View source for Sparrowhawk: Speed Dating

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"It will be FUN, just give it a try. Lord knows you need to let your hair down a little bit," were the words that echoed through Alex Harper's mind as she looked weary eyed at the slovenly man before her. She made a mental note to add to tomorrow's to do list: 'must kill Razira'. Her light blue eyes ran across the man's form. The ill fitting, too small jacket, the clip on green tie with a smattering of dried mustard stains, the paunch of his belly desperately straining against the buttons of his yellow shirt, his large upper lip mole and even the untrimmed nose hairs that were grating her nerves to no end. The man was going on and on about a vast collection of sugar packets from around the country. Was that even a thing...?

Ding!

The bell sounded and the man stood up, thanking Alex (who was wearing a name tag bearing the fake alias of 'PENELOPE') in an almost timid voice for the five minutes of her life she wouldn't be getting back. It felt like hours. Alex Harper had been single for what seemed like ages. She had been accused on more than one occasion of being too perfect and seeking the same perfection in others. The only thing she could do was protest such accusations, so somehow she was goaded into an arena she never quite saw herself fighting in: speed dating. It was two hours in, and while others were trying to find that someone special, all Alex could think of is all the things she could be potentially doing but was missing out on. Her mind was elsewhere: her business ventures needed updated, Sebastian needed to get with her regarding some suggested upgrades to the Valravn, she wanted to teach Erin some Iaido techniques she felt the young girl was finally ready to begin, the Barlowe's budget was due later today, Carter wanted her to look over an old PRIMUS cold case and there was a rumored human trafficking ring that required her attention in Laos.

None of these involved dating and none of these required a man.

"Penelope, huh? Wow, you are super gorgeous. It's about time I was paired up with a lady just as attractive as myself," Alex's next would be suitor said in a confident, almost too ready for TV type tone as he sat in front of her. He was actually attractive and smartly dressed, to boot. It was clear he had money by his choice of clothes: a dark Armani suit and a stainless steel Rolex... the real deal, not the knock offs she saw several of the men around who were trying to come across as wealthy were wearing, Regardless, she was as impressed by his apparent financial standing as she was of his initial line: which was not at all.

"That's... probably the worst greeting I've had all day. You just beat out Oscar over there whose idea of hello was mentioning he once ate seventy hot dogs in ten minutes ," Alex said, rolling her eyes and pointing over at a portly gentleman currently busy wooing a woman in her mid forties who was wearing a sweater which had 'CAT HAIR IS LONELY PEOPLE GLITTER' emblazoned upon it.

"I could tell you I'm a secret agent in my day job," the man calmly stated as he ran one hand through his mane of well kept raven black hair. "My name's Dragon. Drake Dragon."

Alex took a moment to let that all sink in as she simply stared forward, unamused. "You _do_ realize that a drake is a dragon, right? So your parents basically named you 'Dragon Dragon'? And who the hell just blurts out they are a secret agent? Doesn't that... completely destroy the secret?"

"Not if I think you deserve to know," Drake continued, oblivious to the fact he was annoying the easily annoyed heroine. "I'm actually here on business but after meeting you I think I'll get to the pleasure part as well."

"The only thing here getting pleasure will be my therapist, Jackie's, bill for services tomorrow. Listen, Dragon Dragon, this is just... I have to go. Away. Now. Like, right now," Alex said, standing up from the small table. "You are clearly an idiot and all of this is stupid... I say that in the nicest way possible..."

Alex took her flared pea coat which was resting on the back on her chair. Drake began to open his mouth in protest and Alex merely put a finger to his lips. "Listen, what we had here was special. Magical, even. Let's just part ways now and remember all the good times we had. Okay?" Turning about, she exited the area, bypassing the mass of singles, would be couples and potential dating partners for hopefully something far more interesting.

The only thing that came to her mind was relief as she passed through the main convention center doors which led to a long hall. Passing through the end of the hall was freedom... well, freedom and a big bottle of ibuprofen to get her relief from the migraine she was sure to get from today's 'excitement'. As she walked down the otherwise empty hall, she pulled out her cell phone and began to dial Razira's number... first order of business: combat sparring. Friendly? Sure. Payback? Of course.

It was as she put her finger on the first number that the sound of an explosion rattled the hall, not to mention the reverberation of the blast that shook the foundation of the convention center. Alex steadied herself, put her phone back into her pocket and ran back to the convention center main room she had been so excited to leave just moments earlier. Razira could wait... it seemed that whatever was going on in there was a much more pressing matter.

Alex Harper was correct. People were sprawled all about in the convention hall, some wounded but most were simply scared witless by the sight before them. A good section of the side wall had been blown apart. And it WAS a bad guy... three, from the looks of it. A dark blue armored man floating about twelve feet off the floor with some sort of strange energy tendrils whipping about from the back of his suit, a woman in yellow crouched low on the ground with glowing eyes and another man who had two giant, shiny silver-ish cannons for hands pointing at the crowd. Smoke poured from the cannon hands, so Alex surmised he was the cause of the explosion. Do bad guys not understand how to use doors in Millennium City?

"DRAKE DRAGON," the armored villain with the energy tendrils said in a voice loud enough to drown out the frightened onlookers, "we WANT those plans you have."

The dark haired, well dressed man who fancied himself Alex's paramour was prone upon the ground, shaking at the figures not more than fifteen yards from him. "You'll... have to KILL me!" he shouted defiantly at the trio.

"We can definitely do that!" cannon hands said excitedly, raising both of his arms at Drake.

What cannon hands, or his friends, failed to see or react to in time was the flying circular table top coming at him like a discus. It whizzed past the crowd, past yellow girl and straight into cannon hands' face. A loud noise drowned out the scream of anguish the villain let out as it connected, sending him reeling back and out of commission. Still wearing the name tag of 'Penelope', Alex strode up to where Drake was laid out.

"I'm not sure what kind of 'plans' you are looking for, but I'd suggest you go. We can call it a day and send you a bill... your friend's going to need a good orthodontist as well by the looks of how that table just hit him. We don't want you to run up any more debt," Alex said, two of the circular table's legs in her hands as impromptu escrima sticks. 

"VIPER's pockets I'm sure run deeper than yours," the armored man said, still hovering mid air. "And we have a mission to fulfill for them. "Aurum, if you would, please...?"

The girl in yellow nodded, leaping at Alex to attack. It was clear the woman had combat training as Alex blocked an incoming strike to her neck followed by feinting dodge as Aurum tried to knock Alex off her feet unsuccessfully. She was good, but Alex was better... something she was more than happy to relay as she spun about, a baton firmly connecting into Aurum's abdomen. Aurum rolled back, her eyes sparkling as they shot off some sort of energy beams. One nearly grazed Alex as she dove for cover, tumbling about and trying to steer clear of civilians.

"In my sights, Scythe!" Aurum yelled as her eye beams were attempting to get a good shot at Alex. Alex, however, was working with a reaction time far greater than the young woman's, though the last of the triad. Scythe, was now trying to collect Drake. Two of the energy tendrils from his back extended to the floor, nabbing Drake by his ankles.

"HEEEEEEELLLLLLP!" Drake shrieked, his voice going from baritone to mezzo-soprano as the tendrils wrapped around him.

"I... don't have time for this, skank," Alex said, jumping over one powerful eye blast that ruptured the ground below the heroine. Aurum was met with a very firm foot to her face, removing her from the equation. "And YOU..." she added to Scythe, who now had Drake ensnared.

"Me what?" Scythe said calmly, his extra tendrils moving with superhuman speed and precision, around him and down upon Alex. She flew past two that were upon her, though a third snared her wrist and a fourth her knee. The sensation of the tendril burned badly as it met with her flesh, immediately searing through her pants leg like a knife through hot butter. That pain however was nothing in comparison as to the feeling of the tendrils lifting her up and smashing her several times directly into the ground. She felt dazed and woozy, not to mention that she distinctly felt her shoulder give, 

"Penelope, save me!" Drake uttered weakly to the wounded woman, his hand trying to reach out to her from his position above the ground. The tendrils from Alex released as Scythe attempted to take to the skies and exit the area with his prey. Alex coughed roughly as Scythe attempted to go airborne.

Alex wasn't done. She scrambled to stand, dropped the table legs she was holding and focused her energy. Chi swelled within her, and focusing upon Scythe, she leapt. Bounding at least thirty five feet in the air, she connected with the villain. The tendrils immediately engulfed her as one arm went about Scythe's neck and the other steadied it, her grip inhumanly firm. She felt the tendrils as they attempted to push her off Scythe, but she wouldn't relent. The burning coursed through her body as she was whipped repeatedly. Scythe screamed at her to get off him, to which she answered by pulling back a balled fist and striking him in the head. He fell like a rock to the ground, Alex grabbing Drake as they descended to soften his landing. The landing wasn't as pleasant as she had hoped, but they were alive.

Alex checked on Drake as the crowd still attempted to grasp what just had transpired. He looked up at her with a cocky, albeit weak, smile.

"I'm not sure what they wanted... but you have some definite explaining to do with the authorities," Alex said, realizing that Drake was going to live to be annoying for more days to come. She arched her arm back, popping her shoulder back into place and proceeded to get out her phone again. "Whatever they wanted, I have a few 'spy' friends of my own. So I'm going to place a call and we can find out, together."

"That was... amazing... baby doll," Drake said weakly. "We make a fantastic team... you and me. I can see us having a beautiful future together..." 

"Put a cork in it, lothario," Alex replied smartly to Drake as she waited on an answer to her call. She paused with a wry smirk. "But to be honest? This was probably the best date I've had in AGES." 

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