Subject: [OTL]: [Ana Lyon uni] Newsprint and Leather 2: In Over My Head
Date: Sat, 24 Jun 2000 00:19:31 -0700
From: Ana Lyssie Cotton <shreelana@yahoo.com>

Disclaimer: Ana Lyon, Kim and Elizabeth Crowne belong to
ShaiPeriHawk. I'm merely writing Elizabeth, as requested. :) Is
fun, though. Anything Marvel belongs to them. Frieda, Jenny,
Trisha and Andre are my mental problems.. Erm, that didn't come
out right.

To Shai and Em for encouragement. :)

I'm gonna rate this one R for some nasty graphic description and
language.

Newsprint and Leather: In Over My Head
by Ana Lyssie Cotton

Sunlight was evil. It was the only thing that made sense to
Elizabeth as she staggered out of bed on Friday morning. The
weekend was nearly there. That helped, too. A shower and a cup
of coffee helped enough that she was able to answer the phone
coherently when Kayla called.

"'Lo."

"Elizabeth, honey, you okay? Darlene called me last night and
said you looked like shit at work."

"I'm fine, Kay." She shifted the phone and clamped down with her
shoulder so she could move to the small love seat in the living
room. The white phone cord stretched behind her.

"You sure? You were pretty wacked after the kid ran on us the
other night."

"No, duh." Impatience entered her voice, "Kayla, she could be in
danger from those people."

"No more than we are."

Something in the other woman's voice made Elizabeth straighten.
"What do you mean?"

"They saw us. They might even have marked us, Lizzie." A shiver
entered Kayla's voice, "They might try kidnapping us next."

"It's the same ring, isn't it? They didn't catch them all."

Kayla was silent for a time. "Lizzie, we don't know that. You
stay safe, okay? I've gotta go."

"Wait--" But the phone clicked into a dial tone. "Damn you,
Kayla. What do you know you're not telling me?" Elizabeth
snorted and stood to set the phone back in its cradle.
"Everything."

--

Getting in to work on time was almost impossible, since she had
to walk there. Grabbing a decent set of clothes, Elizabeth
headed for the shower with a muttered curse.

Later, as she stepped out, she hastily made a mental list of the
things she needed to do that day. At the top was to write a
feature story for tomorrow's paper. And next on that list was to
interrogate Roy. Darlene had made an obscure comment the other
night about him knowing more on the Slavers than she did. She
needed to find them. The kid weighed heavily in her thoughts.
She'd been so small.

Breakfast was out of the question, so she grabbed a few bills
from the jar on her fridge. The money there was for emergencies.
Like not having time for breakfast.

---

The security guard nodded at her as she came in, frazzled. "I'm
late, I'm late, morning, Fred."

"Hi, Ms. Crowne. Loved the review you did of the Cure concert
last week."

"Thanks." She smiled abstractedly and then dashed into the
elevator as it opened. On her way out the door, she'd realised
there was a staff meeting that morning. {Crap, crap, crap...}

An interminable time later, Elizabeth escaped the meeting and
headed for Roy's desk. Of course, with her luck, he'd be taking
a late lunch and she'd miss him.

He was actually coming back from lunch. "Roy!"

"Yes?" His tone indicated he didn't want to be bothered by the
rookie reporter, but would let it slide. This once.

"Can we talk?" She glanced around, plastering a smile on her
face. "Not here, out in the hall?"

"Sure. As long as this doesn't take too long. I have an
appointment with my personal trainer."

They walked in silence to the back hallway, where many such
talks happened.

"Right. Um, Roy, I heard you were working on a story in regards
to the kidnapping sex slavers.. And, I was wondering if you
wouldn't mind sharing any information you've gotten on it."

"Let me think about this. No. And, no." He smiled with finality
and turned.

"Roy..." Elizabeth smiled and caught his arm, turning him back.
She leaned into him closer, her knee slipping between his.
"Look, Roy, there's a child I'd like to find. So help me find
her and I don't cut off your balls and feed them to you."

"I..."

Her lips smiled, her eyes didn't. "Spill."

----

Elizabeth took the rest of the day off, after throwing together
a quick story on women buying men flowers in apology. Her
itinerary included a stop at her apartment, and then she headed
for Tempest.

In mid-afternoon, the main section of the club was shut down.
The business office in the front was open, though. The cute
bartender from the night before had desk duty. "Hey, Andre."

"Hey." He blinked and then shoved back the hanging edge of his
dark-coloured bangs. "Liz, right?"

"Yeah. Is Kayla in?"

"She's in the back, setting up for tonight's dance contest."

"Cool." Elizabeth smiled and stepped around the side, heading
into the darkened club.

The only light came from the hallway that led out to the front.
And the connecting door to Galaxy, which was currently open. A
small dais had been set up to the side of the dance floor. In
the gloom, Elizabeth couldn't see anyone else.

"Hello? Kayla?"

"Yo, I'm behind the bar."

Elizabeth relaxed slightly and headed for the bar. Carefully.

"Here, have a drink, my dear." Kayla plopped a glass down next
to her hand.

"Thanks." Elizabeth sipped and then sighed. It was water. Fresh,
cold, water. "Kay?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you know about the slavers?"

"Only what you've told me, and I've read in the P-D."

"Oh." Elizabeth sipped again, trying to moisten a suddenly dry
throat. "So, who is Jade?"

Kayla paused for a moment in her clearing up, then shrugged.
"Never heard of her."

"Roy told me something this morning--after I threatened him with
deballing, of course. But he mentioned that the Ring they
cracked was half the surface. That there were deeper rumours."
Elizabeth sipped again.

"Really?" Kayla sounded almost as if she didn't want to know the
answer.

"Yeah. That there's rumours of an underground, and that it's
centered here, around Tempest."

"That's impossible. Nothing could go on here that I wouldn't
know about." Kayla snorted.

"Exactly." Elizabeth stood. "I want to find her just as much as
you, Kay."

Kayla looked at her, her eyes grave in the light. "I can't."

"Why not? You know I'll tell no one what you tell me.
God-dammit, Kayla, my own sister was taken by these assholes! 
I have a RIGHT to know."

"That's why you're after the kid, isn't it." Kayla sounded
surprised. "She reminds you of your sister."

"TELL ME."

Kayla heaved a sigh and turned away. "I'll have to check
something, first."

"Good. Oh yeah, who is Stone again?"

--

Elizabeth wiped the fog off the mirror and stared blearily at
her reflection. The night before had been spent stalking Kayla
through Tempest, the Cheetah, the Galaxy and finally Velvet.
Kayla had eluded her as to the answers, but she'd bought
Elizabeth a drink at every bar. And then some.

Several mutual friends had also bought rounds. Elizabeth started
to shake her head and winced as the temples throbbed. She wasn't
sick, but her head was going to ache for a long time.

"I really should get dressed." She mumbled, pushing off from the
sink and turning to the bathroom door. The phone rang at that
moment.

The shrill noise cut through the fog in her brain and made her
wince. She staggered from the bathroom, still wrapped in the
after-shower towel and nearly ran Frieda down.

Frieda Lawrence was one of her roommates, the other, Trisha
McMillan, was sitting at the kitchen table and talking into the
phone.

"I hope you didn't use all the hot water." Frieda said chidingly
as she finished putting her dish in the sink.

"Um, no..."

"It's for you, Liz." Trisha raised the phone with an eyebrow. "A
guy. Something you're not telling us?"

"Nah." She grabbed the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey. Elizabeth Crowne?" It was a male, all right. Sounded oddly
familiar, but she wasn't sure why.

"This is she." As Elizabeth listened, she stiffened. It was like
Cincinnati all over again.

--

Then

"Liz, your mother's on the phone." Trisha held out the phone to
the sleepy intern. "She said it's urgent."

"Mrph? Mmkay." Elizabeth's hand closed over the phone and she
dragged it under the covers to place one end against her ear.
"Mom?"

"Oh, Elizabeth..." Her mother's voice sounded horrible. "Oh,
God. Elizabeth, they've found her. You have to come up here.
Please. Oh God."

They found her. Elizabeth sat up, pulling the covers back. "Mom?
I'll be on the next flight up. Are you going to be okay? Is Aunt
Jenny still there?"

"Yes." A sob sounded through the connection.

"Well, put her on. Mom, it's going to be okay. I promise."

"It won't be."

The phone was passed to her Aunt. Jenny Saunders sounded a bit
more calm than her sister-in-law. But not much. "Lizzie, honey,
if you can be ready there's a plane that leaves in an hour. I'll
be at the airport waiting for you."

"Flight number?" Elizabeth stood and strode to her chest of
drawers, dragged open a drawer and began tossing the contents
onto her bed.

"4533. Can you make it?"

"Hang on." Elizabeth stuck her head out the door to find Trisha
hovering. "They've found her, can you drive me to the airport in
time to catch a flight in an hour?"

The look on the other woman's face was enough, but she answered
verbally, "I'll call in two hours late."

"Thanks." Elizabeth ducked back into her room. "Aunt? I can make
it. I'll see you, I've got to pack."

"Safe flight, dear."

With a click her aunt hung up, and Elizabeth passed the phone
out the door to Trisha. "I'll get packed and dressed."

"I'll get the car. Be down in five?"

"Two minutes, if I can."

-

They'd found her. The words echoed through her head. They'd
found her, they'd found her, they'd found her. Elizabeth
restrained herself from hitting her head against the back of the
seat to shut her brain up.

Trisha had gotten her to the airport in time to argue with
ticket agents, pick up her ticket and run for the plane. It was
an hour and a half flight to Cincinatti. It was feeling longer.

Elizabeth's sister, Marie, had been abducted from a club two
months before. She and several young women had been
systematically drugged and removed from sight over the course of
a week. The cops had caught one of the men, but the rest were
gone. Slipped away without a trace.

But they'd found her sister. Hope filled her. Hope and worry.

-

"Aunt Jenny?" The woman she'd considered forever an optimist
looked horrible. There were bags under her eyes and lines on her
face. And grief. It etched her features as if she'd never be
happy again.

"Lizzie. Oh, I'm so glad you're here. How was the flight?"

"It was fine." Elizabeth put down the carry-on and reached out
to hug her aunt.

As Jenny Saunders enfolded her niece, she felt some of her
control go and began crying softly. "Lizzie. Oh, God, you're
here."

Elizabeth tightened he hold on her aunt, worried. "Yes. I am."

-

They'd found Marie all right. Dead. In a ditch. Horrible
mutilations had occurred over her time of captivity. She'd been
raped, beaten, drugged and possibly with child when they'd
finally killed her. Elizabeth went down to identify the body.

The policewoman who went with her was surprised at her ability
to not throw up. "Ma'am, are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah." Elizabeth replied dully, trying not to remember the
sight of her baby sister's face covered in bruises and cuts. Her
hair had been shorn at some point. All that luxurious, red-gold
hair. Gone. She tried to concentrate on that. It was better than
the alternative.

"Well, if you'll come this way and finish filling out the
identification papers, we'll let you go."

"Okay."

--

Now

Her sister had been killed after her usefulness expired.
Elizabeth remembered that as she dragged on the nearest clean
clothing.

"Liz?" Trisha looked in, concerned. "Liz, what's happened?"

"Nothing. Can I borrow your car?"

"Nothing would mean you'd be going back to bed." Trisha pointed
out, crossing her arms.

"Please, Trisha, don't ask until I get back. I promise, I'll
tell you everything then."

Trisha looked at her calmly, then nodded. "You will. The keys
are on the kitchen counter."

Elizabeth smiled through her worry and caught Trisha in a hug.
"Thanks. I promise, I'll be good after this."

"Don't try. Just don't get killed. I'd hate to break in a new
roommate."

"Yeah, I hear the current crop of kids looking for apartments is
pretty ragged." Frieda noted from her position at the sink.

Elizabeth snorted and grabbed the keys as she headed for the
door. "You put up with me, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess we did." The two grinned.

"I'll be back." The door shut behind her and then she was
running as fast as she could.

-

"Ms. Crowne? Your friend Laurell is... a liability. As you are.
Do stop investigating, or we'll have to take sterner measures."

The smooth-talking bastard had hung up before she could answer.
Unlike the earlier threats, this one hadn't been against her own
life. And a quick dial had proved no answer at Laurell's.

Elizabeth sped. Laurell lived in Kirkwood thanks to her parents.
It took almost half an hour to get to her house, normally. She
made it in twenty.

The tree-lined street was quiet and peaceful as she pulled
around it. Laurell's house was halfway down the block. She
stopped the car next to the lawn and hopped out.

A knock on the front door produced no response, but then, most
people didn't answer their front doors there. Much. Elizabeth
ran around to the back, heart in her throat. "Laurell!"

The back door was open.

Elizabeth stepped in, listening to the quiet and dreading what
she'd find. "Laurell? Are you there? It's Elizabeth. Laurell?"

She continued calling as she moved through the house. Nothing in
the bedroom, kitchen, or den. Nothing in the spare room. And
then, as she was turning to go back, she heard something.
"Laurell?"

The hall closet door opened further.

Elizabeth stared at it, heart in her mouth. "Laurell? Oh, God, I
feel like I'm in a bad horror movie." The tenseness of her voice
made the joke fall flat.

The door opened towards her, which meant she couldn't see what
was there. She stepped towards it, carefully. "Laurell?"

With a swift movement, Elizabeth yanked the door completely open
and put it flat against the wall. A boot plopped off the upper
shelf to land on the floor. She jumped and giggled a bit
hysterically. "It was only a boot, only a..."

Her eyes widened as she finally was able to register what the
closet contained. Her mind didn't want to understand it. "Oh,
fuck... Laurell."

Elizabeth turned towards the bathroom, retching.

"Liz...?"

"Oh, God." She staggered over and fell to her knees, reaching
out to touch the ruin of Laurell's cheek. "Oh, God. You're still
alive." She fought down the scream rising and lurched to her
feet. "Still alive. Phone."

"Phone." Running, she hit the kitchen and skidded across the
tiles, slamming into the counter. The phone was there. "911.
911. Ah. Yes, hello? Hi."

"Please state the nature of your emergency?"

"Hi, I've just arrived, and she's been beaten pretty badly. Oh,
God, it's like they took a chain and beat her with it. I'm not
sure how long she'll live."

"Ma'am? Please calm down."

"Calm down?!? Get a fucking ambulance out here, and I might."
She turned and headed back to the hall, trailing the phone cord.
"Laurell? Hang in there, hon."

Someone had systematically covered every inch of Laurell's body
with cuts, abraisions and bruises. She looked like a massive
pile of ground beef. Elizabeth dropped down next to her and
fought the urge to hover.

"Ma'am, I need more detail."

"Detail?" Elizabeth tried not to tell the person on the other
end of the line to fuck themself.

"Yes. Age?"

"Mine. We went to school together, um, about 23."

"Any diseases?"

"What?"

"Any diseases, so we know what to warn the staff to watch out
for."

"Look, you fucking God-damned bitch, she's dying in front of my
eyes in a closet! I don't fucking have time to play twenty
questions while I wait for your shit-head department to get an
ambulance out here!"

"Ma'am--"

"This is fucking KIRKWOOD, not North City, so get your
lily-white ambulance here! Now."

"Liz..." Laurell's voice sounded horrible. As if there were
things in her lungs that shouldn't be there.

She set the phone down and leaned closer to the broken woman.
"What?"

"Stone..."

Elizabeth almost cried, right then. Stone. Kayla had said the
name more than once. And had refused to answer who he was. She
wiped a hand across her eye, "He did this?"

"Not... alone..."

"Oh, God." She wanted, more than anything, to hold Laurell. But
in the woman's current state, it was impossible. Any movement
would hurt her. Elizabeth was betting on shattered ribs and
internal bleeding on top of the exterior damage. One of
Laurell's arms was twisted, the bone showing whitely underneath
her red-mottled skin. "Laurell, don't try to talk."

A smile graced Laurell's lips. "Don't... be... silly. 'D
rather... hear... promise."

"Promise? I promise that you're going to live. I-I promise that
you will be... avenged, as campy as that sounds." Elizabeth
swiped at another tear. "Please don't die, Laurell."

"Can't... help... it." The bubbling sounds were thicker now. As
if something was slowly moving to destroy her last breaths.

Sirens sounded nearby, sounding like a chorus to the chattering
of the person still on the phone from 911. Elizabeth stood and
moved to the living room. She yanked open the door and smiled in
relief as the rescue workers pulled up.

"They're here, Laurell." She ran back and dropped on her knees
next to Laurell. "They're... here."

Elizabeth stared down at the woman who had been such an alive
and vibrant friend. And cried. There was a smile on Laurell's
lips.

-

"KAYLA!" Elizabeth's voice reverberated through Tempest. "Where
the FUCK ARE YOU?"

The cute bartender, Andre, stuck his head out of the office
behind the bar and blinked at her. "She's not here."

"Where. Is. She."

He wilted and almost cowered from the rage coming off of her.
"She's at home."

"Oh, so she just wasn't answering the door to me, then. Right."
Elizabeth reached behind the bar and yanked the phone up. "Call
her. Get her here. Tell her anything you want, but get her here.
NOW." She snapped when he didn't move.

"There's no need for that, Andre." Kayla said calmly from behind
them both. "I'm here. What is it, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth moved, grabbing Kayla by her exquisite 70s collar and
slammed her up against the bar. "Who. Is. Stone." She paused,
enjoying for an instant the shock in Kayla's eyes. "Oh, and
after you tell me that, you're going to tell me everything you
know about the slavers."

"I--"

Her grip tightened, and she leaned in, snarling. "Laurell is
DEAD, Kayla." She jerked away from the other woman suddenly and
slumped back. "She died in my arms. She said Stone did it."

"Shiiiit."

"Tell me. EVERYTHING."

"I--Let me make a phone call--Elizabeth, these are not my
secrets to tell!" Kayla straightened away from the bar. She
turned and held out a hand to Andre.

He blinked at her, then nodded and set the phone in her hands.

"Well, I don't give a shit, Kayla. One of my best friends is now
dead. I deserve some fucking explanations." Elizabeth strode
away and began pacing the room.

"I can't promise anything." Kayla replied, dialing.

"Do you know what the medics told me as they were bagging up
Laurell, Kayla?" Elizabeth demanded in a deadly soft voice.
"They told me it was a good thing she'd died, because since she
had AIDS, they wouldn't have been able to treat her very easily.
Oh, and that I should be happy that she didn't have to suffer
through years of debilitating sickness."

"Elizabeth... oh. Hi, yes, can I speak with Jade, please?
Thanks." Kayla turned, so that her body sheltered the call
somewhat. "Ah. Jade, I think--"

The phone was ripped from her hand. "Hi, Jade. This is
Elizabeth. Kayla can't come to the phone right now as I'm
currently not-strangling her. Laurell is dead by Stone's hands.
And you will tell me everything."

"Um. Hi. Could I talk to Kayla?"

The relative calmness of Jade's voice penetrated Elizabeth's
melange of rage and grief and she blinked. "Yeah. Sure." She
handed the phone back to Kayla, and turned away, suddenly
exhausted. Andre was still behind the bar.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Poison sounds about right." She replied wearily.

"How about just a nice glass of water." He suggested carefully.

"No. A large bottle of acid."

"Give her a nice little vodka sour, Andre." Kayla cut in,
hanging up the phone. "And then see if there's anything for
lunch in the back."

"Right." He seemed relieved that at least one of them was sane.

"I don't want booze. Or food."

Kayla studied her critically. "I'd get you dead-drunk, but we
need you sober, currently."

"Great." Elizabeth replied dully.

"Now, tell me about Laurell."

-

Elizabeth studied herself in the mirror. It was Monday evening,
and she was finally meeting these friends of Kayla's who knew
about ths slavers. It was also Fetish Night at Tempest.

So, time to get in garb. Black leather boots with spike heels,
skin tight vinyl pants, bustier and leather trench. It was a
warm ensemble, luckily the club was well air-conditioned.
{Otherwise I'd melt.} It was all black, of course. And had been
given her by Kayla, when that fetish chick had found out she had
nothing of the sort to wear.

Adjusting the bra that went under the bustier, she grimaced. Her
shelf was not behaving itself. Well, not much she could do about
that. {Perfume. Stockings, garters, hrm... Where're those damned
skull earings I bought two weeks ago?}

Kayla had refused to do more than tell the bare bones of the
thing. Tonight, she'd promised. Tonight, Elizabeth could find it
all out. Well, she'd better, or there would be hell to pay.

----

=====
'Innuendo and out the other. (Acetal)'
http://members.xoom.com/_XMCM/LysAna/index.htm