nysalogs | ( closed )

[ It's not an accident that she uses his name, though she regrets making Jack tense up like that. It's just the way she thinks of him, even now. Gabriel had been a part of her life for much longer than his absence had been. She couldn't possibly build a wall around every space he had once occupied. She doesn't pretend that he's a good man these days, but she can't let the Reaper be the only truth of him that's left.

She lets the moment pass without comment.

She looks back at Alan. His answer reads as some measure of the truth, even if it's not a direct. It checks out. ]

I think we all have that in common. Your outfit needs some work, though. It's a little underwhelming.

[ She leaves the questions to Jack. This is his interrogation - she knows what she needs to know already, even if there are plenty of questions she wants to answer. ]

[ Alan comes out with it, just like that. It's not the sort of thing that's easily mentioned in casual conversation, but this is more than that. Ana's doing a good job of defusing the tension inherent in the situation. 76 doesn't have a problem with Alan, but his general distrust of people means that it's a process to establish any kind of alliance. ]

Most of what I did back home is a moot point now. [ That's been a burden to bear on its own, as both he and Ana have worked to figure out their place in this new land. ] Vigilantism might be romanticizing it a little. [ "Terrorist" might not be quite right either, though. ]

I'm guessing you have your reasons for staying away from the guard. You'd rather work on your own terms?

[ 76 had struggled with that question, but had ultimately decided to give the guard a try. It hasn't forced him to compromise anything so far, so he's stuck with it. ]

[ His answering smile is wry. This isn't the face his enemies know. ]

Oh, you really don't want to meet me in a dark alley.

[ They are threats to each other. Every piece of the truth is not given easily. But nothing says they can't be a little playful, and circle. ]

[ He nods to 76. ]

There're plenty who'd say the same of me.

[ Criminal, one-man reign of terror, the headlines get more garish whenever he checks back. It just means that the law in both worlds has cracks, and people fall through it. ]

I never answered to anyone. [ To his conscience — though look where that got him. Alfred. ] I don't intend to start now.

[ Ana returns the smile, nearly a mirror. ] Well, there goes my plan for our next tea date.

[ She files the information beside what she already knows to be true, or partly true. Vigilantes don't generally have good reputations, but some are worse than others.

It takes a certain measure of distrust to operate outside of the law. A certain failure at the foundation of something most people still believe in.

The waitress brings her coffee, signaling a quick break in the conversation. When she goes, Ana indulges her own curiosity. ] Why work outside the law to begin with?

[ Simply, ]

Law doesn't mean justice.

[ Gotham is a nightmare to most. Corrupt officials, monsters in every shape and form. The man who murdered his family was never found or brought to trial. ]

[ Jack, on the other hand, has answered to plenty of people. Even as strike commander, he'd been forced to cater to the whims and desires of the UN, of world leaders, the list went on and on. Trying not to step on toes while also making attempts to cause real change had been like walking a tight rope at times.

With Alan, on the other hand, it seems like he's always functioned outside of the law. Jack isn't going to judge it. He knows all too well how much bureaucracy and red tape can slow things down.

On the other hand, one person can only do so much.

Alan's answer sounds like something McCree might say. ]

And you think it's the same here as it is back home. That those in charge can't be trusted.

[ He probably isn't wrong. ]

When are they ever?

[ It's generic, as an answer, but he doesn't need or want to justify distrust. The Orbiters have delivered on their promises to him so far, so he's cooperating. It's an arrangement that works, and besides, he doesn't think powerful beings like them are especially concerned with what people think of them. ]

We were the ones in charge not long ago.

[ It's not entirely true. She and Jack and the rest of Overwatch had been heavily influenced by the UN and worked under their regulations. The problem had been that they thought they were in control of something that had stopped being theirs a long time before they realized it. Still.

Ana sips her coffee. ] You can justify a lot more when there's no one to answer to, whether it's from a position of power or not.

Edited 2017-10-29 20:07 (UTC)

[ You can be a lot more defiant from a position of security. His family's wealth protects almost everything — Bruce runs his company with the same ruthlessness the Batman haunts the streets with. ]

I think the equation changes when there's this much power involved.

[ The power that means cryotubes for miles. ]

[ 76's head snaps toward Ana when she makes that comment. How much has she told Alan about them? She knows his discomfort with revealing much of anything about himself, but it's not something they need to get into now. He can assume that she kept things vague, if she'd said anything at all before now. ]

We're also talking about two different things here. There's the Orbiters and the Empress and her guard.

[ He leans back in his seat and crosses his arms, the closest he can get to unwinding in the current situation. ]

[ Ana nods - trust me - the gesture so small it may as well be invisible, but she knows Jack can read her as easily as she reads him. She's been vague about her involvement, and hasn't mentioned Jack at all, but now that they're all here they need to know what they're working with. ]

I think we can all agree on the Orbiters, but they're further out of our reach.

[ He glances between them, and takes a sip of the water. ]

So what do we think of the Empress?

There's a lot of rumors about her. That she used to be the king's lover, but she took over his rule and he ended up dead. The people love her, though, so make of that what you will.

[ There could be a lot of different things going on there. Maybe the king had been a cruel ruler, so the people had been all too glad to accept their new empress. Or maybe they don't speak ill of her because they're scared of the consequences. 76 hasn't been able to get an audience to find out for himself, no surprise there. ]

A coup seems like the obvious conclusion. I'm curious about who else might have been involved, and to what ends.

[ They don't know enough about the way the nobles move in this particular city to draw any conclusions. ]

We might only find those answers on the other side.

Wyver, you mean? [ 76 shrugs one shoulder. ] Could be, but we haven't had any reliable access to it so far. [ They've been living in a bit of a bubble. Even getting access to the beach was an event. ]

So that begs the question.

[ He looks from Ana to 76. ]

Are we going to share?

[ Some things need to be explicit. ]

[ Ana looks at Jack. ] That was my intention.

[ Share information, Jack assumes. That had been the idea from the start, and he's already made motions in that direction. He didn't have to mention what he knew about the Empress, for instance.

So after a pause, and sharing that glance with Ana, he nods. ]

Works for me.

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