nextgenerationmarvel | I Hope You Know I Pack a Chainsaw ((Open to Sage))

((OOC Note: This takes place shortly after Marcelo leaves from here.))

Marcelo managed to keep his calm facade for a couple blocks away from the soiree. His steering wheel got a few angry smacks. They had done it somehow. They had managed to take Stephanie from him. He was realizing nothing a nice human could do would stand up.

So, he would get others. They might not go for Reginald Crane, but there would certainly be people who would want to take down Crane's boss. He pulled his Tesla Roadster out of traffic before he slammed into the back of something because someone was not driving the way he liked.

He glanced at his wrist and saw his wrap-around cellphone. He took it off and hit the contacts to call the one person he figured could help him go in the right direction. She had appeared in his office not long after Stephanie's father 'resurrected.' He was going to find out how close his hunches were.

Marcelo put his phone to his ear and waited for Sage to pick up the other end of the line.

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When he arrived, Sage was waiting at the front desk for him. It wasn't as if he didn't know the way, but it didn't cost her anything to be polite. Besides, she didn't really need to be at her desk to be working. A half dozen processes were still running between her office machine and cybernetic link.

"You seem agitated."

Marcelo himself moved into the building slower than he wanted. But his legs had felt like lead once he got out of his car. His wounds twinged a bit before he reached to open the front door.

Having a semi-friendly face at the front desk did help him ignore the fact the last time he was near the front desk, Stephanie had been carrying him out to get to a hospital.

"If I never attend a Hellfire Club event again, I will be a happy man." He pulled at his black bow-tie to loosen it. He was still dressed in his formal wear for the night.

"A wise decision." Avoiding anything related to the Hellfire Club was the sanest course of action, in her estimation. If only she could do the same.

She stepped aside and gestured him toward the elevator.

He unbuttoned his jacket as he moved toward the elevators. He was starting to get sweaty from formal wear in June.

"Wisdom went out the window today," he noted dryly. He wanted to say more, but he was not going to say anything more on the topic until they were in Sage's office.

She was likewise silent until they reached her office. Then she stepped behind the desk, touched a control pad, and with a faint electronic hum, the room was sealed from any method of surveillance she knew of or had encountered.

"I take it your evening did not go as planned?" She inquired as she sat on the edge of her desk and gestured him to a comfy chair in front of it.

"No, it didn't," he admitted as he flopped into the chair. He winced a little at the small stab of pain from such a tired yet casual motion. He rubbed his mouth.

"I didn't expect it to be pleasant, but this went beyond that." He looked levelly at Sage. "I need help taking down Sebastian Shaw. And in the same vein, I need everything there is to know about his right-hand manipulator, Reginald Crane."

"That's quite the request." Ambitious. Not impossible.

"What'll your fiancee think of this decision?"

"Mm. Impossible on my own, but Stephanie has told me you're formidable and have no great love for her father. I figure you would know the best people to strip him of every bit of power he hungers for or holds." He didn't want the man dead. There was no lesson to be learned about messing with Marcelo if he were dead. Even if he did go through spells of resurrection.

He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. "I also think you can get me information on Reginald Crane. So I can do much the same and pour molten lead down his throat."

That might have been more fatal than his usual mien, but Marcelo was coldly angry right now. He took in a breath.

"They're taking Stephanie from me. And right now, she'll go along with it without batting a lash. She does not nor will not know of this until I can be sure she's no longer tainted by Crane's manipulations."

"I have no qualms at all about working to destroy Sebastian Shaw. The man's had it coming to him his entire life." She tipped her head to the side, considering him for a moment. It crossed her mind to ask if he'd thought through the wisdom of making an enemy of a man like Shaw, but he clearly wasn't in the frame of mind for that conversation.

"I am less familiar with Crane, but that can be easily rectified."

"I suspect it won't be easy, and he'll probably put a bounty on my head for not backing down from him tonight." He shrugged and straightened up in the chair. He really needed a drink. He didn't care if alcohol didn't mix well with his pain meds. Anything to numb the soul-aching gut punch Stephanie had delivered to him.

"I thought he was just Stephanie's assistant when she took over after Sebastian's 'death.'" He made air quotes like he had seen on American TV. Too much of that while he was recovering. "But he manipulated an entire room of people with just his voice to make Shaw's speech seem great."

"The bounty could be an issue." And wasn't that an understatement. Nobody did assassination like the Hellfire Club. It was practically in the bylaws.

She moved to sit in her chair behind the desk, the computer blinking to life without a touch. As she started sending out searches for information on Shaw and Crane, she leaned back in her seat and eyed Marcelo speculatively. "It's curious that a room full of people was affected, except for you. Why do you suppose that was?"

"It will be," he said with a sigh. "But I'll not back down. The only person who can say I won't be marrying Stephanie will be Stephanie."

He fiddled with the ring on his finger with his thumb. She had not been so far gone that she had wanted the ring back. But.. how much poison had Crane poured into her ear?

He blinked at her question. Well, crap. He would have to explain that. Though hone more to the truth. "A few years back I was in a lab accident in Veridian's labs. My hearing's not quite been the same since then. I'm not deaf, but..."

He shrugged. And then he hoped that would be enough of an explanation.

"Hm." She wasn't sure he was being completely honest, but it didn't matter. Something about him made him immune to Crane's power, which meant there was a way to defeat it. She'd find it.

"I'll need some time to collect the data."

"Crane's had months to work on Stephanie," he noted with a sigh. He hadn't caught it until tonight. How could he stay in Stephanie's world when so much of it was beyond his grasp to help in?

"No one's touched my office since... then? I need a drink." He pushed himself out of the comfortable chair with some effort.

"Apart from any repairs, no. Well, those and my security upgrades." Because, if she was going to be responsible for him -- as she was, as far as she was concerned -- she was going to make sure that the security was the best that this (and a couple of other) planets had to offer.

"As long as my liquor doesn't try to kill me. That would cap off the night well." He headed toward his office. He had some dark cachaça stashed away for celebratory drinks. Marcelo thought the whole bottle sounded like just enough.

I Hope You Know I Pack a Chainsaw ((Open to Sage))

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