Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aubrey smirked knowingly at Valentine as Moreau slipped his arm around her waist. Obviously Valentine had had her eyes on Moreau in high school (though she hid it by ruthless teasing), and she made it quite clear to Aubrey that she would never succeed in gaining the romantic intentions of Nick.

Boy was she wrong. "Nice to see you two again," she said, an almost wicked smile on her face she held out her hand. She tried not to grimance at Brian, and tried not to feel inferior when she sized up Valentine. Despite herself, she glance back over to Moreau protective, watching his eyes to make sure they didn't linger on Valentine's curves.

Oh, that little witch. Did she just do that?! Valentine masked her surprise at Aubrey's actions efficiently, merely twitching a smile in response to the nonverbal challenge. Switching her attention to Moreau, Valentine popped open the trunk of the jeep and painstakingly shoved her luggage in.

"Thank you, Moreau. Life has been very good." Valentine wasn't lying, not knowing that this answer was exactly what Moreau wanted to hear. It had been good, too. It's not often you find yourself CEO of a successful pharmaceutical company only five years after entering the business. "Of course I remember Aubrey!" A sickeningly sweet smile sent in Aubrey's direction again. Oh, if only she could forget how much she owed to Aubrey, how much she had wanted Aubrey for herself, how much...but there was no use reminiscing in the past.

That was how they were playing the game, eh? 'Nice to see you again'? Two could play at it, then. Valentine got into the jeep, still clutching tightly to her handbag, and slammed the door behind her. "It's very nice to see both of you, as well. We're having ourselves a nice little high school reunion here, aren't we? I'll admit, Moreau, I was a bit surprised to get your invitation to come down here for a vacation, considering the past...events we have between us. Still, nothing like a time in the tropics to erase all debt...I mean, grudges, eh?" Valentine would have kept talking, but the tactician in her told her to shut her mouth now, before she did something she'd regret.

"Yes, a nice little rerunion," Aubrey said off handenly, 'absent-mindedly' slipping her hand onto Moreau's thigh as they drove towards the lab. "Funny how things turn out in the end," she mused. "To think I'd be up here on Nick - I mean Doctor Moreau's - private island. I do think Nic- Moreau's the only one from out graduating class to own an island!" She was making her 'slip ups' rather obvious to stress her familiarity with the good Doctor - if anything Aubrey had gotten used to calling Moreau eitehr Doctor or Moreau, as she was susposed to do "on duty" that she found herself referring to him as such in even the most personal times.

They got to the labs and Aubrey opened the Jeep doors for her guests. The main lab facilities were quite grand from the front. The whole front were tinted windows, no visable doors or windows or locks or handles.

Aubrey and Moreau ushered them into the main lobby, the glass doors sliding seamlessly and soundlessly open as they approached. Motion activated?

The main lobby was plush - large leather sofas on expensive looking rugs. There were some plants and coffee tables that played hosts to some scientic journals and magazines, and a water cooler in the corner. The elevator bank was to the right, and that appeared to be the only point of the lobby at all. There was no desk or computer workstations, no hallyways, or ajoining offices on the front floor - at least that you could access through the main entry.

With an effort, Valentine managed to keep her irritation under control. Barely ten minutes into their arrival, and Nick was already boasting about his successes. And of course, somehow he managed to be more successful and more wealthy than her. Now he was even better educated. Some things never change. Clenching her fists, she choked out, "Yes, of course. The adult world is so much more satisfying."

There, that was alright. Valentine leaned back in her seat, draping her arms around the seat back. "Funny. I inherited my father's company too...though I had to work to get there." Not entirely true, but she had probably had to work more than Nick had. Sex was hard work, really! A note of irritation crept into her voice. "I graduated Brown with a master's in political science, worked with the mayor of Maryland for a couple years, then switched over to my father's company."

Aubrey's little stresses of the word "Nick" also served to irritate Valentine. Obviously, the two shared a relationship that went beyond that of business, but to flaunt it in front of everyone's face was just plain rude. "Of course, he's also the only person from our class to create a living plant that bites off people's fingers. You two were so lucky I didn't sue." She gave up on being totally polite, bringing up the old grievance out of irritation.

"Or had you forgotten?" She spat, waving her hand with the missing digit in front of Aubrey's face. "I have to live with that accident every day of my life. Now, whenever I point, I have to remember to flip people off!" Her voice rose to a screech, her eyes wide. Valentine stormed out of the car and into the building, totally forgetting her luggage in the wake of her anger.

Turning around, she composed her face and smiled again. "I'm sorry. Of course it's quiet, Chert, it's the middle of the night. I know I for one need my sleep." That last comment was directed at Moreau, though Valentine didn't know to what purpose he would twist it.

Aubrey let a frown creep onto her face as she wiggled her stub in her face. "As the doctor said, it was compensated. But that it was either of our faults. We used gloves when we handled the anima."

In the labs, Aubrey was busy scribbing some vital into into her files when Moreau handed her the injections. She gave the doctor a quizical look. "um, don't you want to, ah...go the honors?" she asked. But Moreau insisted she be the one.

That didn't make much sense to Aubrey. THis was susposed to be Moreau's revenge... she thought he would be more than happy to deliver the shots himself. And she knew it wasn't any moral reason he would hesitate. He looked in the eyes of a a fifteen year old girl and gave her an igauna serum...

All that aside, he gave Aubrey that look. The look that said not to question anything... a stern, fathery like expression. Shrugging it off, she took the two seringes and plastered a smile on her face for the the guests.

"Its a requirement," she said apologetically to them as she rolled up Brian's sleeve. "Don't get this immuization and they won't let you back in the states for six months. Its such a headache..."

Nothing seemed odd about the injection itself. The needle pinched, of course, a bit of tingle could be felt down the arm as the colored serums were released into the blood streams.

However, the way both Aubrey and Moreau stared at them as they were administered...almost predatory, might be a bit disconcerting. Aubrey stared at the small little red point it made on Valentine's arm like she expected something to happen, and Moreau's expression looked eeirly like a dog waiting to be released upon his meal.

"Later," Churt grunted, casting a disturbed scowl at Moreau's back. His lips were tight with displeasure. When Moreau had mentioned the immunization, Chert's first insinct had been to refuse. No. ********. Way. Images of a strange, sad monstrosity framed by the bars of a steel cage kept flitting around his head (Valentine was not the only one who'd had an unfortunate encounter with one of Moreau's experiments, although admittedly the only thing Chert had lost was a little dignity). Perhaps the fact that Aubrey was the one weilding the syringe eased his mind, though, for he kept his mouth shut.

Now he watched as both of his hosts vanished from sight, leaving him to his own devices. The relief he felt at their absence was surprising; there was something vaguely predatory in the stares they gave him and Valentine.

Oh right... Valentine.

He turned reluctantly to face the woman. 5 feet 'n 8 inches of gorgeous, but she was nearly as unsettling as Moreau and Aubrey. Apparently there were some unexpectedly unpleasant things lurking beneath that pretty shell of hers. Chert gestured half-heartedly towards the jeep. "After you." The offer was made less out of consideration than out of concern for his own well-being. Suddenly the idea of having her at his back was less-than-desirable.