BRAVO ZERO NINE EIGHT

Her face holds steady, if anything, a slight caution on her painted lips. Is she upset? The woman can’t tell. And more over, she’s certainly not going to let Marcus know what she’s thinking, not in the moments of venerability that threaten to spill out between them. No, her legs with stay crossed, hands resting on the white leather, eyes pointedly looking at him. He’s not a people reader, Anthea knows that, and even if he was, he’d have to be a Holmes to figure out what she’s thinking.

‘I see.’ It’s not as icy as she’d like it to have been, but it’s just confirmation of receiving the information. Should she tell him no one can ever truly get a clean start? No, he wouldn’t believe her anyway. There’s no need to pretend to warn him, she knows he will do it all, anyway. ‘You’ll never be able to come back here, when you leave.’

He packs a lip, curling his bottom lip back to ensure its packed tight before he continues speaking. He can’t honestly see how she feels- his assumption would be some sort of slight inconvenience, but considering how detached she is it seems like she couldn’t care less.

At his remark she looks around, noting the strange array of things strewn across the room. They weren’t carelessly thrown around, but they were definitely out of their normal place. The gun rack had been removed-is he leaving her? A momentary panic, before she squashes the thought. 

“I’m okay-” she says cautiously, picking her way over to the couch to take a seat, tucking her legs up under her, “Thanks for fixing the wall.”

@imperxtor

“You look like fucking shit-” those are her first words as she side steps him and into the penthouse they’ve been sharing for far too long. It takes a second, but she points to his boots as she slips out of her own shoes, kicking the red bottoms to the corner of the room. “Take your boots off here, I just had the floors polished yesterday, if you remember.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been de-renovatin’.” He says. A look to the wall tells quite a bit; the gun-rack he’d begun to install had been removed, now in pieces stacked neatly in the corner. his weapons had been put back, 5-gallon buckets of loose ammunition and other more secure cases arrayed across the floor. A bucket of paint and a few bits of spackling lie on the floor where he’d fixed the walls. A receipt for a contractor supply store sits pinned to the fridge by a magnet, confirming his handyman work. He picks up his reddish-brown cowboy boots, placing them gently by the door.

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The keypad flares red again, beeping noisily. He can feel the weight of a bag full of personal weapons, things old and new, putting strain on his overworked knees. With a grunt, he gives the door a slight tug, praying silently that the thing will budge. Nothing.

He drops the bag with a thud, the barrel of an old wood-furnished AK poking up from the displaced zipper. He reaches into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out a post-it with several notes on it, including which locker at Hereford was his for now.

He closes his eyes a second, exhaling through his nose. He punches the code again.

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   What he brings along causes dread to rise in the back of her mind, a dull twinge to the knowledge she would suffer under each and every device until she either broke, or died. Though, part of her wonders if she would be killed regardless. When it came to people like this that found themselves outside authority there was really no telling. 

   The question goes unanswered for several seconds. Her gaze remains on the floor when she does eventually talk, though it isn’t an answer. “How often do you end up in these rooms with people you know?” A short pause to let the question sink in before she looks up to him. “I don’t know. Your associates were very vague as to the information they seem to think I possess.”

   It’s truly odd to see him out of armor and dressed up for what was to come. Tired eyes trail over Marcus and she cannot help but question just how he managed to do what he did, to torture maim and kill people who had spent their whole lives serving humanity. All because they had been there in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Such was life- and death, apparently. Flexing her fingers into light fists and relaxing them again with a sigh her eyes drop back down from him. 

He’s not ready for the question, but he mulls it over a second before he answers, faster than he’d like. “More than I’d expect to.” He says. He can hear Kurt in his head, talking to him on the ramp of the ship that would bear him off of Onyx, the same one that would proceed to move from colony to colony, looking for Gamma-company candidates.

“When you’re put in a position of leadership, your care for single individuals has to go. You protect the group.” He hears, and the 14-year-old simply nods, the experimental secondary injections the SPARTAN-II had tested on him still coursing through his veins.

And then he’s back in the starkly-lit interrogation room. He reaches towards his lower back, pulling out his handgun. The suppressed pistol glistened slightly in the bright yellow light, meticulously kept by the SPARTAN-III. Marcus looks at her for a second, but she’s looked away by this point. Clearing his throat, he looks back at the one-way mirror, squinting a bit at the agent he knows is on the other side.

thread starter for @imperxtor

   Somehow, somewhere, someone had told them about her. They knew she was alive and wouldn’t stop until either her body was found or she could be brought in. The latter is what came to pass, though that is not to say she tried her damnedest to prevent it from doing so. Fighting with tooth and nail she hadn’t aimed to kill but the ONI forces were not permitted to leave without injuries. 

   It has been three days since then, and she has done nothing but grind her teeth together and glare at the people trying to talk to her. Apparently they’ve given up trying to get anything out of her via words. Six knows it is coming but to see who they have sent drives a stake into her gut. She knows him- there’s no way that they aren’t aware of it. Her features soften and gaze drops down to the floor. There is a cruel understanding she holds that he won’t take it easy on her because of it. 

He’s managed to scrounge up a few things, like a drill, and a battery with a set of jumper cables. He’s used to this by now, and hopes that just bringing in that kind of thing will help the interrogation along. He’s not exactly privy to what sort of information he’s digging for- its why Senior Agent Keller is here, he reckons. He’s just the tip of this particular spear.

When he opens the door, he sees who it is. He tallies the camera in the corner, light blinking on it, and sighs as puts down his stuff on the table between them. He immediately works to push any feelings down. Its the job, and the apprehension of 312 has been known to him now for a fair while. Operation WHITESPEAR and SONGBIRD have pushed him further into the illegality of ONI’s work than this, having him kill Spartan personnel for one reason or another, usually due to said personnel having learned something they should not have.

1.   smoking:   the  action  or  habit  of  inhaling  and  exhaling  the  smoke  of  tobacco  or  a  drug. 2.   binge  drinking:   the  consumption  of  an  excessive  amount  of   alcohol  in  a   short  period  of  time . 3.   drug  abuse:   the  habitual  taking  of  illegal  drugs . 4.   nail  biting:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  anxiety / tension . 5.   lip biting:   a  common  body  language  sign  of anxiety / tension. 6.   night  owl:   a  person  who  is  habitually  active  or  wakeful  at  night . 7.   early bird:   a person who rises,   arrives,   or acts before the usual or expected time. 8.   negative attitude:   a philosophy of approaching life with criticism & pessimism. 9.   positive  attitudes:   a  philosophy  of  approaching  life  with  optimism   &   confidence . 10.  swearing:  the  use  of  offensive  language. 11.  superstitious:   an  irrational  belief  that  an  object,   action,   or  circumstance  not  logically  related  to  a  course  of  events influences  its  outcome. 12.   inspecting  fingernails:  a  common  body  language  sign  of  boredom . 13.   scratching  your  neck:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  uncertainty . 14.  foot and finger tapping:   a  common  body  language  sign  of stress / impatience. 15.   nose  touch:   a  subtle  body  language  sign  of  deceit. 16.   flipping  hair:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  craving  attention. 17.   twirling  hair:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  flirtation . 18.   cracking knuckles:   a common body language sign of readiness. 19.   hands  behind  back:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  confidence . 20.   finger pointing: a common body language sign of authority.   21.   hands  on  hips:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  readiness . 22.   hands  in  pockets:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  mistrust / reluctance . 23.   frequent  touch:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  warmth / familiarity . 24.   throat  clearing:   a  common  body  language  sign  of  rejection / doubt . 25.  jaw - clenching:   a common body language sign of hostility . 26.  eye - rolling:   a common body language sign of irritation. 27.   head-tilt: a common body language sign of interest 28.   whistling:   to  emit  high - pitched  sound  by  forcing  breath through  a  small  hole  between  one’s  lips  or  teeth;   usually  to  a  tune . 29.   humming:   make  a  low,   steady  continuous  sound  like  that  of  a  bee;   usually  to  a  tune. 30.   perfectionism:   refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. 31.   photographic memory:   the ability to remember information or visual imagery in great detail. 32.   paranoia:  a mental condition characterized  by delusions of persecution, unwarranted jealousy, or exaggerated self-importance, typically worked into an organized system. 33.   exaggeration:   a  statement  that  represents  something  as  better  or  worse  than  it  really  is . 34.   intuitive:   using  or  based  on  what  one  feels  to  be  true  even  without  conscious  reasoning;   instinctive. 35.   quick-witted:   showing  or  characterized  by  an  ability  to  think  or  respond  quickly   &   effectively. 36.   interrupting:   breaking  the  continuity  of  a  conversation  with  one’s  own  statements . 37.   doodling:   to  scribble  or  make  rough  drawings,  absentmindedly . 38.   irritable:   having or showing a tendency to be easily annoyed . 39.   gambling:   to play games  of chance for money; bet 40.   travel - sick:   suffering  from  nausea  caused  by  the  motion  of  a  moving  vehicle,   boat,   or  aircraft. 41.   sensitive:   having  or  displaying  a  quick  &  delicate  appreciation  of  others  feelings . 42.   melancholy:   a feeling of pervasive sadness,  typically with no obvious cause. 43.   chewing  gum:   the  exercise  of  chewing  flavored  gum  which  is  not  intended  for  swallowing. 44.   fidgeting:  to make small movements,  especially of the hands  &  feet,  through nervousness or impatience. 45.   skeptical:  not easily convinced; having doubts & reservations. 46.   neat - freak:   compulsively  obsessed  with  cleanliness . 47.   gossiping :   divulging  personal  information  about  others . 48.   prim:   feeling  or  showing  disapproval  of  anything  regarded  as  improper;   stiffly  correct. 49.   abbreviating:  giving  others  nicknames / shortening names / giving  pet  names . 50.  having a catchphrase:   having a sentence or phrase typically associated with a specific person.

@imperxtor to be fair he’s a big cheater

i dont think either of them played fair but hey maine is still alive so that’s smth

maine: squares up