Part 1
[2009/04/25 17:20]Dropping into a chair, Bodi closes her eyes and begins to count back, mental prep for the night ahead, blocking any nervous tension left. The rest of the group seemed quiet too and she fingered the dogtags beneath her shirt.
Jan stretches, a bit, and looks to Bodi. "You wait here. Masha and I need to wait out front for our catchers." He reached over, and tapped on the coyote's shoulder. "C'mon, cajun. You can sleep in the kitchen."
Masha nods sleepily and follows.
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Eamon gives Mariele his hand and helps her off the ferry. Up the stairs, toward the checkpoint--closed off and different now, but their IDs are scanned and they're both waved through without incident. "Come, Liebchen," he singsongs. He starts down the street, his bags and pouches and heavy, mud-streaked coat flapping about him with every step.
Elise stays low to the ground as they come up the stairs, her hand tight in his. The ferry ride is almost long enough to get used to the backpack, but tonight it bumps against her tail some, keeping her slightly off balance. "Chocolate ...milk," she whispers when the guard waves them through.
Eamon tucks their IDs away in one of his countless pockets. His boots scrape and thump on the street, hers seem a quieter pad-pad-pad beside him. He steadies her when she sways. "Ach, ja, chocolate milk," he mutters cheerfully. "You have been sehr gut assistant today, Mariele. Prima." He rounds the corner and continues toward the Basement. "And we still have chits from last time, ja?"
Masha nods tightly and heads out front, praying for no soldiers to walk in as she's not in disguise.
Elise follows him down the stairs, this place almost familiar to her now. "Chits," she murmurs. And then a moment later, "...almonds." Her mouth quirks in a smile, knowing those wouldn't quite work as well. Her nose twitches as they come inside, scenting someone familiar.
Masha peeks around the corner and inwardly sighs as she doesn't recognize the man and woman there. She nods tightly at the pair. "We are closed, she calls out, only showing the tiniest bit of herself around the corner.
Eamon claps his hands together, ecstatic on reaching the Basement once more. A cloud of stinking dust bursts from his palms on impact. "Closed!" he says, looking indignant--or as much as can be seen behind his goggling, smoky lens. "Nein, you must not! Eine kleine cat, she wants chocolate milk. She must have, ja?" His voice is wheedling, high pitched... until he steps forward into the empty bar and lifts the goggles from his face. "I wouldn't mind a wee whiskey though, lass," he rasps, and cants Masha a wry, familiar smile.
Masha looks comically startled, amazed in truth. After a gaping pause, she grins. "I am IMPRESSED, cher," she whispers, then beckons. "Come in back, I am not disguised," and hurries into the kitchen, snagging the whiskey bottle en route.
Eamon settles the goggles on his head. He turns back toward Mariele and winks. For a moment, just a moment, it was easy to forget what the rest of the night had in store. He gently cants his head toward the back, a wordless invitation for the cat to follow, then he slides behind the bar and heads that way himself.
Elise takes the hulking backpack off once Eamon reveals himself to Masha, and sets it on the nearest table. She keeps a hand on it, though, wary to have it far from her. "Must...have...milk," she murmurs, still keeping to Mariele's speech patterns for the time being. When he moves forward, she grabs the backpack and carries it with her. She tries not to worry about the night to come, but is failing. Miserably.
Masha seats herself, and Eamon would see that she's one TIRED coyote. There's a brown cloth-wrapped bundle on the table, and she frowns. "Where is Guin?"
Jan looks up from the screens, masked gaze nodding to the good "doctor", "Shalom, there. We'll hold a couple minutes before we head back. Have a drink. Kick back."
Eamon rounds the corner, resisting the urge to reach back and take Mariele's hand. He knows she's unhappy about this--he's none to happy about it himself. His eyes linger on the masked lad on the other side of the wall, his smooth face painted in eerie lights from the bank of monitors. Then he continues past, the scent of river mud wafting in his wake. "Guin?" His eyes narrow. He glances back at the Jewish greeting, then toward Masha once more. "I thought she came over with the lot of ye?"
Guin looks up from the tiny, hand-held mirror when she hears familiar voices... she allows a small, tight smile, at the banter about milk. She sighs, looking at the folded uniform next to her. The last thing. Makeup, contacts from Rena, hair... she was as subtly not Guin as she was getting. Rising to her feet, she takes a deep breath and heads into the kitchen.
Elise sticks close to the muddy doctor. She glances at the man beside the monitors, but keeps on toward the kitchen, and Masha. Behind her goggles, her eye takes in everything. She can hear footsteps behind them and she turns, glimpsing a Guin that doesn't look quite like a Guin. She feels like they've stepped through a looking glass.
Masha frowns, and unwraps the cloth bundle revealing two small wooden darts, carved from teak. Up close she looks even more exhausted. "I guess we wil wait then?"
Guin catches Elise's eye first, and gives a small, nervous smile. She's been holed away and quiet for hours, just keeping herself calm and going over every conceivable scenario a hundred times over. She then looks to Jan, blinking for a few moments, then steps fully into the kitchen.
Eamon draws closer to Masha, his newly brown eyes reflecting a grim concern. "Ye look dead on your feet, love," he says softly. Bowing his head, he pulls off the heaviest of his pouches and sets it on the table, then one by one, begins stripping off the layers of his checkpoint disguise. He looks up as Guin enters the room. "There ye are..."
Jan nods to Guin, and then the good doctor's assistant. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to head down and check on things. Come on down, when you're ready." He walks towards the bookshelf, and, making sure that Elise and Eamon are sufficiently distracted by the other two in the kitchen, pulls a hidden catch, walking through the passage, when he blinks, his phone buzzing. He looks at the message, and then down the hall to Masha, "Cajun, somebody's coughing up blood. Think we can do this all back there?"
Masha gives Eamon a genuine smile, relaxing as always when she hears that lilt. She turns and frowns after Jan, then looks back to the trio. "Guin, cher, I need to show you how to use these."
Elise sets the backpack on the floor and gives it a little kick to wedge it under the table. She glances at Guin, giving her a smile, but it's not actually a happy expression. She figures they are all nervous about tonight in their own ways. At the masked man's words, the sound of them half familiar, the smile turns into a frown. Coughing up blood? She shudders. She looks at Masha and what she holds, biting the inside of her cheek.
Guin squares her shoulders as she enters, determined not to look defeated or even concerned--as much as she can. She smiles at Eamon's greeting, eyes flickering between him and Elise. "Everything went smoothly then? Coming over?" She gives another appreciative look to their disguises, then touches the corner of her eye. "Borrowed these from Rena," she says softly. "All I need is to put on the uniform." She hesitates, giving him a meaningful look. "She doesn't know yet." At Masha's words, she looks down at the two tiny needles, and barely suppresses a shudder. "Had to be needles, didn't it?" she says, a lame attempt at humor.
Masha speaks in a quiet voice. "I do not know what Rena has already told you, cher, but this is Coup poudre, normally a powder and the person doing the poisoning blows it quick through a small straw up into the nose of the person they want to take. But that won't work for what we need here, eh? My grandmere, she told me a way to make it into a dart but this is tricky and never been done." She gives a serious look, and she looks exhausted - she's been up all night - and worried. This stuff was dangerous. "I have the antidote for later, again thanks to my grandmere." Her skin is nearly black from the past two weeks spent in the hot Haiti sun.
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Bodi sighed deeply and stretched like a cat, enlongating every muscle in order, loosening tightness and releasing any reservation. Standing, she moved with a lithe grace to where Rena lay and touched the woman's shoulder.."Rena?"
Rena stirred slightly, eyes blinking open slowly. "S'it time?" she'd murmur without moving.
Bodi laughed softly, rubbing the other woman's arm comfortingly. "You know I am always the last to know.."
Rena's eyes fluttered closed and she coughed hard, curling into a tighter ball. She reached up to wipe the blood from her mouth before speaking. "You and me both."
Bodi dropped to her knees, the blood not going unnoticed. She pushed Rena's hair out of her face and turned it to her, fingers gentle. "Are you okay?"
Rena nodded. "I'll be fine. Just getting some rest before Masha kills me." she looked up at her and gave her a wry smile.
Bodi yanked her cell phone out of her ammo pocket and flipped it open, texting a quick message while keeping one hand on Rena's head, stroking her hair. Slipping the phone back, she watched her friend with a frown of concern.
Rena closed her eyes and sighed. "Wake me up before they come. K?"
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Jan looked back to Masha, and his voice became insistent, "Rena's coughing blood. And we need you, now." The practiced, genericized tones became suddenly harsh. "Please pick that up, and take it back with you."
Eamon glances back at that familiar voice. Aye, he'd thought as much. Generic it might be, but he'd just spent two hours a few days past listening to that voice on the other side of a confessional screen. He looks back to Masha with a frown, one that clears slightly at Guin's question. "Aye, no trouble. And green suits ye." His lips cant in a brief, humorless smile. "I'll tell her..." Turning back to Masha, he adds, "Shouldn't ye show me? Since I'll be the one doing it." He doesn't know if Masha knows that bit, but... well... surprise?
Masha turns and frowns at Jan, alarm filling her, then back to Eamon, puzzlement adding to the mix. Swiftly, she wraps the darts and stows them carefully in her pouch. "Follow me," she says, then moves to the bookcase, then with a quiet look at the pair, opening it.
Eamon glances swiftly between Elise and Guin. Clusterfuck waiting to happen. On an exhale, he picks up his bag and follows.
Guin returns his smile, then turns it on Elise as well. She tries to be reassuring, but all she can give is the promise of her own determination. She glances back, and nods. "I'll change and meet you guys down there. Make sure no one follows," she says softly, and follows them back into the office.
Masha waits until both are in place then shuts the door securely behind them.
Elise picks up her backpack, unsure if she's meant to go or not; Masha had not so much as looked at her, and she wonders if she's offended the coyote. She watches the door shut, with her on the other side and her jaw tightens.
Eamon eyes the bookcase, his thoughts on the similar hideaway in the cloister, then he ducks through and into the dark. "The tunnels?" he rasps softly. He turns back. "Where's Elise?"
Masha looks at the cat in the kitchen and beckons. "Come, cher, before someone comes in."
Masha smiles wearily and shuts the door before hurrying over to the other end. She's worried. Coughing up blood?"
Eamon reaches a hand back for Mariele and stalks after Masha, into the dark.
Guin slips into the uniform quick as she can, barely suppressing her distaste. But it's simple enough, and she in about a minute she's as ready as she is going to be. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she rises from the chair and works the latch for the bookcase again. The bar is silent and waiting behind her, and she hesitates only a moment before slipping through.
Elise steps through the hidden doorway, thinking of that in the cloister, and waits for her vision to adjust to the darkness. When a hand takes hers, she grips it and follows.
Guin needs a long moment for her own eyes to adjust to the darkness, familiar shapes looming in the black. She takes a tentative step, finding the ramp, then proceeds more confidently. She touches both Eamon and Elise's shoulders, leaning in close to whisper. "Follow me."
Bodi slid her back down the wall, butt on the cold floor and left her hand on Rena.."Yeah, I will wake you"
Jan rushed back into the Underground, and spotted Bodi, frowning as he quirked a brow, "They're coming. What the hell is going on?"
Bodi stroked Rena's hair absentmindedly, like a mother would comfort a child. Her earlier calm vanished and a curl of forboding knotted her stomach up. She heard footsteps and glanced up at Jan. She looked at him, green eyes dark with worry..."Rena is coughing up blood Jan...What is this drug gonna do to her?"
Rena stirred in her sleep, the voices not quite enough to wake her.
Bodi shushed her and patted Rena's shoulder before resuming the calming movements.
Jan shook his head. "Rena's out. We need to find someone to fill in." He walked forward, and leaned over the girl, flicking her eyes open to look into her pupils. "This is why I hate you girls, and your fucking bullshit getting into trouble." He curses. "Absolutely unreliable." He straigtens up. "Whatever." He looked to Masha, "Is she good to go, or do we need to find a new prisoner?"
Rena straightened at the words and shook her head. "Like hell."
Masha bends immediately beside Rena, ignoring Jan's tempermental words, reaching simultaneously for forehead and pulse. "Rena cher? Can you hear me?"
Rena pushed Masha's hand away. "I'm fine."
Bodi laid a hand on her arm.."Masha , she is coughing up blood"
Jan growled, "Let Masha examine you, or I'm boxing you in one of these crates until we're finished, and shipping you back to Midian. You're not getting dosed with that powder."
Masha speaks in her stern, I'm the doctor voice. "Rena cher, if you are coughing up blood, you need to be in the hospital. Your lungs are injured."
Backing out of the way, Bodi gave Masha the room to work, shooting Jan a fulminating glare. She was tired of his attitude at times....
Rena faked coughed into her hand and held it up. "No blood. I'm fine. Plan stays as is. Period."
Guin walks down the stone tunnel, their footsteps muffled, and at last pulls back a heavy, thick curtain to reveal a brighter interior, if only marginally so. Stacks of boxes, strange tools and instruments... "Voila," she says quietly, shooting them a quick, tense smile.
Eamon's long strides keep up easily with Guin, but he tries not to outpace the smaller Mariele behind him, her hand in his. Through the dark, -into- the dark. He glances sharply at Guin's back, thoughtful, wondering at what else she knows. Through the curtains, and they stop. "God in heaven..."
Bodi snorted..."Masha I saw it...really"
Masha meets Rena's eyes and her voice is fierce. "LISTEN to me. Just... listen. This stuff, it WILL kill you in this state. I have already made the darts. You cannot survive it. And I will. Not. Risk. Your life."
Elise's nose wrinkles at the new scents down here; it's so dark with her goggles, but she doesn't take them off. She holds tight to Eamon's hand and follows Guin onward, to find Rena being tended. She tilts her head, wondering what happened.
Bodi: Bodi glanced around the group.."Who takes her place?"
Jan shook his head. "Not your show." He turned back, and looked to Eamon. "You want a round-trip ticket to the LDC?"
Eamon overhears the last bit, and glances heavenward. -Thank you, God, for teaching me humility, and the penalties of acting the martyr...- "I already said I would," he rasps gruffly.
Rena rose and gave them her trademark glare. "I...am fine. Enough. We have a plan. Guin is taking me in. I know the place..." she stopped at the sound of a familiar voice and fairly barked. "NO."
Masha sends a silent prayer of thanks to Eamon's god and her own. "Rena, he knows it as well as we do," she says, and retrieves the bundle from her pouch. "Eamon, listen up for I need to show you."
Eamon moves to the nearby desk and slings down his bag. "Who's going to stop me? You?" He eyes Rena, but not without compassion, and begins peeling off the rest of his checkpoint disguise. "I already told Guin, I'm not letting ye go in there. Aye, Masha-love. Show me."
Guin is stunned into silence for a moment, the sight of Rena nearly overwhelming. She doesn't really hear the conversation going on around her, and when she finds her voice, it's a whisper. "What happened to you?" She shakes her head, trying to focus. She hears Eamon's voice, and nods. "I was going to tell you... " she finishes lamely.
Rena pretty much ignored Jan and Masha, stalking to the man....the voice. "I said no." she said it him. "I can do this." eyes locked on his, proud and defiante.
Masha sighs and waits. She's not relinquishing the poison until it's settled.
Elise's ears are already flat under her helmet; they can't get any flatter. She eyes Rena, wondering who did that to her, but doesn't ask. She holds her ground, watching the tempers begin to rise. She would look to Guin, hoping that she, if anyone, could calm Rena.
Jan removed his mask, now that they seemed to be all on a first-name basis, and spoke in his natural tones, to Masha, "Can you fix up the dart for Eamon, instead? Is it weight-sensitive?"
Eamon pulls off his goggles and tosses them into the bag. He looks up at Rena as he leans on the desk, tugging off his boots. "What happened?" he asks softly.
Guin watches as Rena stalks over to Eamon, neither of them looking like themselves in the shadows. She decides to wait... giving them the chance to speak, and turns instead to Elise. She steps close, and would rest a hand on her arm. "Are you OK?" she whispers.
Masha watches the pair, her face oddly serene. She has faith that Eamon will work this out. To Jan she says, "no, it will be fine. Let the Father and Rena speak."
Rena turned her head to look at Jan. "You work for ME. THAT can change. Stay out of this." she turned back to Eamon, startled by the question and the softness of his tone. "Someone with unfinished business." no way she was admitting to him who it was or why.
Bodi took the chance to fling the mask she wore on the desk, its confines had been a bit much. She studiously avoided looking over at Jan, keeping her face and demeanor calm.
Elise looks up at Guin, startled by the question and the gentle hand on her arm. She's about to say yes--but then she gives a little shake of her head. "No," she whispers, "but I mean to help in any way I can." She looks past Guin, at Jan, surprised to see him here, then back to Guin.
Jan nodded, and walked over to a crate, next to which he had a duffel, and set himself to the meditative act of checking his gun. Laying out a clean cloth, he methodically took it apart, laying it out carefully. Slide at the top. Then the barrel. Then the spring...
Eamon finishes pulling off his boot. He straightens then, and turns fully to look at Rena. For a moment, he says nothing, his eyes dark, his face unreadable, then something there softens and he lifts a hand to lightly grip her chin. His touch is gentle, avoiding the bruises and blood. "You're not going in there, lass," he whispers, holding her eyes. "And that's the end of it. All right. Trust me in this." His lips quirk faintly. "Ye still know how to trust me, right?"
Guin smiles--she can see the brief hesitation, and knows it well. God knew she did the same thing herself. She glances to Rena and Eamon at the question about who'd done this, more than concerned herself, but when Rena deflects she turns her attention back to Elise. "You know," she says quietly. "I will do everything in my power to make sure she gets back out, and is safe. Trust in that, at least." Her words are soft, knowing Elise's hearing was sharp regardless, but they're meant only for her.
Masha rests a hand on Jan's shoulder. She knows how important it was to him that this go lock step perfect and she's wordlessly offering reassurance.
Rena's hand rose, claws showing on fingers that tried to close around his wrist. Eyes were locked on his, unblinking. He didn't look like himself, but he was still there in the lines in his face and that voice. "Trust you." she echoed before blinking slowly. "I can do this....I swear."
Elise thinks of her talk with Eamon, and what Guin says now, and slowly nods. If he doesn't-- Oh, she can't even think it, let alone say it. "Just--" She looks up at Guin. This was all about trust, something sorely abused as of late. She covers Guin's hand with her own. "I want you both safe," she finally whispers around the lump in her throat.
Jan was silent, as he went as far as to click the bullets out of the magazine, one by one, rolling the fat little .45 cartridges in his fingers with careful fixation, holding them up to examine trace flecks on the brass casing, before resting them beside the magazine. He reached down into the bag once again, for his cigarettes, and proffered the pack to Masha. Gitanes, with all their pungent tanginess.
Eamon lets her grip his wrist; he trusts her not to use those claws on -him.- If she does, well... he'd deal with it. "I have no doubt that ye can," he rasps softly. "I'm telling ye that you're not." He pauses, then whispers, for Rena's ears alone. "You're not the only one with demons to face in that gaol, lass. I'm -asking- ye... let me put those demons to rest."
Masha's lips quirk and she takes the peace offering, lighting it with her old Zippo. Fragrent smoke tendrils into the room and she inhales deeply, exhaling a plume of aromatic blue.
Guin releases a shuddering breath at Elise's touch. Just a simple thing, but it speaks volumes, and her own hand tightens. Her throat constricts, and for a moment she can't get the words out. "Well, that's the plan," she says softly. "Such as it is. But I swear to you I will not leave him behind. That, at least, I can promise you."
Jan purses a cigarette in his mouth, and lights it with his own lighter, before closing his eyes, and reaching down for another brush, carefully cleaning and polishing the dehorned surfaces of the little, thin pistol. Smoke twining about his head, wreathing him in sepulchural smoke, as he began to reload the magazine, one casing at a time.
Bodi sighed an walked toward Jan, stopping infront of him, her eyes worried, mouth tight. She knew he was worried and laid a hand on his arm in a silent attempt at comfort
Rena continued that slow blink, then her face crumbled just a bit, the mask of anger breaking. Dammit, demanding and pushy she could fight, but not this. "I didn't betray my promise to you." she whispered for his ears alone. The claws might have grazed his skin, but they didn't cut, he was right, she wouldn't, not him.There was a brief nod of aknowledgement. "Get her out. I'll get you out." she whispered. She might not be strong enough for that damned drug, but she'd make sure they got out.
Elise nods, glad her eye is hidden behind her goggles. "Don't make us come in there after you," she tells Guin softly, trying to lighten her tone.
Masha draws again on the cigarette and waits for them to finish, ready to launch into instructions as soon as they look ready.
Eamon smiles, gentle and melancholy. "Ye saved me in there once already," he says softly. "I'm trusting ye to do it again." He withdraws from her grip on his wrist, and turns toward Masha as he begins to peel off his beard. "Right. The Juliet."
Guin is startled into a laugh, brief and nervous but welcome nonetheless. "If it comes to that, I have no hope of the LDC being left standing," she jokes, and gives her a wink. Impulsively she leans in, just a little. "Love that costume, by the way. Never had a chance to tell you before."
Masha blinks, then smiles. "I would not think of it as that gentle, cher." She walks forward, carrying the bundle.
Masha opens the bundle again and selects one of the small wooden darts., She shows it to Eamon, the thing carved from teak. "I used an old statue I had from Haiti - ugly thing." The dart is of two pieces, a sort of carved miniature syringe. The poison rests in the inner cylinder, slender, maybe 2mm in diameter at the most and narrowing to a wickedly sharp tip, and another smaller tube nestles from behind as a sort of plunger, presently held in place with wax. "You take this and you poke it in the jugular, right here--" she shows Eamon where "-- and then push this in sharp. The wax will break, cher, easy enough, but the wood won't. Do NOT touch the tip after you finish - wrap it up and then toss it in the incinerator." She lays out the second dart with the first, and wraps them both in a plain dark cloth, offering it to the priest, her coyote eyes solemn.
Eamon puts his false beard away, then he turns back to Masha, listening with sharp intent. His head cants slightly when she shows him where on the neck to press it, and he nods grimly as he opens his hand to accept the cloth. He meets her eyes for a moment, looks to Elise, and back again. "And ye can counter it? Once they get us out?"
Elise's eyebrows go up and she looks down at herself, suddenly remembering what she'd worn to get here. "Usually...it helps me not be...me," she whispers. "But tonight...I feel too much like me." She looks over at Masha, then her gaze strays to Eamon. "Can't say I care as much for yours tonight," she tells Guin, nodding toward the UAC logo.
Rena didn't move, just watched as the others began to go into motion. Trust. She wasn't good at it. She needed to learn though. To trust them all more. She began to move slowly toward Jan.
Jan felt Bodi's hand, and put down the pieces of the gun, reaching out to touch her hand, softly, before he took up the slide, holding it at eye level, examining the iron-sights carefully against the stone wall across from him. "You ready, Bodi?" Placing the slide down, he began to reassemble the weapon, carefully checking the threading on the barrel, before screwing on the long, matte-black suppressor. Holding it up again, in a professional, two-handed grip. God, he hoped he wouldn't have to shoot anybody tonight.
Masha nods. "I have the antidote, cher. You have my promise, you will be fine." Her voice is grim.
Bodi smiled wickedly "Born ready." She savored the light touch, then turned to Rena.
Guin nods at that, understanding perfectly. She raises her hand to cover the logo, wrinkling her nose. "Trust me, neither do I. I don't even want to know where it came from." She plucks at the emblem once more, then drops her hand with a sigh, catching the last of Masha's instructions. "Had to be needles," she whispers again, and shudders. "Powder, drink, nooo.... Needles." She gives Elise a twisted smile, and shifts her attention back to Eamon and Masha.
Rena stopped in front of Jan and her wounded face screwed up into what could pass for contrition. "I'm sorry." she murmued. "Sometimes...I have trouble letting go. Just...yeah. Guess you are stuck with me." it was as close as she could come to an apology and far more then most would get from her.
Eamon smiles, thin and humorless. "Good. Bring me back from the dead." He nods again, exhales, and lifts a look to Rena. "Do we have an LDC prisoner's orange? I hear they're all the rage these days."
Jan looked to Rena, after peering down the iron-sights, and making a minute adjustment to the sight, accounting for the length of the silencer. "It's well enough. Your severance deal sucks."
Masha removes another bundle, brightly wrapped this one, multiple lcoths, each of a different color and liberally covered in the signs familiar to anyone who'd seen Masha's veves. She turns to Rena and gives her a half-smile. "I will set up in the medical area upstairs, cher." She looks at the cat for a long moment. "I have some medicine that can help your cough too."
Bodi reached out, fingers gentle on the other womans forearm.."I am sorry too Rena...I just had to tell them.." She knew the mission was important but Rena's life was too.
Elise nods to Guin. "Yeah...needles." She shudders a little; they could agree on that at least. "I don't even know..." Her gaze strays past Guin, to Rena, then back again. She had no specific task here--she was being asked to trust, and that was such a hard thing now--and felt at loose ends. She swallows hard and forces a smile. "It will go fine," she whispers.
Rena shook her head, hand coving Bodi's. "No, you did right. I'm too proud sometimes. Just...don't do it again." she winked at her and then suddenly grinned as she remembered telling Jan about her 'severance packge' in the beginning. "Oh, I think we are long past me being able to implement that."
Masha grins at Rena's quip, remembering.
Eamon lifts both brows as his question goes unanswered, but he assumes someone will tell him something eventually. He turns back to the bag and pulls off the ratty brown wig on his head. His thick black hair is flattened, sweaty, and swiftly replaced by another wig yanked from his bag of tricks, this one long and black as well.
Guin's eyes follow Rena as she walks back to Jan, worry at her condition deepening, but now is not the time to press. She looks back to Eamon at his question, and nods, though she's not sure where. "We had them before, there must be one around here somewhere. Or else you'll get a fresh new set." She tries a smile, though it doesn't quite fit. Glancing back to Elise, she nods again. "It will," she says firmly. "We'll make it so. And they'll show you... " She lifts her head, nodding back the way they came. "The way we're coming out. Believe me, you're critical to making sure this goes smoothly, otherwise.... " Well, there is no otherwise. "It will go fine."
Jan shrugged out of his trenchcoat, and leanded down, into the duffel, retrieving tactical armor "lifted" from the unfortunate UAC who donated the uniforms. As he slowly straps it on, he shrugged to Rena. "No, actually, we aren't. It's never too late to put a bullet in someone's head." Man, he was in a blue mood.
Masha can't help floofing Eamon's long wig then moves back over to Rena and Jan, carrying the antidote still.
Eamon nods at Guin, a wary gratitude in his look. His gaze shifts then to Elise, lingering there, before he turns back to the bag and pulls out the wire-rimmed glasses. He shoots Masha a wry smile at her floofing as she slips past him to join the others.
Rena blinked slowly. Yep, she was in way worse shape than she was letting on.
Elise looks at Eamon when he speaks of orange jumpsuits. Orange wasn't a good color on anyone. She nods again to Guin, feeling like a bundle of nerves. She tries to breathe easier, but the air down here feels close, the darkness nearby. "It will go fine," she repeats, and nods, her throat dry. She looks again at Rena, wondering if this might help them bridge the gaps in their relationship, or worsen them. Time would tell, she supposed.
Masha repeats the question she'd made earlier before she realized she hadn't repositioned her AV. She carries the brightly wrapped bundle, multiple lcoths, each of a different color and liberally covered in the signs familiar to anyone who'd seen Masha's veves. She turns to Rena and gives her a half-smile. "I will set up in the medical area upstairs, cher." She looks at the cat for a long moment. "I have some medicine that can help your cough too."
Rena nodded slowly. "Think I broke a rib." she whispers."
Masha snorts. "You think? I will have to bind you up good, cher, and if I thought I could talk you into it, I'd have you in the hospital with a chest tube." She's nattering out of nerves. She's sublimely worried about this entire mission.
Rena raised an eyebrow to that. "Cold day in hell...you know?" her tone was light, but Masha'd know she was dead serious.
Guin nods again, at Elise's words, about as sure as either of them can be. She squeezes her arm once more, and seeing that Rena's nearly wavering on her feet--which is disturbing enough--she steps forward. "I know we saved them back here somewhere. Give me just a second... " She strides over to the bookcase, among the office supplies... though as she works she spares a glance at Eamon and that wig, nearly laughing again. "Just give peace a chance, hmm?" she murmurs.
Jan holstered his gun, untreading the suppressor, and slipping it into a pocket of his vest as he tapped out an ash on the floor. Carefully, he rehearsed the whole scene, as it should go in his mind. He walked toward Guin, "You're all clear about how we're getting them over to the morgue, right?"
Eamon grins a bit and gives his wig a self-conscious tug. "All ye need is love, aye?" he mutters back.
Masha snorts again. "I know, cher." She heads upstairs and fetches supplies to bind the cat's ribs, returning with them and some pain killers to boot as well as some medicine for her lungs. "Lift your shirt, eh?"
Guin can't help meeting his grin, and this time there's genuine amusement there, if only for a moment. "Just imagine," she whispers back. Opening the third drawer she comes to, she ah-hahs and pulls out a box. "Here they are." She sets it on the desk, and starts to shake out the one on top. "They're pretty one size fits all," she says dryly, almost disconnected. Glancing up at Jan, she blinks. "We?" she echoes, not sure she understands. "I understand the premise, yes. I know much will have to wait on what we actually find over there."
Capalini crosses toward Masha and Rena when Guin steps away. She looks at Rena's injured face, then to Masha and her work. "I've been finishing up my stitcher training, so...if there's anything I can do...please let me know."
Rena hesitated a moment then lifted her shirt. Anyone looking would she a mass of small cuts and minor burises as well as one male sized boot print too big to have been made by Forge. She growled out. "Hurry."
Eamon takes the orange shirt, the shapeless pants, and he nods, his smile swiftly gone. "I'll just take them behind the curtain there, and change." He glances at Jan, then turns away.
Masha smiles over at Elise, finally really noticing her costume. "That is a good thing to know, cher!" She turns back to Rena and takes a look at the injuries, her face firming at the boot especially. Wordlessly, she starts wrapping.
Jan nodded. "Just so you're clear. I put in a bogus CDC notice. New virulent outbreak. Symptoms conveniently mirror the poison we're putting around. Highly contagious. Hopefully, the guards'll be lazy and scared enough to make you deal with the bodies, but if they give you crap, remind them that they can get sick themselves, and bring them straight to the incinerator. Got it, Corporal?"
Bodi glanced over at Rena and did a double take...Her eyes drifted to Rena's face. So this is what married life was like. Shaking her head, she glanced down and shoved thoughts of Forge and her debt to the back of her mind.
Guin nearly snatches the clothing back as Eamon starts to take them away, all amusement washing away. Once he disappears behind the curtain she inhales, deeply, and turns back to Jan. "Right," she says simply. "I have that as the cover. And I have some other approaches in mind to be flexible in case I can't get to the notice, or whatever. I have no idea the circumstances we'll find in there. But they won't be touching the bodies," she says firmly. And tries not to think about that word.
Masha tucks in the last of the wrapping, snug, but enough for her to breath, then sets out a palmful of pills. "Here, take these? One will help with the pain, the other will ease the cough." A *footprint*. She can't stop seeing it.
Rena glanced up at Elise and murmured to Masha. "Hurry. Please."
Elise watches Masha work, and looks around the room they find themselves in, trying to remember everything about it. She wonders again if this is all a test, and rocks back on her bootheels, looking at Guin when she comes back over. Bodies, she thinks. God, it had to be a test.
Guin rounds the corner of the desk to approach the small group, stopping next to Elise. There's a comfort there, though she isn't actively thinking so. Her eyes and focus are, for the moment, on Rena. "When this is over," she says softly. "You're telling me exactly what happened."
Masha nods in concert with Guin, in perfect agreeement.
Eamon steps behind the curtain. He peels off his shirt, the underground's cool air pricking at his flesh. "I wish I'd had these during my last visit," he growls. "I might have been a damn sight warmer while they were shooting me full of holes." He pulls the bright orange over his head.
Rena pulled her shirt down before taking the drugs and pocketing them. "After, need a clear head." she looked at Elise again and spoke obviously to Masha. "You told them, before you brought them down...no one hears about this...not even their cell members? Trusting them with a lot here."
Eamon unzips and peels off his mud-crusted pants. He pulls on the orange... and for a moment, just stands there, head bows and one broad hand smoothing down the uniform's front. Ten years. Time doubles on itself, and he closes his eyes, before forcing them open so he can crouch and gather up his discarded clothes.
Masha hesitates. "Well, cher, Jan said you were coughing up blood and he sounded pretty urgent..." she turns and says to Eamon and Elise, "You two? No one hears of this place. NO one. Not even your cell members. It is critical you keep it secret."
Elise hears Rena's words to Masha and her jaw tightens. She hasn't told a soul anything, and wouldn't--too much hung in the balance. Her tail flicks a little. But that kind of trust...it was just too hard, after all that had happened recently. Hard for -both- sides.
Rena kept her eyes on Elise. "I told her to bring you. I'm trusting YOU." She wondered, briefly, if Elise had any clue at all how hard it had been for her to make the desicion to tell Masha to bring them in.
Eamon steps through. "Understood," he says gruffly. He moves back to the desk and his bag, self-conscious in the orange, feeling exposed. He tosses his clothes on top and begins pulling on a pair of old, worn shoes.
Jan looked sidelong to Eamon, and quirked his lips around the cigarette. He fidgeted about his uniform, frowning deeply. It fit too well. He shook his head, moving to adopt the laconic attitude of a morgue guard. To Eamon, he said, finally. "That color looks terrible, on you."
Bodi slides a hand down Jan's back, fingers finding tense muscles and gently kneading, movements slow and tight. Her own stomach was in knots, but you couldn't tell from her impassive exterior.
Elise blinks behind her goggles. "And I'm trusing -you-," she tells Rena with a nod. With so much, she thinks, and looks over at orange-clad Eamon. "You and I both want this to go well."
Masha just watches and listens, not getting all of the subtext although she knew some of it and rumors filled out a good portion.
Eamon looks up briefly as he lowers his booted foot to the floor. He snorts softly. "Bit too familiar, though," he replies, and zips up his bag.
Guin keeps her mouth shut at the exchange of trust, suspecting this was as much about Rena and Elise as it was about the Resistance. And that she trusts both of them in this, she hopes, they both already know. She looks over as Eamon re-enters, and though her stomach drops, she can't help a snort. "Oh, dear God, that's just horrible. They try to do us in by humiliation first, don't they?"
Rena's gaze followed Elise's and she nodded. "We do..." there was raw honesty in her tone, no mocking, no anger. She swallowed hard at the sight of him and Guin then looked away.
Eamon's lips cant briefly. "Maybe so." He looks at Guin. "Ye have cuffs for me?"
Jan grunts. "You and me both. You know your bit, right? New prisoner transfer? Try to dose our friend when you're not being watched."
Guin hesitates, for just a moment. She knew this part to be necessary but hates it even so. Nodding, she touches the pair dangling at her hip, hidden behind the gun. "We don't have to put them on now," she says softly. "Right before we go in, if you prefer."
Eamon offers Jan a grim nod. "Aye. Guin covered it with me. Thanks, mate." He looks at Guin, and adds softly, "Right before. Should we get going, then?"
Masha can't help herself, she heads over to Eamon and goes over the entire thing again with the darts, practically verbatim.
Elise thinks of the last time he was cuffed, and figures he's likely thinking it, too. No gallows this time, she tells herself, but oh God she feels sick.
Jan nodded to the pair of them, and then turned to the large, black lacquered double bass case, slick and chill with the cold packs he put in there to retard the smell of the dummy bodies. He fixed an earpiece to his head, and spoke into it, testing for feedback. "Unless someone still has questions, we've got a schedule to keep."
Rena looked up sharply as Eamon spoke, her eyes on Guin now. She wanted to scream, to put a stop to it all, but she knew they couldn't. There was a girl waiting for them. "Just...be careful." she blurts out, knowing neither need to hear it.
Eamon blinks at Masha--then impossibly, he starts to chuckle. "I've got it, lass. I promise. I've got it." His quick smile fades as he gathers up the dark cloth with its deadly cargo, then he turns to Masha, and would wrap his arm around her shoulders for a swift, rough embrace. "Just bring me back, love," he whispers, before releasing her.
Guin nods again, not having any interest in cuffing him one second earlier than is necessary. Her stomach tightens, but she channels it toward determination, not fear. She glances over at Rena, expression calm, and then to Elise. "Promised," she whispers, giving her a faint smile, before turning back to Eamon and Masha, listening carefully. Just in case. "Ready when you are," she murmurs.
Masha nods, holding him in a brief but tight hug. "Just be careful," she whispers, then lets go and goes to stand back again over by Rena.
Eamon looks past the others, to Rena. He says nothing, only watches, then his lips slant in the faintest smile. He nods once, then moves past Guin to offer a hand to Elise. "A word, before I go," he says softly. "Guin, I'll meet ye topside, in the bar."
Elise nods at Guin. She was trusting her with a lot, too. "Promised," she tells her, then looks to Eamon, taking his hand.
Bodi had watched all the byplay with green eyes that had missed nothing. Later, she would go over it, but now she was ready, antsy even, to get started. The longer they remained here, the more nervous she got.
Guin smiles faintly at Rena, nodding again. She watches as Eamon crosses over to Elise, and swallows. "Of course," she murmurs. "You know your way up? Just keep going straight." She looks back at them all one last time, then heads back to the bar.
Eamon nods to Guin, again with that grim, shadowed gratitude in his eyes. He knows--they both know--and she's giving him this. When she departs, he casts a final look at the others, then draws Elise through the curtains for a quick word.
Jan walked over to the double bass case, and propped it up on a hand dolly, and carefully began rolling it out to entrance to the ventilation shaft. To Elise, and Rena, he nodded, "Tell mother I died game."
Elise steps through the curtains with Eamon, frowning at Jan's words. No one was dying--at least not permanent like... Her hand tightens in Eamon's and she looks up at him in the dark, keeping her silence.
Bodi falls into step behind Jan, her lips twisting in a humorless smile at his pithy comment
Rena watched them both go then turned slightly to face Masha. "I shouldn't have let him...shouldn't have let her. This is...." she gripped Masha shoulder.
Masha covers Rena's hand with her own and pets it gently. "This is the right thing to do," she finishes. "Now we wait. And pray. Or I can pray if you do not want." She leans her head against Rena's, silky black mingling with black curls.
Rena shook her head. "I don't pray ... you should."
Eamon lifts his head, watching the others past, and he draws Elise deeper into the heavy shadows of the tunnel. He looks down at her... then gently shifts to lift the goggles from her eyes. Her -eye,- blue as midnight under glass. "Ye stay safe, all right?" he whispers.
Elise's hands tighten on his arms. She lets him draw her goggles away and she nods. She feels like laughing at that, but can't quite. "You--" Her whisper breaks. This could be it, she thinks; if something went wrong...this could be the last time. "Heathered hills," she whispers.
Eamon nods, imperceptibly. His throat feels tight. "I'll be waiting," he softly rasps. He searches her face a moment more, then bends his head to hers, capturing her dark, bonny mouth in a kiss. It was both better than what he'd been given that night in the LDC, and worse for swiftly being over. "Mo croi," he whispers against her mouth, then he turns to go.
Elise doesn't close her eye; she can't look away from him. She slides her arms around him in a hug that is as swift as the kiss, then feels her goggles slip back into place, and his warmth depart. "Mo croi," she echoes, and watches him until she can't see him anymore. God watch over him, she thinks, and touches a hand to her chest, to the rosary worn beneath her shirt and over her heart.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Guin leans over in the chair, feeling as if she might be ill. She needs the moment to compose herself, and as tempting as the bar is, she keeps herself from making a quick drink. She needs to stay focused and clear. Sharp. She's a bright, young corporal, trusted with an important job. Confident. And she can't let a single crack show, or it could mean Eamon's life... as well as her own, because she'd never be able to live with that. She'd thought about tucking her rosary under her shirt and wishes she had it now, but it would only be a giveaway if she's caught. So she prays instead, in silence.
Jan [COM]: Keep us posted, Noble. Over.
Rena [COM]: keep it simple and stay safe.
Eamon pushes open the bookcase from behind. He ducks, and straightens in the room beyond, blinking at its relative brightness after the close dark of the tunnels behind him. "Thank ye, lass," he says, his voice oddly hoarse. "Ready when you are. Ye should..." He hesitates, then holds out the dark, folded cloth with the needles inside. "Ye should keep this. They might search me. Can ye slip them to me once we're inside, if I cause a distraction? Put up a fight?"
Masha [COM]: Masha speaks into her COM, adopting a HORRIBLE accent that she thinks is properly film noirish. "Stay frosty like, er, like shakes in an ice cream store."
Guin looks up sharply, sucking in a breath as the bookcase slides open, nearly silent. She rises to her feet, slowly, brushing her hands down her pants. All right, so the corporal has her nervous habits... "You don't have to thank me," she whispers. "I'd have wanted a moment, too." She smiles, briefly, and reaches out to take the needles, cradling them in her palms. "God, I hate needles," she half laughs, then tucks them carefully in her waistband. Pants were too big anyway. "I can do that," she murmurs. "I'll want to keep tabs on you. My prisoner." She smiles.
Jan [COM]: Keep this channel clear, Cajun.
Eamon grins very faintly. "Rawr." The smile fades as quickly as it came. Grim now, dark eyes searching her face, he nods and starts past her into the bar itself. "Cuff me out here."
Guin makes an 'ooh, scared' face and follows him out, slowly releasing the cuffs from her belt. She gently takes one wrist, and talks at his back. "Robyn Noble, I'm a corporal," she says quietly. "Don't make fun of the name, spur of the moment pick when I went in before, and I'm stuck." She grins, wincing as she snaps the metal closed. "I've got to channel my inner bad-ass. You can grade me later."
Eamon comes to a stop just inside the bar itself. He stands very still, shoulders squared, his head bowed as he slowly puts his hands behind him. That it's Guin makes it marginally easier, but he still closes his eyes when the cuffs snick shut over his wrists. "Corporal," he says softly, and lifts his head. "I won't make fun, I promise." Taking a breath, he looks up the stairs. "And off we go."
Guin pauses, head bowed, and hand at his back. "I don't need to tell you, too, but I will not leave you there," she whispers. "Not while I draw breath. Have no fear of that." She rests her head briefly, between his shoulder blades, then with one hand on his arm guides him up and out of the bar.
Guin [COM]: Cuffed and going in
Eamon descends the dark steps into the detention center. His gaze flicks over everything, taking it in--what has changed, what has stayed the same. Brown eyes dart back and forth behind his glasses. His arm is tense beneath the corporal's grip.
Alayna let out a little 'Woot!' as she reached a new level. That little frog was her BITCH now. "Come on froggie....weave and dodge, weave and dodge."
Guin keeps her hand on his arm, as if worried the prisoner might break free. She sighs as she glances around the entryway. So shoddy. This place should be thrilled they didn't get inspections more often, though she'd be sure to recomment it. Leaving the security check unattended... "Hey!" she calls out, peering through the window. "You guys asleep in there? Got a prisoner who needs a cell!"
Alayna jumped as the woman yelled and SPLAT. Frog met semi and wonk wonk wonk. "Mother fucking SON of a bitch." she looked up and scowled before yelling. "Take him through the damned scanner. Arms don't look broke to me!" dammit all, she hated processing.
Eamon chuckles under his breath.
Guin is stunned into silence for a moment, hackles rising. "This is the way you meet all your superiors?" she sneers, taking a chance on rank. Camera monitoring didn't usually indicate general. "Didn't you get the paperwork? God, no wonder they send all the fuck-ups here... " She glances back at the prisoner--though only for a second, and jerks on his arm. "Come on, through security... " She gives him a very slight shove forward.
Guin [COM]: moving through security
Eamon stumbles forward, his eyes slightly unfocused behind his glasses. He opens his mouth to say something appropriately in-character... and realizes almost a half-second too late that he's forgotten -one- thing that's a dead fecking giveaway. His mouth snaps shut again, mind racing. Outside his native accent, he knew Dr. Klaus' German... and that was it.
Alayna couldn't argue that, she was a fuck up. She grumbled under her breath and went through the papers on the desk frantically. "Bring him through, I'll find it. Just make sure there's no weapons on him, saftey of our prisoners and all that crap."
Jan [COM]: Moving into the vent.
Masha [COM]: Masha grunts as she speaks, hefting the body along with Elise. "Okay, cher, be careful!" she says cheerily.
Mike nods smiling a cocky grin
Rena [COM]: we alone down here?
Guin looks at Eamon's back, wondering at his silence, but doesn't dwell. She follows him through the scanner, scowling as the thing starts to go off. "I'm the one who gets to have the gun," she points out, retaking the prisoner's arm and leading him to the woman. Oh, now there's a man, enter testosterone. "Prisoner transfer." The man has an air of importance, so she looks to him. "Liam Fitzgerald? Sent the paperwork earlier, though wouldn't surprise me if someone here lost it... "
Jan stretches, a bit, and looks to Bodi. "You wait here. Masha and I need to wait out front for our catchers." He reached over, and tapped on the coyote's shoulder. "C'mon, cajun. You can sleep in the kitchen."
Masha nods sleepily and follows.
-----------------------------------------
Eamon gives Mariele his hand and helps her off the ferry. Up the stairs, toward the checkpoint--closed off and different now, but their IDs are scanned and they're both waved through without incident. "Come, Liebchen," he singsongs. He starts down the street, his bags and pouches and heavy, mud-streaked coat flapping about him with every step.
Elise stays low to the ground as they come up the stairs, her hand tight in his. The ferry ride is almost long enough to get used to the backpack, but tonight it bumps against her tail some, keeping her slightly off balance. "Chocolate ...milk," she whispers when the guard waves them through.
Eamon tucks their IDs away in one of his countless pockets. His boots scrape and thump on the street, hers seem a quieter pad-pad-pad beside him. He steadies her when she sways. "Ach, ja, chocolate milk," he mutters cheerfully. "You have been sehr gut assistant today, Mariele. Prima." He rounds the corner and continues toward the Basement. "And we still have chits from last time, ja?"
Masha nods tightly and heads out front, praying for no soldiers to walk in as she's not in disguise.
Elise follows him down the stairs, this place almost familiar to her now. "Chits," she murmurs. And then a moment later, "...almonds." Her mouth quirks in a smile, knowing those wouldn't quite work as well. Her nose twitches as they come inside, scenting someone familiar.
Masha peeks around the corner and inwardly sighs as she doesn't recognize the man and woman there. She nods tightly at the pair. "We are closed, she calls out, only showing the tiniest bit of herself around the corner.
Eamon claps his hands together, ecstatic on reaching the Basement once more. A cloud of stinking dust bursts from his palms on impact. "Closed!" he says, looking indignant--or as much as can be seen behind his goggling, smoky lens. "Nein, you must not! Eine kleine cat, she wants chocolate milk. She must have, ja?" His voice is wheedling, high pitched... until he steps forward into the empty bar and lifts the goggles from his face. "I wouldn't mind a wee whiskey though, lass," he rasps, and cants Masha a wry, familiar smile.
Masha looks comically startled, amazed in truth. After a gaping pause, she grins. "I am IMPRESSED, cher," she whispers, then beckons. "Come in back, I am not disguised," and hurries into the kitchen, snagging the whiskey bottle en route.
Eamon settles the goggles on his head. He turns back toward Mariele and winks. For a moment, just a moment, it was easy to forget what the rest of the night had in store. He gently cants his head toward the back, a wordless invitation for the cat to follow, then he slides behind the bar and heads that way himself.
Elise takes the hulking backpack off once Eamon reveals himself to Masha, and sets it on the nearest table. She keeps a hand on it, though, wary to have it far from her. "Must...have...milk," she murmurs, still keeping to Mariele's speech patterns for the time being. When he moves forward, she grabs the backpack and carries it with her. She tries not to worry about the night to come, but is failing. Miserably.
Masha seats herself, and Eamon would see that she's one TIRED coyote. There's a brown cloth-wrapped bundle on the table, and she frowns. "Where is Guin?"
Jan looks up from the screens, masked gaze nodding to the good "doctor", "Shalom, there. We'll hold a couple minutes before we head back. Have a drink. Kick back."
Eamon rounds the corner, resisting the urge to reach back and take Mariele's hand. He knows she's unhappy about this--he's none to happy about it himself. His eyes linger on the masked lad on the other side of the wall, his smooth face painted in eerie lights from the bank of monitors. Then he continues past, the scent of river mud wafting in his wake. "Guin?" His eyes narrow. He glances back at the Jewish greeting, then toward Masha once more. "I thought she came over with the lot of ye?"
Guin looks up from the tiny, hand-held mirror when she hears familiar voices... she allows a small, tight smile, at the banter about milk. She sighs, looking at the folded uniform next to her. The last thing. Makeup, contacts from Rena, hair... she was as subtly not Guin as she was getting. Rising to her feet, she takes a deep breath and heads into the kitchen.
Elise sticks close to the muddy doctor. She glances at the man beside the monitors, but keeps on toward the kitchen, and Masha. Behind her goggles, her eye takes in everything. She can hear footsteps behind them and she turns, glimpsing a Guin that doesn't look quite like a Guin. She feels like they've stepped through a looking glass.
Masha frowns, and unwraps the cloth bundle revealing two small wooden darts, carved from teak. Up close she looks even more exhausted. "I guess we wil wait then?"
Guin catches Elise's eye first, and gives a small, nervous smile. She's been holed away and quiet for hours, just keeping herself calm and going over every conceivable scenario a hundred times over. She then looks to Jan, blinking for a few moments, then steps fully into the kitchen.
Eamon draws closer to Masha, his newly brown eyes reflecting a grim concern. "Ye look dead on your feet, love," he says softly. Bowing his head, he pulls off the heaviest of his pouches and sets it on the table, then one by one, begins stripping off the layers of his checkpoint disguise. He looks up as Guin enters the room. "There ye are..."
Jan nods to Guin, and then the good doctor's assistant. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to head down and check on things. Come on down, when you're ready." He walks towards the bookshelf, and, making sure that Elise and Eamon are sufficiently distracted by the other two in the kitchen, pulls a hidden catch, walking through the passage, when he blinks, his phone buzzing. He looks at the message, and then down the hall to Masha, "Cajun, somebody's coughing up blood. Think we can do this all back there?"
Masha gives Eamon a genuine smile, relaxing as always when she hears that lilt. She turns and frowns after Jan, then looks back to the trio. "Guin, cher, I need to show you how to use these."
Elise sets the backpack on the floor and gives it a little kick to wedge it under the table. She glances at Guin, giving her a smile, but it's not actually a happy expression. She figures they are all nervous about tonight in their own ways. At the masked man's words, the sound of them half familiar, the smile turns into a frown. Coughing up blood? She shudders. She looks at Masha and what she holds, biting the inside of her cheek.
Guin squares her shoulders as she enters, determined not to look defeated or even concerned--as much as she can. She smiles at Eamon's greeting, eyes flickering between him and Elise. "Everything went smoothly then? Coming over?" She gives another appreciative look to their disguises, then touches the corner of her eye. "Borrowed these from Rena," she says softly. "All I need is to put on the uniform." She hesitates, giving him a meaningful look. "She doesn't know yet." At Masha's words, she looks down at the two tiny needles, and barely suppresses a shudder. "Had to be needles, didn't it?" she says, a lame attempt at humor.
Masha speaks in a quiet voice. "I do not know what Rena has already told you, cher, but this is Coup poudre, normally a powder and the person doing the poisoning blows it quick through a small straw up into the nose of the person they want to take. But that won't work for what we need here, eh? My grandmere, she told me a way to make it into a dart but this is tricky and never been done." She gives a serious look, and she looks exhausted - she's been up all night - and worried. This stuff was dangerous. "I have the antidote for later, again thanks to my grandmere." Her skin is nearly black from the past two weeks spent in the hot Haiti sun.
------------------------------
Bodi sighed deeply and stretched like a cat, enlongating every muscle in order, loosening tightness and releasing any reservation. Standing, she moved with a lithe grace to where Rena lay and touched the woman's shoulder.."Rena?"
Rena stirred slightly, eyes blinking open slowly. "S'it time?" she'd murmur without moving.
Bodi laughed softly, rubbing the other woman's arm comfortingly. "You know I am always the last to know.."
Rena's eyes fluttered closed and she coughed hard, curling into a tighter ball. She reached up to wipe the blood from her mouth before speaking. "You and me both."
Bodi dropped to her knees, the blood not going unnoticed. She pushed Rena's hair out of her face and turned it to her, fingers gentle. "Are you okay?"
Rena nodded. "I'll be fine. Just getting some rest before Masha kills me." she looked up at her and gave her a wry smile.
Bodi yanked her cell phone out of her ammo pocket and flipped it open, texting a quick message while keeping one hand on Rena's head, stroking her hair. Slipping the phone back, she watched her friend with a frown of concern.
Rena closed her eyes and sighed. "Wake me up before they come. K?"
------------------------------
Jan looked back to Masha, and his voice became insistent, "Rena's coughing blood. And we need you, now." The practiced, genericized tones became suddenly harsh. "Please pick that up, and take it back with you."
Eamon glances back at that familiar voice. Aye, he'd thought as much. Generic it might be, but he'd just spent two hours a few days past listening to that voice on the other side of a confessional screen. He looks back to Masha with a frown, one that clears slightly at Guin's question. "Aye, no trouble. And green suits ye." His lips cant in a brief, humorless smile. "I'll tell her..." Turning back to Masha, he adds, "Shouldn't ye show me? Since I'll be the one doing it." He doesn't know if Masha knows that bit, but... well... surprise?
Masha turns and frowns at Jan, alarm filling her, then back to Eamon, puzzlement adding to the mix. Swiftly, she wraps the darts and stows them carefully in her pouch. "Follow me," she says, then moves to the bookcase, then with a quiet look at the pair, opening it.
Eamon glances swiftly between Elise and Guin. Clusterfuck waiting to happen. On an exhale, he picks up his bag and follows.
Guin returns his smile, then turns it on Elise as well. She tries to be reassuring, but all she can give is the promise of her own determination. She glances back, and nods. "I'll change and meet you guys down there. Make sure no one follows," she says softly, and follows them back into the office.
Masha waits until both are in place then shuts the door securely behind them.
Elise picks up her backpack, unsure if she's meant to go or not; Masha had not so much as looked at her, and she wonders if she's offended the coyote. She watches the door shut, with her on the other side and her jaw tightens.
Eamon eyes the bookcase, his thoughts on the similar hideaway in the cloister, then he ducks through and into the dark. "The tunnels?" he rasps softly. He turns back. "Where's Elise?"
Masha looks at the cat in the kitchen and beckons. "Come, cher, before someone comes in."
Masha smiles wearily and shuts the door before hurrying over to the other end. She's worried. Coughing up blood?"
Eamon reaches a hand back for Mariele and stalks after Masha, into the dark.
Guin slips into the uniform quick as she can, barely suppressing her distaste. But it's simple enough, and she in about a minute she's as ready as she is going to be. Pressing a hand to her stomach, she rises from the chair and works the latch for the bookcase again. The bar is silent and waiting behind her, and she hesitates only a moment before slipping through.
Elise steps through the hidden doorway, thinking of that in the cloister, and waits for her vision to adjust to the darkness. When a hand takes hers, she grips it and follows.
Guin needs a long moment for her own eyes to adjust to the darkness, familiar shapes looming in the black. She takes a tentative step, finding the ramp, then proceeds more confidently. She touches both Eamon and Elise's shoulders, leaning in close to whisper. "Follow me."
Bodi slid her back down the wall, butt on the cold floor and left her hand on Rena.."Yeah, I will wake you"
Jan rushed back into the Underground, and spotted Bodi, frowning as he quirked a brow, "They're coming. What the hell is going on?"
Bodi stroked Rena's hair absentmindedly, like a mother would comfort a child. Her earlier calm vanished and a curl of forboding knotted her stomach up. She heard footsteps and glanced up at Jan. She looked at him, green eyes dark with worry..."Rena is coughing up blood Jan...What is this drug gonna do to her?"
Rena stirred in her sleep, the voices not quite enough to wake her.
Bodi shushed her and patted Rena's shoulder before resuming the calming movements.
Jan shook his head. "Rena's out. We need to find someone to fill in." He walked forward, and leaned over the girl, flicking her eyes open to look into her pupils. "This is why I hate you girls, and your fucking bullshit getting into trouble." He curses. "Absolutely unreliable." He straigtens up. "Whatever." He looked to Masha, "Is she good to go, or do we need to find a new prisoner?"
Rena straightened at the words and shook her head. "Like hell."
Masha bends immediately beside Rena, ignoring Jan's tempermental words, reaching simultaneously for forehead and pulse. "Rena cher? Can you hear me?"
Rena pushed Masha's hand away. "I'm fine."
Bodi laid a hand on her arm.."Masha , she is coughing up blood"
Jan growled, "Let Masha examine you, or I'm boxing you in one of these crates until we're finished, and shipping you back to Midian. You're not getting dosed with that powder."
Masha speaks in her stern, I'm the doctor voice. "Rena cher, if you are coughing up blood, you need to be in the hospital. Your lungs are injured."
Backing out of the way, Bodi gave Masha the room to work, shooting Jan a fulminating glare. She was tired of his attitude at times....
Rena faked coughed into her hand and held it up. "No blood. I'm fine. Plan stays as is. Period."
Guin walks down the stone tunnel, their footsteps muffled, and at last pulls back a heavy, thick curtain to reveal a brighter interior, if only marginally so. Stacks of boxes, strange tools and instruments... "Voila," she says quietly, shooting them a quick, tense smile.
Eamon's long strides keep up easily with Guin, but he tries not to outpace the smaller Mariele behind him, her hand in his. Through the dark, -into- the dark. He glances sharply at Guin's back, thoughtful, wondering at what else she knows. Through the curtains, and they stop. "God in heaven..."
Bodi snorted..."Masha I saw it...really"
Masha meets Rena's eyes and her voice is fierce. "LISTEN to me. Just... listen. This stuff, it WILL kill you in this state. I have already made the darts. You cannot survive it. And I will. Not. Risk. Your life."
Elise's nose wrinkles at the new scents down here; it's so dark with her goggles, but she doesn't take them off. She holds tight to Eamon's hand and follows Guin onward, to find Rena being tended. She tilts her head, wondering what happened.
Bodi: Bodi glanced around the group.."Who takes her place?"
Jan shook his head. "Not your show." He turned back, and looked to Eamon. "You want a round-trip ticket to the LDC?"
Eamon overhears the last bit, and glances heavenward. -Thank you, God, for teaching me humility, and the penalties of acting the martyr...- "I already said I would," he rasps gruffly.
Rena rose and gave them her trademark glare. "I...am fine. Enough. We have a plan. Guin is taking me in. I know the place..." she stopped at the sound of a familiar voice and fairly barked. "NO."
Masha sends a silent prayer of thanks to Eamon's god and her own. "Rena, he knows it as well as we do," she says, and retrieves the bundle from her pouch. "Eamon, listen up for I need to show you."
Eamon moves to the nearby desk and slings down his bag. "Who's going to stop me? You?" He eyes Rena, but not without compassion, and begins peeling off the rest of his checkpoint disguise. "I already told Guin, I'm not letting ye go in there. Aye, Masha-love. Show me."
Guin is stunned into silence for a moment, the sight of Rena nearly overwhelming. She doesn't really hear the conversation going on around her, and when she finds her voice, it's a whisper. "What happened to you?" She shakes her head, trying to focus. She hears Eamon's voice, and nods. "I was going to tell you... " she finishes lamely.
Rena pretty much ignored Jan and Masha, stalking to the man....the voice. "I said no." she said it him. "I can do this." eyes locked on his, proud and defiante.
Masha sighs and waits. She's not relinquishing the poison until it's settled.
Elise's ears are already flat under her helmet; they can't get any flatter. She eyes Rena, wondering who did that to her, but doesn't ask. She holds her ground, watching the tempers begin to rise. She would look to Guin, hoping that she, if anyone, could calm Rena.
Jan removed his mask, now that they seemed to be all on a first-name basis, and spoke in his natural tones, to Masha, "Can you fix up the dart for Eamon, instead? Is it weight-sensitive?"
Eamon pulls off his goggles and tosses them into the bag. He looks up at Rena as he leans on the desk, tugging off his boots. "What happened?" he asks softly.
Guin watches as Rena stalks over to Eamon, neither of them looking like themselves in the shadows. She decides to wait... giving them the chance to speak, and turns instead to Elise. She steps close, and would rest a hand on her arm. "Are you OK?" she whispers.
Masha watches the pair, her face oddly serene. She has faith that Eamon will work this out. To Jan she says, "no, it will be fine. Let the Father and Rena speak."
Rena turned her head to look at Jan. "You work for ME. THAT can change. Stay out of this." she turned back to Eamon, startled by the question and the softness of his tone. "Someone with unfinished business." no way she was admitting to him who it was or why.
Bodi took the chance to fling the mask she wore on the desk, its confines had been a bit much. She studiously avoided looking over at Jan, keeping her face and demeanor calm.
Elise looks up at Guin, startled by the question and the gentle hand on her arm. She's about to say yes--but then she gives a little shake of her head. "No," she whispers, "but I mean to help in any way I can." She looks past Guin, at Jan, surprised to see him here, then back to Guin.
Jan nodded, and walked over to a crate, next to which he had a duffel, and set himself to the meditative act of checking his gun. Laying out a clean cloth, he methodically took it apart, laying it out carefully. Slide at the top. Then the barrel. Then the spring...
Eamon finishes pulling off his boot. He straightens then, and turns fully to look at Rena. For a moment, he says nothing, his eyes dark, his face unreadable, then something there softens and he lifts a hand to lightly grip her chin. His touch is gentle, avoiding the bruises and blood. "You're not going in there, lass," he whispers, holding her eyes. "And that's the end of it. All right. Trust me in this." His lips quirk faintly. "Ye still know how to trust me, right?"
Guin smiles--she can see the brief hesitation, and knows it well. God knew she did the same thing herself. She glances to Rena and Eamon at the question about who'd done this, more than concerned herself, but when Rena deflects she turns her attention back to Elise. "You know," she says quietly. "I will do everything in my power to make sure she gets back out, and is safe. Trust in that, at least." Her words are soft, knowing Elise's hearing was sharp regardless, but they're meant only for her.
Masha rests a hand on Jan's shoulder. She knows how important it was to him that this go lock step perfect and she's wordlessly offering reassurance.
Rena's hand rose, claws showing on fingers that tried to close around his wrist. Eyes were locked on his, unblinking. He didn't look like himself, but he was still there in the lines in his face and that voice. "Trust you." she echoed before blinking slowly. "I can do this....I swear."
Elise thinks of her talk with Eamon, and what Guin says now, and slowly nods. If he doesn't-- Oh, she can't even think it, let alone say it. "Just--" She looks up at Guin. This was all about trust, something sorely abused as of late. She covers Guin's hand with her own. "I want you both safe," she finally whispers around the lump in her throat.
Jan was silent, as he went as far as to click the bullets out of the magazine, one by one, rolling the fat little .45 cartridges in his fingers with careful fixation, holding them up to examine trace flecks on the brass casing, before resting them beside the magazine. He reached down into the bag once again, for his cigarettes, and proffered the pack to Masha. Gitanes, with all their pungent tanginess.
Eamon lets her grip his wrist; he trusts her not to use those claws on -him.- If she does, well... he'd deal with it. "I have no doubt that ye can," he rasps softly. "I'm telling ye that you're not." He pauses, then whispers, for Rena's ears alone. "You're not the only one with demons to face in that gaol, lass. I'm -asking- ye... let me put those demons to rest."
Masha's lips quirk and she takes the peace offering, lighting it with her old Zippo. Fragrent smoke tendrils into the room and she inhales deeply, exhaling a plume of aromatic blue.
Guin releases a shuddering breath at Elise's touch. Just a simple thing, but it speaks volumes, and her own hand tightens. Her throat constricts, and for a moment she can't get the words out. "Well, that's the plan," she says softly. "Such as it is. But I swear to you I will not leave him behind. That, at least, I can promise you."
Jan purses a cigarette in his mouth, and lights it with his own lighter, before closing his eyes, and reaching down for another brush, carefully cleaning and polishing the dehorned surfaces of the little, thin pistol. Smoke twining about his head, wreathing him in sepulchural smoke, as he began to reload the magazine, one casing at a time.
Bodi sighed an walked toward Jan, stopping infront of him, her eyes worried, mouth tight. She knew he was worried and laid a hand on his arm in a silent attempt at comfort
Rena continued that slow blink, then her face crumbled just a bit, the mask of anger breaking. Dammit, demanding and pushy she could fight, but not this. "I didn't betray my promise to you." she whispered for his ears alone. The claws might have grazed his skin, but they didn't cut, he was right, she wouldn't, not him.There was a brief nod of aknowledgement. "Get her out. I'll get you out." she whispered. She might not be strong enough for that damned drug, but she'd make sure they got out.
Elise nods, glad her eye is hidden behind her goggles. "Don't make us come in there after you," she tells Guin softly, trying to lighten her tone.
Masha draws again on the cigarette and waits for them to finish, ready to launch into instructions as soon as they look ready.
Eamon smiles, gentle and melancholy. "Ye saved me in there once already," he says softly. "I'm trusting ye to do it again." He withdraws from her grip on his wrist, and turns toward Masha as he begins to peel off his beard. "Right. The Juliet."
Guin is startled into a laugh, brief and nervous but welcome nonetheless. "If it comes to that, I have no hope of the LDC being left standing," she jokes, and gives her a wink. Impulsively she leans in, just a little. "Love that costume, by the way. Never had a chance to tell you before."
Masha blinks, then smiles. "I would not think of it as that gentle, cher." She walks forward, carrying the bundle.
Masha opens the bundle again and selects one of the small wooden darts., She shows it to Eamon, the thing carved from teak. "I used an old statue I had from Haiti - ugly thing." The dart is of two pieces, a sort of carved miniature syringe. The poison rests in the inner cylinder, slender, maybe 2mm in diameter at the most and narrowing to a wickedly sharp tip, and another smaller tube nestles from behind as a sort of plunger, presently held in place with wax. "You take this and you poke it in the jugular, right here--" she shows Eamon where "-- and then push this in sharp. The wax will break, cher, easy enough, but the wood won't. Do NOT touch the tip after you finish - wrap it up and then toss it in the incinerator." She lays out the second dart with the first, and wraps them both in a plain dark cloth, offering it to the priest, her coyote eyes solemn.
Eamon puts his false beard away, then he turns back to Masha, listening with sharp intent. His head cants slightly when she shows him where on the neck to press it, and he nods grimly as he opens his hand to accept the cloth. He meets her eyes for a moment, looks to Elise, and back again. "And ye can counter it? Once they get us out?"
Elise's eyebrows go up and she looks down at herself, suddenly remembering what she'd worn to get here. "Usually...it helps me not be...me," she whispers. "But tonight...I feel too much like me." She looks over at Masha, then her gaze strays to Eamon. "Can't say I care as much for yours tonight," she tells Guin, nodding toward the UAC logo.
Rena didn't move, just watched as the others began to go into motion. Trust. She wasn't good at it. She needed to learn though. To trust them all more. She began to move slowly toward Jan.
Jan felt Bodi's hand, and put down the pieces of the gun, reaching out to touch her hand, softly, before he took up the slide, holding it at eye level, examining the iron-sights carefully against the stone wall across from him. "You ready, Bodi?" Placing the slide down, he began to reassemble the weapon, carefully checking the threading on the barrel, before screwing on the long, matte-black suppressor. Holding it up again, in a professional, two-handed grip. God, he hoped he wouldn't have to shoot anybody tonight.
Masha nods. "I have the antidote, cher. You have my promise, you will be fine." Her voice is grim.
Bodi smiled wickedly "Born ready." She savored the light touch, then turned to Rena.
Guin nods at that, understanding perfectly. She raises her hand to cover the logo, wrinkling her nose. "Trust me, neither do I. I don't even want to know where it came from." She plucks at the emblem once more, then drops her hand with a sigh, catching the last of Masha's instructions. "Had to be needles," she whispers again, and shudders. "Powder, drink, nooo.... Needles." She gives Elise a twisted smile, and shifts her attention back to Eamon and Masha.
Rena stopped in front of Jan and her wounded face screwed up into what could pass for contrition. "I'm sorry." she murmued. "Sometimes...I have trouble letting go. Just...yeah. Guess you are stuck with me." it was as close as she could come to an apology and far more then most would get from her.
Eamon smiles, thin and humorless. "Good. Bring me back from the dead." He nods again, exhales, and lifts a look to Rena. "Do we have an LDC prisoner's orange? I hear they're all the rage these days."
Jan looked to Rena, after peering down the iron-sights, and making a minute adjustment to the sight, accounting for the length of the silencer. "It's well enough. Your severance deal sucks."
Masha removes another bundle, brightly wrapped this one, multiple lcoths, each of a different color and liberally covered in the signs familiar to anyone who'd seen Masha's veves. She turns to Rena and gives her a half-smile. "I will set up in the medical area upstairs, cher." She looks at the cat for a long moment. "I have some medicine that can help your cough too."
Bodi reached out, fingers gentle on the other womans forearm.."I am sorry too Rena...I just had to tell them.." She knew the mission was important but Rena's life was too.
Elise nods to Guin. "Yeah...needles." She shudders a little; they could agree on that at least. "I don't even know..." Her gaze strays past Guin, to Rena, then back again. She had no specific task here--she was being asked to trust, and that was such a hard thing now--and felt at loose ends. She swallows hard and forces a smile. "It will go fine," she whispers.
Rena shook her head, hand coving Bodi's. "No, you did right. I'm too proud sometimes. Just...don't do it again." she winked at her and then suddenly grinned as she remembered telling Jan about her 'severance packge' in the beginning. "Oh, I think we are long past me being able to implement that."
Masha grins at Rena's quip, remembering.
Eamon lifts both brows as his question goes unanswered, but he assumes someone will tell him something eventually. He turns back to the bag and pulls off the ratty brown wig on his head. His thick black hair is flattened, sweaty, and swiftly replaced by another wig yanked from his bag of tricks, this one long and black as well.
Guin's eyes follow Rena as she walks back to Jan, worry at her condition deepening, but now is not the time to press. She looks back to Eamon at his question, and nods, though she's not sure where. "We had them before, there must be one around here somewhere. Or else you'll get a fresh new set." She tries a smile, though it doesn't quite fit. Glancing back to Elise, she nods again. "It will," she says firmly. "We'll make it so. And they'll show you... " She lifts her head, nodding back the way they came. "The way we're coming out. Believe me, you're critical to making sure this goes smoothly, otherwise.... " Well, there is no otherwise. "It will go fine."
Jan shrugged out of his trenchcoat, and leanded down, into the duffel, retrieving tactical armor "lifted" from the unfortunate UAC who donated the uniforms. As he slowly straps it on, he shrugged to Rena. "No, actually, we aren't. It's never too late to put a bullet in someone's head." Man, he was in a blue mood.
Masha can't help floofing Eamon's long wig then moves back over to Rena and Jan, carrying the antidote still.
Eamon nods at Guin, a wary gratitude in his look. His gaze shifts then to Elise, lingering there, before he turns back to the bag and pulls out the wire-rimmed glasses. He shoots Masha a wry smile at her floofing as she slips past him to join the others.
Rena blinked slowly. Yep, she was in way worse shape than she was letting on.
Elise looks at Eamon when he speaks of orange jumpsuits. Orange wasn't a good color on anyone. She nods again to Guin, feeling like a bundle of nerves. She tries to breathe easier, but the air down here feels close, the darkness nearby. "It will go fine," she repeats, and nods, her throat dry. She looks again at Rena, wondering if this might help them bridge the gaps in their relationship, or worsen them. Time would tell, she supposed.
Masha repeats the question she'd made earlier before she realized she hadn't repositioned her AV. She carries the brightly wrapped bundle, multiple lcoths, each of a different color and liberally covered in the signs familiar to anyone who'd seen Masha's veves. She turns to Rena and gives her a half-smile. "I will set up in the medical area upstairs, cher." She looks at the cat for a long moment. "I have some medicine that can help your cough too."
Rena nodded slowly. "Think I broke a rib." she whispers."
Masha snorts. "You think? I will have to bind you up good, cher, and if I thought I could talk you into it, I'd have you in the hospital with a chest tube." She's nattering out of nerves. She's sublimely worried about this entire mission.
Rena raised an eyebrow to that. "Cold day in hell...you know?" her tone was light, but Masha'd know she was dead serious.
Guin nods again, at Elise's words, about as sure as either of them can be. She squeezes her arm once more, and seeing that Rena's nearly wavering on her feet--which is disturbing enough--she steps forward. "I know we saved them back here somewhere. Give me just a second... " She strides over to the bookcase, among the office supplies... though as she works she spares a glance at Eamon and that wig, nearly laughing again. "Just give peace a chance, hmm?" she murmurs.
Jan holstered his gun, untreading the suppressor, and slipping it into a pocket of his vest as he tapped out an ash on the floor. Carefully, he rehearsed the whole scene, as it should go in his mind. He walked toward Guin, "You're all clear about how we're getting them over to the morgue, right?"
Eamon grins a bit and gives his wig a self-conscious tug. "All ye need is love, aye?" he mutters back.
Masha snorts again. "I know, cher." She heads upstairs and fetches supplies to bind the cat's ribs, returning with them and some pain killers to boot as well as some medicine for her lungs. "Lift your shirt, eh?"
Guin can't help meeting his grin, and this time there's genuine amusement there, if only for a moment. "Just imagine," she whispers back. Opening the third drawer she comes to, she ah-hahs and pulls out a box. "Here they are." She sets it on the desk, and starts to shake out the one on top. "They're pretty one size fits all," she says dryly, almost disconnected. Glancing up at Jan, she blinks. "We?" she echoes, not sure she understands. "I understand the premise, yes. I know much will have to wait on what we actually find over there."
Capalini crosses toward Masha and Rena when Guin steps away. She looks at Rena's injured face, then to Masha and her work. "I've been finishing up my stitcher training, so...if there's anything I can do...please let me know."
Rena hesitated a moment then lifted her shirt. Anyone looking would she a mass of small cuts and minor burises as well as one male sized boot print too big to have been made by Forge. She growled out. "Hurry."
Eamon takes the orange shirt, the shapeless pants, and he nods, his smile swiftly gone. "I'll just take them behind the curtain there, and change." He glances at Jan, then turns away.
Masha smiles over at Elise, finally really noticing her costume. "That is a good thing to know, cher!" She turns back to Rena and takes a look at the injuries, her face firming at the boot especially. Wordlessly, she starts wrapping.
Jan nodded. "Just so you're clear. I put in a bogus CDC notice. New virulent outbreak. Symptoms conveniently mirror the poison we're putting around. Highly contagious. Hopefully, the guards'll be lazy and scared enough to make you deal with the bodies, but if they give you crap, remind them that they can get sick themselves, and bring them straight to the incinerator. Got it, Corporal?"
Bodi glanced over at Rena and did a double take...Her eyes drifted to Rena's face. So this is what married life was like. Shaking her head, she glanced down and shoved thoughts of Forge and her debt to the back of her mind.
Guin nearly snatches the clothing back as Eamon starts to take them away, all amusement washing away. Once he disappears behind the curtain she inhales, deeply, and turns back to Jan. "Right," she says simply. "I have that as the cover. And I have some other approaches in mind to be flexible in case I can't get to the notice, or whatever. I have no idea the circumstances we'll find in there. But they won't be touching the bodies," she says firmly. And tries not to think about that word.
Masha tucks in the last of the wrapping, snug, but enough for her to breath, then sets out a palmful of pills. "Here, take these? One will help with the pain, the other will ease the cough." A *footprint*. She can't stop seeing it.
Rena glanced up at Elise and murmured to Masha. "Hurry. Please."
Elise watches Masha work, and looks around the room they find themselves in, trying to remember everything about it. She wonders again if this is all a test, and rocks back on her bootheels, looking at Guin when she comes back over. Bodies, she thinks. God, it had to be a test.
Guin rounds the corner of the desk to approach the small group, stopping next to Elise. There's a comfort there, though she isn't actively thinking so. Her eyes and focus are, for the moment, on Rena. "When this is over," she says softly. "You're telling me exactly what happened."
Masha nods in concert with Guin, in perfect agreeement.
Eamon steps behind the curtain. He peels off his shirt, the underground's cool air pricking at his flesh. "I wish I'd had these during my last visit," he growls. "I might have been a damn sight warmer while they were shooting me full of holes." He pulls the bright orange over his head.
Rena pulled her shirt down before taking the drugs and pocketing them. "After, need a clear head." she looked at Elise again and spoke obviously to Masha. "You told them, before you brought them down...no one hears about this...not even their cell members? Trusting them with a lot here."
Eamon unzips and peels off his mud-crusted pants. He pulls on the orange... and for a moment, just stands there, head bows and one broad hand smoothing down the uniform's front. Ten years. Time doubles on itself, and he closes his eyes, before forcing them open so he can crouch and gather up his discarded clothes.
Masha hesitates. "Well, cher, Jan said you were coughing up blood and he sounded pretty urgent..." she turns and says to Eamon and Elise, "You two? No one hears of this place. NO one. Not even your cell members. It is critical you keep it secret."
Elise hears Rena's words to Masha and her jaw tightens. She hasn't told a soul anything, and wouldn't--too much hung in the balance. Her tail flicks a little. But that kind of trust...it was just too hard, after all that had happened recently. Hard for -both- sides.
Rena kept her eyes on Elise. "I told her to bring you. I'm trusting YOU." She wondered, briefly, if Elise had any clue at all how hard it had been for her to make the desicion to tell Masha to bring them in.
Eamon steps through. "Understood," he says gruffly. He moves back to the desk and his bag, self-conscious in the orange, feeling exposed. He tosses his clothes on top and begins pulling on a pair of old, worn shoes.
Jan looked sidelong to Eamon, and quirked his lips around the cigarette. He fidgeted about his uniform, frowning deeply. It fit too well. He shook his head, moving to adopt the laconic attitude of a morgue guard. To Eamon, he said, finally. "That color looks terrible, on you."
Bodi slides a hand down Jan's back, fingers finding tense muscles and gently kneading, movements slow and tight. Her own stomach was in knots, but you couldn't tell from her impassive exterior.
Elise blinks behind her goggles. "And I'm trusing -you-," she tells Rena with a nod. With so much, she thinks, and looks over at orange-clad Eamon. "You and I both want this to go well."
Masha just watches and listens, not getting all of the subtext although she knew some of it and rumors filled out a good portion.
Eamon looks up briefly as he lowers his booted foot to the floor. He snorts softly. "Bit too familiar, though," he replies, and zips up his bag.
Guin keeps her mouth shut at the exchange of trust, suspecting this was as much about Rena and Elise as it was about the Resistance. And that she trusts both of them in this, she hopes, they both already know. She looks over as Eamon re-enters, and though her stomach drops, she can't help a snort. "Oh, dear God, that's just horrible. They try to do us in by humiliation first, don't they?"
Rena's gaze followed Elise's and she nodded. "We do..." there was raw honesty in her tone, no mocking, no anger. She swallowed hard at the sight of him and Guin then looked away.
Eamon's lips cant briefly. "Maybe so." He looks at Guin. "Ye have cuffs for me?"
Jan grunts. "You and me both. You know your bit, right? New prisoner transfer? Try to dose our friend when you're not being watched."
Guin hesitates, for just a moment. She knew this part to be necessary but hates it even so. Nodding, she touches the pair dangling at her hip, hidden behind the gun. "We don't have to put them on now," she says softly. "Right before we go in, if you prefer."
Eamon offers Jan a grim nod. "Aye. Guin covered it with me. Thanks, mate." He looks at Guin, and adds softly, "Right before. Should we get going, then?"
Masha can't help herself, she heads over to Eamon and goes over the entire thing again with the darts, practically verbatim.
Elise thinks of the last time he was cuffed, and figures he's likely thinking it, too. No gallows this time, she tells herself, but oh God she feels sick.
Jan nodded to the pair of them, and then turned to the large, black lacquered double bass case, slick and chill with the cold packs he put in there to retard the smell of the dummy bodies. He fixed an earpiece to his head, and spoke into it, testing for feedback. "Unless someone still has questions, we've got a schedule to keep."
Rena looked up sharply as Eamon spoke, her eyes on Guin now. She wanted to scream, to put a stop to it all, but she knew they couldn't. There was a girl waiting for them. "Just...be careful." she blurts out, knowing neither need to hear it.
Eamon blinks at Masha--then impossibly, he starts to chuckle. "I've got it, lass. I promise. I've got it." His quick smile fades as he gathers up the dark cloth with its deadly cargo, then he turns to Masha, and would wrap his arm around her shoulders for a swift, rough embrace. "Just bring me back, love," he whispers, before releasing her.
Guin nods again, not having any interest in cuffing him one second earlier than is necessary. Her stomach tightens, but she channels it toward determination, not fear. She glances over at Rena, expression calm, and then to Elise. "Promised," she whispers, giving her a faint smile, before turning back to Eamon and Masha, listening carefully. Just in case. "Ready when you are," she murmurs.
Masha nods, holding him in a brief but tight hug. "Just be careful," she whispers, then lets go and goes to stand back again over by Rena.
Eamon looks past the others, to Rena. He says nothing, only watches, then his lips slant in the faintest smile. He nods once, then moves past Guin to offer a hand to Elise. "A word, before I go," he says softly. "Guin, I'll meet ye topside, in the bar."
Elise nods at Guin. She was trusting her with a lot, too. "Promised," she tells her, then looks to Eamon, taking his hand.
Bodi had watched all the byplay with green eyes that had missed nothing. Later, she would go over it, but now she was ready, antsy even, to get started. The longer they remained here, the more nervous she got.
Guin smiles faintly at Rena, nodding again. She watches as Eamon crosses over to Elise, and swallows. "Of course," she murmurs. "You know your way up? Just keep going straight." She looks back at them all one last time, then heads back to the bar.
Eamon nods to Guin, again with that grim, shadowed gratitude in his eyes. He knows--they both know--and she's giving him this. When she departs, he casts a final look at the others, then draws Elise through the curtains for a quick word.
Jan walked over to the double bass case, and propped it up on a hand dolly, and carefully began rolling it out to entrance to the ventilation shaft. To Elise, and Rena, he nodded, "Tell mother I died game."
Elise steps through the curtains with Eamon, frowning at Jan's words. No one was dying--at least not permanent like... Her hand tightens in Eamon's and she looks up at him in the dark, keeping her silence.
Bodi falls into step behind Jan, her lips twisting in a humorless smile at his pithy comment
Rena watched them both go then turned slightly to face Masha. "I shouldn't have let him...shouldn't have let her. This is...." she gripped Masha shoulder.
Masha covers Rena's hand with her own and pets it gently. "This is the right thing to do," she finishes. "Now we wait. And pray. Or I can pray if you do not want." She leans her head against Rena's, silky black mingling with black curls.
Rena shook her head. "I don't pray ... you should."
Eamon lifts his head, watching the others past, and he draws Elise deeper into the heavy shadows of the tunnel. He looks down at her... then gently shifts to lift the goggles from her eyes. Her -eye,- blue as midnight under glass. "Ye stay safe, all right?" he whispers.
Elise's hands tighten on his arms. She lets him draw her goggles away and she nods. She feels like laughing at that, but can't quite. "You--" Her whisper breaks. This could be it, she thinks; if something went wrong...this could be the last time. "Heathered hills," she whispers.
Eamon nods, imperceptibly. His throat feels tight. "I'll be waiting," he softly rasps. He searches her face a moment more, then bends his head to hers, capturing her dark, bonny mouth in a kiss. It was both better than what he'd been given that night in the LDC, and worse for swiftly being over. "Mo croi," he whispers against her mouth, then he turns to go.
Elise doesn't close her eye; she can't look away from him. She slides her arms around him in a hug that is as swift as the kiss, then feels her goggles slip back into place, and his warmth depart. "Mo croi," she echoes, and watches him until she can't see him anymore. God watch over him, she thinks, and touches a hand to her chest, to the rosary worn beneath her shirt and over her heart.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Guin leans over in the chair, feeling as if she might be ill. She needs the moment to compose herself, and as tempting as the bar is, she keeps herself from making a quick drink. She needs to stay focused and clear. Sharp. She's a bright, young corporal, trusted with an important job. Confident. And she can't let a single crack show, or it could mean Eamon's life... as well as her own, because she'd never be able to live with that. She'd thought about tucking her rosary under her shirt and wishes she had it now, but it would only be a giveaway if she's caught. So she prays instead, in silence.
Jan [COM]: Keep us posted, Noble. Over.
Rena [COM]: keep it simple and stay safe.
Eamon pushes open the bookcase from behind. He ducks, and straightens in the room beyond, blinking at its relative brightness after the close dark of the tunnels behind him. "Thank ye, lass," he says, his voice oddly hoarse. "Ready when you are. Ye should..." He hesitates, then holds out the dark, folded cloth with the needles inside. "Ye should keep this. They might search me. Can ye slip them to me once we're inside, if I cause a distraction? Put up a fight?"
Masha [COM]: Masha speaks into her COM, adopting a HORRIBLE accent that she thinks is properly film noirish. "Stay frosty like, er, like shakes in an ice cream store."
Guin looks up sharply, sucking in a breath as the bookcase slides open, nearly silent. She rises to her feet, slowly, brushing her hands down her pants. All right, so the corporal has her nervous habits... "You don't have to thank me," she whispers. "I'd have wanted a moment, too." She smiles, briefly, and reaches out to take the needles, cradling them in her palms. "God, I hate needles," she half laughs, then tucks them carefully in her waistband. Pants were too big anyway. "I can do that," she murmurs. "I'll want to keep tabs on you. My prisoner." She smiles.
Jan [COM]: Keep this channel clear, Cajun.
Eamon grins very faintly. "Rawr." The smile fades as quickly as it came. Grim now, dark eyes searching her face, he nods and starts past her into the bar itself. "Cuff me out here."
Guin makes an 'ooh, scared' face and follows him out, slowly releasing the cuffs from her belt. She gently takes one wrist, and talks at his back. "Robyn Noble, I'm a corporal," she says quietly. "Don't make fun of the name, spur of the moment pick when I went in before, and I'm stuck." She grins, wincing as she snaps the metal closed. "I've got to channel my inner bad-ass. You can grade me later."
Eamon comes to a stop just inside the bar itself. He stands very still, shoulders squared, his head bowed as he slowly puts his hands behind him. That it's Guin makes it marginally easier, but he still closes his eyes when the cuffs snick shut over his wrists. "Corporal," he says softly, and lifts his head. "I won't make fun, I promise." Taking a breath, he looks up the stairs. "And off we go."
Guin pauses, head bowed, and hand at his back. "I don't need to tell you, too, but I will not leave you there," she whispers. "Not while I draw breath. Have no fear of that." She rests her head briefly, between his shoulder blades, then with one hand on his arm guides him up and out of the bar.
Guin [COM]: Cuffed and going in
Eamon descends the dark steps into the detention center. His gaze flicks over everything, taking it in--what has changed, what has stayed the same. Brown eyes dart back and forth behind his glasses. His arm is tense beneath the corporal's grip.
Alayna let out a little 'Woot!' as she reached a new level. That little frog was her BITCH now. "Come on froggie....weave and dodge, weave and dodge."
Guin keeps her hand on his arm, as if worried the prisoner might break free. She sighs as she glances around the entryway. So shoddy. This place should be thrilled they didn't get inspections more often, though she'd be sure to recomment it. Leaving the security check unattended... "Hey!" she calls out, peering through the window. "You guys asleep in there? Got a prisoner who needs a cell!"
Alayna jumped as the woman yelled and SPLAT. Frog met semi and wonk wonk wonk. "Mother fucking SON of a bitch." she looked up and scowled before yelling. "Take him through the damned scanner. Arms don't look broke to me!" dammit all, she hated processing.
Eamon chuckles under his breath.
Guin is stunned into silence for a moment, hackles rising. "This is the way you meet all your superiors?" she sneers, taking a chance on rank. Camera monitoring didn't usually indicate general. "Didn't you get the paperwork? God, no wonder they send all the fuck-ups here... " She glances back at the prisoner--though only for a second, and jerks on his arm. "Come on, through security... " She gives him a very slight shove forward.
Guin [COM]: moving through security
Eamon stumbles forward, his eyes slightly unfocused behind his glasses. He opens his mouth to say something appropriately in-character... and realizes almost a half-second too late that he's forgotten -one- thing that's a dead fecking giveaway. His mouth snaps shut again, mind racing. Outside his native accent, he knew Dr. Klaus' German... and that was it.
Alayna couldn't argue that, she was a fuck up. She grumbled under her breath and went through the papers on the desk frantically. "Bring him through, I'll find it. Just make sure there's no weapons on him, saftey of our prisoners and all that crap."
Jan [COM]: Moving into the vent.
Masha [COM]: Masha grunts as she speaks, hefting the body along with Elise. "Okay, cher, be careful!" she says cheerily.
Mike nods smiling a cocky grin
Rena [COM]: we alone down here?
Guin looks at Eamon's back, wondering at his silence, but doesn't dwell. She follows him through the scanner, scowling as the thing starts to go off. "I'm the one who gets to have the gun," she points out, retaking the prisoner's arm and leading him to the woman. Oh, now there's a man, enter testosterone. "Prisoner transfer." The man has an air of importance, so she looks to him. "Liam Fitzgerald? Sent the paperwork earlier, though wouldn't surprise me if someone here lost it... "