Who? And Why?

[Shadowe]

This morning at approximately 9.00, a delivery has been made to the Fletched Alliance base, various items addressed to different people.

It includes -

Veskit: Tickets for a weekend (of his choice) for three in a local spa, and a banker's draft pinned to an advert for a baby-sitting service.

Kitmarch: Pre-paid vouchers for various eateries in town, sufficient for her to eat out every day for a month.

Kat and Jane: Tickets for a Carribean cruise.

Ali: A pink-slip for a brand new racing-model Mitsubishi Evo with an address pinned to it and a key.

Kelly and Vie: A copy of a letter (unsigned) sent to their school's headmaster that enclosed a banker's draft for the specific purpose of the construction of a new sports hall.

Cloe and Iris: A large parcel containing a wide variety of sensual massage oils and lotions.

((More to come as I think of them. The first thing for me to note is that this has not come from Richard, Sam or Helena.))

[Ves]

(( No real need for this, but I was bored and decided to have a lil write *shrugs* Enjoy ))

Scarpa slumped gratefully onto the sofa, his feet coming to rest on the nearby coffee table, as he lifted his breakfast and leant closer to savour it’s aromas. He closed his eyes and let the smell of the bacon, sausage and fried egg assault his nostrils, then leaned a little closer to take a bite…

“Oi, you lil rogue! You tryin’ to swipe me sam’ich?” he asked the nose, bright little eyes and shock of bright pink hair peering at him from the other side of his sandwich.

With a delightfully childish giggle, Tommy nodded, his teeth already sunk into the bread and causing the yolk to squirt all over Scarpa’s shirt. “Mhmm, s’good”

Laughing, Scarpa sat Tommy down beside him and after taking a quick glance round and spotting Ves by the door leaned down to the child and whispered “Come to see your Aunt Cy huh? Well, she’s fast asleep right now, but I have a mission for you that’ll mean she’ll get right up to see you. Interested?”

Tommy nodded again as he worked his way through Scarpa’s breakfast, beaming with pride at having a mission of his very own.

“Okay, once you’ve finished my sandwich, I want you to head over to the bar and take a look in the cooler bit. You’ll find a nice little ice bucket, should be half full still, anyways, I want you to take that, sneak real quietly into Cy’s room, and pour it on her head. Do that, and she’ll wake right up. Then she can tell you all about the mission she has for you. Think you can manage that, lil dude?”

Tommy frowned thoughtfully as he chewed, glancing over to his dad to see if it was alright though unable to tell as Ves leaned against the wall in gales of laughter. Turning back to Scarpa, the child threw a quick salute then moved in a pink-topped blur headed for the bar and then the private quarters of the base.

Ves and Scarpa made their way to Cyder’s door, listening carefully to the results of the infant’s mission, evil grins on both faces.

SPLASH!!!!

“Yaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! You little scallywag, just you wait ‘til I get my hands on you! I’ll get you with so much perfume you’ll smell like a cut little girl for weeks, mister!!”

The door burst open, Tommy giggling constantly as he dashed for cover while leaving Ves and Scarpa to face Cy’s wrath. Wrath which was manifested in the form of their heads coming together rather solidly. “I know one of you put him up to that, and it’s too early to work out which, so you’re both gonna suffer. Now then, I’m going to get dressed, and by the time I’m done I expect a plate with pancakes 6 high and a coffee and my morning paper. If not, I’ll be VERY upset” She then turned on her heel and slammed her door behind her.

*musical interlude goes here*

Cy sat and glared at Ves and Scarpa as she ate her pancakes, Tommy sat on the bar top assisting in both glaring and eating, then quirked an eyebrow “I assume, with the little boss-man here, this is a social visit. In which case, why so damn early?”

Ves shrugged and took an envelope from his pocket, tossing it over to her “Bit of both actually, that little lot decided to arrive at the FA base. What can you figure from it?”

Cy opened the envelope and cast her eye slowly down the list inside “Weekend trips, cars, cruises… Ha! Looks like Emo-kitty got a lame deal, massage oils, would have expected some kinda vacation at a mountain retreat or something. Okay, I’m getting some smug rich bastard, not a public personality mind, they’ve not given their name. Also makes me think this isn’t someone looking to offer you aid in exchange for endorsing their stuff, kinda like a sponsorship thing. Either someone’s real shy, or they don’t want people to know where the cash comes from.”

Ves nodded “One more thing that springs to mind however. My gift, and in turn Jess and Chlorr’s, is a trip out of the city. Kat and Jane, also taken out of the city. I don’t mind taking a vacation, was talking to Chlorr about doing just that the other day, but I don’t like leaving town because someone else wants me to y’know?”

“Kay, where’d I fit into this then boss?”

“Well, if we take this trip, it means we’ll need someone to take care of the little ones while we’re away. Only person left at home would be Viessa, and she’s too young to be left looking after kids when her folks are out of town for the weekend and the house is empty for her to party. Was wondering if you’d fancy getting a room in a hotel and taking care of them for us? I’ll have to talk to Chlorr as well, just wanted to know if it’s an option.”

Cy smiled as she thought about it, then raised an eyebrow slightly “On one condition, you have to let Tommy hear the mission I have for him, and you’re not allowed to decide for him. Deal?”

“Deal”

Cy hopped from her seat and offered Tommy her hand “C’mon little guy, this is all important business stuff, need to be in my office or it’s not a ‘real’ mission” and the pair wandered away happily with the two men following behind chuckling to themselves at the infants swagger.

Lifting Tommy to sit him on the edge of her desk, Cy sat in her chair and leaned back, tapping a finger against her lips thoughtfully as she looked him over before speaking. “Now then Tommy, as I’m sure you know, Scarpa doesn’t work with me all the time any more. He’s got a team all of his very own now, but that leaves me short of a right-hand man. What I want to know is, do you have what it takes to take his place? Can you be my chief assistant? Would you be able to keep any secret I tell you, no matter what people might do to make you tell them, even if they try sending you to bed early or make you take a bath?”

Tommy gulped nervously, it was a big demand, there was almost nothing he wouldn’t do to avoid bath times, even to the point of trying to get so dirty the bath wouldn’t be able to manage to clean him. Nevertheless, he nodded slowly, then stood on the desk and saluted Cy smartly “Yes boss-auntie”

Cy nodded and grinned “Thought you’d like the offer, however, we still need to get you all kitted out. Can’t have my chief assistant out of uniform, the rest of the guys might think they can as well. Scarpa, be a sweetheart and take ‘Lil T’ to get equipped for work.” She winked to Tommy “Lil T will be your working name, all the best guys have one, like Scarpa.” She then watched Ves’ face with keen interest as she called after the leaving pair “Oh, Scarpa, there’s a custom pair of Lacey Specials in the vault. Made ‘em just for our new recruit, be sure to make sure he knows how to use and reload before sending him back to my office”

“I assume you were joking about the guns. You are NOT arming my son to the teeth and sending him home, Chlorr’d have a fit if he strolled in with me carrying an assault rifle or something.”

“Relax would ya? Do you really think I’d do something that stupid? He’s far too small to carry a gun of that size. That’s why I made some specially designed for him. And yes, he needs to be armed, otherwise he’s not a real member of the gang is he? He’d feel all left out and that’s no good.”

Before Ves could reply the office door was swung open suddenly. He turned to see who it was, and regretted it instantly. Tommy stood in the doorway laughing helplessly, all kitted out in a perfect replica of Scarpa’s outfit reduced to fit the boy making him recognisable only by his hair, a gun held tightly in each hand.

Cy jumped over her desk and landed beside Ves, then with a giggle she threw an arm around his shoulders while lifting her free hand to pull the several suction cup tipped ‘bullets’ from his face “Well, looks like he knows who the real villains are eh?”
She then grinned as she crouched down to look Tommy in the eye “And nice work, knew I was right to have you as my top guy. Now then, you’re getting big and strong now aren’t you? The ice bucket was pretty heavy but I saw you running about with it like it was nothing, so you need a real important job to show just how good you are huh?”

Tommy nodded quickly, he was liking the sound of this, and no-one had shouted at him for shooting his dad yet… Maybe if he went along with this he’d be able to get away with it again some time…

“Glad to see you’re keen.” chuckled Cy as she took a photo from her coat pocket and showed him “See this person? Do you know who that is?”

More nodding, of course he knew who that was, how could he not know his own sister?

“Good, because I’m making YOU her personal bodyguard. You’ll have to watch over her all the time, only stopping to sleep when Chlorr, Jess or even your dad tells you it’s bedtime okay?”

More nodding

“And if any villains, rogues or scallywags get too close, what’ll you do?”

Tommy’s arm swung up, and a brief series of ‘pops’ as he fired several more ‘bullets’ at Ves told Cy all she needed to know.

“Good man, now then, business is all taken care of, how about we go watch TV for a while?” She asked with a smile as she offered the child her hand again. “And Ves and Scarpa can nip out and get us some popcorn and ice-cream since we’ve nearly run out.”


(( and yes, I know there wasn't much in there related to the plot type stuff, sorry about that, but there is some so it's kinda related and fits in ))