Got my flame-proof pants on again, so here we go.
Something Lost, Something Gained
"Well, when you said you wanted to meet with me, I honestly wasn't expecting to actually meet with you in person." The speaker rested her elbows on the table of the busy outdoor cafe and propped her head against the palm of her hand. "This is what, the second, third time you've left your house in your whole life?"
"Seventh, actually." Wade Load, consummate genius and hacker extraordinaire, had to fight to keep his distaste for the current situation from showing on his face, though judging by the smirk on the face of the woman sitting across from him, it seemed he wasn't fighting hard enough.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Why I'm here on the other hand, that does. So spill already short stuff, before I get bored and leave."
With that he gave up the fight entirely and his face twisted into the grimace of someone who's bitten into something sour and ill-tasting. His expression caused the young woman to chuckle and lean back in her seat.
"Man, what's got you all messed? Someone piss on one of your computers? Or maybe one of your favorite porn sites got shut down, is that it?" Wade began to grind his teeth as the woman only laughed louder at his reaction.
"Oh relax, it's not like anyone died." Her laughter ceased immediately as Wade reflexively went blank-faced, something he immediately berated himself for. "Wait, seriously? Someone got killed, is that why you spent your time tracking me down?"
She leaned forwards again and stared into his eyes with a flat and serious expression on her face. "Alright, I'll bite, who died?"
Wade sighed. He hadn't meant to give away that tidbit of information yet, but there was still a chance he could turn his slip to his advantage. It worked in Destiny \ Halt Dusk , and that wasn't too different from real life. Well, that and he was rather sure that he could catch her off guard with the full set of details.
"Discharge."
Silence for a moment, the hacker's last words so unbelievable that the woman doesn't know how to immediately respond.
"What." The word is delivered flatly, not questioning, simply a statement that she finds what he said to be completely impossible to be true.
The teen hacker reached down beside him and grabbed the newspaper leaning against the leg of his chair before throwing it onto the table. There on the cover was a photo a body hidden beneath a pale sheet, and it was easy to tell what had likely occurred given the prodigious amounts of blood staining the floor and walls near the body. "The former high profile enemy of Team Go, Lance Alfvén, better known as Discharge, is dead."
There was a pause as the information sunk in, and then came the question that Wade had been dreading. "Well I’ll be damned — which, now that I think about it, I probably am already. So, who killed him? Now it way it was Mr. Straightlaced Hego. The Wego’s wouldn’t have had it in them. I guess Mego could’ve done it. He’d definitely love the —"
"It wasn’t any of them. No, it was the only person, to be frank, who scares me more than you do. The only person the entire world would never expect." Wade stared across the table at the proverbial devil he intended to make a deal with, and wondered just where it was that everything had derailed.
"It was..."
At the same time, a thousand miles away, another meeting was taking place. Officially, the meeting-place didn't exist, the meeting never happened, and the two people within had never spoken to another.
“Betty,†Nick Fury greeted with a smile. “You look well. How’s your mother doing? I heard your father managed to visit her again.â€
Betty ‘Director’ Masters smiled sadly back at her fellow Director. “Yeah, just for a little while. He actually managed to make it a couple days this time, which is nice. You’re looking pretty good yourself Nick. Especially since I heard one of your boys got caught in a little bit of a pickle. He alright?â€
“Coulson? He’ll be fine.â€
“Really?†Betty asked with a frown. “I thought he was in bad shape.â€
Nick simply offered her a smug grin. “Don’t worry about it Betty. SHIELD takes care of its own. Which brings us to why I arranged this,†he stated as the humour fell from his face.
“What do you want Nick?â€
“Possible.â€
Betty sighed. “You know I don’t want to do that. Why should I listen now?â€
“Because your principal protest doesn't apply to her any more. Face it, she’s taken a step into the big leagues, whether she knows it or not.â€
“Fine,†the female Director said after a long silence. “I suppose she’s no longer a proper fit for Global Justice. I’m not going to be the one to introduce you or your organization to her though, that’s something you’ll have to do yourself.â€
Nick simply grunted. He knew better than most why his fellow Director preferred not to deal with his organization and knew not to push her on it. “Eh, I’ll have Coulson do it once he’s feeling better. Where is Possible by the way?â€
“Well,†Nick Fury’s eye widened in shock as Betty Masters, one of few people he held a great degree of trust with, began to blush and fidget like a rank recruit. “About that, you see, we might have.... lost her?â€
“You did WHAT?â€
"Well, when you said you wanted to meet with me, I honestly wasn't expecting to actually meet with you in person." The speaker rested her elbows on the table of the busy outdoor cafe and propped her head against the palm of her hand. "This is what, the second, third time you've left your house in your whole life?"
"Seventh, actually." Wade Load, consummate genius and hacker extraordinaire, had to fight to keep his distaste for the current situation from showing on his face, though judging by the smirk on the face of the woman sitting across from him, it seemed he wasn't fighting hard enough.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Why I'm here on the other hand, that does. So spill already short stuff, before I get bored and leave."
With that he gave up the fight entirely and his face twisted into the grimace of someone who's bitten into something sour and ill-tasting. His expression caused the young woman to chuckle and lean back in her seat.
"Man, what's got you all messed? Someone piss on one of your computers? Or maybe one of your favorite porn sites got shut down, is that it?" Wade began to grind his teeth as the woman only laughed louder at his reaction.
"Oh relax, it's not like anyone died." Her laughter ceased immediately as Wade reflexively went blank-faced, something he immediately berated himself for. "Wait, seriously? Someone got killed, is that why you spent your time tracking me down?"
She leaned forwards again and stared into his eyes with a flat and serious expression on her face. "Alright, I'll bite, who died?"
Wade sighed. He hadn't meant to give away that tidbit of information yet, but there was still a chance he could turn his slip to his advantage. It worked in Destiny \ Halt Dusk , and that wasn't too different from real life. Well, that and he was rather sure that he could catch her off guard with the full set of details.
"Discharge."
Silence for a moment, the hacker's last words so unbelievable that the woman doesn't know how to immediately respond.
"What." The word is delivered flatly, not questioning, simply a statement that she finds what he said to be completely impossible to be true.
The teen hacker reached down beside him and grabbed the newspaper leaning against the leg of his chair before throwing it onto the table. There on the cover was a photo a body hidden beneath a pale sheet, and it was easy to tell what had likely occurred given the prodigious amounts of blood staining the floor and walls near the body. "The former high profile enemy of Team Go, Lance Alfvén, better known as Discharge, is dead."
There was a pause as the information sunk in, and then came the question that Wade had been dreading. "Well I’ll be damned — which, now that I think about it, I probably am already. So, who killed him? Now it way it was Mr. Straightlaced Hego. The Wego’s wouldn’t have had it in them. I guess Mego could’ve done it. He’d definitely love the —"
"It wasn’t any of them. No, it was the only person, to be frank, who scares me more than you do. The only person the entire world would never expect." Wade stared across the table at the proverbial devil he intended to make a deal with, and wondered just where it was that everything had derailed.
"It was..."
__________________________________________________
At the same time, a thousand miles away, another meeting was taking place. Officially, the meeting-place didn't exist, the meeting never happened, and the two people within had never spoken to another.
“Betty,†Nick Fury greeted with a smile. “You look well. How’s your mother doing? I heard your father managed to visit her again.â€
Betty ‘Director’ Masters smiled sadly back at her fellow Director. “Yeah, just for a little while. He actually managed to make it a couple days this time, which is nice. You’re looking pretty good yourself Nick. Especially since I heard one of your boys got caught in a little bit of a pickle. He alright?â€
“Coulson? He’ll be fine.â€
“Really?†Betty asked with a frown. “I thought he was in bad shape.â€
Nick simply offered her a smug grin. “Don’t worry about it Betty. SHIELD takes care of its own. Which brings us to why I arranged this,†he stated as the humour fell from his face.
“What do you want Nick?â€
“Possible.â€
Betty sighed. “You know I don’t want to do that. Why should I listen now?â€
“Because your principal protest doesn't apply to her any more. Face it, she’s taken a step into the big leagues, whether she knows it or not.â€
“Fine,†the female Director said after a long silence. “I suppose she’s no longer a proper fit for Global Justice. I’m not going to be the one to introduce you or your organization to her though, that’s something you’ll have to do yourself.â€
Nick simply grunted. He knew better than most why his fellow Director preferred not to deal with his organization and knew not to push her on it. “Eh, I’ll have Coulson do it once he’s feeling better. Where is Possible by the way?â€
“Well,†Nick Fury’s eye widened in shock as Betty Masters, one of few people he held a great degree of trust with, began to blush and fidget like a rank recruit. “About that, you see, we might have.... lost her?â€
“You did WHAT?â€