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]

That's better than outright "no" at least.

'Are you okay?' he asks, his tone more gentle as he sees Sigma shudder slightly. 'That was... violent.'

[ambitious_muse]

"Should I be?" He asks. "Can I be? Or is something else going to come up in a month that I don't know about?"

He looks York right in the eyes. Realizes he's staring right at the scar. That's not what he meant. He flinches away, which is possibly even worse.

"I can't do this now." He stands. "Enjoy coffee with your mercenary friend."

[depthlesslock]

If the knot in his gut is cold, it's nothing compared to the ice that suddenly floods his veins when Sigma flinches a second after he looks at York's blind eye. Guess it really was too much to hope that someone wouldn't care about it, especially after they guessed the cause.

'There's always going to be things you don't know, Sigma,' he points out quietly. 'And there's different reasons I don't tell you.' Safety, personal, unnecessary...

'His name is Wash.'

[ambitious_muse]

"That's not what I--"

What does York expect him to do, apologize?

"Forget it," he says. "Enjoy coffee with Wash. I have to go."

[depthlesslock]

He wasn't expecting an apology. He just wanted Sigma to know that they're not just mercenaries. Although that's probably the main word Sigma's using to mentally describe them now.

'Is this... over?' It hurts to ask, but he needs to know.

[ambitious_muse]

He could say yes, just to show how angry he is. But if he does, it's over. And beneath that raw, corrosive anger, he feels his heart break at the thought.

"I need time," he says instead.

[depthlesslock]

'Okay.' His throat closes against the word, but he gets it out.

It's not a yes. There's still a chance. A small one, but it's all he has to hold onto.

[searchandrecovery]

Everybody's all taken care of. That is, everybody but Sigma. Wash knows it wasn't his fault that the gunfight happened, but he still feels partially responsible for all this. After all, it was his idea in the first place to even do this.

He hesitantly approaches Sigma and York.

"I'm really sorry about that, Sigma."

[ambitious_muse]

"Thanks," he says. To Wash, really, but he looks back at York, this time without flinching.

[depthlesslock]

York doesn't stand, just watches the two of them and manages to meet Sigma's when he looks over.

[searchandrecovery]

Wash shifts his weight from one foot to the other, which he does when he's nervous. And he's nervous as can be right now. He's not sure what's going on between those two, but whatever it is, it doesn't look good.

"You should probably know that we're mercenaries. I mean, you've probably figured that out but. Yeah. Just wanted to be transparent about that, I guess. Also, I'm not good at martial arts, that's more of York's thing. He's better and hand to hand. The stuff about the cats was completely true, though."

[ambitious_muse]

"You really are a cat lady-in-training?" he asks, making a weak attempt at humor.

"Thank you. For your honesty."

[depthlesslock]

How badly would it go if he hugged Sigma right now? Probably very badly.

'I really am a locksmith,' he says, standing up slowly. 'Or I was. But I'm still qualified.'

[searchandrecovery]

Wash turns red at the cat lady comment. He is not a cat lady. He is a strong, trained fighting machine. Who just happens to like cats. But for the sake of smoothing things over with Sigma, Wash doesn't contradict him.

He turns to York. "If Sigma's gonna get involved in this stuff, we should probably give him my channel."

[ambitious_muse]

"So you're a thief now?" He fights to keep the accusation from his voice. It makes sense. York stole his heart over the last few weeks, which is why this hurts so much.

"I don't know how involved I want to get, but I appreciate the offer."

[depthlesslock]

'Yeah.' He can't sugarcoat it when it's the name he's been known by in the criminal world for longer than he's been York. 'It's my call-sign, actually.'

He turns to Wash. 'Don't get him too involved. Please, I'm trying to keep him out of danger here.'

[searchandrecovery]

"Believe me, that's the last thing I want to do." He turns back to Sigma again and scribbles a series of numbers on a napkin. "This is my comm channel. York's callsign is Theif, as he said, and mine's Recovery. That means that if you or your family or your friends are in trouble, you call me. I'll be there ASAP, no questions asked. That's my job." Wash cocks his head towards York. "Dating this guy has some occupational hazards, and you just lemme know if those hazards start messing with you."

[ambitious_muse]

"I noticed," he says. Frustration flares up again. This guy has given him more information in a half hour than York did their entire relationship. Still, he accepts the napkin.

"Thank you. I won't take any more of your time. Enjoy your coffee." He turns to go.

[depthlesslock]

'Take care.' He won't stop Sigma from leaving, much as he wants to. He has Wash's number now, so provided he doesn't tear it up as soon as he's out of the cafe, he's got an emergency number.

[searchandrecovery]

Wash waves. Is that the appropriate reaction? He doesn't know, but waving feels right. Somehow.

He looks at York, concerned. Hopefully this hasn't upset York too much, but knowing York, it probably has.

[ambitious_muse]

He doesn't look back until he's safely in the airlock. This is not how he wanted this date to go. But he can't go back inside.

So he looks, one last time, and has no idea what he'll do next.

[depthlesslock]

With Sigma gone, York sits down un his chair again, landing heavily and wasting no time in burying his face in his arms now folded across the table. Fuck. He's screwed up bad. And it might well cost him Sigma.

[searchandrecovery]

Wash sits next to him, unsure if he should rub York's back or tell him it's all gonna be okay or what. The thing is, he can't promise that it's all gonna be okay. Not this time. No matter how much he wants to.

"I'm sorry, man." He'll start with that.

[depthlesslock]

York nods into his arms, not trusting his voice to speak. His throat has closed up anyway. Nothing is certain yet, but it's looking pretty dark and all because he didn't tell the truth. Because he thought it would be safer to lie.

'I want to go,' he finally says quietly.

[searchandrecovery]

It might've been safer, Wash thinks, especially at first, but it wasn't necessarily better. Still, he doesn't judge York for the choices he made. If Wash was in that situation, he'd probably lie, too. There's something about it that's certainly easier.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's get out of here." Wash takes York's hand and pulls him to his feet, not really counting on York to instigate any movement on his own. The poor guy.