nysalogs | Quest Collections

"Cold" is most certainly one of Gabriel's least favorite things to be, but he's been around the world enough that the complaining Californian in him knows to be quiet in a situation like this. There will be plenty of time to whine about how frigid this was after they successfully complete the mission.

Which they will, of course. If there's one thing he's good at, it's seeing something through to the end, even if it involves trudging around in snow.

"It's the best lead we've got, so yeah."

Though of course waiting for the next clue to fall in their laps isn't exactly a good use of time, either.

"Gotta be someone around here who might've seen something."

"Lovely," she muttered in a tone that said she very much thought otherwise. Clucking her tongue, she looked around them at the snowy wasteland. Snow and not much else. Save for...

"Might I suggest we ask that man there? He appears to have fishing supplies which would suggest he may have seen something."

Not that she was going to actually wait for Gabriel. She wasn't his subordinate anymore. Really they were actually equals in her time so she had no reason to wait for his okay on the matter. Moira was going to go talk to this fisherman with or without him.

"A good day to you," she said in greeting, nodding her head to the man who nodded his head politely back to her. "We are looking for someone who might have been in this area."

With that, she provided the description of Magda. Immediately, the man's eyes lit up with recognition before he pointed to the middle of the lake. "Wanted to know how to navigate a boat in fog on open water. Told 'im a thing or two. Best waters around here are that lake. Left my boat there so you can use that. Not sure what you'll bother with but best return my boat when you're done."

From her pockets, she pulled out some coin for his troubles then looked to Gabriel. "I believe we have a boat to catch."

Gabriel's in general agreement with her, but he manages to keep a lid on his most egregious complaints. They're black ops agents--if they can't manage to track down one guy, well, perhaps they've lost their touch. If he acknowledges her taking action without receiving any orders, he doesn't show it. It doesn't seem appropriate for him to act as a commander in this scenario, especially because he's still navigating the new terms of their relationship.

Difficult to do, given the fact that he's working with half the information (or perhaps even less), but Gabriel knows how to hide any uncertainty.

He lets Moira do the talking, acting very much the bodyguard as the exchange takes place, all the while scrutinizing for anything that might be off. When the man offers the boat, he supposes it's their best shot, and he nods.

"We'll bring it back in one piece."

That, unfortunately, is not a guarantee, but hey. He'll do his best.

Did she lift a brow at him saying that they would bring the boat back in one piece? Oh yes. Because she knew there was no guarantee about that. Which was something to be said more about him than her really. Still, the bodyguard thing was a nice touch. Even if the man didn't need to know that it was unnecessary. It wasn't like they advertised that she could be just as deadly as the man behind her.

Still once they were out of earshot, she glanced to Gabriel before looking ahead again. "We'll have to see if there are any clues in the water. That seems the most logical location. Perhaps he tossed it in there."

Which would mean someone was going to have to go in after it.

Spoilers: It wasn't going to be her and she just hadn't informed him of that fact yet.

If they destroy the boat, there's no reason for them to go back to the fisherman--vanishing is something that Gabriel is good at, after all. He supposes it's possible that the fisherman is well-connected to the Nadril equivalent of the mob, perhaps, but he can deal with hired thugs, too.

"We should've asked for scuba gear."

Gabriel says that with some measure of sarcasm, but he can see where this is going. Once they're out on the water, he hopes the hiding spot might become obvious, but it seems like he's in for a dive. The boat's easy to find, at least, and he takes a few moments to give it a cursory inspection before gesturing for Moira to board.

"After you."

"We will have to find a way to manage without."

Stepping onto the boat, she settled herself and drew the collar of her coat up around her neck some more. It could get cold in Ireland but nothing quite like this. At least she had a scarf and gloves to keep her warm.

"I will look for the glow. Hopefully it hasn't died out completely."

If it had that would make this remarkably challenging.

"Or that the water isn't too deep."

It doesn't matter how much light the thing gives off if they can't see it. Gabriel is already starting to think they might be a little ill-prepared for this, at least equipment-wise. Still, he's good at improvising, and it's not like they're combing the entire ocean for the thing.

"I take it you're not the one going for a swim."

Studying the environment around her, she looked for clues that could point toward something that would suggest where the thing had been left. It was for that reason that she didn't actually answer Gabriel. It took a remarkable amount of concentration to make sure her eyes could see what they needed to.

So she squinted, leaning over the edge of the boat while she looked until.

Moira pointed. "There. That must be it."

It was the faintest of glows. Almost coming and going. However, it was definitely in the water. "Come here. You will see it better," she said, waving her hand to have him come next to her.

Gabriel, meanwhile, handles the actual operation of the boat. It’s a little worse for the wear, but the bottom of it isn’t filling up with water, so he imagines they’ll be fine for the duration of the (hopefully) short excursion. As he’s handling the steering, he lets Moira look for the damn thing, and he has to admit he’s slightly surprised when she actually sees something in the dark, cold water.

He cuts the motor and circles the boat to bring it to a stop.

“You sure?”

Perhaps he’s just stalling a little because he doesn’t want to get in the water, but despite its faintness, he can see the glow as well. That’s good—hopefully that means it’s not too deep. Doesn’t make him any more excited to go diving.

“Seems like a pretty haphazard way to dispose of it.”

At least throw it in the ocean, or something.

"Haphazard or not, it's successful if we don't fetch it quickly."

She looked at it again then looked at him. And his stalling. Then sighed heavily and, without any warning at all, shoved him over the edge of the boat into the water. She certainly wasn't getting in and she could handle any medical concerns later.

Besides, he has an enhanced soldier body. Clearly he was the one getting the thing.

Gabriel knows it’s coming, but he shouts anyway as she pushes him off the side of the boat, the shock of the cold water not at all dampened by his enhanced abilities. He disappears for a long moment, then breaks the surface, sputtering and treading water.

The longer he drags this out, the longer his recovery period will be, but he needs a real lungful of air before he goes looking, and he wants to address one important thing, just in case she thought she was getting away with this.

“You could’ve let me take off my shoes.”

"The more time you complain, the more time you spend in the water."

She clearly had no sympathy for him. Not even a little bit. In fact, she maybe looked a little bit amused by his current plight. Maybe. (She definitely did.)

"Take a good breath before diving in now."

It's already fairly frigid, even for a super soldier slash expert black ops agent like himself, so he's disinclined to argue. Treading water will only keep his blood flowing for so long, and though he's less likely to tire than an ordinary human, he'll most certainly freeze first.

So, of course she's right, but Gabriel offers her one of his very best scowls before he takes a deep breath and plunges back under.

The lake isn't deep, thankfully, and even with the lack of goggles, he's able to see the bottom. He has the light source to thank for that, and Gabriel wastes no time in diving for it, though his soggy clothes and boots don't necessarily make his job any easier. Still, with a few good pushes he reaches the bottom, unearthing the item from its place half-sunken into the sediment.

It's not too heavy, thankfully, and he manages to grab it and kick off from the bottom of the lake in one fluid motion, gasping for air as soon as he breaks the surface.

"Give me a hand with this thing."

Her eyes watched the water for signs of him until he finally surfaced. She was going to have to focus on warming him up as soon as possible but for now she felt she could at least rely on his super soldier modifications. Though she was making a note to spray him down with some of her biotic spray now and then to be sure that he'd at least survive until they could get him fully warmed and dry.

Despite all that, she had no regrets. It had gotten him in the water and their prize faster.

Reaching down, she helped to haul the thing into the boat and worked to get it safely situated and looked it over to see if she could dry it enough for it to keep working. For now it looked like they'd be able to bring it back functional. For how long that would last wasn't clear yet.

"Once you're out of the water I will spray you down. It should help a little until we can get you dried off."

With Moira's help, he hefts everything into the boat and follows suit quickly. He's not about to push his luck, not in the hypothermia department, but also in the 'things lurking beneath them' department as well. The sooner they can get out of here, the better.

As soon as the air hits him, he starts to shiver--but his years of field experience mean he knows the proper protocol for something like this. Moira's biotics will help, but sitting around in cold wet clothes will only cause him to freeze faster.

He starts with the boots, unceremoniously dumping them in Moira's personal space as revenge.

She gave him a look that said she thought he was quite childish. All the same, she did at least look through the boat for something wrap him up in. What she found wasn't quite a blanket but it would work for the time being. At least the dry cloth would help fight against the wind.

Handing that to him, she sprayed him down with some of the biotic energy to fix the cells that would be harmed by the icy water. They would at least continue to heal a little while longer until they could get back.

And then she focused on making sure the device still seemed to be working.

"Get us back to shore. We will want to get his back quickly."

The first boot enters her vicinity without much pretense, though he does upend the second and let it drain water out into the boat before he tosses that one her way as well. Her biotic emitter warms immediately warms him, but he's shaking as he strips off his wet shirt and then starts up the boat's motor once again.

"Well? What've we got?"

She gave him such a look for the boots and then promptly threw the boat blanket onto his head. Such childish actions. Honestly.

"It looks like it can at least be taken apart to be salvaged. I think it's mostly destroyed at this point though."

"Well, I'll leave that to you."

It's the least she can do, he thinks, after he jumped into a frigid lake to retrieve this thing.

"There is little I can do other than dry what I can. They will have to figure this out for themselves."

An engineer she was not. Yes she'd built her Biotic Grasp but that was not nearly the same thing as this. This would involve a specialty of another kind.

"Wrap yourself up, would you? It will at least help trap your body heat more than just sitting there."

"Fair enough."

But of course Gabriel is inclined to agree--their task was to find the thing, not to make sure it still works. Getting it to function would mostly be so Gabriel could decide whether or not to steal it. He's happy enough to hand it over otherwise, especially if it's broken.

He reaches out with one hand for the blanket and maneuvers it over his shoulders. Once he's sufficiently covered, he fumbles around a little underneath until he emerges with his soaking wet pants.

Those are also deposited in the middle of the boat.

"Take everything off. It will be better in the long run."

And it wasn't like she cared if he was naked in front of her or not. She did care if he froze to death though. Ironic since she was the one who shoved him in the water to begin with but that was something else entirely. Obviously.

"I will wring what water I can out."

They would deal with the rest later.

“Yeah, I’m on it.”

Gabriel wiggles around and grunts a little more before he emerges with his boxer shorts. Those go on the pile of wet clothes as well. He doesn’t feel much warmer, but at least he’s wet and won’t have to worry about hypothermia. Mostly. Probably he’s going to need something warm to drink as soon as they’re back indoors, but it seems his whining has subsided for now.

She waited until absolutely everything was off of him before wringing water out over the side of the boat. No point in having even more in there with them. This cold air wasn't going to do a thing to dry them at this point but at least they wouldn't have the excess water in them to make matters worse.

"Once we're inside I want you to let me look for signs of frostbite."

So she could get that taken care of immediately.

It helps, but of course it's no substitute for being out of the cold. Still, Gabriel Reyes has weathered much worse in his time, and he's fairy certain he's not frostbitten.

"I think I'm all right."

Hypothermia is the more pressing issue, but he thinks they've got a handle on that as well.

"Are you my doctor now?"

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