Heroes: The Road of Good Intentions

[SirNitram]

"Let's see. There's the guy who withstood twenty G's without falling unconscious.. That's an obvious, even for a paper pusher." Gravitas replied evenly. "There's the guy who negated my powers. There's the one who was guarded by black ops guys claiming to work for Blackheart's bosses, and oh, happened to be a living contagion. The endless regenerator.. She's alive, by the way. If you had a way to contain something like that, I'd even give her to you, she's gonna make a mess of my sleeping arrangements.. And a shadow being, who I couldn't fight on account of trying to stop Saibot from killing everyone."

Gravitas' neck was just mobile enough to rotate as he went over the list. "Oh. And then there's the fact I negotiated something to get the entire Legion through processing provided it was fair, and funny, that went to hell. Do you childishly assume you could conduct a front door raid and get that many? And considering the only person I grant the respect of obeying in this room is Blackheart and not you... No. I won't save it unless he wants me to."

He was making himself a target. He knew it, and happily played the part. The empath wandered into it like a puppet dancing obediently.

[B4UTRUST]

Reason smiled.
"Now, should we count some of the others? Like the ones at the bank heist who didn't make it back? Oh, and please do tell me why you've decided to break yet more laws by obstructing justice by kidnapping a criminal and failing to turn her over the authorities? This should be interesting. Because, I'm sure you're aware that we are more then capable of dealing with her in a prison environment.

"Now, again, I wish to hear from Argent. So please, kindly, be quiet." Reason flexed his power to try to enforce his will on Gravitas, to get him to shut the hell up.

[SirNitram]

Gravitas' will was.. Inhuman is perhaps the right word. This meant he lasted a few moments longer. "Blackheart was informed of her status. He didn't request her transport. That is why." And then Gravitas stopped resisting. That was probably just enough.

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart didn't say anything.

[B4UTRUST]

"Agent Blackheart, if you would please obtain the information on the whereabouts of our missing criminal it would be appreciated. We'll find a way to retrieve her.

"Argent, if you would please."

[LadyTevar]

Argent paused a moment longer, looking to Blackheart, then Gravitas to see if they would add anything more, and then started to speak softly but clearly, her Empathy locked tight to prevent any undue influence.

"As was said, part of the plan was to wait for Saibot to give the signal, and then I was to teleport the team to him. I felt Saibot get into a fight, and informed Agent Blackheart. He then made the call, and I teleported them in two teams."

Her eyes dropped, not in a lie, but in sadness. "Saibot ... was enraged." Her eyes raise again, facing Reason. "He got into an argument with Blackheart, blaming him for ruining the mission by jumping in too soon, and then sped off. I think he was going to continue his scouting and find us a better place to hit the Freak Legion, but his anger made it harder to read him."

Her eyes slip to Blackheart as she continues speaking in that same calm tone. "I'm not sure now who suggested splitting up, but two teams were formed. Gravitas, Blast, and Ghost went north, while Blackheart took myself and Hotfoot south. I kept empathic contact with both groups easily." Her tone was not bragging, but a simple statement of fact. "There was a defensive wall up; a empathic pressure meant to scare people away. The further one walked into it, the stronger the field became."

She paused, her eyes dropping again with a slight sigh. "I tried to protect everyone from it for as long as I could, despite the distance between the teams. Unfortunately ... I failed." Her eyes closed, her head dropped. "It overpowered me just as we reached the height of its power. I understand Agent Blackheart carried me out of the effect unconscious. Shortly after I awoke, the empathic bond I shared with Saibot broke."

Another deep breath, her head lifting to look Reason in the eye, still tightly controlling her emotions. She would *not* have him thinking she was influencing him. "I'm sure you have the information from Doctor Zedd about the bond. It was too strong for Saibot or I to break on our own, and she refused to try. This was not something that could be done on an angry whim."

Her eyes drop again, saddened. "I think now that is when the Freak called Portico captured him." Another deep breath, more bad news to spill. "I reacted badly to the sudden void where he'd been. Agent Blackheart had to repreminded me, and asked Gravitas if he could sense Saibot anywhere. Gravitas seemed to sense him for a moment, then lost him as well."

Her eyes flick to Gravitas as she spoke more. "This was when Gravitas left Ghost and Blast alone at the power source they'd found and went to treat with FreakShow," she said softly. "I'd been given information from my old contacts that the Freak Legion had children and families with them, and Gravitas wanted to prevent bloodshed." Again, the eyes drop in self-blame. "So did I."

Again, the eyes turn to Blackheart apologetically. "Earlier in the day, I had feel the Tumor growing, trying to influence Agent Blackheart into violence. I attempted to warn him what was happening, but the warning was dismissed. As the argument grew heated between Blackheart and Gravitas, I could feel the Tumor ..." a pause as she searched for the right words "... feeding on it."

She swallowed, as this was the crux of it. Her head lifted, admitting her mistake plainly. "I decided, without telling anyone, that Blackheart needed to speak to both FreakShow and Gravitas face-to-face. I also feared that if I teleported Blackheart there, he would give into the Tumor's influence and simply call down a full invasive strike on his new position." Her eyes flick again to Blackheart, then back to Reason. "With that fear in mind, I deliberately left his communications bud behind when I teleported him."

"I did not leave him there alone," she added softly, her eyes focusing less on Reason and more on her own actions then. "I retreated to the ceiling shadows, ready to leap down and teleport Blackheart away at any sign of aggression ... from any of them." She swallowed, her eyes coming back into focus. "It does not excuse my decision to put Agent Blackheart in that position, nor does my later action of giving him my own."

Her failure, fully admitted, responsiblity for her wrong decision taken, and without using her Empathy to influence anyone at the table. Yet, somehow, she still felt it wasn't enough for Blackheart.

"Freakshow did show Gravitas and Blackheart where those commiting the worst offenses were hiding. He had cut them off from those Freaks who were trying for a normal life, for family and stability." Again, this was not said to influence anyone, but as a mere statement of fact. "FreakShow also gave us information on the Freak called Portico, who claimed the tunnel Saibot had been exploring."

She couldn't quite hide the shiver. "Freakshow feared him. I could feel his disgust and horror at what this Portico did to his victims. He warned us that Portico was a mentalist who used the victim's own memories against him, and caused the victim to attack those he cared for most."

Again, a look to Blackheart, then away. "Agent Blackheart ordered me to take a team to find Portico. I made the suggestion of taking Blast and Hotfoot, who I felt would be better able to defend against Saibot's abilities." Her voice was calm as she spoke, only the barest quiver. "I fully expected Saibot to attempt to kill me, due to Freakshow's warning."

Her eyes dropped again as she recited yet another failure. "We found Portico easily, and as expected, Saibot attacked. Unfortunately ... he went for Blast, not me."

She gave Blast an apologetic look. "Blast managed to keep Saibot talking. Portico used the distraction to attempt an escape, but I caught him, pulling him back." Her head lowered. "I had him held down. I was trying to call Saibot's attention away from Blast, using Portico and myself as bait." She swallowed, what happened next replaying in her mind.

"Saibot threw Blast like a ragdoll, and Hotfoot sped to save him from impacting the wall. Saibot's ring flared, and Portico was burnt to ashes." Her voice was flat as she recited what was in her mind's eye. "The ring put up a wall, seperating me from Hotfoot and Blast, as well as banishing every shadow around me."

She stopped there, one hand unconsciously moving to her stomach, her eyes clouded with pain old and new. "Saibot was suddenly behind me, and I was in pain. I recall nothing but pain and darkness, until I woke on a stretcher surrounded by Freaks, behind evacuated with their wounded and families, my wounds stitched closed."

It took a moment for her to recover, but she was not finished. "Hotfoot retrieved Saibot, already comatose by that point." Again, she met Reason's gaze calmly and steadily. "I will not lie -- I do not know if I would have handed Saibot over to Agent Blackheart. I still do not know what I would have done with him; leave him with the Freaks, leave him alone in the tunnels to die, or kill him myself. Hotfoot and Blackheart saved me from making that choice."

"Ghost was injured at that time, by a Freak who was flesh-shaping baselines into his personal playthings. By the time I got there, Hotfoot, Ghost, and the one we brought in called Sculptor had defeated him. Sculptor used his own flesh-shaping abilities to heal Ghost and me. Agent Blackheart ordered everyone back to base shortly thereafter. I gathered everyone for transport, with Sculptor in tow."

She added one last thing to her account. "I would like to note for the record that I have done my best to lock down my emotions and Empathy during my statement, to avoid influencing Agent Reason and Bowman in any way."

[B4UTRUST]

"Duely noted."

Reason finished jotting down some notes on his pad, before looking up at the assembled.
"Alright. Hotfoot, I await your report."

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot sighed and leaned forward. This entire situation was pretty imposing, what with an empath and tape recorder and the general hostility already in the air thanks to Gravitas bandying words with the internal affairs agents.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll start just before the mission itself. I was tracking a few Freak Legion that I had seen fleeing from a crime scene. After a short while, they met up with several more Freaks and continued on. It looked like something big was about to go down, so I called law enforcement to deal with the situation. After a short engagement, the Ultima team was called in to handle the Freaks, and I assisted in detaining two of them. After...seeing evidence of a murder...in one of the Freaks, I offered my assistance in assisting the Ultima team in further engagements against the Freaks. After a quick briefing of the situation, we were teleported into the tunnels to assist Saibot with one of the Freaks. He then went ahead while we broke down into two groups and search through the tunnels for the Freak base.

"We encountered a kind of...well, fear wall, which I was able to break through by jumping through kinda fast. Argent passed out, and when she woke up, she seemed pretty upset, something to do with Saibot. From what I could piece together, he was taken by a Freak and...well, his head got messed with, you know? Then things got messy. Gravitas went to make his deal, which I didn't understand, Blackheart got teleported, I guess by Argent, and the next thing I know, Blast and I are being led by Argent to go find Saibot."

He paused, his eyes looking downwards. Shame was the primary emotion that came to mind. "I failed to act in time to stop Saibot from grabbing Blast. I froze. Because of me, Blast nearly died. Saibot then threw Blast down the tunnel, and I did what I could to soften his impact. While I was busy with that, Saibot nearly killed Argent, and I think he did something to the Freak that messed with his head, but I can't say what specifically. One more teleport later, and I'm in the Freak's command room with Argent...hurt really bad...also because I failed to act when I had the chance....

"I tried to apply first aid as best I could to Argent's wound, which went from her chest to around her waist. I tore my hazmat suit and shirt to make a makeshift bandage for the wound, at which point Blast created a quick exit to the surface. Upon reaching the surface, I attempted to get her back to the city to get her in a hospital, but all of the bridges were destroyed, and I couldn't risk running on the water with her in the condition she was in, so I accepted Freakshow's offer to help her with his own medics.

"At this point, things became pretty fucked up. Tunnels were collapsing, and the Freaks were running like hell down an evacuation route. I did what I could to save lives at this point, recovering the stranded and wounded and bringing them to the evacuation line. Since both our teleporters were down, I took our wounded to the freak legion medics as well.

"Then Ghost called for help and I ran to him. There was this, like, creepy fucking freak with a room full of twisted bodies...bodies that seemed alive. Another freak, Sculptor, was already fighting him when I got there. I tried to subdue the first freak, but...he...." Hotfoot paused, guilt coming to the front, "I used greater force than I would on a normal person, because I thought it would have required more force to subdue him. I was wrong, and he died as a result of it." He took a moment to compose himself before he continued. "Oh, and Argent was healed by Sculptor, she came to during the fight and came to help us.

"Then Blackheart tried to regain control over the situation, backup was called in, and I reported what I knew to help him out, including the location of our wounded. Argent and I recovered Gravitas and Saibot, and after that point, I returned to attempting to help find any stragglers and help them out of the tunnel network. When I found out that the backup was coming to the place the Freaks were going, I started heading down the line of evacuees to try and get there first, to help try and assist in the process. It was at that point Argent teleported the team back to base." He let out a deep breath, glad that that was over, but he still had one more thing to take care of.

"Um, also, I'm sorry about last night in the bunkroom, I didn't mean to wake anyone up or cause any problems." He paused for a moment, then looked at the IA Empath. "Um, did you need anything else, sir?"

[B4UTRUST]

"Not at the moment. I find it disquieting that you would willingly put your teammates into the hands of the enemy so easily, but this is not the place for that particular discussion.

"Now, that leaves Blast and Legacies. Blast, give us your account of the situation."

[frigidmagi]

Blast shifted and fidgeted uncomfortably. He was tired and twitchy, and he felt more confused then he ever had before. What could he say anyways? He couldn't really think of anything that wouldn't fuck someone over... Who the fuck was this guy anyways, coming down here like this like his shit didn't stink? Confusion receeded a bit, whatever else was going on Blast had made up his mind on one thing, he didn't like this asshole and wasn't gonna help him nail anyone. Fuck suits anyways. He straigthened up.

"I got nothing to add." He spat out clamping his teeth tight togather.

[B4UTRUST]

Reason raised an eyebrow. The smile, fake, slimey, the one that used car salesmen had, came back to his face.
"I see. If you wish to be uncooperative that's your decision. We'll handle your debrief in private then. I'm sure you'll be much more willing to listen to Reason then. Legacies, will you regale us with your story? Or will you be joining Blast in a private session?"

[Charon]

Legacies had stood quietly, watching the others as they explained their part in the absolute catastrophy that had been the mission. So far the others had told their part, only Gravitas, of course, throwing a fit over this. Amateurs, but that was old news. Legacies looked over at Reason, he'd felt the tug on his mind the instant the man had entered the room, attempting to slip into his mind, make it more amiable to telling Reason exactly what he asked. The symbiote looked at Reason, the blank faceplate seemingly unimpressed by the whole affair.

"We are as unmoved by your threats as we were Blackheart's when we were brought into the team." Legacies looked at the rest of the team briefly.

"We came late to the incursion due to being in medical for treatment due to injuries in past operations. Argent brought us to the rest of the team, we were given the right to use lethal force by Blackheart, then given orders to scout ahead with Argent."

Legacies took this time to pause, allow Reason to soak it all in. "About this time Saibot disappeared to the best of our knowledge and Gravitas went to meet with Freakshow. We encountered the outer lines of defense, which were poorly guarded. The guards there were not warriors in the least, little more than civilians with guns who wanted to be left alone."

Legacies point of view on this must be somewhat clear from that statement, but he moved on. "Gravitas then told us that he was attempting to get the situation completed without the use of force. From here Gravitas assumed to take command of the situation and give orders to Blackheart as well as other Ultima personel. Saibot at this time went insane due to reasons that we did not know and Gravitas brought us to the battle. We decided that the best course of action would be to neutralize the threat after Saibot caused Gravitas' injuries. Blackheart objected and we decided the best course of action was to deal with him at a later time." It was rather clear to everyone now, Legacies had had every intention of killing Saibot, Blackheart had known this, now everyone did. It may even be that Legacies still had every intention of killing Saibot if given the chance.

"Because the situation had become so dire we were required to assist in the evacuation as well as the capture of any hostiles that we could. We dropped Gravitas off into protection and then cleared the tunnel that had been brought down as best we could and held it open for fleeing refugees and for easy movement for the team. By then the mission had ended. That is all we have." Legacies took a seat in a chair at this point.

[LadyTevar]

Argent was not surprised to hear Legacies tried to kill Saibot, or that Blackheart stopped him. The question on her mind was if she'd let Legacies try again.

It was troubling to have no answer to that question.

[B4UTRUST]

Reason finished taking his notes. He reached over and turned the recorder off.
"Thank you, your assistance has been noted. I'll finish my report after debriefing Blast elsewhere.

"On an additional note, I must address the situation concerning Argent. Argent, your actions during this mission were completely out of line and endangered members of your team. Your reckless actions are at an end. Do I make myself clear? Consider yourself on restriction. You'll be assigned quarters in the barracks until such time as you can prove yourself to be a trustworthy and commited member of your team. When not on duty you will not be allowed outside of the Ultima compound unescorted and for no longer then one hour per day.

"Realize that you are now one step away from a very bad place to be. If you think you're a prisoner in Ultima now, screw up again or violate the terms I've just set out. You'll see a real prison, powerless, confined, and permanent.

"As for the rest of you, I would suggest trying to work together as a team instead of trying to kill each other, one-up each other or take charge. You need to figure out who's the chief and the rest need to be the braves here, because right now you all want to be chief and it aint working. Shape up or you all will end up in body bags."

Reason picked up his notepad and recorder, stood and exited the room. He would have Blast sent to him privately very shortly.

Bowman looked around at the assembled group.
"Well, I guess that's it then. I'll get Reason's report and brief Blackheart on the team's status as soon as I get something. Dismis-"

Before he could continue the sentance, the door to the room opened again...

[SirNitram]

What entered the room was two men in enough body armour, experiment kit, and with enough weaponry and ammunition to pose a credible threat to some governments. One of them, wielding what looked like a 'Noisy' Crickett-class pistol, dropped an inch-thick pad of meticulously organized paperwork in front of Blackheart.

"Special Agent Robert Smith, this is my partner, Special Agent Smith Roberts, we are here to contain the situation." The one with the undersized pistol declared simply with the firm surity that only a Bob wielding paperwork properly filled out can have.

The other one.. Well. It was something out of a film. The gun itself was connected via some cable to a backpack. There was a definately disturbing rising hum in the background. It was being aimed right at Argent. The Agent inside the collection of extremely experimental equipment spoke in the measured tones of those doomed to an eternity of middle management.

"No sudden movements. From anyone. We've filled out our D-34's." He said, as if that meant anything to Mirage Team. "Those of you around the woman, back away slowly and with your hands where we can see them."

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart stood up slowly and put his hands on the table. "I'm sorry, you haven't obtained proper authorization from my direct superior to remove her from the premasis. Standing orders mean I can't comply unless you put those guns away and start filling out the right paperwork."

[LadyTevar]

"On an additional note, I must address the situation concerning Argent. Argent, your actions during this mission were completely out of line and endangered members of your team. Your reckless actions are at an end. Do I make myself clear? Consider yourself on restriction. You'll be assigned quarters in the barracks until such time as you can prove yourself to be a trustworthy and commited member of your team. When not on duty you will not be allowed outside of the Ultima compound unescorted and for no longer then one hour per day.

"Realize that you are now one step away from a very bad place to be. If you think you're a prisoner in Ultima now, screw up again or violate the terms I've just set out. You'll see a real prison, powerless, confined, and permanent.

She was ... being grounded?

He was doing nothing more than shaking his finger at her and grounding her to her room. Well, there was the threat of prison if she screwed up again. Lei didn't intend to make that mistake again. But all the tenseness, all the fear simply drained out of her in a rush. She'd have laughed, but Bowman and Blackheart might not appreciate that right now. Maybe on her supervised hour of freedom she could treat the team to dinner.

She was just going to ask Bowman if she would be allowed to pack some clothing for her stay when the next batch walked in, looking like a heavily-armed Blues Brothers.

The other one.. Well. It was something out of a film. The gun itself was connected via some cable to a backpack. There was a definately disturbing rising hum in the background. It was being aimed right at Argent. The Agent inside the collection of extremely experimental equipment spoke in the measured tones of those doomed to an eternity of middle management.

"No sudden movements. From anyone. We've filled out our D-34's." He said, as if that meant anything to Mirage Team. "Those of you around the woman, back away slowly and with your hands where we can see them."

Lei stared at the large imposing weapon aimed straight at her. Somehow, she got the feeling this was NOT part of the plan, especially with Blackheart slowly rising to stand up for her.

For the moment, she didn't move, simply touching those she felt would try something stupid with her Empathy to calm them down. Blast, Hotfoot, and Gravitas all felt a deliberate message of *Calm/Wait/Caution* as Lei focused another message on Blackheart.

**Question/Curious? Fight/Flight?** Even as she sent that message, she stealthly drew the shadow under the table closer as an escape route. Very little could hurt her within a shadow, and she could slip over to hide behind Blackheart or Gravitas if needed.

Wryly she wondered if she was being stupid, while the more practical part assured her this was just backup plans. She may not need to run.

[Dark Silver]

Stone watched and listened to the various reports, then the sentencing, as it where, which left the attractive Asian looking woman - Argent they called her - grounded.

As Reason prepared to leave, the doors opened again, and entered the two personnel more armed than his power armor. He wondered briefly if that was tech he had provided or not...

Filled out D-34's....that meant paper pushers, and from the slight zeal they seemed to have, they meant they were very self-assured paper pushers....

The W.A.R. class power armor was already sealing itself as he sent the mental command to the on board systems, while another part of his mind was probing the Ultima systems, looking for the profiles for the two before him - by both name and image. He discovered it a few seconds into the ordering of the rest of the team to stand still and clear out from Argent.

He remained in his seat, the amicable smile on his face, since he wasn't in Argent's immediate vicinity - looked towards Bowman, and Blackheart, and as if in signal, the power armor moved just enough for them to notice. It was the signal that he was able to help if nessacry.

[Agent Fisher]

Ghost stood from his chair, moving behind WARpath, and when the large powered armored leviathan blocked him from view of the Bobs, he cloaked and continued to edge around the room, trying to get behind the two paper pushers with the heavy firepower.

[Hotfoot]

Hotfoot glanced at Argent, then to Blackheart. Clearly something was going on here, but he couldn't tell what. Trying to do anything covertly was out of the question though. Fast though he was, he probably wasn't fast enough to speed up, knock the guns out of their hands before they got at least one shot off. Especially not with his flareup giving away his move before he did it. He eyed the Bobs carefully, trying to get a reading off their body language.

Still, he followed orders and slid down the table towards Blackheart, looking to the older man for anything resembling orders should he give any.

[SirNitram]

"Fifth through twelth pages, Field Agent." The Bob with the Cricket said briskly in response to the appropriate challenge. "Bowman's superiors have signed off on this. The subject is to be detained and contained. I am afraid you must yield to us; the forms have the appropriate signatures." The last was a statement of unyielding faith; the signatures were there, therefore the Bobs Were Right.

The one with the backpack-powered rifle was edging around carefully, mindful of the fact that he was in a room full of Metahuman's whose powers did not come from experimental gear. He hadn't filled out his ZZ-34-B, and thus it would be a criminal act to die in the line of duty today.

"This will be quite painless and be over as quickly as possible." The heavily armed Bob stated, to the contrary of the labels on the rifle, powerpack, and for no apparent reason, his pants. "Please just move away from the one with the codename Argent."

[Cynical Cat]

Blackheart's eyes flickered to Blast and then to the Bob's backpacks and then to Legacies. He had his hands on the table, ready to flip it up as a shield and as an instrument to pin the Bobs against the wall. Starting a fight in closed quarters with noncombatants around wasn't something Blackheart wanted to do, but you stood by your team mates. Argent might never get it, might not be on the team much longer, but that didn't matter. He would not repeat her sin.

"Circumstances have changed. Your paperwork is out of date. Now pack your shit up and leave before your asses get handed to you."

[LadyTevar]

Lei's eyes traveled around the room, looking to each of her teammates in turn. The change in emotions was unbelievable. Even Blackheart was very willing to start a fight here and now, just because these two strangers were threatening her, a teammate.

She couldn't let them do it. She couldn't let them get hurt, for her. "Blackheart... It's ok," she said, touching all of the team with a moment of *Calm*. Maybe they'll listen. Maybe they'll understand. "Reason's not had time to type up the memo for them, that's all."

She eyed the guns pointing at her for a moment, then looked straight at Blackheart, hoping he at least will get the message and understand. "Responsibilty, right? Because Reason's punishment didnt' sound that bad; I'd far prefer simply being grounded. I'd not even complain about having you as a watchdog with me on my hour free time, even if you sat me down in your apartment and spent the whole hour lecturing me." That was delievered with a slight smile, although it didn't extend into the emotions leaking towards him. *Worry/fear. Fight/Flight. Trust?*

Her eyes slide to Hotfoot, "Although a party at Hotfoot's new apartment would be more fun. Really, Collin, you need to show it off to Blackheart and the team." Her eyes go deliberately back to Blackheart, trying to match his gaze and deliever her message. "Maybe ... if I do get my 'hour of freedom' ... I can join the party there."

Her eyes flick back to the Bobs. "Until then ... maybe it's better if they have their way." Her eyes flick around the room, touching all of her teammates. "I'd hate to see anyone hurt," she finished softly, regret and true appreciation for their actions caressing each of them. To Blackheart alone was sent a private plea for trust.

What her little speech hid was the gathering darkness under the table at her feet. It was already large enough to dive into with a split-second's notice. Now ... it depended on if the rest of them understood the message behind her words ... and on if Blackheart would trust her just a tiny bit.

[Dark Silver]

Stone was only half listening to what was happening, just giving enough attention to the physical that he could react, while he probed the Ultima info net some more. It'd be almost ridiculously easy for his armor to lay the two over-teched goons out before they got a shot, but he wouldn't move to do it without orders - at least a nod of approval.

'These two are meticulous in their paperwork....' he thought to himself, going over a few of the duo's last filed in paperworks....and the paperwork needed to fill out the paperwork....

In triplicate.

Christ these guys were inhuman.

Maybe it'd be better to put them out of HIS misery before they decided to turn the paperwork onto him.....

[Cynical Cat]

"Guys who burst in on my team pointing guns don't get the benefit of the doubt," said Blackheart as he tried to digest Argent's hidden message and the angle she was trying to play. "Unless you can show me something iron clad and of confirmable providence you're going to be lucky to leave this room in one piece."