The Ai, the Thief and Recovery

[depthlesslock]

Who: Agent Washington (Native), Agent York (Native) and Sigma Ai
What: First meet, coffee and trickery
Where: The Green Fairy
When: Midday
Warnings: Tricks and lies and the possible exposure of both

York is well aware of his habit of being late for things, so he sets in his mind that he's meeting Sigma and Wash at ten to twelve and is rather pleased when he makes it there at five to. He's the first one there so he leans back against the wall and waits for his friend and boyfriend to show up.

This is going to be fun. Ever since Sigma agreed to the facade, he's been grinning every time he thinks about it. That's going to have to stop. If they're going to fool Wash, Sigma's not the only who's going to have to pretend. Fortunately, being caring and protective over him isn't going to be hard to do. It's keeping a straight face that will be the hard part, but he'll give it his best shot.

Comments

[depthlesslock]

Focus, right. Worry about Sigma later. He shoots another few times and then he's out of bullets. The next thug to get too close gets pistols whipped in the helmet. It doesn't take him down and York quickly engages in hand to hand, where it's clear the thug hasn't had much training. York takes him down quickly and knocks him out with a kick to the head.

'I'll take this,' he says, taking up the fallen merc's weapon and tuning it on the guy's companions. He swears when two bullets clip Wash and quickly takes out the aggressor. They can do this. The two of them can do this.

A bullet pings off his helmet and he ducks into the indent leading to an airlock, then peeks out and shoots at the asshole, one of the bullets catching her in the hip.

[soldierinblack]

Tex kicks the weapon away from the mercenary on the ground before approaching the package to snatch it up. Her eyes never leave the other woman as she tucks her prize under her arm and keeps her gun trained on the fallen woman should she try anything.

Situation taken care of, she opens a comm channel with the other two. She hasn't heard anything alarming from them and they're still marked on her motion trackers, but better to check in than dash off and be labeled the villain.

"I need to get this package back to the client. Got things covered over there?"

[ambitious_muse]

The mercenaries scramble once they realize the package is gone. Inside the cafe, Sigma peeks toward the door, though not enough to see anyone.

[searchandrecovery]

"We're golden, Tex. You do what you need to do." Wash turns to face York, surveying the damage as he does so. That's a lot of cleanup to do.

"So. What are you gonna do about Sigma?"

[depthlesslock]

'Yep, we're all good,' York agrees, watching the remaining thugs run. He doesn't go after them and neither does Wash. They've got enough to handle here without making things worse.

...Sigma.

York sighs heavily and wishes he didn't have his helmet on so he could run his hand through his hair.

'I... I'll need to talk to him.' This is likely going to go badly.

[ambitious_muse]

The gunshots have quieted. Sigma sits back on his haunches and listens, just to be sure. This is a mess enough already without him getting knifed again.

[searchandrecovery]

"Yeah. Hate to say it, but, uh, I think the jig is up." Wash gives York a little pat on the back. "Do you want me to come in there with you or do you wanna go at it alone?" He's going to apologize to Sigma anyway, even if York doesn't want him there right now, but he'll talk to Sigma with York if that's what his friend needs.

[depthlesslock]

'Really? I was thinking I could pass this off as a flash mob.' He shakes his head and is silently grateful for Wash's reassuring pat. 'You can come in initially if you want, if only to help me tell everyone that it's safe to come out. But I'll need to talk to Sigma alone. Probably.'

[ambitious_muse]

York and his friend are coming back toward the airlock. Sigma gives an exasperated sigh. He should have slipped out while he had a chance. It would serve York right.

Instead, he gets to tell York exactly how much he knows.

[searchandrecovery]

Once inside the cafe, Wash gives Sigma a little nod of apology before addressing the rest of the customers.

"Sorry about that, guys. But it's all clear now. Anybody who's especially freaked out gets a cup of coffee on me."

[depthlesslock]

York holsters his gun before re-entering the cafe. Some of the customers run past as soon as Wash gives the all clear, others are still cowering, unsure if it really is safe or not. Some of them even look scared of him and Wash. Well, they did just fight off about fifteen thugs outside the window.

Then there's Sigma who York can't look at and can't look away from all at once.

[ambitious_muse]

Sigma sits at their table with his arms folded. He ignores Wash's apologetic nod, pointedly not looking at him and especially not at York. Though he hasn't removed his helmet--he might have to make a quick escape--he has depolarized the visor so York can see him glaring pointedly at one of the empty chairs.

[searchandrecovery]

Oh, shit. Sigma's pissed. He has every right to be, of course, but Wash still wishes he wasn't. This is gonna make things a lot harder, especially for York.

His job is to calm down the customers, though. York probably doesn't want him fucking up the Sigma situation more than it has to be. "I'm serious. Everything's cool. You'll be, y'know, compensated for any injuries or damage or whatever." He's looking at Sigma when he says this; its applicable to Sigma too.

[depthlesslock]

Wash seems to have the crowd under control. Most of them are out from under the tables now. He nudges Wash. 'I'm gonna...' He finishes with a vague gesture that's cross between taking Sigma in and "you know".

He leaves his friend's side and makes his way over to Sigma, taking his helmet off and putting it under the table when he sits down. He gets why Sigma's kept his on, so he's trying to show that if Sigma runs, York won't chase him.

[ambitious_muse]

"You know, I seem to encounter a lot of mercenaries as of late," he says, his voice sharp. "Maybe I should count myself lucky not to be hurt this time."

Oh, but he is. The pain gnaws at his insides, acidic heat around his heart, and it intensifies when he catches York looking at him.

[depthlesslock]

Fuck, he's pissed. York knew he would be, but he can also hear the hurt in Sigma's tone and that just makes him feel even worse.

'Yeah, I don't know why we're all suddenly meeting each other at different times.' It certainly is strange, the Ais getting caught up knowingly or unknowingly with the Fore Hires.

[ambitious_muse]

"You seemed to know some of these ones pretty well. Including your friend." He finally meets York's look. "When were you going to tell me?"

[depthlesslock]

He's compared Sigma's eyes to fire before, but now he feels like he really could be burned by that gaze. 'I'm not sure. I was thinking after your finals.'

[ambitious_muse]

"Because there's not a chance in the world that I would want to know, or accidentally figure it out?"

Why wait? It's not as if the news would have made York any more distracting than he already is.

[depthlesslock]

'Of course there was a chance, you're not stupid. And after all the drama that went down with Delta and Omega, I wasn't sure what your reaction would be.' He'd often imagined different scenarios in his head.

[ambitious_muse]

"I told you I didn't care. I admitted that I had considered the mercenary life. I gave you an opening and you didn't take it."

[depthlesslock]

'I didn't take it because I was more focused on trying to convince you away from merc life. I thought if you knew I was one, you'd have another reason to consider it.'

[ambitious_muse]

"Well congratulations. You've successfully pushed me away."

He focuses on the tabletop, the airlock, anywhere but York's face now.

[depthlesslock]

It takes everything to not flinch, but he can't stop the cold feeling that settles in the pit of his stomache. He's going to lose him.

'I didn't want to get you involved.'

[ambitious_muse]

"You didn't realize something like this was inevitable? I thought you were smarter than that."

He has to force his voice not to soften at that last part, because until now, everything has been so perfect. Until now, he has cared so deeply for the kind, intelligent man he met in the park. Now, he can't bring himself to care.