---

---

---

---

Evelyn looked over towards Wesley and gave him a friendly smile and nodded towards him. "Hi there." She said as she leaned back in her seat as she looked over as soon as the door opened. Seeing Rae Gardner there the new CEO of Serval Industries, she still didn't really know what to think of the woman yet. But she remained pretty quiet as she started up the briefing for the rest of the team, seeing that they would just be security for a bunch of million and billionaires, The job seemed to be pretty easy and simple enough as well. "Well that seems like a pretty easy enough job." Evelyn said softly.

She looked towards Belladonna as she got up and started to leave the room, raising an eyebrow slightly at the woman as she left the room and shook her head slightly. Knowing at least two of the guests being Hank Pym and Tony Stark at the little party she ran a hand through her hair a bit. [color=CD5C5C["Seeing as the guests have a lot of money bags, are there any guests that we should be aware of who might start some kind of trouble?"[/color] Evelyn asked. "And if I could have a guest list that would be good as well." Evelyn requested, and maybe someone would actually mention something about Snow's death as well.

---

---

---

---

This was a nightmare. She'd thought that something was actually, finally about to happen, that she'd get a chance to prove that she wasn't just a curiosity, the slow girl who didn't speak the language, and they were going to have her stand around and get gawked at by a bunch of future people? They all started talking about people she didn't know, Pym or Stark or whoever, because of course. People were always talking about things and people and places she didn't know about. The tips of her fingers starting itching, forming into claws without her bidding. Belladonna stormed out, and Alannah would have been lying if she said she wasn't tempted to join her. She raked her claws against the wall behind her with a wrenching, scraping sound, like they were skirling off of armor.

Alannah bit down on her lip and forced the claws to retract. This would not do. She was not a petulant little girl, she was a warrior, and she owed these people at Serval a debt. If this was the battle they needed her to fight, then she'd make a spirited effort to endure it. And who knows; she hadn't been to any parties in this new world, but in her time you couldn't have a wedding or a victory feast without someone getting drunk and weapons coming out. Maybe this would be like that. She folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. Evelyn, ever the voice of practicality, was asking for information on the guests - Alannah would try to be like that."You say there are powerful indi... ind... people," she said, gritting her teeth at the flaws in her English. "Powerful like us? How many? How many warriors among them? Will there be rival clans? Is a fight likely to start?" She couldn't quite keep the irritation out of her voice.

---

---

Bobbi sipped her coffee and listened with a bored and sleepy look on her face. A small smirk graced her lips. Was it such a good idea to place someone like her around so many hoity-toity people? And what use could she be? She was more of a smash and grab type, not a protect the citizens sort of person. She rolled her eyes a bit while Andrew complained about people he didn't get along well with. 'Welcome to my world,' she thought as most of the team had made it apparent they were not fond of the ex-druggie. Belladonna stormed out, apparently upset at the idea of having to protect someone rather than kill them. People here thought she was the bonkers one.

Poor Alannah. She was trying so hard to get used to this world, not that much different from Bobbi who was trying to get used to being a sober individual. She sipped her coffee again, enjoying the bitterness and heat that slid down her throat. She chose to respond to the young woman. "They aren't powerful like super-powered or warriors or anything," Bobbi offered helpfully. "More like they have the most gold and can buy and do whatever they want with that gold. And now we want them to give that gold to... What charities?" Her tone was kind and patient until the question of charities which held a much more suspicious note. She turned her attention to the rest of the group. The boss lady had walked out of the room before taking any questions on this mission. Rude. And stupid. Bobbi might not have been a part of a superhero team before, but she had watched enough cop shows to understand something was up.

---

---

Aaaah, security detail. Bodyguard work. This was his meat and potatoes as of late before he got this babysitting gig. He kept quiet as Belladonna threw a bit of a temper tantrum. There was nothing to add to it. He could understand her frustrations though, remembering the first time he'd ever had to do a protection type mission. And Bobbi was being rather sweet toward Alannah. It was good to see she could have a positive and kind side to her. Even if she didn't direct it toward him. In the end, it was Evelyn he wanted to applaud. She asked the real questions, the details and that was important for security. The woman left before questions could be answered and Wesley found himself feeling annoyed.

This was too short of a notice to prepare for this kind of job. While there were those upset at having to do the security detail, he was upset at the lack of proper instructions. "We'll need blueprints, a list of those attending, and a series of plans for most likely events to occur. Not to mention the necessary attire. This just isn't enough time." His voice was a low grumble. "I agree Demetria, this is quite strange." He couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his stomach.

---

---

---

---

---

---

Seems like the woman was just going to leave the group hanging a bit, not really sticking around to answer questions. It definitely was an interesting way to make a first impression, as this was the first mission that Rae Gardner had assigned the team since taking over the company. Andrew was silent for a few moments, simply putting his miniaturized suit back into his pocket and setting down his tools before pulling out a phone from his pocket and throwing up a hologram projection of sorts.

"Alright, so since Serval is hosting this thing and Ms. Gardner isn't exactly being too helpful, odds are it is going to be held in this room. This is where the main corporate offices are, however when you remove all of the tables from the room it becomes large and spacious and acts somewhat in a way to a large ballroom. Shouldn't be too difficult, doesn't look like there are too many entrances to really worry about which is always a good thing since it is on the sixth floor of the building."

"You really need to catch up on the times," Sapphire said to Allannah, "That is not really how things are done around here and haven't been for the past 400 hundred years or so at the least. Well, yes, wars and stuff are still around, but this group is probably just a bunch of rich snobs who think they are better then everyone else. Hey, if it wasn't for the whole he's not actually rich thing Watts would fit right in." Sapphire said, with a slight jab towards Watts with that last line, giving him a bit of a smirk.

"Yeah, odds of anyone there actually fighting each other with their fists are slim... Now, a very loud argument breaking out, that one is sure to happen. Especially since Hank Pym has a very strong dislike for any Stark, so yeah... Feel like if they start talking they might yell at each other but probably not punch each other, I don't think anyway... Or hope not... But depends on what sort of trouble you're talking about," he continued, glancing over at Evelyn now.

"You mean like the kind of trouble you'd be in if you ran into Hank Pym for creating a shrinking suit?"

"I can understand why Pym wouldn't want that technology falling into the wrong hands! But firing me over it was a bit of a strong reaction, but understandable..."

"Or when Stark Industries lawyers came after you for that same suit since they thought that it resembled the Iron Man suit."

"That is not true at all! My suit can do things the Iron Man suit can't do, and the Iron Man suit can do a few things that my suit can't! And the courts agreed with me on that one..."

"So I feel like you would be the one causing the most problems just by being in the room."

"Well it's a big room, odds of me running into either of them are slim... At least I hope it's like that honestly... I'll see about trying to avoid them deliberately in order to avoid any sort of arguing..."

"Aww, I so would have loved to see Hank Pym and Tony Stark come to an agreement on something! Their mutual sort of hatred of you!"

"...I'll see if I can pull up a guest list or something for the party," Andrew then said, deciding to best ignore Sapphire for the moment, and he went to work seeing about finding a guest list.

"And don't call me that," she said to Wesley, before deciding to answer his question, "Appropriate attire? Who the hell talks like that? Anyway, what do you think maybe? I mean really, you sound like you come from the 1800s or something with that tone of voice. What do you think the dress code would be? Think about it, a bunch of rich people who probably have enough fancy clothes between them to open their own high end mall. So probably dress nice and keep any sort of gear you need for fighting in case something bad does happen nearby."

---

---

Watts raised a slight eyebrow as Belladonna had an outburst and then headed off. He figured that almost all of the inventors in the room at this event would either love each other or hate each other - and definitely, no matter what, at least one fight would break out. The type of scientists and engineers who rose to that level of power tended to have the egos to match. Putting them all in one room with alcohol and at an event someone else was running, so they didn't need to worry about things going smoothly? That was a chemical mixture that creates chaos. He winced slightly as Alannah decided to do her rendition of the noise of nails on a chalkboard. "Could you not?!" Watts snapped at her.

He was going to answer her question, only everyone else beat him to it. "I would be rich, but I have two bright kids that need to go to college," he told Sapphire matter of factly. "And we should keep Stark away from the alcohol," he recommended. Watts figured that there would be some sort of suit on hand for him to wear. Of course, there was the problem that he needed his actual suit in order to use his abilities to keep the peace. Normal clothing didn't protect him from moving at high speeds and dealing with the enormous frictional force.

---

---

Bella knocked the bag around a good couple of times before she calmed down. It wasn't so much that this was the mission tasked to them, it was that they could be doing more than making sure some bigwigs didn't fight with each other. And to top it off, she was most likely going to have to dress up. She could hardly show up sweats. No mention of the old CEO either, which concerned her. Wouldn't that be a good thing to focus on?

She grabbed her things again and went to her room. If she was going to play the part of a security guard, she was at least going to put effort into looking the part. No reason to upset the nest. She would take her weapons though, she could hardly be asked to part with them, especially if she was going to knock heads together. Now, if they asked her to smile, she would end up killing the entire room.

---

---

---

---

Evelyn looked towards Alannah she was going to answer her friend's question, but everyone else seemed to have already beaten her to it, though she did find it troubling that Rae Gardner didn't answer any of her questions. "Like the others said, some of these people are really rich, and if they could they all could end up buying a country if they wanted or something." Evelyn said as she looked over towards Andrew as he started to pool up a holographic map of where the party would most likely be located at, and nodded slightly as she leaned back in the char. She winced slightly when Alannah made the scraping sound with her claws, but didn't do anything really about it as John told her not to do that.

"Andrew could always just simply shrink down and be unseen by them." Evelyn decided to just tease him a little bit, but she was at least grateful for some of the information that their lovely CEO neglected to mention any details. "But on another note, does any of you think our new CEO is kind of off, just giving us a security job as our first mission, and not leaving without giving us any kind of proper information?" Evelyn asked, figuring that maybe they at least had a feeling that it was just off to her as well.

---

---

Wesley raised his eyebrows at Demetria. She certainly liked to be quite the contrary one. Nothing but nay to say and no actual input. A mouth on a motor but it wasn't going anywhere. The large man shrugged languidly as he leaned back in his chair slightly. "True, the rich can afford all sorts of luxury. Even the luxury of deciding that their security look nothing like them. Black tie? Or mall cop?" he offered lightly. He made no further comment to her derision towards her name. If she would like to be called something else she could ask him politely to do so. For now, he would put his efforts into something more productive than to argue with a woman who had the anger impulse control of a two-year-old. He dealt with enough of that from Bobbi.

Ah, Evelyn, she wasn't pulling any punches. He smirked, holding back a small chuckle. "If the walls didn't tend to have ears, I would have said so myself," he responded. He leaned forward against the table as he looked over the map of the suspected place of partying. He didn't like the number of entrances and exits that could be utilized. Granted, if it was in the Serval building that was already quite a few pluses in their favor. "It would have been beneficial if she had stayed to offer more details on the job."

---

---

People talking and arguing and didn't anyone have anything more conducive to add? Not that Bobbi could talk, nor could she have been able to tell if someone had offered something worthwhile. She rubbed a hand over her face before downing the rest of her coffee. The planning thing wasn't really something she excelled at. "Look, when all y'all clever people get this shit figured out, give me a holler. I'm gonna go get some more coffee and then maybe take a nap." She gave an exaggerated yawn and moved to stand up when a hand clapped down on her shoulder to prevent the movement. She looked down at the hand and then followed the arm to Wesley who shook his head.

"What? It's not like I've got the smarts to be of use right now. I'm more of a point in the direction you want me to go and smash sort of person. Ask, Watts. He'll tell you!" She hoped that by calling out for the guy who disliked her the least would add credence to her cause. He would gladly tell them all of the ways she was a failure. Be sure to make it smart too! Smart like hurt, that was. Though probably smart like... smart cuz that the man was.

"Hence why it is a good training opportunity." She swore that the grin on Wesley's face as of pure sadism. She grumbled, crossed her arms, and glowered at the hologram projection of the room.

---

---

---

---

---

---

"Well yeah it's odd, I mean seriously, Harrison Snow died only weeks ago and this is getting a little bit ridiculous if you ask me," Sapphire muttered under her breath, agreeing with what Evelyn and Wesley were saying about how Gardner hadn't given them much information at all. The least the woman could have done was to make sure that they knew what they were doing. After all, this was a group that had a majority of new people in it, so why the hell did she think nothing of it.

"Could just be that she trusts us enough or something to get the job done correctly, you never know. I mean yeah, we aren't exactly the best group around, I'll give you that, but most of us have some experience of sorts in things like this, so maybe it's just she isn't sure what we should do and this is just her way of seeing what we can do," Andrew commented, shaking his head slightly. It was kind of a weird thought, but he usually tried to see the best in people, unless they prove to them otherwise, and Rae Gardner had some big shoes to fill. So to him it was understandable if she didn't fully know what she was doing or something.

There were 3 other people in the room, who up until this point had been relatively quiet, which was a bit surprising in the case of one of the 3, however it was Psylocke who decided to speak first. "Gardner isn't that bad of a person, I agree with him, odds are that she's just not entirely sure what sort of jobs she's supposed to give us. Now, do you have any sort of guest list for us to look at so we know whose going to be there?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," he said, before he pulled up a guest list of sorts. Looked like just about every rich person in the entire country was going to be there, even a few from outside of the US. It was definitely going to be quite a large group of people, around 100 people were invited in total. "And honestly I would be perfectly fine shrinking down to not be seen, since I truly do not want to have to argue with anyone if I can't help it at all..."

"Then why don't you do it?" Sapphire asked him with a bit of a smirk.

"Wow, you are not the nicest person around are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Just great..."

"Can you two not argue, what would make the most sense based on the floor layout would to at least have a few people keeping an eye on the entrances and exits, that way we won't have to worry hopefully about anyone coming in unannounced."

"Makes sense..."

Gambit and Rogue had been relatively quiet for the most part themselves, however they did speak up somewhat now, well, more of Gambit did a bit. He smirked, enjoying the idea of all of these rich people being around. "Ma colombe.... Maybe I can help liberate some wallets from these rich fools, n'est-ce pas?"

In response to that, Rogue smacked him upside the head. "No Remy, otherwise you'll be the one causing problems and we don't want that at all!"

---

---

"Andrew doesn't need to shrink down to be unseen. His mediocrity allows him one natural super power - total invisibility," Watts said harshly. After he said it, he considered briefly whether or not he had been too tough on Andrew, but he quickly dismissed it. The over eager puppy could take it. If he couldn't handle it, well, then that was between Andrew and his therapist - it wouldn't be Watts' problem. No, his problem was how to amplify the speed serum in order to go faster, as well as tinkering with the formula in an attempt to temporarily cure paralysis (it was a side project of his).

He sighed slightly as the elephant in the room was discussed - everyone's suspicions of the new CEO. He knew that most of these people were vastly younger than he was, but he expected an element of common sense from them. "Yes, you are quite daft," he agreed with Bobbi's assessment of herself. It was probably the only time he would agree with her on anything at all. "At any rate, Rae Gardner is an intelligent woman - we can all agree on that. Murdering someone to take over their company as the CEO? There are easiest and more effective ways for a corporate takeover. For example, she could have bought a controlling interest in Serval. The board of directors appointed her as CEO after Snow was murdered. If this was some sort of conspiracy between them in order to instal her as the CEO, they would not just be guilty of murder - but corporate espionage and other infractions."

"I'll say it simpler for those of you with small minds - Rae Gardner isn't stupid. She wouldn't kill Snow and then do this."

---

---

---

---

Evelyn continued to lean back in her chair as she listened to Psylocke as she spoke, she still just wasn't to sure what to think of her but mostly just kept to herself now. She started to study the hologram a little bit more as she tried to think of a good way, having some by or near the doors would be a good idea in case someone did end to crashing the party. "Then we cover every exit that we can, and then have some of us on the floor, maybe act as guests or something see if we can learn anything gossip wise or anything on Snow's murder?" Evelyn suggested looking over at the others for a moment.

She looked towards Watts when he made his comment towards Andrew and shook her head slightly, but didn't mention anything as she heard Gambit mentioning about pickpocketing some of the guests and smirked slightly when Rouge smacked him on the back of his head. "We should just keep Gambit away from their wallets then." She said, Evelyn wasn't sure what else they should be discussing as well and figured that Serval had all the surveillance cameras set up as well. "I think we should all get ready then, unless anyone else can think of something else?" Evelyn asked.

---

---

Opening her closet, she checked her options. She had made sure to have a nice selection of clothes to choose from. Growing up with her master in her training, she only ever wore the uniform provided. Just another way to ensure she and the others weren't individualized. They were supposed to be a collective. It mattered little now, considering he was dead and she knew not where the others went.

She didn't want to stand out at this party. If her job was to be done, she needed to blend in. She also wanted something she could move around in should the need arise. She opted for a Black Maxi Dress with a slit. She would be able to wear a holster with her gun and hide it. Her sword was another matter. She'd take it, but perhaps she would hide it.

She knew she said no heels, but she had few options on them. She knew she could take a man down in them and it made her appear harmless. Ideal for the party they were to oversee. She took out her heels and put them on. Now, she let her hair down. She let it flow in the back. She knew little of hair styling, but she knew enough to get it to look good. After she applied her make-up, simple foundation, eyeliner, lipstick, and blush. She checked herself in the mirror. She looked the part, at least. Seh grabbed her holster and her gun and set it on her upper thigh. She took her sword and exited the room and made her way back to the briefing room to wait for the others.

She entered and saw they were still there talking. "You're still talking? We have a party to attend."

---

---

---

---

---

---

Andrew fell silent at that, and he was starting to get more then a little annoyed by everyone constantly teasing him over a few things. Then again, he could somewhat understand it, however now was not the time for Watts' usual remarks basically calling him an idiot. There were other things that needed to be done, namely what their job was. Sure, no one had flat out accused Gardner of murder, but it was clear that more then a few people had that sort of thinking based on what they were saying.

"Well mes amis, it's simple - while we are guardin' this event, someone can go and search her office, see what skeletons are in her closet," Gambit suggested, shuffling his cards.

"I still don't really think that we should worry too much about Gardner, she doesn't seem like the type of person who would do something like that anyway."

"Well I like the suggestion all things considering, I say we should go along with that suggestion," Sapphire chimed in. "I mean, even if she didn't kill Snow, if the CEO is hiding secrets from us then don't you think we ought to know about them? That sort of thing gets irritating!"

"If it makes everyone feel better, then sure, we can at least see what we can find out, since let's be honest, I don't think anyone here actually knows much about who Gardner is. So, the question remains, who should be the one to go in, since think about it, Gardner is going to be at the party and expects all of us to be there, so it would have to be someone who wouldn't easily be missed."

"How about the guy who can shrink and grow? I mean honestly, no brainer there. Since Gardner knows probably a lot about all of us, so odds are she definitely knows about his history with a few people who are going to be there. So he can just use the excuse of wanting to not cause trouble and sneak out that way." Sapphire pointed out, before nodding her head towards Andrew.

"I don't really know about this..."

"Actually, I agree with her. Since from the sound of it, the only other person who might be able to easily search the office is him," Rogue added, pointing at Watts, "But sounds like he'd obviously be missin' since he wants to talk to a lot of other people clearly."

"Not to mention Andrew, sounds like you probably are one of the few people in this room who aren't really bias against her either."

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea... I mean yeah, I can easily get in there without being seen, but still, what exactly am I suppose to say if I oh I don't know, get caught?"

"Just say you are wanting to avoid Hank Pym!"

"...Alright fine... I'll do it if it makes everyone feel better... I still don't think there is anything weird about Gardner, I mean sure, she did just toss us off the deep end, but still... She's probably just overwhelmed by everything, but since you people want someone to sneak into her office, then fine... I'll do it just so we can end this conversation."

"Now with that out of the way, back to business. There are two main entrance points into the area from the staircases it seems, and a few from the elevators, so, shouldn't be too difficult for us to keep an eye out from those points as well as keep an eye on the guests, since as many people have pointed out, there is a mixture of people here who likely are going to cause a fight... So keep an eye out for anyone who looks like they might be starting to stir up trouble. Got it?" Psylocke said, before looking up at Belladonna. "We were discussing the best way to ensure that there are no problems during the event, but you are quite correct. We all have a party to go to."

---

---

For the most part, everyone was behaving as he expected them to. Andrew was naive and gullible, a bit like a puppy - but like a dog, he was loyal to a fault and Watts knew that he could trust him as long as no cats were around. Sapphire was poking fun at people in order to feel better about herself, a method that Watts would never admit he practiced as well. The former X-Men, Gambit and Rogue, they seemed alright... with the exception of Gambit's desire to rob the rich and powerful. No wonder he never got called to join the Avengers. Bobbi was an idiotic drug addict who had fallen strangely silent and her handler was present as ever. He frowned slightly, noticing the cut of the dress that Belladonna was wearing. Evelyn was being pragmatic and serious, ready to handle the mission - as was expected for her. He was having a bit of trouble getting a read on Psylocke, mostly because of her stiff demeanor and mannerisms.

"Andrew has a photographic memory - and excels at being a fly on the wall," he agreed with the group. It was pretty much the closest he had ever gotten to praising him. "Unfortunately, his suit is not working at the moment," he explained, a bit surprised that Andrew hadn't brought this up himself. It hadn't been that long ago that he had come into the lab and told Watts about the issues, and given that Andrew had stormed out after eating a bunch of cupcakes, Watts figured he hadn't repaired it yet. "And once again, I have to disagree with the plan of breaking into the CEO's office. You all may not realize it, but we have a good gig here. We are well paid and we are able to do work worth doing. Gambling all of that away on paranoia?" he scoffed, shaking his head. "Who do you think would take you in if you were fired from Serval? The Avengers? The X-Men? The Fantastic Four? None of us are at that caliber - with the exclusion of the former X-Men here."

---

---

Great training opportunity eh? People were just being vindictive and mean and... she was learning absolutely nothing she couldn't learn in a drug den to be perfectly honest. She leaned back in her chair, her face pointed toward the ceiling as her long curls cascaded toward the ground, the tips of her hair just barely ghosting the floor. Her arms went limp, hanging at her sides while she listened to people badger each other and especially geeky tech dude... the younger.

She began to tune things out, her brain taking her on a fantastical adventure. An adventure of what sort of riches she might be able to sneak out of those rich idiots. Ooooh, or maybe she could get herself a sugar daddy. Wouldn't that be something? She smiled a bit as she began to think of all the places she could go and presents she would get from some silver-haired fox who was good in the sack to boot.

Bobbi came back to reality when Belladonna came into the room. Rude much? Bobbi was just having a rather dramatic scene wherein her Silver Fox was getting jealous of the pool boy and was threatening murder. She blinked blearily as she sat up straight and rubbed her hands over her face. "Yeah... I'm getting jack shit out of this. I'm gonna get dolled up." She stood, taking her coffee cup with her. Let the smarties figure it out. She could sense Wesley was going to say something but she placed a finger against his lips and leaned close. "Listen here honey, it takes a girl a might longer than a man to get ready." She then patted him on the head and left the room.

---

---

Wesley's eyebrows went sky high as Watts went on his rant about their new CEO not having killed their old one. A hint of a frown touched the corners of his lips as he listened intently. He thought he might speak up - no one had mentioned such a thing about murder and treason. Of course, he was not privy to much of the information the others had nor had he been involved in the quiet whispers that may have happened behind closed doors. He and Bobbi had only recently arrived here after all. He glanced at Bobbi who was not at all paying attention. He rolled his eyes and sighed, listening more intently to Psylocke's additional assessments of their next steps.

He opted to stay quiet, listening to the back and forth and bicker of the group. He was coming to an understanding that it was going to take a long while until anyone came to any conclusions. He laced his fingers together into a steeple and rested the tips of his fingers against his chin. "I don't know that breaking into her office is the greatest of ideas, especially now. I have not heard a good enough reason to invade someone's privacy beyond flights of fancy... On both ends. Regardless, let us concentrate on this party. After that we can decide the best way to gather the sort of information regarding that topic of conversation. Perhaps we should choose a team leader as well, to help keep us on track. It might make things easier for Gardner if she has one point of contact to whom she can give information." After Belladonna arrived, he glowered at Bobbi who saw her chance to leave. He opened his mouth and she placed a finger against his lips. His eyes grew wide in shock and he was stunned into silence.

She left the room and he was motionless for a few beats before he shook his head and turned his attention back to the map. "I would like to add that breaking into teams of two would be highly beneficial. Two pairs of eyes, back up, more veteran members working in tandem with those new to this scene." He shrugged and brushed his hair back from his face.

---

---

---

---

Evelyn leaned back in her seat as she listened to everyone as they started to speak, looking over towards Andrew, and she could understand is reluctance to not be their little spy. "Then its settled Rossi can go in, and find if there is anything suspicious." She said giving him a slight smile, seeing as Belladonna came back into the room, true they did have a party that they should get ready to. "We were just all about ready to get going now." She said as Watts spoke up, it was true that they would all be risking their jobs and it would certainly not look good for them if either of them were caught.

"It's just suspicious that she give us this mission without giving us any form of details, if the mission was more sensitive like going into another country or something along those lines without any kind of proper briefing or information. Then that wouldn't turn out well for the team, and it could mean the matter of life or death. So I think it's a risk worth looking into." Evelyn said putting in her two cents before standing up and stretching slightly. "Anyway i'm going to go and get ready now." Evelyn said as she started to head out of the room and started to make her way towards her bedroom and started to get changed.

---

---

She was annoyed they all remained here talking, but it seemed the conversation had drifted towards the former CEO and the current one. She admitted she had similar thoughts, but was it smart to openly discuss any plan, fictional or not, within the same room the former CEO was just in and worked at? She would not be doing something so shady. She was focused on the current task at hand.

She moved and sat down at one of the unoccupied chairs while she waited for the others to get ready. "Teams of two make sense. How are we to handle difficulties? Is force allowed and how much? Wouldn't want to damage some billionaire's pinky finger accidentally." She had to scoff at this idea that the rich got together to flaunt their wealth and talk about it nonstop. For what purpose? She would soon jump off the balcony than have to wine and dine any wealthy person if not undercover.

---

---

---

---

---

---

Sapphire never was one to really care about appearances, how she looked, or how others viewed her. Honestly their opinions were dumb in her mind, so it didn't really matter to her too much what she wore to the party. She did at least decide to dress somewhat nicely, or more nicely then her usual appearance. She was wearing a dark blue skirt, shirt, a trench coat of sorts with a pair of black boots, it was nicer then her typical jeans and leather outfit, and yet it still allowed her easy movement to use her powers or being in a combat situation.

The party was under way, everything had been going for about an hour now, (so it's been 3 hours since they were sitting around a table talking), and honestly she was getting more then a bit bored being surrounded by all of these rich people. As if there wasn't anything else that could possibly put her in a bad mood, it was being surrounded by a bunch of people who probably thought like Watts and felt like they were better then everyone else.

The group had the doors covered fairly well, so no one was easily going to cause trouble or try and enter without being seen. This was helpful at least, it meant that they could keep everyone in one place and hopefully stop anyone from ripping each other apart, especially considering both Tony Stark and Hank Pym were notorious for not getting along and they were both in attendance. Bella before the party would have been told don't use force unless absolutely necessary to break up a fight if one broke out, while Wesley would have simply received a word about the team leader job from Psylocke who just mentioned that Gardner would have to approve whoever they chose since she'd have to deal with whoever it was more often.

Things seemed to be going fairly well, that is, before they got a call over their communications from a certain engineer who was currently sneaking into Gardner's office.

---

---

---

---

Andrew didn't really say much to Watts or the others after it was essentially decided what they needed to do, and he had immediately gone to work on repairing his suit. He was not too thrilled that Watts had decided to say something about the fact that his suit hadn't been working before, and that hadn't exactly been entirely accurate. Andrew had only been having problems keeping the power running without the thing completely short circuiting, he hadn't wanted to risk being stuck shrunk down! The entire thing wasn't broken, but now that it was repaired, he didn't have to worry about anything like that. "I really don't like this idea too much... But oh well... Nothing I can do about it now," he muttered to himself before he shrunk down and took off into the air.

The plan for him was to shift back to his normal size once inside, but this way would at least make it so that no one would question him or see him enter the office itself. That definitely was a necessity, especially since Gardner at the moment was out at the party, so the room was empty. He snuck in through the air vents, finding his way to her office, and once out of the vents, he landed on the ground and went back to his normal size again. "Alright... Let's see what sort of things we can find here..."

Standing up straight, he decided to just start with the files on her desk, one was labelled strangely, that much was obvious. No Electronic Copies was what the label said, and this was a bit odd, as usually you would have electronic copies of just about any file you'd have in existence. Opening it up, he saw some weird design for what could only be really described as a weapon of sorts, or something like that. Reading through the file, he noted the capabilities of the machine. The ability to transfer someone's mind into another person's body, but essentially killing the person who was having someone else's mind into them. They'd essentially be brain dead in theory, or potentially just have everything about them suppressed, he wasn't too sure what the outcome of that would be. From the looks of things, the machine hadn't actually been created yet, so that was a good thing.

"...What the hell is Gardner up to?" he muttered to himself, a part of his brain was trying to rationalize it as just something for a client of Serval, but that didn't make any sense really. As this sort of thing would have been sent down to the engineering lab to be built, so why would she keep it hidden? He set the file down before what sounded almost like a whirlwind outside of the door caught his attention. Without hesitating, Andrew immediately shrunk back down and flew up into the vent again. Just in time to avoid being seen by the person who came rushing into the room in a gust of wind.

It was Pietro Maximoff.

"Wow, not much of a place here really... To think this place is a high tech and weapons manufacturing company... You'd think that they'd have enough money to get their CEO a decent office. It would be a shame if someone were to rip it apart... Need to see if they've got any info on the thingy that we are after though... Any extra bit helps!" he said gleefully, before he started speeding around the office, ripping things apart looking for anything useful. Andrew was definitely glad he had gotten up into the vents when he did.

"Uh guys? We might have a bit of a problem..." Andrew said over the communication system, everyone else would be able to hear him too. He pulled up a display on his arm just in time to see an alarm go off in the lab. "Okay, make that a really big problem. And before anyone says anything it had nothing to do with me breaking into Gardner's office, but we have a few unexpected guests here..."

"What's going on?" Sapphire's voice immediately responded.

"Looks like the Maximoff twins are after something here at Serval, considering the fact that I just barely managed to avoid Quicksilver finding me..."

"Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, here?" Psylocke's voice chimed in the instant he had mentioned the pair.

"Yeah, well, fairly certain it is both of them, I mean I only see Quicksilver at the moment here in Gardner's office, and he's ripping the place to shreds... But an alarm went off up in the Engineering Lab, so odds are that's where his sister is if I had to guess. I'm going to head that way now, see if I can figure out what they're after, since I honestly think Quicksilver is just having fun destroying things in Gardner's office at the moment," Andrew said, before he started flying through the vents to reach the Engineering Lab hopefully.

---

---

Watts dressed smartly for these sort of functions. His suit wasn't too far and he had the speed serum and other items on his person. Of course, without the suit he was at a huge risk of endangering himself with the speeds he traveled at. There was a reason most speedsters had their abilities naturally - they had evolved to be able to withstand tremendous force and friction. Watts' body did not have that same luxury, meaning that he needed to wear the suit in order to protect himself from his own speed.

While the others were probably annoyed at this sort of event, Watts was thoroughly enjoying himself. "Dr. Pym, it is an honor to have you here," Watts said, extending a hand to the Pym Technologies owner and founder. "I have to say, I was deeply impressed with your publication on quantum tunneling with regard to tautomeric transition as key to Erksine's original formula. Though I did have to ask - how did you know it was superexchange-mediated tunneling? Forgive me, I've gotten ahead of myself - I'm Dr. John Watts, the head of the Research and Development department here at Serval."

Dr. Pym nodded slightly. "I had my quantum computer do the calculations, looking into tunneling and hopping on a model of Steve Rogers' DNA," he explained. "In fact, the new models are looking very promising. I'm expecting to publish a paper soon, assuming Stark doesn't go and publish first," he muttered, glaring in the direction of Tony Stark. "If it wasn't for his father, I swear... I would have had a working quantum computer decades ago..."

Watts smiled slightly. "If you'll excuse me, Dr. Pym," he said, wanting to talk with more than just one intellectual genius - and it seemed that Pym needed a bit of space to cool down. Tony Stark wasn't too far away so Watts headed on over, having a blast. It was his version of Christmas. "Tony Stark," he greeted.

"Hey there whoever you are." The Stark Industries owner had obviously had a few drinks, but at least he wasn't completely wasted. He wasn't certain whether or not it was better for the tension in the room to keep Tony drunk or not.

"Dr. John Watts - I run the R&D division here at Serval," he said, extending a hand just as he had done with Pym. A big part of this was networking. If Pym Tech or Stark Industries made him a better offer, he'd take it. His son, Stephen, was already in school and the fees were expensive. And even though his daughter, Leda, lived in England with her mother, Watts felt it was his duty to pay for her proper education too.

"Tony Stark but you knew that already it sounds like," Tony said, shaking Watts' hand. "So, the R&D division? Sounds like fun."

"I believe everyone in the room knows who you are," Watts admitted. Perhaps he was sucking up to these people - but they were giants in his field. They were the movers and shakers, the legends. "If you have a moment, I'd love to chat about your nanotech developments - I heard you're working on making a self-healing material of sorts for your next suit?"

"Yup, just something I've been tinkering around a bit with, definitely will make it a hell of a lot easier on me."

He nodded slightly, putting a slight hand to his ear as Andrew informed him of the situation. His blood ran cold - not because of who was there, but that they were in the lab! His pride and joy! His blood, sweat, and tears! Anger built up in him rapidly and he forced a thin smile. "Excuse me," he said, stepping out into the hallway and he went into a closet, changing into his suit quickly before injecting himself with the speed serum. "This is Mercury. I'm on my way to secure the lab," he said into the comms, his eyes glowing red from the serum as his entire body vibrated.

---

---

Bella had called it from the onset. The party itself was a total bore, filled with big wigs flaunting for each other. She had stayed the course, though. She kept an eye on everyone. Those that noticed her saw a well-dressed young woman and those who even decided to come up to talk to her were quickly dismissed.

Save for one brave soul. He appeared young enough to have very little facial hair but old enough to hold a job. She figured daddy gave him a position on his company right after he graduated and he very few works there but reaps the benefits, such as being invited to parties. He also talked a lot about his own yacht and how big it was (she assumed he was compensating for something). Try as she might, he would not leave her alone.

She thought about ending him then and there and saving the world a headache a few years later, but she heard the alert. It seemed trouble had found them, but not in the form of the party guests. She stopped the man mid-conversation. "Duty calls. Also, women don't care about the size of your yacht."

She left him and made her way through the room. Since both men were going after Scarlet Witch, she opted for her brother. "I'll go see about Quicksilver then." She reported over the comms as she made her way to Gardner's office.