Read Or Die Fan Fiction / X-Men Fan Fiction ❯ Read or Die: Shadowcat! ❯ Chapter 12

Shadowcat: Read or Die!

Part Twelve

The slim blonde haired man studied the documents that were laid out before him on the messy desk, a frown on his delicately handsome face. There was a soft knock on the door and Joker looked up to call out, "Come in."

Drake Anderson strode inside, the burly man closing the door behind him. His short blonde hair fell into his blue eyes, ones that were focused on Joker as he asked, "You wanted to see me?"

'It was odd,' Joker noted, 'how such a large man could move so gracefully, not tipping any of the piles of books and papers around the cluttered office.' He set the sheets aside as he said, "I wanted to know what you thought of Miss Pryde."

"You thinking of recruiting her?" Drake asked directly, his T-shirt and jeans making him stand out in the old English styled room.

"Yes I am," Joker calmly admitted, "though I suppose it does depend on how this 'Ogun situation resolves itself."

"I like her," Drake admitted, "but I'm not sure I trust her yet. She was the genetic basis for Nancy and we both know how untrustworthy she could be."

"There is always the question of nature versus nurture," Joker quietly noted, "Nancy was raised, if you want to call it that, by Ikyu and the Ijin." He sighed, "Not at all under the same sort of conditions that Miss Pryde was."

"Yeah, maybe," Drake obviously wasn't entirely convinced. He smiled slightly, "But I do think Pryde's been straight with us so far."

Joker nodded. "Keep an eye on her, of course," he said as he tucked sheets of paper away, "but we will be considering making her the offer."

"You got it," and with that Drake slipped out of the office.

A few moments later there was a quiet knock and Wendy stuck her head in. "Did you talk to Drake about it?" the pretty blonde asked him curiously.

"Yes," Joker smiled slightly as he continued dryly, "as I'm sure you know, having been pressing your ear to the door."

"How could you tell...?" Wendy blurted.

"The hair on one side of your head was flattened slightly," Joker shrugged casually. "And do you approve of Miss Pryde's addition to our ranks?"

"Yes, I do," Wendy nodded, holding a set of files in front of her casually. "She works well with both Yomiko and Drake and she brings us unique skills and experiences."

"The only thing that concerns me is Pryde's connections to the international intelligence community," Joker said with a frown as he tapped a document, "she's been involved with Britain's Weird Happenings Organization before."

"What?" Wendy blinked.

"No, W.H.O. ," Joker smiled slightly as Wendy groaned. "She's tangled with Black Air," he tapped a sheet, "and even joined SHIELD for a short time."

"Something we could use to our advantage," Wendy offered optimistically.

"That we could," Joker agreed. He slid the sheets together into a file labeled 'Pryde, Katherine' and passed it to her, "Could you put this back and get me some tea?"

"Yes, sir!" Wendy beamed, spinning around to leave the room, nearly tripping over the doorway as she left.

"She never changes," Joker shook his head with a smile as he returned to his work.

"No, she doesn't," the older man's voice echoed in the chamber, filled with gentle amusement

Joker didn't exactly jump but his eyes widened slightly as he looked up. "Mr. Gentleman," he said respectfully.

"We may have a problem," Mr. Gentleman said, "something dangerous has turned up in my search for information on 'Ogun."

"Yes?" Joker asked, his eyes narrowing again.

"You may recall the attempt on my life over ten years ago," Gentleman continued, "the assassin whom escaped our best security. After reviewing the data Miss Pryde provided I feel certain that he was in fact 'Ogun."

Joker sat back with a frown as he mused, "Then our own organization's involvement in this situation merely grows deeper. For our own honor as well as to find the answers to Nancy's existence we must stop 'Ogun and his allies."

**********

"Well isn't that just great," Drake muttered as the briefing concluded, leaning up against the back of a well stuffed chair.

Yomiko Readman and Kitty Pryde sat in a couch nearby, the two young women sitting side by side. Kitty was wearing her new uniform, the simulated black leather clinging to the brown haired woman's slim body while Yomiko wore her overcoat over her typical school teachers clothes.

Yomiko shook her head slightly as she murmured, "Well, 'Ogun certainly was busy."

"Tell me about it," Kitty muttered before continuing, "I keep forgetting how old he's supposed to be, how long he's been operating."

"Not that it changes our current situation much," Drake reminded them, "it just gives us one more reason to take him down."

"There is one piece of good news," Joker said smoothly, turning the screen in front of the group, "we've had some luck tracing the original Nancy's movements and tentatively concluded that she first appeared here in Japan."

"So Sinister-san is here in Japan?" Yomiko offered the question quietly.

"Let's not jump to that conclusion just yet," Kitty said softly, "we just know that he has a operational base here, but it's pretty likely." She looked thoughtful as she looked up at Joker, "What sort of sources of information do you have in Japan?"

"Fairly wide ranging, why?" Joker looked curious.

"I have some contacts in the Japanese underworld," Kitty said frankly, "with 'Ogun's long history as an assassin they might know something."

Drake raised an eyebrow as he smiled down at Kitty, "You certainly have some unusual friends for a university student."

Kitty shrugged eloquently, "Not that unusual for an X-man, though."

"Just like the detective in the novel I just read," Yomiko gushed. Her eyes brightened and she asked, "Can I come along?"

"It might be dangerous," Kitty quickly cautioned, "and least one of the people I mean to talk to is not a nice man."

"All the more reason to have back-up," Drake offered, clearly interested in coming along.

Kitty looked at the both of them and shook her head with a smile as she said, "As long ass Joker doesn't mind, all right."

"May I ask whom you intend to go see?" Joker asked.

"An old ally named Yukio," Kitty said, "she's a self-styled ronin and adventurer who's helped the X-Men in the past, she might be able to help. Then I guess we'll go see the Yashada family."

"The Yashada family?" Drake actually looked mildly startled, "They're not connected to the underworld, they run much of it."

"Especially with their current leader, the Silver Samurai," Kitty said with a tight little smile, "but I think I know which buttons to push to get answers from him."

Joker nodded slightly, "I rather doubt we could get information from such sources normally." He looked at the three, "You have permission, but please be careful."

Kitty looked over at the beaming Yomiko and the not much less eager Drake and smiled wryly. "I'll try to keep an eye on them," she said as she got up.

"Kitty," Yomiko scolded as the two ladies got up.

"More like I'll be keeping an eye on you two," Drake commented as they headed out.

"You wish," Kitty grinned.

To be continued....

Author's Notes: Kitty did indeed join the international spy organization SHIELD in a three issue miniseries and ran into the Weird Happenings Organization often in the series Excalibur. Later the covert organization Black Air was introduced, leading to more spy activities by Kitty.