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Post by William Thorn on Apr 7, 2012 2:21:49 GMT -5
Will was in the middle of watching Hellboy 2 in his quarters. He had just gotten to the locker room part when he got a message on his wrist device. He paused the movie and pressed a button to play the message. It said in an English woman's voice, " Agent Tesla, please report the briefing room ASAP. That means now, not after your movie..."
" Every time, EVERY STINKING TIME! They can never tell me to report to the briefing room when the movie has just started or is over. Nooooo! They have to wait until I'm right in the middle of it and at one of the best parts. I swear, it's like they have my room bugged just so they know the best time to interrupt my movies." Will said as he turned off his tv and headed out of his room.
Will walked down the hallway leading to the briefing room wearing only a pair of shorts, a tshirt, and no shoes on his feet. He looked like he was walking around his house, which he was in a way, and going to go find out why his room mate was calling him. Many agents dressed in their proper clothing passed by him, and gave him these looks that just sang out, " So unprofessional." He didn't pay it much mind as he headed on his way. He wasn't sure what they wanted from him, but he had a feeling it had something to do with his last partner. On his last mission, his partner had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a bullet to the gut. It wouldn't have been so serious if their kidney hadn't been hit and the bullet shattered against their spine and dug into other organs around their kidney. They were now in medical wing in ICU while the doctor watched to see what would happen to them. He felt bad for them and would visit them, but there wasn't anything he could do and no guests were allowed for them at the moment.
Will walked into the briefing room to find only one person in there at the moment. It was the New York SHIELD branch leader, Captain Joyce. Captain Joyce was a woman in her early thirties. Her black hair flowed down to her shoulders and she had curves in all the right places. She turned and fixed her piercing grey eyes on Will as he walked in and a slight frown graced her face.
" What are you wearing Agent Tesla?" Captain Joyce asked in a disappointed tone in a British accent.
" You said to come ASAP, so I came as I was when you sent me that message." Will said in a slightly sarcastic voice. " Or should I have not listened to my Captain's orders to come 'right now'?"
Will just smiled at her. He knew he was going to get scolded for this later, but he couldn't help himself. He just had to do it and he had no regrets on it either.
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Post by briar on Apr 7, 2012 2:51:17 GMT -5
Briar-Rose didn’t like the idea of being partnered again. She was convinced she didn’t need one. They either slowed her down, or, in the case of her last partner, turned out to be traitors. Too bad she couldn’t convince her superiors of this. They seemed set on setting her up with another imbecile, who was probably so green he or she didn’t know how to even hold a gun. Her last three partners had been straight out of training, as green as could be. One of them had run at the first sign of danger. Another ended up getting himself blown up. And a third actually lasted a week before dropping out of field work all together.
She’d thought she’d hit the jackpot though with her last partner, though. She’d been about Briar-Rose’s age, and even gone to training with the redhead. They weren’t friends, necessarily, but they’d known each other, and they’d worked well together. Briar-Rose had always known there was a darker side to her partner, but didn’t find out what it was she was doing until a few months into their partnership. Basically, she was selling SHIELD information on the black market. Needless to say, said partner was now ten feet underground, with a bullet from Briar-Rose’s gun in her heart.
So, basically? Yeah, Briar-Rose was sick of partners. Whoever was in charge of partnerships was a complete idiot. Thankfully, no one knew how the redhead felt about the subject, or… At least how strongly she felt about it. It’d probably shock a few people, if only because she always acted like such a calm and peaceful person, like nothing could upset her!
With today’s orders, the young woman had actually had to stop and meditate for a while to reign in her annoyance. She stalled as long as possible, savoring all the time she had, before finally leaving her quarters and heading for the Briefing room.
She was dressed well, but casually, a pair of form fitting jeans, and a black blouse. There was nothing extraordinary about her appearance, nothing at all. But there was an… Air about her that just drew people’s attention. She looked serene, almost like the undisturbed surface of water. Even as she entered the room, her expression never changed.
If this new partner of hers tried to read the woman, he’d be in for a shock. It would be like trying to read a closed book. Like the water was to dark to penetrate. You could blame those dark, penetrating eyes of hers. She looked so calm and peaceful, until you met that cunning gaze. No, she wasn’t one to underestimate.
Briar-Rose didn’t say anything at all. Her dark gaze fixed on first the Branch leader, and then on the poorly dressed man. Instantly she was repulsed. How dare he come to a briefing dressed so indecently? Did he have no respect for this organization? Dear god, don’t let him be her new partner. All the while, her expression and posture gave away absolutely nothing.
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 7, 2012 3:09:30 GMT -5
Will just got a cold glare from the Captain in response to what he had said. Oh he was going to get a good scolding for this later. A few minutes passed before he heard the door open up and looked over to see who it was. The person who walked in was a woman who looked around his age. She was wearing casual clothing, but it wasn't the clothes or the way she seemed to draw in your attention, it was the look in her eyes. He had figured out, whenever that was in his forgotten past, that looking at someone's eyes told you more then any other part of their body. No matter how hard someone tried or trained, they could never completely hide how they felt with their eyes. Whoever this woman was, she was extremely good at hiding how she felt, but there was a slight glimpse that gave away her disapproval at how he looked. He couldn't get much more then that out of her though, but he couldn't blame her for what he did get. He did look bad at the moment, but hey, what did you expect from him? When someone said to come now, he went right then without doing anything before hand.
As soon as the woman got into the room, Captain Joyce looked them both over quickly before clearing her throat.
" As I'm sure the both of you have already guessed, the reason I had you both come to the briefing room was to assign the two of you as partners. Both of you have had some, unfortunate, events happen with your past partners, so I am assigning the two of you to work together for a time. This is not permanent, so if you feel that you can not work with the other after a few missions, we will assign you new ones." Captain Joyce said in a commanding tone of voice. " Am I clear on this?"
" Yes ma'am!" Will replied right away.
Will liked to joke around, but he knew when he needed to be serious with the captain. He had a history with her. She was the one who lead the raid on the lab that freed him and ultimately to join SHIELD. He had seen what she was like when she was serious, and it scared the hell out of him to think he would be on her bad side.
" Is there anything you would like to say?" Captain Joyce said as she looked the the two before her.
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Post by briar on Apr 7, 2012 3:23:37 GMT -5
Briar-Rose really didn’t like this. The man’s obvious lack of respect in higher command just irritated her. It meant that it’d be a struggle to get him to do anything she wanted. And, being the perfectionist she was, she hated it when people acted like complete idiots. And she was expecting this guy to do exactly that. After all, she could see his life force. And knew instantly that he was a smart ass. Orders were orders though. She wouldn’t argue. At least not verbally.
Her gaze returned to the Captain, silently watching the older woman repeat what Briar-Rose already knew. At least being partners part. Honestly she was happy about the opportunity to basically dump this guy as soon as they had a few missions behind them. At least she wouldn’t be stuck with the smart ass until he ended up killing himself. She offered no response to the orders, merely nodding her head.
The next question though, actually made the young woman smile a bit. It was much more mischievous and cunning then most would expect. Very much a fox grin. Her gaze flickered to the man. ”I’d like to make it clear here and now. Slow me down, I’ll leave you behind. Think of betraying me, I shoot you. Try to betray me, I’ll rip your heart out.” It was a little unnerving. She sounded calm, totally and completely peaceful. But it was a definite threat. This was why she was code named Fox-face around here. Everyone knew she acted almost jedi-like. But as soon as that mouth opened, the fox showed it’s face.
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 7, 2012 3:41:38 GMT -5
Will was actually a little confused why the Captain would actually ASK for him to say something. She was giving him permission to speak and she never gave him permission to. He was a smart ass at times for sure, but she knew that he could handle himself enough that she could give him an order and leave everything up to him. As shocking as the Captain giving him permission to speak was, what the woman said shocked him even more. She was dead serious in what she said, and it was obvious in how she presented herself. He had an innocent response pop up into his head and without thinking about it he thought out loud.
" So we are dating now are we? Well that's just super!" Will said in a slightly sarcastic way.
Captain Joyce didn't give either of them time to say anything else before she cleared her throat once more.
" Here is your first mission." Captain Joyce said in a serious tone as he picked up a file and handed it over to the woman. " I need you to track and apprehend this genetically altered animal before it can cause any harm in the city. You can bring it back either alive or dead, I do not care which. Keep civilian interaction to a minimum as well as any damage caused to public property. Am I clear Agent Tesla?"
" You know I don't damage public property, public property damages me." Will said in a joking way. " Wait you said animal right? It's not a dog is it? You know I don't like being around dogs..."
Will wasn't sure why, but he couldn't handle being near dogs. He didn't hate them, but something deep down always made him not like being near them.
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Post by briar on Apr 7, 2012 17:50:38 GMT -5
Most people were surprised when they heard Briar-Rose speak. She acted like such a serene and peaceful person... You'd expect a response that matched that! If only. For some reason though, she still seemed to draw attention to herself, even when people knew she could be a real bitch sometimes. Guess those rare moments when she wasn't one was worth the struggle.
His sarcastic response almost made her take a step towards him to slug him. Which, obviously, would hurt. She was stronger then most people and had almost twenty years of martial art training behind her. Basically, if she hit you, she made sure you stayed down. Strangely, that expression stayed the same, but her clenched fist would give away her first reaction. Before she could do anything though, the Captain spoke once again. Well, Briar-Rose would just have to wait until later to sock him... Her hand relaxed as she took the file, quickly crossing her arms after. She didn't even consider opening it yet, just watched and listened.
Obviously, this new partner of hers had issues. That was instantly obvious. She'd never been in a briefing where the one in command actually chastised an agent. Well, talk about poor first impressions. And Briar-Rose, being someone who only judged people on first impressions... Well, basically this guy wasn't having a great start. What natural respect she always felt for strangers, was plummeting quickly for this guy. Honestly, she didn't even think he was worth hitting now, he was so beneath her.
"...." She slowly blinked, waiting to see if there might be anything else that they needed to know that wasn't in the file. After a second though, she spoke. "I'm sorry, but why would you partner me with him? If you expect him to have issues with something this simple, maybe he should go back to training." The young woman never even looked in his direction as she spoke.
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 7, 2012 18:12:42 GMT -5
Will was worried that he would have to deal with, not just a normal dog, but a genetically altered dog. He didn't like the idea of it one bit. He was never good around dogs, at least since he had woken up in that lab, and he wasn't about to be any time soon. He didn't worry long before the Captain gave him a look.
" It is not a dog. The animal is feline in appearance. You should have nothing to worry about Agent Tesla." Captain Joyce said to him.
Will would have breathed a sigh of relief, had it not been for what his new partner had to say. She obviously didn't think much of him and she would rather have been with anyone else. Captain Joyce turned her attention towards the woman after she had finished talking and fixed a stern look on her for several moments.
" Agent Tesla never went through training Agent Fox-face. As odd as that sounds, it is the truth. You can either accept that he is your new partner and stop taking him so lightly or you can leave SHIELD. You are already under suspension for the incident with your last partner, do not get yourself into more trouble. You were partnered up with Agent Tesla for a reason." Captain Joyce said to her in a voice that could send chills down anyone's spine. " Do I make myself clear Agent Fox-face?"
Will decided to keep his mouth shut after hearing what the captain had to say. He wasn't sure what had happened between his new partner and her old one, but it was clear that it was something more then just bickering and name calling. He had not seen the captain that mad in some time, and it was fairly common for him to do something that made her angry. He just glanced over at his new partner to see what she thought about what was said to her. No matter how good she was at not showing anything but a calm face, he knew that it was impossible for anyone to not be cut deeply by what was said.
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Post by briar on Apr 7, 2012 22:33:01 GMT -5
And the Captain just HAD to mention Briar-Rose’s…. misunderstanding with her last partner. Seriously, they probably would have killed the woman anyway. She knew too much about SHIELD, and obviously had no loyalties to the group. Not to mention most people didn’t know all the details to what happened exactly… The Captain currently didn’t know all the details of the encounter, and he woman probably never would. She didn’t have clearance for it.
Basically, the security breach had been pretty high up. A lot of classified information, that even the Captain didn’t have clearance to access. When Briar-Rose had confronted her partner, she’d already had her orders. Aim to kill.
So, of course, when the situation was brought up, the young woman didn’t have quite the reaction expected. Instead of a trace of hatred showing through, a relaxed smile crossed her lips. She couldn’t possibly look calmer. Even her eyes seemed unusually calm about being threatened by her superior. ”Transparently.” Was all she said in response.
That smile vanished after a moment, back to that peaceful, but bare expression of hers. ”Is this briefing over then? With the urgency of this mission, I would think every moment counts.”
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 7, 2012 23:04:39 GMT -5
Will was a little taken back by how his new partner had replied. He was expecting more of a silent anger in her response, but it wasn't there. He started to think why that might be, which got the gears in his head to turning. He pushed it to the back of his conscious thought and turned his attention back to his Captain. If she expected a different response from the woman, it wasn't shown by her expressionless face. As usual though, Will had to note that when two strong willed women were in a room together, things got tense and not in the comical kind of way. He had always wondered why it never seemed to fail that it would happen, or at least every time he had seen it. He pushed the idea out of his head though when he noticed a slight shift in the Captain's weight that most never noticed. He could tell that she was about to dismiss them, so he started thinking of what he would need for the mission.
" Time is important, but only if it isn't rushed or wasted. I have one last thing to say though. Do not underestimate this animal. I already injured some of our fresher agents. Now then, you are dismissed." Captain Joyce said in a calm tone of voice. " Agent Tesla, good luck out there. I don't want to see you in the infirmary too."
Will had noticed long ago how him and the Captain had an odd relationship. She always treated him -differently- then she would treat the other agents. He had to guess it had something to do with what she saw during the raid on the lab they found him in. He knew that it had caused some of the more hardened SHIELD agents to take a short leave after just to calm themselves down enough to work again. He didn't know what she saw, but it must have been horrible. He just gave her half a smile.
" You should know by now that I'm always in and out of that place after a mission!" Will said in a cheerful voice. " Well I have a mission to get a poor little kitty out of a tree for you."
Will left before he could get a response from the Captain, if she even was going to give him one. He hadn't been lying about his frequent visits to the infirmary though. He was always required to get a check up on how his body was holding out. The doctors were paranoid that his new parts would start to be rejected by some trigger or another while he was out in the field, and no amount of him telling them that he was fine or nothing ever happening could convince them of that. He also got injured in one way or another fairly often too, so that just added to his visits.
Will just walked out of the briefing room and stopped not long after he had gotten out of it. He had started to think about what had happened to his last partner, and he was wondering how they were doing. He knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent what had happened from happening, but he couldn't help but feel that he had done something wrong.
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Post by briar on Apr 7, 2012 23:44:14 GMT -5
Rushed or wasted? The Captain KNEW Briar-Rose! This girl NEVER rushed into a situation! She was one of the most methodical thinkers around! She should feel insulted that the older woman would even think the fox-faced agent would rush into a situation! Thankfully, her mask never slipped. She only nodded curtly in response. Dismissed, she turned and left, without even a glance back.
She knew her partner would follow her sooner or later, after all, she had the file! If he wanted any information on the mission that hadn’t been given, he’d kind of have to follow her. So she didn’t go anywhere complicated, simply went into one of the rooms right down the hall that was used for conference calls. When it wasn’t in use, most agents liked to go over details of their next mission in the room, if only because it was sound proof. Some missions were top secret after all, couldn’t have people listening in.
In the room, she sat at the table, and spread the file out in front of her. It included all the information they’d been given, along with much more. Snap shots of the actual creature to make it easier to find. A map that marked all it’s known whereabouts, habits that had been observed. Anything that might prove useful to anyone intent on stopping it.
Briar-Rose focused on the map. It looked like a chaotic mess, upon first glance. But this woman was smart. She was cunning. She knew how to find patterns. So, after examining the map for a few moments, she crossed her legs, her palms resting on her knees and eyes closed. She took a slow, deep breath. In, out. In, out. Her mind cleared, of everything. Her heartbeat slowed down to a moderate level. No one would know, but this was more than just a way to think deeply. To use her power, she had to have absolute focus. The more she relaxed, the faster her thoughts became. She was, simply, redirecting her life force. Taking it away from some of her physical skills and putting it to use in her mind. It was why she was so brilliant. Quite literally, she could increase her brain function. Basically? She could make herself smarter.
And now she was putting that skill to use as she tried to work out a pattern in the creature’s traveling. If she could find one, she would know exactly where it would go next.
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 8, 2012 0:01:19 GMT -5
Will thought about his partner for a moment before he went back on his way. He found the room that his new partner was in and quietly walked in. He saw the photos and other information from the file spread out neatly on the table. He studied it over for a moment and a few things stuck out to him. The first thing was the map. Their target was ALL over the place. It had a very odd behavior to it. The second thing he noticed was that the cat was the size of a tiger and covered in some kind of metalic looking substance. They were after an iron tiger it seemed. The third thing he noticed, was that the cat had some familiar looking scars on the parts of it's body that could be seen. He studied it all for a moment while his partner stayed quiet in thought. His eyes were glued on it until a mental bell went off, which meant he figured something out.
" The cat's home is around this area." Will said as he pointed to a seemingly random part of the map. " Good thing too. It is nice and isolated, plus most of those buildings are scheduled to be taken down soon. We won't need to worry about involving people or property damage all that much."
Will continued to look at the picture of the cat for a moment longer. He didn't like the idea he had about were the cat came from. He thought about it for a moment before second mental bell went off.
" You shot your last partner for betraying SHIELD didn't you?" Will asked suddenly without looking away from the photos and map. " You did say you would kill me if I betrayed you, you lack a partner, and your on suspension right now for something that happened between you and your last partner. Did I hit my mark or am I wrong?"
Will wasn't sure what kind of reply he might get from her, but he figured it was best to get this question out of the way before they started to mission. Better to clear things up now then later is what he thought.
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Post by briar on Apr 8, 2012 0:28:09 GMT -5
Briar-Rose felt the smart ass approaching. But she didn’t say, or even act like she was aware of his presence. Her eyes never opened. Her breathing never changed. It wasn’t until several moments passed that he spoke, already making a deduction she’d made minutes ago. She didn’t even open her eyes to see where he pointed. She knew. ”I already knew that.”
Finally her eyes opened. Her heartbeat returned to normal, her life force returned to its regular flow. She couldn’t hold that state any longer, but she’d already learned what she needed to. Standing up, she grabbed a red marker… And started to draw out a path, what she figured to be the creature’s route for that day. Even writing down estimated times. This sort of feat wasn’t impossible in SHIELD, but it was something only the most logical thinkers could figure out. To get in your foe’s head, and then use it to your advantage. If you couldn’t manipulate them to do what you wanted, then you predicted where they would go. ”It’s won’t stay in the area for long. We only have openings here, here, and here-“ She circled three points on the map. ”To get it with less chance of civ’s getting in the way.”
He might notice that she never considered the creature’s home. That was the stupidest mistake a person could make, going into the prey’s turf. ”Since you didn’t go to training, let me explain something. Unless you don’t have a choice, never confront an enemy in their territory. They have a natural advantage there. But it’ll also know we’re there. We’d leave a scent. You want to confront it in an area where it’s more likely to ignore a human’s smell.”
She replaced the cap on the marker and sat back down, waiting to see what else he might figure out about their prey. Almost like she was testing him. When he changed topics though, she merely blinked. ”Shot? You mean killed.” She didn’t seem at all heartbroken about it. ”She knew too much, and betrayed us. You don’t leave an agent alive who isn’t willing to keep our secrets. She was a security threat.”
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 8, 2012 0:40:43 GMT -5
Will looked at the marks she made and listened to what she had to say to him. She was talking about training, which was pointless to him. He had watch plenty of agents follow training protocol and not do a job as well as it could have been done. He was also aware though how hard it was to take a fight to the enemy, but he had his own reasons for wanting to head to the cats home rather than ambush it. He could tell from the sound of his new partners voice that she didn't have any regrets about what happened with her last partner. He knew that it was the call that anyone would have ended up making before the end, so he didn't dwell it long. He looked at marks his new partner made for a moment before he took in a deep breath and then looked over at his new partner.
" I think we should go after the cat at it's home. There is a good chance that we will be able to figure out where this cat came from more." Will said with a smile. " Our mission might be to capture the cat, but that doesn't mean we can't take it a step farther."
Will waited to see what she would say for a moment before he added, " Well enough about work and the mission! How about we get to know each other some before we run off into danger? My name is Will. What is your name?"
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Post by briar on Apr 8, 2012 23:51:14 GMT -5
Training was not pointless. As much as he thought it was. It wasn’t just about physical training. A good soldier wasn’t just trigger happy after all. And, it really irritated Briar-Rose that they’d let him through without it. Hell, if it was all about brute strength, this young woman would have tested out!
”….” She gave him an almost diplomatic stare when he tried to argue his case. After a few moments, she sighed, planting her hands on her hips as she continued to stare at him. With that same. Exact. Look. ”If you want to get yourself killed trying to catch it in it’s territory, go ahead. I’m not that stupid. Animals are at their most dangerous when they are defending their territory. And it won’t stop until you’re dead, or it is.” She paused for only a moment. ”Look. If we go into it’s territory, it’ll know we are there, before even seeing or hearing us. It’ll smell us. And people don’t go near it’s home. Kind of lose the element of surprise there. At least at the spots I marked our scent won’t be to out of place. We won’t have to worry about it charging us at full speed.”
When he changed subjects so suddenly though, she just crossed her arms across her chest, her mask never slipping. ”No.” Was all she said as she sat back down in the chair, folding her legs under her and closing her eyes, once again, meditating. ”If you survive, I might give you my name. Until then, it’s just Fox-face.”
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Post by William Thorn on Apr 9, 2012 0:09:32 GMT -5
Will could tell that this woman didn't like him and he wasn't worth anything as far as she was concerned. Most of the agents here thought that way about him even though they had never done a single mission with him. Very few outside of the doctors, the captain, the higher ups, and his last partner even were aware of why he was known as Agent Tesla. They all saw him as a joke of an agent who didn't even have any training. He didn't have any that was true, but it wasn't for whatever reasons everyone else might think. He just didn't need any training since he already knew most of what they would teach him already. He wasn't sure why he knew how to do any of it, but he just did. He didn't like how little he knew about his past, but that wasn't important at the moment. He could tell his partner wanted everything to go HER way and she wasn't about to cooperate with him at all. Well that was fine by him. If she wanted to do everything her way and to do things on her own, that was fine by him. He just looked at her after she refused to even tell him a little about herself.
" Then why don't we split up and work on fronts? I will check out it's home while you handle trying to catch it outside it's territory? This way I won't 'slow you down'." Will said to her in neutral tone of voice. " You already have your self convinced I'm not needed and I can tell that you already planned on saying you couldn't work with me after a few missions, so what will the chance of getting rid of me early hurt? Does this sound good to you?"
Will would normally work with her, but he couldn't pass up finding out where this cat came from. He didn't like the idea he had on who was behind it, but he wouldn't know if he was right until he had seen the thing's home.
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