Today was going to be a really good day for Ophilia DiSantiago, or so she thought. There was a spring in her step as she walked down one of the winding paths in LeMastre Park. A pleasant breeze promised to bring rain later as it flirted with the unruly curls that framed her petite face. She was carrying a light lap top case, slung over one shoulder, and was looking forward to drinking her coffee from Voodoo Bean.

On most mornings, this would have been more than enough to make her content, but today she was unusually excited. It wasn't often that something was interesting enough to excite a DiSantiago, but there was something about arranging a secret meeting with a local vigilante that really got her blood pumping. A part of her got a kick out of the whole thing; if it had been one of her cousins or even her brother, a meeting like this could have been shrugged off as if it were no big deal.

Some of the DiSantiagos wallowed in the big life, but not her, for her this was a big deal. Not to mention that she would be in trouble if anyone knew what she was doing. While recruiting was most definitely one of her assignments for the family's newest endeavor, they wouldn't have approved of her method. They would have insisted that she had taken Sebastian or Raphael with her.

Ophilia settled into a park bench, right next to the trail marker that had been indicated as their meeting spot, and pulled her newspaper and stainless steel coffee mug out of her case. She was early, almost a half hour early, but found herself too anxious to concentrate on the crossword puzzle that was an integral part of her morning routine. Instead the anticipation of meeting Nemesis was playing on her nerves, and she sat the paper down in defeat and people watched as she drank her morning brew. Unfortunately, other than the occasional jogger, there wasn't much people watching to be done.

* * * * *

Luke smiled as a quartet of young women walked by. One offered up a smile of her own and Luke chuckled to himself as he turned his attention back to the park in general. He sat not far from the dinosaur gardens, a small pack next to him and a camera slung around his neck. The nearby statues offered ample opportunity for photo opportunities, and every so often Luke raised the camera to snap a few pictures. One set in particular amused him; an Asian family--Chinese, most likely--stopped to admire the statues. Their two boys immediately set about climbing over the triceratops and stegosaurus, making growling and roaring noises all the while. Luke snapped a few photos just for fun, then took a moment to refocus his camera, setting the zoom magnification to its max setting.

Ah ha, he thought. There's my little lady now.

Sure enough, through the statues Luke could see the appealing Ophilia DiSantiago sitting on the designated bench. She appeared to be doing a crossword. No...no, she appeared to not be doing a crossword. Luke couldn't help but smile. Ophilia was a very attractive woman, but she didn't appear to be ready for the sneaky stuff. The camera clicked in rapid succession as he grabbed a couple of quick shots. Definitely an attractive woman, he thought as he lowered the camera. He checked his watch, noting it wasn't even time for the meeting yet. He was curious as to how Miss DiSantiago would react when he didn't show. One might be able to tell a bit about a person face to face, but it was often necessary to observe them when they were unaware in order to get a truly realistic view of their persona.

He harbored no preconceived notions of the lady, even though she thought herself unobserved. The DiSantiago family was a powerful clan in Hudson City. It was said that they had their hands in all manner of business, from banking to pharmaceuticals to things less above-board. Considering it was Ophilia's tip that led him to the third operation of the super-powers-for-sale gig he was more than a little willing to concede that perhaps there was some truth to the rumors.

The Chinese family moved on and Luke pulled a sandwich and a soda from his pack. He was prepared to spend the next little while in the scenic wonder of the park, observing nature and whatever else happened to be of interest. He winced as he crossed his legs; he had a bruise the size of a baseball on his hip where a bullet had struck him a glancing blow two nights back. His costume had saved him again, but that didn't mean he didn't feel the pain.

Ah, well, he thought, making himself comfortable and taking a bite of his sandwich. One can't have everything. A little food, some soda, a warm day in the park and a beautiful woman but a stone's throw away would have to keep him happy for the time being.

* * * * *
Their meeting time came and went while Luke sat enjoying his sandwich. The lady on the park bench seemed to be growing uncomfortable, looking at her watch now and seeming less content to enjoy the people and wildlife that she had been observing earlier. Ophilia's mind was already accepting the fact that she had been stood up, and that acceptance brought her a great deal of unease. She'd only been stood up once before and she fought hard to keep her mind from going back to that unsettling day.

As she waited for another half hour, the excitement slowly ebbed out of her, she held some hope for a bit, but it was replaced with an air of defeat. The change in her posture and expression wouldn't have been noticeable if Luke hadn't been actively watching her, but despite it all her bearing was still undeniably DiSantiago. Even in her disappointment, the proud tilt of her chin spoke of her determination, and her jaw seemed to be set in defiance or anger.

She picked her paper back up and tore out the crossword puzzle, tucking it into the side pouch of her laptop case. She had every intention of doing that later when she could think straight. Then she pulled a paper out of her bag that was two days old, it was a page torn from the crime section of the Daily Star-Gazette. She smoothed it out and placed it on the bench next to her, anchoring it with the rest of her morning paper that she didn't plan to keep.

Ophilia knew that there was a good chance that he was somewhere in the park and unwilling to come forward. She scanned the area for a few moments, offering a smile of apology to those that caught her staring before allowing her gaze to wander. She even opened up her mind to the mental signatures around her, but there was no one familiar or in an emotional state that caused her suspicion. So, she decided to leave, staying would accomplish nothing and she could only assume that he had his reasons for not showing. She was hard pressed to believe it was a prank, although admittedly her family had their fair share of them. She had a way of reading people, it was significantly harder to do over the computer, but even then, her dealings with Nemesis had struck true. If he had been an imposter it would have been very difficult for her to have missed it.

The paper next to Ophilia began rippling and flapping in distress as the wind picked up. She could feel the significant drop in temperature on her shoulder, the sundress obviously hadn't been the best choice in attire. With one last reluctant look at the people milling about in her line of vision, she gathered her things and stood up. The rain began to fall as she started back towards her car, she never looked back or hurried; instead she couldn't help but remember that it had been raining the day that Dean had disappeared.

* * * * *

“Calling it a day, eh, Miss Ophilia?” Luke smiled as he snapped a few more photos of the not-so-mysterious Ophilia DiSantiago as she made herself ready to leave.

Luke checked his watch and nodded appreciatively. She’d managed almost an hour after the planned meeting time before losing patience. He had a couple of great shots of her, though; the one where she smiled up at a man she thought was him was priceless. The curve of her lips as she smiled, the frown of annoyance as she realized it wasn’t her appointment. Good stuff.

Luke stood up unhurriedly and stretched, stifling a yawn as he glanced around him. It hadn’t been that bad a day, all things considered. She hadn’t even brought any help. None that he could find, anyway, and he’d been watching for that very thing. So she’d been on the up-and-up, at least so far.

He tucked his camera into his bag and frowned toward the sky as the first drops of rain hit him. He cleared his throat and threw his trash away, making note of Ophilia’s progress out of the park. She didn’t look back, which showed remarkable restraint. Or resignation.

Luke cut through the statues to the bench and retrieved the piece of paper left for him. As he suspected it was the small article regarding the bust a couple days back. No mention was made of the cybernetics, of course; the whole thing was “illegal arms and black market smuggling” as far as the average citizen was concerned.

Luke slung his pack over his shoulder and strolled toward the exit in the same direction as Ophilia. He shoved his hands in his pockets and began whistling the chorus of “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”.

* * * * *

[OOC: Much appreciation to China for workin' with me on this series.]