2008-04-19: Cool Recruiting II

Starring:

Cam_icon.gif Kory_icon.gif

Summary: Kory secures another of the people on Peter's List. And he's connected enough to help her secure more!

Date It Happened: April 19, 2008

Cool Recruiting II


Queens - Monica's House

Early Sunday afternoon, and Queens is active. The weather's warm enough that kids are out playing, though not so warm they don't need coats yet. Still, Cam isn't out with the rest. Instead he's on the front step of Monica's house, sitting working on what's probably last-minute homework. Not wearing his own jacket, though it's sitting beside him on the step.

Kory comes jogging up the street, looking a little anxious. But the anxiety fades from her expression once she spots Cam sitting on the stoop. "Cam! Cam!" she calls, smiling warmly at him. She hasn't seen much of him since she got out of the hospital, and she's missed him. Her expression remains serious behind the smile, though. So there's more to her visit than just missing her favourite just-barely-a-teenager.

Cam looks up at the call and smiles, waving quickly. He puts his book aside, tucking his pencil into the edge, and he looks up to Kory again with a grin, standing to hug her once she's close.

Kory wraps her arms around the kid — well, no, young man — and holds him tight for a moment. "It's good to see you, Cam," she tells him. "Have I caught you at a bad time? Is Micah?" There's a certain urgency in her voice as she speaks, even though her pleasure at seeing Cam is still near the surface.

Cam shakes his head and says, "Micah's out watching a movie with Niki. I wasn't allowed to go with them, hadn't got my homework done. I'm just about done now, though, so it's ok. Wanna come inside?"

Kory looks a touch crestfallen that Micah's not in, but nods. "Yeah, inside is good…This is not a conversation we need to have on the stoop," she assures her young friend. "Kinda too serious for that, and too secret…we don't really want just anyone overhearing us."

Cam's eyes widen a little at this, and he nods seriously, "Ok!" He picks up his workbook and quickly steps to open the door, stepping inside and holding it open for Kory.

Kory slips inside, quickly, moving with a purpose. She's clearly recovered from her ordeal of two months back, and has been exercising a little. "Thanks, hon. Have a seat. This is going to be heavy. Not too heavy for you, but still. Heavy."

Cam closes the door and then moves over to sit down on the couch. The TV's on, though muted, but he turns it off with a slightly embarassed look, "It's math, had a hard time getting started." Then he nods seriously and asks, "You're not going anywhere, right? Nobody's missing?"

"I'm not going anywhere," Kory assures Cam with a ruffle of his hair as she flops onto the couch beside him. "And as far as I know, nobody's missing. But Peter asked me to stop the future he came from. A Future Peter, I mean." The other Peter? He's not exactly missing, but that's another story. She takes a deep breath. "You wanna help save the world, hon?"

Cam blinks at that, eyes widening again, "Wow, really? Yeah!" He hesitates a little again and then asks, "How? I'm not very good at my powers yet, and bet he doesn't need anything stolen to save the world. Not really good at anything else."

"Really, yeah," Kory assures Cam. "And you're good at listening, right? Listening to dumb grownups who don't pay attention to what they're saying around you because you're just a kid, right? You could do that. It isn't all about powers. It's about what everybody can bring to the table. Not just abilities but talents."

Cam grins a bit again and says, "Yeah." Then he adds, "And even when they know I'm there, I can usually get people to say stuff. To give me stuff, too." Then he adds, a little more excitedly, "But if you wanna find stuff out, Micah's the one you need to ask. He can find out *anything*. Well, anything in a computer somewhere, anyway. He's like Neo."

"I seem to recall you mentioning something like that," Kory confirms after Cam proves her estimations of his talents right. "I am hoping he can coordinate all the names, and keep people from tracing our calls, or give us a safe way to talk online. Because if we all bunch up in one place, the bad guys will have a chance to find us. But you'll tell him he's needed?" Kory considers. "I should tell you why we're doing this too, huh?"

Cam nods quickly and says, "I'll tell him, soon as he gets home. Is it ok to mention it to Niki? She and Peter are friends, bet she's in on it." Then he nods again and asks, "Yeah, who're we saving the world from?"

"Yes. Niki too. Peter asked all of you and Monica as well to be part of this," Kory confirms with a nod, grateful that Cam's going to help her get the word out. Running all over New York is a lot of work for one person. "We're saving the world from Pinehearst," Kory explains. "At least, that's the name they go by. Peter says they're creating a formula to make everybody like us."

Cam blinks, "Pinehearst? But that's the company Niki works for." Now he's confused. Though, at the last he frowns and says, "They should read comics. Giving people powers *never* works out."

"Niki works for Pinehearst too?" Kory's eyes widen in surprise. "Well. Niki is in an excellent position to find out if Peter's telling us the truth or if he's just confused." She looks a little frustrated, because Peter left out this little detail about Niki. "Maybe you better hold off on mentioning it to Niki until I am sure about what to do there," she suggests after a moment or two to consider it. "I know Niki is loyal to them for helping her." Kory visited a dream when Niki was missing. She remembers, even if Niki doesn't. And making Niki remember is an ace-in-the-hole card she would rather not pull out of her sleeve unless things are desperate.

Cam hesitates at that and says, "I dunno. She hardly ever talks about it. You'd think if she really liked her work, she'd be talking about it all the time. It's part of the reason they haven't taken me to a new foster home, I think. They're starting to like Niki now she's working somewhere big like that." He nods quickly then and says, "Ok, just Micah for now then."

"That sounds like Niki's between a rock and a hard place," Kory admits, furrowing her brow. "She may like the work but not be able to. Which makes it sound like even if that's the case, something shady is happening in there." She pats the arm of the sofa with one hand as she thinks about it. "Or she doesn't like what she's doing there, and she's only doing it so she has a good job for you and Micah and so she doesn't lose you. I can get that information from her some other way…if I have to." She sighs. "I wish I knew where Matt's been. He'd know what to do here."

Cam blinks, "Who's Matt?" Then he seems to remember, "Oh, yeah, wasn't that the cop you said you were gonna ask to talk to me after what happened in the park that time? Never did get to meet him. Why would he know what to do?"

"He's one of us. Reads minds," Kory says, smiling. "I guess he's got other stuff going on, though." She shrugs. "It's okay. We'll figure it out some other way. I still have other people to talk to about this. It isn't a short list."

Cam blinks at that and then says, "Oh, wow." He frowns and says, "That why you wanted him to talk to me that time? So he could read my mind about what happened?"

Kory nods seriously. "Yeah. You were so scared and freaked out that you probably weren't remembering things you saw all the way. So I thought it might help. But the important thing is crazy acid lady got locked up and it's not an issue anymore. And we, like the X-Men, have another enemy to worry about now." She gives Cam a thumbs up. "And even the X-Men had other abilities than their superpowers. We'll just have to work with whatever we've got."

Cam rubs at his shoulder, biting his lip and then nodding quickly, grinning a bit again. "Um.. so, whatcha want me to do for now? 'Sides talking to Micah I mean."

"Listen and watch. If people are talking about formulas, or catching people with powers, or anything you think I need to hear, tell Micah so he can tell me. And if Micah doesn't already have my number, make sure he has it." She rubs Cam's shoulder too. "You made it through that like a trooper. And through being sick with that weird disease. And I made it through the weird thing in February. See — we're already behaving like superheroes. Just — we can't have costumes. Too conspicuous." She winks playfully at Cam.

Cam grins again at that, nodding quickly, "Yeah. Too bad, 'cause it'd be cool, though." He then nods more seriously and says, "Ok, I'll listen. Anything I hear, you'll know."

"Good. And watch Niki too. Make sure she's safe. If you can get her to talk without making her suspicious, that'd be good too." Kory leans over and kisses Cam's forehead. "I got a few more people to see about this. We good?" She doesn't move to get up, until she hears Cam's answer.

Cam nods quickly to that, leaning over to give Kory another quick hug. "Yep, we're good." He sits back again and says, "See you later. Oh, and hope you're gonna ask Hiro. He's *gotta* be part of this."

"Oh, definitely," Kory promises Cam with a serious expression. "If I didn't already owe him for the kindness he showed me — which reminds me — I've got a new apartment! Big enough that you can Micah can come over and play X-Box if you want when you need a break from Niki and Monica." She winks. But the excitement over that has to go back to the wayside; important work to be done. "He lives in the same building I do. I just haven't been able to catch him yet. So I'm getting ahold of people as I find them." She does rise, this time, pleased with both the hug and Cam's suggestion. "I should get going. Miles to go before I sleep," she tells Cam. "Not that I sleep all that much, but you know what I mean."

Cam blinks, "Already? Awesome! Where is it? Wanna come visit." Then he nods again and grins, "Ok. Bye. Hope you can find everybody on the list quick."

"Man, it'd be much easier," Kory comments as she closes the door behind her, "If I could get around like Hiro can!" She waves one more time, then closes the door.

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