14327/Stakeout

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Stakeout
Date of Scene: 05 March 2023
Location: New Lots
Synopsis: Cyclops stakes out in the cold a group of anti-mutant thugs. A local homeless shares a heating exhaust vent while he watches.
Cast of Characters: Maria King, Scott Summers




Maria King has posed:
It had taken awhile for Scott Summers to get a lead on a group who had been preying on mutants in Bushwick. Late night assaults. Vandalism of openly mutant-run businesses. The kind of prejudice and hatred that their kind often had to deal with.

But eventually the lead had come. A vehicle, scene in the area of an incident on two different occasions. Using a hack of the DMV had shown it was owned by a business elsewhere in Brooklyn, making it unlikely to have been in the area on those two occasions at such late hours.

It's late and the vehicle, an old hatchback, is sitting in the alley beside a plumber's office. There have been a half dozen men in their twenties to thirties that have gone inside since the listed closing hour. Two of them were carrying twelve-packs of beer. Though so far no one has left, certainly not to head over to Mutant Town and cause any problems. The incidents not occurring nightly, this might take a little while to confirm they are behind them.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott isn't exactly a crimefighter or a detective, but he's gotten the hang of some of it. He's had to be a little bit of everything, at different times. He pulls up on his motorcycle and pakrs quietly and a little distance away.

He has his visor on, just in case, but otherwise is dressed like a civilian, with a checked flannel shirt over a Levi's tee, jeans and sneakers. He isn't intending to act tonight, just get a peek at a few of the individuals and maybe snap a few pictures to see if Kitty can find any info on them.

He kind of wished he had a beer of his own. Oh well.

Maria King has posed:
The evening is a quiet one, only a little traffic both on the street and the sidewalk. The temperature is dropping down to freezing now that the sun is down, and there's just enough of a wind to make the cold worse.

There's nothing open nearby that would allow a view of the plumber's office from warm confines. No cafes or anywhere one could linger. Though there is an exhaust vent, a floor grate along the wall of a building just down the street that is blowing warm air. Warm enough to cut some of the chill in the night air.

Maria King approaches the alley's corner. There were a couple of drunks in the building where her hidden squat was. Enough that she couldn't get into it. Which meant she was stuck out in the cold, bouncing on her feet to try to keep them warm. Though she knew a few places, even if she couldn't find an indoors spot, there were places to be had in the city where one could beat the cold.

Peeking around the corner, Maria spotted a man already standing on the exhaust grate. Bundled up, standing not too far away from a motorcycle, wearing a warm flannel shirt, and what look like some kind of sunglasses though it's night time.

She lets out a sigh and looks back down the alley. It's a long way to the next spot she might try, and by now it's probably got a few people lying on it. The girl studies the man quietly for a few more moments. She doesn't get a bad feeling about him like some people give her. Deciding to take the risk, she walks out around the corner, sneakers silent as she walks over to the grate. "Evening," she says meekly, her hood pulled up so he likely can't even tell if it's a girl or a boy yet.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott Summers sees the girl approaching and keeps his posture neutral. She might be a scout, someone sent to check out a potential intruder, but, more likely, she was just an innocent bystander.

Scott nods to Maria, pretty comfortable with young people as he has to be due to his position at the school. Maybe not as comfortable as some.

"Hello," he says softly. "Everything okay?" he asks. He may be here on his own business but it doesn't mean he has to be rude.

Maria King has posed:
The slight figure stops beside Scott, within the blown warm air of the grate, but not closer than she needs to be to accomplish that. She looks up at him, a bit of light from a street lamp illuminating the delicate features of her face, confirming it is indeed a girl within the loose clothing.

"Yeah," she says back softly, and the voice as well as the glimpse more fully confirming her gender. "Just cold," she tells him as she shifts her feet about, to stir up circulation on them.

The girl glances up and down the mostly deserted street. The plumbing office isn't the only place with lights on, but it's one of the few at this hour. "Was hoping it was going to warm up," she comments to him, perhaps assuming he's in similar straights as she if he's out this late.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott Summers nods, "Weather says it will, but not for another day or two. Probably get some rain tomorrow," he says.

He is not great at small talk.

"You know those guys who hang out there?" he says, gesturing to the building he's watching. "I think they might be up to no good. Don't tell them I said so. Not that you know who I am."

"You cold a lot?" he asks after another moment. "You out here on your own?"

Maria King has posed:
The weather update draws more interest from the petite teen than it might from most people. "Oh?" she says as she looks up again, Scott getting a clearer view of her face as she does. She lets out a little sigh of disappointment, as if the prospect of rain is a bigger deal to her than it would be to most people. Another thing that might make him suspect as to what her life might be like.

The girl turns to glance at the plumber's office, and then back at Scott. He can probably almost sense the thoughts tumbling in her head. Whether to talk or play dumb. Apparently her opinion of those associated with the place is what drives her decision.

"I know of two who do," she says. She gives a little kick at the exhaust grate, as if it were aimed at them. "Kind of people I could do without, you know?" she says, the girl's arms pressing in a little closer against her body as if the memory drives that posture meant to help make oneself feel protected.

"This time of year? Always cold," she says. Her head droops a bit about the question if she's on her own, enough answer to it.

Scott Summers has posed:
"I can imagine. If they're as bad as I think they are, I'm sure their friends are no better. Especially for mutants like me," he says. He doesn't ask if the girl is one, although given the neighborhood it's likely. He's had to temper his urge to fix everything when it comes to Mutant Town. Not everyone wants a lanky red-eyed savior messing around in their business.

"Spring's coming soon," he says. "That thrift shop down there, Randall's, I know they have coats for not too much," he says. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet, fiddling around for a few minutes and then pulling out a couple of bills, two twenties that he hands over, "That ought to do it. Might get you a bite to eat, too. I know you didn't ask. You'd be doing me a favor. Maybe feel like I did a little good out here tonight instead of just freezing my nuts off watching assholes play poker."

Maria King has posed:
Maria King only looks at the offered money for a brief moment before accepting it. Not like in the movies where the homeless are proud and defiant, and not dealing with a belly that feels perpetually empty as it does in Maria's case. The money will all go towards food, at that.

"Thanks," she tells him. She looks over at him a little more closely, eyeing him up and down in a way she hasn't before. "Met some mutants before. One was a turtle," she says, which might make one wonder whether she's making a joke or speaking truth. Though nothing in her tone makes a joke of it.

Someone comes down the sidewalk across the street, heading into the plumber's office. "Huh. Yeah, he's an ass too," she comments after the man has gone in without seeming to notice the pair leaning against the wall over the warm vent. "Yeah, think maybe I'll... go find something to eat. Um, good luck," she tells him.

Scott Summers has posed:
Scott Summers snorts, "Turtle, huh? Well. At least you get a shell. That sounds useful," he says.

He lets the girl go because he doesn't want to drag her into whatever's going on here. He's not going to bust asses tonight but he will soon enough. He might need help. He might not. It might feel good just to beat the hell out of these guys all by himself.

"Take care," he says softly.