ardxr-blog

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"What?" Ethan's brow furrowed in confusion, but he moved to draw the blinds and sat next to her as she asked, "Why do you want me to shock you?" he asked. It was an odd request to say the least, and if she hadn't made a case for herself with the intel she'd provided, he'd say she was sizing him up to take him out. Hell, part of him still thought that. He managed to keep his apprehension under the surface, thankfully. SHIELD gave him a hell of a poker face.

Shock Me Like An Electric Eel

Ri waved a hand from her place on the couch, sitting up so that she could invite him to join her. Better sitting than standing when he hit her. If he hit her, the way she wanted. He’d probably be skeptical of the idea. Ri pursed her lips. “I want you to taze me with your powers. But first, you might want to draw the curtains, as no one needs to see the show but us.”

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Ethan let out a laugh as he dropped his hand, "Believe me," he said, grinning, "I have no illusions that you give a rat's ass about me and frankly I don't care." He held his hands out to the side briefly before dropping them again, "What I care about is taking HYDRA down. If you can help, it doesn't matter what your reasons are."

Ethan walked around to the desk he claimed as his own and opened the drawer, pulling out an old looking cell phone and tossing it to Alonso, "Burner phone. I assume you know protocol for these, eh MI6? I've got a whole drawer full of these, so once you use that one, come here and get another."

Yet Another Meeting || Closed with Lilith, Alonso, and Ethan

Another silence fills the air around the three of them, and Alonso gives Lilith a quick glance before returning to his hostile stare toward Ethan. “Don’t think that any of this is for you,” the former spy replies, his voice low. “I know a bit of what HYDRA has done since they lost their grip on SHIELD, and I won’t let that happen to anyone else.” He remembers Lilith telling him about the honeypot they’d done on her to try and get her to turn herself in, and it had ended in the fugitive brutally murdering the spy and withdrawing into herself that much more.

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Ethan opened the door - Sayuri had said to let himself in - and called out, "Ri? You wanted to talk to me?" He ran his hand along the wall absent-mindedly before dropping it back to his side. He honestly didn't want to try to control everyone. That was HYDRA had tried to do with him. But they weren't going to get anywhere with anarchy. That was one thing SHIELD was good at - taking people who would never work together on their own and making them a strong team. The Avengers were proof of that. If they didn't work together, they were sitting ducks for HYDRA, and if he had to yell a bit to get that to work, then so be it.

"So what did you want to see me about?" he asked, his hands in his pockets. He did feel slightly guilty about the way he'd treated her. After all, she was just as much HYDRA's victim as he was.

Shock Me Like An Electric Eel

The flickering light outside of her room drove Sayuri to distraction, but she ignored it as she opened her door and left it unlocked behind her, figuring that Ethan would be showing up sometime soon. Her coat went onto a chair and she dropped gracelessly onto the couch, exhausted. A day spent out trying to get information and trying to cover her identity, after dealing with Lilith and Ethan - the latter whom she wanted to punch. He took control of someone who didn’t want him too. SHIELD damage, she supposed. "Please get here soon," she murmured aloud, wanting to get her little experiment over with so she could sleep.

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The air hung heavy with silence for a few seconds as Ethan kept eye contact with the man. Then, finally, he cracked a smile. "I still may not entirely trust you," he said, standing to meet Alonso, "But Lilith does, and if you truly do care about her, I trust you won't do anything to hurt her." He held out a hand, "Welcome to the team, if you're still in."

Yet Another Meeting || Closed with Lilith, Alonso, and Ethan

Alonso purses his lips the tiniest bit as the other man stares him down. “How else was I supposed to do my job properly? If I couldn’t lie, I didn’t get paid and I also ran the risk of destroying not just one country’s credibility, but several. I didn’t want to be the cause of any wars…hence the lying. Don’t jump to conclusions yet,” he pauses, sitting up straight before slipping his coat off and hanging it on the back of his chair, almost as a gesture to say he isn’t bugged or armed. “You know what—here’s the best thing I can tell you to change your mind: Betraying your little cause against HYDRA would mean betraying her——” he points at the biotic across from him, “——and I would never be able to forgive myself if I did something like that to her.” That woman is very important to him; the first real relationship he’d properly fostered with someone since a couple of other Royal Marines. Hopefully this Ethan character would lay off his past for a bit and listen to what he had to say.

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"Hating what they did to you doesn't mean that you're on our side." Ethan leaned forward and stared Alonso down, "Hell, I love what HYDRA did to me. It doesn't affect my opinion of them. HYDRA is an organization of traitors who were very good at hiding their true intentions. Tell me why I should trust you. I read the file SHIELD had on you. MI6 before you were recruited. You must be a very talented liar to be a professional spy."

Yet Another Meeting || Closed with Lilith, Alonso, and Ethan

The man nods slightly.

"While I might have agreed to joining that project in the first place, they never told me what exactly they were trying to do to me. I didn’t know what they were doing until they shoved me into a room and told me to try moving some air around. They had finished all of their treatments before I had any idea what they did to me. I have just as much reason as you or Lilith to want to take them down."

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Reblog with your (muse's) best smile!

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"Excellent. We have a plan, then. As for new identities, we're going to need to adopt them full-time when in the vicinity of anyone we don't know if we should trust. Making an alias is like SHIELD 101 so I trust we all know how to do that."

Ethan stood from the table and smiled, "I have a good feeling about this. I'll start scoping out places to set up base. When I find something, I'll call you both up."

The Meeting

"I can front the money for a warehouse," Ri put out there, the nerves bubbling underneath the surface of her skin calming. The way the two spoke, now without anger and malice, reminded her of the few good things about ARGUS. "And equipment. If it keeps us off anyone’s radar it’s worth it." Being off the radar meant that these new versions of themselves would have to be cleverly done; it also meant they might have to change appearances for a while. Ri shifted in her chair, uncomfortable with the thought. “If we’re doing fake identities for retail… are we going to make that permanent?”

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Not long after Alonso had arrived the doors swung open once again and Ethan walked in, shedding his trenchcoat and baseball cap, shaking the headwear to dry it a bit. He made his way over to where the other two ex-agents sat and pulled up his own chair.

"So," he started, nodding to both Alonso and Lilith, "I've been told you want to join our cause. That's great and I think you'd be valuable, but there is the little problem of half our organization turning out to be super-nazis so I'm a little fuzzy on who I can trust right now."

Yet Another Meeting || Closed with Lilith, Alonso, and Ethan

The door swings open and Alonso enters the warehouse, the collar on his coat turned up to help obscure his face. He quickly shuts it before turning to flash a smile at Lilith. His hair is wet with rain as he takes a seat in the plastic chair set up across from the biotic.

"I must be early." Alonso laces his fingers together in his lap, grinning at the woman across from him. Hopefully this would all go smoothly. He liked avoiding conflict as much as humanly—or in this case, mutantly—possible.

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"Good. Do it. As for me, I've still got files on almost every agent that was in the ARGUS program, save for a few that erased them before I could get to them. I'll work on tracking down more agents and maybe see if I can procure one of SHIELD's lie detection machines. I've still got a few connections outside SHIELD. People who my team helped. I'll call in a few favours and see if we can't get some equipment." He leaned back in his chair, his expression brightening somewhat. This was starting to come together. They had a long way to go, of course, but it was a start.

"We'll also need some sort of base of operations of course. There's my apartment, but that place is way too small for any sort of operation. I'll see what I can get in terms of making us able to function at full capacity."

The Meeting

Ri pursed her lips, nose wrinkling in thought. An old friend, an agent who’d been captured, tried to locate the bases and ended up setting off a tracker on himself. Play along, Sayuri, just play along. “All of our faces are on their target, so infiltration is out, unless we bring in someone else to do it. Someone that never worked for them and may have possibly stayed under their radar.” She paused, thinking on recon-work. If Ethan read up on her files, then he had to know she worked foreign more than not. There might be a couple contacts she could blackmail into assistance. “I have a couple contacts from an old mission I could reach out to. Their silence is guaranteed with the dirt I have on them. They could get in and help level the field.”

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Ethan opened his eyes and sat up straight again. Holy shit, that had actually worked. Well, at least well enough that they weren't going to kill each other. "Well, for now we concentrate on finding other ARGUS subjects. If they're on our side, they're powerful allies, and if they aren't...well, three mutants against one is a much more favourable matchup than if they start singling us out."

He crossed his arms, looking at the two of them, "HYDRA's been toying with us ever since we ran. It's time we started fighting back. Lilith, you were in the espionage sector, right? How would you feel about getting back into your old trade? We need someone to get information on HYDRA; agents, bases, how they plan to capture us, anything you can get your hands on. I can try to find you some leads to go off of. Sayuri, if I read right, you were reconnaissance for SHIELD, think you're up to doing some recon for us? 

The Meeting

He really ought to have led with that. The annoyance prickling the back of her mind abated some, replaced with a plan. Right now, getting out and away from these two would be ill-advised; if she could be patience, Ri’d have a better chance of escaping without a fight, and perhaps with some new information. So, for now, compliance with the wishes of the other two ex-agents, the ones who suffered so greatly, Ri added, the thought laced with an edge of sarcasm.  "Our CO doesn’t leave room for dissent, it seems," she added in a light tone. Ri relaxed into the chair and crossed her legs, settling in for what she assumed would be a plan. "If this is our mission now, what’s the first step?"

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"Enough!" Ethan said as loud as he could without drawing too much attention, "I swear to God that if you two don't start playing nice I will knock you both the fuck out and tie you up until you get along because I, for one, do not want to be found by HYDRA. Lilith, stop being so fucking paranoid for one second and actually consider the possibility that maybe someone in this world isn't out to get you. Sayuri," he said, his head turning to face her, "Try to understand that we have been through Hell for the last couple months and might have a few trust issues what with people that we depended on turning out to be Nazis."

It was times like this he was glad he'd had the experience of leading a team of agents. He closed his eyes and massaged his temples, "We are all on the same side here and if we don't start acting like it we are all as good as dead. None of us is going to last on their own no matter how skilled we think we are. HYDRA is too big for us on our own so we need to work together. I'm not asking you two to like each other, I'm asking for you to work together. This is a mission. It's not SHIELD sanctioned, but that doesn't change the fact that we have a job to do and we are going to get it done. Do you understand me?"

The Meeting

The two shared a trust based on something uneasy, or so Sayuri assumed, sitting there and watching the interaction. It grated on her nerves like wire to listen to this violent ex-agent talk down to her; what put Ri off entirely was her lack of control and care for what damage she could do. “Humor me? I did not set this up. I do not even want this. With how unstable you are, it would be a far cry safer to deal with things on my own.” Ri took the moment to stare down Ethan, her head angling to the side. Not regret, but the choice she made to seek him out was a bad one. Ri had no desire to be back in this sort of unstable smelting pot of deceit and distrust. She knew trust in a person was a stretch, and even in ideals, and she didn’t expect anyone to invest her in. Being poised as the blame for any incident that could occur because Hydra was more clever than the three of them held no appeal, though. She smiled curtly and pushed back from the table, but did not stand. “Unless you want to be caught faster than you intended, I would power down. Malls have too much surveillance for your temper.”

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"Look, I know we're all on edge," Ethan said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the table, "But Lilith, we need allies if we're going to fight HYDRA. We aren't going to get any if we assume they're all enemies. Believe me, I'm in the same position you are but she's given us good intel, and it's not like we have an abundance of options at the moment."

Worry still nagged at the back of his mind. What if Lilith was right? What if this was all a trap ad Sayuri was working for HYDRA? He closed his eyes and forced that thought to the back of his head. If that was the case, they'd deal with it, but he couldn't afford to be paranoid right now, not if they were ever going to convince Sayuri to join them.

The Meeting

Ri’s patience ran thin underneath the scrutiny of paranoia and aggression. Tension coiled in her stomach, and she wanted to run right then and forget working with anyone else. She didn’t. Ri leaned back into her chair, clenching her hands together under the table. “You don’t strike me as the type to trust at all. Anything I tell you will be taken as a lie or a threat, won’t it?” She sighed quietly. “I did not warn Ethan about the trace on him and I just to get him caught. Myself included in the being caught bit, too, by the way. Can you trust self-preservation, if you can’t trust me?”

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Ethan stood and made for the door, "We will. We'll find a way to make HYDRA pay for what they did to us. I'll be in touch, Sayuri, and I'm glad you didn't try to kill me."

A Stranger I Used To Know (Closed RP)

"They did not make me." Sayuri rarely let any emotion govern her actions, except perhaps her consistent buzz of nerves. Not once since the Great Reveal had she taken heated sides with anyone about anything; she coasted, the medium to the extremists. When it came to her future, who she was, though… Ri drew the line there. Hydra/Shield did not make her. They trained her, altered her, brainwashed her and mutated her, but they did make her who she was. That was her choice. Realizing, though, that her abruptly cold reply would do more damage if left without further conversation, she struggled to put on a smile and fixated on her hands. “I have never been comfortable with the idea of hiding. But at least if I’m to fight them, it won’t be alone. The only thing to do know is figure out what their plan is. That is if we can, anyway.”

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"Right, introductions. Agent Psyche, this is Agent Eris," he started, trying to sound cheerful. He needed to keep tensions low. Sayuri didn't seem the type to attack first, but then again for all he knew she was a HYDRA agent and nothing she was saying or acting like was true. Still, it was Lil he was more worried about. She was constantly on edge - not that he blamed her but it could make for a mess.

"Right, so we're here because we all have one thing in common: HYDRA wants us either working with them or dead. We need to work together if we're going to protect ourselves."

The Meeting

Ri tucked her hands into the pockets of her coat as she strode through the food court, rather calm she sought out Ethan among the others. A couple cut in front of her; Ri dodged around them and saw Ethan at a table with someone else. This meeting made her nervous. Coming up to the table, she put on a smile and swallowed her nerves, eager to get this done and over with. Everything about it set her on edge. “At least we won’t be noticed here,” she said by way of greeting, taking the char furthest away from the other woman, who made Ri want to run before she had a chance to hear her speak. Intimidation is everything, she thought.

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The Meeting

Ethan sat in the mall food court, his leg bouncing in anxiety as he checked the clock for what seemed to be the hundredth time. It was almost 1 PM, which was when he'd asked Sayuri and Lilith to meet him. An empty Styrofoam plate sat on the table - hey if he was going to stop a conflict between a biotic and a woman who could manipulate gravity, he wasn't going to do it on an empty stomach.

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"Hold on..." he said, standing up and heading to his room, "I kept an old list of ARGUS subjects in case I ever came up against one working for HYDRA."

"Right let's see...There's me and you, the Tempest - your old partner, right? Le't s hope he's on our side, don't recognize any of the other names so I don't think we'll have a shot at contacting them any time soon, but there is Psyche. I know where she is, if you wanna talk to her."

Lilith smiled a bit, “I dunno. I just hope we’ll have enough time to figure that out.”

This was why she never came up with plans on her own. She missed having someone tell her exactly what she needed to do, and have someone she could rely on to help her accomplish it. Where the fuck was Alonso? Probably back in England or something working for MI6 again…Shit. Even if he was still close, he was probably both a couple hundred miles away and ready to kill if found. He was a real spy. "In the meantime we should see if we can scrounge up a few more of us.", Lilith continued, lowering her voice. She looked down at the carpet, shoving the thought of her old partner away.

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"As though we could actually run from the people who made us," Ethan said, "We can't hide from them, so we're going to need to fight eventually. I just hope eventually is still a while away." Ethan bounced his leg as he spoke. "If you really aren't HYDRA, then I hope I can count on your help if and when the hammer drops. If you're content with trying to hide, then so be it, but HYDRA won't sit around and wait if they see an opportunity to capture you."

A Stranger I Used To Know (Closed RP)

She flexed her fingers, drumming them over her palm sharply, recognizing that the tiny trickles of force were still gathering. Viciously, internally, she stopped that part of her, breaking off the connection between her ability and manifestation. “Of course it would be. Using what they made us to be is genius and inherently morally grey. That fits in perfectly with Hydra’s ideals.” Sayuri almost wished Captain American had never blown the cover of Hydra. It would have made things simpler, to just duck her head and let it pass. Ignorance is bliss, and that sort of ideal. “I suppose this means going on the run again.”