Takes A Thief [IC]

[quotemyname]

Earlier...

Colt sped along the streets of West Freedom, patrolling on his cycle. He was traveling fast enough that his long brown coat whipped in the wind behind him. Jack preferred taking the night shift, which usually left Colt one of the day runs. Today was no different. Well, at least it started no different.

Colt's communicator crackled to life, ""Colt, you're needed back at the Brownstone."

"Patrol ain't over yet, Vince." Colt answered their AI, "I reckon it ain't worth doin'a job if'n it ain't done wit' when ya finish."

"It is now. Listen:" Vince patched him through to the audio sensors in the Brownstone. Not three seconds later, Colt executed U-Turn at top speed and was burning rubber in the opposite direction.

---

Colt wasn't used to being the last to arrive at their meetings. He was usually one of the ones calling them. So when he entered through the front door of the Brownstone, he made sure to disrupt the proceedings as little as possible.

"Afternoon, Talya," Colt tipped his hat toward their guest even as he let the goggles he'd been wearing on his ride dangle around his neck. "Reckon Vince's brought me up'ta speed. Carry on." Colt moved to stand near Grim, and gave her a peck on the cheek in greeting.

[Heritage]

After pouring the hot water for tea, Grim accepted the book from Tayla and inspected it closely, flipping the pages and even smelling it for some reason.

""As to the 'deal' with the book. It's mostly blank. It wasn't the last time I saw it. Which is all backwards. So, I thought I'd see if the resident fairy might have an idea or two as 'book that unwrites itself' seemed worth looking into."

Lynn frowned as she continued flipping through the book. "Did it occur to you that it might be a sort of magical anti-theft device, like a computer disk that wipes itself if you pull it out of the drive?"

She accepted Colt's kiss with a gentle smile, and returned it in kind. Holding the pages up to the light in the ceiling, she squinted as she sought any more clues.

"Though if that was the case, I'm sure Good Magician Humphrey would have some way to make the ink reappear." She held the book up in front to one of Vince's hi-rez cameras. "Can you pick up any traces of the ink, Vince, or would we need to bring this downstairs?"

[Geez3r]

"Either that or they wanted to draw attention to the bits that were still there." pointed out Eli being the devil's advocate. He was trying to give Talya the benefit of the doubt, for purely professional reasons mind you, but Grim did have a good point, and Talya's history wasn't exactly doing her too many favors either. He did however lean closer so he could read the pages as Grim flipped through them. There wasn't much to read however; just as Tayla said, there were more than a few empty pages. He read what little there was and started running through the stories in his mind, trying to pick out themes or phrases. "Don't suppose you've got a photographic memory and can start filling in details from the blank pages?" asked Eli to Talya, knowing the answer was most likely in the negative.

[Gizmo]

"Five bucks says the fairy tale characters have literally leapt off the page," Jack suggested dramatically, leaning against the kitchen counter next to his sister and crossing his arms, "and even now are planning their revenge on the real world."

Turning away from Eli's comical expression with a good natured eyeroll, Jill gave her brother a flat look. "Do I even want to ask?"

"Well, none of the other theories involve anything trying to kill us. That doesn't seem very likely," the swashbuckler pointed out.

[Dr Archeville]

"Mathhhter!," Igor!Vince slobbered across the displays in the Hanover home of Doktor Archeville. "There is... a dithturbance!" He pointed at the image behind him, the Brownstone at the end of a long, tree-lined road, squatting under dark stormclouds. A shriek split the air -- a recording of Grim's shriek, when she'd been startled by a spider in the shower one evening.

Archeville looked up from the worktable he was at, where he'd been working on a new type of brain scanner, combining high-resolution photography with specialized fluorescent molecules that would bind to different proteins and glow in different colors. The large watchmaker's loupe strapped to his ace magnifying one eye to comical proportions.

Oh, boy -- Vince is here! He is so delightful!

"A disturbance? What sort?"

"A woman, mathter! Natalya Browning -- Bombthell!" Lightning flashed and thunder boomed dramatically behind him.

Ooh...

"Tayla, eh? Is she there with Elena?"

"No, mathter! She ith there... alone!" And flash and boom, and a male scream (recorded when Colt discovered Eli had accidentally melted his Lightning Bug DVDs).

"Alone? Innnteresting..." He tapped his chin with the tiny screwdriver in his hands, "my involvement with the Interceptors is still a secret, so it would look suspicious for me to suddenly show up. I do not know if Elena has told her of my involvement with them, and I would prefer as few people know it as possible. Besides, I am sure she is there to see one of them -- probably Lynn, following up something from her birthday. Or maybe... hrmm."

She was flirting with Erik a lot at Grim's birthday -- more so than is usual for her -- and he is one of the types she would go after.

He nodded, "there is probably no threat to you or anyone there, but keep a sensor on things to be sure. Trust, but verify, and all that."

"Yethhh, mathter!," Igor!Vince slobbered, and staggered off-screen.

Archeville smiled and chuckled a bit, then returned to his work.

I am sure everything will be fine. Now, back to Science! If my calculations are correct, I will be able to use this to better map the neurons of the brain, and thus to perform smoother memory uploads!

[alderwitch]

"If it was a magic theft deterrant all of the pages would be blank, I assume, not most of them," Talya said wryly. "And it was that way before I lifted it out of the case or it wouldn't have caught my attention. I was down there to look at some of the illuminated manuscripts that are in the reserve case. Hence my cunning disguise."

She waved at the pleated skirt and shoes with an elaborate gesture and a quick wink. So that was the reason she'd worn such a get up. Why she wouldn't have gone with jeans and a sweatshirt like most actual college students, was anyone's guess. Vince's scanners would pick up nothing except that the pages were indeed blank, void of any of the vanishing ink tells in his memory banks.

"I have a very good memory - not photographic unfortunately - but I only gave it a passing glance the last time I saw it. That was years ago." Talya tapped one slender finger on her lower lip as if trying to recall it, "I was rather busy at the time but I'm certain it was on the desk deep in the bowels of a German castle. I rifled through it because we were looking then for magical artifacts that were being misused in the war but discarded it as it wasn't what we were looking for. Really, I think I deserve a prize for remembering the thing in the first place. Don't you?"

This was addressed primarily at Jack, with the sort of playful, challenging smile that would entirely confirm Doc's musings that the blonde bombshell was up to personal antics of her own at the Interceptor's Brownstone.

[Gizmo]

Jack looked up from the book to Talya, eye contact confirming that she had been speaking to him specifically. The little voice in his head which always screamed danger when Bombshell was around was certainly going off, but for better or worse he'd long ago perfected the technique for letting his mouth work independently from his brain. "Well, I'm sure we could work out some kind of reward system," he suggested smoothly, a suggestive smirk turning one corner of his mouth upward.

[quotemyname]

"Reward system?" Colt questioned. For the most part, the cowboy had remained silent during the proceedings. That is, until he felt it was prudent to make a judgment. He still wasn't exactly sure what was going on with this book, but he meant to find out. "So," He began, "Y'all got this here book. Used ta be one'a them nazi relic's back'n th'day. But now's just gone all blank. I got two questions fer ya: Was this just one'a them crime's'a opportunity, or'd y'all go seekin' this book 'cuz there's somethin' else goin' on? And, have y'all tried actually readin' what is left on them pages?"

[alderwitch]

"You hero lot and your need to use words like 'crimes'," Talya arched a brow at Colt, the teasing smirk she'd been sharing with Jack turning into a quick hard smile. "It wasn't a 'Nazi relic'. It's a book. An old book. I didn't read it at the time - I skimmed because there were men with guns and I don't enjoy the sensation of bullet wounds. It was some archaic fairy tale - something with princesses and wishes but that's all I remember. It was in French. It's the same basic opening from what I flipped through but there are a good deal less pages."

"And it really isn't any of your business what I was looking for this morning and I'm certainly not going to answer when you ask like that. Any other questions I can answer? Would you like an approximate value on the book?" Talya said, back to playing the con artist to the hilt, mask once more in place - even if this one had nothing to do with fabric. "I really have no idea but I could lie. How does fifty grand sound? One fifty?"

[Gizmo]

Jack smile stiffened slightly on his mouth but remained in place. "Reward system," he confirmed, his tone exaggeratedly light as he gave his weathered friend a significant though subtle gesture with his chin. "System of reward."

"Jeez, if somebody's gotta explain that one to you, it's gonna be a dull honeymoon," Jill drawled dryly, resting her chin in one palm and giving Colt a sidelong glance. The teen's attention seemed piqued when Talya mentioned that the book had originally been French; as evidenced by her pseudonym at Claremont, the younger sibling was considerably more interested in their father's side of the family than her brother.

[Heritage]

"You hero lot and your need to use words like 'crimes'," Talya arched a brow at Colt, the teasing smirk she'd been sharing with Jack turning into a quick hard smile. "It wasn't a 'Nazi relic'. It's a book. An old book. I didn't read it at the time - I skimmed because there were men with guns and I don't enjoy the sensation of bullet wounds. It was some archaic fairy tale - something with princesses and wishes but that's all I remember. It was in French. It's the same basic opening from what I flipped through but there are a good deal less pages."

"And it really isn't any of your business what I was looking for this morning and I'm certainly not going to answer when you ask like that. Any other questions I can answer? Would you like an approximate value on the book?" Talya said, back to playing the con artist to the hilt, mask once more in place - even if this one had nothing to do with fabric. "I really have no idea but I could lie. How does fifty grand sound? One fifty?"

Grim gently laid a hand on Colt's arm and took a step between him and Tayla.

"Okay, let's not deal with hows so much and focus on the whats and whys; besides, Tayla is dating Elena, who is both a friend and a powerful telepath, so I don't think we have anything to worry about."

She turned to face Tayla, a warm but slightly stressed-out smile on her face.

"So, faerie tales about princesses and wishes, eh? Well, that covers about half of all faerie tales. I think the French ones are more like Puss and Boots; y'know, a bit more fanciful than the Brothers Grimm stuff, what with all the people getting their hands and feet chopped off. Very hardcore, but hey, whaddya expect from the Germans?"

She adjusted herself slightly and gave Erik a nod.

"And you could be right, Jack; stories coming to life is pretty much what Avalon is all about, so who knows, it could be happening in our world."

And lastly she turned to team speedster, pointing at him with both hands.

"Eli, you've got to be the fastest reader here, even faster than Vince, I bet. Can you tear into this and give us a synopsis, without talking like a human encyclopedia? Maybe we can kinda figure out what's missing from what's left."

Then Grim stopped herself and slapped her forehead.

"Dummy, it's in French! Eli, can you be a pal and learn French real quick so you can do that thing I asked? Or do you think it would just be easier to have Vince give it a shot?" ;)

[Geez3r]

"Yeah.... about that. I sort of maybe kind of got a D in French. Not exactly my forte." said Eli sheepishly. "But that was before I got the powers. If I'm able to learn it now without difficulty, I will never stop kicking myself. I did however, transpose all of the data from the book into Vince's databank in the time it took you to slap your forehead." continued Eli with a grin. "It should be done buffering in a moment, and then the translation program can finish. I've been getting better with computers too. But I know how you guys get when I get all technical, so I'll spare you; this time." added Eli. "Oh, and sorry if I filled up a bunch of your RAM just then Vince. I should probably give you more of a warning next time huh?" chuckled Eli. Ah wait crap! I could have totally thrown in a cheesy one liner in there like 'It looks like, 8-) time's on our side. YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. Oh gawd I have got to stop watching so much TV...

[quotemyname]

"Aw, dangit." Colt protested, grabbing his hat from his head, and flopping it onto the counter. "That's what'a git fer blinkin'." He gestured to Eli with a somewhat satisfied grin.

Colt turned, and addressed their guest. "Talya. I reckon yer right. Ain't non'a those details'ma business. Point'a was tryin't make was't y'all gat'a problem what needs solvin', that right?" Colt's smile grew. "Well, that much," He waved a finger through the air, gesturing to the assembled interceptors, "Is our business. An' y'all c'n color me yella if'n y'all ain't come't th'right place."

"Vince?"

[alderwitch]

"Well, to be fair, telepathy never has worked well on me. That's why I was such a thorn in Elena's predecessor's side. It doesn't really work any better for Elena. Besides, what would be the interest in a relationship where you knew what the other person was thinking all the time. Takes out the mystery. The romance." She slanted a sly glance Jack's way, "...the challenge."

She shrugged then, her hair rippling slightly with the gesture as she finally pushed away from the wall she'd taken up a stance in front of and walked over to accept her tea. "...and we're not 'dating'. But the idiosyncrasies of that relationship are really neither here nor there."

Curling her fingers around the cup she nodded, making a little 'have at' gesture before pointing out. "I do know French, but alas, speed reading is not my forte. See, I knew you all would be the right lot for this little mystery."

The book, however they read it, would start with the usual, "Once Upon a Time..." and go into the meandering and overly florid descriptions of the beautiful princess and her terrible curse. There was only five or six pages of the wordy (and really not terribly well written) story and then it ended abruptly. Just enough to establish the narrative scene and setting before ending abruptly in the middle of a sentence. Eli, however, with his ability to focus between the ticks of seconds, would see the latest sentance vanish. Anyone else looking, it would have vanished between one blink and the next.

[Geez3r]

"Wait hold on." said Eli suddenly. He opened up the book, and pointed at the last page with text on it. "There was a sentence there just a moment ago. It vanished, like just now. It wasn't unwritten. It's being unwritten right now. It's an ongoing process." Eli paused for a moment to make sure everyone got the point. "This keeps up the story's gone for good. Now it could be that I've been watching too much TV and seen too many movies. But when something like this happens, it usually means that what we thought was a fairy tale was actually a documentation of real events in another realm. Weird yeah, but stranger things have happened." finished Eli hoping the rest of the room didn't look at him as if he was starting to lose it.

[Heritage]

"Well, to be fair, telepathy never has worked well on me. That's why I was such a thorn in Elena's predecessor's side. It doesn't really work any better for Elena. Besides, what would be the interest in a relationship where you knew what the other person was thinking all the time. Takes out the mystery. The romance." She slanted a sly glance Jack's way, "...the challenge."

At Tayla's mention of her 'unique' relationship with both Elena and telepathy, Grim rolled her eyes and conjured up a small sign ala Wile E. Coyote that read 'I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU HERE, LADY!'

"Wait hold on." said Eli suddenly. He opened up the book, and pointed at the last page with text on it. "There was a sentence there just a moment ago. It vanished, like just now. It wasn't unwritten. It's being unwritten right now. It's an ongoing process." Eli paused for a moment to make sure everyone got the point. "This keeps up the story's gone for good. Now it could be that I've been watching too much TV and seen too many movies. But when something like this happens, it usually means that what we thought was a fairy tale was actually a documentation of real events in another realm. Weird yeah, but stranger things have happened."

The shapeshifter dismissed her sign as she tried to wrap her head around what Eli was saying.

"So this is bad, right? This is like Marty's picture of his family disappearing at the end of Back to the Future, only we don't know who this princess is or what she represents. And we don't know if she's disappearing from our world, Avalon or somewhere else."

She looked at the various faces in the kitchen.

"Anyone know a good candidate for our faerie tale princess?"

[Gizmo]

An inconspicuous panel of wallpaper next he fridge went dark briefly before lighting up again with Vince's image, the avatar's coiffed head expanding comically like a balloon until a large belch deflated him back to regular proportions. "Woo! Easy there, lightning bug, I've been trying to watch my weight!" The AI was largely playing along for the sake of comedy; even full, it would have taken an entire library of such books to give his processing power pause.

Jill shot the simulated talk show host a flat look before turning to Eli. "If it was documenting real event, wouldn't it be adding lines?" the teen pointed out dryly. "Either way, since we've already established that I'm a Queen..."

"You're a royal pain, alright," he brother interjected with a short snort, rubbing the back of his neck at Talya's pointed looks. It was tough to do much in the way of reciprocal with his teammates cramping his style, but at least it would keep him out of trouble. Not that I actually mind trouble...

[alderwitch]

Talya's eyes crinkled as they fired through different possible scenarios and finished her tea while options were discussed, "Well, I see that I've put this in good hands although, if you want my two cents, I'd do a bit of research before you go leaping. Even if you do tend to leap before looking, its important to look before landing. If you catch my drift. You don't know who wrote it in the first place. For all you know, it could be something very bad trapped in the book."

"But, I think I've added what I can. So, my thanks for the tea and for the aid and research."

Talya went to make her good-byes with the Interceptors, offering a hand to them as she passed but when she got to Jack, she grinned. It was a wicked smile that said she was up to no good at all and reached for the lapels of his coat to plant a quick but very-not-at-all platonic kiss on his lips before turning back to the Interceptors at large to say, "If you find you do need help, of course, call me. Jack has the number."

[Heritage]

"Well, I see that I've put this in good hands although, if you want my two cents, I'd do a bit of research before you go leaping. Even if you do tend to leap before looking, its important to look before landing. If you catch my drift. You don't know who wrote it in the first place. For all you know, it could be something very bad trapped in the book.."

Grim adopted a pained expression. "But heedlessly leaping headlong into danger is what we do best!"

Beat.

"Seriously, I'm not even makin' that up."

"But, I think I've added what I can. So, my thanks for the tea and for the aid and research."

Lynn happily shook Tayla's hand, always glad to have folks over to the Brownstone; security be damned! She offered the classy British dame a crisp salute.

"We'll do what we can, ma'am; the Interceptors are on the case!"

"If you find you do need help, of course, call me. Jack has the number."

The tiny shapeshifter squinted as she appraised the cat burglar anew, and muttered under her breath.

"Well that's...that's a lotta work for one darn kiss. Guess she really does love the chase."

Then she casually turned her back on Erik and Talya, in case he wanted a chance to reciprocate... ;)

[Gizmo]

Talya had barely stepped away before Jack turned to the rest of the team, walking slowly backward as he said, "Hey, y'know what? I've got a really promising lead I want to check out, so you guys work on that whole 'research' angle and I'll go... do that." Gesturing over his shoulder with one thumb, he spun on his heel and jogged after the ex-thief.

Jill's expression conveyed a complete lack of surprise. "Somebody's got somebody's number, alright."

[Geez3r]

And Eli's jaw dropped. And all thought in Eli's head stopped. The world could not be so cruel and unfair. How does he always get the womens?! While Lynn had the good grace to look away and give them some privacy, Eli continued to look at them as if it was a train wreck. He couldn't even muster up a glare as Erik followed Talya out the door. Not that he hated Jack or anything, he just wanted Jack to know that he did in fact suck.

Forgetting who exactly he was talking to for a moment, Eli asked Jill "Honestly, what does he have that I don't?"

[alderwitch]

Talya paused at the door frame, turning back slightly when she heard Jack make to follow her and a smile softened her features for a moment with her profile facing the kitchen. It wasn't the taunting or even smug smile - it was a smile that made it clear most of those sharp, wicked smiles were as much of a mask as the black leather she covered her face with.

"Is it that planning really isn't your strong suit, handsome," She teased and offered him one slender hand to take. "Or, did you come to make sure that I take nothing with me that doesn't belong to me on my way out?"

[Gizmo]

The coltish teen propped her head up on a pair of fingers, resting her elbow on the kitchen counter and letting out a resigned sigh. "Buddy, you are asking the wrong girl."

Rather than simply take Talya's hand, Jack held it gently in his own and bowed low with a dramatic flourish to brush a light kiss over her knuckles. "Well, it would hardly be gentlemanly to let you walk home on your own. You could be robbed!" His expression held mock sobriety as he straightened and stepped slightly closer, but the swashbuckler wasn't able to maintain it in the face of the blonde's smile, a boyish grin pulling at his features.

[quotemyname]

At Tayla's mention of her 'unique' relationship with both Elena and telepathy, Grim rolled her eyes and conjured up a small sign ala Wile E. Coyote that read 'I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU HERE, LADY!'

The shapeshifter dismissed her sign as she tried to wrap her head around what Eli was saying.

"So this is bad, right? This is like Marty's picture of his family disappearing at the end of Back to the Future, only we don't know who this princess is or what she represents. And we don't know if she's disappearing from our world, Avalon or somewhere else."

She looked at the various faces in the kitchen.

"Anyone know a good candidate for our faerie tale princess?"

An inconspicuous panel of wallpaper next he fridge went dark briefly before lighting up again with Vince's image, the avatar's coiffed head expanding comically like a balloon until a large belch deflated him back to regular proportions. "Woo! Easy there, lightning bug, I've been trying to watch my weight!" The AI was largely playing along for the sake of comedy; even full, it would have taken an entire library of such books to give his processing power pause.

Jill shot the simulated talk show host a flat look before turning to Eli. "If it was documenting real event, wouldn't it be adding lines?" the teen pointed out dryly. "Either way, since we've already established that I'm a Queen..."

"You're a royal pain, alright," he brother interjected with a short snort, rubbing the back of his neck at Talya's pointed looks. It was tough to do much in the way of reciprocal with his teammates cramping his style, but at least it would keep him out of trouble. Not that I actually mind trouble...

"Dangit!" Colt exclaimed, "I really was hopin' I could STAY innis dimension. Anyways, Jill, if'n it were written'n a parta it's gettin' messed up, it might start un-writin'. Weird, weird thing happen when ya mess wit th'flow'a time'n all. Ain't that right, Grim?"

[Dariusprime]

After listening intently for several minutes, Fulcrum couldn't help but mumble under her breath and raided the fridge. For those with sharp hearing, something along the lines of Give me a break was muttered by the paragon. She clanged around in the big one just for her and Eli before emerging with a bottle of water and can of lemon-lime soda.

Leaning against the counter near Ellie, she continued watching the scene play out between Jack and 'shell. Leaning down to Ellie, she mumbled, "After this soap opera, no one here can say a damn thing about Viktor and I. Not a thing."

Eli, on the other hand, was always good for a joke, intentional or not. Don't get her wrong, she knew he was quite serious, but the situation was undoubtedly funny, poor guy. She reached out a long arm and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, don't worry about it, Eli. Certain people attract certain types. With your Science Whiz vibe, you should check out the local techie hang outs. You'll have to fight the ladies off with a stick."

"Besides...," she began, before glancing to door, and back to Eli with a skeptical look, "...really?"

Did she mention anything about the book? Or contribute to the discussion? Hell, no! Either than greeting and saying goodbye to Bombshell, she stood there dumbfaced and silent. Maybe she'd been hanging around Viktor too long, but the whole erasing-magic-book-thing was way outside her expertise.