat and relax, then head over to the airport so we can join the ship. The cargo is mostly medical supplies and food, nothing of exceptional market value." Which is a big part of why Emma is so mad. It was genuinely a mercy mission.
"Sounds delicious." Pris offers, as she stands to join her family in heading for the dining room. They may not always use the services of their chef and other servants, but it is rather nice sometimes. A lot of the times. And why not?
Sharon heads down to dinner with the others, and keeps the conversation about school, but when the staff are around her tone is a little less bright than normal, she rubs at the side of her head and sinuses once or twice, her tail is down curled around the chair leg. It's little things, she wants to look like she is trying to hide being sick, rather than hamming it up that she is sick.
She even only goes for a single shrimp eggroll. Sacrifices!
«Clever kitty.» Emma sends to her. «If you'd like I can make you /actually/ feel ill.» She offers in patently teasing tone, and yes, Pris is included in the mind chatter. Then a veritable flood of love, and approval for her clever kitty. "Sharon, I think you're going to bed directly after dinner." Emma says rather firmly, and then looks to the chef and other staff. "Actually, perhaps considering the current circumstances you should all go home and spend the next three days with your families." Which makes Emma look like the nicest boss ever, AND thanks to Cat's 'sick', something she has an excuse to offer.
"Don't worry. I can clean up the kitchen." Priscilla volunteers, smiling, happy to help out the staff and let them start that three day vacation early. And hey, that'll mean once they're gone Catseye can have more shrimp with no one the wiser. There cannot possibly be a downside to that! "No need for any of you to risk taking this home to your families."
Sharon lashes her tail weakly. "Catseye is fine… just… headache. Will take a hot bath, read a little, be -fine- in morning." Yeah, the staff are believing she's sick now. If she had agreed, they might think she was faking it. But the lackluster protest is more believable. Especially since she does have a healing factor, but it isn't a great one. If she's droopy, it's probably something like the flu that would kick a normal person's ass. She takes her slice of cake. "Will eat cake in bath." The fact that she's delaying eating cake … yeah, the staff will believe she's sick.
Emma seals the deal for the staff. "Time off - *with* pay." The reaction is precisely what the Frosts all want, soon they're all that remains in the place, top to bottom. "Go ahead and dig in, Sharon. We've time, eat up, and then we'll gear up, get into the cargo container, and rest." Emma is eating, but she /never/ overeats. She's too mindful of her figure and lacks any special means to burn off the excess calories. She COULD envy her daughters - but she doesn't, she is just proud of them.
"I'm happy to pack more for later, while we wait." Pris offers her sister, but she's not about to stop her eating what she wants now that the staff is well and truly gone. And she really will clean up the kitchen spotless, as promised; not doing so would be a gap in their alibi, after all! "When you two change, I'll head back to my safehouse. I shouldn't be more than forty minutes on the bike. When I get back, we can go." And with a spare power cell, just in case.
Catseye snags two more eggrolls once the staff are gone, and a larger piece of cake, then helps with the cleanup. She eats a lot, then again she burns a ton of calories, and sometimes doesn't eat at all for days. "Pack for light breakfast for two of you, yes? Catseye can eat after it's all over. Fresh water more important." Though she can go without that longer than smoothskins as well. Once things are tidied up, she goes upstairs to change and grab her go-bag.
EMMA even helps with the clean-up and provisioning, more the latter than the former, but she's done /far/ lowlier tasks in her life. She has staff, yes, but she's not /incapable/. Okay, she's barely competent to cook for herself, she honestly just doesn't enjoy cooking so she never learned. Her needlepoint however, is quite good! "Mmm…excellent thought, we'll want something low bulk, and high calorie…" Emma raids the fridge, getting some bagels and cream cheese.
A smile to Pris. "There's a generator inside the cargo container, but yes, a spare, by all means." A nod towards the door. "Go ahead, we'll finish up here, love. Get your gear, don't forget the clean up tools we'll need for the forensic clean up." How many mothers get to deliver /that/ line and mean it?
"Water is most important, definitely." Priscilla offers. Once everything is cleaned up and provisions have been put together, she packs them in a cooler - yes, how pedestrian! - pulled out of the staff closet. Then she gives her mother and sister hugs and kisses on the cheek, and heads out. "No problem, Mother. Be back soon." And off she goes. Her intent was to make sure she packed a spare power cell for the bike, in case this leads into a chase. Always best to be prepared, no matter what.
As promised, Priscilla will return some forty minutes later, burdened down by a large backpack, as well as two sling packs. She has not changed into her costume, since they have plenty of time, and she isn't sure if they are taking a chopper or anything to the plane that requires them to be in civilian garb rather than recognizably Up To No Good. "I have everything, as promised. All your prep go OK?" she asks her family.
Be afraid, pirates. Be very afraid. The Frosts are going hunting.