smooth criminal

“I’m going to be honest, here. I really don’t know what to tell you,” Jacob chewed on his lip for a half second while the gears in his head tried to come up with a solution for the person. “I’m not exactly sure why you’d come to me with this problem. I can name 10 actual agents who would handle this better than I would.”

“Well, I’m sorry, it wasn’t really a choice, more of a convenience decision,” She quipped, gesturing to the lack of others around. “Will they know it was me?” she asked, her eye glancing back to the simulation training room she had just phased through. In her exploration of the facilities she had learned about the simulation rooms, finding them locked she had used her abilities to sneak in, but wasn’t prepared for how difficult it would be. In an attempt to stop it she had phased through the control room, not knowing it would fry the system. “Can you help at all? Or just tell me who I need to talk to?”

closed starter// @danixlarson

it was late, and noah was feeling extra helpful that day. not really, she just got bored, so noah decided to take on another shift at the hospital. and besides, the inflow of agents wasn’t very bad that day, just a couple she could count with her fingers, so she figured she didn’t have to do lots of work anyway. Just as she was about to call it a night, and head home to her sweet, sweet bed, a girl stumbled in. when noah said stumbled, she meant it as literally as she could. the girl was pretty beat up, what the hell was she doing before this? noah thought. “miss, miss, come sit here,” noah gestured to the bed, “god, what did you get yourself into?” she asked as she examined the girl’s wounds. 

Dani had gotten over zealous in her first training session, it was easy when nothing could hit you. It led her to investigate the simulation rooms, unsupervised. She had pressed her luck, and gotten overwhelmed, and had been at the mercy of the machines until she was able to phase her way out of the room. She managed a small nod of greeting towards the doctor as she made to to the bed indicated, clutching it as if her life depended on it. It wasn’t until Dani was safely on the bed did she speak, “I got stuck in a training room, stupid equipment that is. It’s ridiculous that they can get so violent.”

Arden laughed, shrugging her shoulders. “I suppose it can be.” She slowed to a stop as Dani spoke, turning her body to face her. Arden’s eyebrows pulled together, unsure of what the problem was. “Dani, it’s fine. I just want to learn to control myself. Dr. Hunter seems..” She started, only to be cut off by Dani demanding her not to become a ‘lab rat.’ She looked down, chewing at her lip as she rolled over to do what Dani asked. “Maybe you’re right.. Dr. Hunter seems nice but.. you’ve never led me astray before, right?” She smiled weakly. 

Dani had slowed to a halt, her body rigid as she face Arden. Arden. The one person on the planet that Dani would put before herself without hesitation. Arden, the closest thing to family Dani had ever known. Arden, the person who was seriously considering being tested on. It baffled Dani, it angered her, it scared her. Dani had only had a tiny taste of what these type of organizations could be capable of, and she didn’t trust any of them. “Yes, of course I’m right. That’s crazy, crazy stupid Arden, you can’t do that. You don’t need to be tested, you’re just fine the way you are.” Dani hesitated for a moment, furrowing her brows, before she pulled the blonde into another embrace, “No, and I won’t ever, you just can’t do that okay? Please promise me you won’t? I just got here I don’t need to be stressed about you and me,” Dani laughed, pulling away.

Lewis rolled his eyes. “You want to talk to me about respect when you literally invaded my personal space? I pity whoever gets to train you, kid.” He hoped he wouldn’t be partnered with her on any missions because there was no way he’d be able to concentrate with someone like her nagging at him. “Training center? It’s not too far up ahead, just keep going and don’t walk through people.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, it was a reaction, defensive. It was your fault too, bud,” Dani quipped. “I won’t have to if they don’t walk ‘round corners blind, but I’ll try and not spook anymore fragile hearts around here.”

“I didn’t mean to startle you, sorry,” Ira apologized, aware of how little he liked to be startled. He was anxious and paranoid enough for everyone there, so it was strangle and a little disconcerting for him the person to do the startling. As he watched her hand pass through the fabric of her bag as if it were merely an illusion, he blinked a few times and physically moved away from her by a foot. “If you wanted them enough to take them from someone, then you must have some inclination to want them. Thank you, but you keep them. Or give them back to the person you took them from. I’ve never met a person who just had a pack of cigarettes on them that didn’t want them.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it, I just wan’t paying attention,” Dani waved off the apology. With his movement her eyes were drawn back towards him, and she studied him, a habit when meeting new people. “No really, I don’t,” she managed a chuckle, “I don’t, just took them because they were free, and I’m new here, so I don’t have a whole lot. When I came from they were worth a good bit to have on you to trade.”

Ethan simply shrugged at that, “What can I say? I’ve always been a good little soldier, never been the kind to go barking orders at others,” He could, but that didn’t mean he wanted to. His role was much more holistic in the recruitment process, he was supposed to butter people up and make them want to join. The order barking fell to the trainers and higher ups. He scoffed in amusement, “Alright, well you let me know when you know. In the mean time, where d’you need to go? I can show you what’s what around here.”

Dani raised her brows and nodded as he spoke. She hardly ever followed orders, guidelines, or even suggestions. Being told what to do just wasn’t her style, maybe it was immature, but it was how she had survived up until now. “I need to get supplies, and then pick up some stuff at the training center I think... Probably eat at some point, this hellhole has food places, right?”

Arden laughed, smirking a very rare smirk, pleased to have made Dani laugh genuinely.  She shrugged, not minding the whole suburban town cover. “I don’t think it’s so bad. It’s kind of cool, like you said.” She shrugged once more, not seeing how fucked the whole idea of testing. “Yeah, people try to improve their grasp on their abilities and their limitations. At least that’s what Dr. Hunter says. She seems nice. I’ve been thinking about doing it, myself.”

“It can be cool and creepy at the same time,” she replied. Even every ounce of her self-control couldn’t stop Dani from rolling her eyes as Arden began to explain on the testing, she would have quipped something back dripping with sarcasm, if the blondes final statement had not made Dani prickle, “What?” She blinked for a moment, “No, no. Arden no. Don’t do that, don’t do any of that bullshit. You’d be a lab rat! No. You can not do that, promise me you won’t do that.”

He was going to talk to someone today. 

Ira had been at the compound for a few weeks, but the overwhelm from the size and population of the compound was enough to keep him either shut up in a room or sit so quietly in a corner that no one would notice him. Instinct told him that he preferred it that way, but he’d been alone for so long and now he finally had an unsupervised opportunity to make a friend. Old habits died hard and his social skills were definitely stunted, but after a solid week of trying to get himself to say a word to a stranger that looked nice, a full sentence managed to leave his mouth. “I-I don’t suppose you have a cigarette, do you? Or know where I could get some?” His heart pounded in his chest nervously, but he celebrated his small victory in his head. He didn’t have to be alone anymore.

People watching was one of Dani’s hobbies, and since she was in a totally new environment, she indulged in it. She had been so focused watched a group of people across the way, that she hadn’t noticed someone next to her. The sudden presence cause her to jump, just slightly, “Oh shit,” she looked over to him, her brain processing his question, “Uh, yeah, maybe, I think.” Dani leaned down, reaching her hand for her bag, simply phasing her hand through the side. She searched for a moment before pulling her hand back out, a pack and lighter in hand, “Here, you can actually have them. I don’t smoke myself much, I just swip-uh, got them from someone else who didn’t want them,” Dani shrugged as she held them out. 

He hummed to himself for a moment, “I mean, I’m pretty sure that they do a whole orientation for new staff on site. They certainly did when I first showed up here,” Not that he’d truly needed it, essentially growing up around here thanks to the involvement of his parents in The Company. He tapped his chin, but then laughed heartily at her question, “Good god no. No way,” He quickly answered, “I don’t run anything here. I’m just one of the recruiters.” He caught that look she gave him too, and he gave her a coy smirk, “See something you like or’re you trying to figure out how to take me out?” 

Dani rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore his comment on orientation. She knew she probably should have waited around for the tour, but she just couldn't stand the person giving it. Dani managed a smirk, and even a small laugh when he responded, “I thought so, you didn’t seem like the type, but I don’t exactly know what to expect here.” She shrugged, not tearing her eyes away immediately before shamelessly answering, “I’m not too sure yet, still figuring it out, I’ll let you know though, maybe, depending on the outcome.”

Something about the girl rubbed him the wrong way. His already festering irritation surged as she kept talking. The habit of referring to people younger than him - since she clearly was - tended to surface around people like Rae, and he hadn’t been able to stop himself from using the term. “Stop picking fights with your superiors and maybe I will,” Lewis said, the grin that he sent her verging on condescending. The grin vanished in seconds, however. “No, it’s not, believe me. But unlike you, I’m not used to be walked through like I’m working in the Haunted Mansion, so cut me some slack if I’m a little surprised. And I already told you, I was distracted and I apologize. Where are you even trying to get to?”

“Superior? You?” she scoffed once more, “That’s the card you pull? Hilarious. I don’t give a shit who you are, you don’t get respect if you don’t give it.” Dani couldn’t help but smirk, she enjoyed messing with others, and he was slowly making it on to her list of people to remember for when she got bored. “The training center, I think. I need an orientation before I meet with my first trainer I guess, I don’t know. No one tells me anything useful here so far.”

He hefted a shrug from his shoulders,·“We’ll agree to disagree there,” He was a graduate who had loved college, even though his degree had sweet fa to do with his current line of work,·“Me? Just some guy you knocked into, who also knows where all of those things are,” He pointed at her map to one of the buildings, then pointed to the one in front of them,·“To help you get your bearings, that building is this one. Even though it _says _Elementary School it’s not, but it looks like one. Easier to tell someone to go there than the training facility. I guess this is all left over from when it was super secret 50s juju and they re-purposed the lot.”

Dani scoffed, rolling her eyes. Deep down, she probably would have liked to go to college, but it would have never been in the cards for her, she technically lacked a high school diploma as well. She squinted her eyes down at the map as he pointed, explaining the confusing legend, “Oh, they should put signs or something, how do they expect anyone new to figure this out?” Probably the tour you ditched, Dani waved the thought away, looking back up at him, “Uh, thanks. Whats your job here, you’re not in charge or anything, right?” she didn’t peg him as an authority man, but she had been wrong before, she also took the time to glance over him. It was a habit, she did to everyone she met, to size them up, and to see if they had any valuable to ‘borrow’.

“You know what? That’s not true. I also organize my sock drawer.” Arden laughed. She nodded. “Yeah, since this used to be like a military bomb shelter town thing, it was designed to look like a town even though everything wasn’t really as it seemed.” She shrugged, not seeing the problem with it. “Not very often unless you work with one of the geneticists to improve your power scientifically. You’ll probably have to have an initial testing soon, just to get you in the system and all that.”

It took Lewis a couple of moments to realize that the other was phasing through him and he jerked away with a yelp, staggering back with his eyes blown wide. “The hell?” Sure, there were strange mutants within the compound with this was a new one. “Kid, if you needed someone to show you around you could’ve just asked! And I did apologize, okay? Didn’t see you before you…walked through me.” God, how was this his life?

Despite her anger, Dani smirked at his reaction, it never got old to her. People always reacted in different ways when she showed her power, some reacted with fear, anger, shock, one time a lady tried shouting latin prayers at her after she accidentally phased into the wrong apartment. The amusement quickly dissipated as he continued, “Hey, don’t call me kid. I’m well into adulthood, and it is really patronizing,” she snapped. “Maybe I would have asked if I wasn’t so busy trying to dodge you lumbering around the corner! Besides, if you work here that cannot be the weirdest thing you’ve seen.”

Lewis huffed out a breath as he walked down the hall, heading to train. He hadn’t slept in twenty-four hours, thanks to the night terrors he’d had the previous night, so he wasn’t in the mood for any shenanigans or mistakes. All he wanted to do was shoot something. Of course, no sooner had he thought this when he rounded the corner and ran into someone, nearly knocking them over as he struggled not to trip. “Sorry!” The words came out a little harsher than he’d intended. “Sorry, didn’t see you there. What’s the rush anyways? There a fire or something?”

Dani held the map she had been given earlier in the day in her hand tightly, her eyes scanning for any indication of where she should go next. She had just glanced up as she rounded the corner, but it was almost too late, she started to collide, their bodies meeting for just a moment before she shifted, almost as a reflex. “Jesus,” Dani grumbled as she phased through him effortlessly, turning on her heel to face him after, “You should be, whats with everyone here running into everyone?! That is the third time today it’s happened, and I’ve not even been there eight hours!  I’m just trying to not get lost here,” she waved the little piece of paper in front of her.

Arden laughed, bumping her shoulder with Dani’s. She nodded, continuing on their tour. “Basically, though I wouldn’t cause any problems myself, but you know me.” She pointed to the next building. “That’s the ‘high school.’ That’s the lab and tech headquarters. You go there for non-medical testing and when you go on missions, you go to there for tech for the missions.”

“Yeah, you’re Ms. No fun, unless it involves baking and making color coded flashcards,” Dani teased back at her sister. “Oh, okay, that makes more sense, they all had double names, I didn’t realize they were like, secret names.” She nodded, however she scrunched her face at the though of non-medical testing, “Do you have to go there often?”

“Oh, you’re making me blush.” Arden smiled, deciding to drop her next sentiment. Dani knew how much Arden loved her, she didn’t need to beat it into her brain. She laughed, trying to be nice. “It wasn’t that bad, I promise!” She beamed, mind already working to figure out Dani’s living space. Maybe she could talk to Rae about painting a mural. Arden laughed, smiling as she started to walk. “Alright, so this one,” pointing to the building next to them, “is often referred to as the Court House. Think administrative stuff. It’s where all the higher ups work, and people that deal with PR and office things.”

“I try,” Dani chuckled. She rolled her eyes, moving along aside her sister, “Okay, I was there for a few minutes, its where I gave Mr. Talks-a-lot the slip,” she smiled, “So basically avoid that until I want to make a mess of things, correct?”