The Dead Savant

[DeletedUser]

While she didn’t appreciate Dante’s continued distrust of Trixie, Liu thought that getting into an argument just before they might have to fight together seemed like much worse of an idea and so didn't respond to Dante's threat. Once Tonya and Dante had finished getting gear ready from Tonya's supply trip, the mission had officially started. As planned, Tonya headed out first with Trixie and Killian to some place near the facility.

The next few minutes passed by slowly, with Dante fiddling around with his equipment endlessly while Ashley was checking her phone. The pair didn’t seem to be the type for conversation, so Liu resorted to playing around with one of her knives to pass the time. Eventually, Killian and Tonya returned, both soaked through completely, just as Liu was beginning to wonder if something had gone wrong. As the pair were drying off, Ashley had a conversation with Killian – something about training – before Tonya took her and Dante to the facility. Not too long later, Tonya came back for Liu.

The jump itself left Liu slightly nauseous, but seeing as no one else was complaining Liu kept it to herself. Once she started feeling a bit better, Liu listened to the surrounding area, her hearing picking up a consistent whirring sound made by some sort of machine. Drawing her pistol, Liu followed the rest of the group out of the toilets and into the corridor, then through the wooden doors into the room was Kasumi was supposedly “stored”. The woman herself was hooked up to a machine in the centre of the room, with needles stuck into her and a giant cable attached to the back of her shaven head. Liu had no reason to continue staring at the creepy hulk of glass and metal as she had no chance of understanding how the machine worked, so instead she took a position by the door and waited, not that they were expecting any company for now.

Ashley entrusted the console of the machine to Dante. Apparently, despite his personality and outward appearance, the man had some technical experience in hacking, although Liu certainly didn’t think his expertise would be nearly enough to hack whatever that machine was running on. It didn’t take Dante too long to figure that out either, as Liu soon found herself with an assault rifle in her hands, an alarm blasting through the room. Whatever little hope Liu had left of this being a smooth mission quickly faded and she quickly began surveying the room. Unfortunately for the team, the room was woefully empty of any form of cover and the door they had previously entered through was now blocked by large metal panelling, meaning that the only ways left for a QRT to get in the area was by blasting open the walls of the corridor. As much as she’d like to get up close and personal, the lack of intelligence regarding the size of the response team meant that charging forwards would probably be suicidal.

With that in mind, Liu reached out to Trixie’s hand, thinking that taking her invisibility would be the closest thing she could have to cover of any sort. That quickly got shot down by Dante apparently still refusing to work with Trixie and flat out asking Tonya to take Trixie out of the action. Liu sighed, before nodding at Trixie, signalling for her to go with Tonya. “While I’d prefer to have you here, it seems that we’d have an argument on our hands if I try to get you to stay” Liu explained, “and I don’t fancy our chances fighting while arguing about keeping you here.”

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out by the tank, as Dante started firing into the glass of the machine Kasumi was in, probably trying to speed up the process somehow. Without hesitation, Liu ran to grab Dante, stopping him from tearing anything else out of the machine with her enhanced muscle strength. “Look, I get you’re in a rush, but I think you’d prefer our extraction target to be alive as well, or do you want to be a ‘liability’ as well?” Well, we’re off to a great start aren’t we…

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Toby's phone was years out of date, which was somehow fitting for the guy. Still, it worked well enough and with a promise to send him the details of where to meet for dinner, Giles headed back over to Rachel's. He'd beaten her home as her classes ran long today, so he started poking around her fridge to see what they could make. By the time his friend arrived, he'd gotten baked potatoes cooking and a partially homemade chicken soup simmering. They joked briefly about him being a good house husband, though the former aristocrat noted her tone never lost a slight bit of wistfulness, which cut him a little. This was why he couldn't tell her. His own hangups aside, there was nothing to be done about the fact she did still care for him, like him as more than a friend. And hearing that half his problems were tied up with a dead lover would NOT sit well with her.

They'd added a side salad to the mix by the time Toby arrived. Giles walked to the door to answer it before realizing he didn't look like the person Toby knew. He considered returning to the short haired blonde he'd been pretending to be, but dismissed it, knowing Rachel wouldn't have any of it. "Good evening, Toby...find the place alright?" Rachel walked out of the kitchen, a small smile on her face as she examined the newcomer. "So you're the Toby I've heard so much about the last couple of days. I'm Rachel, good to meet you. Please, come in. We're just about ready to eat." A warm, honest handshake later they wound up in the dining room/kitchen combo, chatting about small, unimportant things up until the food was served, the duo insisting that their guest not help them get things ready. Once portions were poured and supplied, Giles dug in with obvious relish, while after a bite or two Rachel looked up at Toby. "So, I have to admit I don't know a lot about you aside from what Giles has told me...what should I know about you?"

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Firing his shots low so as to avoid hitting Kasumi, Dante watched as the toughened glass simply starred under the impact of the bullets, much as he'd expected them to do though before he could even consider weakening the glass any further he found his wrist being seized by Liu, with the short Asian woman pointing out that they needed their target to still be alive once they got her out of the tank. Glaring at the tank Dante had to reluctantly admit that she was right and that there was no safe way of speeding the process up any further though he couldn't help but bite on her comment over liabilities "Listen shorty, Tonya can only carry two people at a time with her on a jump, and including Sleeping Beauty here there are five of us, meaning three trips with the odd one having to hold out by themselves, now unless you’re volunteering to take the suicidal third trip I suggest that you let Tonya take that traitorous tart now before the bullets start flying, ok?" Dante explained with a sardonic smirk as he thumbed in replacement rounds for his revolver. Personally he'd rather Trixie took the third trip so that he could leave her here and see how she liked being screwed over, but somehow he didn't think that would go down too well, especially with Liu. Had this been an infiltration mission like the ones he'd done with the military then he and Tonya would have had a use for Trixie but as it was she was just a liability especially seen as she had zero combat skills and a non-offensive power. No, far better to remove her from the picture entirely so the rest of them could concentrate on surviving…well…unless she could make them all invisible that is.

With his little talk delivered Dante braced himself for the coming attack; silently urging the machinery to hurry up, I thought an emergency release was supposed to be fast!? If he was lucky he might be able to deflect any debris that came flying their way but after that it would be a straight up scrap between them and whoever came through the door "I don't suppose you know what’s coming do you?" Dante asked Ashley out of the corner of his mouth; his eyes glued to where the team would have to make its entry into the room...assuming of course that they didn't have a jumper of their own, now that was a scary thought!

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Kasumi
As Dante demanded her immediate removal, Trixie stared at the floor as Liu reluctantly agreed, explaining that she didn’t think it was worth the argument. A pained look crossed Trixie’s face, to not be allowed to prove herself and be helpful, but, then again, she’d already done the main part of her job. As Tonya stood next to her, she mouthed an apology and the pair disappeared together. Dante proceeded to begin to unload on the tank much to Ashley and Liu’s surprise as the pair simultaneously moved to stop the merc from accidentally killing the person they were supposed to be rescuing. Seeing that Liu had had the same thought, however, Ashley decided to hold back, especially when Dante reluctantly admitted that the other girl had a point. As he turned his attention to Ashley, asking if she knew details of what was coming, Tonya reappeared, alone. “Trixie’s bringing Killian up to date and they’re going to have a psychic healer on hand the moment we tele out in case any of us take damage.” Ashley nodded at the other girl.

“Nice thinking. As far as what they’ve got, it’s hard to tell. It’s the DSRP, so we’re going to want to expect Savants, since recent intel seems to suggest that they’ve got Savants in their ranks, which is unsurprising given my existence. Still, I doubt they’ll have any rare skills though. Raypool must take special care of even any mildly rare powers given that we’ve yet to encounter any. Initial team will probably be five/six members. Hopefully we’ll be gone before anyone else arrives.” And with that said, the wait began. Seconds dragged out, making minutes feel like hours. After four minutes, the quiet call came from Ashley “Ready up, they’ll be here any moment now.” Time slowed to a snail’s pace and even a single second felt like a day coming and going as all in the room prepared for the blast, the gunfire, the smoke and the inevitable burning smell of war.

“Something’s not right.” It was Ashley who spoke first. Two further minutes had passed now. “Keep your guard up, this could be a feint.” Time ticked by, the machine continued to whirr and the fluid was now nearing the bottom of the tank. A further two minutes had gone by and Ashley’s face turned to a mixture of nervousness and confusion. “They should definitely be here by now… I don’t….” The fluid finished draining and Kasumi’s faint breath could be heard throughout the room. “Machine powering down.” Ashley braced for impact. Braced for the breaching charge, for this to be the signal that started the fight for their lives.

But nobody came. No explosion, no rampant destruction or bloody firefight. The wall remained sat where it was. “Dante, you can speed this bit up. Rip those cables at the back off and the electromagnetic locks should disengage. Then try not to drop her.” Ashley spoke, maintaining her stance. There was a small hope growing in her heart. Maybe something had happened, though she had no idea what. Tonya looked similarly baffled, so it was nothing to do with her and Ashley couldn’t speak for Liu or Dante with much certainly but neither of them certainly looked like this was the expected outcome. Still, if they could grab Kasumi and go, then the sooner that happened and the less fighting it involved, the better everything was in Ashley’s books. That said, the moment they were back in their own base, she wanted to find out what the hell was going on.

Toby
The door was opened by an unfamiliar sight, a face which Toby couldn’t quite place. The moment his mouth opened, however, Toby placed the face as Giles’ and a part of the man’s identity clicked into place. A man of disguises who disguises the hole in his heart rather than facing the wound to become whole. Following Giles into the building, he was introduced to Rachel from whom he received a warm, firm, and honest handshake, one that hid strength underneath its grip. Toby returned the greetings cheerfully, expressing his pleasure to meet someone close to Giles. The food was served and both Giles and Toby tucked in, Toby greatly enjoying the food. As Rachel questioned what she ought to know about Toby, he gave an elusive smile, refrained from another bite of jacket potato and replied. “Well, I suppose you ought to know I’m a fan of your baked potato, I’m currently avoiding the DSRP and that I have no romantic designs upon your housemate.” Requirement for answer fulfilled, Toby’s fork re-entered the jacket potato, based on the decision that he likely had time for another bite before any further questions had been fully formulated and proposed.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

As Toby responded to Rachel's question, Giles couldn't help but chuckle into his soup at his friend's expression. "Told you," he half smiled at her for an instant before returning to his food.

Bemused look turning into a mild frown, Rachel shook her head. "I'm glad you like my cooking, and as I'd hope you'd realize the fact you're a wanted man doesn't change your status of being welcome in my home...and while that last bit is interesting I don't think you're his type..." The young woman seemed thrown by this last bit, looking over at the former aristocrat for guidance and finding none. "But...anyway, from what Giles was saying, you've been more or less running into him all over town...while I don't believe that was coincidence, I also don't think you mean him any harm...but then...what is your goal with him? He's been through a lot recently...I don't want him to come to any more harm..."

Giles looked up, shaking his head. "He's a self-proclaimed altruist, Rach. Someone who decided he wanted to try to help me. Damned if I know why, but I think I know people enough to trust his intentions. Though all the same it's questionable just how much help is able to be given..." He moved to go back to his food, only to be smacked in the back of the head. "Ahh, what gives?" he glared over at his friend.

"You dolt," she responded, no venom in her tone. "I told you before, I'm happy to listen to whatever it is you want to share. You didn't-"

"I didn't go seeking out people to spill the beans to, Rach, I promise. Just...he was around..." He winced under her gaze, before slumping, his expression going morose. "Ok...you're right. I should've talked to you. But it's not like I planned to tell him anything more than you knew...he's just...good at making things happen." He looked up at Toby, a regretful smile on his face. "Not that that's a bad thing, it's a bit of a gift, really, but..." He sighed and was silent for a moment, withdrawing visibly. In a tone that was closer to dead than not, he mumbled, "to get you on the same page...Dylan's dead. I killed him. And I let someone else die. They're both my fault. I could have prevented them both if I'd've been smarter, if I'd've been...less of an idiot. But their blood is on my hands...and I will never forgive myself." As his friend moved to embrace him, the former aristocrat sat there, blank. It seemed that for the moment, he had no more tears left to give.

After a moment, Rachel looked up at Toby, a grimace on her face. "I'm sorry, we're ruining dinner...should we return to a more pleasant topic?"

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Dante had never been very good at waiting, as a boy he’d tap on table tops or play with pen tops or anything else he could find, as a soldier he’d check his equipment over and over again in an infuriating manner, or his hands would tremble with pent up adrenaline. As a mercenary that had survived multiple Black Op’s, Singapore and the recent betrayal at the hands of his girlfriend, his mind went berserk.

The tiny room would be filled with the sound of him spinning the cylinder of his revolver incessantly as he began pacing the confines of the room with the relatively small space not helping to ease his mind What if there is no team coming? What if the measure is to simply seal the room and pump it full of gas? She’s in a tank, she’s not going to be affected! Or maybe the team simply consists of an invis and a jumper and they’re already here and are going to cut our throats? Ok that last one was a long shot but there were hundreds of ways that this situation could get worse and Dante’s paranoid mind was running through them all in agonising detail.

As his mind went into overdrive imagining increasingly elaborate ways in which he was about to be killed Dante would become noticeably agitated with each passing minute to the point that he almost shot Ashley when she broke the ominous silence by telling him to break the maglocks “the locks…yeah…sure” Dante said lowering his gun, obviously relieved to be doing something other than waiting.

Holstering the revolver more to stop himself from shooting someone than to free up his hands, Dante ripped the cables from out of the locks causing the tank’s door to crack open with a hiss of pneumatics, spilling the last of the fluid inside across the tiled floor in a large, sticky puddle.

With the doors now open, and the machine fully shut down he’d would cautiously step inside the tank and loop a supporting arm about Kasumi’s waist before carefully pulling the cable from out of her head “Ok Sleeping Beauty, lets get you out of here” he quietly spoke before moving on to the next cable.

Once she was disconnected it would be a simple matter of jumping the team out of the building, and all without a single shot being fired.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Toby
Rachel seemed bemused by Toby’s response, whilst Giles apparently had expected something along the veins of Toby’s reply. Toby, for his part, continued to enjoy the baked potato, as well as sampling some more of the fine soup as Rachel chided Giles for not confiding in her. Giles found it within him to share some details with Rachel. It made Toby happy that Giles had progressed to the point where he was willing to begin talking at the hole gnawing at his heart with those around him, even if it had certainly lowered the mood around the table. It was best, Toby thought, to move on and leave the hard conversation for when his presence wasn’t obstructing the honest conversation that Giles clearly needed to have with his housemate. As Rachel turned her attention back to Toby, attempting to move on, Toby finished his spoonful of soup as she spoke, smiling. “I was merely wondering what someone such as yourself does with their time.” It was an honest question, and one about which Toby did truly wonder. Here he was hoping that he could simultaneously find out more about his host, and move the topic away from the emotion sucking topic that was the hole riddled heart topic of Giles’ past. Healing was something that needed to happen, but not at the expense of other things. Toby was willing to take his time on helping Giles, and he knew he'd have to do exactly that.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Rachel smiled as Toby selected a less depressing subject, grateful for his understanding. "I'm currently working on my PhD in Psychology, actually. Want to open my own practice, help people so they can go back to enjoying life." She looked over at Giles, who had returned to eating but otherwise wasn't responding, then back at her guest. "That takes up a good portion of my time. When I manage to get some time away from my research, I like reading both for further knowledge and pleasure." She shrugged. "Though the 'for pleasure' bit's taken a bit of a backseat lately. Too much to do. Plus with the current environment, worrying about a certain someone...haven't felt up to diving into a fantasy world." She sighed. "I'll be honest, it's been disheartening seeing the knee-jerk reaction to everything that's been going on. We're seeing a reversion to the mid 20th century in some ways that no one thought would happen in first world countries ever again, and that's just not ok. The two of you are testament to the fact that this is a massive overreaction to a small splinter group, and judging from the fact Giles never called his family terrorists in the making, I doubt they're doing it of their own free will. Hell, Giles is one of the more wanted Savants as the 'rogue' member of his family...he's got a lethal power...why do people realize he's not looking for trouble when he's done nothing to live up to the name the media's given him?" She wrapped an arm around the still somewhat morose man, as if to emphasize his harmlessness. "People aren't thinking in a rational manner about this. It's fear-mongering, straight and simple. And it's despicable."

With a sigh, Rachel reached for the soup ladle and poured herself a little more. "Sorry, it's just not fair what he's been through the past few months, and if your story's even slightly similar it's not fair to you either. We're all human, and the world needs to grow up and accept it. Otherwise I shudder what my clients will be like as time goes on." She ate in silence for a moment, then looked up at Toby. "What about you? What do you do for fun? What keeps you busy when you're not hiding from government agencies that are looking to prosecute you for the fact you were born to family A and not family B?"

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Kasumi
As Kasumi slumped into Dante’s arms, her breathing was slow and steady, though her eyes remained closed and, in Dante’s arms, she felt like a sleeping child. Her body was thin, she’d only been given the minimum requirement of nutrients to maintain basic bodily function. Her pale, Japanese skin had turned even paler and, in her naked state, the woman seemed incredibly vulnerable and fragile, like Dante could snap her in two with his bare hands if he so desired. The port through which a data cable had been inserted in the back of her head was now closed, and, had he not seen it himself, it would have been impossible for Dante to tell that the back of her skull would open up, so seamless were the joins. Teleporting across the room, Tonya took Dante’s hand in one and placed her other on Kasumi. Waiting for his confirmation, the pair would find themselves in the planning room, with Trixie and Killian standing around with a white haired, bespectacled, middle aged man wearing a grey pullover, brown chinos, and suede leather shoes. Looking at Kasumi’s naked form, he readjusted his glasses up his face slightly. “This the patient?” Once Tonya had nodded in response, he placed his hands on her arm as he explained that he was the doctor for this branch of the resistance, before then taking her off of Dante. “She’s got no immediate wounds, so I think it’s a better idea just to get her into the infirmary room, where I can get her on an IV and help her to a fairly speedy recovery. Killian, you can help me.” The pair loaded Kasumi up on to a medical trolley and the figure wheeled her out of the room, having pulled a blanket over her form first, to provide some modicum of decency. Tonya, meanwhile, had vanished, reappearing in the room with Ashley and Liu, where she had taken the pair’s hands and teleported back to the planning room. With the whole group now standing there, Ashley sighed a breath of relief.

“Well, I have no idea what just happened, but I had better call in that the mission was a success. Once I’ve done that, we can all go head down to Dr. Brown and see how Kasumi’s doing. Once she’s sufficiently healed up, I’d like to get her to the main Resistance base, where she can have a crack at breaking Nicole’s power restriction bracelet and she can give you your info Dante.” Ashley had pulled out a phone as she spoke, dialling a number as she did so. A face appeared on screen, a man in his early thirties, balding, who wore wide rimmed glasses which didn’t quite sit on his face, thus requiring constant readjustment. He was slightly chubby, but not so much as to be considered overweight and the true defining feature of his face was the scar that ran from his left eye across to his ear, one which had clearly been soothed and treated, but was very much still visible. He chuckled as he flickered up on screen.

“Ashley, I don’t know what the hell you did in there, but your man certainly did his job. We didn’t hear a single transmission from that building the entire time you were in there and Rita and I were watching that network like a hawk.” A look of bewilderment crossed Ashley’s face and she quickly relayed what had happened inside the building to the man, who the group learnt was called James. He rubbed his hand across his brow as Ashley wrapped up with them exiting. “Well, we certainly heard neither hide nor hair of your existence, which would seem to suggest that it was the same for the QRTs out there. As for why though, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Kasumi can shed some light on it when she wakes up. Speaking of which, I ought to release you, I’ll see you later, and I’m looking forward to seeing my baby again. I do hope she’s still in Kasumi’s head, it’d be a great shame to the world if the only copy of her is the shacked version in Raypool’s clutches.” Ashley sighed and shook her head.

“I’ll be sure to ask about Ash for you”. James’ grin went from ear to ear. With that, the operative hung up. “Well, I’ll be damned. Maybe there really is someone out there, looking out for us. Though I’ve no idea who, unless a certain green haired Savant is about to re-enter the picture. Maybe he heard about Nicole… There’s been no reports of him anywhere though…” Realising she was musing out loud, Ashley shook her head, before leading the group out. It was a short walk through the corridors to where Kasumi was sleeping peacefully. Dr. Brown had left the room and every was able to crowd in and see the girl as she slept. It would only be half a day or so, apparently, until she was ready to travel. Ashley offered Dante and Tonya rooms to stay in or a practice room to train in if they wanted it, and with that returned to her room to crash and write reports. Today had been exhausting, but if someone else was getting involved, Carlos needed to know, and things needed to be investigated. Any third party, even if helpful, was an unknown, and unknowns were exactly what Ashley and Carlos did not want.

Toby
Rachel, it seemed, dealt with matters of the mind, being a psychologist, or very nearly one. It was an admirable profession, and Toby respected her for wanting to improve the mental health of others. It was something that Toby had never considered himself to be too impressive at, he just gave advice. Rachel gave her breakdown of the current political climate, something Toby sadly had to agree with. As he did, though, he noted what Rachel had just, perhaps inadvertently, told Toby. He’d not realised that Giles was Giles Anders. That fact, however, changed nothing in Toby’s mind. Giles was still Giles regardless, and it was the hole in his heart on which Toby’s attentions were focused. Still, for now, Rachel was asking Toby what he liked to do in his spare time. As Toby thought of his hobbies, he smiled at the memories. “Walking. I like walking. Good for thinking, good for getting out, clearing the mind, enjoying nature. Ball games as well, there’s something very soothing. Sleep is always enjoyable as well, and I don’t mind the odd crossword or something similar if I can’t get outside, but I would have to say walking is my passion first and foremost.” As he finished speaking, Toby put the last forkful of baked potato into his mouth with the remainder of his side salad. One delicious swallow later, and the meal was finished, Toby having previously finished the soup, and Toby arranged his cutlery neatly on the plate, waiting for his hosts to finish as well.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Rachel nodded in appreciation as Toby explained his hobbies. "I like walking too, when I can get the time, so I can appreciate that. Not much for sports, and while sleep is nice I don't think I get enough of it...or at least it never feels like I do." She shrugged, then resumed eating, and the meal concluded in silence. Once everyone had finished, Giles rose without a word and started gathering the dishes, moving them to the sink before starting to clean them off. Rachel frowned at the doorway he'd disappeared through for a moment, then turned back to Toby. "I apologize for him, you picked a really bad time to get to know him. Three months ago he would be the life of the evening, going out of his way to entertain all involved and making sure no one left without a grin on their face. He's been...very much not himself. We both know a little more about why now, but...there's still so much left to the story, I'm sure of it. I just wish I could help him..." She looked towards the kitchen, her face forlorn. "What kind of a psychologist can't even cheer her own friends up? Especially when..." she trailed off, speaking more to herself than anyone else. "She shook herself out of her thought process after a moment and turned back to her guest. "A-anyway, you're welcome to stay as long as you want, of course...I don't have a lot in the means of social entertainment, but if you've got anything in mind or just want to sit and talk, or even if you just want to sleep, you're more than welcome. Giles likes being around you, that much is obvious, and I've learned by now that any friend of his is worth making friends with." She smiled before looking over at the kitchen again. "I'd go help him but if I'm being honest he probably needs the time to himself right about now..."

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Toby
The other two finished their meals, with Rachel explaining that she too enjoyed walks and sleeping, though she found herself often unable to do enough of either. Once all had finished eating, Giles rose wordlessly and gathered their plates, before heading into the kitchen. Toby prepared to rise and follow Giles when Rachel began to apologise for him, explaining that three months ago Giles would have been the life and soul of the dinner. Once she was done apologising for things outside of her control, she offered Toby the chance to stick around if he wanted to, even offering him a bed, should he want it. Toby smiled and thanked the woman for her offer. “That sounds pleasant but I must refuse. Places to be, things to do. I’ll help out Giles with the drying up and then be on my way”. Refusing any protest at this, he headed into the kitchen and found a dish towel before proceeding to help Giles, speaking as he did so. “I’m going to be going away for the next week or so.” Toby paused for a second as he put down the pan in which the soup had been cooked in the cupboard which he was fairly certain was its home. “Important business means I’ve got to be away from here. Still, before I go, I wanted to put something to you. I want you to come with me on a trip when I get back. It’ll only be a few days total, hitchhiking to Woodstock, Virginia. I can’t say much for certain at the moment, but it will help soothe the hole in your heart if you come with me. Think on it whilst I’m gone”. With the drying up now done, Toby would wait and answer any of Giles’ questions, before heading to the door, making sure he picked up his backpack. He’d thank the pair for the lovely evening and the nice food before setting off, his backpack slung across his back. It wasn’t a very long walk to his first hitchhike point, and then it was to the airport. Toby had a flight to catch.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Rachel blinked in surprise as Toby declined anything else, saying he'd help Giles dry the dishes and then head out. "Oh, of course...please don't hesitate to call again...and you really don't have to do that..." She watched the young man walk into the room Giles had vanished into, a slight frown on her face. "...Or do..."

Giles looked up and nodded as Toby walked in, though he frowned as he came and started helping with drying off what had been cleaned already. "You don't need to help, you're the guest, I've got it..." The young man ignored him, however, and with a sigh the former aristocrat gave up. Toby was his own man, he knew that for sure. He was going to do what he wanted, and you couldn't stop him. He was taken aback though as the information that his new friend was going to disappear for a week, having a trip he needed to take. "Ah, well I hope whatever you need to do goes well..." he replied a little unsteadily. And then came the relative bombshell. Toby wanted him to come with him on a trip after his return, something about going to Virginia. That he didn't know a lot for certain, but that it would help him recover, that much he knew. "Wait, I...I'm not about to just up and leave again...why would I uproot and head out on a whim?" He got more of the same back, it will be good for you, come with me. Which..."I...I won't promise anything, but I'll think on it...that's the best I can do, ok?" The chores done, their dinner guest departed, Giles more uncertain than ever. "Hey Rach...Toby said something about a few day trip when he gets back..."

----------------------------------------------------------

A week later, Giles had started to run out of places to fake a job hunt. They were going to need to come up with a new plan before long, some new justification for him to be in Rachel's home that the PTSD would accept if they decided their household was suspicious. Today though he wasn't going out. Rachel had insisted he'd done enough for a while and that he should rest, and he wasn't going to pass up on the hospitality. He hadn't told her anything more, and she'd contented herself with that for the time being. She had, however, been unusually supportive of him going on the random trip with Toby. Quoting things like, 'you can take care of yourself' and 'if he's right it'll be good for you.' Though she'd made him promise in no uncertain terms that he had to come back to her after the trip was over. No street for him anymore, no matter what happened with the regulations, the anti-Savant movement, and the RPSD, he was going to stay close by where 'she could take care of him.' This of course was assuming the former aristocrat went...and he still really wasn't sure he wanted to...Toby was nice and all, but a cross-country trip just seemed...a lot, for a partial fix. What was out east for him anyway? There wasn't anything good, just memories of home and his brief time in New York, which he was NOT about to start thinking about now, he wasn't, he wasn't, not a chance...but yeah, he didn't have anything to gain out there...did he?

 

[DeletedUser31931]

(OOC: Just to remind people and help maintain a clear timeline, this now places Giles and Toby on the day before the Kasumi raid)

Toby
As Toby stepped out of the Arrivals terminal of Boulder Municipal Airport, he smiled as he inhaled the fresh air. Pulling the baseball cap off of his head, he shoved it back into his backpack before setting off, his feet padding along the sidewalk as he let his body steer him to where he felt he needed to go find Giles. After a while of walking, he found himself standing outside the house where he had eaten with Giles and Rachel just one week earlier. Checking that nothing about him looked too scruffy, Toby rang the doorbell and waited patiently. He wondered about Giles’ consideration of his offer. He hoped the man would take him up on it, he felt it was going to be… important. He still couldn’t put a finger on why, but something was definitely pulling him to Woodstock, and that something needed Giles to be there too. After all, Toby didn’t want to waste a trip there, and something told him that his trip rather would be if he ended up going alone. The gentle afternoon breeze wafted along the street as Toby waited. He hoped Giles was home, and if he was, the sooner they could set off, the better.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

A knock at the door caused Giles to jump. Rachel hadn't told him to expect anyone and he hadn't asked for extra company, so something else was going on. Whether it was good or bad...though he didn't want to admit it, his heart rate started to rise. Was this the end of their facade? Had the PRDS come for him, figured out that he was living with an old friend? He shifted his appearance back to the short blond haired, bearded man who was supposedly living there instead of him, frowning as he rose to answer it. This was supposed to be his day off of having the itching beard, dammit...though upon peering through the peephole the former aristocrat relaxed before unlocking and opening the door. "Hey Toby. Glad to see your trip went well...come on in. Just me today, Rach is in class." Once they were both seated in his friend's living room, Giles sighed. "I'm guessing you're here about the whole trip to Virginia thing. I've been thinking it over, and I'm just not up for traveling across the country right now. I don't think I have the energy to do it, really. Rach thinks it'd be good for me to get out for a bit, provided I come back in a timely manner, but..." he shook his head, looking morose. "I can't get any sort of excitement about it, don't feel motivated to go...I just don't think I have it in me. I'm sorry. Does that make sense?" He felt bad turning down the offer, and knew that the old him would have jumped at the chance to take a trip with a friend, but now...now he just couldn't find it in him to make such a long trip. He could only hope Toby would understand.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Toby
The door swung open, and Giles stood in front of Toby, ushering him in to the house. It was nice to see the man again and, as Toby followed Giles into the room and sat down on the comfy sofa, Giles broke the news that he didn’t feel like coming to Virginia. Toby’s smile fell from his face and was instead replaced with a forlorn, slightly crestfallen, expression. This, however, did not last long as Toby’s face returned to a neutral state as he quickly mulled things over in his mind. He knew that Giles in all likelihood should take the trip and that it would be good for him, but it was unfair to have Giles have the same level of trust in Toby’s judgement, particularly when the pair were still fresh in their knowledge of one another. With this in mind, Toby decided to try another tactic. “That’s a shame Giles, I was very much looking forward to going with you. If the past week has thrown up anything, it’s that travelling is very much more fun with friends and I would very much still like you to come.” Toby paused for a second, and thought about the dilemma. The trip wouldn’t be worth it without Giles, that much he was vaguely certain about. That meant that he was going to have to keep gently pushing. At the same time, he had to be careful, because he ran the risk of driving Giles off, if he came on too strongly, and that would be the worst outcome possible. Still, something told him that he and Giles needed to take this trip, and they needed to set off today, tomorrow morning by the latest. He decided he had no choice but to push on, and hope that Giles changed his mind, so that Toby could see to the beginnings of the restoration of Giles’ heart.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

It was almost painful seeing the smile slide off Toby's face when Giles told him he wouldn't be going. It hadn't been easy to say, and he doubted it had been any easier to hear. Still, it had to be said, he had no intention of going and oh come on why was Toby pulling the pity card? Going on about how he'd been lonely traveling the last week, and how he'd been looking forward to the trip and still wanted the former aristocrat to come with. Which...ok, yeah, he could see the argument for it...and he'd been told it would only be a few days...but then again the last time he'd gone east with that kind of promise on his mind...everything had happened. Who could blame him for not wanting to repeat the experience? "I...I'm sorry...just...you have to realize that it was that kind of assurance that got me into all this in the first place...I...I guess I don't think I can risk it again. If you'd've asked me four months ago I'd've been thrilled, but...last time I thought I was going to do something good for people and it turned into...it's not that I don't trust you either, you're a hell of a lot more trustworthy than they were, but...I just..." He trailed off, blinking back tears. "It's not that I don't want to go with you...I just don't think I can..."

 

[DeletedUser28032]

To say that Dante was relieved to be back at resistance HQ would be an understatement, with his heart still doing it's best to burst out of his chest he forced himself to take deep breaths in an attempt to sooth his frayed nerves as Killian and Trixie meanwhile, approached them with a man who was presumably a doctor "No, I just like to carry a naked chick around with me" Dante sneered in response to the doctors question as to whether the girl in question was the patient before gently handing her over so she could be taken care of with the pent up adrenalin in his system doing little to keep his temper at bay.

From that point on their miraculous escape only became stranger as it became clear from one of Ashley's colleagues that somebody had jammed all transmissions going in and out of the building leading the operative to suggest that perhaps Giles had been involved "Emerald's alive?" Dante asked in a stunned voice, though considering that both Ashley and Liu had survived Raypool's dungeon then why not good ol' Captain Emerald? "I'm kinda surprised that he ain't neck deep in this mess of yours Double S, He's got more reason to be than any of us" he added, recalling the way the poor guy had reacted upon seeing Harper's execution. Had it been Tonya instead of Harper that had died that day Dante knew full damn well that he'd most likely be dead by now; killed in a suicidal battle against Raypool's goons, so long as I got the son of a gun first that'd be fine by me.

After a short walk to look in on their very own sleeping beauty Ashley would offer him and Tonya the use of a room whilst they waited for Kasumi to recover sufficiently enough to talk with them. Despite his initial reaction of refusing so that they could return to their secluded farm in Chile, Dante would politely accept the offer after a single glance at Tonya told him that she needed to rest and that it would be unfair of him to make her do another large jump for the sake of his paranoia, and so after retrieving his rifle from Liu the pair of them would make their way to the room in question.

The room was small with a single bed taking up the entirety of one wall with the rest of the furniture consisting of a bedside table, chair and footlocker, all of which had seen far better days. Once inside Dante would help Tonya undress before tenderly carrying her the short distance over to the bed "I know yer legs are fine babe, I just like being romantic alright?" he drawled in response to her protests; a lazy smile appearing on his face as he climbed under the single blanket to lie next to her.

With the door locked and wedged shut by the room's only chair, and with enough weaponry within easy reach to start a small war Dante would eventually relax enough to get some sleep within the tiny, creaking bed that they'd been provided with. Obviously whoever had set this place up had not had couples in mind, but it was comfortable enough if a little basic...ok very basic, but hey resistance movements didn't exactly have the cash to spend on fancy guest rooms; not when they could use that money to make things go boom! Though a slightly wider bed would be nice “we’re getting too old for this” Dante quietly murmured into Tonya’s ear; his face buried within her candy pink locks “we need to retire before this life either drives us crazy or causes us to catch a bullet…though something makes me think we’re going to be stuck in Double S’ rebellion crap for the long haul” he wanted to get out, to live what was left of his life in South America, running a bar and telling war stories as well as maybe doing a little something extra on the side to keep things interesting. He and Tonya still had plenty of contacts so there was nothing to say that they couldn’t run a little contract business, after all it’d be a shame to let all those skills go to waste.

But that was for another time, a time when he could walk down the street without fear of being jumped by a DSRP hit team gunning for Savants, which meant that for the time being he and Tonya were stuck in Double S’ Rebellion crap for the long haul.

 

[DeletedUser]

Nothing was happening. Liu sat against a corner of the wall as the group waited for signs of any hostiles, with the incessant clicking noise of Dante’s revolver cylinder counting the seconds away. Dante’s anxiousness certainly wasn’t helpful, not in as tense a situation as this, as Liu felt her grip on the rifle she’d been passed earlier tightening.

More minutes passed by and the unbearably slow process of Kasumi’s ‘emergency’ release was almost finished but the fight they were promised still hadn’t arrived yet. Just what was going on with the promised QRT? They couldn’t possibly be off-duty, not with such a high priority target like Kasumi here, and they almost certainly haven’t been wiped out by some other group. Any organizations large enough to contend against the DSRP aside from the Resistance would have made themselves known by now…

Well there’s no point thinking about it now, Liu concluded. Whether or not there was another group at work was something to think about at a later date. For now, Kasumi was safely out of the machine, miraculously without a single casualty on both sides.

Liu materialised back in HQ just in time to see Kasumi being carted away by Killian and a middle-aged man, probably off towards some infirmary room. Unsurprisingly, it seemed Ashley had no idea what happened to the QRT as well. Ashley’s conversation with her associate on the phone also implied that Liu’s theory of a third party was somehow correct, albeit in a different way. Whatever the case, Liu was grateful for these circumstances as fighting in that area seemed like a death wish.

Seeing as Kasumi was yet to wake up, the group had time to relax before their next move. Beckoning at Trixie to follow her, Liu started heading back to their room. “Sorry about earlier. If anything actually happened I’d rather you be there to help, but that’s obviously not the case for Dante.” Liu said to Trixie. “Besides, it’s not like we had anything to fight in there.”

Once they were in their room, Liu took a quick shower before trying to get as much sleep in as possible. After all, things only promised to get even more hectic from here on out…

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Tonya
As Dante stripped Tonya off and slid his arms under the girl’s legs, the small Asian nuzzled into his bare chest. Quietly murmuring that he didn’t have to, Dante ignored her protests and carried her to the bed nonetheless, gently placing her down before climbing in himself. The bed was a tight squeeze but Tonya was fine with this and took the opportunity to bury her face in the gap between Dante’s shoulder and his head, her hands making their way along his back, feeling his smooth but strong skin. As Dante whispered that the pair were getting too old for their jobs, Tonya laughed and squeezed him tightly. “Speak for yourself, I’m only 26 I’ll have you know”.

As Dante sighed that they were probably caught in for the long haul, Tonya laughed, the noise still retaining its girlish quality. “Dante, it’s not a rebellion, it’s The Resistance, don’t you know?” Tonya’s accent had become that of a high and refined aristocrat, as her tone mocked Ashley. “Still, I think you’re right. We’re caught in this for the long run, that’s for sure.” Tonya planted a kiss upon Dante’s neck, savouring the taste of him before continuing. “Then again, we’re partly responsible for this mess. Her, you, me, all of us. So it’s up to us to kill that mother-” at this point, Tonya slipped into Mandarin and though Dante’s skills might not have been enough to grasp the nuance of what she was saying, her tone and attitude towards the target of her vitriol, Raypool, were very much clear. The brief rant ended with Tonya burying her face further into Dante’s shoulder as tears started to prick the edge of her eyes. “It’s just not fair Dante. People like Killian shouldn’t be involved in this war. That kid needs a therapist and time to figure himself out, not persecution and having this place be his only hope. When your hope involves a cramped bunk bed in a cold room and risking your life for the sake of control of digital conversations, that’s a pretty cruddy hope. He doesn’t look much older than 16 for the love of God.” At this point, Tonya gave up on words and just settled for hugging Dante and letting the exhaustion of multiple trips with lots of different people overtake her as she drifted off to sleep.

As the pair awoke later, there was a knocking at the door. The sound paused for a few seconds, before occurring again. Outside the room, Ashley’s voice called out to the pair. “Dante, Tonya, if you’re in there, Kasumi’s woken up. You might want to come see her, she’s got a lot to say”. With that, the knocking resumed.


Trixie
The wait for Liu and Ashley to return was long and filled with worries. Once Trixie had fetched the doctor, who kept watch by the door, the room remained in a tense silence. Killian kept to himself, writing down notes on his phone, and at one point plugging in to listen to music for a grand total of thirty seconds before he pulled out the headphones and threw them against the wall, before hastily retrieving them, muttering an apology and returning to silence. Trixie was fine with the silence and, as she sat there, she slowly turned invisible in her chair. When, some ten minutes or so later, Dante and Tonya appeared with Kasumi in hand, Trixie turned visible out of shock and watched quietly as the handover occurred, with Tonya vanishing to fetch her remaining compatriots. Trixie swiftly grasped what had transpired and a mixture of relief and confusion swept through her. This definitely wasn’t Raypool’s style, too bizarre. Ashley’s call seemed to confirm that some other party was in on this as well, but the question as to who or why seemed unanswerable at present. Still, a quick visit to the infirmary confirmed that Kasumi was alright and should recover within the day, hopefully by the late afternoon.

Liu led the way to their shared room, talking as she went, apologising for letting Trixie go with Tonya. “It’s, like, fine. Besides, like, Dante’s logic made sense about, like, evaccing under fire. Still, you, like, got home safe, and that’s alright.” Trixie felt the urge as she spoke to reach out and hug Liu, to stroke her hair and tell her that it was fine. She pushed those thoughts down, after all, they were likely a side effect of the mind control, even as it slowly wore off. The valley girl accent was slowly slipping, being replaced with her natural accent. Still, it had been so long since she had talked with it, the voice, still a weird hybrid of the two accents, sounded unnatural and not her own. Inside she felt bitterness and anger welling up at Damon, at the man who had left her this broken shell. In her internal anger, she didn’t notice as Liu claimed the shower first and, not seeing the other girl in their room, stripped off to have a shower. As she opened the door and walked in, seeing the other girl standing there, she turned bright red and quickly backed out, fading into obscurity. When Liu came out, the other girl would be nowhere to be seen, though the invisible lump under the blankets on her bunk gave Liu a potential idea. Trixie, however, had her back to the room and her eyes squeezed shut, attempting to pretend that the last couple of minutes hadn’t happened and refusing to respond.

About four or so hours later, Ashley would briefly knock before sticking her head around the door. “Hey Liu, Kasumi’s just woken up. I’m going to head on over and get Dante and Tonya, so I’ll see you there.” With that, the girl was gone, vanishing as she flashed off at great speed. In the base, Ashley found, was a great place to practice her running. That and her sessions with Killian, which were proving very informative. With the news that Kasumi had awoken, Trixie became visible again and swung herself out of her bunk. “I’m going to, like, take a shower, I still, like, smell like cold water and, like, sewage.” With that she peeled off, turning invisible as she did so, and walked into the shower before turning visible, quietly sobbing to herself as she started up the shower and began to wash herself, a sea of conflicting emotions raging inside her.


Toby
As Giles defended his decision by stating that it was this kind of thing that had got him into the present situation, Toby’s brow furrowed. Giles was drawing parity between the trip that Toby was asking him to come on and whatever trip he had been on before, presumably before the Crisis, that had left the current hole in his heart. His final statement, however, was what most intrigued Toby and provided his best chance of convincing Giles to come around to his point of view. With that in mind, Toby paused for a second, thinking how best to word his response, before beginning. “What is it about the trip that makes you think you can’t come? I can understand you having reservations, but I would like you to come and, as you just said, you would too. So, if you tell me what the issues are, maybe I can help assuage your fears, especially since I don’t think this trip will be much like whatever happened four months ago.”

 

[DeletedUser]

Liu was deep in thought as she entered the small bathroom. Although she had gotten some answers from listening to Ashley’s phone call earlier, there was still no one off the top of her head who’d ever help the Resistance without making themselves known, both within and outside the US. Speaking of unexpected, Trixie’s accent is noticeably different now.

Just as Liu stepped into the shower, the door to the bathroom opened. Standing behind the open doorway was Trixie, completely naked. The pair stared at each other for a second, both blushing with embarrassment before Trixie quickly turned invisible. For the rest of her shower, Liu found herself unable to think straight. After her shower, Liu found an invisible lump on the other bunk – presumably Trixie – before climbing on her own bunk and simply listening to music to pass the time. Liu felt like she should probably talk to Trixie, but every time she tried it felt too awkward or embarrassing to start.

After a few hours, Ashley came to tell them that Kasumi had woken up. Trixie ran off into the shower, explaining that she still smelled like sewage, leaving Liu to head off by herself. Silently cursing her own social ineptitude, Liu walked back through the corridors towards the infirmary.