TIME WARP: .... Surprise?

[Mia Keystone]

set 15 years in the future

Mia had honestly never thought she’d see this place again. The short woman (even 15 years hadn’t helped in the height department) banged her head against the wall behind her chair and looked up at the ceiling. Waiting at reception. Waiting at reception for half an hour. Like she didn’t know her way around. A new coat of paint and a few fancy cameras didn’t change that much.

Just to check, the technopath called up the Hammel blueprints on the computer strapped to her upper arm, then glared at the receptionist. ”I am supposed to be here you know,” she snapped, narrowing her eyes at the woman. There was a chance, a good chance, the receptionist recognized her. That would explain her reluctance to let her just stroll into the offices. Not like I couldn’t have just air dropped myself in from the roof if I felt like it...

Duh duh dada duh duh dada, dadada....

Humming the mission impossible theme tune, the CIA agent pushed her hair behind her ears and, for old times sake, quickly wrote a nice little bug for the receptionist’s computer so that everything she printed would have a watermarked wang over it. Just for today though.

”Look,” she snapped finally, pushing herself to her feet and pulling herself to her full 5 feet one inch height, ”I don’t get why I have to sit here twiddling my thumbs like some 16 year old caught with her panties down, I actually do have a bloody appointment and I damn well wont sit here waiting for you to learn how to use a fucking phone!”

Her voice, no longer coloured with a Boston accent, had grown slowly louder and louder, and she looked around with mild amusement as the receptionist looked at her in shock. ”What? I’m an adult, I’m allowed to swear.”

[Dr. James Campbell]

"Please, Mia, tell me you were never caught with your panties down while you were a student." Though, if the girl had, James probably would have heard about it at some point. The recruiter stood in the doorway to the main office and smiled at the tiny woman by the front desk.

If the past decade and a half had been good to Mia--looking all grown-up and important now--it hadn't been quite so kind to James. His hair had more gray in it than brown and his face was more creased and tired. But then again, he was closer to sixty than fifty now, and his eyes were the same as ever, sparkling from behind his thick glasses. "Please let Ms. Mia come with me. I'll make sure she doesn't get into any trouble." Not that he'd ever been able to stop her before, but at least the receptionist took him at his word. "Come on, Mia." He held open the door for her, and once they were out of earshot of the receptionist, he murmured, "And if you did anything to her computer, please undo it before you leave. She's new and doesn't deserve it."

His office was in the same place it had been for years, just down the hall from the smaller one in which Mia had hidden inside a filing cabinet. As they walked that way, James asked, "So what brings you back to the area, Mia? It's certainly been a while." It was worrisome, how much older she looked. All the kids he'd seen grow up, and it still threw him every time. (Niko had graduated from college a few years ago. He and Chase were old now.)

[Mia Keystone]

A broad grin stretched across the short woman’s face, and she stood up. ”Only when I was thinking about you, Doc,” she retorted, beaming up at her old recruiter/mentor/occasional target of spying. Ever observant eyes took note of the deeper crows feet, the percentage of salt to pepper in his hair, his posture. Not bad for an old dude.

”Still hanging around this dump?” Not that she was surprised, of course. It wasn’t like she hadn’t checked the active staff list, and run background checks, and generally investigated the crap out of the place before agreeing to return.

One eyebrow arched as Campbell made a promise on her behalf and she glanced at the receptionist and winked. For a thirty two year old woman, she could still look a lot like a troublesome teenager when she wanted. Rolling her eyes at her own predictability, she muttered ”I didn’t touch the computer” but deleted her code with a touch to the screen on her wrist. ”Spoil sport.”

Glancing around at the office she’d visited often as a student (she’d thrown a tantrum there and that spot on the carpet was chocolate when she’s dropped some, and she would bet it still smelt like peanut butter if you opened that dictionary to page 138), the woman felt the buzzing from the various appliances and glanced at the filing cabinet. She’d still fit in it.

”Believe it or not,” she said slowly, brushing her now long hair out of her face, ”I’m here to work on your cyber security, and to give a talk on the hazards of not taking Hammel security seriously,” pause for laughter. Rubbing absently at two scars on her now unadorned lip, the woman shrugged and grinned at James. ”If I do a good job, can I have a Reece cup?”

Seriously though, she could do with a beer.

[Dr. James Campbell]

Funny, even after fifteen years dealing with more teenagers passing through his door, Mia was still able to make James blush. Fifteen years ago, however, he could have retorted with "Well, don't tell Ginny that, or you won't be invited over for dinner any more." But he didn't know if his daughter was still in contact with the now-elusive Ms. Keystone. Apparently, she was even more of a ninja than she had been years ago. "Of course I'm still here. Where else would I go?" Pilot Ridge--Hammel, actually--was home.

He shook his head in mild amusement when Mia touched the device at her wrist. He'd been guessing at her intention, but apparently, she was just as predictable. "Thank you, Mia." And he would have thanked her for giving the lecture, if he wasn't so surprised at what it was about. That was like having him give a lecture on why someone shouldn't attempt to run away from Hammel....

Okay, actually, that probably wouldn't be a bad idea. He was the ultimate case of a lack of early intervention with powers. He still had precious little control over his ability.

The recruiter opened the same drawer in his desk that always held candy and pulled out one of the orange-wrapped treats, grinning aas he tossed it to her. "Chase has practice tonight." Despite the gray in the blond man's hair, he was still the coach of the soccer team; a hobby James just did not understand. "So how about if you to a good job, you join me tonight for dinner?" He did want to catch up with Mia--and find out who the hell thought she'd be a good idea for that lecture--but he had the feeling Chase would be less enthusiastic. (It wasn't that he didn't like her, she was just exhausting sometimes.) "What time does your lecture end?"

[Mia Keystone]

”Move to spain or whatever it is that old married couples do when they’re gay,” Mia shrugged, still smirking at the pink on the doctor’s cheeks. The smirk faded slightly and she scratched at her neck; there was a new tattoo looping around her collarbones and it still itched as the inked skin healed. ”Ah, how’s Gin?” There were some pretty major cons to her job; operating off the grid meant contacting her friends was possible, but letting them contact her no so much.

Laughing at the shock on James’s face, Mia caught the chocolate easily and removed the wrapper with her teeth. She ate it whole, of course, but in an act of maturity she had not shown as a teenager, waited until she’d finished eating before speaking up. ”Not speaking today,” she explained, shrugging. ”My handlers need to suss the place out, and I was supposed to be shown around the lecture hall to check the gear and safety stuff. Not needed,” dismissing the concerns with a wave of her hands, her mouth twisted. ”Not like you guys don’t have enough security. Might be a media crew, but that’s not my problem.”


Still, the short girl beamed and nodded quickly, ”That’d be great, Doc. When do you knock off? I’d sell my little finger for a beer.”

While she was talking, one hand touched at her ear slightly as a voice came in over her ear piece. Used to multitasking, the woman sent a reply with a thought.

All clear, report location

with a friend. Reporting back at twenty two hundred.

”You running the joint yet?” the agent asked, then sneered at the still outdated computer on his desk. ”Cause if you are, better dump that dinosaur.”

[Dr. James Campbell]

"Chase doesn't speak Spanish, and we like it here. And Pilot Ridge is just fine for old married couples." Gay or otherwise, but there were actually quite a few more gay couples who'd been married since James and Chase had, seventeen years earlier. (And it always surprised James a little, because where were all these gay men his age when he'd actually been dating?) "Ginny is doing just fine, and so are the kids. And Niko's out of college now too." He was proud of how well his kids were doing on their own, even if the house felt empty without them.

"I have to check in with two more recruiters out in the field, and I've got some paperwork to do. How does five o'clock sound for you? Would that give you enough time for you to check the hall?" Sure, he'd go out for a beer with Mia. She was in her thirties now......yeah, no. That still sounded like a terrible idea. "There's a new resturaunt in town I've been meaning to check out."

"Well, I'm still Head of Recruiting, if that's what you're asking." It wasn't, but he didn't really want to talk about that issue with a former student. He'd been in the same position for seventeen years, and it wasn't likely he was going to be promoted. That was fine with him, really. He wouldn't have been good in the administration, and both he and the board of directors knew that. "So my computer is fine, thank you. It does all I need it to do."

[Mia Keystone]

"Yeah, the kids," Mia said distractedly. She had forgotten Ginny had children... well, not forgotten... it was something she had not really dwelt on. But Ginny had married, had kids, settled down... And while Mia could send her emails sometimes, it was impossible for anyone to contact her. For safety's sake. Made friendships hard. Made relationships lasting longer then a few steamy nights next to impossible. "Two, right?" She'd sent flowers. Or maybe balloons.

With a smile Mia shrugged and nodded, looking down at the pannel on her arm and frowning slightly. "Five is great," with a nod, she touched her communicator. "And I'm fine with your restaurant, as long as it's not spicy. Or vegetarian. And you'll share some wine or whatever you drink with me." She hadn't grown past her rather limited taste preferences; stake outs left you living on takeout and bad coffee.

With a mature roll of her eyes, the short woman huffed a laugh. "No, I meant the school, Doc. Thought you or your jedi wife would be running this whole joint sooner or later. Or one like it." With a sigh of disappointment, Mia looked at the computer and squinted slightly in concentration. "Well, that's taken care of the viruses," she said after a moment, blinking hard as the codes vanished from behind her eyes. "I'm working on the firewalls some time in the next few days so I'll take care of your dinosaur then. Until five, doc!"

(ooc: and now, you get to have them arriving at the restaurant )

[Dr. James Campbell]

"Yeah. I have granddaughters." James couldn't keep the grin off of his face. "Can you believe it?" He pulled the framed picture of them off of the shelf--Yes, of course he had picture. He had lots of pictures--and handed it over. They were still a bit to young to know if they were meta, but he knew there was a decent chance that the girls would end up at Hammel one day. They already knew what their grandpas did.

"It's Italian, and apparently the veal is heavenly." He was used to picky eaters, though Chase had expanded what he was willing to try over the years. James hadn't had quite so much good luck with Mia, but he held out hope. "And I'm sure they have good wine too."

See, that was his first mistake. Agreeing to drink with Mia was one of those things that he would reflect on and wonder what he was thinking, later.

At around four, James called in the reservation. It had been a while since he'd eaten out; after all, he liked to cook and Chase didn't mind doing the dishes when it was just the two of them. (He claimed not to mind doing the dishes ever, but the recruiter didn't bother calling him out on that. It just wasn't worth it.)

They left promptly at five, James leaving the car behind for Chase to take home later. (His husband had been amused, but not eager to join their outing. Plus, he had coaching to do.) The restaurant itself was small, but pleasant. It actually reminded him a lot of his parents' kitchen, back in New York. "So I don't think you ever told me, Mia," James said, looking over the wine list, "Why do you call Chase my jedi wife?"

He'd played along with it for years, and curiosity finally won out.

((OOC: Sorry for rushing through a bit of time there.))

[Mia Keystone]

With a shrug, Mia followed her old recruiter into the restaurant and looked around. ”Bit kitsch, isn’t it?” she asked without much malice. The size was good, it left room for her handlers to get a good sweep of the place. They’d stayed inside their van, to save all the awkwardness of explaining why two scary looking guys had to follow her around to James.

That being said, he’d probably only be surprised for a few minutes.

”Because he can control people with his brain, and he’s blonde,” Mia explained, one eyebrow raised. ”You really didn’t figure that out in like... twenty years? Come on, you’re supposed to have like, amazing perception.” Her grin prompted no feelings of superiority, only good humor as she waved over a waiter.

”A bottle of your best red,” she started, ”plus a dry martini. And for you, Jamie?” ok, that time her grin was only a little wicked.

After letting him order, she added, ”With an umbrella,” and rested her elbow on the table as she reached for the bread basket. ”Naw, it was more something that just, popped up in my mind, and I stuck with it. Was funny.” the tiny woman raised her shoulders and shrugged. ”Can’t do that much anymore. The boss wants me to start doing TV interviews and I’ve been told its best not to label the bigwigs.”

For the second time that day, Mia knew she'd revealed something about her present career that managed to contradict all possible ideas her attitude as a high school student would have suggested. "And you can tell Sean that jail time is not as good a deterrent as he'd think," she added, just to see his reaction.