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There's no indication of a break-in. The door is locked, the windows are closed, and everything is in perfect order inside Thea's apartment. Not a sheet of paper, book, or utensil out of place. But there it is, when she gets home from her day, fixed to the inside of her door with a small knife, which itself has some dried blood on it; a sheet of paper, with the ugly phrase, "DIE MUTANT", scrawled on its surface in black felt marker. Perfect printing, the paper completely square to the door. It was placed carefully and intentfully, and somehow the culprit managed to get in and out without breaking anything, as if they had a key and access to the building without raising any suspicion.
It's been at least a week since Jamie last saw Thea. It is through no fault of hers, he simply hasn't been able to make the time, between his own responsibilities and obligations, such as they are. The mutant crucifixion in Harlem, and the investigation into its source, the Friends of Humanity, has occupied not only his time, but has demanded the attention of as many of his selves as possible. And still they are no closer to a lead. Frustration abounds. Today, Madrox has determined to make time. Making his way through town to Hell's Kitchen, he finds himself stepping up to the door of Thea's apartment, ringing up on the buzzer, and waiting for a response. He didn't check the clinic first, though perhaps he should have. With no notice given for the drop-in, he couldn't possibly be upset if she were out. But it would be nice if she weren't.
*
Thea might have missed it, if she hadn't hand her hands full of groceries. Normally she just kicks the door closed, unless she feels a need to lock up behind herself. But once the groceries are set down, she turns to fetch her keys from the front of the door… and sees that note. Color drains from her face, even as her blood rushes in her ears. She uses the skin between her thumb palm to grasp the knife and pull it loose, so as to not put her own prints on it. It and the note will be placed on the counter, before she's numbly retrieving her keys and locking the door.
So when that buzzer rings, she jolts before she's jerking the door open. There's murder in those brown eyes, one hand ready to claw out eyes. There's a blink. "Jamie." She'll step back to let him in, before she'll check the hallway to see if anyone is loitering.
*
"Whoa," Jamie says simply, putting his hands up in front of him. "Thea, you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost," he says, obviously oblivious to the rather startling events that preceded his entrance. He steps inside when she invites him, and looks behind him when she glances down the hallway for loiterers. The girl is spooked, he can tell. "What's going on?" He asks once she's back inside, a concerned look on his face. Something's up, but will she tell him?
*
Thea slams the door shut, engaging all the locks. She's spitting mad, Jamie, you should maybe be careful. There's a point of a single finger at the counter. "I got a love note.. inside my place. I need to go out and get new locks." And she needs to check her windows, find a way to lock them down too.
*
Wordlessly, Jamie walks toward the counter to look over the note, and the knife, though he doesn't touch it. He makes a soft 'tsk' sound with his tongue against the roof of his mouth, and his expression sours almost instantly when he reads the words. "Darlin', that's not a love note," he says, his tone as dour as his face. Hands find the edge of the counter, and he leans, as if to brace himself. "Thought no-one else knew what you were," he comments, and then pulls a black glove from his pocket, slipping it on his hand before using it to pick up the knife. Not that he expects they'll be going to the police, but best not to spoil any potential evidence in the event they do. "Door was locked, windows were locked? Nothing's broken? They take anything, or rummage through your things at all?" He spots the groceries. "Or did you just get home, and haven't had time to check?" Investigation mode, engage. Eyes scan to the nearest window to check for a fire escape as a possible entrance vector. "Not that locks can't be picked.." he comments a little more quietly, mostly to himself. "Be thankful you weren't home when it happened," he adds, but there's no smile.
*
Thea gives him a look cold enough to freeze over hell. "No kidding. And here I was expecting flowers, next time." Oh, the blonde is pissed. "Next to no one knows. You, a couple others. There may be some who suspect, but the ones who know.. well, they have secrets of their own." She watches him with the knife. "Nothing in here has been messed with. Windows have been locked since it got cold, and I always lock the door." She heads for her bedroom to see if they messed with things there. "Be thankful?" She pauses, looking over a shoulder. "Why should I be thankful for that?:"
*
"Because the last mutant I saw who thought he was safe ended up nailed to a FUCKING CROSS, THEA," Jamie practically shouts, slamming his hands on the surface of the counter, and then suddenly there are two of him. It's in just as foul a mood, but doesn't say anything. "Gonna look around, if that's okay with you. Check for anything else." He may sound like he's asking, but he's not. The duplicate starts nosing around, careful not to disturb anything, but not exactly respecting privacy. "Sorry," the original Madrox says after a moment. "Been a bit tense since.." He shakes his head. "Your friends. One of them must have let it slip to someone. Maybe they didn't mean it." Doesn't much matter, he indicates with a shrug. The damage is done. "Fuck. I should have checked in with you sooner."
*
"And I am /not/ That mutant, Jamie!" Spark to tinder, and that held in check temper is no longer restrained. "I could kill, did that ever occur to you? That instead of stopping someone's bleeding, I could make them bleed out? Cut off their air? Stop the blood from reaching their brain?" She stomps over, nose to nose, in a sense. "I am not defenseless. And maybe someone let it slip. Or maybe someone saw me with you. You're the one always defending mutants, after all."
*
"Yeah, maybe I'm just making the situation worse," Jamie replies with just as much tension in his voice. "Maybe I'm a known factor. Maybe I should have just left you the fuck alone. Lots of maybes. Doesn't change things now, does it." He doesn't back down from her anger. "And yeah, I don't know what you could do. But you don't know what they could do." he says. "If you'd been home, maybe there's two of them, maybe there's three. Maybe they shoot you in the head before you can react. Lots of fucking maybes," he says. "If the note's the worst, then yeah, I say you're lucky. And it's fucking scary, Thea." He actually backs off a bit now, pulling a few inches away to give both of them a bit of breathing space to calm their nerves. "Look. I'm sorry. This is /obviously/ not your fault, and I shouldn't take out frustration on you. Just.. it's not just public opinion and random thugs making life difficult for mutants. They're organizing, and they're outright killing us. And the police aren't lifting a goddamn finger. You hear what happened in Sacramento?"
*
Thea makes a snarling sound, and Jamie.. well, things might go a little gray, stars on the edge of his vision. But only for a moment. "God help anyone coming for me." She hisses, cheeks flushing with a rush of heated blood. "No, I've avoided the news lately. And like hell the cops aren't going to lift a finger. I'll get American diplomats involved."
*
"Someone burned Sacramento's Mutant Town to the ground," Jamie says bluntly. The effect of her powers on him cause him to go dizzy, and he blinks several times in an attempt to shake it. "Look, I'm sure you're capable of handling the average mutant-hating thug. But what if you don't see it coming. What if you're outnumbered? Can you shut more than one down at a time?" Speaking of, the other duplicate returns, and Jamie touches his shoulder, re-absorbing him into himself. After a moment, he looks to Thea again; if there had been anything else out of the ordinary, he'd say so, but there wasn't. "If you have those kinds of contacts, you should use them. This can't just be happening to you," he says. But maybe it's just a prank, admittedly a cruel, hateful one. But Jamie can't think that way, and can't take the chance, not when her life could legitimately be in danger. "So what are you going to do? Call it in, get the cops involved?" Try to, at least. Jamie's of the opinion they'll dismiss it if she does. Besides, he doesn't think she will; she wants to keep her status under wraps, which the cops won't do.
*
Thea paces, clearly agitated. "I can heal multiple people at once, it's not too far fetched to imagine I could hurt multiples at once. "My father's a diplomat. He was an attache to the Greek embassy, it's how he met my mother." Her voice is quiet, thoe eyes finding Jamie's. "I haven't come out to my father."
*
Jamie looks around the apartment. Not that it's not nice, but.. "If your parents are diplomats, what the hell are you doing in this end of town?" It's a completely irrelevant question to the matter at hand, and Jamie knows it, shaking his head to dismiss it. "Are you ready to tell him now?" He's not going to try to talk her out of it, but he has a feeling the answer will be no.
*
"Dad is, Mom stays home. I chose to live here. Where I could do good, where I could help. I'm not about wanting to live of mommy and daddy's money, Jamie." She sounds defensive. Then she's quite a long moment. "I don't know."
*
"I'm not judging, Thea," Jamie says simply. "Admirable of you, really," he says, letting a bit of a smile find his lips, but it's only momentary. He lets out a long breath, and eyes the note again. "Well, you should decide how you want to handle this. If it were me, I'd probably buy a gun and change the locks.. but then, I can't give people an aneurism by looking at them. And I wouldn't rely on the police. I can ask around if you want, see if anyone noticed anything strange going on, someone coming and go that they haven't seen before." It's a longshoreman, given the neighbourhood, but can't hurt to try. "But maybe for now, you should stick close to someone. Got a friend you can stay with, or someone who can come stay with you?" The latter might not be the safest option, but if she doesn't want to leave her apartment, it's at least better than being here alone.
*
"Well, most people would. Like my mother. Who has no idea why I live here either, or want to work at all." There's a tilt of her head. "What makes you think I'm unarmed, Jamie?" There's a hint of a smirk. "Ask around if you can without raising more questions than answers. And no, I'm not going anywhere." Brown eyes glance towards the couch, a hint of sadness. "No, no one that I would want caught up in this."
*
"Hey, guess I shouldn't assume. You just don't seem the type," Jamie says, a smirk forming again. The idea of Thea with a gun is amusing to him, clearly. "I'll ask around, see what I can dig up. I can leave one of me here with you for the night, if you want. Crash on the couch. Just to be on the safe side. At least buy you some time to grab that piece you've got stashed somewhere around here," he says, giving the girl a wink. "If that's okay by you?"
*
"My grandfather is very adamant about his favorite granddaughter knowing how to be safe in a big ugly city. Be it here or anywhere else." There's a twitch of a smile. "I appreciate the digging, but you don't need to leave a duplicate here. I'd just feel awkward."
*
"If you don't want me to stay, I won't push it, darlin'," Jamie says. He looks the girl over once, his eyes coming to meet her own. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. But I'd feel a lot better myself knowing you weren't here on your own. I'll ask around for any obvious leads, and check back in a little later.. if you'd rather I not stick around, I won't, but if you change your mind, it's no problem."
*
"My grandfather is very adamant about his favorite granddaughter knowing how to be safe in a big ugly city. Be it here or anywhere else." There's a twitch of a smile. "I appreciate the digging, but you don't need to leave a duplicate here. I'd just feel awkward."
"If you don't want me to stay, I won't push it, darlin'," Jamie says. He looks the girl over once, his eyes coming to meet her own. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable. But I'd feel a lot better myself knowing you weren't here on your own. I'll ask around for any obvious leads, and check back in a little later.. if you'd rather I not stick around, I won't, but if you change your mind, it's no problem."
*
"Jamie, if you ever stay, I prefer the original versus a copy." Thea puts it plainly, even as she steps over to him, a hand curling in his jacket to land a kiss to his mouth. "I have someone in the next building who might be willing to help look after me. You can check in, if you like."
*
"It's all me, darlin'," Jamie says. There's nothing saying /this/ isn't a copy. Or that they're all not copies. The kiss isn't turned away, rather he pulls her close for a brief moment, pressing his lips back against hers. But it's brief. With death notes being stabbed into doors, the focus right now is the work, not the fun. Not that the fun wouldn't be fun. Not that he couldn't just split off a duplicate to do the work while he has the fun.. but that wouldn't be right, would it? "Maybe talk to them, then," he says after a moment. "And I'll check back in after I've made my inquiries. And we can talk about where to go from there," he offers, giving the young woman a kind smile, his hand moving to grasp hers, giving a squeeze before letting go, and starting toward the door. "I'll be back as soon as I can, darlin'," he says.
*
"I'm still not sure how to deal with the idea there's so many of you running around, maybe." Thea says, soft but honest. Her hand squeezes his back. "Just be careful, okay? Don't do anything stupid on my account."
*
"All part of the same consciousness, darlin'. It's all me, regardless of which body you're dealin' with," Jamie says, smirking a bit. "Took some getting use to for me, too, and.. well, everyone I know." He lets go of her hand, and reaches for the knob, turning and opening the door. "I'm always careful," he lies, but it's a little white lie, right? Jamie is in fact one of the least careful people he knows. Probably because on some level, he can afford to make some pretty serious mistakes. And with that, he's gone, the door shut behind him. He'll make pretty quick work of the questioning around though; easy to do when you can ask several people questions at once.
*
And he will hear the locks click behind him, before she's calling the landlord to tell him she'll be changing them.. and maybe making some other calls.
*