Fan Fiction: Crossovers
Can't Get You Outta My Head
Chapter 2
Stephen made it to his apartment building at about 2 am.
The Shadow had hunted down every dealer he could find in a six hour period.
Not an inconsiderable number in the New York area. But his heart wasn't
in it. He was spinning the situation with Diane Burke around and around
in his head till he had to go home. How the hell did that woman manage
to drive him so nuts? She didn't try to annoy him. At least not deliberately.
Did Peter have a point? Was he too close to this problem? He didn't love her anymore. He was certain of that. But still, he felt betrayed. She had never known she was betraying him by working for Kingpin of course, but still...
Trudging up the stairs to his third level apartment, it suddenly
hit him. Peter WAS right! She found his weakness. She knew him too well.
Peter thought he could push his partner's buttons, but this woman ground
every nerve in just the right way, and all that was left in Stephen's
memory of her, was the fact that she was a vindictive, subtle ice queen,
who kept switching back and forth from a kind and gentle woman to a sinister
avenger, whenever she didn't get her own way.
Come to think of it, they were pretty similar.
And now she was in town. How the hell was he going to deal with her?
Entering his apartment, he found that he was going to need an answer sooner than he thought.
Diane Burke was asleep on his couch.
Silently moving forward, he checked to make sure she was really asleep, by waving his hand in front of her eyes. No response, and his senses told him she was asleep.
Watching her carefully, he seriously considered sleeping in the sanctum, but he was too tired to walk, and he didn't want to wake Moe because he was afraid of his own apartment all of a sudden. How had she gotten in? He changed the locks right after she left, and he knew he had locked the door. The open window near the fire escape answered that question.
Stephen noticed a note on the coffee table and picked it up.
Stephen,
I decided to take the direct route since you refused all my calls. I hope
this is still you're apartment. I stayed awake as long as I could. (Still
a night owl huh?) Are you still mad enough at me to throw a woman out
on the streets of New York this late?
Stephen re-read the note and set his jaw. He now considered throwing her out. But, she was right about him, (Man he hated it when she was,) he was too much of a nice guy to throw her out now. And against that, he was supposed to be finding out what she was doing in town. Shaking his head, and rubbing his eyes, he reminded himself that he was too tired to deal with this now, and grabbed a pen.
Diane,
I'll assume you broke into my apartment because you couldn't find a hotel
room for tonight. If you want me to stop being mad, this is not the way
to start. I'll also assume that you'll be gone when I wake up tomorrow.
Deciding that it was too late in the night for more than that, Stephen went into his bedroom, closed the door, barricaded it, locked the window, and went to bed.
When Stephen woke up the next morning, the first thing he felt was confused. Why was the shower running? And why was his door... Suddenly, memory hit him.
Dammit, she was using his SHOWER? Stephen growled, got up and unblocked the door. Heading past the bathroom for the kitchen, he heard her singing badly. Boy, he thought everyone sounded good when singing in the shower. She certainly wasn't.
When he got to the kitchen, he found she had done at least one nice thing. The coffee pot was percolating when he got there; waiting for him was another note.
Stephen,
Okay, so you are still mad. Good thing for me you're also still a gentleman.
Have a cuppa as a peace offering. I came all this way to make amends after
all. (By the way, you're out of milk.)
So she was in town to "Make amends". The nasty suspicion that came with the role of being a crime-fighter, and the fact that this was Diane he was talking about, started to creep into his mind. Was she genuine, or was it a ploy to get to him again?
There was more to this than met the eye. She couldn't be completely on the level could she? She had used up the last of his milk after all.
Peter was at this time, entering a private business meeting without permission. At one side of the table was Victor Cranston, the other, was one of his clients. Victor was mildly surprised to see Peter storm in.
"Victor, we need to talk." Said Peter in a no nonsense tone that reminded him of the Shadow's voice.
"Would you excuse us Jeffries?" Victor said to his client, and the surprised man left the office. "What's going on?"
"Stephen's worst nightmare has arrived in town." Peter told him in a hushed tone.
"Thats funny," said Victor to himself. "I usually get some signal when Khan is in New York. Migraines, dogs' forming into packs, the moon turning blood red, that sort of thing."
"It's not Khan." Said Peter seriously. "It's a woman named Diane Burke."
Victor turned a shade paler, and after a moment, reached for his intercom. "Anna, send Jeffries home."
Peter told Victor in quick, straight sentences what had happened the day before.
"Stephen doesn't know I'm here." finished Peter, "but I wanted to let you know, and see if you had any suggestions."
"Stephen will do the right thing." Victor said with certainty. "It may hurt him, but I think he's learnt his lesson with that sister of medusa."
Peter snorted. "Seems she got to everybody."
Victor nodded. "I was glad to see her go. She had us all completely sucked in to her 'charm' act. I found that if you shook her hand to fast, you get one of those ice-cream headaches." Peter laughed at this. "But for a month after The Shadow risked her life with the Kingpin, Stephen took out his rage on the criminals of New York. It got to the point where I think all organized crime decided that new York could be too hot to handle, and started making arrangements to move their operations elsewhere. Then he got over it, found out what she was up to with the servants and the Manor and the whole corporation, and crime returned to normal."
"Well, Stephen wants to know if she's till working for the Kingpin, so I'm supposed to call her and find out where she is. Can I do the trace from your phone?"
Victor gestured for him to go ahead, and Peter hooked up the electronic jack to the receiver, while Victor grumbled something about retirement homes and expensive limousine tires.
Stephen's cell phone rang, and he picked it up without thinking. "Hello?"
"Stephen?" It was Peter, sounding confused.
"Hi Pete. What's up?"
"Um… Did I dial the wrong number?"
Stephen looked at the phone in his hand. It wasn't his; it was Diane's. Stephen slapped his forehead.
"I was doing that trace thing you suggested. Um… should I continue with it?" There was barely restrained laughter in his voice.
"That wont be necessary." Stephen told him with admirable dignity. "She's here at my place."
Loud silence. "I see. Can I speak to her?"
"Um, no. Not at the moment." Stephen said, losing his dignity.
"Why not?" asked Peter, now thoroughly enjoying this.
"She's in the shower just now." Stephen said opting for honesty.
Long pause. "I see. Well, I'll be going now. See you later."
"Okay, I can explain this." Stephen started.
"No, that's okay," said Peter. "I just hope my friends Stephen and the Shadow are over her completely, otherwise I might take something like her using your shower the wrong way."
"I said I'd explain! And in the meantime, you may want to embrace the concept of a second person singular."
"Okay then, goodbye Stephen."
"I hear there's a twelve-step program."
"Bye. Hope she left you some hot water." Said Peter, getting his last shot in before hanging up.
Stephen put her phone down, and took a breath. Peter was never going to forget this. He heard the Shower stop. Well, this was going to happen sooner or later. Naturally it was going to happen sooner. Typical.
"She was using his SHOWER?" blurted Victor in shock.
Peter nodded nervously. "I'm going over there."
Victor caught his arm. "Before you do that, there's something you should know about Diane."
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