Morphing Into Shade

[Morph]

Kevin listened to this patchy explanation, if it could be called such. "Doesn't ring a bell," he said, even though it actually did, but he kept being on guard and didn't want to discuss his guesses too much here.

[Gambit]

"We all got our lives t' protect," Gambit said. "I'll protect yours if you protect hers. Ya do owe me a favor, an' I'm askin' for help. Ya won't get stuck dere, dat's for sho, I'll getcha outta there, but first we need ya t' get in. Whatever it is ya need t' keep your kid safe while we're doin' dis... project, I can help, too. As for de press-" he made a small pause, then continued, "Shade will remain anonymous for ya. Just as your participation in dis will remain anonymous for everyone else." He made it sound half a warning and half a promise - being something of a public figure, Morph probably also wanted to protect his own identity, or as much of it as his powers couldn't conceal.

[Shade]

Apart from that evening in the Hellfire, Shade had never met Morph before, but as was her nature, she was trying to see his point of the matter. Maybe, the fact that she did not have all her memories back yet, bereft her of some scepticism towards things and the experience of her last years, but at the same time she would not be really naive about it. Not after her "first" experience out in the mutant world had been having her brain befuddled by one of them. She listened to the exchange, trying to get a clearer picture of the guy with that useful - and also somewhat creepy- mutation. "We will tell you everything you need to know." she said in addition to Gambit´s words. "about what happened and where and how."

[Morph]

Morph had a pretty good idea that crossing Gambit wouldn't be very wise. He wasn't very well-versed in the art of bargaining over the conditions and obligations that he would be subject to if they really got this whole set-up going. It was an extremely precarious thing and he knew the only way to have the upper hand here for him was to back out before even starting.

"How can I trust you?" he asked directly, grasping for the last straw.

[Gambit]

Gambit nodded in Shade's direction. "She's your insurance. She wants 'er life back. Good, normal, safe, daylight life. I'll make sho ya'll be completely safe 'cause she can't get any without ya." He was hoping Shade wouldn't add anything to this because he wanted his persuasion ability to work here and Shade could disrupt it now.

[Shade]

With still large patches of her memory missing and piecing itself together one bit at a time, Shade still had no complete grasp of the part of Gambit´s powers that he had described to her back when she had tried to guess his code name. And that he surely had described to her before that, but that time was so far lost to her yet. She therefore only had a very vague idea of things, patches of memory of a female receptionist at a restaurant easily succumbing to his charms to give them a fancy table with a view that she had just claimed was no longer available... the thing that had happened at the border when they had stolen the car together and where he had made the cop believe that the car he was in while she sped ahead on the motorcycle was not the stolen one... patches of memory with only a vague sense to them. It was not what made her not interfere right now. What was was more of a curiosity, an undersanding that this was a crucial moment, a sort of stare down between the two men. That, and she was contemplating once more the meaning of words like ´insurance´ on the other hand .. and the fact that this guy was willing to move so many things just to get her what he had just described as ´good, normal, safe, daylight life.´ It sounded good. So Shade just stood there, not saying anything.

[Morph]

The entire scheme began to more or less settle in Kevin's mind. Gambit would ensure Morph's safety as much as was possible because, apparently, Shade's life depended on Kevin's presence. He didn't lie to himself, though - there was only one Shade and there were many metamorphs. If Kevin failed or, god forbid, died, he could be replaced. But, he added inwardly, he was most probably the only metamorph who owed a favor to Gambit and who would go for such a scheme willingly. So Gambit was bound by at least two conditions here. It was kind of convenient when you thought about it.

"Okay," he said at last, "let's do it."

[Gambit]

"Bon," Gambit said, not showing how relieved he was to hear the consent, finally. He thought that this had been one of his biggest quests in the recent years, drawing so many people into the script and convincing them to collaborate, one by one, and yet this thing still hung by a thread in all aspects, and he could only rely on his meticulous planning and ability to calculate all possible steps in advance, and also a tremendous amount of luck. "Let's go over de whole plan, den, or its rough draft."

He helped himself to some more coffee and said, looking at both of them, "Basically, it look like dis. Shade goes t' de police. Tells 'em she's committed de murder. Den tells 'em dat she been forced to do it against 'er will by someone named Manuel, gives a description as well-"

[Morph]

"Sorry-" Kevin interjected. "Is this Manuel the one we've talked about before? So is he actually guilty, or is this a set-up to frame him for a wrong reason? I'm not backing out, I just want to see the whole picture."

[Shade]

There had been some kind of tension that was almost physical and that had lessened a bit when Kevin had given his consent, but it was still there. Shade had planned to stay a bit more in the background for now to watch, to maybe find out a bit more about who this Morph was, because he no doubt had to be a good actor if he used his powers well. But now she spoke. "No." she said "He is guilty." Part of her felt somewhat offended even though she guessed the young man was just trying to assess the situation. "He manipulated me." She still was not sure how much she could trust that guy, how much into detail she could go, even though she figured she had to, if this should work. "I was just the tool."

[Gambit]

"Yah," Gambit nodded, "so den it's my turn. I go from de other end, droppin' a word to some people I know where to find Manuel. So dey find 'im - de rest is just a matter of time. To our advantage is," he started to bend his fingers, "Shade's amnesia, de fact dat Manuel don't know her full name or background, Manuel's attitude which is sho to promote 'im far into de case, and Shade's new history. Dis will be my job, though, an' I'll fill ya in on it later when it's all set. Now, any questions?" he looked at them both.

[Shade]

Shade´s thoughts were already spinning as she was sorting relevant from irrelevant information. There were a few things that Morph needed to know and that would work she was sure. She just hoped she could pull this all off, she had never been the best of liars and there was a slight change to the story. But then again, whether it was her brother or a friend that staged as the background here, did that really matter? She would be emotional about both and if anything, if Kevin didn´t buy the friend story he might just think it could have been a lover instead.
She considered all that, but came to the conclusion that it would work. After all the crap she had been through with this already, this would work out as well.

She shook her head. "No." she said, looking at Kevin. She was sure the guy had a few questions more than she did right now.

[Morph]

The way Gambit outlined it now, it seemed like an easy beginning with a complicated continuation, but Gambit seemed to have calculated at least some of it through, and Kevin had gotten out of enough dangerous and complicated situations in his life to let himself feel some confidence in all this undertaking. So far.

"No," he shook his head.

[Gambit]

"Good," Gambit said. He looked at Shade. "Shade, I need ya y'all tell us, without much detail, 'ow it 'appened dat night, to establish some scenario for Kev-" catching the other man's glance, he corrected himself, "Morph. Can ya do it?"

[Shade]

"Sure," Shade said, noticing the ´without much detail´. There were a few things to leave out, others to alter and still the story had to be precise and believable and thus not far from the truth.

"I was looking for a friend that had gone missing and thought I might find her in the part of the hotel where the murder happened." she began. "I did not find my friend but ended up looking in that hotel where I found Manuel in a room on the first floor, tied to a chair, obviously held against his will. I used my powers to sneak in, waited till the two men that were with him left for a moment and freed him, because I got that he was a mutant and these men were extremists."

She paused for a moment as if rewinding. Some of that still seemed a bit thick and tricky to get through, the amnesia still had it a little foggy even though she did remember that bit by now. "I found papers in the room which confirmed the kidnappers were the same people that were responsible for the death of a college friend of mine." Shade noticed that not having to include the night at her apartment and Jimmy´s death made it somewhat easier to stay focused.

"I took the list with me as evidence and intended to leave and report to the police but the men came back and I had to use my powers on Manuel to get away and hide downstairs first. We talked, he tried to convince me most or all humans just wanted our bad, I disagreed. That part...is actually a bit blurry because of the amnesia." She shook her head slightly. "When I wanted to leave he seemed to have accepted we had differing opinions. When I wanted to extend my powers on him to get us out invisibly, he used his powers on me. He is an empath, I did not know. He could feel and manipulate my emotions and he did that, focusing my mind entirely on my hatred and anger." Yes, keeping it short and neutral was okay, she decided.
"It made unable to control myself. I took a gun that one of the men had lost earlier searching for us, went upstairs, went into the room and found one of them. I shot him. The other entered the room when I did. He saw me for maybe a second or two before I vanished. I ran away and later disposed of the gun in the Hudson River."

But there was more to it of course.
"He had manipulated me so badly that he had channeled all the bad feelings inside me to make me his tool for a moment. This caused an amnesia covering several years and I´m still remembering all of it. I was disoriented, thinking I had only just arrived in New York so..I guess that can be used to our advantage and as a reason why I only go to the cops now. I needed time remembering and piecing things together."

That version left out a lot of stuff of course. The struggle and anxiety that had followed just as her own background. She had deliberately added details she found necessary, what floor she had found Manuel on, what they had talked about, briefly, thinking these were details Morph would need.