Post by question on Sept 25, 2010 11:06:12 GMT -5
(For plot purposes, this thread takes place before "Outbreak".)
"What's the worst part about a business vacation?"
"The business part, obviously."
Where had he heard that saying? Some syndicated, years-old re-run episode of a mediocre sitcom show with a half-hearted laugh-track? He decided to file away that line of thought for later, when he could puzzle out the answer.
It was a fairly chilly night in Metropolis, the city of...what did they call it? The city of today, the city of tomorrow? Either way it was funny, and Vic chuckled to himself behind his mask as he drew his trench coat in closer around him to shield himself from the cold. An idle thought - would it snow tonight? - shot down by a second thought - no, weatherman said it definitely would snow tonight. That meant it wasn't going to snow.
From his vantage point up on the top of an apartment complex, Vic watched as a group of thugs congregated around a burning trash can in the alleyway below him. They milled around, made off-color jokes, and roughhoused a bit with each other as the night went on. A few of them had liquor bottles in paper bags, and these were passed around the rest of the group liberally. Even from up here, Vic could smell the booze through his mask. Along with whatever they were burning down there.
And just why was he here right now, instead of doing work in some other, warmer city? Well, partly because he was on a job, and partly because an acquaintance here called him specifically for this...
---
Five days prior...
Vic shouldered his way into his apartment with a pizza box in tow, one slice already hanging from his mouth as he stepped gingerly around the moving boxes strewn about the floor. A blinking light from the counter caught his attention and he set the pizza box down on the coffee table, shuffling over to the phone as he devoured the slice of pizza in his hand. Checking the small lcd display, he saw that he had a couple of messages waiting for him; he hit the 'play' button before plopping down onto a chair, dragging the pizza box over to him so he could eat while he listened. The first couple of messages were real low-tier job requests, things like "I think my husband might be cheating on me" and "My cat has gone missing". He still did jobs like that, but only if there was a major lull in his usual work...he took note of them regardless, chewing on pizza crust as the machine started playing the last message. The voice was familiar to him - a woman named Sarah who lived in Metropolis. He'd retrieved information from her on a previous case, and she sometimes had some tidbits that were pretty useful to him.
She apparently wasn't calling to leave some information, however, as she began to ask Vic's help with a personal matter in Metropolis. It seems that her sister's little boy had gone missing, and they were without any leads. According to her, it didn't seem like a normal kidnapping case.
The machine reached the end of the recording, and the noise stopped abruptly as Vic was left looking down at his pizza, half-finished. He sat there for a moment, pondering his options, before taking the cordless phone off his counter and dialing a number. Before he was connected with someone, he hastily wiped his mouth with a napkin and brushed his free hand off on his pants leg.
"Hello? Yes, I'd like a ticket to Metropolis. No, first class doesn't matter. Name? Vic Sage..."
---
And that's what had brought him to this point; shortly after arriving in Metropolis, Vic learned that there was actually a small string of child kidnappings in the city, all of them seemingly with no clues or leads. He'd managed to find one connecting factor in the kidnappings, and that was the involvement of one of Metropolis' gangs. Nothing implicit, but all the kidnappings had occurred on the outskirts of their turf - and that's where the connections stopped. The gang was a fairly notorious one, mainly concerned with drug trafficking and racketeering, but Vic wouldn't put child abduction past them. The only catch was that the kidnappings were way too professional to be perpetrated by this particular brand of filth. They were an option, however, and perhaps he'd learn something by listening in...maybe someone in a higher position of power had hired them to keep their hands clean of the matters.
The evening was quickly fading into night, and fewer and fewer people were walking past the opening of the alleyway. Vic idly wondered to himself when these gang members slept.
"What's the worst part about a business vacation?"
"The business part, obviously."
Where had he heard that saying? Some syndicated, years-old re-run episode of a mediocre sitcom show with a half-hearted laugh-track? He decided to file away that line of thought for later, when he could puzzle out the answer.
It was a fairly chilly night in Metropolis, the city of...what did they call it? The city of today, the city of tomorrow? Either way it was funny, and Vic chuckled to himself behind his mask as he drew his trench coat in closer around him to shield himself from the cold. An idle thought - would it snow tonight? - shot down by a second thought - no, weatherman said it definitely would snow tonight. That meant it wasn't going to snow.
From his vantage point up on the top of an apartment complex, Vic watched as a group of thugs congregated around a burning trash can in the alleyway below him. They milled around, made off-color jokes, and roughhoused a bit with each other as the night went on. A few of them had liquor bottles in paper bags, and these were passed around the rest of the group liberally. Even from up here, Vic could smell the booze through his mask. Along with whatever they were burning down there.
And just why was he here right now, instead of doing work in some other, warmer city? Well, partly because he was on a job, and partly because an acquaintance here called him specifically for this...
---
Five days prior...
Vic shouldered his way into his apartment with a pizza box in tow, one slice already hanging from his mouth as he stepped gingerly around the moving boxes strewn about the floor. A blinking light from the counter caught his attention and he set the pizza box down on the coffee table, shuffling over to the phone as he devoured the slice of pizza in his hand. Checking the small lcd display, he saw that he had a couple of messages waiting for him; he hit the 'play' button before plopping down onto a chair, dragging the pizza box over to him so he could eat while he listened. The first couple of messages were real low-tier job requests, things like "I think my husband might be cheating on me" and "My cat has gone missing". He still did jobs like that, but only if there was a major lull in his usual work...he took note of them regardless, chewing on pizza crust as the machine started playing the last message. The voice was familiar to him - a woman named Sarah who lived in Metropolis. He'd retrieved information from her on a previous case, and she sometimes had some tidbits that were pretty useful to him.
She apparently wasn't calling to leave some information, however, as she began to ask Vic's help with a personal matter in Metropolis. It seems that her sister's little boy had gone missing, and they were without any leads. According to her, it didn't seem like a normal kidnapping case.
The machine reached the end of the recording, and the noise stopped abruptly as Vic was left looking down at his pizza, half-finished. He sat there for a moment, pondering his options, before taking the cordless phone off his counter and dialing a number. Before he was connected with someone, he hastily wiped his mouth with a napkin and brushed his free hand off on his pants leg.
"Hello? Yes, I'd like a ticket to Metropolis. No, first class doesn't matter. Name? Vic Sage..."
---
And that's what had brought him to this point; shortly after arriving in Metropolis, Vic learned that there was actually a small string of child kidnappings in the city, all of them seemingly with no clues or leads. He'd managed to find one connecting factor in the kidnappings, and that was the involvement of one of Metropolis' gangs. Nothing implicit, but all the kidnappings had occurred on the outskirts of their turf - and that's where the connections stopped. The gang was a fairly notorious one, mainly concerned with drug trafficking and racketeering, but Vic wouldn't put child abduction past them. The only catch was that the kidnappings were way too professional to be perpetrated by this particular brand of filth. They were an option, however, and perhaps he'd learn something by listening in...maybe someone in a higher position of power had hired them to keep their hands clean of the matters.
The evening was quickly fading into night, and fewer and fewer people were walking past the opening of the alleyway. Vic idly wondered to himself when these gang members slept.