WALKING DISASTERS | Jack Thompson

39.

WHEN THE DOORS TO THE ARENA CLUB OPENED, Sera saw her brother standing behind Jarvis, a shit-eating grin on his face. "Welcome to the Arena Club, ladies. Now don't ever say Howard Stark didn't get completely behind the suffragettes. You'll find the lounge through here and the pool table on the left. Anyone gives you any lip, tell them you're with Terry there."

"Mr Stark!" Terry exclaimed.

"This way to the bar, ladies," Jarvis instructed.

"No, no, no, no!" Terry shouted. "You are not allowed in here."

Sera watched Peggy sneak off to explore the club and felt Howard's hand on her arm, swinging her in a half-circle until she stopped in front of Terry. "Terry, I'd love you to meet my sister."

Plastering on a smile, Sera said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Terry," and giggled like a schoolgirl.

He seemed unsure of what to say, stumbling over his words. "Mr Stark, this is completely against the rules."

"Well, I'm making my own rules," Howard replied, high-fiving his sister.

Terry rushed off to try and convince some of the girls to leave while Howard turned to his sister. "Boy, do I love being the man with the plan."

Sera's smile fell and her expression turned stony. "Boy, do I hate being portrayed as the ditsy sister."

"It's all part of Peggy's plan, Fi," Howard said.

Sera sighed. "Let's just hope she gets something good."

Ten minutes later, Howard had come across Terry once more and Sera stood behind him, hearing him say, "You know what, Terry? I think I might've been a little bit harsh on this place. You're not half bad."

Jarvis passed Howard. "Mr Stark, it's time to go."

"Actually, your club's terrible and I'm never coming back," Howard said. "Come on, girls. Let's go back to my pool and play water giggles."

Sera rolled her eyes as she left the club just ahead of Howard and his gaggle of girls, finding Peggy and Jarvis outside waiting for them. Howard paid them no mind as he disappeared off with the girls, but Sera turned to Peggy.

"Please tell me you got something," she said.

"I did," she replied. "Come on, I'll tell you about it somewhere less public."

-

"This is a private club in America," Jack said. "You need a search warrant, probable cause. What part of 'this case is closed' was unclear to you two?"

"We told you there was a conspiracy afoot," Peggy replied. "The Arena Club is fabricating the future, just the way that they fabricated the story about Dr Wilkes. The newspapers I found are proof. The headline read 'Anderson ankles election'."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Jack asked.

"It means he's stepping down," Daniel replied. "I speak Hollywood now."

"The date on the newspaper is tomorrow's date," Peggy said. "They were giving representative Anderson a warning. Resign willingly and we'll play nice. Refuse and we'll ruin your life. Either way, the results stay the same. Calvin Chadwick wins a seat in the Senate. The Arena Club knows what's happening tomorrow because they're making it happen."

"Do you have any idea the can of worms you're asking me to open?" Jack asked. "Rigging an election is a serious accusation."

"All the more reason to listen to Peggy," Daniel said. "Where are those newspapers?"

"I... I had to leave them behind," Peggy replied.

"Well, of course you did," Jack said. "God forbid bringing me actual evidence."

"Hold on, Jack, if something comes up on one of Peggy's bugs we have all the evidence that we need," Daniel argued.

"The bugs were destroyed," Peggy said. "The club must have had some kind of counter-measure that shorted out all of Howard's devices."

"So you've got nothing?" Jack asked. "Why are we even having this conversation?"

"Because we need to dig deeper into the Arena Club," Sera replied.

"It ain't happening."

"They're colluding to throw an election," Sera said. "They've already smeared a man they tried to kill."

"God, you two are so hellbent on clearing your pal Wilkes," Jack said. "I think your emotions are clouding your judgement."

"You're being a coward!" Peggy shouted.

"Peggy," Daniel said sternly.

"No, she's right, Daniel," Sera said, turning to Jack. "You are so afraid of ruffling powerful feathers that you're doing what you always do. Burying an ugly truth and hoping someone will pin a medal on you."

She knew as soon as she said it that she shouldn't have, because Jack's jaw clenched and his eyes darkened. Sera had just used the first bit of information that he entrusted to her as a way to exploit him and convince him to see that he was in the wrong, and he wasn't about to be shown up by her, girlfriend or not.

"You're done here," he said in a low voice. "Both of you. Get on the next plane back to New York."

Peggy stormed out of the office and Daniel chased after her, but Sera remained behind and Jack turned to look at her. "What are you still doing here?"

"Jack, I'm..." she started, not knowing what to say. She wasn't sorry she said it, but she was sorry that she hurt his feelings. "Peggy's right. You're being a coward."

"Who are you to call me a coward?" Jack asked.

"The person who thinks that you're trying to push this investigation off to the side just because it's convenient for you," Sera snapped. "Just because it was me and Peggy that got this information and you still think you're better than us. You shouldn't have come here, Jack. You should have just left this well enough alone because it's obvious that you're not going to be of any use to us."

She went to walk past him and he grabbed her wrist. "Don't walk away."

"What else is there to do?" she asked, yanking her hand free. "I guess I'll see you back in New York. Keep an eye on the headlines, Jack. Maybe then you'll believe us."

She left the office and Jack let out a heavy breath. Sera saw Peggy and Daniel standing together and walked over to them. When she noticed the items on the desk floating, her eyes widened.

"Whoa, Peg," she said. "That's not good."

"No, it's not," she replied. "I've seen this before. This is a side effect of Zero Matter. If I'm contaminated, then you mustn't come anywhere near me."

"We gotta do something," Daniel said.

"I agree," Peggy said.

Sera nodded. "Let's go."