“You think he noticed his stuff missing,” Anna asked Ororo as they made their way to their safe house so they could count their take.
“I don’t think so,” Ororo responded distractedly as they ducked inside.
“Ro,” Anna said.
“Huh?” Ororo said, looking through the dirty window out to the street.
“It’s just a job remember? Nothing personal, right?” Anna told her, saying her words back to her whenever Anna felt a pang of something for their mark.
“Yeah but he was cool for a white boy, you know?” she said, leaving the window and joining her sister, “He was different somehow and when we danced, he had some serious moves.”
“Yeah, I liked Jibril too but what you always say,” she told her, looking up at her as she took the cash out of the wallet, “Benjamins before Benjamin.”
Ororo smiled at her sister’s mention of their mantra when it came to guys. Though she had no problems with this ideology in the past, somehow tonight, she was struggling. She looked down at the watch and wallet in her lap. Opening it, she gasped when she saw the amount of money in it. She counted fifteen one hundred dollar bills.
“What?” Anna said, leaning over to look. She gasped as watched her sister leaf through the large bills. “Cha-ching!!”
“No, we have to give it back,” she said, pulling a few of the bills out. She knew she had to return the wallet somehow. Grabbing a scrap piece of paper, she wrote a message on it and put it in the wallet with the money.
“You’re kidding right?” Anna asked, watching her sister’s movements.
“No, I’m not,” she said, just as a voice came through the watch.
“Chere, this be Remy from de club. Ah advise ya to return what ya took. Logan not one ta play with and he lookin’ for ya now. And he will find ya.”
“Ro, what are we going to do?” Anna asked, looking fearfully from the watch to her sister.
If they know who took it, why not call the cops? Ororo thought, trying to come up with a plan.
Making a decision, she said, “Take this and give me the wallet.” Ororo handed her sister the money she took from Logan’s wallet and took Jibril’s wallet from her, “Now go out the back and meet me at the spot.”
“Oh, hell naw,” Anna yelled and was immediately shushed by Ro, “You said we would never split up.”
“We are not splitting up. I need you to be safe and the only way that can happen is to keep you out of sight. If I’m not at the spot in 30 minutes, call Paul.”
“Ro,” Anna said, tearing up a bit.
“Anna, please just do what I asked you to do,” Ororo said, giving her sister a tight hug and quick kiss, “Don’t worry. I’ll be right behind you.”
Ororo stepped out of the safe house and was immediately grabbed from behind.
“Let me go,” she cried out, fighting to control her mutant power.
“Not ‘til ya return what ya took from me,” Logan snarled in her ear, feeling humiliated and hating the feeling.
“I can’t, not with you holding my arms,” she replied, relaxing a bit but still on guard.
“There,” he said, loosening his grip on her, giving her room to move her hands. She lifted them and quickly broke his hold, thrusting her butt into his midsection, pushing him back from her.
Shocked, Logan watched as Ororo took a few steps away and stood in a defensive posture, holding the wallets and his comlink in her hands.
“Here’s your stuff,” she replied, tossing them to him.
Logan caught his watch and glanced down at wallets that fell at his feet. When he looked back at her, he saw her running down the alley. Growling, he picked up the stuff and chased after her, closing in on her quickly. He leaped and tackled her, landing roughly on the ground.
“Get offa me,” she told him, struggling against his hold.
“Not ‘til ya tell me why ya ripped me off. Now we can do this the hard way,” he growled in her ear, squeezing her tight to emphasize his point, “Or we can do it the easy way. Yer choice.”
“Easy,” she said, sounding defeated. As soon as he pulled her up, she threw her head back hard, hitting him in the nose, causing him to release her. She rounded with a high kick but he blocked it, wiping the blood from his nose.
The next thing Ororo knew, she was on her back and Logan was on top of her, pinning her to the ground. She looked up into his face, briefly distracted again by his eyes. Falling prey to her thoughts and hoping this catch him off guard, she kissed him, causing him to look at her with wide eyes.
Effectively distracting him, using all the strength she could muster, she lifted the lower half of her body, throwing him off balance and rolled, she straddling him. He frowned and grabbed her, flipping her on her back again. They stared at each other, both breathing hard, surprised by what the other did.
“We can do this all night, darlin’ but I don’t think yer dress or wig was made for fightin’,” he replied, noticing the tears in her dress and the way her wig sat askew on her head, “Let’s talk.”
After a minute, she nodded and he stood, holding out his hand.
She allowed him to help her to her feet and suddenly, she punched him hard in his shoulder.
“That’s for grabbing me. You scared the mess out of me,” she replied, shaking her hand a bit before adjusting her clothes and wig and he watched.
“Ya had it coming,” he growled, not appreciating the hit, “Tell me why ya did it.”
“Tell me why you didn’t call the cops.” she countered, her arms crossed in front of her breathing heavily.
“I knew I could handle it,” he replied honestly, absently rubbing his shoulder, impressed at the strength of her hit. She’s stronger than she looks, he thought.
“Oh, I guess you figured you would come and rough me up a bit,” she replied, her hands going to her hips, “Got a rude awakening huh?”
“Yeah,” he replied, enthralled by her moves and heart, “But ya didn’t answer my question.”
“I needed it,” she replied softly, her bravado deflating.
“Why didn’t ya just ask for it?”
She chuckled humorlessly, looking up at him like he was crazy. “Yeah, you’re definitely not from around here,” she told him, “People just don’t go around giving people they don’t know money. Things like that might happen where you’re from, but not around here.”
“How‘d ya know if ya don’t try?” he asked, taking a tentative step closer to her.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hit you again,” she said, watching his slow approach, as she wrapped her arms around herself.
“Alright, so tell me,” he said, ignoring the calls of his friends over his comlink. When he saw her look down at it, he replied, “They can wait.”
She looked deep in his eyes and sensed that he was being sincere. A little voice said Tell him. Heeding the voice, she took a deep breath.
“What was I suppose to say, Logan,” she began, taking a step back to put a bit of space between them, “Hi, my name is Ororo and I’m homeless. Can you buy me a drink and maybe a bite to eat because I haven’t eaten since yesterday? Can you give me a few dollars to help me support my sister?”
He watched her, not sure what to say.
“Depressing, right? Not really something to bring up in casual conversation with someone you just met,” she replied, turning to face him, taking in the sad look on his face. After a minute she said, “I didn’t take all of it.” She nodded to his wallet.
“Ro, I,” Logan began, taking a step toward her and softly touching her shoulder, but was interrupted when Anna came running down the alley.
“Leave my sister alone!!” she yelled at Logan, brandishing a metal pipe. Logan turned in time for the pipe to connect with the side of his head, knocking him off his feet. He landed with a sickening, metallic thud, hitting his head on the ground.
“Oh my God, Anna. What did you do?” Ororo yelled up at her as she knelt beside Logan, watching the blood run from the gash at his temple.
“I thought,” she said but stopped, gasping as the wound closed on its own. The only proof anything happened was the blood that covered the spot.
“Did you see that?” Anna said, kneeling on the other side of Logan.
“Yes. I’m guessing he’s a mutant too,” Ororo replied, looking up at her sister angrily.
“I thought he was attacking you.”
“We were having a conversation,” Ororo replied, pulling off Logan’s watch and examined it, looking for a button so she could respond to the voices that came through it. She hit a button and said hello.
“Dammit Logan, where the fuck you at, man?” Jibril said angrily.
“This isn’t Logan. He’s hurt. You have come to quick,” Ororo said into the watch, “He’s in the alley behind the laundromat, four blocks east of the club.”
“Are we just going to leave him?” Anna asked, looking at her sister as they both stood.
“No, we are going to wait until they get here and then we’ll leave.”
“How? You don’t really think they are going to let us walk away when we hurt their friend?”
“No. They won’t see us,” Ororo replied, looking up as they heard a car approaching, “Stand over there.”
Leaning over, Ororo kissed Logan’s cheek and put his watch back on his arm as her eyes turned white. She called up a gentle wind to lift her and her sister to the fire escape above them. They watched as Remy, Marie and Jibril pulled up in a late model Dodge Charger and rushed over to their fallen friend.
“He’s out cold,” Jibril said, reaching his side first, “He got the wallets back.”
“Let’s get him to Hank,” Marie said, picking Logan up and taking him to the car.
“Yeah, let’s,” Remy replied, looking up and seeing the girls as they floated up to the roof of the building.
“What ya waiting for, Swamp Rat?” Marie called out to him, “Let’s get the hell out of heah.”
