nysalogs | ( closed )

[ While 76 may not be here because of the earning potential, he realizes that he's probably the odd one out. That being said, he wouldn't have expected Alan here to be the sort of person who'd be that set on money. Not that he knows him particularly well, but let's just say it had been a feeling.

Still, it isn't any skin off of his back to draw this out a little for the sake of putting on a good show. As it is, he's already been pulling his punches so he doesn't knock Alan flat on his ass too early into the fight.

They end up in a grapple, 76's gloved hands gripped tight around Alan's biceps. The man is a little larger than him, but it wouldn't be hard for 76 to toss him over his shoulder if that's what the crowd wants. ]

Didn't really come here to act, y'know.

[ In other words, he's only going to put up with the charade for so long. ]

[ The money helps, but it's more the pleasure of getting it off a rigged system. He's moving on after this, just to be a calm spectator, chat to the other refugees. But first, the old one-two. ]

[ Can't say he doesn't miss not holding back much on the punches. ]

I know.

[ He can't elbow the man in the gut, but he can move backwards and slam him against the edge of the cage. ]

[ That's more like it. 76 makes a low growling side behind the visor as his back jars against the metal bars, his grip tightening on Alan as he braces himself to turn things around.

No one ever said they had to fight fair. If anything, a place like this would probably encourage them doing whatever it took to win.

Again, 76 isn't aiming to incapacitate Alan, but he jams his knee up toward his gut to get him to back off.

Let's see what you can do. ]

[ Let's see what happens. He takes the hit and the crowd cheers. Bruce feigns the groan — pain can be fought. Pain isn't the point. He holds out, it'll take one more well-placed blow to let go and get back in the ring to circling. ]

[ It would be impossible to tell from the crowd, but that groan sounds forced. 76 knows because he's punched enough people, and been punched enough times, to tell the difference. So Alan knows how to take a hit. Not surprising.

It signals to 76 that he can push a little harder, though, and he capitalizes on the opening that the first blow gave him, lunging forward to swing his fist at Alan's jaw. ]

[ He's intending to lose, though he doesn't quite bank on how hard he's hit — just the familiar taste of blood in his mouth. Bruce crumples, making it look like he's struggling to stand for the requisite time, then takes the fall. ]

[ Someone comes in to separate them, carry him out of the arena. He just grimaces a bloodied grin at 76. ]

Not bad.

[ Ana watches. She's a masked figure, her arms folded across her chest, still and calm amidst the increasingly fervent crowd. It was a good show. She wouldn't have thought Alan was such a showman, or that Jack would be willing to play along.

She's not concerned about either of them, even when Alan goes down.

Jack will meet her at their agreed upon rendezvous point. It's Alan whose attention she needs to catch. She wants him to follow her. ]

[ Fancy seeing her here. Bruce straightens, figures out what injuries he wants to show in his body language, and follows her. ]

I've got a line about a lady like you being in a place like this.

[ Also just used it. Deal with that. ]

[ Oh, she's sure he has a line for everything.

Dryly: ] You mean in the crowd, instead of in the ring? I didn't want to show you up.

[ Once he falls into step, she leads the way towards a back exit. One of many, in a place like this. ]

Remember the partner I told you about? I think it's time you meet him properly.

Edited 2017-10-07 14:25 (UTC)

[ No shame getting beat by a woman. Diana exists, after all. ]

Must be my lucky day. Lay on, Macduff.

Try not to get punched this time.

[ Ana heads up to their rendezvous point: a nearby bar. It's not that they need to be secretive about moving around together. Ana had just expected to leave the fight club at some point if it proved to be nothing extremely dangerous to Jack, or if any shadowy figures turned up to offer silver while he was preoccupied. Any number of interesting opportunities could have come up for Jack as well. It was simpler to have somewhere to find each other again before morning.

Jack has already picked a shadowed corner for himself, and Ana settles in across from him, motioning for Alan to sit beside her. ]

Alan is the friend I was telling you about, 76. I see you two are already acquainted.

[ While 76's fight with Alan had been little more than a farce, there's no denying that some of his other bouts had been far more intense. There's some dried blood around his hairline and he's certainly been through the wringer. He'll need to air his jacket out whenever they make it back to Olympia proper, if he doesn't want Ana to fuss at him about stinking up their living space.

He hadn't been expecting Ana to bring Alan along with her to their meeting spot, though it isn't something to get worked up over. The bar had been a point of convenience; this doesn't compromise anything. ]

Hey.

[ He nods to the other side of the booth, motioning for both of them to take a seat. ]

We met back up on the station, yeah.

We did.

[ He casts Ana a curious look, but nothing to suggest he thought this was some kind of ambush. Whatever else she might be, she's a straight shooter. ]

Are we getting drinks?

We probably should if, we are going to stick around.

[ Ana doesn't try to signal someone. They'll come around in their own time, and she's in no hurry to pay for a beer she won't drink. ]

Do either of you want a shot? [ She's not talking about alcohol. ] I don't want anyone bleeding out or coughing up their kidneys at the table.

Edited 2017-10-09 15:50 (UTC)

[ He wouldn't mind one. His body has taken one hell of a beating — Bruce prefers his bruises. Doesn't mind a little pain. ]

If you can spare one.

Don't waste your goods on me, I'll be fine.

[ 76 shouldn't have to explain. Ana knows just how fast he can heal, and while he's definitely been battered and bruised, none of the wounds are severe enough to merit Ana using one of her shots on him.

He raises an eyebrow at Alan, over the visor. ]

So did your little act get you what you wanted?

[ Silver, he means. ]

I cashed out.

[ The smile Jack gets is cold. It disappears as he finds an equilibrium and settles comfortably into this little triangle. ]

[ Ana slides a cartridge out of her belt. ]

Hm. It must be true what they say about people similar personalities.

[ She stabs Alan in the stomach with it. It's a quick gesture, under the table where no one will notice. The needle and cartridge disintegrate in her hand, but the job is done. The shot itself is nearly painless and he should be feeling better already.

As for Jack, she can argue with him when they get home, if it turns out that she has to.

She leans her elbow on the table, and props her chin against the heel of her palm. ]

Do you need to take them out to measure? I can wait some more.

[ Ana seems to think that he and Alan are similar, but Jack doesn't know enough about the other man to make that assessment either way. He's pretty sure he wouldn't fake an entertaining fight just for the money, for one thing. He'd gone along with it because it'd been a (fairly) harmless request.

It doesn't matter, though. He watches the quick process of Ana administering the injection. A bar might be a strange place to do such a thing, but it's effective enough.

A server comes by soon after, though 76 doesn't order anything. He isn't willing to take his visor off here.

He grunts under his breath at Ana's comment. ]

It isn't about that. There a reason you wanted us to meet?

[ There is — overlap. Bruce doesn't probe deeply into the meshwork of Jack's soul — he sees violence there. The same way he himself is predicated on it. ]

[ There's no value in building kinship with that kind of soul — it's nothing to do with Jack or Bruce's individual personability, it's that they'd work well together, but the magnetism of that violence is often repellent rather than understanding. (there's Bucky, for understanding, if Bruce wants it) ]

Same question.

[ Another man would wink. Bruce simply studies her as he catalogues the effectiveness of the shot and feels a little better, physically. ]

Aside from the entertainment value?

[ Ana orders a coffee, and when the server finally leaves them she does remove her mask. She's shielded between two much larger men, and the low light of the bar casts generous shadows.

The details of what they do and how they move through the world are different, but Ana thinks of the two of them in broad strokes. They're good men who can't stop punishing themselves because they don't know how to be anything else. ]

I'm going to have to disappoint you this time. [ Ana shrugs. ] I suppose I wanted to give you a reason to trust each other. Enough to work together, when there's a need for it.

I'm not Gabriel, I don't know how every card is going to be played, but I know when to begin stacking a deck in my favor. We need allies. [ She glances at Alan. ] And you need friends.

Edited 2017-10-15 00:12 (UTC)

[ Violence has been a part of Jack's life since he was young, yes, but he wouldn't say he'd truly embraced it until the last few years. He'd been head of a peacekeeping organization, after all. It had been heavily militarized for what it was, but all the same, they'd been fighting in hopes that eventually that fighting would end.

The point is, these days he would be open to working with someone who wouldn't necessarily hold him back from those newer violent tendencies.

Ana seems to think he and Alan would work well together, and Jack isn't about to question her judgment. If she trusts this Alan, then that must mean he's been reliable.

The moment that she says the name "Gabriel," 76's back goes straight and his shoulders stiffen. Ana's much more willing to speak of him as he used to be, and Jack still isn't used to it. ]

Fair enough. [ He turns to regard Alan, and the whole setup feels a little too much like when he'd interview potential recruits. ] What have you been doing since we arrived in Olympia?

[ Hey, if anyone wants to approach their work with a little extra... zeal, Bruce is not going to voice complaint. His box of rage issues is tightly closed and kept, but it has to be let out. ]

[ Besides, he already knows he and 76 can function as a unit. No questions about Gabriel. Not yet. ]

I'm a vigilante.

[ A deliberate side-step of the question. The methodology of that work will speak for itself. He glances at Ana. He promised her the story someday, but here is pieces of it. ]

What about you?

[ 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. ]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject