alexanderdunham

[alexanderdunham]

weapons training | henry alex

alex and henry train a bit and henry teaches him how to use a gun. 

Alex wasn't so sure what today would have in store. He hadn't known what yesterday would have in store either, so it was all kind of up in the air in that sense. Last night had been nice, but it would've been nicer without James. He knew Aaron had good intentions and was nice and all of that, but he would've had more fun with just his friends. He showed up a bit early, ready for whatever they had in store for him today.

Henry had to wonder just how well everything would go today. He knew they'd decided based on strategy who would be helping who and the plan would work. He was just curious. He'd arrived a little earlier than usual and spent the morning searching the files for Denebola they had created. He'd just entered the training room when he spotted Alex and jogged over to him. "Hey, you're with me again today," he greeted. "You up for that?"

Alex was a bit surprised at how different the layout seemed today as compared to yesterday. He nodded a bit at the question, smirking a little. "Are we going at this the way we did yesterday, because that doesn't really give us much to work with," he teased. He was okay with that, but he'd rather do something new and interesting.

Henry shook his head a bit. He kept his usual, easygoing grin in place. "Not at all," he explained. "I noticed some things yesterday I think we can work on. You're good at dodging attacks but I'm not sure you're all too good at actually fighting." He paused. "Unless you'd like to prove me wrong?" he suggested. He figured this was a pretty good way to start things off.

Alex laughed and shook his head, putting his hands up in surrender. "Absolutely not. That's exactly why I dodged attacks instead of launching them," he said honestly, smiling at him. "Do I really need to know how to fight, though?" he asked curiously. He wasn't against it, per se, it just didn't really seem all that necessary.

Henry grinned a bit. "I figured. Dodging does come in handy," he told him. It was probably more effective with the power Alex had. "It's a good skill to have. You never know what will happen in the actual fight. You were able to restrain me with something that limited my powers. What if something limited yours?" he asked him. He thought it was important that everyone at least had a basic skill in fighting.

Alex hummed a little when he explained it. Yeah, that made sense. If they had technology that held back powers, others could, too. "Okay, you have my attention," he said honestly. "I'm not exactly the most muscular person that ever was though," he said as a bit of a warning. He would need a lot of strength training to be any kind of fighter, really.

Henry liked that Alex seemed to be up for anything. He might be the easiest person to work with out of all the new recruits. He almost felt a bit bad for assigning him to himself for two days in a row. "That's alright. You'll strengthen them. You can also spend some time with the gym equipment if you want," he offered. It had been a while since he'd taught anyone to fight. "Let's start you off with a fighting stance. Bend your knees a little, this foot forward. Arms up like this, bend your wrists a bit and keep your elbows in." He demonstrated it for him as he spoke.

Alex didn't actually want to spend time in the gym, but maybe he'd find he really had to. It was too soon to tell. He watched, trying to mirror him as he did. "Okay. How's this?" he asked, glancing at him as he held his position. He felt like he was holding the same stance that Henry was holding, but then again, he didn't know anything about any of this, really.

Henry looked at how Alex had positioned himself. He learned quickly, he realized. "Perfect. You've got it," he told him. "Now I want you to throw a punch with your right hand. Just a quick jab, like this." He demonstrated what he wanted Alex to do. "And then follow it with a jab from the left, then curve your momentum on the third punch to make it a right hook. See?" He went through the series of hits twice before looking at him again.

Alex frowned a bit as Henry went on. It had certainly gotten more complicated. He felt like he could run through the motions, but that didn't really mean he'd have them mastered quite the way Henry wanted him to. "I'll give it a shot," he said honestly, punching out into the air. He curved the last one a bit, then turned to look at him. "Did that accomplish what you were going for?"

Henry watched Alex for a moment. He was understanding the basics fairly well. That was a fantastic start. "Exactly. I just wanted to see how you move. Let's go head over to the punching bags. I'm going to have you practice there for a bit until you get the hang of it and then we'll move onto something a little more... realistic," he decided. This was the safest way to teach, he thought. He led the way to the punching bags and moved to hold one steady. "Try a few hits here. Alternate between jabs and hooks for now."

Alex felt like this was a waste of time. Why did he need to know how to do all of this? He could freeze time. Would it ever be necessary? And would punching alone do it? He didn't really know, but he wasn't gonna argue it just yet. "Okay, I'll give it my best," he said. He walked over to the punching bags with him, just sort of going for it. He didn't know exactly what he was supposed to do, so he just did what felt as close to natural as possible.

Henry hoped the rest of the team was having a good amount of success with their assignments. This was a skill they all had to learn. It'd be essential in the fight to come. He studied Alex's movements, trying to figure out what to show him next. "Okay, how about we move on to you taking some swings at me. I'll dodge them but feel free to give me your full power when you throw a punch. I don't mind getting hit."

Alex stopped what he was doing, giving Henry a look. He didn't think he could exactly hurt Henry, but he still didn't care for the idea. It felt scary, trying to hit someone he didn't want to hurt. What if he accidentally hurt him anyway? He nodded a little, letting out a soft sigh. "Yeah, okay," he said. He turned, going in to hit Henry's side.

Henry simply smiled at the look Alex gave him. He wasn't worried. He was pretty sure the guy wouldn't get a hit in on him and even if he did, it probably wouldn't hurt much. He dodged the hit easily, striking out with his hand to block it. "Not bad. You learn quick," he grinned. "Keep 'em coming," he encouraged. "I'll correct your form as we go."

Alex didn't really feel like this was effective. He was sure that Henry knew what he was doing, but he felt like there was no point in this. He nodded, continuing to punch towards him and still getting blocked. He stopped, taking a deep breath. "What's the goal here?" he asked, starting to feel like this was a little silly. Why would he ever need this?

Henry straightened up when Alex stopped. "The goal is for you to learn how to think on your feet. You were able to diminish my power with a restraint. You never know what you're up against. What are you going to do if you're caught on the field and can't freeze time?" he asked him. "You're smart but I don't think you're as clever as you think you are. You need to know how to fight without using your power."

Alex made a face as he listened. He just felt like he'd always have a weapon or something on him. And he didn't really think he'd ever be alone alone. But he understood what Henry was saying. He let out a little sigh and shrugged. "Die," he said, a bit flat. He didn't think he was that clever when it came to this. He just felt like he could stay out of harm's way. "What about a weapon? Won't I have something to at least like hit people with?"

Henry nearly laughed at the tone Alex had taken on. He tried to suppress his grin but he simply couldn't. "Bit dramatic but yes, that's a possibility." He thought for a moment, studying him. "Yeah. I've been thinking about incorporating weapons training. I think you can handle it," he decided. He waved for him to follow. "Let's go see what you're good at using."

Alex smiled when Henry did, amused by his reaction. "I mean, is it though?" he said with a small laugh. He was relieved that he agreed that weapons were a good idea. He just felt like he wasn't getting anywhere, really. "Oh, cool," he said simply. He followed him, shrugging a little. "I've only ever used a paint gun. I don't know that I'll be good at anything, really."

Henry shrugged slightly. "Probably not. Don't worry, though. I won't let you die without a fight," he told him. He smiled at him again. "Well, a paint gun is at least something. You at least know how to aim then, yeah?" he asked. He led him down the hallway to a separate room. "We can do a bit of firing practice if you want to or we can work with a different type of weapon. One you can at least hit people with," he quoted back to him with a grin.

Alex didn't really think it was all that dramatic. "Good to know," he said with a small smile. He made a face, squinting his eyes a bit and pursing his lips. "I guess you could say that," he said with a small shrug. He laughed a bit and shrugged. "How about we start with the firing practice and try the hitting people later?" he suggested with a smile. This wasn't so bad. It was kind of really fun. Who didn't want to do this stuff? Now if he could just make money.

Henry figured that was at least a start. Perhaps they should have been incorporating weapons training with everyone today but at least he'd get Alex started on it now. "Sure, that works for me," he agreed. He walked farther into the room, flipping on another light switch to illuminate the targets. He walked to a door and punched in the code. "Okay, come on in here and we'll pick out your weapon. You want to try something small to start or do you want to dive in with a big gun?" he wondered.

Alex followed him, taking in everything as they passed it. So many weapons and targets. It was fascinating. There was so much ability in this room alone. He wondered just how many people they had trained here and if they all had powers or if some just learned good skills. "I'll go with something small. I feel like that's more my style," he said, though truthfully, he didn't really know what was his style when it came to guns.

Henry nodded to himself. It made sense. "Something smaller will be easier to transport. Though with your teleportation skills I doubt that means much to you," he chuckled. He walked a few more steps before stopping. He chose a .45 pistol and let the system scan him in so he could access it. "I'll teach you how to assemble this and take it apart later," he explained as he put it together. He grabbed some ammo and led Alex back out of the weapons closet. He stopped at the firing range and loaded the gun. "There's both eye and hearing protection in there," he nodded towards the small cabinet. "You're going to need both."

Alex shrugged a bit. He thought it'd be nice to have something always available. "Well, sure, but I'd rather have it on me at all times just in case," he said honestly. He nodded a bit. This was all new to him, really. He followed him over to the firing range, nodding again as he listened and took in his surroundings. "Okay," he said. He grabbed them, getting them situated on himself. "Now what?"

Henry thought that was smart. "You'll always be able to protect yourself that way. Even if you're just freezing time to shoot," he grinned. He grabbed his own protection and then held the gun up like he was going to shoot it at a target. "This is how you'll hold it," he demonstrated. He thumbed off the safety and handed it over to Alex. "Aim at that target right there. Shoot for the head."

Alex agreed with that concept, which was why he wanted to have it around always. Having to freeze time to go get a bazooka would still be rather frustrating. He paid close attention as Henry demonstrated, nodding a little. He took the gun, letting out a short breath of air as he focused. He frowned, glancing at Henry. "I'm shooting to kill?" he asked, not thrilled with that.

Henry was a bit surprised by that question. What did he expect to do with the henchmen that Denebola brought. "It's more of a training you to aim exercise," he explained. "But yeah, I imagined you would be. If you're not comfortable with that then shoot to incapacitate. You don't want them getting up and getting their hands on you. For now, yeah aim for the head as it's a smaller target."

Alex thought that made sense, and that did, too, but he didn't like it. He figured there was a pretty good chance that, once faced with the people that wanted to kill or enslave him, he'd have an easier time shooting to kill, but it wasn't his favorite idea. He let out another breath, feeling a bit more tense, but nodded. "Alright," he said a bit reluctantly. He tried to focus as best he could, aiming the gun and shooting it. He was a bit surprised by how it actually felt, but straightened up to shoot again. His first shot wasn't great, but he felt like his second one would be.

Henry stood back a bit as Alex aimed at the target. He wasn't really sure what to expect from him. He had the potential to be pretty damn good at shooting. Even if he wasn't totally sold on the idea. He sharpened his eyesight like that of a hawk and focused on the target. The first shot had missed but at least the second had landed. "Empty the clip," he instructed. He wanted to see how many he could land.

Alex still didn't love this, but he was going to do it. If this would help him protect himself and his friends, he'd do it. Maybe eventually he could figure out how to do things more his way, but until that time, he'd have to stick with this. His mind was reeling with ideas. Maybe he could create little discs that would drain people of their powers. Maybe he could find other ways to make sure people weren't causing problems for him without killing them. He focused, shooting until he ran out of ammo.

Henry watched as Alex unloaded the clip into the target. He wasn't bad. "Looks like the paint gun paid off," he told him. He hit a button to bring the target forward and stepped closer to study it. "You started off shaky but you landed a bunch of hits in the head. Pretty impressive for a first timer," he grinned. "Want to try another or should we move you on to the moving targets already?" he wondered.

Alex smiled a little, but he didn't really feel proud. He didn't want to kill. "Looks like it," he said, taking off the glasses. "Thanks," he said, smiling softly again. He thought he liked this weapon pretty solidly, so he didn't know why he'd switch to something else. "Uh, let's go for the moving targets, I guess. I like this gun, so I'm good with it if that's okay with you."

Henry could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with this. "Listen, Alex, I'm teaching you this for a worst case scenario. Chances are you won't have to use this gun at all. It's more for my peace of mind than anything else." He nodded for him to follow him to the next set of targets. "Here's your new clip." He handed it over. "I'll turn on the targets. Just do your best." He flipped the switch to start the targets moving.

Alex felt a bit more relaxed knowing that the plan wasn't for him to shoot people. He didn't want to, so it was a bit of a relief. "I understand," he said. "Did you wanna show me how to replace it?" he asked curiously, not sure if he was supposed to do it himself or just let Henry do it. He nodded a bit once he was all set, holding the gun up and doing his best to aim and actually hit the targets.

Henry nodded a bit. He loaded the gun easily, showing Alex the steps, and then unloaded it. "Here you go. Try it." Once everything was set up again, he turned his attention back to the targets. He was doing fairly well, Henry thought. Once the other male had finished the clip, he walked towards the targets to examine them. "Hm. Yeah, great job. You've got skill," he grinned. "Nice work."

Alex felt like he could manage that, so he took the gun back and gave it a try. He think he did it right, and Henry gave him the go ahead, so he figured he must have. He was glad that he'd done well, because maybe then he wouldn't have to do this too much more. "Cool, thanks. I'm glad. Do we wanna train with this a lot more, or are we done for today?" he asked curiously.

Henry shook his head a bit. "No. I think you're good. I think I'm finished with you for now," he admitted. "You made a lot of great progress today. You should be proud of yourself," he smiled kindly. "Thank you for being so cooperative. I'll take this gun back for now." He gently plucked it from Alex's hands. "And you're all set. You'll be with Leila next. I'm sure she has something to teach you."

Alex was relieved to be done for today. He'd had a pretty good time and felt like he'd learned a lot, but he was ready to go eat something and take a nap. "Thanks. I feel like I'm learning a lot," he admitted. He smiled again and nodded. "Of course. Yeah, you can take that," he laughed a little. "Thanks. I'm sure it'll be great. Have a good evening, Henry," he said before he left.

Henry smiled. Alex was easygoing and a team player. He'd be lucky to be paired up with him today. He hoped the rest of the team had had easy days like his. "You are. You're doing great." He started to take the gun apart as Alex got ready to go. "Yeah, you too, Alex," he grinned. He hoped Gen and Sam were still around. It'd be good to get updates from them.

[alexanderdunham]

going for burgers | aaron autumn alex james

after practicing their powers on each other, aaron, autumn and alex decide to go get food. and aaron decides to invite james.

Aaron shrugged slightly. He hadn't but he wasn't so sure they'd mind. If anything, it'd keep them from asking him too many questions. "They're nice people. They won't say no," he promised. It'd probably be good for them to get to know the rest of the team anyway. If they had to fight together they had to trust each other, right? Otherwise what reason did they have to have each other's backs? "Come on," he said, nodding towards the door and walking out. "I invited James to hang out. Who wants to eat?" he asked.

Autumn grinned and slapped her hand against his. "Hell yeah. And we didn't even have to fight," she laughed. She hoped Aaron would talk to them. If not tonight then soon. There had to be a lot going on in his head. "Yeah," she sighed. "I mean, I could bring it up and make him talk but... that doesn't seem right," she admitted. Everything just felt off. "I think we'll just have to wait it out."

James thought he was a bit mad, but he was down. If nothing else, he might get a bit of a rouse out of Autumn, which he would find thoroughly enjoyable. "Alright, I'm game," he decided. He followed him out, finding the other two easily. "Do you guys have cars or do you just walk or what?" he asked curiously. He didn't have a car himself, as he tried to keep his luggage light from place to place.

Alexander grinned when she high fived him. They were secretly the best of them all and no one even would've guessed. "No, no, don't use your powers on him," he laughed a little. "He'll bring it up if he wants to. His secrets were just revealed, too. We'll give him time," he decided. He looked up when Aaron joined them, raising an eyebrow at his inviting James. "Sure, why not I guess. Yeah, I'm starved. What are we getting?"

Autumn wouldn't do that to Aaron. It'd feel wrong. She hadn't even been thrilled about using it earlier. "Yeah. It was a hard day for him," she agreed. He'd had the worst one, she thought, which was unexpected. She turned to look at Aaron with a smile that slipped a bit when she saw James. What was the point of this? Wasn't it just supposed to be the three of them? "I don't care, I just want fries," she sighed finally.

Aaron was glad that he'd agreed. This would be nice, he thought. He was curious to know more about James, anyway. "Rad," he smiled. He noticed the looks his friends gave him but he chose to ignore them for now. "Oh, well, I brought my car. We can take it," he shrugged. He looked between the members of the group before nodding. "Okay, that narrows our choices down to anywhere. Let's just head out and see what we find."

Alexander laughed a bit, shaking his head. "You always want fries," he teased. "Shotgun," he said, raising his hand in the air and jumping a little. He realized he could just teleport them places probably, but this was more fun. "If we're going with fries, we should either get burgers at that one place where they're a dollar on Wednesdays, or we should go to that gyro place that also has fries," he said.

James wondered how long these three had been friends. They had an interesting dynamic. Despite Autumn's subtle annoyance, they all seemed rather relaxed around each other, too. It felt like either a polyamorous relationship, or a bunch of siblings. He hadn't figured out which yet. But their comfort level with each other was unparalleled.

Autumn rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah? So?" she asked. She shot him a look when he called shotgun. Great, she'd be in the back with James. "Real descriptive. That one place or that other place," she teased. She started walking towards the elevators and hit the button. She stepped in when it arrived and hit the button again for the ground floor. "Yeah, that's fine with me," she agreed.

Aaron grinned to himself. He felt better already. Just leaving his power behind and being with his friends had eased most of the tension from his body. If only he could stop thinking about Gen, then he'd be stress free. "Alright, cool. I'm thinking burgers. I could eat a burger. They have good drink specials there. I'm thinking we could all use one of those," he offered.

Alexander shook his head again. "You're just funny," he said honestly. He shrugged, smiling at her. "You know the places I mean," he said with a small laugh. "Burgers sound good. They have good Saturday deals, you're right. I could definitely use a drink," he decided. He nudged Autumn a little. "Lighten up. Today went alright," he said quietly.

James casually relaxed Autumn and Aaron to the same level of comfort and relaxedness that Alex naturally felt. If he had to spend the night with them eating, he at least wanted them to be fun. "Do you guys go out on Saturday night regularly?" he asked curiously as he followed them into the elevator. He was interested in the way all these people connected.

Autumn shrugged. "Fries are delicious," she countered. "And I don't eat them all the time, c'mon. I am a very healthy person. Did you see my green juice?" she asked, stressing the color. She relaxed when Alex nudged her and smiled at him. "It did go alright," she agreed. This wouldn't be so bad. "Sometimes. Not always. Depends on my schedule if I can hang out," she answered James.

Aaron nodded a bit. Burgers and drinks. What a normal way to end one of the weirdest days they'd all had. "Alright, rad." He leaned against the elevator, feeling better already. He shrugged a bit. "We hang out a lot. We work together, sort of. All at the hospital," he explained. "IT, nurse, social worker," he pointed to each person as he described them. "What do you do?" he asked.

Alexander laughed when she made a big deal about the green juice. "Your green juice balances your fries then, huh?" he teased. "Aaron and I usually do, because we don't work on Saturdays. Autumn does sometimes, though," he said, elaborating on Autumn's answer. "They see all the action," he added with a small laugh.

James listened in on their banter. They were interesting. He stepped out of the elevator with them, following to where he assumed Aaron had his car. "Ah, that makes sense," he said. Of course they all did noble work. How terribly ironic. "I don't really have a job," he admitted. "I bounce around from place to place," he added.

Autumn nodded with a grin. "Uh, yeah. It sure does. What's balancing out your diet?" she teased back. She walked out with them, feeling more at ease with every step she took away from the building. "Yeah, says the guy who's probably teleporting himself on vacations when he's not hanging out with us," she joked. She found it odd that James didn't have a job. "Interesting."

Aaron started to lead the way to his car. He dug his keys from his pocket and clicked the fob. "Yeah, we're more likely to see each other. It's good to have people," he admitted. He'd spent a long time of his life having no one. "Really? Doing what?" he wondered. "Like do you just enjoy traveling?" He wondered if James was using his powers to somehow get by but he couldn't really fault him for that. He stopped at his car and opened his door before getting in.

Alexander shrugged. He didn't keep track. "I don't know. I eat alright. I exercise. What more can you ask from me?" he said with a small laugh. He made a fake offended face. "Wow, it hurts me that you think I'd take vacations secretly without rubbing it in your face," he teased. He thought it was a bit weird, but he sort of got it. Leila had said she'd known him the last time she was here, but James didn't look much older than him. "Do you not have any family or anything?"

James nodded along, shrugging a shoulder. "Doing whatever suits my fancy. Travel can be fun, but it's mostly just how I get along, really," he said honestly. He shook his head. "Anyone I cared about died a long time ago," he said honestly. "It's not a big deal though," he added. He'd been without family for a long time, and he'd stopped caring about them before they had even stopped being around.

Autumn let out a laugh and shook her head. "If you say so," she teased. She rolled her eyes at him again and grinned. "You totally would rub it in," she agreed. She didn't really understand what James was talking about if she was being honest. Everyone he cared about died? How long ago? She had so many questions. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You don't have anyone?" she wondered as she slipped into the car.

Aaron nodded a bit. He didn't really understand what he'd meant and he wasn't sure prying into it was his best move right now. "I mean, that doesn't sound half bad. Doing whatever you want," he grinned. Then again, having everyone he'd ever cared about be dead had to be pretty awful. "Well, maybe after we save the world you'll find someone to care about again," he said simply.

Alexander grinned and nodded. He loved how Aaron was being mature and ignoring them for the most part. He got into the car, sitting back and getting comfortable. "Do you not like, want to have anyone, or something?" he asked curiously. He wondered why he didn't at least have like a girlfriend or something. He was tall and handsome. He could totally have someone.

James got in the car, waving his hand at their concerns. "Oh no, it's nothing like that. You don't have to be sorry. I just don't really have people," he said with a shrug. He laughed a little. "Yeah, maybe. Or I'll just go back to doing whatever. Who knows really," he said nonchalantly. He wasn't really bothered with his own life.

Autumn still thought that sounded lonely. She couldn't imagine being alone all the time. It'd be too hard. Then again, they were all probably going to die in a month anyway. Maybe it was better not to be worried about people. That thought made her sad again and she sunk down in her seat a bit. She turned to look out the window, thoughts traveling elsewhere.

Aaron nodded slightly when James waved them off. He didn't get it personally but maybe that was the way James preferred to live his life. If it had worked for him this far, that was saying something. "Well, I'll probably just go back to social work after this. Wouldn't blame you if you went back to doing whatever makes you happy," he told James as he pulled out of Shield. "What about you, Alex? You going back to life as you know it?"

Alexander glanced over at Aaron when he asked his question. He thought for a moment and then shrugged. "Too soon to tell, really," he said honestly. He'd had more fun today than he had the entire time he'd worked at the hospital. Telling people how to make their emails work, or get their computers restarted wasn't his favorite thing. He was meant for more than that, even without his powers. If he had a job somewhere else, he'd take it.

James noticed Autumn get sad and gently pushed her emotions up a bit. He thought they were an interesting bunch. They all possessed these incredible powers and were content, for the most part, to just live these incredibly ordinary lives. There was maybe something he was missing all these years in practical isolation. Maybe he needed to change something in his life.

Autumn didn't really think that Alex would go back to his life. Why should he? He'd clearly had a fantastic time that day. "Well, if you guys decide not to come back to work you still have to be my friend," she told them. "You have to come visit and make time for me," she joked slightly. There was no way she'd stick with Shield. She didn't even want to help them now.

Aaron looked over at Alex for a moment. He could see him moving on to something bigger than his current life. He wouldn't be mad if he joined Shield. His attention went back to the road and he laughed. "Don't worry. We'll never pass up a chance to spend time with you." He was fully intending to go back to finding homes for kids with powers. He didn't want anyone else to end up the way that he had.

Alexander laughed when she told him he had to be her friend. "Don't worry. You can't get rid of me that easily," he said playfully. He'd never stop being their friend. He didn't know what he'd do. Maybe he could get them to give him a good reference to some other tech job. He'd always known he didn't want to do this forever, he just didn't know what it was he wanted to do.

James wondered why they were helping at all. Autumn and Aaron both seemed like they'd rather be anywhere else than there. Alex made sense, but the other two were hard to read. "Did they threaten or blackmail you guys, or are you helping voluntarily?" he asked. They seemed rather happy and content, he couldn't imagine they'd want to mess up their lives just to be nice.

Autumn found herself smiling at that. It made her feel better to know they'd still be in her life even when she left. She turned to James when he spoke and shook her head a bit. "I mean, I wasn't threatened. More guilt tripped than anything. Plus Gen said these two would be there," she explained. "And I couldn't live with myself if I was just sitting in my apartment while all of this was happening. Did they threaten you?"

Aaron raised an eyebrow slightly at that question. He let Autumn answer first before chiming in. "The girl I was seeing invited me over to tell me that she'd been sent to keep tabs on me. Then I found out about the threat." He tapped his hands on the wheel. "It's a hard thing to say no to. I tried but they already were looking at me. Gen knows about the kids I'm helping but she didn't file a report. I guess my way of thanking her is helping out."

Alexander hummed a little at that question. He wasn't really sure what he'd say they did. "Hm, I mean, he showed up at my house. Which was definitely weird. But again, I couldn't really say no," he said honestly. "I think it was sort of a mix of smooth talking, and guilt," he said with a shrug. He didn't actually know about the kids Aaron was helping, but he didn't question it. Maybe he didn't really want a lot of people to know about it.

James nodded a bit as they explained. Made sense, really. Guilt was a strong emotion. "You were dating one of them? Which one?" he asked curiously. "They didn't threaten me, but they did bribe me," he said with a small laugh. "And all that guilt stuff, too, I suppose," he added, though he felt guilt didn't really get to him as easily as it did others. He wondered about these kids, but not enough to ask.

Autumn wasn't really all that surprised that most of them had been guilted into this in some shape or form. She found that a little bothersome but what could she do about it? "They bribed you? You're getting something out of this?" she asked. "That's so messed up they knew exactly what to do to get us all to agree to this. "I hate knowing there's a file on me in their system." What if someone hacked in the way Alex did?

Aaron shrugged a bit. "Gen. I was seeing Gen." He let out a bit of a sigh. He still didn't know what any of this meant for the two of them. Everything was still too complicated to even process. One day everything was normal and the next? They were hurling their powers at each other as some alien threat approached the planet. "Weird situation all around," he muttered mostly to himself. He parked the car at the place they'd picked. "Let's get some food."

Alexander raised an eyebrow a bit. He was bribed. What were they using to bribe him? He didn't seem like he cared about enough to get bribed. "Clearly, they know what they're doing. Bad for us, but maybe good for if we can win," he said with a shrug. "It is really weird," he agreed with a small laugh. He got out of the car when Aaron did, shutting his door behind him.

James raised an eyebrow a bit, sort of surprised. "Ah, yes, the one you almost killed," he said lightly. "She seems to still be into you, for what it's worth," he teased. They didn't need to know the details of his arrangement. "Yeah, sort of. It's something between Leila and I, goes back a bit," he said with a shrug. He got out of the car when they did, following their lead into the restaurant.

Autumn turned to James to shoot him a look. "Nice one," she rolled her eyes. Why bring that up to throw in Aaron's face? She pushed out of the car and fell into step with Aaron. She patted his arm once before dropping her hand. This next month was really going to be difficult. She just wanted to eat her fries and go home to sleep. She had a lot to think about.

Aaron shrugged slightly but he was frowning. He hated that he'd hurt Gen. He hated that everyone had seen that happen. "Yeah, well, I don't know about that," he said finally. "A bribe from an alien doesn't sound all that promising to me," he joked. He led the way to the restaurant and held the door open for everyone to go inside ahead of him. At least he was more relaxed without his powers.

[alexanderdunham]

practice runs | all

everyone gets together and tries out their powers.

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[alexanderdunham]

banter of sorts | henry alex

henry pays alexander a visit and offers him a... job.

Alexander had finished any important work for the day and was taking some extra stuff home. He wasn't worried about getting it done, it was all easy stuff. Most was these days. He had called his favorite deli ahead of time to get some food on the way home and was stopping by to pick that up. It was only about six, so once he got the food and headed home, he'd have the rest of the night to enjoy himself. Honestly, he was thrilled.

Henry didn't typically go out on scouting missions anymore. Most of his time was committed to putting together information. He passed on the information to Gen then and she was the one to go out and find them. However with an imminent threat of the end of the world as they knew it, he was pulling overtime. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd sought someone out to recruit them but he couldn't ask Gen to gather everyone together. He studied the information Gen had given him as he approached Alexander's address. They weren't even sure of his powers but Henry was certain they'd be able to use him. He knocked on the door and waited.

Alexander only just got in when he heard a knock at his door. He wasn't really sure who would be at his door, and honestly, with it being the evening and a work night, he wasn't sure why anyone would be at his door, either. He hadn't made any noise, and he didn't think his neighbors cared enough about anything to knock on his door. He went to the door anyway, glancing at the person on the other side before deciding to open it. It was that guy who worked with Shield. He felt his stomach tie in a knot. For the moment, he'd pretend to not know a thing. He'd work from there. He opened the door and smiled. "Hi? Can I help you?"

Henry knew he needed to approach this situation carefully. He wondered if he should have asked Gen to approach Alexander since he already trusted her but they had decided on her talking to the healer. He could take over this one. "Hi there. My name is Henry McAlister." He had a feeling Alexander knew that. "Do you mind if I come in for a minute? I think you'll be interested in what I have to say." If he was going to play dumb, which Henry expected, it was better to be exceedingly polite. "It's about a job."

Alexander raised an eyebrow slightly when Henry gave him his full name. Interesting. He considered it for a moment before stepping back and opening his door wider. “We’ll see then I guess, huh?” he said lightly. He laughed a bit when Henry said he had a job for him. “People don’t normally come to your home for jobs. That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?” he said, giving him a look. “What is this really about?”

Henry felt a bit of relief when he stepped back. He entered the apartment and did a quick scan of it just in case. He didn't want to be surprised. "That may be true for most people," he said with an easygoing grin. "But this is an extraordinary circumstance and I figured you wouldn't want me showing up at work." He looked around a bit more before turning to him. "I know you know who I am," he said simply. "You're aware of what I do. I'm aware of you as well... and your friends. Shield needs your help. Not only Shield," he amended, "but the world."

Alexander found this all a bit comical. It was like a movie. If he hadn’t read some of those files himself, he wouldn’t believe any of this. “How’d you find me? I’ve done a good job keeping lowkey,” he said honestly. He wondered just how much they knew, seeing as he hadn’t really done anything he thought to give away his true powers. “And what makes you think I can be of any help?” he asked him curiously.

Henry gave him a slightly amused look. "We've been keeping tabs on you for a while now. We knew someone was hacking into our files and we tracked the movements. An agent was sent to observe a friend of yours, Aaron Kennedy, and she's been checking in on you as well. We were lucky you've been associated with him. It made our job easier." He considered him for a moment, head tilted just the slightest amount to the side. "Not just anyone has the skill set that you have. Why don't you enter the system and read up on the file about Denebola. I'll wait."

Alexander hadn’t known Aaron had powers, but he schooled his expression. They didn’t need to know that. “Lucky you, huh,” he said with a small laugh. He had an idea about who this woman was, but he wasn’t sure. He laughed again at his request. “Are you telling me to hack your system?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow. He still didn’t think he’d be much help. He froze time, teleported elsewhere, and hacked into the system. After finding the file, he read it through, then checked in on Aaron’s and Genevieve’s, too, to confirm his suspicion. He came back and unfroze time. “How do you think I can help against her?”

Henry nodded slightly. They really were lucky. Three people they could use against Denebola were all friends and coworkers. "I am, yes. I know you can do it," he smiled at him. It had been originally planned as a test but Alexander had all but confirmed his identity already. "Well, if you read her file you'll know that she plans on wiping out most of the population and enslaving the rest. We need all the help that we can get. Your skills in technology are unparalleled. We can use that to our advantage."

Alexander nodded along at that. "Yeah, I know. I already read the file. But how exactly can you use me for that? What is your plan? I hack her ship and make it malfunction before she even gets here? I don't think I'm on that level," he said honestly. He wasn't against helping, he just didn't know what exactly they wanted from him. "I want real clear expectations and limits set here."

Henry didn't know what that meant. How had he read the file? There was no way he'd hacked it before he'd even been briefed, was there? "You read it?" he asked. "There's plenty you can do. You can help us clear out civilians if need be. If you can hack our systems you can hack anything," he told him. "We can set whatever boundaries you want us to," he promised. "Joining the team for this mission doesn't come with a contract to stay on at Shield if you don't want to but we need all the help we can get to stand against Denebola."

Alexander nodded in response to the question. Of course he'd read it. He'd told him to. "What do you think I can do to help clear out civilians? And how do you suppose that we can put them or take them anywhere where they'll be safe? Do you want me to build something?" he asked curiously. "Look, I'm all for trying. I'm just saying, I may not be able to," he said honestly. He wasn't sure it'd even do any good if he could do anything. "Okay, good."

Henry wondered when he'd read it. Had he been capable of a power that they didn't know about? He wasn't sure about? "Just now? When I mentioned it?" he asked, being sure to school his expression. Did he have the time to manipulate and freeze time?"By hacking systems. If Denebola attacks at say, a hospital or an office building, you can hack in and clear the place out," he explained. "We have safe places. At least he wanted to try, "I think you can do more than you let on," he said honestly. "And we have two friends of yours helping. You might as well."

Alexander narrowed his eyes at him and nodded. "Yeah. Just now," he said. He wasn't sure how much use that would be, but he'd be down for helping. He always felt like his skills weren't being utilized at his rather boring job. Maybe this was his chance to get out of that. Maybe he just wanted to get an upper hand on them. He hadn't decided yet. "I think you don't know my full capabilities and it has nothing to do with what I let on," he said with a small grin. "Hey, I already said I'd help."

Henry realized Alexander was far stronger than they had thought. He'd clearly just stopped time and read the file. What else did they not know about him? "I think you have the ability to stop time, maybe manipulate it. Seeing as we couldn't track you to one location for a while I'm guessing that has something to with your abilities. You may be stronger than we realized," he admitted. "I can give you a card with my number on it and the date of the briefing. You can meet the rest of the team; well, the half that you don't already know, that is. We could really use someone with your abilities on our team. You'd make a powerful ally."

Alexander shrugged a shoulder. "Sort of a hard thing to prove, isn't it?" he said with an innocent smile. "It's not my fault your information isn't kept straight," he said with another shrug. He nodded a little, taking the card. "I'll consider it," he said honestly. "I'll heavily consider it," he added. He would be at the meeting, he just wasn't sure he really wanted to be on their team or be an ally of any sort. He had fun messing around with powers, but that didn't mean he wanted to use them regularly.

Henry grinned slightly. "It is hard to prove. Except you did just give yourself away. There's no way you would have read the file before I got here." He wondered just how far Alex could stretch time. It was fascinating. He'd be a strong member for their team. "That's all that we ask. Come to the briefing. I'm sure seeing a group of people all ready to fight the same fight might help you make your decision," he said lightly. He had a feeling some of the members of the team would be interesting enough to cause him to stick around.

Alexander smirked a bit, but didn't say anything for a moment. "How can you say that with such certainty?" he asked. He nodded. "I'll be there, then," he said with a smile. He still wasn't sure he'd be of much help, but he didn't exactly want someone to come and kill people and ruin the lives of those she spared. How could he deny helping, even if he couldn't help much?

Henry shrugged slightly. "I've been doing this for a long time. I know what I'm doing," he replied. He nodded slightly and turned to leave. "We appreciate any help you're willing to provide," he promised. He left Alexander's place and went to his car, calling Gen on the way to inform her that Alex had agreed.

[alexanderdunham]

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