rjb_absinthe:

"Den, Marie Jolie, she come to de edge o' de bayou, and she start ta cry, 'cause she know she ain't never got de stregnth to get 'round it, an' if she try ta swim it, dem gators dey eat her fo' sho'." Rene was in full Cajun mode. It was a Cajun story, so it was easier to tell in the right accent, plus the little girl in the cell on his right and the little boys in the cells across from him seemed to like it. It made them giggle. Extra bonus, for some reason it really annoyed the big cat man who was walking the perimeter of the cells that night.

"What did she do?" asked Taylor, the little boy across and to the left of him. At least Rene thought he was a boy. He was partly made of fog, so it was a tough call.

"Well, you know, one o' dem gators, he swim right up ta her and he pull his two arms outta de water and he cross dem right on de land, like he settlin' in fo' a long chat. Marie Jolie say, 'Please, please, monsieur Gator, don' eat me. I wouldn't be disturbin' you at all, but de devil hisself is chasing me!'

'De devil hisself?' de gator say, 'well, looks like you got a choice to make, you. You can climb up here on my back, an' I'll take you right 'cross dis bayou, me. An you get away from dat devil, or you sit right dere and wait fer him to get you.'

'How I know you not gonna eat me soon as we get out in de middle o' de bayou?' Marie Jolie asked.

'I promise I won',' de gator sighed long and deep, 'guess you just haveta trust me on dat, chere.'

Marie Jolie t'ought she heard a sound behind her an' she jumped up on dat gator's back quicker den a blink! And de gator, he did jus' like he said. Dropped her off on de other side and tol' her just which way to run to find de nearest church.

Den dat ol' gator turn around an' he see de devil. Now de devil, he don' like water, so he was jumpin' up and down and jus' havin' hisself a full out conniption! Gator, he swim hisself over ta dat devil, and he give him de same choice he gave Marie Jolie. Devil thought he too big and powerful to ever get tricked, so he jump right up on dat gator's back. Gator swim him out to the deepest part o' de bayou, whip 'round real fast and grab dat devil leg in him mout' and ate him right down! And dat was de end o' dat."

"How could an alligator eat the devil?" A cynical woman in a cell on the other side of the little girl spat out.

'Thanks a lot, you're being an enormous help, seriously' Rene thought to himself. "'pparently you never been to de bayou, madame, 'cause I will tell you what, don't matter if you a human, mutant, devil, metal man with a ugly red diamond on you head, big ol' cat or what, one o' dem gators eats you, you stay eaten."

"I LIKE that story, Rene!" Aimee, the little girl in the cell next to him declared.

"I'm glad," he smiled at her. "I like it too."

"If I had gator, I'd call him Killer!" Gaius said from across the corridor.

"I'd call mine Buddy."

"I'd call mine Tater."

"I'd call mine Princess!"

"I'd-"

"SHADDUP!" Sabertooth hit the switch that sent and elecric shock through all of the cells' metal floors and walls.

It hurt, and it left Rene shaking and twitching. For the millionth time he wondered what the hell these people wanted with him, who they were and why it was taking the guilds so long to find him.

He heard the big cat's footsteps stop in front of his cell. "Guess what, storyteller? It's your turn to have a sleep over in the lab." Sabertook grinned cruelly.

butterflybullet:

Vernique loved it when her mother couldn't make it to a Nevell board meeting but didn't want it postponed. It was like a sale at Saks.

She had scores of notes on textile shipping figures neatly organized in a tooled-leather binder. She told Mr. Lloyd, with her very best grateful smile, that yes, she took sugar. And when it was time to get down to business, she strove to be remarkably on top of things, and on top she was.

When she finally left the meeting, her elegant but sensible flats were nearly walking on air.

sammyfury:

Sammy finished up the details for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest special ops team and called the first meeting aboard the helicarrier. This time Dad's office wasn't available or requested so there was no mistaking which Fury was in charge. Col. Fury would hear about the meeting soon enough. He might even show up to give his view on why he created the team.

For this meeting, all she wanted was to get the quarters assigned, equipment procured, questions answered and let everyone meet each other and find out why each of them were chosen for this team. Forget that she was a little anxious about it. Being a Fury in S.H.I.E.L.D. meant people watched to see you fail to live up to the Colonel's example. She had to be better just to be considered satisfactory, and temper it with patience and humor so she didn't drive everyone around her insane.

If this worked, she would definitely owe Uncle Steve a thank you for showing her how a powered team could be led without climbing a bell tower.