Nemo

“They work for Regulators by choice all the time,” Nemo scowled. She hadn’t put her mask up this time, driving in faceless tension. “Access to power, to control. The ability to hurt or kill without consequence. Revenge. Xenophobia. There are more reasons that not for someone like him to do what he does.” She ground her teeth together, the sound almost audible over the hum of the engine.

“…Are you an ex-informant? Ex-Regulator? Is that why they are interested in detaining you?” She asked bluntly.

“I don’t disagree, I just…” Would any explanation suffice?  She’d try. “The way he answered my questions makes me think he would have just went out and said if those were his reasons.” It was a weak argument, she knew.  It wasn’t like she gave him much of a chance to elaborate on his answers when she kicked him. 

This next bit was tough.  She didn’t know how Nemo would react. 

Nemo gasped in shock and fear that she’d shot Charlie when the other woman closed her hand around the gun, and a pulse of electricity shot down her arm and into Charlie’s. Not enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to push her away, her hand burned from contact with the gun.

Once she realized that the bullet had hit dirt, and that neither had her instinctive shock gone overboard, Nemo swore and advanced on the other woman, grabbing her upper arm and shaking it. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I could have shot you!” She rasped, holstering the gun forcefully. “The stupidest moment possible to get cold feet! What do you mean, we can’t?” 

She paused then, slowly let go of Charlie’s arm, and took a deep breath. “/Why/ are you changing your mind.”

sendusablade​:

Pain shot up Charlie’s arm, forcing her to let go of the gun and knocked her back, making her lose her balance.  If Nemo hadn’t grabbed her upper arm, she would have stumbled onto the ground.  The woman took Nemo’s tirade in silence, agreeing that what she just did was extremely stupid.  No arguing there.  She shouldn’t have agreed in the first place.

Once she was let go, she automatically held the arm that had been abused the most and straightened herself. 

“We shouldn’t-” She looked away, embarrassed by the way in which she went about this whole thing.  Embarrassed by the way she was previously conflicted on a principal that she typically held firm in her heart just because it was personal. “No one would actively choose the life he’s living for fun.  We can’t take away his ability to change.” 

Isfet continued watching, listening. It seemed his death wasn’t quite so imminent now, but still his shoulders stayed up defensively regardless. His expression was still surprised, baffled, shaken, but now with a growing sense of confusion. His brows started to furrow as Charlie explained.

But she didn’t. If Charlie was willing to grab the barrel of a gun over it, her mind was clearly made up.

Nemo turned stiffly and walked back over to Isfet, giving him another kick in the middle before hauling him up by the scruff. She put her mask against his ear and hissed. “Hear that, you miserable pest? You get another night to live. But next time I catch you, Charlie won’t be here to be noble on your behalf. Remember that.” She dropped him and turned away. He could figure his own way out of his binds.

Nemo looked at her, arms still crossed over her chest. Her mask was blank and impassive, reflecting Charlie’s own angry face. “Hm.” Charlie did not strike her as the type to have experience with…interrogation. “If you are sure there’s nothing else you need to know. I can dispose of him.”

sendusablade​:

“Whatever!  I don’t care.” She said, throwing her arms up in exasperation.  She wasn’t really considering her words or the implication.  All she knew was that she wanted everything to…go away.  

Isfet was starting to recover from that low blow, only barely aware of their discussion. Just aware enough to know he was fucked. Like there had been any doubts.

The trunk was dark. 

Which was a stupid thing to think. Of course it was dark. But he looked around anyway. No glow-in-the-dark emergency latch. He’d gotten a decent look at the car this time around; this thing was way too old to have that convenient little safety feature. Too old to have a key fob either, so no use running through the frequencies until he hit one that’d pop the trunk.

Not that he’d get very far anyway. Roll himself out of a moving car and onto the pavement? Maybe if someone else saw him it’d be worth it. Hard to ignore someone breaking out of a trunk, even for the staunchest of believers in civil inattention. Not exactly an appealing idea, but better than this.

It was a wasted line of thought, though. He was stuck in here. Most he could do was maybe fuck with the radio stations if either of them, somehow, felt the urge to put some music on. He almost laughed at the thought.

But he didn’t laugh. Here, in the dark of the trunk with nothing to look at and no one else to focus on, it was hard to feel anything but dread.

namedmyanger​:

Nemo ‘hmm’ed at Charlie. “I told you that I was a professional. That this is all I do. If this isn’t want you wanted or intended…well. Maybe your anger got the better of you.”

Nevertheless, she followed Charlie’s directions. When the car finally turned off, it was dark and silent. She sat still for a moment before turning to the other woman.

“What did you want, ultimately? What do you want now?”

Charlie wasn’t surprised that Nemo could sense her hesitancy and there was probably some truth to her comment about anger.  Still, she didn’t vocalize what she wanted either way until they reached their destination.  

“I don’t know.  I don’t know yet.” She looked over her shoulder towards the back of the car. “For now I want answers.” 

“Hm. Fine with me. I can drive.” She reached down and hauled Isfet up by the scruff, yanking him back out the door and towards her car at the curb. When Charlie locked up and joined them, he’d have been stowed in the trunk, and the car would be running. Her mask was flipped up again and her fingers drummed on the steering wheel.

“Where do you want to go.”

sendusablade​:

Charlie ignored him again, for now, giving Nemo her full attention.  Good.  Drive.  Somewhere that wasn’t their shared apartment.  Anywhere.  

She looked back as she locked up, an overwhelming feeling of dread in her heart.  Then, she shot off a quick text to Noemi before leaving. 

Hey, I’m going to be out and about for a bit.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll clean up the dirt and…other stuff at the door later.

Once Charlie was in the car, she managed to hide her displeasure in a veneer of coolness that wasn’t present before.  This is what she wanted, right? 

“I’ll direct you.” She sighed, giving directions to a secluded place outside of town that she was sure no one would bother them at. 

“…Sorry.  It’s not that I didn’t think you were serious but I didn’t think you’d find him so quickly.”

The trunk was dark. 

Which was a stupid thing to think. Of course it was dark. But he looked around anyway. No glow-in-the-dark emergency latch. He’d gotten a decent look at the car this time around; this thing was way too old to have that convenient little safety feature. Too old to have a key fob either, so no use running through the frequencies until he hit one that’d pop the trunk.

Not that he’d get very far anyway. Roll himself out of a moving car and onto the pavement? Maybe if someone else saw him it’d be worth it. Hard to ignore someone breaking out of a trunk, even for the staunchest of believers in civil inattention. Not exactly an appealing idea, but better than this.

It was a wasted line of thought, though. He was stuck in here. Most he could do was maybe fuck with the radio stations if either of them, somehow, felt the urge to put some music on. He almost laughed at the thought.

Nevertheless, she followed Charlie’s directions. When the car finally turned off, it was dark and silent. She sat still for a moment before turning to the other woman.

Nemo flicked down her mask again when he rolled over, sucking her teeth. “As cavalier as a teenage boy.” She closed the door behind her and then leaned against it, crossing her arms over her chest. Tilting her head at Charlie, she asked with some surprise, “I did tell you I would find him, didn’t I? Would you rather me have just killed him elsewhere?”

sendusablade​:

Charlie let out a few breaths, adrenaline waning as her brain caught up to the scene in front of her.  Her fear was replaced by rage hearing his stupid voice and seeing his stupid smirk.  Gritting her teeth, she planned on responding before Nemo piped up.  He didn’t deserve her attention right now anyway.  

“No, it’s-” She stood up straight. “I just didn’t think you’d-” She looked to the left, remembering Noemi could be back any second. “We can’t do this here.  Let’s…let’s take him somewhere else.” Was she really going along with this?  Either way, they all had to go. 

Charlie was starting to come into focus. That, and a conversation about the location of his death. He was still just out of it enough not to be completely terrified at the thought. What a fucking novel topic to be having a chat about.