Jon had arranged to meet Gigi in a place called The Bamboo Room and had been instructed to take a booth in the back. He'd ordered himself a drink - a glass of good scotch - more to steel his nerves than to quench his thirst while he awaited the arrival of his cousin. They had important business to discuss, private business, and it was just as well they had arranged to meet in a place where no one would ever think to find him.
Gigi entered shortly after. She still wore the dark scarf with the strange designs she'd picked up in Reboyczek. Her trips to the Spralian planet were always business but not devoid of small pleasures amongst the disciplining and distributing. Outside the day retained plenty of its light but inside the Bamboo Room was dark enough to leave its customers to their own devices. She slid into Jon's booth.
Jon tapped a finger against the side of the glass, which was nearly drained by the time Gigi arrived. Jon didn't get up, as he might have normally upon her arrival. His jaw was set, a grim expression on his face. He had not asked for this meeting in order to discuss pleasantries. "Gigi," he offered in solemn greeting.
"Jon boy." Her monotone might have been the same had his greeting been warmer. She signaled to a waiter who needed no other instructions about what she wanted. She had picked this spot for a reason after all.
He, too, caught the waiter's attention and signaled for a refill, privately reminding himself that two was his limit, since he was driving. "I wish I'd asked you here under happier circumstances, but I need to ask you something, and I need an honest answer."
"Then you should probably get to it." Succinct with her words and finding no reason to delay him in his purpose. She did not require much when it came to good graces.
Okay, she seemed to want him to come straight to the point, so straight to the point he came sans an explanation for now of why he was asking these questions at all. "I need you to tell me what happened after I was....shot." The word "shot" came out with obvious difficulty, and he fought down the shudder that accompanied the thought, choosing to drain what remained in his glass instead. If she wanted him to be more specific, he would be, but he'd give her a chance to answer the question first.
"Everything happened, Jon boy. Be more specific." Gigi could hazard a good guess what he meant but she didn't want to make the mistake of revealing more than anyone ever needed to know about the choices she made in those days following the shooting. The waiter arrived with their drinks and wordlessly slid a few coins into his palm. The disconcerting eyes fixed on Jon. If he wanted answers he would have to pry them out.
"I'm not gonna beat around the bush, Geeg. We've known each other too long." He thanked the waiter with a wordless nod, waiting until they were once again alone before continuing and lowering his voice for her ears only. "I know what you and Eli did to that girl. What I want to know is why didn't you just kill her?"
It wasn't being confronted by her own crimes that surprised her. It was that his question prompted one of her own. But she would start with the honest answer. "Because I promised Eli he could finish up." She swallowed down her mixed tequila drink and studied his face. She'd wait and see before asking. That she didn't deflect or deny her involvement only proved she cared enough not to bulls—t him more than she thought necessary for his own good.
Gigi's candor was one of the things Jon liked most about her. He knew that whatever answers she provided would be honest ones, and in truth, he was more interested in Eli's part in this little mess than in Gigi's. "You should have finished the job, Geeg," he told her, leaning in, his voice barely more than a whisper. He took a swallow of the scotch, wincing just a little as it burned its way down.
Her face darkened. "Are you telling me that little didn't finish it?" Her voice never changed intonation but the anger boiling under the surface was palpable.
Jon shrugged, bolstered by Gigi's reaction, confident she'd be as furious about what Eli had done as he was. "He turned her into a monster, and that monster almost killed me and my wife," Jon replied, barely able to repress the rage he was feeling. It was a rare thing indeed to see Jonathan this angry. "I took care of it." With a little help from The Human Torch, but she didn't need to know that little detail. "She won't be hurting anyone again." He lowered his glass, eyeing Gigi stoically. "Please tell me you didn't know about this." About what Eli had done, to be more precise.
Gigi saw red. "I knew I shouldn't have let that have her but we had a deal." She swallowed down what was left in the glass and threw it down to break against the floorboards. The outburst did little to faze the few members of the wait staff near them. It was likely not the first display of rage Gigi had shown in the Bamboo Room. "I thought he just had some sick, sadistic in store for her." Gigi made no effort to apologize for this or to recognize that her own actions against Susie could be described with the same words. "He promised she'd end up dead. That was what we all wanted, even though most of the family wouldn't have the balls to admit it out loud."
Jon considered her answer, his anger defused by Gigi's obvious display of rage, and something he hadn't considered before occurred to him. "Do you think she escaped" I haven't seen Eli in months, not since..." He broke off, not wanting to mention his little fiasco with the vampires, but whatever Eli had done to the girl, it had happened long before he'd asked for Eli's help with the vampires. Something wasn't right here. "She said she was going to kill you and Eli, but....You don't have to worry about that." Jon seemed to relax a fraction, satisfied that Gigi had done what she had for all the right reasons, though Jon still wished she'd just finished the job, even though that would have meant more blood on her hands.
"He deserves whatever he gets from around like that. He should be so lucky that he escapes me going to see him about it." The violence that was so common in her world caused her to almost miss that whatever Jon had done to ensure his own family's safety must have taken a toll on him. "I wish you had been able to leave her for me. I would have enjoyed doing it right the second time around. It was never meant for you to deal with it."
Gigi entered shortly after. She still wore the dark scarf with the strange designs she'd picked up in Reboyczek. Her trips to the Spralian planet were always business but not devoid of small pleasures amongst the disciplining and distributing. Outside the day retained plenty of its light but inside the Bamboo Room was dark enough to leave its customers to their own devices. She slid into Jon's booth.
Jon tapped a finger against the side of the glass, which was nearly drained by the time Gigi arrived. Jon didn't get up, as he might have normally upon her arrival. His jaw was set, a grim expression on his face. He had not asked for this meeting in order to discuss pleasantries. "Gigi," he offered in solemn greeting.
"Jon boy." Her monotone might have been the same had his greeting been warmer. She signaled to a waiter who needed no other instructions about what she wanted. She had picked this spot for a reason after all.
He, too, caught the waiter's attention and signaled for a refill, privately reminding himself that two was his limit, since he was driving. "I wish I'd asked you here under happier circumstances, but I need to ask you something, and I need an honest answer."
"Then you should probably get to it." Succinct with her words and finding no reason to delay him in his purpose. She did not require much when it came to good graces.
Okay, she seemed to want him to come straight to the point, so straight to the point he came sans an explanation for now of why he was asking these questions at all. "I need you to tell me what happened after I was....shot." The word "shot" came out with obvious difficulty, and he fought down the shudder that accompanied the thought, choosing to drain what remained in his glass instead. If she wanted him to be more specific, he would be, but he'd give her a chance to answer the question first.
"Everything happened, Jon boy. Be more specific." Gigi could hazard a good guess what he meant but she didn't want to make the mistake of revealing more than anyone ever needed to know about the choices she made in those days following the shooting. The waiter arrived with their drinks and wordlessly slid a few coins into his palm. The disconcerting eyes fixed on Jon. If he wanted answers he would have to pry them out.
"I'm not gonna beat around the bush, Geeg. We've known each other too long." He thanked the waiter with a wordless nod, waiting until they were once again alone before continuing and lowering his voice for her ears only. "I know what you and Eli did to that girl. What I want to know is why didn't you just kill her?"
It wasn't being confronted by her own crimes that surprised her. It was that his question prompted one of her own. But she would start with the honest answer. "Because I promised Eli he could finish up." She swallowed down her mixed tequila drink and studied his face. She'd wait and see before asking. That she didn't deflect or deny her involvement only proved she cared enough not to bulls—t him more than she thought necessary for his own good.
Gigi's candor was one of the things Jon liked most about her. He knew that whatever answers she provided would be honest ones, and in truth, he was more interested in Eli's part in this little mess than in Gigi's. "You should have finished the job, Geeg," he told her, leaning in, his voice barely more than a whisper. He took a swallow of the scotch, wincing just a little as it burned its way down.
Her face darkened. "Are you telling me that little didn't finish it?" Her voice never changed intonation but the anger boiling under the surface was palpable.
Jon shrugged, bolstered by Gigi's reaction, confident she'd be as furious about what Eli had done as he was. "He turned her into a monster, and that monster almost killed me and my wife," Jon replied, barely able to repress the rage he was feeling. It was a rare thing indeed to see Jonathan this angry. "I took care of it." With a little help from The Human Torch, but she didn't need to know that little detail. "She won't be hurting anyone again." He lowered his glass, eyeing Gigi stoically. "Please tell me you didn't know about this." About what Eli had done, to be more precise.
Gigi saw red. "I knew I shouldn't have let that have her but we had a deal." She swallowed down what was left in the glass and threw it down to break against the floorboards. The outburst did little to faze the few members of the wait staff near them. It was likely not the first display of rage Gigi had shown in the Bamboo Room. "I thought he just had some sick, sadistic in store for her." Gigi made no effort to apologize for this or to recognize that her own actions against Susie could be described with the same words. "He promised she'd end up dead. That was what we all wanted, even though most of the family wouldn't have the balls to admit it out loud."
Jon considered her answer, his anger defused by Gigi's obvious display of rage, and something he hadn't considered before occurred to him. "Do you think she escaped" I haven't seen Eli in months, not since..." He broke off, not wanting to mention his little fiasco with the vampires, but whatever Eli had done to the girl, it had happened long before he'd asked for Eli's help with the vampires. Something wasn't right here. "She said she was going to kill you and Eli, but....You don't have to worry about that." Jon seemed to relax a fraction, satisfied that Gigi had done what she had for all the right reasons, though Jon still wished she'd just finished the job, even though that would have meant more blood on her hands.
"He deserves whatever he gets from around like that. He should be so lucky that he escapes me going to see him about it." The violence that was so common in her world caused her to almost miss that whatever Jon had done to ensure his own family's safety must have taken a toll on him. "I wish you had been able to leave her for me. I would have enjoyed doing it right the second time around. It was never meant for you to deal with it."